Color in Winter

Chucks and Colors
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

It's hard to find. If you want a really colorful place, try a playground. They look especially weird when it's too cold and snowy for the kids to play, I think. This shot was at Hawk Island Park, the water park area. They obviously have turned off the water, and no kids around, so I can finally take some photos there without feeling like a creep.

Bring your camera with you!

Winter Heron
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

Seriously! I usually bring mine to class with me every day, but today I forgot it at home. Of course there was a beautiful Blue Heron in the middle of the Koi pond today, looking majestic against the snow-covered rocks. I raced home to get the camera, and by the time I got back of course he was gone. I eventually saw him flying rooftop to rooftop and managed this photo.

The key to great Osanpo photography is just taking your camera with you, and keeping your eyes open. Be prepared!

Busy time of year!

Blank Ballot
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

I've been pretty darn busy photographically lately! I had a wedding about 3 weeks ago that I shot for a friend and I'm still working through the RAW files - over 500 of them! Whew, that's a lot of processing, gotta keep going.

I also went to a great costume party for Halloween, and was quite happy I brought my camera. I went digital, with my Canon XT, and I recently plunked down the (whole lotta) cash for a 580EXII flash, which has been oh so useful lately, what with the sun setting at like 5 pm. So there are some good costume shots here, especially if you're a big Hayao Miyazaki fan!

Finally, you may have noticed it was election day recently. I took my camera with me to take some shots at the polls, and a friend mentioned later it's illegal to take any photos there. So for the record, I didn't take any election photos at the polls, because we all know that's illegal in Michigan for some dumb reason.

I'll update with the progress on the wedding photos soon.

Bicycle in Autumn

Bicycle in Autumn
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

The joys of Polaroid are back. Just shoot, pull, wait, and peel. I'm glad Fuji is going to continue to support instant film for a while. I'm not ready to give it up. Get out and shoot while the leaves are turning!

Sugoi desu ne!

Koi
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

Koi are pretty cool in my book, and so are Japanese gardens. Lansing Community College has one of the best Japanese gardens around, for my money. They have a beautiful waterfall trickling down to a pond stocked with some of the most gorgeous Koi. It's not too deep, so I doubt they overwinter there, but I don't know for certain when they remove the fish, and where they go when it's time to move them.

Peadeful is the way I'd describe it, and such a serene atmosphere is a valuable commodity in the immediate area. I hope LCC continues to keep the garden up for years to come, it's the crown jewel of the campus.

Before the winter snow, you can go view the garden and fish together on LCC's main campus, off Capitol Ave near the intersection with Genesee. Check out the cool Rogers-Carrier house while you're there too, some really neat architecture.

Day of ROBOTRON

ROBOTRON
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

More fun with the robot.

Look out, a Robot!

ROBOTRON
Originally uploaded by Apocaplops

A friend had a great idea for a photoshoot, and for once we actually followed through on it. We just happened to have a robot laying around, and thought about how Robots and humans have a big communication barrier between them. We thought about how Robots have to go about their daily lives when they are not laboring for us, and how people can misinterpret their actions. We also thought about how to portray the different ways Robots see the world, how they notice things we take for granted.

These shots were the result, and I think they came out great. I chose to use my Digital SLR, though originally I planned on using my big Mamiya medium format. After thinking more than a few minutes, I decided it would be more important to be able to move and shoot at the same time, and let the camera do at least some of the thinking (exposure and focus-wise) for me. That turned out to be a good idea, as I would have missed most of these shots had I decided to use the slow, cumbersome Mamiya.

I knew up front I wanted to go with a black-and-white film or digital conversion, because Robots just scream black and white to me - from binary code to their actual colors. It also turned out to be a bit of a rainy day, which worked in my favor, since Robots tend to be quite reflective, and the clouds muted that a bit.

Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm not posting lately, sorry. I've been taking less photos to be honest, and the ones I have taken have to get processed still. I'm in school, working, and applying to nursing school. So get off my back, willya?