Arrival of the L

I love capturing motion and stillness in one frame and shooting underground in a subway station is perfect because: low light, fast moving train with bright internal lights, waiting passengers.
I think I took this in one of the stations under State Street, Chicago.

Have a great time at the blog awards in Dublin tonight!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/8s

And the winner of the best photo blog category is..

Sorry, I don’t know! It might be this blog, or it might be any of a number of other excellent blogs shortlisted a few weeks ago.
The blog awards are on tomorrow night in Dublin but unfortunately I won’t be there.
There isn’t much that would keep me away but right now I’d prefer to be in Cork and at home. It’s a happy reason, so don’t worry! I’ll reveal all in time!

Fixing up the Apple Store

Workers pictured in the Apple Store Magnificent Mile, Chicago.
The top of the image is the front and side of the store. This is the store in which I was asked not take photos in 2003!

Small Figures

Small figures run for cover to get out of the downpour.
You’ll be glad to hear that this is the last of my shots from this square for the time being!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/40s

Not happy in the rain

Moments after my previous shot another group ran for cover from the downpour!
Definitely not “singing in the rain” this morning!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/40s

Grab your bag and run!

I’m not sure where this is. We sheltered from a very heavy rain storm and watched while people ran for cover from all over.
Thankfully the storm didn’t last too long and I wandered to Millennium Park!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 55mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/6s

Old Navy’s Fred

If you wander into the Old Navy Store on State Street in Chicago you may bump into Fred. He has worked there for years, he’s very patient, nice and accommodating and did his level best to help us get the best bargains while shopping!
This isn’t a great photo, it was a candid photo taken in bad light and the focus settled on the background but I had to include him as a nice memory of our trip.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/15s

Please don’t feed the pigeons

The sign obviously hasn’t worked!
This was on South Wabash, Chicago around the same time this photo was taken.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/60s

Feeding The Duck

Urban ducks and wild fowl are luckier than their country brethren. People think they are cute and feed them!
This is the same duck I posted before at the Crown Fountains, Chicago.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/80s

Faking Depth of Field

First it was lomo, then cross-processing, and now the latest craze among online photographers seems to be making their photos look like miniture models.
A common side-effect of macro photography is a shallow depth of field (DOF) which means that only a small portion of the scene is in focus. Luckily this effect is very easy to emulate and here’s a tutorial to show you how. Pay attention to Christopher’s advise about what sort of shots work well! You could also buy a Len Baby which does a similar job and more!
Daily Dose of Imagery has a very good example of the “fake model” photo. He blurred the foreground and background, but some middle distance objects are in focus and intersect the blurred area. Nicely done.

Even after an effect becomes stale and overused online, there’s always the print world. People seem to like that sort of stuff all the time!

Smile Please! You’re on Camera!

Pictured by the Crown Fountains, Chicago. The guy in the middle was doing handstands in the water earlier and they were having a great time!
He’s also pictured in this photo looking at one of the fountains!

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/30s