by Andy Bell | Jan 30, 2012 | Photo Class, Photography |
Left to right, top to bottom: (all are untitled)
January 28, 2012, 5:33pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0, 1/30, Canon T3i
January 28, 2012, 5:33pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0, 1/40, Canon T3i
January 28, 2012, 5:33pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0, 1/25, Canon T3i
January 28, 2012, 5:33pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0, 1/15, Canon T3i
January 28, 2012, 5:34pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0, 1/13, Canon T3i
“Home Sweet Home”
A panorama of my apartment complex. Adjusted in Camera Raw after I finished stitching it together.
January 30, 2012, 9:44am; Rexburg, ID; f/5.0; 1/80; Canon T3i
January 30, 2012, 9:44am; Rexburg, ID; f/5.0; 1/30; Canon T3i
January 30, 2012, 9:44am; Rexburg, ID; f/5.0; 1/25; Canon T3i
“Xbox Oreo”
Bonus points if you get why the image is titled what it is.
by Andy Bell | Jan 23, 2012 | Editing, Photo Class |
“Silhouette”; January 21, 2012, 10:38pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouses, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 0.3; Canon T3i; No flash
For this one, I used a combination of smart filters and adjustment layers. To start, I applied the “smart sharpen” filter on the image. The radius was about 5 pixels because it really made the water tubes stand out. Then I masked out the sharpen filter completely at the bottom, and about 60% at the top, so that the middle would stand out even more. However, I thought it still needed something else, so I applied the black and white adjustment layer to the image, and masked it out in the middle, where the red light was diffusing on the greenhouse wall. I used a very soft feather to mask it out.
“The Tree’s Closeup”; January 21, 2012, 10:46pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouse, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/60; Canon T3i; Flash fired
This edit was much more simple. I simply used two adjustment layers. The first was levels, just to adjust the contrast of the image. Then I used the hue/saturation one. With that one, I did masking so that the effect was most prominent on the parts that were closest to the lens and in focus most. Then I used less as the branches got further back.
by Andy Bell | Jan 23, 2012 | Photo Class, Photography |
I forgot to go take some photos of plants and animals until relatively late on Saturday night, but this ended up being a blessing in disguise. I went to the greenhouses in the Benson building, but they were locked. However, the security guard let me in. None of the lights were on in the greenhouses, making for quite the challenge in shooting (the only flashlight I had was my iPod), but it also offered some great opportunities. (Particularly, to learn how to adjust my camera’s focus one-handed, while shining a light at the subject with the other.)
Clockwise, from top-left:
“Life to Death”; January 21, 2012, 10:29pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouse, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/15; Canon T3i; Sharpen filter applied and partially masked out
“Green”; January 21, 2012, 10:34pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouse, Rexburg, ID; f/4.0; 1/60; Canon T3i; Flash fired, Saturation increased, Sharpened
“Wolverine”; January 23, 2012, 10:32am; BYU-Idaho Wildlife Museum, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/13; Canon T3i; Sharpening added
“Night for Day”; January 21, 2012, 11:02pm; BYU-Idaho, Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 0.5; Canon T3i; Sharpen, soft glow, and levels adjusted
by Andy Bell | Jan 16, 2012 | Editing, Photo Class |
Light Heart; January 16, 2012, 8:34am; Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i; automatic adjustments made in Photoshop camera raw
“Love in Abstract”
This one wasn’t really hard to make. I morphed a copy of the background and the type layer together, added some bevel and a drop shadow to the type, and then took one of the colors from the center of the light heart and blended that color in a little bit to the type layer. It’s a subtle effect, but I didn’t want to go overboard on this; I think the image mostly speaks for itself.
Volleyball Court; January 16, 2012, 8:19am; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0; 1/40; Canon T3i; slight white balance adjustment and lens distortion adjustments in camera raw
Wall Texture; January 15, 2012, 5:19pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i
Leaf Texture; January 16, 2012, 8:20am; Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/100; Canon T3i
“Visions of a Volleyball Court”
This blend is a composite of all three of the above images. The main image is, of course, at full opacity. The others are both around 20-30%. Then I used masks to lighten some parts even further, particularly in the sky and on the court. I really wanted to use the leaf texture because it was actually taken on the volleyball court. But I also really like the texture and the coloring that the wall texture added. I think it made the image seem less sterile.
by Andy Bell | Jan 16, 2012 | Photo Class, Photography |
In Rexburg in the wintertime there are essentially 3 colors outside: white, brown, and green. And there isn’t a whole lot of white yet this year. I decided to do a little study of green, because it’s the nicest color outside right now. It’s just a bonus that I discovered a surprisingly large amount of green inside too!
From top-left, clockwise:
“A Tree”; January 13, 2012, 2:13pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/640; Canon T3i; With my focal length of 36mm for this shot, the aperture was as low as I could set it, leading to the blurred wheat, which was probably 5 or 6 feet from where I was standing
“Lonely Tree”; January 16, 2012, 8:27am; Rexburg, ID; f/36; 1/25; Canon T3i; handheld, adjustments made in camera raw (mainly raising the exposure)
“Ride the Green Rail”; January 16, 2012, 8:22am; Rexburg, ID; f/3.5; 1/30; Canon T3i; auto adjustments in camera raw
“Illumination”; January 16, 2012, 12:07am; Rexburg, ID; f/4; 1/50; Canon T3i; white balance and fill light changed in camera raw, image cropped to eliminate some clutter
I hesitated initially to have two trees in my color study, but I really like the first one because it is so sharp. And when I saw the small little tree by the BYU-Idaho Center, I knew I needed to take a photo of it. It’s the only tree in its little island and it is so small, which inspired me to give it the title “Lonely Tree.” Dark, cloudy days like the one I took the photo on can make me feel small and lonely like that little tree too.
I’m actually surprised how well “Illumination” turned out. It was hard to capture an image with the light on like that because my camera didn’t like the large amounts of light coming from the lamp. If you notice, the light cast by the lamp has a greenish quality to it. That’s because the florescent bulb in that lamp is actually green! I just aimed the light directly at the green scriptures and took the shot!
I have no idea why I titled “Ride the Green Rail” the way I did. I blame lack of sleep.
by Andy Bell | Jan 12, 2012 | Original Works |
Sometimes I just don’t understand people. I have a roommate that, for reasons unknown, really like the CW show The Vampire Diaries. Being in the same apartment and not wanting to stay in my room, I have had the misfortune of watching several episodes of this another-teen-vampire-soap-opera show. (Oh, the wonderful effects Twilight has had on our pop culture landscape. That was sarcasm if you couldn’t tell. At least these vampires don’t sparkle.) What’s even more confusing, is that I’m a guy. And my roommate is a guy. The only redeeming quality I can see about him liking The Vampire Diaries is that he can talk with girls about the show. (It may actually be a brilliant strategy, but I need more evidence before deciding on that.)
From the several episodes I’ve seen, there are several common occurrences. This has led me to come up with a game based on the traditional sarcastic drinking games out there. Personally, I have a not-so-great tolerance to caffeine, especially in large quantities, so doing this game with Red Bull or Monster would be an appropriate punishment for me for watching this show even once. But it could be done with a number of things. I’ll refer to quantities as “hits,” so you can substitute in shots of energy drinks, or bites of chilis, or drops of Rooster Sauce, or anything else. Or, if for some unknown reason, you’re a fan of the show, you could do enjoyable things like shots of Mountain Dew (yum)! So here’s a list of some common occurrences and what number of hits they should afford. This list is a work in progress, so suggestions are welcome!
The Vampire Diaries Game
A list of common happenings and the number of hits they afford:
- A make out session – 1 hit
- What looks like a sure make out session is prevented – 1 hit
- Compulsion is used on someone – 1 hit
- A minor or bit-part person dies – 1 hit for every two occurrences (or 1/2 hit every single time)
- A major character dies – 1 hit
- The sexual tension in a scene is so high you can’t stand it – 2 hits
- A character that you thought was dead comes back – 3 hits
- A non-supernatural character becomes a supernatural character – 4 hits
- BONUS: Blatant product placement – If you hate it as much as me, 5 hits; if you aren’t too bothered by it, 1 hit; adjust the number of hits based on person preference and how blatant the product placement is. (1 = food item out of focus in the background, 5 = Transformers level placement)
This should be more than enough to get you totally messed up on the average episode. Even if you just take shots of water, you’ll be needing a bathroom break by the end of an episode! This game is only recommended for watching one episode at a time. If you do a marathon, you’ll probably end up taking a trip to the hospital. Even if it’s just water.
Note: I don’t encourage drinking alcohol in any way, so don’t actually do this game with alcohol. Especially since it seems like the target audience for this show isn’t old enough to drink legally. Don’t do it with anything else either. You would seriously be in trouble taking anything with this game. Seriously, these are all very common occurrences. This is just for entertainment purposes and to make fun of that show. Have fun! 🙂
by Andy Bell | Jan 9, 2012 | Editing, Photo Class |
“The Apartment Your Apartment Could Smell Like”; January 8, 2012 3:26pm; Indoors, Rexburg, ID; f/5.0; 1/30; Canon T3i; No flash, ceiling light slightly behind camera
“A Bachelor Desk”; January 8, 2012 7:24pm; Indoors, Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i; Flash fired, room light on
Both cutouts were done with a similar method. First I used selection tools, primarily the quick selection tool, to select the object to cut out. Then I used Photoshop’s “refine edge” tool to smooth and feather the edges, and to add a little contrast. For both images, I copied the selection to a new layer, and then added a white background to the layer directly underneath the new layer with the selected objects. For the first image, the white background is on the entire background layer. For the second one, the white background is on only part of the background layer, allowing the original image to show through.
On the first image I also rotated the object a little bit in the edited photo to compensate for a slight tilt in my original image. I shot it handheld, so there was a slight tilt I didn’t want.
by Andy Bell | Jan 9, 2012 | Photo Class, Photography |
Logan Utah Temple at Night; August 11, 2010 9:21pm; Logan, Utah; f/5; 2.5″; Casio EX-H10
This is probably the photo I’m most proud of. The camera I took this with does not have manual settings, but it did have a night scene mode. This photo was taken from a second story landing at an apartment complex with a great view of the temple. I used the night scene mode to get this photo. The towers of the temple are kind of overexposed, but the rest of the temple is very bright and very detailed because of the stability that the railing provided, despite the long exposure time.
Logan Temple Reflected in a Window; August 13, 2010 10:31am; Logan, Utah; f/3.2; 1/60; Casio EX-H10; Low Resolution 🙁
A couple of days later, I was at the same apartment complex and happened to notice the temple reflected in the window of one of the first floor apartments. I thought it looked interesting, and was surprised that I could see the temple because there were some trees that I thought would have blocked the view. Unfortunately, the photo is fairly low resolution because this is a crop of the original image. I can’t remember why I didn’t zoom in farther to take the photo originally.
Christus Statue; July 19, 2010 4:28pm; Salt Lake City, Utah; f/5.2; 1/60; Casio EX-H10
Yes, this is cliche, but I don’t take a whole lot of photos, so I don’t have a wide selection to choose from. I feel this is a fairly crisp photo though. Should have used the rule of thirds a little more though.
Strange Sculpture; April 4, 2010 3:14pm; Salt Lake City, Utah; f/2.6; 1/60; Canon PowerShot A550; Some curve adjustments made
Again, I haven’t been a huge photo-taker. I had the opportunity to go to General Conference in April 2010. While walking around the Conference Center, I noticed what I can only assume is a strange hanging sculpture. Or something like that. I’m really not sure what it is. I probably didn’t realize it at the time, but I like how the sculptures kind of point in a line toward the center of the image.
“Mother and Child” Statue; November 20, 2007 3:14pm; Walla Walla, WA; f/2.6; 1/60; Canon PowerShot A550; “Auto Color” feature in Photoshop used, which helped brighten the grass up
Remember when I said I didn’t take a lot of photographs? I really wasn’t kidding. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. I wish I had known about the rule of thirds when I took this. This is a statue in front of an art gallery back at home.
by Andy Bell | Jan 2, 2012 | Life |
Dear Socks,
Why? That is the beginning of a couple of questions I demand answers to.
Why do you develop holes so quickly? It’s not like you’re that expensive, but having to buy several pairs of you a couple of times each year gets old really fast. And it adds up. It almost makes me wish I had gotten you for Christmas, even though you’re easily one of the worst presents ever.
Why do you decide to go missing from the laundry so easily? I swear, half the time I do laundry and go to put all my clothes away, there is at least one of you sitting unmatched when I’m done. Sometimes there’s more than one of you chilling by yourselves if I’ve done multiple obviously different kinds of you in the same load. I know single life is fun and all, but that’s not what you, as socks, are supposed to do. You’re supposed to be paired off. Live that way.
I wish I already knew the answers to those questions. If I did, I wouldn’t be writing you this letter. But I don’t know why you do these things. I don’t have the answers, and I want them. Especially about the holes. My feet are getting cold.
Sincerely,
Andy
by Andy Bell | Dec 28, 2011 | Life, Site News |
So I’ll be honest. I’ve never been very good at this whole “blogging” thing. I’m not really consistent with tweeting either. Or posting to Facebook. And I’m even worse about Google+. But I’m trying to change that a little bit. And I’m doing that a couple of ways.
- I’m actually planning on posting “regularly.” I used to think that blogging meant posting something daily. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, I’m planning on posting about once a week. Maybe I’ll even post twice in a week if there’s actually a lot to talk about.
- Posts don’t have to be really long. But things I post generally are going to be over 500 words. I want to do some meaty writing. Though it’ll mostly be fluff.
- I don’t really care about how many people read or whatever. I’m OK with that.
- I’ll help myself keep to my goal by stockpiling some content. In fact, by the end of this week I should have about a month’s worth of content written, so it’ll be hard for me to fall behind. How’s that for planning?
Mostly, I want to be able to get my thoughts out there. Even if nobody reads them, I’m OK with that. I just want to write. And I’ll do it by using the experiences I have. Maybe I’ll write about things I’ve learned in classes! Maybe I’ll share some lessons I’ve learned from video shoots! Who knows!
Either way it should be good for me. Even if it’s like pulling teeth to write sometimes.
