Category Archives: Photography

Photography by Richard X. Thripp: flowers, sunsets, water drops, still life, and more.


Photo: Bizarro World

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Bizarro World

In bizarro world, everything looks like this…

Alternate title: Fun at the Cemetery.

Dad and I stopped off at the cemetery to take photos. I didn’t find the tombstones as interesting as this white railing near the pond, though. From this vantage point, the center crossbeams and the beams of the railing on the other side of the walkway line up, but the ones on the left and right are divergent. An interesting effect.

The railing also appears to be slanted, or maybe I tilted the camera a little. Nothing seemed level in this cemetery. I had to watch out, because I almost fell in the water taking this.

I converted to black and white because I liked the look better. Black and white seems a lot more appealing lately.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/125, F5.6, 28mm, ISO100, 2008-11-04T11:55:00-05, 20081104-165500rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Hello Grasshopper

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Hello Grasshopper

Ashley says hello to a 17×11 print of Yellow Grasshopper. That was hard to carry around, but it was worth it so they could meet. She’s funny and cute. The grasshopper is too, but he’s more the serious type. :wink:

She was smoking (see her left hand), and I rested the print on the ash can nearby. It was the only way to get them both in the shot looking at each other. Smoking is still as popular as ever.

I added brightness and vignetting, and corrected her skin tones. I set my camera to sunshine white balance, but it was a bit too bluish for this light.

Next time you see a grasshopper, say hello!

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/125, F5.6, 112mm, ISO100, 2008-11-12T13:02:11-05, 20081112-180211rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

You can use the model’s likeness for anything not defamatory. You are one of my “licencees.”

Photo: A Thousand Eyes

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A Thousand Eyes

Holes in the red-brick wall, by the theater (bldg. 220) at Daytona State College. They made the wall like this because it looks interesting.

I converted this to black and white because the color wasn’t working. The repeating pattern plays tricks on your eyes, if you look at it long enough.

For editing, all I had to do was add contrast and vignetting. The image isn’t perfectly level, but it’s as close as I could get, and I got complete holes on the sides which makes the image aesthetically stronger (because they’re dark).

Think of this wall as a thousand eyes, all staring you down…

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/640, F5, 33mm, ISO100, 2008-11-21T13:55:13-05, 20081121-185513rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Blizzard

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Blizzard

It’s a blizzard! A snow day, at least.

This was a downpour of rain that started while the sun was still out. The sunshine reflected all across the newly fallen water in the parking lot, making it look like snow. I shot this car backing out of a parking space, at 132mm from about thirty feet away.

I made the water look like snow by over-exposing and adding contrast in Photoshop. I also converted to black and white. I didn’t even notice that Adobe Camera Raw 4.0 has a vignetting slider under “Lens Corrections,” but I’m using it now to darken the corners rather than burning in manually. It turned out nice here.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/500, F5.6, 132mm, ISO100, 2008-11-13T14:07:11-05, 20081113-190711rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Out of the Frame

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Out of the Frame

Rachel, pointing out into space.

She has the same name as my seven-year-old sister, who doesn’t post much.

This was the only pose I could think of. I’m running out of ideas…

Anyway, I took color out of the background so the focus is just on Rachel. She’s pointing up at a squirrel or something.

I also darkened the background a lot.

Rachel is a photographer and has her own photographs here: photographsbyrachelwhited.com. She’s a great model too. I’m only good at photography, fortunately. :grin:

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/200, F6.3, 38mm, ISO400, 2008-01-13T12:04:27-05, 20081113-170427rxt1

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: Velvet Flowers

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Velvet Flowers

Light blue flowers, like velvet in the sun.

This was framed well. There are a whole bunch more flowers on the left and below, a dark plant on the right, and deep turquoise sky above. It wasn’t quite like that in reality, but I changed the color of the sky and made the flowers lighter in Photoshop, by manipulating curves on the a and b channels in the Lab colorspace.

These flowers are near bldg. 300 at Daytona State College. I had to sit near the ants on the sidewalk while pointing my camera up to get this shot. I tried one with the flowers in the background, but preferred a lower angle with the clear blue sky as the setting.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/1000, F5.6, 135mm, ISO100, 2008-11-21T12:52:09-05, 20081121-175209rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Road into the Night

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Road into the Night

Sunset on the highway at dusk. Into the dark clouds…

The cloud formations caught my eye. There are dark clouds across the whole sky, with sunshine underneath. This was right near dusk, so I had to hold the camera still with a 1/30 second shutter speed at ISO400.

For editing, I added some contrast, darkened the corners, and toned down the clouds that were over-saturated from adding contrast in an RGB colorspace. This one is fairly grainy.

Leave me some comments, loyal readers / viewers. :grin:

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/30, F4, 47mm, ISO400, 2008-11-14T17:47:49-05, 20081114-224749rxt1

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: White Christmas

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White Christmas

Christmas is here early! The trees are frosted with ice.

Actually, this is Daytona Beach, Florida, where it doesn’t get cold enough to frost the trees over. I saw this tree in the parking lot at the grocery store; the stark contrast with the background caught my eye. There was a streetlight right near it.

I didn’t have a tripod with me, so I had to hold the camera. The first thing I tried was setting the camera on the ground pointing upward, but I couldn’t get the right composition. My 28-135mm lens only goes down to F3.5, and I didn’t want to go above ISO800 to avoid too much grain, so I held the camera by hand pointing upward, really still, and fired off ten shots. This was the best one. It came out clear even though I had to use a 1/3 second shutter speed due to the darkness. The image stabilization gyroscopes in the lens helped.

Most of the leaves have fallen off this tree. Winter must be here!

Merry Christmas everyone. It’s just 34 days away.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/3, F3.5, 28mm, ISO800, 2008-11-19T18:04:58-05, 20081119-230458rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Yellow Leaf

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Yellow Leaf

A yellow leaf, partially eaten by bugs, lit by sunshine, floating on a background of dark green leaves, greatly out of focus.

I was walking around my yard and saw the sunshine hitting the leaf like this. It was quite dramatic because the background was so dark. I set my camera’s focus point to the center of the lens and shot this.

On the computer, I darkened the background and sharpened the leaf.

Enjoy!

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/160, F5.6, 132mm, ISO100, 2008-11-17T13:32:07-04, 20081117-183207rxt

Location: Thripp Residence, Ormond Beach, FL  32174-7227

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: The Golden Highway

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The Golden Highway

The golden highway: International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach, Florida, near the race track. I shot this through the windshield of the car from a few hundred feet away, with my lens at 135mm, the maximum telephoto. Since my camera has a 22.2×14.8mm (cropped) sensor, that’s the 35mm equivalent of 216mm.

The light around the cars struck me immediately. Shooting through a scratched windshield actually makes the scene more beautiful, because you have streaks of light and contrast around the highlights. The downside is that the photo is initially low-contrast. I cranked up the contrast with curves in Photoshop. Even though this is at ISO100, I managed to bring out quite a bit of grain with the editing. Also, I burned in the corners and shifted the colors more toward gold and red. I’m liking this photo quite a bit.

Don’t give up on the golden highway. It’s there, waiting for you to find it. Even if you have to fabricate it.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/1600, F5.6, 135mm, ISO100, 2008-11-05T16:54:51-05, 20081105-215451rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.