Monday, November 23, 2009

November Sunrise


What can one say to explain this? Just the good fortune, although it didn't seem so at the time, of being woken early. In all fairness, Sylvie saw it first and may well have grabbed an even better picture of this stunning dawn view. ISO 1600 on the 5D Mark II, and given I didn't have the tripod at the ready, it's handheld at f/2.2 and 1/40 sec with a 50mm.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Poolside Precision

A shot taken from the balcony of a sixth floor room at the Royal Sands resort in Cancun. There was something in the combination of colors and shadows that drew me to frame the shot this way. The tongues of shadow from the lounges, the green of the palm tree and the blue of the pool all stood out nicely in the available lighting. I also like the emptiness - it's devoid of people but you can feel the preparedness for the next day's sun-seekers. It's orderliness is nearly clinical and I suppose, given the ubiquity of resort design, that it could actually be a shot from almost any beachside hotel in the world. It's that orderliness that draws my eye to it, especially given what the typical resort pool looks like on an average afternoon - strewn with towels and skewed lounges, with their backrests at various angles, and the detritus of flip flops, hats, clothes, drinks and bags. The 40D with a 50mm at ISO 400 and 1/3 sec.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Meeting Bruno or Eating Bruno?

A quick shot of our new kitten, Bruno, being shadowed by the incumbent feline, Sasso. Sass has actually adapted to the new arrival remarkably well. Some hissing, a lot of jumping around each other. But no malice, just a ton of curiosity. Not that this shot would support that assumption right? It looks like the furry enforcer in the background is having a good roar at the carpetbagger. Of course, it's just the final stages of a yawn, not a scary statement of intent or rejection. Still, looks nice and dramatic all the same. At 800 ISO with a 40D at f/5.0 and 1/60 sec with a 24-105mm f/4.