photo declamo

First Friday, and viewfinder shots

2010-06-08T10:02:00.012-04:00

First Friday at Vintage21 went well -- I even managed to sell a few photos. In case you missed it or happen to be one of my many, many international readers, you can see most of the photos here.

There are several from the tilt-shift series I talked about in my last post, and also several square photos that look sort of old and very awesome.

That series is from an idea called "through the viewfinder," where you shoot a digital camera through another camera's viewfinder. For mine, I mounted my 40D to one end of a drum set boom stand using a light stand adapter I usually use to put flashes on light stands. On the other end, I mounted a Kodak Duaflex II that I got from friend and awesome food photographer Tim Broyer. I actually stole the idea from him. (But to be fair, he stole it from someone else.)

Between the two cameras, I used a stretched out dryer tube covered by the sleeve of an old black shirt, and of course, a good bit of tape and glue.

My personal favorite is a series of three (including the one above) from Raleigh's Boylan Street Bridge, which overlooks the city from the west.

The image looks like it could be from an old medium format, but it's much easier to manipulate as a digital. I may lose some street cred for not developing in a darkroom, but I think the photo printed well, and I don't regret saving the time and money.

For those of you looking for printing tips, friend and fellow photographer Ronny suggested White House Custom Color for prints, and I was totally satisfied. Cheap, quality prints and free two-day shipping? Yes, please.

The remaining First Friday photos (that were film, which is why they're missing from that Flickr page), were done with a stereo camera. But more to come on that later.

Back in black (and white)

2010-06-01T10:21:00.011-04:00

Holy crap. Are you seriously updating your blog?!

Yes. After almost a year, I'm back to post some photos. What have I been doing this whole time? Well, mostly nothing (if you don't count getting married, changing houses, getting a dog, working full-time, and other, less interesting things). But I have been working on a few projects.

Firstly, I've got a new camera. It's a 40D to replace the old 10D, which I still have but almost never use. Sure, I ranted about how you don't need to have a big expensive camera to shoot good photos, and it's still true. But let me justify my purchase: the 10D has a real problem shooting at ISO 800 (or any time there's low light). That's because the sensor just isn't that good. Additionally: I started seeing the shutter on some of my 10D's photos, and the processor is really slow, so some DIY stuff got to be a bit frustrating.

Also, that camera was made in 2003. So now I've got an upgrade. Boo ya.

OK, so I know it's a little late, but here's what I've been working on lately:

Remember this? It's a home-made tilt-shift lens that I put together with a medium format lens, a hollowed out body cap and a piece of fabric. But now it's got an upgrade: cardboard and dryer tube (which keep the fabric out of the way). And on the new camera, it's much easier to avoid the graininess the old images had.

To recap, the basic idea of a tilt-shift is to change the way the plane of focus works. On a normal lens, the plane is always perpendicular to the camera, so you'll have a plane in focus, and then beyond that, things out of focus.

But with a tilt-shift, that plane isn't necessarily perpendicular to the camera -- now, you can move it diagonally in three dimensions so that something in the foreground can be in focus at the same time as something in the background, and then nothing else. Check out this photo for an idea:

Now that I've got the increased sensor awesomeness of the 40D, I can shoot these images without the grain, making it a relatively good substitute for an actual tilt-shift (which would be hilariously out of my price range).

I've got several new photos along this same line that I'll be showing at Vintage 21's First Friday this week (that's June 4, for those without a calendar). That also happens to be my dad's birthday, so it's like a double-whammy of great stuff happening.

Come out if you can: I will be showing more stuff than just the tilt-shift. And I'll be back up here to show some more projects that I've been too lazy to update about until now.

finale \fi-nal-ee, -nah-lee\,

2009-07-03T11:03:00.009-04:00

noun:
1. the last piece, division, or movement of a concert, opera, or composition.
2. the concluding part of any performance, course of proceedings, etc.; end.

My dearest Readers,

It's with a heavy heart that I announce the end of the Photo Declamo word of the day project.

After 85 posts, the project has been a fantastic tool to really get me out of a photographic rut. It challenged me every day to get out and find something new, to really think on my feet and do so creatively within a short span of time.

I want to thank all of you, Readers, for contributing with your photos, feedback and encouragement.

But there's more to come. Ending the word of the day only means I'll open up time for bigger, more in-depth projects that I plan to share with you on this blog. I'll keep you posted with all the new photo projects, lighting setups and multimedia that come up.

And I've got some plans.

In addition, you can always check Dictionary.com's word of the day for your own inspiration. And if you send me your word-inspired photos, I'll be more than happy to post them for you.

Once again, thanks to everyone for reading, and check back for updates in the future!

penury \PEN-yuh-ree\,

2009-07-01T11:35:00.005-04:00

noun:
1. Extreme poverty; destitution.
2. Absence of resources; insufficiency.

I got a quick shot of a foreclosed house for today's word of the day. If I had the time, this could have been a really cool series.

This comes less than 24 hours after Tyler and I were discussing the economic breakdown that led to so many foreclosed homes - specifically, the media's different ways of covering and explaining the situation.

My personal favorite explanation was this one. It's an impressive mix of graphics, journalism and analysis. If you were ever confused about how the economy got to this point, check that out.

But for those of you who choose to pass on that, get yourselves out to shoot some photos of penury and send them to me in an email. There are a lot of possibilities for this word!

badinage \bad-n-AHZH\,

2009-06-30T11:45:00.002-04:00

noun:
Light, playful talk; banter.

Instead of doing a photo for today's word of the day, I opted to help Tyler with a little photo illustration for his blog. I'm sorry if the blog's been a little flaky lately, but sometime you just have to branch out and do some other projects once in a while.

I definitely got my photographic fix out of this one, but I'm sure you haven't. And what better reason to go out and shoot today? Send your badinage photos to me in an email!

clandestine \klan-DES-tin\,

2009-06-29T18:22:00.002-04:00

adjective:
Characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, esp. for purposes of subversion or deception.

OK. Sorry it's so late for the word of the day, but I think this works out well.

I was excited when roommate Bryan got himself a new iphone 3Gs last week - not only because it's awesome, but also because I could use it for the lighting situation in this photo.

The phone has an application called "Flashlight" that just lights up the phone. That type of lighting technique has been used all over, including some films - it can be set on the dashboard of the car near the speedometer to shine on the driver.

The idea came from this post on Strobist. The whole situation is just a really cool way of thinking of light in a way that you might not otherwise come across. It's not just that the app is cool, but it's also the fact that you can use ambient light to compose your photo.

Sorry again for the late post - as always, send your clandestine photos to me in an email!

encomium \en-KOH-mee-uhm\,

2009-06-26T15:47:00.004-04:00

noun:
An often formal expression of warm or high praise.

Overall, this was a pretty easy word of the day to photograph, as I was already planning to hang out at the Morning Times this morning. But giving my roommate a $4 tip was a bit much, so I will probably steal the money back from his room when he's not paying attention.

I tried to also get a bit of that latte art in the frame, but it was too much to ask for in that situation.

On another note, shooting with Ronny's camera the other day has really got me on a kick for a new one. It's tough, though, as my mantra is usually along the lines of, "The cheaper, the better." I'm still trying to justify the whole thing, so I'll let you all know what I come up with.

And while I mull that whole situation over, get out and take some encomium photos and send them to me in an email!

sough \SAU; SUHF\,

2009-06-25T12:46:00.005-04:00

intransitive verb:
1. To make a soft, low sighing or rustling sound, as the wind.

It took a lot longer than I had expected to find a dandelion for today's word of the day. But I picked one up a couple blocks from the house and brought it down to Jamie's work before lunch, and she helped me get a good shot.

I didn't necessarily get the focal point in the photo that I had intended, but, as we were downtown and not surrounded by spare dandelions, we only really had one chance to get it close. I hope you get the idea.

For those of you who may have missed yesterday's post (because it was so late that the time stamp on it showed that it was posted today), be sure to check out the audio slideshow on Hardwire, a Real Life Super Hero from Greensboro. I went on patrol with him yesterday for a News 14 story.

And as always, if you've got a photo for sough, send it along to me in an email!

daedal \DEE-duhl\,

2009-06-25T00:45:00.004-04:00

adjective:
1. Complex or ingenious in form or function; intricate.
2. Skillful; artistic; ingenious.

I'm not sure if today's photo really fits with the word of the day, but I spent all day trailing Hardwire, a Real Life Super Hero from Greensboro. The end product was an audio slideshow on news14.com that I think turned out pretty well.

It was a fairly extensive project, but following Hardwire around while he handed out water and snack bars to the homeless was actually a lot of fun. If you get a chance, check out the final product.

Also, Ronny let me borrow his 40D for a change, and that was really awesome. It takes pretty fantastic photos, but due to a lack of funds, I'll be sticking with my 10D.

And in the meantime, if you've got any real photos for daedal, send them to me in an email!

Update: Thanks again to Jessi for sending this photo!

"This is the daedal inside of Saint Chapelle in Paris. Everything in this church was intricately wrought, and it was beautiful!"

pule \PYOOL\,

2009-06-23T12:35:00.004-04:00

intransitive verb:
To whimper; to whine.

Jeff posed as a dunce for me in today's word of the day. I appreciate the effort all my models have put into making this blog work out -- otherwise there would be way more self portraits in this project.

As has become custom, I immediately thought of a baby or puppy for the word. But I have to tell myself every time that happens to expand my horizons a little bit. It's tough not to be too literal, but also to keep things simple enough.

Lighting-wise, this was just a flash shot through the homemade softbox camera left. I also could have used one camera right and behind to get rid of Jeff's shadow had I been less lazy. But I also like the way one light and the sunlight through the window gives a natural vignette. (Careful, though. Those can get a little trite.)

If you've got any photos for pule, send them along to me in an email!

copse \KOPS\,

2009-06-22T14:29:00.006-04:00

noun:
A thicket or grove of small trees.

Today's word of the day brought me out to find the very nicest 90-year-old Christmas tree farmer I've ever met.

Frank's farm is about five or 10 miles outside of Raleigh. He was really nice when I drove up onto his tree farm to find a group of small trees. He drove his golf cart up and down the rows to find trees that weren't growing straight up and tie them to posts.

The Back Achers Christmas Tree Farm, on which the first tree was planted in 1979, is one where you can go to pick out your tree, cut it down and bring it home. Customers can also reserve their tree in October, Frank said.

If you're hunting for a place to get a Christmas tree, or even a photo of one, that's the place to go. In the meantime, send your copse photos to me in an email!

Update: Thanks again to Jessi for sending this awesome photo of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. Very cool, and very pretty.

nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\,

2009-06-19T10:54:00.004-04:00

noun:
The state of being too much; excess.

Man, what a long, long week it's been. Sorry I've been so terrible about the word of the day over the past couple days. But now that things are calming down for a while, I think we'll be right back on track.

And what better way to start off again than with hundreds of glazed Krispy Kreme donuts?

For today's word, I walked just a few blocks down the road to the Krispy Kreme where they're made. This is also the half-way point for the ever-growing Krispy Kreme Challenge, where participants run two miles from the N.C. State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme, eat a dozen donuts, and then run the two miles back. It's sickening, and really quite hilarious.

Check out our coverage of this year's Krispy Kreme, it's actually pretty cool (especially because Tyler and I did the photos and Bryan and I did the music).

What I really wanted was to get right up close to the production so you could see them getting glazed (which for some people is disgusting and for others is delicious). But as they wouldn't let me back there, I had to shoot through the glass. Maybe I'll just sprint past them next time.

Well, now that it's the end of the week, I hope you've all got some time to shoot nimiety photos. Send them all to me in an email. And if you get a chance, stop by Kung Fu Tattoo's Third Friday art hanging tonight to see some of my stuff!

Update: Ronny sent two photos along, and I took this one because it is both well composed and also hilarious, given the context. Thanks, Ronny!

This is embarrassing

2009-06-18T17:36:00.003-04:00

But I've got some good news.

True: I messed up yesterday and today and couldn't allot myself enough time to get the photos of the day done. (Though, if you'll take a look at yesterday's word, you'll notice some readers' dedication dwarfs my own.)

However, it was for good reason that I skipped my word today. I spent all morning prepping for Kung Fu Tattoo's Third Friday art hanging, which is featuring some of my work, as well as the work of artist Ethan Wenberg. All the art is up, and it's ready for tomorrow's showing from 7-10 p.m. in Durham.

If you get a chance, and you're not too angry about my lack of posts today and yesterday, stop by and check it out.

But seriously, tomorrow is photo time, and we'll be back to normal for a while. Thanks for reading!

gravid \GRAV-id\,

2009-06-17T20:24:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Being with child; heavy with young or eggs; pregnant.

Dearest Readers:

I must apologize for not posting a photo for today's word. Surely you've all remembered to come to my blog in search of your daily dose, but as I'm 13.5 hours into my 14 hour work day, I've got little hope for getting to the photo today. I really did think I might get to today's word, but it seems that I was a little overconfident (as per usual), and I've failed to bring you your word.

Hopefully those of you who did come to the site - only to be turned away empty handed - will return another day to see that I really haven't forsaken you. I hope to make up for today's lapse with overly ambitious photos in the future.

Until tomorrow,
Robert

Update: Clearly your dedication to this project is greater than mine, and for that I'm also sorry. Despite my blatant neglect for today's word, Jessi sent this photo along for your viewing enjoyment. Thanks, Jessi!

salutary \SAL-yuh-ter-ee\,

2009-06-16T12:23:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Producing or contributing to a beneficial effect; beneficial; advantageous.
2. Wholesome; healthful; promoting health.

I'm glad I was finally able to use a rainy day for the word of the day today. It's really gross outside, but the rain definitely has a salutary effect on the garden Jeff just planted outside.

You've got to be careful shooting outside in the rain, though. I stole a play out of a friend's book when I cut a hole in a plastic bag and put the lens through it. Waterproof? Not so much. But it does keep it dry in the rain, and if not, well I'll use any excuse to get myself a new camera.

Today's word really leaves it open for a lot of creativity, so get out there and shoot some salutary photos and send them to me in an email!

effulgence \i-FUL-juhn(t)s\,

2009-06-15T15:17:00.005-04:00

noun:
The state of being bright and radiant; splendor; brilliance.

Today's word of the day is a pretty happy one. As the sun wasn't really out, these people's smiles were good bright and radiant subjects. But look out for a few friends' cameos here as most strangers aren't open to some creepy photographer shooting their mouths.

The most common concern was that people thought they'd have something in their teeth. Most people didn't, though, and a little photoshop would have helped that anyhow.

That woman at the bottom decided she wouldn't show me her teeth, but that's probably alright. She had stopped to ask me for directions, and I'm sure she felt obligated to say yes when I pressed her for a photo.

For those of you who live where it's not necessarily cloudy and ominous, send in your photos of effulgence in an email and I'll post them up with mine!

Update: Thanks to Meredith for sending this photo of the awe-inspiring St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican City.

megrim \MEE-grim\,

2009-06-12T12:36:00.004-04:00

noun:
1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits -- often with 'the'.

While I don't think today's word of the day quasi-commercial for Tylenol is really the best or most creative, I have to say that I was just inspired to do a little lighting fun after catching this photographer's 365-day photo project and his interview on Strobist.

The best part about this guy - besides the fact that he worked for Yahoo and Google before going to Twitter - is that he gets to shoot most of his stuff at night, giving him distinct control over all the light in his photographs. I like that.

As always, I won't be posting this weekend, but check out this guy's work, and once you're inspired, send me your megrim photos in an email!

redivivus \red-uh-VY-vuhs; -VEE-\,

2009-06-11T12:29:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Living again; brought back to life; revived; restored.

Today's word of the day was a pretty quick one, and it was similar in setup to another photo that I really enjoyed.

The way this works is that there is a black backdrop about four feet behind the subject so that no light falls on it, which gives it such a deep black. I also had a black cloth underneath the battery, covered by a piece of glass from our coffee table. It's a pretty easy way to get that reflection, which seems to be a sort of trend ever since Apple started advertising ipods that way.

The light shines on the battery and is (hopefully) only picked up there. Then, after taking the photo, I bumped up the contrast a good bit to make sure that the blacks are black enough. Sometimes light falls on the cloth underneath the subject, but that's easily fixed with a little post-processing.

The cool thing about photos like this is that if you were standing with me in the room, you would never see this image. The room's windows are open, there's light all around - but when you set your camera and lighting up right, something entirely new can come out of it.

That's it for today's word. If you've got any redivivus photos (and also, that word sounds like a spell from Harry Potter), send them to me in an email and I'll put them up!

disport \dis-PORT\,

2009-06-10T11:38:00.003-04:00

intransitive verb:
1. To amuse oneself in light or lively manner; to frolic.

My cousin Mary and her fiance Aaron helped out with today's word of the day. They stopped over for a visit, and it's a sort of right of passage to star in the day's photo while you're here.

I do need to call out the Dictionary.com people for this one though: don't you remember doing a disport-like word just a little while ago? I do.

But this was a perfect one for Mary and Aaron, who, I'm sure, frolic on a fairly regular basis even when they're not the subject of an important photo blog. Thanks, guys!

It's a lovely day out, so if you happen to be frolicking or amusing yourself in a lively manner, send me your disport photos in an email!

paragon \PAIR-uh-gon; -guhn\,

2009-06-09T10:27:00.003-04:00

noun:
A model of excellence or perfection; as, "a paragon of beauty; a paragon of eloquence."

I drove down to N.C. State's Alumni Center this morning for today's word of the day. I had heard that the place was really beautiful, despite being at the end of a very long maze and in the middle of nowhere on Centennial Campus.

It really was nice, but it's too bad it was the site for discussion yesterday in all the controversy surrounding my alma mater. For those of you who haven't been following, here's the quick rundown: former Gov. Mike Easley got his wife, Mary, a job there heading a speaker series for $80k. Then she got a raise to $170k.

The N&O broke the story about all the sketchy dealings with the former governor (who is now being investigated by a grand jury), and so far four NCSU officials have resigned over the hiring.

Mary Easley said she wouldn't resign, but the Board of Trustees went ahead and fired her yesterday. So we'll see what happens.

Anyhow, if you've got any photos to add to paragon, send them along to me in an email, and I'll be happy to post them with mine!

tergiversation \tuhr-jiv-uhr-SAY-shuhn\,

2009-06-08T10:00:00.005-04:00

noun:
1. The act of practicing evasion or of being deliberately ambiguous.

I woke up this morning to find Erik sleeping on the couch, and, in exchange for a ride home, he agreed to star in my word of the day photo.

This was a pretty tough word of the day. I'm not sure how the Dictionary.com people expected me to capture evasion or ambiguity. I though about just linking to the hilarious site Picture is Unrelated. But I think Erik really captured the scope and importance of this word of the day.

If you've got any tergiversation photos, send them to me in an email!

Pictures: 5¢

2009-06-05T17:55:00.005-04:00

So I usually wouldn't do this, but I got a little steamed up over an article on PDN, so I decided to "blog" about it. How trendy. And potentially annoying.

Instead of putting the entire thing in this post, I linked it here so it wouldn't get in the way of the photos of the day. Enjoy!

abstemious \ab-STEE-mee-uhs\,

2009-06-05T11:55:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Sparing in eating and drinking; temperate; abstinent.
2. Sparingly used or consumed; used with temperance or moderation.
3. Marked by or spent in abstinence.

This was a very happenstance word of the day photo. I was headed down to Clayton to pick up a trampoline from a Cragislist post (more on that pending photo project later), and I came across this former strip club parking lot.

The building had been gone for a long time, it seems, but there was a truck in the parking lot when I went by the first time. The trucker seemed disappointed.

After a few minutes taking photos, someone from a neighboring lot came by to see what I was doing. He seemed confused when I explained I was only in the empty lot to take a picture of abstinence. But he just shrugged and let me go on my way.

I won't be posting again this weekend, as always, but if you've got any photos for abstemious, or anything else from throughout the week, send them along to me in an email!

pother \POTH-er\,

2009-06-04T11:17:00.006-04:00

noun:
1. A commotion; a disturbance.
2. A state of nervous activity; a fuss.
3. A cloud of smoke or dust that chokes or smothers.

It was a really tough choice picking the photo for today's word of the day. Josh and I had so much fun playing with all the smoke options, including dry ice (which was really, really awesome). But ultimately, we had to go with this one.

The dry ice thing was a little crazy, as I had never played with it before. Apparently anyone can just go buy five pounds of dry ice for $8, which I will definitely be using for future photos. This is the photo I ultimately turned down for the day, though it was pretty cool, in my opinion.

For the photo I decided to use, I had Josh blow a soap bubble in his hand, then filled it up through a straw with smoke from a cigarette that I was totally not in the mood for. We just went out back and took a photo in the sunlight, and I think it turned out pretty awesome.

For those of you with other pother photos, send them to me in an email!

Update: Another big thanks to Jessi for sending this photo of "a pother in front of the Moulin Rouge!"

espy \ih-SPY\,

2009-06-03T10:53:00.004-04:00

transitive verb:
To catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes; to discover, as a distant object partly concealed, or not obvious to notice; to see at a glance; to discern unexpectedly; to spy; as, to espy land; to espy a man in a crowd.

I crouched in a bush for today's word of the day. Sure, I probably looked a little silly, but the more strange you look taking a photo, the more likely you are to come out with something unique. Not to mention, it's also way more fun.

This is the same spot that I took another word of the day photo. It's just next to an off ramp, and there's a small grass patch with a couple of bushes you can fall into to take photos.

I think I would have liked to take a photo of a crowd of people with a person singled out with focus, but sadly, we don't really have enough people in Raleigh to find an entire crowd walking down the street. However, I could have crept in the bushes downtown and espied from there, but I may have gotten arrested.

Don't forget to send your espy photos to me in an email!

Update: Jessi sent this cool photo of some cats sneaking around. Thanks, Jessi!

"So, [this] photo was taken in Paris at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. There were black cats all over the cemetery, most of them hiding from people. This one was by the sneakiest and the best at hiding."

hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\,

2009-06-02T12:45:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as, "a hortatory speech."

This is a pretty simple little word of the day photo, but it gave me a chance to use a lens that I rarely do: it's a 200mm Canon FL f/3.5.

For those of you who don't completely get that kind of stuff, that's a decades-old lens. It's long, but not very fast (and thus not very good when it's not the middle of a sunny day). But the long focal length gives a good, small depth of field, so it's still usable.

That lens came in a whole box of stuff I bought on Craigslist, which included a few other old lenses, bodies, and toys, for $50. I would say, all together, it was probably worth about $300 with everything sold separately (with ebay prices), so it was definitely a good deal.

The lens uses the same adapter I wrote about in my very first post, actually.

Anyhow, that's your lesson for the day. I hope you'll all go out and get some hortatory photos. Send them to me in an email!

cosset \KOSS-it\,

2009-06-01T11:05:00.003-04:00

transitive verb:
1. To treat as a pet; to treat with excessive indulgence; to pamper.

A new day, a new word. This is actually a cool little car wash that I took a photo of for today's word of the day. For my Polaroid-taking friends, this seems like an awesome little place for that.

I actually really like some of the retro-photo stuff (like the rediscovery of Polaroid awesomeness) that's happening lately. People are looking at the uber-photoshopped art of late and reaching back to older aesthetics. I think the real reason I like that so much is that shooting with older cameras actually gives you a better feel for how photographs are made.

In an interesting post from the Online Photographer, they suggest shooting with only a Leica for an entire year, all black and white, to get a real base for how photographs are created. (This as opposed to shooting your digital SLR on full automatic, which may make it hard to see what's really happening with your camera.)

Take a quick look at that post and the ones that follow, if you're looking to learn how to shoot better. Though you may not decide to take a full year shooting only with a Leica, you'll probably find a variation on that project that you might enjoy.

And for those of you who've got a cosset photo for me to today, send it along in an email!

sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\,

2009-05-29T10:29:00.006-04:00

noun:
A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.

Today's word-of-the-day subject is Mike. Mike, a homeless man from Raleigh, sits on this bench at the bus stop and sells chocolate, hot dogs, buns and other things out of a big duffel bag. (I bought a giant chocolate bar for $1.)

For those of you who can't tell, I'm doing something different today: using an antonym to illustrate a point. Mike is one of a whole slew of homeless people who live in Raleigh. You can't walk through downtown without being asked for change.

What's the solution? I don't know, but I'll tell you what it isn't: $6,000 Segway scooters for cops. Get a bike, jerks, and send some of that public money somewhere useful.

"Can't catch me, pigs! I'm going up these stairs!"

Anyhow, Mike seemed like a good guy. He buys his food from Kroger and runs his little business from the bus station. Though I might not buy a hot dog from a duffel bag, I would highly recommend his chocolate bars. Delicious.

If you've got any sybarite or antonym photos, send them along to me in an email!

Update: This photo from Amy; looks like she caught on to the antonym thing for today.

"I went to the Dominican Republic in February for a week for a medical mission trip; basically we set up clinics that consisted of tarps and sheets hanging from trees (for privacy) at a woman’s house in a town called Veron, which is about 10 minutes from Punta Cana, a beach resort area that I guess you could say is visited by sybarites. It was a humbling experience seeing the social status change so dramatically in a 10 minute drive, but it was also really great that we had so many people willing to help (non-sybarite students tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and doctors hundreds of thousand dollars out of debt)."

Thanks, Amy!

Update #2: Thanks to Amber for sending this very sharp, well composed photo.

"This Honduran fisherman is a good example of a sybarite antonym. He was fishing in the crocodile and snake infested Cuero - Salado river to provide some food or income for his family, and not for luxury or pleasure. This photo was taken in December 2008 near the Cuero y Salado Wildlife refuge in Honduras."

avoirdupois \av-uhr-duh-POIZ; AV-uhr-duh-poiz\,

2009-05-28T09:35:00.005-04:00

noun:
1. Avoirdupois weight, a system of weights based on a pound containing 16 ounces or 7,000 grains (453.59 grams).
2. Weight; heaviness; as, a person of much avoirdupois.

I think the guys at Dictionary.com were trying to get me to photograph a fat person with today's word of the day. But, luckily for me, and luckily for the feelings of every slightly chubby person on the street that would have taken offense at my accusations of weightiness, we just so happen to have a scale in the house.

The word avoirdupois (which I'm sure no one reading this blog will include in their everyday conversation) describes our system of weight, which I never knew to be quite so complicated until a search this morning. This entry from Wikipedia shows just how ridiculous our system of measurements can be. It's a little embarrassing, really.

For the photo, I used only the light coming through the window in the kitchen. It's a bit overcast today, which is why the light is so soft. A long zoom and wide aperture give me the very slight depth of field. Black counters are cool for this photo, but I have to say; in real life, they're not that great.

If you've got any photos to use for avoirdupois, don't forget to send them to me in an email!

sagacious \suh-GAY-shus\,

2009-05-27T13:37:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Having or showing keen discernment, sound judgment, and farsightedness.

Man, I did some serious running around to find my subject for today's word of the day. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to find a Magic 8 Ball, but I guess they're not in very high demand these days.

Somehow, the 45-square-mile Wal-Mart nearby didn't have one, despite their droves of useless pool toys and barbie products. Nor did Target deem it necessary to stock such a trusted and timeless item of life guidance. And for those of you with small screens who can't read this alternative fortune cookie's words of wisdom, this one says, "Outlook not so good."

The question I asked, for those curious readers, was, "Will anyone submit a photo for today's word?" Well, let's try to prove this elusive collector's item wrong by sending all your sagacious photos to me in an email!

pejorative \pih-JOR-uh-tiv\,

2009-05-26T12:30:00.005-04:00

adjective:
1. Tending to make or become worse.
2. Tending to disparage or belittle.

Readers, I went ahead and took Memorial Day off just to give myself a little break. I hope you all weren't too discouraged. We're back on course now.

A little bit of parental advisory for today's word of the day. This is about as edgy as I expect I'll get on this blog, so you're really experiencing the best.

New roommate Jeff likely was already flicking me off when I took this photo. But that's probably only because I was yelling at him for his cake fight from last night.

I hope you're all as totally edgy as I am for your pejorative photo. Send me what you've got in an email!

Update: Thanks again to Jeff for sending another awesome photo. This one is from the Republican National Convention. It was a tough choice between this one and another from a Nazi rally, but the composition of this photo is just too good to pass up. Thanks, Jeff!

buss \BUS\,

2009-05-22T11:07:00.008-04:00

noun, verb:
1. A kiss; a playful kiss; a smack.

I know today's word of the day photo is a typical one, but, as a wise man once said: if they're gonna lob 'em in there, I'm gonna knock 'em out of the park.

This isn't a photo I went out to take today, but for some reason, I had a really difficult time finding people who would kiss in front of the camera this morning. I didn't necessarily ask people on the street, but the few calls I made were to couples missing one of the pair. I really need the whole set.

This is a photo I took on spring break last year with now-fiancee Jamie in Mazatlan, Mexico. It was a pretty simple setup. I'll give you the step-by-step (I'd say the first two are the hardest):
• Find pretty girl
• Get her to kiss you
• Place camera on beach chair, shooting directly into the sun
• Focus
• Set self-timer
• Focus, again.
• Be romantic

It's all fairly simple. If you'd like to get out and try it for yourself, send me your buss photos in an email!

Update: Dear Jessi, Please stop one-uping my buss photo with your more romantic, awesome wedding photo. Love, Robert.

Update #2 It's like obnoxiously-romantic photo day here. This one's from Alison again!

immure \ih-MYUR\,

2009-05-21T11:31:00.007-04:00

verb:
1. To enclose within walls, or as if within walls; hence, to shut up; to imprison; to incarcerate.

The photo for today's word of the day shows a real life prison for my turtle, Rob. Now, before you go jumping down my throat for naming a turtle after myself, let me give you just a little background.

Rob was one of three turtles that Josh and I bought in China Town in New York a few summers ago. Josh named his turtle Rob. Naturally, I named mine Josh. And the third, sadly, never had a set name because we always thought he was on the brink of death. (What can you expect with pint-sized turtles you bought in China Town?)

Unfortunately, two of our young turtle friends didn't make it. Rob is the only one left. He now shares a (very, very dirty) tank with three baby catfish named Peter and two snails named Bryan. There used to be a frog named Grace, but we're pretty sure Rob devoured her.

In any case, I'm sure the tank is a lovely place for Rob and his friends to hang out and get fed. It's definitely better than the way we found him, but it's still not quite the same as being in the wild.

Also, did anyone think of this other photo when this word of the day came up? I sure did.

If you've got any photos for immure, send them along to me in an email and I'll put it up with my portrait of Rob the turtle!

Update: Thanks again to Jessi for sending this photo of Smith along. "Sorry for all of the the photos of Smith," she said. "He's an easy test subject." Don't apologize! Send photos!

Update #2: Alison sent this cool photo: "I took this picture in San Gimignano, Italy a couple summers ago. Not the worst place to be immured, but hey." (Way to use the word of the day in your description!)

Update #3: Thanks to Jeff for sending this excellent photo along. Check out his blog for work from UW-Madison's Badger Herald.

satiety \suh-TY-uh-tee\,

2009-05-20T11:35:00.003-04:00

noun:
The state of being full or gratified to or beyond the point of satisfaction.

Firstly, thanks to ____________ for helping out in today's word of the day. (The identity of the subject of this photo is protected because of the nature of his or her pose, which is not meant to be flattering.) I really appreciate ____________'s dedication to this blog and my art, and I couldn't do it without ___________.

The image is only made better due to the fact that I shot it at 12mm. For those of you who aren't cameraneers (yes, I just made that word up), lenses wider than about 50 or 60mm can start to distort the image out at the corners. With such a close-up on ___________'s belly, and with __________ pushing it out as far as he/she could, it makes the belly look rounder. It did not, however, make the belly look harrier. That's just __________.

If you've got any ideas for a satiety photo, send it along in an email so I can post it with mine. Clearly, no caption information is necessary.

fey \FAY\,

2009-05-19T11:56:00.006-04:00

adjective:
1. Possessing or displaying a strange and otherworldly aspect or quality; magical or fairylike; elfin.

In the photo for today's word of the day, I captured a phenomenon not understood by most scientists: Bryan's ability to hover over any surface for a fraction of a second.

Yes, that's right. Bryan can jump, just like everyone else. But it is a cool idea for a photo of fey. It's a cool photo with a nice blue background from the sky, which is definitely a staple in my photos.

Short post today because I'm really important and have a lot of things to do. But get out there and take some fey photos and send them to me in an email!

Update: I almost forgot to mention: I took the photos of a wedding dress designed by fantastic local designer Katelyn Wells for a Brides.com competition she's in. The dress is great, so if you get a chance, vote for Katelyn on the contest website!

pernicious \pur-NISH-us\,

2009-05-18T13:56:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Highly injurious; deadly; destructive; exceedingly harmful.

Today's word of the day has a little bit of fake blood on the sidewalk outside. Or is it fake?

Yes. It's actually a mixture of corn syrup and food coloring (mostly red with a drop of blue). I got the recipe from Josh, who liked to make slasher movies in our basement last year. It's just mixed up and then strewn on the sidewalk with a leftover straw from Wendy's.

For post processing, I just brought the contrast up in curves in Photoshop and used another layer on top, in "soft light" mode, with about 40% opacity. It gives the photo a pretty cool feel, but you can adjust the opacity so that it's not too overwhelming.

This is a really fun word of the day, so if you're out shooting something pernicious, send it to me in an email! Happy Monday!

Update: Thanks to Amy for this awesome photo of pills that she clearly got illegally. Well, maybe not. But they definitely seem to fit the theme of today's word. Thanks, Amy!

quer⋅u⋅lous /kwer-uh-luhs, kwer-yuh-/,

2009-05-15T02:26:00.005-04:00

adjective
1. full of complaints; complaining.

Today's word of the day describes everyone who will read this post and realize that the photo has nothing to do with the word of the day. (Pretty good, huh?)

I tried to figure out how to justify this, but I thought it'd be better just to come clean.

Today's going to be a busy one, so I won't have time to get the photo of the day. But I'm not leaving you empty handed.

Last night I went out to ride around and just take some photos, and the one in this post is from my excursion. It's just a lamp post taken from underneath, facing up. There's a grassy patch near the government revenue building where I went to do a little snooping and shooting, and I got a couple good/mediocre photos.

For those hardcore followers among you, I'd still love to put your photos up in the post. Hopefully I haven't cheapened the project too much. Send me your querulous photos in an email!

unctuous \UNGK-choo-us\,

2009-05-14T12:44:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Of the nature or quality of an unguent or ointment; fatty; oily; greasy.
2. Having a smooth, greasy feel, as certain minerals.
3. Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.

I went downtown to get a photo of this bail bond place for today's word of the day. I thought it would be fitting get this kind of greasy business.

It isn't hard to find a bail bond place in Raleigh. A Google search for "bail bonds Raleigh" brings up 808 results. But this one was particularly nice because it's just a hole in the wall. I guess it doesn't take much money to get into such a business, but I wouldn't want to be involved.

No joke: this is one of the Google ads when you type in "bail bonds."

In Jail? Call Our Bail Bondsmen
24/7 to Regain Your Freedom Now!

Poor marketing, I think. As far as I know, they don't get Wi-Fi in prison. But I may be mistaken. I've haven't been there. (Yet.)

I also happened to get a flat tire (on my bike) on my way down there, which was a good excuse to be lazy and have a roommate come out and get me. I'm too out of shape to be riding all around anyway.

Hopefully you're all out taking pictures of unctuous things. (I'm sure I've inspired you enough to get out and do that every day.) If you've got anything to contribute, send it to me in an email!

abnegate \AB-nih-gayt\,

2009-05-13T10:29:00.003-04:00

transitive verb:
1. To refuse or deny oneself; to reject; to renounce.
2. To give up (rights, claims, etc.); to surrender; to relinquish.

Today's word of the day features Jeff's magnificent hands and talent. I thought I would put him to work while he stays on the couch. He's fantastic and I think I love him.

That pea in the photo is actually left over from yesterday's photo of peas. It's clearly important to me that these photos are thrifty, and I recycle ideas every chance I get.

Sadly, today's post is going to be a nice, short one. But I hope you've all got photos of abnegate to contribute. If so, send them in an email!

odium \OH-dee-uhm\,

2009-05-12T11:21:00.004-04:00

noun:
1. Intense hatred or dislike; loathing; abhorrence.
2. The state or fact of being intensely hated as the result of some despicable action.
3. Disgrace or discredit attaching to something hated or repugnant.

I lied a little bit for today's word of the day. I don't hate peas; I actually really like peas. But I know many of you probably do have at least some mild dislike for them, so I thought they would make a good subject for today's word.

For this photo, I headed to the grocery store to buy a $1.50 bag of frozen peas. I probably won't eat them, but I would say it's still worth the five gumballs I could otherwise enjoy. I put them in a bowl and shot them with the homemade tilt-shift, which I've been meaning to play with for a while.

It seems like the tilt-shift needs a good bit of light to shoot well, and even then, it can get pretty grainy. I think I'll blame that on the Bronica lens that I bought to make it -- in your own photo adventures, I might suggest a better one. But this one still seems to get the idea across, and it gives that cool, distorted depth of field that can make even a photo of peas interesting.

I hope you've all got a good odium to take a photo of! If you do, send it on over to me in an email and I'll put it up with mine!

Update: In an email from (older sister) Katie:

"Maybe this was merely an oversight on your part, but I seem to remember a point in your life when you really did HATE peas. It was a weeknight like any other, when a devious older sister persuaded you to stick a pea up your left nostril, insisting it would be fun and harmless. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you had some pea odium then. Yes?"

bombinate \BOM-buh-nayt\,

2009-05-11T10:40:00.002-04:00

intransitive verb:
To buzz; to hum; to drone.

Today's word of the day showcases the engine of my awesome car. Sadly I don't know anything about cars, so I'm not sure if that's the part of the engine that hums or drones, but I'm fairly certain it is.

My poor car got a good sized dent in it about a week ago when I was at N.C. State shooting the Art to Wear fashion show. Someone must have hit the back when they were parking and then drove off without leaving a note. I was pretty pissed -- I think if they realized how poor I was, they might have been a little more considerate. But maybe not.

Sort of a gloomy day out, but if you happen to have any photos for bombinate, send them along to me in an email and I'll be sure to put it up!

aliment \AL-uh-muhnt\,

2009-05-08T09:52:00.003-04:00

noun:
1. Something that nourishes or feeds; nutriment.
2. Something that sustains a state of mind or body; sustenance.

I took a short trip to the farmer's market this morning for today's word of the day. The people there are always really fantastic, and I sort of regret not buying anything while I was there, because their food is fresh and usually very good.

The nice lady at the L&G Farms stand let me take photos of her food. It was all set up really well, so I actually only spent about 45 seconds there while I took one shot.

That'll be all for a short post today. As always, I won't be posting on the weekend as I am very important and have many important things to do. I'm proud of you all for contributing so much this week! Keep up the good work by sending me pictures of your lunch for aliment in an email!

coruscate \KOR-uh-skayt\,

2009-05-07T11:04:00.007-04:00

verb:
1. To give off or reflect bright beams or flashes of light; to sparkle.
2. To exhibit brilliant, sparkling technique or style.

I set off another fire cracker in the house for today's word of the day. Actually, I took the fuse out and used it for smoke and sparks, but as you can see from the photo, it didn't do much for me in the way of sparks.

No matter, smoke still works for the purposes of making this photo look like a far more brave and, excuse the French, badass photographer was at work here. The first time I used a fire cracker for the photo, Kevin and I cowered in the corner with a glass half filled with cloudy water - in case the house caught fire, that 10 ounces would like have done nothing in the way of extinguishing it. I am, by no means, a "pyromaniac."

In fact, I think only a very small percentage of people who make such a claim can back it up. It used to be the cool thing to light some matches in your back yard and claim "pyro" status, but it's only when you haven't stopped playing with fire well into your adult life that you can truly call yourself a pro (ahem, father-in-law to be).

Back to important photography things: I used a cross-screen filter on the ol' 12-24mm Tokina today, which gave the hanging light bulb its flare. Then, in a one-second exposure, I lit the fuse of the fire cracker and it gave me a whole lot of smoke as I pranced around it, frightened.

There's a lot of potential in this word of the day, so send me your coruscate photos in an email and I'll be happy to post them!

lugubrious \lu-GOO-bree-us; -GYOO-\,

2009-05-06T11:19:00.003-04:00

adjective:
Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

I headed over to the Oak Wood Cemetery in Raleigh this morning for today's word of the day. It was, though a bit creepy, a very interesting visit. Some graves at the cemetery dated back to the late 1800s. It's a very large place, and I'm sure it has tons of history.

According to its web site (yes, apparently this cemetery has a web site), the 102-acre cemetery is home to nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers, which was the purpose for its founding, at 2.5 acres, in 1867. They also apparently offer no-interest financing on your grave site for five years, if you're looking to buy.

Late N.C. State basketball coach Jimmy V is buried there, as well as John Edward's son.

Well that was sort of a downer of a post. But I guess that's what today's word was all about. If you've got any lugubrious photos, send them on over to me in an email!

quaff \KWOFF; KWAFF\,

2009-05-05T12:40:00.004-04:00

verb:
1. To drink (a beverage) copiously and heartily

It's words (of the day) like this one that make me wish I had time to, say, go out shooting at night to get photos of my friends drinking into a hearty stupor. This one could have been fantastic.

But all's well, because coffee, apparently, can be drunk copiously and heartily. "As of December 2008, USDA forecasts world coffee production for 2008/09 at 138.4 million bags." Yeah, I would say that's copious.

This photo, as many before it, was taken at the Morning Times in Raleigh. I realize that I take a good many photos from the coffee shop, but it's also my day off. So, whatever.

I hope you've all got some fun quaff photos from this weekend. Get out there and celebrate, and send me your pictures in an email!

Update: I seem to be getting people with photos of puppies and drinking, maybe I should change the theme of this blog. Here's one from Ronny from the Raleigh Times Bar.

tyro \TY-roh\,

2009-05-04T15:01:00.005-04:00

noun:
A beginner in learning; a novice.

Readers beware: today's word of the day photo may be too adorable to handle.

I usually don't love pictures of pets and all, but this is just too much; I couldn't resist. And this photo has led me to a very important decision (that in reality I had already made): I need a puppy. Now.

What I'm really hopeful for is that this photo inspires you, my many readers, to get out there and take some adorable puppy photos. (I know many dog people may be against this, but I'll take kittens, too.) I promise to post whatever puppies I get, especially if they're in some sort of costume. Today's the day, let loose and send cute photos to me in an email!

Update: The puppy photos are flying in. These first ones are from Jessi of her adorable and rambunctious dogs (respectively), Molly and Smith!

Update, again: Laura sent me this photo of Rainer, who now weighs about 2,308 pounds more than he did in this photo. Thanks, Laura!

risible \RIZ-uh-buhl\,

2009-05-01T11:03:00.007-04:00

adjective:
1. Capable of laughing; disposed to laugh.
2. Exciting or provoking laughter; worthy of laughter; laughable; amusing.

I know the photo for today's word of the day is a crappy joke. But I'll tell you what: I ride past that sign just about every time I go downtown, and I chuckle at it every time. Childish? Maybe, but I don't care.

It's funny that this word of the day came just two days after I took one of Bryan dressed up as a clown. But these things happen, I guess, and now I'm stuck with a red nose and a picture of a moderately humorous sign.

That's it for this week! As always, I won't be posting on the weekend, but get out there and take some photos for risible and send them over to me in an email so I can include them!

Update: Thanks to Bryan for sending this photo along (from his phone - shoutout: Shawn Rocco). That seems to be my brother lighting candles in his mouth, which is much more worthy of laughter than that sign above!

Update #2: Also thanks to Ronny for sending this one of friends Josh and Nick over. This is brilliant.

mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-us\,

2009-04-30T09:57:00.005-04:00

adjective:
Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice.

There's no honey in today's word of the day, just oil and water. I am most definitely not the first to photograph the two together, nor are my photos likely the best. But I would bet money that I'm the first to do so on a blog dedicated to dictionary.com's word of the day.

The shortened definition of today's word, as it shows up on my word-of-the-day widget, is flowing sweetly or smoothly, and while nothing in my photo is actually flowing, I thought it might be a fun photo. It's just set up with two lights, one pointed below a glass of water at the white backdrop and the other above where the oil will be. Then just add oil, and snap away.

Focus is typically the toughest part of this type of photo. I was lucky to get what I got, even though it's not necessarily that sharp. Bumping the contrast can sometimes help with that problem, though. And having a real, sturdy tripod might also work for you.

Anyhow, get out there and take some photos for mellifluous and send them along to me in an email so I can include them with mine! Happy Thursday!

Update: Thanks again to Ronny for sending this photo -- it's the first photo he ever sold, on permanent display in the Tally Student Center on N.C. State. I like when you guys do that, so keep sending them over (even retroactively)!

bumptious \BUMP-shuhs\,

2009-04-29T11:57:00.005-04:00

adjective:
Crudely, presumptuously, or loudly self-assertive.

The photo for today's word of the day, in my very humble opinion, is fantastic. This is a definite response to an earlier photo starring roommate Bryan, which was much more intense and not quite as conducive to blackmail.

Clowns, I think, are loudly self-assertive. I had originally planned to get Bryan in some ridiculous makeup, but the wig and nose were $10 at the Magic Corner (the place for wigs and noses, apparently), and I think they got the job done.

The setup, as usual, was not too difficult. Two lights: one in front of the subject and to the right through an umbrella at relatively low power, and the other to his right and behind him at high power facing a white wall. I exposed for Bryan's (hilarious) face and so the light behind him was blown out, giving the side of his wig that effect of being almost feathered out at its end.

This was definitely a fun one, and I hope you'll all have something to match it. Send me whatever you've got for bumptious in an email and I'll be sure to include it!

Update: Another one from Ronny shows a friend, Clark, a little too close for comfort. Thanks, Ronny!

eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\,

2009-04-28T12:13:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution."

For today's word of the day, I headed down to the Shepher's Table Soup Kitchen on Morgan Street in Raleigh. The homeless problem in our city is pretty bad, and the line outside the door was probably about 50 people long before 11 a.m.

And as a woman passing by the soup kitchen mentioned to me (rather bitterly), photographing people in line at a soup kitchen brings up an interesting ethical question: when is it OK to take someone's photo without their permission?

The answer to that question is complex. There is, of course, a very easy answer to the question of legality: if you're in public and your subject is in public, you can pretty much just go ahead and shoot it (with a few exceptions). But on which side of the ethical line would you find yourself while shooting a dying man, a cancer patient, or homeless people without their permission? I think the answer is different on a case-by-case basis.

For example, I didn't feel like the photo for today's word intruded on someone's privacy - not the sort of privacy you find while in your own home per se, but the "personal bubble," borderline harassment type. In cases where I expect my presence while taking someone's photo will affect their physical or mental being, I tend to talk to them in the first place; permission often makes the photo easier to get to, especially when you want to get close and keep your subject from being visibly awkward (or angry).

I wouldn't categorize this blog as journalistic. If it was, though it might not be necessary, I might feel compelled to ask for the names of my subjects. Nor is it commercial. This blog, I think, is some sort of "art," and in that case, I don't feel I've crossed any ethical lines in today's photo.

But there are many sides to this kind of conversation. So if you've got any thoughts, please put them into the "thoughts" section at the bottom of this post, and I'd love to discuss.

In the meantime, eleemosynary is an interesting word of the day, and I'd love for you to send some photos along to me in an email!

fi⋅an⋅cée /fee-ahn-sey; fee-ahn-sey/,

2009-04-27T10:49:00.005-04:00

noun:
a woman engaged to be married; a woman to whom a man is engaged.

Doing a little something different today: I got engaged yesterday, so I'm cheating for today's word of the day! This is going to be a little more personal than the other posts, but you'll just have to deal with that.

It goes like this: yesterday, I got up at the crack of 3:30 a.m. and got Jamie, put her in the car, and told her we're going on a surprise vacation to the beach. It was pretty believable, I think, because we haven't had the same day off in months, and we had been talking about taking a few days off together.

We went down to Wrightsville Beach and made it just before the sun came up. (Fantastic planning, I must say.) We watched the sun rise, and I proposed, and luckily for me, she said yes. Though, if she hadn't said yes, I would have left her here in her pajamas.

We stayed over night in a hotel room my sister got us with her points from traveling (thanks Katie!) and we're still just hanging out today, which is why the photo for today's word is so fantastic. There's no color correction, or even cropping, because I just got engaged and I don't care that much about the photo.

Hope you're all having a great Monday! I'll be back with a real word of the day tomorrow!

gainsay \gayn-SAY; GAYN-say\,

2009-04-24T11:29:00.003-04:00

transitive verb:
1. To deny or dispute; to declare false or invalid.
2. To oppose; to contradict.

Today's word of the day was a relatively easy one. I took it right down the street at the Salvation Army. (I think I've taken enough photos of that place for this blog to start a brochure. If you're reading this, Salvation Army, and you want to pay me, give me a call.)

It's a pretty incredible day outside. There aren't any clouds in the blue sky, which can make for a pretty awesome background.

As usual, I'll be working this weekend, so I won't be posting anything. But I encourage you all to look back at previous days' words and send any photos to me that might fit. I'll update the posts with your photos, and hopefully I'll find some way to showcase them retroactively. If you've got something good, send it to me in an email!

paladin \PAL-uh-din\,

2009-04-23T11:02:00.003-04:00

noun:
1. A knight-errant; a distinguished champion of a medieval king or prince; as, the paladins of Charlemagne.
2. A champion of a cause.

I didn't find too many knights wandering the streets downtown for today's word of the day. Instead, I met one of the nicest people in Raleigh: Miss Carol.

Miss Carol apparently runs a hot dog stand on Fayetteville Street. (For those foreigners among you, Fayetteville Street is Raleigh's main strip during the day, with offices and restaurants and stuff. But at night it's fairly dead with the exception of a few little bars.) The side of her cart reads, "The Hot Dog Lady," and if she wasn't the most kind person alive, I might have inserted a dirty joke here.

I told Miss Carol that today's word of the day is paladin, and asked her what her cause would be. "Just being the best person I can be," she said. "Helping everyone get through their day."

And within the 45 seconds it took to introduce myself and take a photo, she was helping someone on the street get into the bank adjacent to her hot dog stand. That's her in the photo telling him what buttons to press to get in. And when it didn't work, she left her post to go around to the window and find someone to help.

At least four people said "Hello, Miss Carol," on their way by. Evidently she's had some effect on the people that pass her cart every morning simply by standing on the same corner, day after day, being sweet.

How refreshing; what better cause could there be?

Anyway, if you happen to see any knights roaming the streets, or even someone championing a cause, send me your paladin photos in an email so I can include them with Miss Carol. Happy Thursday!

invidious \in-VID-ee-uhs\,

2009-04-22T11:07:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Tending to provoke envy, resentment, or ill will.
2. Containing or implying a slight.
3. Envious.

Today's word of the day showcases the ridiculously sized governor's mansion on Blount Street in Raleigh. It was extremely windy today, so riding my bike was less fun than it can be. But it's also awesome outside, so I might as well get a little exercise.

Not much involved with today's photo. Shot it wider than I probably had to, but I can't stop using the 12-24. I'm obsessed. I think I have a problem. (And judging by Ronny's recent photos, I think he has the same problem.)

Today's Earth Day (and, as it so happens, also my birthday), so I'm going to quit writing for now and go out and enjoy the day! I hope you all have an excellent Earth Day, and send me some photos of invidious in an email!

peccadillo \peck-uh-DIL-oh\,

2009-04-21T12:38:00.006-04:00

noun:
A slight offense; a petty fault.

I got a bit of a new perspective for today's word of the day. I always say (or at least, I should always say) the dumber you look taking the photo, the more likely it is to come out well. In my opinion, that goes for most out-of-studio photos. Look for a different angle: get low or get up on top of something, and you're bound to find a perspective more interesting to viewers than what they can already see at eye level.

Well that's the lesson for today, anyway. I stumbled across these windows (with bricks behind them, for some reason) on Salisbury Street in Raleigh. I actually could have sworn I'd seen them somewhere else, like on cell phone camera aficionado Shawn Rocco's blog (which is awesome if you get a chance to look through it), but I couldn't find it anywhere. That said, if you happen to come across them, let me know.

It was an awesome day out, which is why I decided to hop on my bike in the first place, so it's nice to have gotten the blue sky in the photo. What you're looking at is just what I saw laying on the ground in a small parking lot.

As always, if you've got a photo for peccadillo, then send it to me in an email!

stormy petrel \STOR-mee-PET-ruhl\,

2009-04-20T10:37:00.003-04:00

noun:
1. Any of various small sea birds of the family Hydrobatidae, having dark plumage with paler underparts; also called storm petrel.
2. One who brings discord or strife, or appears at the onset of trouble.

Today's word of the day, like so many before it, describes a bird whose name doubles as a way to describe someone. It's a little strange that the guys at Dictionary.com keep picking bird words, but I won't judge.

Sadly, today's photo isn't quite what I was going for. I wanted to try my hand at an HDR photo, but since I've got to work on my usual Monday off, I won't have the time today to go gallivanting around taking pictures with a high dynamic range.

But in any case, the sky did look pretty awesome today, and the word of the day folks seemed to finally get the word to match the weather. For once.

If you've got a picture for stormy petrel, send it to me in an email. And though I may not have been clear before, you can always retroactively send a photo for any other word of the day, and I'll be happy to include it!

ephemeral \ih-FEM-er-ul\,

2009-04-17T14:06:00.008-04:00

adjective:
Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only.

In the true fashion of 12-year-olds stuck in taller-but-just-as-squirrely men's bodies, friend Kevin and I set off a firecracker in my house for today's word of the day.

I should probably publicly apologize to Josh, as we set the firecracker off in my "studio," which shares a wall with his room. He may or may not have been sleeping at the time, and if he was, it made for a less than enjoyable awakening.

To be sure I would capture the small but extremely loud explosion, I brought the lights down for a 15-second exposure, which is why you can see both the sparks from the fuse as well as the light from the explosion. Kevin was standing by with a glass of water for safety (as if that would have done anything when I lost a finger).

As always, I won't be posting anything this weekend. But if you've got any photos for ephemeral, send it to me in an email!

Update: Thanks to Bryan for sending this photo of my brother with a sparkler for the word of the day. How exciting!

etiolate \EE-tee-uh-layt\,

2009-04-16T12:40:00.002-04:00

transitive verb:
1. (Botany) To bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding sunlight.

Figures that the only word of the day that involves the exclusion of sunlight falls on the only day this week without rain. But no matter, I went for a little bike ride anyway.

It took me a while to find an idea I wanted to stick with and actually follow through. What I ended up with was a long exposure (the longest I could get in the shade on a nice day like this was about four seconds), shining a flashlight on the bright leaf you see in the photo. I'm thinking about another project that may be fun with this same idea, but you'll have to wait for that.

And by the way, did you notice the fantastic lightbox that Tyler helped me put my photos into? If not, click on the photos to see what I mean.

Hopefully some of my many readers with botany backgrounds have some good photos for etiolate. If you do, send them to me in an email!

outré \oo-TRAY\,

2009-04-15T12:23:00.025-04:00

adjective:
Unconventional; eccentric; bizarre.

Today's word of the day also happens to be Pig Latin for "true" (starting the blog off right with a crappy joke today). It also made me realize just how normal so many people walking around Raleigh are.

Unfortunately, I started off the day with one shot and then a dead battery. While I was walking back to my car, however, I happened to pass a man with four-foot dreads and a cross dresser. But these things happen, and I found a harp player instead, playing for a little crowd at the farmer's market on Moore Square today.

I also happened to see Ronny out shooting, which is always a lovely experience. He was out shooting video for work, and showed me the harp player.

Shorter post today, but hopefully you've got a few photos for outré that you can send my way via email!

Update: Thanks to Jessi for sending along the first photo in weeks. It is most definitely bizarre, and quite fantastic. Keep 'em coming!

labile \LAY-byl\,

2009-04-14T11:09:00.009-04:00

adjective:
1. Open to change; apt or likely to change; adaptable.
2. Constantly or readily undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown; unstable.

I love Mondays and Tuesdays, because since I get those days off from work, I can focus on (extremely more enjoyable) photo projects and my word of the day. For today's, I went downtown looking for a construction site.

Today's project is a do-it-yourself tilt/shift lens. Similar, non-do-it-yourself lenses, like the recently released arsenal of Canon tilt/shifts, can cost over $1,000, and I haven't really got the money for anything like that. A tilt/shift lens works like any other lens, but has a very big advantage (and again, for those uninterested in the technical side of these things, go ahead and click here).

The depth of field (or, area of focus) on any regular lens attached to the camera is like a wall. That is to say, the range of focus will be parallel to your camera body. With a regular lens, that depth of field can be manipulated so that the "wall" is thinner or thicker, farther away or closer to the camera. (For more on camera basics, visit the best reference for basic camer a functions. Ever.)

With a tilt/shift lens, the lens can move independent from the camera body, allowing that "wall" to move be manipulated in ways a normal lens wouldn't allow. Now the "wall" isn't necessarily parallel to your camera body. It can be at any reasonable diagonal, which can cause severe blurriness in whatever parts of the photo you choose. It works like the "bellows" of a large-format camera.

My do-it-yourself brand of tilt/shift is a little less sharp than what I'm sure the Canon lenses look like. But the concept is there, and it works well. (I used a lot of sources for reference on this, but here's the one that I think helped the most.) The most expensive part of this project was finding a medium-format lens (I sort of regret going with the cheapest I could find: a $70 Bronica from ebay), which focuses farther from the censor than a 35mm lens, allowing me to bring it away from the camera for tilts and shifts. To connect it to the camera, I just used black cloth, a body cap with a hole in it, and a lot of gaffer tape.

Hopefully I'll be able to use this lens for more than just today's project. I hope to bring you sharper focus with the next one, but for now, go out and take some labile photos, and send them to me in an email!

susurrus \su-SUHR-uhs\,

2009-04-13T16:03:00.007-04:00

noun:
A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.

Sorry about the late post for today's word of the day. I spent a little while today working on a project for the backlight that goes along with the picture.

Thanks firstly goes to Josh and Bryan for modeling in this shot. I know you can't see their faces, but that's what makes the photo so good. (Too harsh?) It's easily done with a flash behind them, keeping all the light off their faces. This flash was actually at about half power and the aperture was small, letting only a little light in. The room was lit with a regular overhead bulb, but it has no effect with a fast shutter and a small aperture.

On the flash was a homemade "gridspot," made from a stolen sign that you would find on the side of the road (the type that politicians use for their campaigns). You can find the directions here, and they're pretty easily constructed.

The light is a reddish purple because of a piece of red saran wrap fashioned over the flash with a rubber band. I could probably afford some gels, but who needs 'em?

Hope you liked this (better late than never) word of the day. If you've got any photos for susurrus, send them to me in an email!

frisson \free-SOHN\,

2009-04-10T11:41:00.007-04:00

noun:
A moment of intense excitement; a shudder; an emotional thrill.

Today's word of the day showcases a former habit of mine that I've kicked. But this photo may be the thing that gets me back off (or is it on?) the wagon.

I did manage to win $1 with this lottery ticket (which actually cost $1 in the first place), so at least I don't feel like I got ripped off. I'm sure I'll lose the ticket before I end up back at the gas station to redeem my huge prize.

Setup was, as always, pretty simple: two lights, both through umbrellas (as I've found the missing piece to my umbrella adapter) on either side of the lottery ticket, which was just right on top of a sheet I found at the thrift store. They really do have the best props and backgrounds.

I've got to work this weekend (just like every weekend), so I won't be posting again until Monday.

But hopefully you'll all be out taking photos of frisson (though, if the past is any indicator, you probably won't). If you've got a good one, send it to me in an email!

impugn \im-PYOON\,

2009-04-09T10:16:00.006-04:00

transitive verb:
To call in question; to make insinuations against; to oppose or challenge as false; to gainsay.

Today's word of the day was a quick one. As some of you may have guessed, I am very important and often have tons of things to do.

So thankfully, Josh and Lauren were around to help with today's word. We had to roll Josh out of bed, but it made the whole thing a lot easier since he was already angry.

The lighting setup for this shot is not very complicated: two bare flashes on either side of the subject at half power, and the aperture on the camera very small to block out a good bit of the bright sunlight and put the focus on my angry subjects. We were out in the street in front of my house, which was only a little bit terrifying.

Update: I reposted this photo with a little texture over it by taking a photo of some dirt/grass/whatever and using layer mode "overlay." It's still not my best shot, but it's at least a little more interesting!

Short post today, but if you've got any photos for impugn, send them to me in an email!

chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\,

2009-04-08T11:03:00.003-04:00

adjective:
1. Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic.
2. Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic schemes.

Today's word of the day just had so many possibilities. Sadly, a small lack of time and slightly larger lack of money kept me from doing anything too elaborate, but those are ideas I'll be saving for another day.

Instead, I donned my flight gear and took to a field where I put the camera on self-timer and just took a couple flying laps around. Maybe it was chimerical, or maybe it was the wind, but I could have sworn I was really flying around out there for a little while. Of course, no one was with me to corroborate that story. So if I wasn't, I just looked like an idiot running and jumping around in a field.

It's a beautiful day for flying, so get out there and get some chimerical photos, and send them to me in an email!

nescience \NESH-uhn(t)s; NESH-ee-uhn(t)s\,

2009-04-07T11:56:00.003-04:00

noun:
Lack of knowledge or awareness; ignorance.

Today's word of the day features one of my roommates, Bryan. For those of you who may be confused about the influx of roommates I have with the name Bryan, I've only got two. Perhaps I should give you a little background about my usual models in this post.

Today's Bryan (also featured in spoonerism) moved in with us just a few months ago. He's great at Fifa '09 and sports a stylish mustache. Then, there's another Bryan (yes, both spell their names with a "y") who has lived here all along. We were roommates last year; he's a singer and designer and skinny lover (most famous work includes ululate). And then there's Josh, owner and operator of Silver Lining Brewry (based out of my kitchen). We've lived together since freshman year of college. His most important work was in inanition.

So for nescience today, I used the old Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 (from 1968-ish) featured in my very first post. It give the photo its signature ring of soft light around whatever it's "focused" on, likely because it's relatively ancient. But it give some great colors that I always enjoy.

It's beautiful out, so take some nescience photos, and send them to me in an email!

aegis \EE-jis\,

2009-04-06T10:12:00.004-04:00

noun:
4. A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Zeus.

Today's word of the day post may turn into a quick rant about how technology ruins my life, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum.

First off, I've been in cahoots with the folks from dictionary.com. I was hoping to get a word of the day a few weeks in advance to plan something fantastic for you, my many readers. But instead, they sent the words for today, tomorrow and Wednesday. It's just as well, though; I used that opportunity to shoot in an empty building down the street with my brother.

Now for why technology is terrible: after shooting last night, I plugged my card reader into the computer and lost everything. I'm still not sure why it happened, but when I went to retrieve the photos, there was nothing there. In fact, the only reason I have anything for you at all is because I downloaded a recovery software that costs $130 if you want the full-sized image back.

And that's why today's photo is so small (when you click on it). I ended up just taking a screen shot of the tiny photo in the recovery program, which is unfortunate.

And for the photo itself: it's a pretty simple, but very fun way of using light. There's a flash to the right with a softbox pointed at Steven, my brother (thanks for modeling!), and another in the back shot through an umbrella to the wall. The "bars" in the photo are streaks of light made with LED key chains. Helen and I drew them in while Steven hung out looking awesome.

Well that's it for my anti-technology post. Luckily, there wasn't much more than a few photos and the 7th Harry Potter in mp3 on the card. But hopefully it won't happen again.

As always, if you've got a photo for aegis, send it to me in an email!

longueur \long-GUR\,

2009-04-03T11:12:00.008-04:00

noun:
A dull and tedious passage in a book, play, musical composition, or the like.

This word of the day brings me right back to my high school days, when I thought everything I read was longueur. Of course, now I read only the most complicated and rambling pieces of literature.

Bryan insists that his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is neither dull nor tedious, but the title implies something different. He was already reading at the Morning Times coffee shop downtown, so there wasn't much setup involved. The windows let in a good bit of natural light, accented by the soft yellow of the restaurant's tungsten bulbs in the ceiling.

Lucky for me, the Times has free Wi-Fi, so I can still hang out a while after the photo.

A few have asked how I shot this: I was standing on a chair opposite from Bryan, holding the camera out over his head. Lots of practice shooting this way has gotten me to the point that I can usually aim pretty well without looking through the viewfinder, though it may still take a few tries. I was not hanging from the ceiling mission impossible style.

This is a tough one, but if you've got any longueur photos, send them to me in an email! As usual, I won't be posting this weekend because of work, so you should have more time to shoot and submit!

gambol \GAM-buhl\,

2009-04-02T12:31:00.003-04:00

intransitive verb:
1. To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.

Too bad this excellent word of the day fell on such a dreary, depressing, rainy day. But it's alright, because many of my friends tend to gambol even on rainy days, so it wasn't hard to convince them to go out frolicking for just a little while.

We went to the second most popular place to photograph Raleigh: Western and Salisbury, just south of downtown (the first most popular being the Boylan Street Bridge). There's a nice little grassy spot where you can frolic if you pull off the road and don't let the authorities get at you.

Today I shot with my favorite, the Tokina 12-24 f/4, but it tended to be just a little too wide that far away from town. But no worries, the girls filled the frame really well with their dancing feet. I'm starting to discover that I like to use people's feet and legs in my photos sometimes, as opposed to their faces, to provide a sort of anonymity and so that the subject isn't just a face, but the entire frame.

Hopefully some of my many readers will brave the rain to go out and do a little gamboling (not gambling), and if you do, send me your photos in an email!

jape \JAYP\,

2009-04-01T11:08:00.003-04:00

noun, verb:
1. A joke or jest.
2. A trick or prank.

The guys at dictionary.com are clearly in an April Fool's Day mood with today's word of the day. I didn't even know it was April 1 until I guessed after seeing their word.

So today, I looked online and found a magic shop down Capital Boulevard in Raleigh. When I got to the little store, there was a pudgy little man in red suspenders and a little yipping white dog, so I knew I was in the right place. I've never been in a magic shop before, but that's how I would have imagined it.

I bought that little flower for $2 and brought it back home to shoot. For lights, one flash camera left facing subject (myself) in that homemade softbox (only because I lost a piece for my other umbrella adapter) and one flash through an umbrella camera right, pointed where the water would go.

Also, did anyone note that this is the second time in as many days that I've worn a suit in the photo? Classy.

Anyhow, if you've got any April Fool's Day photos that will go with jape, send them to me in an email!

contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\,

2009-03-31T10:41:00.005-04:00

noun;
plural contretemps \-tahnz\:
An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

For those who know me best, they'd know that it's a real stretch to relate me with this word of the day. I'm very composed and not often embarrassed. Right.

The photo for today's word is a representation of something that has definitely happened to me before, and it truly is embarrassing. It was taken just outside the house, next to a yard with the three loudest dogs in history.

That beautiful looking suit I know you're wondering about is from a buy-one-get-three-free sale at Jos. A. Bank. And thanks to a graduation present, I didn't even have to buy the first one. Man, I look great.

Anyhow, if you've got a photo for contretemps, which I'm sure you do, send it along to me in an email!

ludic \LOO-dik\,

2009-03-30T11:31:00.004-04:00

adjective:
Of or relating to play; characterized by play; playful.

Today's word of the day will definitely be included immediately in my vocabulary, though I'm not sure when I'll get to use it. In any case, it made for a pretty simple and fun photo.

This makeshift basketball court is at the Salvation Army down the street. They must have thought I was a crazy person climbing the back of their hoop. It was much more difficult than I expected it to be, and I think I may have injured things that aren't necessarily appropriate to talk about on this blog, as I'd like to keep it as clean as possible.

And it must have been a funny sight to see my shaking at the top of a 10-foot hoop, crouching and struggling to look through my camera. But this made for a good, quick word of the day shot, and now I'm off to work on other photo projects. Stay tuned for more on those a little later.

In the meantime, get out there and take some ludic photos, and send them to me in an email!

feckless \FEK-lis\,

2009-03-27T10:52:00.006-04:00

adjective:
1. Ineffective; having no real worth or purpose.
2. Worthless; irresponsible; generally incompetent and ineffectual.

Today's word of the day only cost me $5, and I think the bank will refund my money if I bring them back the 500 pennies I traded for real money earlier this morning.

That's right, for today's word, I'm claiming that pennies are worthless and generally ineffective. While some are more up in arms over the silly coin than I am, I still think this article makes a good point: "Because of the soaring price of zinc, it now costs nearly a penny-and-a-half to produce a penny."

That was back in 2006. I'm no expert on zinc, but I would say that the penny deserves the description today's word of the day provided if only to express my frustration when trying to buy, well, anything at all with a pocket full of pennies.

The setup for today's photo was as easy as any other: primary light was a flash shot through an umbrella (on the left), and then another flash, bare and on low power, from the right. I used a wide lens again to make 500 pennies seem like a little bit more.

As always, I won't be posting this weekend because I'll be at work, so you can spend your weekend looking for feckless-related photos and sending them to me in an email!

propinquity \pruh-PING-kwih-tee\,

2009-03-26T11:31:00.008-04:00

noun:
1. Nearness in place; proximity.
2. Nearness in time.
3. Nearness of relation; kinship.

Hey, readers! Sorry for the delay in the photo for today's word of the day. We got everything worked out and took a picture that I'm really happy with.

There seems to be some pattern here with my feet in some of these photos. My girlfriend, Jamie, helped me with this one by painting her toenails and posing for this shot.

Two lights for this image: one is the homemade softbox set next to our feet, the other is a speedlight with a shoot-through umbrella to light the rest of the room and add a little color balance (as I still have yet to buy myself any gels). Natural light would have been good for this one, but as it was getting a little late, it seemed better to use another flash.

Again, sorry for the late post. And as always, send your photos for propinquity to me in an email!

tumult \TOO-mult; TYOO-mult\,

2009-03-25T11:53:00.003-04:00

noun:
1. The commotion or agitation of a crowd, usually accompanied with great noise, uproar, and confusion of voices; hurly-burly; noisy confusion.

For today's word of the day, I headed back to my alma mater, N.C. State. At certain times of the day, hundreds of people flood the school's Brick Yard, and today was no exception.

Today's shoot taught me two things:
1. Young people are usually more likely to let you take their picture, especially on a college campus.
2. I need to clean my lens. Badly.

The girl in the photo (whose name, I remember, started with a T, but that's all I remember) actually asked if I needed someone to be my subject. And as I had planned to take photos of my own knees, I was happy for the help.

I asked her to stand still as I let the shutter open for about 1/6 of a second. (By bringing the aperture up as far as it will go, it's only really possible on a cloudy day like today, or with a neutral density filter.) This photo is actually the end result of two photos because it added more to the crowd. People of all ages seem to "courteously" avoid the backgrounds of your photos, even if you want them in it (which is sometimes hard to communicate).

So many crowds to shoot, I'm sure you'll all have a photo or two to contribute to tumult. If you do, send it to me in an email!

thaumaturgy \THAW-muh-tuhr-jee\,

2009-03-24T16:14:00.003-04:00

noun:
The performance of miracles or magic.

Not a bad word of the day today. I think this project is really expanding my vocabulary.

I used this word to do a quick series on some of the 234,108,846,128 churches around Raleigh. I took a trip down the street to Southeastern Camera, where I rented a 15mm fisheye lens for the day.

Truthfully, I was a little disappointed with the lens, probably because of my camera's crop factor. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, all non-full-frame SLRs crop the image to some degree because the small censor can't capture the entire image. On my camera, the multiplier for that crop is 1.6 (so, a 10mm lens actually shoots at 16mm on my camera).

Because of that, the 15mm fisheye didn't have the same amount of distortion it would on a full-frame camera (say, a Canon 5D or 35mm film body). But it did do the job, and I'm still happy to have gotten to shoot with it.

As always, if you've got a good photo to go along with thaumaturgy, send it to me in an email!

spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\,

2009-03-23T16:03:00.003-04:00

noun:
The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.

Spoonerism? Really? I think someone at Dictionary.com is messing with me with this word of the day. But it's just as well, because I was able to find a good example of a spoonerism and have a little bit of fun with it.

Light a fire.
Fight a liar.

The first (creepy but awesome) picture is of a doll I found in a thrift store this morning set aflame. And for the second photo, a lot of thanks has to go to my brother, who let me experiment with blood and lights even though it was probably fairly uncomfortable.

The setup for the first is just a flash to Bryan's left as an opposing source of light to both the fire and the sun. The second shot has one flash close to the subjects on the right and another (though it didn't really show up) to their left and behind. In a studio setting, that flash would have provided a rim light around them both, but outside it sadly didn't make much of a difference.

All the same, to join in, send your spoonerism photo to me in an email, and have a good Monday!

diatribe \DAHY-uh-trahyb\,

2009-03-20T11:48:00.004-04:00

noun:
a bitter verbal attack or speech

Dearest readers:
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'd like to let you all know that I've removed the photo for this word of the day. It's not because my models, Bradley and Susannah, were any less than phenomenal. (On the contrary, they really were fantastic.) I removed the day's photo because I didn't like it, and I didn't think it represented me well as a photographer.

Sorry for cheating, everyone, but stay tuned for more words. In the meantime if you'd like to contribute to diatribe, send me an email!

florid \FLOR-id\,

2009-03-19T11:49:00.004-04:00

adjective:
1. Flushed with red; of a lively reddish color.
2. Excessively ornate; flowery; as, "a florid style; florid eloquence."

For some reason, today's word of the day took a long time to get finished. Hours of bike riding around Raleigh, and I still ended up with a photo that doesn't match the definition as well as it probably should.

In the end, though, I chose this photo because I liked it for itself (as opposed to liking it for its ability to fit with the definition well). I do find the dome of the capital building downtown to be ornate, but excessive? Maybe not; and it certainly isn't flushed with red.

But I do like the way the dome seems to bend inwards and to the left towards the lamp from the perspective of this photo. And I'm happy with the contrast the daylight left me with. Overall, I may not have completed the assignment, but I'm definitely happy with the photo that I ended up with.

Hopefully others of you will be able to contribute photos that better fit with the definition of florid, but I would accept anything even remotely related. Just send it to me in an email!

Update:

Image contributed by Bryan Costello, who went shooting with me this morning around Raleigh. Incidentally, his submission was actually taken by the camera on his phone, which is reminiscent of this News and Observer photographer's favorite medium.

elucidate \ih-LOO-si-dayt\,

2009-03-18T12:36:00.008-04:00

transitive verb:
To make clear or manifest; to render more intelligible; to illustrate; as, an example will elucidate the subject.

One last word of the day during my dad's visit to Raleigh. It was a pretty simple one; we shot through a 55mm f/1.2 (which means the aperture on that lens is extremely wide open, and that's why we can see so much through the lens).

To shoot, we went to probably the most popular place to take a photo of the city. It's the Boylan Street Bridge, outside the newly opened Boylan Street Brewpub, (which is pretty good, but I expect it'll be even better when the weather warms up and people can sit outside).

Not too much complication in today's word, so it didn't take long. Shot with Canon 10D and Sigma 28-70 f/2.8, probably the most versatile lens in my meager arsenal.

Shorter post today - I hope some of you have a good shot for elucidate, and if you do, go ahead and send it to me in an email. Have a good Tuesday!

libation \ly-BAY-shun\,

2009-03-17T10:42:00.003-04:00

noun:
1. The act of pouring a liquid (usually wine) either on the ground or on a victim in sacrifice to some deity; also, the wine or liquid thus poured out.
2. A beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage.
3. An act or instance of drinking.

Pour one out for my homies for this word of the day.

Sadly, it's day six of crappy weather outside, which means more indoor photo time. This one was done pretty simply with a piece of glass over a black backdrop. ("Backdrop," in this case, means long piece of stiff fabric from Wal-Mart.)

We (including myself and photo assistants Dad and Bryan) started off using apple juice as the subject so that it would look more like a 40. But in seeing that it was almost perfectly clear upon pouring it out, and that it was making the front of my lens sticky, we switched to water.

The setup was fairly simple: one light directly to the left of the subject, and one to the right and behind. (Since the subject was clear, of course, it showed right through.) The glass was from my coffee table, and the equipment is all the same bobo stuff I've been ranting about this entire time.

Of course, as always, get to work on your photos for libation and send them to me in an email to be included.

cormorant \KOR-mur-unt; -muh-rant\,

2009-03-16T16:05:00.006-04:00

noun:
1. Any species of Phalacrocorax, a genus of sea birds having a sac under the beak; the shag. Cormorants devour fish voraciously, and have become the emblem of gluttony. They are generally black, and hence are called sea ravens, and coalgeese.
2. A gluttonous, greedy, or rapacious person.

What a fantastic word of the day to use while my dad is in Raleigh visiting! No, he's not a species of Phalacrocorax, nor is he gluttonous or greedy. But it is definitely fun to smear ketchup and mustard on his face.

That's right, my father is the dignified man in the photo stuffing his face full of Cookout hamburgers. (A dozen burgers for $12? Yes, please.) Thanks also to Bryan for helping me do the smearing and setup.

It was all done in the same small "studio" upstairs in my house, with the homemade softbox and a flash in the background to light the $2.99 wallpaper we found this morning at the thrift store. The sheet that covered that TV tray table was also from the thrift store. All in all, a very good match.

In retrospect, I would have changed the way we hung the wallpaper to be vertical instead of horizontal - it's definitely too distracting. In real life, I may have worked a little harder on the wallpaper part, but I'm still pretty happy with having soaked my dad in condiments.

So there it is. And if you've got any photos to add for cormorant, just shoot me an email with your photos attached. Happy Monday!

inanition \in-uh-NISH-uhn\,

2009-03-13T10:29:00.009-04:00

noun:
1. The condition or quality of being empty.
2. Exhaustion, as from lack of nourishment.
3. Lack of vitality or spirit.

Update: I call mulligan

Dear readers:
The original photo for today's word was terrible, and it bothered me all day. I have to apologize, but I'm cheating. This is photo #2 for today, since the first one was crap. Hopefully I won't lose too much credibility for this situation, but all the same, I think this one is better.

As I said in the previous post from today: "As it's miserable outside today, I was lucky to have a nice, dry, indoor word of the day to work off of. And just as lucky was the fact that this word described the inside of my refrigerator perfectly."

And it's true. My refrigerator is close to that desolate.

(Thanks to roommate Josh for use of his likeness.)

I used the same technique of attaching a blue cloth to the top of a flash via rubber band (in the place of a gel set) and flashed from the bottom. There was also a flash on top of the camera inside the fridge, as my fridge doesn't have a light in it. (Are you starting to see how poor I am?)

Since it was dark, I let the shutter go for about a second and used the flash from below by pressing the test button. Incidentally, light from below often looks unnatural or creepy. But in this case, the flash from the floor was just a fill light, and the prominence of the flash inside the fridge balanced it out pretty well.

Again, sorry for cheating a little today. I probably won't be posting this weekend as I have to work, but if you've got a good photo for inanition, send it my way in an email!

Update #2:

One more from Ronny Nause for inanition. His are great, but I would love some contributions from the rest of you!

tetchy \TECH-ee\,

2009-03-12T10:00:00.014-04:00

adjective:
Peevish; testy; irritable.

Today's word was a bit of a tough one. Short of cutting someone off in the car and turning around to capture their mean looks and rude hand gestures, I wasn't sure how I would portray someone's irritability. Luckily, the people of Raleigh are already angry when you stop them on the street to take a photo, so it worked out in my favor (this time).

Joking aside, people were actually pretty receptive to me today. I think the ratio of Nos to Yeses was probably about two to one, which is a winning record. Usually people are less than ecstatic to see me wandering up to them, lugging a big camera with a bright yellow tie for a strap.

(Why does #6 look like he's smiling? Way to ruin the effect.)

But today's subjects were very nice - one even asked if I would take his picture for him - so that made the whole thing a lot easier.

Gear (and today's post will pretty much exhaust this section)
Today I shot with my very favorite lens: it's a Tokina 12-24 f/4, which means it's really wide and picks up a bit of distortion towards the corners. It's tough to stop using it once you've started, just because it allows for a little more fun in composition. Definitely not the best portrait lens in terms of photojournalism or the like, but it worked alright for today.

As always, if you have a good shot for tetchy, send it to me in an email.

ululate \UL-yuh-layt; YOOL-\,

2009-03-11T20:38:00.010-04:00

intransitive verb:
To howl, as a dog or a wolf; to wail; as, ululating jackals.

Busy day today, but it seems that I've managed to take advantage of this relatively awesome word of the day. I had to head to Charlotte for work (which was some particularly good Harry Potter on tape time - yeah, I said it), so I had limited time to get it finished up, but I think it turned out pretty well.

(Thanks to roommate Bryan for his screaming face.)

And as I was a little short on time, I couldn't find a pack of wolves or jackals. I thought it might be fun to take a picture of a crying baby for this word of the day, but it seemed a bit too ambitious to think I could persuade new parents to let me take photos of their sad child.

So I turned today into a lighting project.

To get the effect I wanted, I made my own softbox, which was only about a 45-minute project. I won't bog my many fans down with the step-by-step directions as they're plastered all over the internet, but I will give you this picture of the setup. It's made up of about 90 percent duct tape. The other 10 percent is made of some leftover matte board, a ripped up T-shirt and, on the inside, tin foil.

If you've got any photos of wolves (or, of course, anything loosely related to ululate), send me a quick email!

pedestrian \puh-DES-tree-uhn\,

2009-03-10T11:09:00.011-04:00

noun, adjective:
1. a person who gets about on foot; walker

adjective:
1. going on foot; walking
2. without imagination; dull

Another pretty straightforward word of the day photo assignment today. I really enjoy taking pictures of people in public, but they often don't like having themselves photographed. I think people feel like a photo might be incriminating or somehow show them in a bad light (ridiculous).

And that's why today's photo features my own foot as the subject.

Just as a fun legal note, it's not illegal to take pictures of people out in public, even if they ask you not to (and that extends to adults, children, men, women and whoever), though it certainly can be pretty rude. It's also never illegal to take a picture from a public sidewalk or street, though there is a reasonable expectation of privacy for people in, say, the bathroom.

Another important note: it's never OK for a policeman or anyone else to confiscate your gear at any time. They can't ask you to stop taking photos or take your film or memory card or anything like that.

One guy was recently arrested for unauthorized photography - a charge that doesn't exist - while taking pictures of a train, but the charges were dropped after they realized they weren't real.

All that said, try not to give photographers a bad name by being a jerk. I tend to ask people first and let them be if they say no.

Don't forget to send your photo of pedestrian by email if you want to join in the fun!

Update:
Another photo submitted by Ronny Nause for pedestrian, taken by one of these awesome little cameras.

incisive \in-SAHY-siv\,

2009-03-09T12:47:00.011-04:00

adjective:
1. penetrating; cutting; biting; trenchant

Firstly, I should apologize to my many loyal readers: I'm sure you were quite befuddled when you came to my site this weekend as you normally do, first thing after waking up. You had only this blog on your mind, and you were disappointed to find out that, because my work schedule is ridiculous and I have to work Saturdays and Sundays, I probably won't be doing this much on the weekends.

But don't let that get you down. Since I get Mondays off, I had some extra time to work on today's word. I semi-stole the idea from another photo of nails in wood (which I would show you if I remembered where I had seen it), though I'm sure it wasn't quite as brilliant as this masterpiece.

I headed over to Home Depot to get a little block of wood, and they gave it to me for free out of the goodness of their hearts. (Forever indebted to Home Depot, I will never return to Lowes.)

Setup (and tips for cheap lighting)
This was the fun part. In lieu of any actual professional equipment, I find it helpful to be able to construct a studio out of whatever might be lying around. I bought two flashes a while ago: a used Canon 420ez that may be on its last legs and a Nikon SB 600. The Nikon is definitely a better flash; it's more powerful and more easy to use. But, as I shoot Canon, I can only use it on full manual (which means I only use it in a "studio" setting).

Throw in a couple of Cactus flash triggers for under $50 and a couple stands, and you've got yourself a "studio." Today I used a boom stand for a microphone, which allowed me to place the light directly over the subject. Black in the background, and white (though it didn't show in the photo) under the block of wood. (And the "stand" underneath the subject today was just two drums, instead of the usual TV tray table I like to use.)

All in all, the lighting setup costs between $400 and $500. Though it's not up to the standard of most professionals, it works well for me because of, well, poverty.

As always, send your incisive photos to me by email to join in. Have a wonderful Monday!

martial \MAHR-shuhl\,

2009-03-06T10:48:00.012-05:00

adjective:
suitable or used for war; warlike

Today's word was pretty straightforward, which I'm pretty stoked about because I didn't get much sleep last night due to the midnight showing of this awesome film.

A quick ride downtown was all I needed, and outside the courthouse I found my subject.

Clearly this man was made for war.

Gear for today
Same ol' Canon 10D, this time with a Sigma 28-70 f/2.8, which was my first lens. It's pretty fast and pretty sharp, but when it focuses, it sounds a bit like a jet liner.

Short post today, but if you'd like to add to the word of the day with a photo, send me an email.

Update: email from Ronny Nause had this submission for martial. He took this shot while in Washington, D.C. covering inauguration for News 14.

For my first trick

2009-03-05T20:09:00.013-05:00

Word of the day

As an exercise in quasi-creativity (and also an exercise in getting myself out of bed before 11 each morning), I hope to spend most mornings taking the word of the day from dictionary.com and going out in search of a photo to correspond to it. It's pretty likely that I won't make it out of bed in time every day to find a good photo, but I'll do my best to keep it going if only to keep myself from lying in bed every day, getting fat.

I expect that many words will have to be matched up with a less-than-literal interpretation, but use your imagination and I'm sure you can make the stretch.

I would also encourage what I anticipate to be my many, many followers to join in by submitting their own photos that follow the theme. Just send your best images to rfisherphotos@gmail.com, and if they're great (and I'm sure they will be great), I'll post them up with mine (which may be less great).

Today's word:
parry \PAR-ee\,
verb:
1. to ward off; turn aside (as a thrust or weapon)
noun:
1. the act of warding off

As I rode my bike around Raleigh this morning in search of a streetside fencing match, I tried to imagine what else might go along with the word. And there it was:

Gear and whatsuch:
I shoot a Canon 10D, which is the 2003 version of the now popular 40D and 50D, which are much, much better. While it became obsolete almost immediately, it still takes photos, and that's what's important.

For this particular polaroid-looking photo to the left, I used a lens I bought from an old man on Craigslist.

(For those of you who hate the tech talk, click here instead of reading on.)

The lens is a Canon FL 55mm f/1.2, circa 1968. It came in a whole bag of old gear the man was getting rid of for $50, so I went ahead and snatched it up.

The FL and FD lenses sported bayonet mounts, so I had to find an adapter (which only took a 10-minute ebay search, despite what the pompous, tech-savvy-but-fully-devoid-of-happiness former photographers at Peace Camera told me).

Probably because the lens is so old, the light tends to bounce and diffuse on the way in, which gives it a strange look. Sometimes I think it adds character. Sometimes I think it ruins the photo.

The lens and I have a very love-hate relationship.

In any case, I hope you, my many fans, have enjoyed the first entry of what I'm sure will blossom into a brilliant and extensively lucrative blog. If you'd like to add to the parry category, just send an email. Thanks for reading!

Tilt and shift.

2001-01-01T01:01:00.008-05:00

This homemade tilt-shift lens allows the user to manipulate the lens' plane of focus and compose photos in an unconventional way. On a normal, static lens, the plane of focus is always perpendicular to the camera, focusing on a particular distance from the lens.

But the tilt-shift or bellows system lets you adjust the angle of the lens with the camera, which frees the plane of focus to move diagonally in relation to the photographer. That way, objects at varying distances can be in focus, while others at the same distance are blurred.

The result can give the photographer control over where the viewer's eye goes in the photo by controlling the focus and the degree of sharpness.

My tilt-shift was made with the following ingredients in addition to super glue and gaffer tape:

• 1 medium format lens: I used a medium format lens instead of a 35mm lens because (a) it focuses farther from the camera so that I can move it easily, and (b) the image circle is bigger, so the light projected from it will cover the whole frame.

• 1 body cap hollowed out so I can easily mount the lens

• Some dryer tube and a T-shirt sleeve to act as the bellows and keep excess light out.

Why do some photos look miniature?

Usually, an image's depth of field depends on (i) the lens' focal length, (ii) the aperture, and (iii) the camera's distance from the subject. When you shoot a wide photo like a landscape, you usually use a wide-ish lens and you're far from the subject, meaning you'll have a very large depth of field with almost everything in focus.

When you shoot something close up, however, the depth of field gets very small, so some things are very sharp while others are out of focus.

Shooting a landscape with the tilt-shift gives the impression that you're close up because of the strange depth of field that you would normally only get with a longer lens close to the subject (like you would see if you were shooting a model town, for example).

New through old.

2001-01-01T01:01:00.007-05:00

These square photos came from a "through the viewfinder" idea I took from friend and excellent photographer Tim Broyer. Tim brought me a Kodak Duaflex II, a medium format twin lens reflex camera from the early 1950s.

The idea is to shoot down through the old camera's square viewfinder. That way, I can create a digital image with the old and worn feel of this classic camera (sans Photoshop).

To make shooting simpler, I mounted the two cameras together for some semblance of portability using a piece of a boom stand from a drum set and two lighting umbrella adapters.

I put a piece of dryer tube and a black shirt sleeve between the two to block out extra light. And of course, there was much super glue and gaffer tape.

Surround-sound photos

2001-01-01T01:01:00.004-05:00

These double shots are from a Nimslo 3D stereo camera. Stereo cameras have two or more lenses and shoot simultaneously (or, in the case of the four-lens Nimslo, one quickly after another).

Stereo cameras have been around for a while. When printed side-by-side and viewed through a specially designed viewing apparatus, the image appears to be three-dimensional because of the minutely offset lenses.

For me, the Nimslo was ideal for non-3D shooting because of the very small distinctions in the lenses. They shoot just a fraction of a second apart and at angles of only a little difference. The result is two very similar but discrete images that show what each eye may see separately.

These photos were all done on 35mm black and white film, so unfortunately I don't have any digital images to add to this post!