beantownfstop

The moon (at 600mm)

beantownfstop — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:50:25 +0000

I took some photos of the full moon the other night with my 300mm lens and a 2x teleconverter. Enjoy!
(make sure to check out the last one in file size to see the cool color rings around the moon)

Tagged: full moon

Fisheye Fun At The Dog Park

beantownfstop — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:05:45 +0000

I took my fisheye lens over to Sheepfold Park just to have some fun with the dogs this weekend. All of these shots were taken by just holding the camera way down around my ankles and taking random shots whenever the dogs got real close. Enjoy!

Hudson-Chester Granite Quarry

beantownfstop — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:06:11 +0000

I made my way out to western MA the other day to meet up with my buddy Jim. He took me to an old granite quarry that wasn’t too far from where he lives. The place was apparantly abandoned in the 1960′s, with a number of mechanical devices (trucks, air-compressors, etc.) just left behind. I made sure to bring my camera gear and a couple flashes. We had a really fun time inspecting all the old machinery. Here are some of the better photos from the trip:

Maki at Winthrop Beach

beantownfstop — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:40:17 +0000

Some recent pics

beantownfstop — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:28:45 +0000

BOOB (Beautiful Old Orchard Beach)

beantownfstop — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:56:03 +0000

This past weekend, we went up to Maine to hang out with friends. My best friend has a cottage one house away from the beach, and only about a half mile away from the center of town…it’s awesome!

I didn’t bring my good camera for this trip, but instead just packed my point-n-shoot. I knew I wasn’t going to be up there for very long and that I would be spending my time with friends (not taking pictures). But I did manage to wake up one morning for the sunrise…I just couldn’t resist, and I had to walk the dog anyway!

And here is just an extra picture that I took while we were all hanging out on the beach. This is my best friend’s daughter. She is so adorable. I really like this picture because it looks so much like she was actually trying to pose for the camera.

Sunrise in Medford

beantownfstop — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:13:58 +0000

I recently purchased a 300mm lens, and finally got the chance to get out and use it.

The plan was to wake up for sunrise, and try taking photos of birds (seagulls, cranes, and swans) on Mystic River. On my daily commute to work, the T passes over the river, and I always see cranes and swans swimming amongst the lily pads. It seemed like something that would be fun to watch, and I felt that I could end up with some good shots.

I arrived before sunrise, and set up my tripod. I anxiously watched and waited…for something, anything. A swan did eventually show up, but was too far out of reach (even for this massive lens). I did end up getting a few pictures of some seagulls as they were taking off and landing, but none of them were any good in the end. They were either blurry or just plain boring.

I was able to take full advantage of the sunrise however, and ended up with a few really nice zoomed-in images of the glowing sun and the surrounding clouds. The sunrise itself wasn’t spectacular by any means, but with a small amount of post-processing (lowering the exposure and increasing the blacks), I was able to get them looking very exciting! Which one is your favorite?

Backyard

beantownfstop — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:12:34 +0000

Brought the camera out back the other day while it was nice and cloudy (and I was really bored inside). I started off taking some random pictures of different textures just to add to my collection in case I need them some day. But that soon became quite boring, and I moved on to find other weird things in the yard that were “shape”ly.

Zoo Trip

beantownfstop — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:10:23 +0000

I always try to get to the zoo at least once a year. This year, I’ve now already gone twice! Last weekend I went to the Stone Zoo for the first time. It was ok, but very small…and it was very difficult to take pictures of the animals because the cage wiring was large compared to the amount of room the animals had (i.e. the animals were too close to the fence for me to focus beyond the fencing). I did manage to get a couple good ones though. Check out the Road Runner! I think that shot is so cool; I just love how the heat waves helped to capture the moment and really make the picture look almost like a pan shot.

One of the big disappointments of this trip was that it was too hot for many of the animals to be out and about. We picked a hot day, and also went right around noon. Why is it that noon on a hot day is so convenient for going to the zoo? It seems like that’s the time we end up going every year, and I just can’t escape it!

I ended up having a vacation day today, but Audrey was working. So I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go to a much better zoo by myself. This way I wouldn’t be rushed, and could sit around for a long while just watching the animals…and hopefully get some better shots. So I tried getting up nice and early, for a vacation day that is, and take the bike over to Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon. I really enjoy going to this zoo every year. It’s good size and has a lot of different animals. And, my favorite part of all…it has a petting zoo! I don’t know what it is, but I just have so much fun at petting zoos…they make me feel like a kid again!

Click here to see the rest of the Southwick’s Zoo photos.

Backyard Peonies

beantownfstop — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:29:18 +0000

Today I played around with using a single flash to take photos of outside flowers in the middle of the day (cloudy but still a bit bright). I kept the shutter speed fast enough to keep out the daylight so that all the light would be coming solely from my flash. I used my camera’s on-board flash in commander-only mode to trigger an off-camera flash that I was holding off to the side. I also had a Lumiquest Softbox iii attached to the off-camera flash to help soften and spread out the light. I didn’t bother to use a tripod because the flash was able to make the pictures still/sharp enough. Let me know what you think.