Photo: Dark Sunshine

Dark Sunshine

White flowers on top of a green plant out back of the cafeteria at Daytona State College (main campus).

On auto my Canon Rebel XTi over-exposed the flowers majorly; I had to set the exposure bias way down to get them in range. I’ve titled this “Dark Sunshine” because everything but the flowers is dark.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/2000, F4.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-09-18T15:43:44-04, 20090918-194344rxt

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: Deadlands

Deadlands

The swamps of Ormond Beach! Took this on my 18th birthday out the car window. There is water and a lot of dead grass.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/3200, F3.5, 28mm, ISO200, 2009-08-17T14:36:04-04, 20090817-183604rxt

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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: Highway to the Clouds

Highway to the Clouds

Graves Avenue in Deltona, FL, with a cloudy blue sky overhead and the sun reflecting off the dark road. I could tell this would make a good photo once I added contrast on the computer, so I snapped this through the windshield with the closest thing I have to a telephoto lens.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/1000, F8, 130mm, ISO100, 2009-09-06T18:42:35-04, 20090906-224235rxt

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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: Blackberry Jam

Blackberry Jam

A jar of Smucker’s Simply Fruit Blackberry Jam at Wal-Mart, with other jars behind, including some delicious strawberry jelly. I took this with my 50mm lens at F2. The background is very blurry because we are close to the jars and the lens is wide open. At the same aperture, you have a larger depth of field when the focal point is far from the lens, and a smaller depth of field when the focal point is close.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/100, F2, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-07-13T11:06:48-04, 20080713-150648rxt

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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: Beacon

Beacon

The lighthouse in New Smyrna Beach, at 3 A.M. This is a ten second exposure so I got the light spinning around several times. I didn’t bring a tripod. I just set the camera on the concrete by the river, being careful not to let it fall in.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 10″, F3.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-07-21T02:46:55-04, 20080721-064655rxt

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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: Row Echelon

Row Echelon

The arrangement of these streetlights reminded me of how the 1’s line up in a mathematical matrix in reduced row echelon form. Or maybe I just couldn’t come up with a better title. I’ll never tell.

This photo is very grainy… grain adds character, right?

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/160, F2, 50mm, ISO400, 2008-11-02T18:54:29-05, 20081102-235429rxt

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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: Bridgework

Bridgework

Under the Granada bridge that crosses the Halifax river in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/320, F3.5, 28mm, ISO100, 2008-12-30T11:06:54-05, 20081230-160654rxt

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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: 800 Miles

800 Miles

On the highway at night. Just 800 miles to go!

This photo is low quality, but I decided to use it anyway. Anything taken at F1.8 is blurry. It was raining a lot which made the road slick, though that may look like distortion here.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/60, F1.8, 50mm, ISO800, 2008-11-02T18:31:31-05, 20081102-233131rxt

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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.

Poem: The Night

Out of the darkness and into the light
The past is distant and the horizon bright
But in the fog of the night, there is a warning
Be fast and unseen, for danger is queen

The shadows on the wall seem so tall
The evils of the world take over all
But in the day they cringe in seclusion
Seems they are nothing but an illusion

Simplicity is an over-valued trait
Most systems are neither simple nor elegant
The world is too complex for perfection
There are just too many inflections

Colors and light dance in the night
Mystery abounds in the shadowy realm
But in the day there is no bite
Everything is plain and clear in the light

It’s difficult to preach from experience
More easy is it to read from a script
But to a new conscript, experience is nigh
The script becomes a blip, and the preacher high

At the helm of darkness, a solemn-eyed misfit
Yearns for acceptance among his criminal peers
But only in their destruction can he see
How much he fears his very own tears

Peace without justice is a prison worse than all
Tyrants remain and stonewalling reigns
But with justice comes freedom higher than law
Anarchy was never a good system, after all

Speak with ease through danger and you shall see
Most of life’s dangers will merely appease
The threat is real for eyes unseen
But known and identified, it isn’t mean

Kindness and gratitude are enviable traits
But mired in tactics, they’re filled with hate
A gift given, but left unseen
Should not be identified, or placed as a lean

It is without fanfare, that you should speak
For the fall of the mighty and the rise of the meek
The meek are not weak, they’re smarter than all
They hide no skeletons, nor run from creaks

A ballad in the night sings loud and calls
Forces of darkness seek only believers
Burn them with hatred and tragedy you’ll find
But accept them as one and blessings you’ll mind

Photo: Spanish Moss

Spanish Moss

A tree covered in spanish moss at DeLeon Springs park (Florida), in black and white.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/500, F3.5, 28mm, ISO400, 2008-12-31T09:28:49-05, 20081231-142849rxt

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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.