Today I had the urge to play with my camera. I thought I would take photos at both extremes of the apertures! I like the different effects you get from both ends. Love the star burst shape from the f/22, and the bokeh from the f/1.4. Here’s what I got! (And thank you to my hubby for posing for me!!!) 
f/22- 360 Condos
f/1.4- Watching the Fountains
I thought I would post a few of my favorite photos from my road trip. I drove to Wyoming from Texas with my daughter, and had a great time. We had a blast playing with the photo apps on my Evo phone! Even the boring scenery was made fun with the apps! Our favorite to use I think was Vignette. We had so much fun making everything look “mini” with the tilt-shift feature!
If you want to see the rest of my trip photos, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, check out my Facebook page!
Bridge
Smallville
Ghost Town?
Cadillac Ranch
The Open Road
"Old School" Road Trip
Today I thought I would share a photo of one of the pianos around town. There are several towns that have had pianos around town as part of “Play me, I’m Yours”. I realized that they will just be around Austin till the end of the month, so there’s one week left to check them out. We happened to find a young man playing it when we went to Doug Sahm Hill this evening, and it was wonderful! I think I will try to photograph the rest of them if I can this week, and I hope to find people playing them! If you happen to be going to play one of the pianos, let me know! I will try to come by and get a photo. Check out the website http://www.artallianceaustin.org/play-me-i-am-yours.html for more information.
Play Me, I'm Yours-Austin
Play Me, I'm Yours-Austin
I went to Austin’s City Hall- People’s Gallery Opening reception tonight. Some really cool work in there this year! It was great to see several friends there, and a few of them had some work chosen!
I love the architecture of the building, it’s modern with lots of sharp angles, made with concrete, copper, limestone and I am sure some more materials. Here’s a few shots of some cool angles in the building and a bit of the reception.
City Hall 1
City Hall 2
City Hall 3
City Hall 4
City Hall 5- People's Gallery Reception
Well, I started my Daily Photo Blog at the beginning of 2010, hoping that I learn more about photography, learn my camera and I think I have done that. I do notice an improvement from the beginning of the year, and now when I want to take a specific photograph, technically- I kinda know what I am doing!
I wish all of you a very Happy New Year! I hope you all set goals and reach them (even surpass them!). I set some goals each year and I try really hard to accomplish them. Sometimes I feel that just by having some of my goals on my blog, or on Facebook, it helps me, because I feel like “I told the world, so now I have to do it!”
Here are my top 10, as chosen by friends, family, comments, views & myself:
Freak Out- Carnival at night
Dragonfly by the pool
Austin after the rain
Rain Drops in Black & White
Tree and Moon
Stairs at Night
Brooklyn Bridge- sepia
Holiday Lights
Scissors
Blue Heron in flight
I went on a photo walk last night organized by Austin photographer Alex Suarez (thanks Alex!). There really didn’t seem to be much as far as Christmas lights, but I managed to find some things to photograph. By the way, what’s up with no Christmas lights over Congress Avenue, Austin??
Here are my favorite photos from last night. The first 3 are a window display and the last is the Austonian building with the clouds and moon. It looked awesome!
Window Stars 1
Window Stars 2
Window Stars 3
Austonian with Moon at night
I had a great day wandering around Town Lake (Lady Bird Lake) with my daughter and taking photos. My CF card was full, so I could not use my camera! (I let her borrow my card and have not gotten it back yet), so I used my EVO to take some photos. I downloaded the FX Camera for Android and Retro Camera for Android and I really like some of the photos I came up with! Here’s a few. (Don’t the photos of the abandoned building look like a torture chamber?)
Lady Bird Lake w/FX Camera
Lady Bird Lake w/FX Camera
Abandoned building on Town Lake
Abandoned building/Town Lake w/Retro Camera
Abandoned building/Town Lake w/Retro Camera
I attended the Arthouse at the Jones Center Grand Re-Opening- “Artist Sneak Peek”. They did a fabulous job with the architecture! Also, the rooftop is amazing! It’s going to be a great place for artists and art lovers here in Austin. I almost forgot I had a great camera on my Evo! Here’s a few photos from tonight.
Arthouse 2nd Floor
Arthouse Architecture
View from Arthouse Rooftop 1
View from Arthouse Rooftop 2
This is not a new photo, but I wanted to show it off. I donated it to the Breast Cancer Resource Center for their “15th Annual Champagne Brunch” Charity Auction (in memory of my Mom). I took this when I was in NYC in April. I like the sepia effect!
Brooklyn Bridge- sepia
Well, I was going to go play with my new (used) Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens, but I just took a few test shots with it, and my favorite was my first test shot I did. I bought it from someone I know and I did a quick test shot of the blinds on his window, and here it is. I think tomorrow I will have more time go play with the new lens and take some more photos.
Blinds