Another Friday night at Pickwick's Pub

Day 63: Another Friday night at Pickwick's Pub, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Friday night, my husband and I had a wonderful night listening to Bob Cowsill and visiting with friends at a local pub. But wait, who's that with Bob? She was one of the patrons last night who got up and sang a few songs and harmonized on some others.

Date Taken: March 4, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Days 59-62

Oops, I haven't updated this in few days so rather than doing separate posts, I'll add a few pictures to one post.

Sounds of Sirens:

The Daily Shoot assignment for the day was Make a photograph illustrating a sound that catches your ear today. As I was driving to pick up my daughter from a play rehearsal I couldn't help but notice the sound of the traffic and then even more noticeably the sound of two fire engines with sirens blaring and lights flashing as they went by. I pulled over (which is more than most of the cars bothered to do), grabbed my iPod Touch (since I had no camera in the car) and took the shot.

Date Taken: February 28, 2011
Camera: Apple iPod touch
Exposure: 1/432
Aperture: f/2.4
Focal Length: 3.9 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Flash: No flash

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Remnants of Valentines' Day:

These balloons were part of my daughter's Valentines' gift and they're in the office of our home. Nemo, our cat, is very afraid of them. If you want Nemo out of the room, all you have to do is move the balloons even slightest bit and he's out of the room like a flash!

Date Taken: March 1, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

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World Spelling Day:

Every year in the Computer Lab, my students take part in World Math Day. This year not only was there a math day but there was a World Spelling Day and again, I had students take part. This photo was taken as my 6th grade class competed in this world-wide event.

Date Taken: March 2, 2011
Camera: Hipstamatic 201
Software: Roboto Glitter Lens, Blanko Film, No Flash

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My Shadow:

The Daily Shoot assignment for the day was Make a photograph that features a shadow as your subject today. I took a few shots with my iPod Touch at the end of the school day and this was the one I liked the best so it's my shot of the day. And, yes, unfortunately, that is my shadow.

Date Taken: March 2, 2011
Camera: Hipstamatic 201
Software: Lucifer VI Lens, Ina's 1969 Film, No Flash

2/3 of the Rhythm Section

Day 51: 2/3 of the Rhythm Section, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Band nights with Bob Cowsill and Friends is always a good time. The band lineup can vary slighly from month to month and this month's band included: Bob Cowsill (guitar & vocals), John Cowsill (drums & vocals), Robby Scharf (bass & vocals) & Timmy Bryson (lead guitar & vocals). The really fun part about band nights is the potential for guest artists to show up and sit in and this month was no exception with: Nelson Bragg helping out on tambourine for most of the night, Rick Rosas sitting in on bass for a few numbers and Vicki Peterson, who happens to be married to John Cowsill, adding vocals to The Boxer.

This photo showcases Robby Scharf and one of the guest artists, Nelson Bragg, who together with John Cowsill were a wonderful rhythm section for the night! The photo is in black & white not only because I like black & white photos but because the lighting is really low at this pub and were very red at the time which doesn't make for the best photos.

Date Taken: February 20, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

If It's Band Night, It Must Be Snakebite Time!

Day 50: If It's Band Night, It Must Be Snakebite Time!, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Once a month, I go to a Bob Cowsill and Friends band night at a local Pub. My drink of choice is a Snakebite. This month it was accompanied with a grilled cheese & tomato sandwich & fries which was just right on a chilly, rainy evening.

Date Taken: February 19, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Lemon Tree

Day 49: Lemon Tree, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

With the Daily Shoot theme of Make a photograph that features the color yellow in some way or another. and a lemon tree in the back yard, I had my subject for the day's photo.

Date Taken: February 18, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 1/30
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Bob Cowsill & Friends (& Family) at Molly Malones

Day 48: Bob Cowsill & Friends (& Family) at Molly Malones, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

This one is a slight cheat because I did not take this photo today. I took it last night but since I already had a photo for the day at that point, I decided to share this one today anyway.

I have loved The Cowsills since I was 11 or 12 years old. It still amazes me today that I actually know them and that I am the webmaster for their website. Bob Cowsill's son is currently in a band called The Cocanuts and they perform every Wednesday at Molly Malones in Los Angeles.

This week, The Cocanuts billed their show as having a special opening act, The Cowsills. While it wasn't actually The Cowsills, the band did have four members with the last name of Cowsill: Bob Cowsill (guitar & vocals), John Cowsill (drums & vocals), Brendon Cowsill (guitar & vocals) and Ryan Cowsill (keyboards) along with Timmy Bryson (lead guitar & vocals) and Derrick Anderson (bass & vocals).

It was a fun night with great music but man is it dark in there. I shot at 3200ISO wide open at f2.8 with shutter speeds of 1/40 & 1/50 and the shots were still underexposed! I should have put my 85mm1.8 or 50mm1.4 lens on for some shots.

Date Taken: February 16, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 38 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

The Moon on a Cloudy Night

Day 46: Moon on a Cloudy Night, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

As we drove home today after school and my daughter's play rehearsal, my daughter asked if I had taken my photo of the day yet. When hearing that I hadn't, she said I had to take a picture of the moon because it looked so cool with the clouds that were passing by and/or over it.

So, we got home and I took out my camera and took some shots of the moon. It's hard to get a picture of the moon and have the clouds actually show too. I'll need to play with this some more on another day using a lower ISO and a tripod.

Date Taken: February 15, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

What's For Dinner?

Day 42: What's For Dinner?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Today's Daily Shoot assignment was Sometimes what’s out of focus can make the shot. Create a photograph today where some/all of your subject isn't in focus. My first thought was too bad I had used Nemo as a subject yesterday. Some of the photos I took would be a good fit for this assignment but I didn't want to take more of Nemo or use a photo from a previous day.

I grabbed my camera and took a shot of what was available which happened to be dinner. We had comfort food: Macaroni and Cheese with the addition of tuna and peas. I think I need to go to the grocery store and restock the cupboards.

Date Taken: February 11, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Cat Profile

Day 41: Cat Profile, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

It was after dinner and I remembered that I hadn't taken my photo for the day. I checked out The Daily Shoot for inspiration.

Nemo, our cat, was sitting on the back of the chair in the office which he often does when I'm on the computer. I pulled out my camera and took a bunch of photos of him and a few of the iPod chord.

I didn't feel any of these really qualified for the assignment of Change your point of view. Make a photograph from an unusual point of view today. but I liked the rather lion-esque look of Nemo in this one.

Date Taken: February 10, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Guess who has a cold?

Day 26: Guess who has a cold?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Yep, that's right, I've been infected. Last year I managed to escape but this year I guess I didn't wipe things down often enough in the lab or one too many students hugged me.

The Daily Shoot assignment for the day was: Make a photograph today with a central point of interest in it. So, I grabbed a piece of colored paper, set the tissues on it and snapped a few shots. Tissue anyone?

Date Taken: January 26, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Canon Lens Triangle

Canon Lens Triangle, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Once again I turned to the Daily Shoot for inspiration. Today's assignment - Make a photograph with a triangular composition. I went literal with this and made a triangle of Canon Lenses. After I had finished and uploaded the shots to my computer, I realized that the 85mm was upside down for the shot. I decided not to redo it and picked the one I liked best of the bunch.

The lenses pictured are the Canon 28-135mm 3.5-5.6IS, Canon 50mm 1.4 and Canon 85mm 1.8.

I have been in to the retro, grungy type photos lately so I ran an Urban Acid action on the photo after I had converted it to black & white. Then I added some grunge overlays and the photo above is the result.

Date Taken: January 18, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

If you're interested, you can also see the black & white version and black & white with some different grunge effects but no Urban Acid version over on my Flickr account.

Adding To The Vocals

Adding to the vocals, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Is it cheating to add another photo from January's Band Night as a photo of the day? When I saw that The Daily Shoot assignment for today was Embrace the shadows today and make a photograph dominated by dark tones, also known as a low-key image, I knew I'd have some of those in the pictures I took after midnight at band night. Since I took it after midnight, it was taken on January 9th!

Band night almost always includes some guest artists. Last night was no exception. Scott Totten, who is in the Beach Boys Band with John Cowsill joined the band for a few numbers. He played Timmy's guitar while Timmy borrowed Robby's microphone to add to the vocals.

Date Taken: January 9, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Band Night Fun

Band Night Fun, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Every month Bob Cowsill and his band play at The Fox & Hounds Pub in Studio City, CA. January's band night was January 8th. Knowing that Bob's brother, John, was going to be the drummer I decided to take along my camera and capture some of the action.

If you've never been to this pub it's hard to believe how low the light actually is so I'm always happy when I'm able to capture anything without a flash. This is one of my favorite shots of the night which shows that it's not just the audience that has a good time on band nights!

Date Taken: January 8, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Q: Who does "The Most Interesting Man Alive" go to see on Friday night?

Q: Who does "The Most Interesting Man Alive" go to see on Friday night?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Answer: Bob Cowsill, of course!!

There was a cardboard cutout of the Dos Equis XX spokesperson standing behind Bob last night at the local Pub so I just had to get this shot!

Date Taken: January 7, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Juggling Anyone?

Juggling Anyone?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Today, I did have something in mind to shoot but I ran out of time at school to do it. When I got home I was at a loss and didn't want to take yet another picture of Nemo. I headed over to The Daily Shoot for some inspiration and went with their suggestion of the day. Make an interesting photograph of something mundane and ordinary today.

These juggling balls sit on a dresser in our bedroom. I see them every day but never really notice them. So, I lined them up on a black Snuggie on the bed and took a few shots. This was the one I liked the best. It was post processed to give some "oomph" to the colors.

Date Taken: January 5, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/200
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Quadrulplet Nemo

Nemo x4, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Since my family has grown tired of being photographed, our cat quite often ends up being on the other end of my lens. I took this photo as Nemo sat on my daughter's bed watching me on the computer hoping that I would feed him something.

This is the same photo with four different types of processing on it. Most of the effects were from actions that I ran and then tweaked a bit to get the effect I liked. The actions I used (but can't remember where I got) were:

• Michelle's Vanilla Black & White
• Midnight Sepia
• Midnight Black
• Urban Acid

Date Taken: January 4, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Another Year & Another Attempt

As the calendar turns and a new year begins hope springs eternal that I can take & post a picture a day during 2011. I am playing with multiple places to keep up with this. I'll settle on one (or maybe two) as the year goes on.

• This Blog
• My 2011 Photo Set on Flickr
• My 2011 Calendar on Shuttercal
  

Good-bye Christmas 2010, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

My first picture for the year is titled Good-bye Christmas 2010. These are some of the Christmas lights hanging from the eaves of our home. I shot them purposely out of focus.

Date Taken: January 1, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Week 34: 1st Grade Art & Computer Project

1st Grade Art & Computer Project, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Near the end of last school year, our 1st Graders took photos in a park with some parent volunteers. They each took one photo from far away and one close up. The close up photos were then uploaded to the student's computer in the lab and each student created 4 different colorized versions of their photo using PhotoFiltre during computer class. The photos were then printed and transferred to a canvas by the volunteer art mom.

I was happy to be given one of finished pieces by the class. If you can't tell what this is, it's a photo of some roots of a tree. The upper left version is a negative image of the original, the upper right is a sepia version with a saturation boost and the bottom two are colorized versions using hue/saturation or other adjustments.

Date Taken: August 22, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Manual, Spot Metering, Auto White Balance

Week 29: Jim Morrison Revisited?

phat_sandwich_9162, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Every year my daughter attends DayJams which is a rock music camp for 8-15 year olds. On Friday of each week of the camp, the bands, which were just put together on Monday, hold a concert featuring songs that each band has written during the week. This week, Phat Sandwich, and especially their lead singer, were very entertaining to watch. Do I see a young Jim Morrison wannabe?

Photo Taken: July 17, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual

If you are interested in more photos from this concert, check out the slide show of all of the photos I took:

Week 22: Spring Dance Recital Time 2009

Time for Spring Dance Recital 2009, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Each spring, the dance studio my daughter goes to has a recital as do most of the studios I know. I take a lot of photos for the dance studio and provide them for purchase to the studio families. This shot was taken of my youngest daughter at the dress rehearsal.

Date Taken: May 28, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/200
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
No Flash

When taking the dance photos, I tend to use P mode or TV mode since the lighting conditions change so frequently.