Project 365: July 10, 2008

Shelf cloud approaching, as seen from my bedroom window (facing the back yard).

The accompanying storm missed me, for the most part, but this cloud passing over was phenomenal!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Project 365: May 26, 2008

A pretty wicked thunderstorm brewing in the distance... missed my area.  

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Project 365: April 25, 2008

For a brief few moments this afternoon, I got to see a rainbow. It wasn't very intense, and it only lasted maybe 2 minutes - just long enough for me to snap a shot. Too bad I only had my beat up old point-n-shoot with me. Still, it was nice. I haven't seen a rainbow in a while.

Project 365: April 19, 2008

You know what they say - April showers...

Project 365: April 12, 2008

The product of the lab in my meteorology class today. (We had to draw a warm front, and a cartoon strip to illustrate the effects).

Project 365: March 18, 2008

Learning about supercell thunderstorms at tonight's Skywarn Severe Weather Spotter Training from the National Weather Service. I'm officially now a trained spotter :) w00t! Bring it on, spring!

Project 365: Jan 19, 2008

It's friggin cold. I took this around 1:30pm. By evening, the actual temp was below zero.

Tips for Shooting Snow

It's that time of year! Photodoto has some tips for shooting snow:

Cameras are designed to expose for a nice, even medium grey. Grey, not white. So snow throws off the camera’s metering system, which tries to make the snow a nice shade of grey.

To compensate, you need to add light, which may seem counterintuitive on a bright day:

• If you are using a camera with a snow setting, use it.
• If you are using a camera without one, use exposure compensation to add one to one-and-a-half stops in the plus direction.
• If you are using a manual camera, do one of two things. Either use a spot meter to measure the actual light on a bright spot in the snow or else open the aperture one or more stops beyond what your averaging internal meter suggests.

More great tips: Perk up photos of snowy scenes with these simple and practical tips - by photodoto

Yes, this is a half-assed attempt at my Project 365 photo, as it's been a long week at work and I'm just beat - but it does represent an undeniable truth. Tonight is the last night of relative warmth we'll have for a little bit here in Chicago. This weekend's nighttime highs will be below zero, with daytime highs in the single digits and wind chills reaching 30 below. By this time tomorrow, I'll likely be looking at this photo, longing for 12 degrees F.

Project 365: Jan 8, 2008

"Raindrops on a window at night"


We're on the back end of a spell of record-breaking warmth here in Chicago. It's currently 37 degrees F and falling. This is likely the last rain we'll see here for a while. It may even change over to snow tonight.

This photo was taken out my office bedroom window with my 50mm prime lens set wide open to f/1.8. The camera is on a tripod, about 8 inches from the window. I turned off all of the lights in the house then used a flashlight to "paint" light onto the window. I increased the blacks and contrast in Photoshop to get rid of some hazy light remnants, and voila. This shot was made with a 10 second exposure.

Birds

I'm still waiting anxiously for Santa to bring my new spotting scope and dSLR adapter! :)

In the meantime, I've been getting some winter bird shots:


White crowned sparrow, I think?


Napping Mourning Dove


The hawk that refuses to be identified. Cooper's? Sharp shinned?


European Starling


Slate colored dark eyed junco, during an ice storm


Speaking of the ice storm...