Update

OK, so I'm getting a bit behind. There is a reason. I won't get into details other than to say it involves a parent entering a nursing home and us kids getting a house ready to sell. For now this is a "Photo Whenever", until things get back on track. Hopefully sooner than later.

Frame Thirteen

I spent Easter afternoon with family. After a wonderful lunch I went with one of my sisters and her son and daughter to watch my niece ride her horse. This is Racheal and her horse Ringo. They're getting ready for this years competition's. This is their second season together and the do quite well. Rachael worked all last summer to afford her part of Ringo's purchase, which wasn't small change. Not bad for a junior in high school. Who owns the other half? Her Mom who I think enjoys Ringo as much as Rachael. He's a pretty cool horse with a lot of personality.

Canon 20d - Tamron 28-75 2.8 - @75mm - f5.6 - 1/6000 - iso200

Frame Twelve

I awoke to find my street had been turned into a running course of some kind. I have no idea what the race was for. There were all ages of runners and some groups that looked like whole families. This is actually taken about a block from my house. And to think, just a couple weeks ago we had a foot of snow on the ground and the temperature was in the teens. It was around 70 degrees when this shot was taken. A very nice day for a run.

Canon 20d - Sigma 70-300 4~5.6 APO DG - 100mm - f/8 - 1/250 - 100iso

Frame Eleven

This is part of Iowa's capital city, Des Moines. I was born here and have lived here (West Des Moines) my whole life. With the surrounding suburbs the population is roughly 500,000 with Des Moines proper being roughly 200,000 of that. It has a lot of big city activities, just on a smaller scale, which is fine with me. The tall building on the left is 801 Grand and is the tallest building in Iowa at 45 stories. On the top floor is a restaurant where I have on occasion tuned their piano. It's quite a view on a clear day.

Canon 20d - Sigma 70-300 APO DG 4~5.6 - 100mm - 1/250 - f/8 - 100iso

Frame Ten

This week I'm cheating. I need a dose of spring so I dug back into the hard drive and found a shot taken last spring that I'd never done anything with. I also picked this because it was taken at the same spot last weeks shot was taken (notice the stone wall?). This is one of the many Swan's that make this area home during the warmer months. This is kind of a cool spot in that you can sit on a bench or right next to the ponds edge and these birds will hardly notice you're there. It's a wonderful little spot for photography.

Canon 20d - Sigma 70-300 apo dg 3.5~5.6 - 300mm - f/5.6 - 1/1600 - 100iso

Frame Nine

OK, so the warm weather didn't last long. We got hit with a nice combination of ice and snow over the last 24 hours. I decided to brave the streets and take a drive while the snow was still fresh. There were a lot of downed power lines and many a tree had lost some branches. You can see a few branches laying under the large tree to the right/center of this shot.

While driving along I came over a hill and was greeted by a bunch of "road closed" signs as there were downed power lines laying across the street. I decided to take a detour through this rather scenic cemetary called Resthaven. That's where this shot was taken. Near a pond that in warmer weather is populated by Swans and Ducks.

Canon 20d - Tamron 17-50 2.8 - 24mm - f/8 - 1/250 - 200iso

Frame Eight

After a few weeks of very cold weather, we got into the 50's today. I took a drive and ended up at a park north of Des Moines called Jester Park. It has access roads to Des Moines River which is where I came upon these dead trees sticking out of the ice. I thought they were pretty cool looking so here's my shot for this week.

This part of the river and park is part of the Saylorville Reservoir Recreation area. This shot doesn't hint to it, but, it's quite large. In warmer weather this is where you'll find people enjoying a day boating, fishing or laying out on the "beach". Well, Iowa's version of a beach. Not this day, though. While WAY warmer than it has been, today all I found of interest were these trees.

This is also a first experiment using Adobe Lightroom. I must say I'm impressed, especially with b&w conversion. It's like channel mixing on steroids. I'm using the 30 day trial while trying to convince myself to make a purchase before the $100 off "new product" special is over in a few days. I'm almost convinced.

Canon 20d - Tamron 28-75 2.8 - 67mm - f/8 - 1/640 - 200iso

Frame Seven

A few weeks ago I introduced Brett and Tamara as "soon to be newlyweds". They are now very happily married and this shot is all the proof needed. :) Theirs was a small, laid back ceremony attended by immediate family and what great families they both have. Though, I don't think Tamara's family was ready for the near zero degree weather (being from Georgia) as it was a common topic of conversation. That said, the weather had no chance against the warmth and love seen that day.

I was honored when they asked me to photograph the event. It was a huge learning experience and one that I'm sure will help if I were ever to do this again. I wish Brett and Tamara a long, happy and prosperous life together.

Canon 20d - Tamron 17-50 2.8 - 1/250th @ f4 iso400 - Canon 430ex flash with Lightsphere

Frame Six

Meet Carey Crowson. Fellow Piano Tuner/Tech and great friend. Carey is also a fantastic keyboardist/vocalist whom I've had the pleasure of gigging (that's musician speak for band job) with for over 20 years. He's also the gentleman who taught me to tune and repair pianos, which is my main day gig (that's musician speak for real job). I couldn't have asked for a better teacher.

This shot was taken in his shop where he works along side his wife Lana and Blue, their 7 year old Weimaraner. Many a piano has been taken from total junker to "like new" in Carey's shop. It can be difficult work, especially when dealing with larger grands and the removal of the plate. It's also quite delicate at times as there are a lot of small parts in the action to deal with when doing a total rebuild.

Canon 20d, Tamron 17-50 2.8 @ 46mm, 1/60 @ f/2.8, iso 400, ambient light

Frame Five

Meet yours truly.

I have a 430ex flash I use with my 20d, but, have never really used it for anything other than straight on, flat light shots with a lightshpere. I wanted to try something different. So, I bought a piece of white foamcore, set it to my left side and with camera on my tripod in the portrait position I bounced the flash off the foamcore about two feet to my left. It took me about a gazillion tries to get myself centered in the frame the way I wanted. I finally did and after much messing around in PS this is the result.

I'm not sure if the left side of my face is too bright or not. It's not blown out on my screen, but is "almost there" and fear it may be on others (I use a spyder2 for callibration).

Anyhow, it's been cold here and I haven't been out much with the camera. I figured I qualified for a "People" in "People, Places and Things of Central Iowa", so, this is what you're getting this week. :)

Canon 20d, Canon EF-S 60mm macro 2.8, shot manual - 1/250 - f/8 - 430ex E-TTL

Frame Four

While out and about today I came across a group of West Des Moines Firefighters training for cold water rescue. I was snapping away and a Firefighter who'd already been in the water came over and asked me if I was with the paper (heh, first time I've been asked that). I told him no, that photography was just a hobby. I then asked him about the wet suits they were using and if they still got chilled while using them. He said they were quite warm and only became cold after long periods of time in the water. In fact, he was sweating around his neck when he took his suit off just a few minutes earlier.

I'm glad I turned down the road I did and came across some of our bravest training for what could someday save a life. I had no idea that's what I'd find when I walked out the door. I'm glad I did.

Canon 20d - Tamron 28-75 2.8 - 75mm at f5.6 100iso

Until next frame...

Frame Three

Picture, if you will, an average guy or gal sitting here, holding a piece of white board with a message written on it. What would it say? Something like this... "It's too damn cold to be sitting here having my photograph taken!" ...and they'd be right.

This shot was taken at a park in Des Moines called Water Works. It's along the Raccoon River and is where the Des Moines water treatment plant is located. On a nice day there probably would have been someone sitting here reading a book or just taking in the sun. Not this day, though. When I shot this the temperature was hovering at about 0 degrees (fahrenheit) with a wind chill of about -22 and I was the only fool, errr, person in sight. After a fairly mild December, we're finally having a bit of "normal" Iowa winter weather. I don't normally mind the cold, unless the wind is blowing and the wind chill is at -22 degrees. Then it sucketh, royally. :)

Canon 20D - Sigma 70-300 APO DG - 100iso - shot at 100mm - 1/400th @ f/8

Frame Two

Meet Brett and Tamara, soon to be newly-weds and two of the nicest people I know. I met Brett in 1982 when he answered an add I placed looking for a bassist for a band. You can learn more about Brett, here. He's quite the creative guy.

I took this shot at dinner a few nights ago. Just a casual, spur of the moment thing using a wall for a back ground and my 430ex with a lightsphere for lighting. It was a wonderful dinner. Brett's mentioned to me many times what a great cook Tamara is. He's wasn't kidding. Good food, good friends. Can't ask for much more than that.

Canon 20d set to manual - shutter 1/200 - f/4.5 - iso400 - Canon EF-S 60mm macro - 430EX ETTL - Lightsphere

Frame One

I've been telling myself I'd do something like this for a long time. Can you say "procrastination"? I wrote the book on the subject. I've been into photography since taking classes in high school, where I learned the basics of black and white photography. I always enjoyed my time in the darkroom. It was always very relaxing, rather "zen" like, to me. That was a long time ago, though, with quite a few inactive years between then and now.

A little over a year ago I came across a site called DPChallenge (my user name there is error99) that rekindled that "photo bug" inside me. Since then, I've been dabbling in photography again (more off than on for various reasons) and now feel it's time to shift from neutral to drive. If all goes as planned I will be posting at least one photo a week that I'm not too embarrassed to put my name on. Who knows where this ride will take me? I hope to learn a lot. Not only about photography, but also, about myself.

The photo above is the door to the only remaining building that was once Fort Des Moines. It's no more than a cabin sitting in the parking lot of the Iowa Cubs ball field. I guess that's the door I'm walking through to start this project. If you choose to walk through that door with me and keep an eye on the "goings on" around here, I hope you enjoy the ride as well. :)

Until the next frame,

Kelly Steele