Ice on the roof of my step-mom’s car, Jan. 19, 2006. The temperature on the surface is colder than the air temperature, which is why your car can have ice on the windshield in the morning even if it’s 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

For lighting, I used a flashlight.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/2, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO119, 2006-01-19T04:39:57-05, 2006-01-19_04h39m57

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.

Photo of an autumn leaf with the sun as a light source. The coloring on this decaying leaf was unique. I guess it was being eaten by bacteria or something?

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/400, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2006-01-18T17:12:35-05, 2006-01-18_17h12m35

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More of the Sunshine series.

Yellow leaves on a Chinese Talo tree, Dec. 31, 2005. This would be “Winter Leaves 7″ if Florida’s winters weren’t like other states’ autumns.

Autumn Leaves 3-6 weren’t very good, so I’m not going to post them.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/111, F4.0, 11.9mm, ISO64, 2005-12-31T16:16:31-05, 2005-12-31_16h16m31

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.

Our wood burning stove on Christmas day, 2005.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/7, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO100, 2005-12-25T22:57:25-05, 2005-12-25_22h57m25

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A deciduous tree against a crisp blue sky, two days before Christmas 2005.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/526, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2005-12-23T15:31:27-05, 2005-12-23_15h31m27

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A deciduous tree in the winter at night in the moonlight.

Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/1, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO200, 2005-12-16T02:24:47-05, 2005-12-16_02h24m47

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.

A mailbox someone ran over. Your dreams of regular mail delivery have now been dashed… the mailman won’t bother with this piece of junk. Buy a new mailbox!

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/1600, F2.2, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-01-28T13:45:25-05, 20090128-184525rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.

I crouched in the dirt below this barren winter tree, camera pointed straight up, to capture this shot. The sky was white and overcast. The tree is old and tired from all that heavy Spanish moss weighing it down.

This looks like something from a horror movie, where the tree falls on you and kills everyone… I had to be careful framing this, as there were more youthful palm trees to the left and right which I had to exclude. This is often a great perspective, and it was critical not to cut off the branches at the top of the frame or else the tree wouldn’t seem complete. The branches to the left don’t matter. The trunk at the bottom-right doesn’t extend much passed the frame, but by not including its edges, the tree seems more impressive.

I converted to black and white and added a slight amount of contrast in Photoshop. No vignetting needed at the top, though I darkened the bottom corners. If you look at the source file, you’ll find it’s remarkably similar to the final. The sky really was bright like that and the tree was black against it. I shot in color mode (always do that for versatility), but the source file looks black and white because there was little color in the scene. I think I set the camera to cloudy white balance, appropriate for the bluish clouds. If it was sunny out, the neutral gray point would be closer to yellow, necessitating a lower color temperature (5200 K vs. 6000 K) to match the scene. If I shot this at tungsten white balance (3200 K), it would look really blue, but if I was under incandescent or tungsten lighting (yellow), the scene would look …

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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. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.

Looking up at bare tree branches against a white sky. I took this on a dark night, but used a large aperture, high ISO speed, and slow shutter speed, bracing the camera against the ground.

I haven’t posted a photo in a week, but I’ve been quite busy with school; I’ve added two recent essays.

Buy a 4*6 copy for $0.95 (USA only). Lustre finish. After adding, go to your shopping cart.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 2″, F1.6, 50mm, ISO800, 2008-01-16T20:33:10-05, 20080117-013310rxt

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp and link here.