2009 Daily Shots

Post 634 12.31.09 My Brother Larry.....Greatly missed and never forgotten. 9.28.46 ---12.31.98 Scanned photo from 1989....

Post 633 12.30.09 Whoa....this water is C O L D!!! Quick snap of a quack, er uh...duck, on my way home... Thank you all so much for so many kind comments on my scanned portrait. That was very encouraging...I think I will do more!!! Ha ha...just need time! Thank you so much..it really was great to read all your kind comments!!! I think I am going to try and make this daily posting more of a daily routine again..I am feeling motivated again!!! Now..off to sleep.... :)

Post 632 12/29.09 Well, well, well...something new learned by me. This is a photo I took in Chengdu, China in July of 2000. (Taken with my old Canon EOS Rebel film camera) I have spent some time off and on the last couple of nights trying to understand better how to use my scanner and then how to upload this to SmugMug..Easy you say??? Not so, but I have now done it so I hope to do it again. I have so many old photos from different trips that are printed or in negatives. Now maybe I can off and on use some of them for my dailies.. I had not looked through my China pictures for a long time and after showing them to a cousin who was visiting last weekend and receiving an encouraging 'kick in the behind', I decided to see what I could do with some of these old shots..expect to be going back in time..... Shoot...I thought I had edited out the date in Elements 8, but then the .psd would not load and I went back and uploaded the .jpg. I forgot that this was not edited. Oh well, this could be a very good learning experience for me..

Post 631 12.27.09 A Colorful display that caught my eye while waiting for some food to take home for dinner Saturday night! Belgian Fries and veggie wraps...MMmmm, that was fun! bottles-0936

Post 630 12.25.09 Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate this special holiday. I hope your day was all you were hoping for. This is a shot of one of the hygiene operatories in the dental office where I work. For the last few weeks I have been printing, matting and framing some of my photos to hang on the walls of our office. We have plugs and holes where the dentist hopes to eventually hang TV's, but so far he is not able to do it. I was offered the opportunity to hang my photography and jumped at the chance. It is very exciting to see them up on the walls and so encouraging to get the nice comments I have gotten so far. I did sell one of my photos ( not shown here as it was already taken) so that was a great start! If you would like to see all of them that I have hung you can see them HERE

Post 644 12.22.09 You inspired me to take another snow shot! I was totally surprised to have such a nice response to my snow shot from my balcony that I posted yesterday. Thank you all... this shot I took when I parked at work. The pattern of a snow covered shed behind the fence gave a very striking pattern. Thought I would take a picture.. I liked this crop and now you are seeing it, too!

Post 643 12.21.09 Yesterday's snow scene upon waking up - I admit....I am not terribly inspired by snow to take pictures. Maybe it is too hard for me to get contrast, maybe as a transplanted desertrat I don't want to trek out to where the good pictures are...I'm not sure. However, I was compelled to post this view from our balcony. This was the scene of about 11-12 inches...Philly airport, about 45 minutes south of us got 23"...the second highest recorded snowfall EVER for Philly... All in all, I'm glad the roads are clear for my drive to work this morning.

Post 642 12.20.09 ....Back to the kitchen studio! I always like the light in my kitchen and since it was gray and snowy outside yesterday I took a couple shots of my fruit bowl once again. This is almost straight out of the camera. A slight increase in the black and a light vignette in Lightroom is all. Happy Sunday to all of you....

Post 641 (Post 3 of 3 today) 12.19.09 Yay...we got a SmugMug meet-up in before the big Snow today! I was able to connect with Betsy Foster-Breen while she is in New York and this shot was taken by Steve of the two of us last night across the street from Radio City Music Hall. Can you believe she recognized me from behind because she saw my hair???? Yeah, I believe it, too! What a fun hour Steve and I had chatting with Betsy and her good friend and travel buddy Jim. We warmed up in a little coffee shop and get a chance to talk 'shop' and get to know each other a little better!!! It was just great! I love meeting Smuggers!!!! Stay bundled Betsy!!! Baby, it's cold outside..!~

Post 640 (Post 2 of 3 today) 12.19.09 Betsy and Jim being themselves...ha ha..they are so funny together!

Post 639 (Post 3 of 3 today) 12.19.09

Post 638 12.18.09 I admit it. I am showing off a little. This also helps me commit to staying on track the next few weeks. I have lost 47 pounds this year since Jan1st. I bought this whole new outfit last night as a reward for eating a big salad at my office "holiday lunch". Thanks for letting me show off! Steve took the pic with my iPhone and i edited with 2 iPhone apps.

Post 637 12.16.09 "All I want for Christmas is my NEW front teeth.... ....This lovely lady, Rosalie, graciously allowed me to show this photo as my daily to share her lovely smile with everyone. Dr. Fingeret just finished placing porcelain veneers on her upper teeth to give her the beautiful smile she had always dreamed of.... She was thrilled and we were all very excited to see the beautiful results of Dr. Fingeret's dental artistry!

Post 636 12.13.09 Celebrating the Festival of Lights..... Almost every year since we have been back in the Philly area we are invited to the home of friends for their annual fabulous party Hanukkah Party with unbelieveable amounts of food, drink, singing and just a heck of a lot of fun.. I really love the look of their Hanukkiya ( or Menorah) as it sits here on the mantle waiting for the matches to be struck and the second candle on the second night to be lighted. I took a lot of photos as I do each year, but I think my shooting earlier in the day at Help_Portrait was a great help in better understanding how to use my flash in this type of close event shooting. That was a nice benefit to me. If you would like to see the rest of the shots from the party, they are HERE

Post 635 12.12.09 Brother Fred and I at Help_Portrait today! It was an awesome experience to be part of this worldwide event! We are not allowed to post pictures of the people we took pictures of and 'gave' to them. Brother Fred was a volunteer at the event and he gave me permission to post this picture of the two of us. Someone else took this pic of us, but if you see he has a picture in his hand, that was a picture I took of him that he was delighted to have. This felt good and I look forward to being part of it again next year!

Post 634 12.11.09 Another shot from class.... This time my exposure was washed out, but great to be shooting RAW and be able to recover so much of the detail. It was really fun to play with strobes, triggers, reflectors and all that stuff...*sigh*....the wish list keeps getting longer and longer!

Post 633 12.10.09 Malia - a fellow student in the one night a week photo class i have been taking in Center City. We played a little with strobes and studio lighting last night and I just loved how this shot came out. Malia-0578

Post 632 12.09.09 Sebastian..a year and a half now. This little guy came in with his dad a year ago and I took some pics of him. Yesterday he came and visited while his mom and big sister got their teeth cleaned. Fun to see how much he has grown from last year...Adorable sister and what a cutie he is! Here are his pics from a year ago. Sebastian-0555

Post 631 12.08.09 Avi Wisnia... a fabulously talented young man we have seen in concert a couple of times. His website is www.aviwisnia.com if you want to check him out and hear his wonderful style. He even has a new CD coming out in the next month!!!! Wow...two days in a row and I even browsed some galleries and commented last night. I hope I can get mayself back into the routine. I have really missed you all! aviwisnia-2872

Post 630 12.7.09 Another shot through a rainy window. I took this shot on my lunch break last week. Instantly saw the pic when I looked out my rainy car window. This is SOOC ..I should have cropped it a little as you can see some of the car door at the bottom of the shot. I have been out of the loop with viewing, commenting, and posting on the dailies for the last few weeks. I have some pictures I had taken with the dailies in mind that I never got around to processing and posting, I hope you won't mind, but in the next few days I will post more than one a day to add them to my gallery. Thank all...I know I have missed some fabulous photography in these last few weeks...I will try and catch up at least a little bit soon. Your work is my inspiration... Happy Monday all!!! RainShed-0523

Post 630 11.20.09 A change of face..... Good morning...this was just for fun. I blew dry my hair yesterday because of a new haircut and decided to take a 'self-portrait' so I can show it to my hairdresser next time I'm in and get the same cut. I used my iPhone to take the picture and later in the day read about a new iPhone App... This was the result! Taken and edited on my iPhone, then uploaded to Lightroom to SmugMug.

Post 629 11.19.09 Last shot of this lovely couple....now you can see both the mom and the dad! It was a wonderful experience doing a photo shoot with Julie and Gregg. They were so personable and sweet to work with...and photogenic, too! Loved the light in their apartment from second floor windows streaming in from above..it was great..all shot in available light.

Post 628 11.18.09 Another shot from my pregnancy shoot...she is just so beautiful, isn't she? Thank you so much for all your kind words on my completing 2 years (more or less) on the dailies..I just love you all and all you have given to me...I hope to get back into somewhat of a routine and do more commenting again, soon!

Post 627 11.17.09 A new beginning.... I have been very busy the last week or two and not had time to post or comment at all. This is one of my favorite shots from a pregnancy shoot I did a week and a half ago. I had such a great time with this beautiful couple. I chose this shot to post today as it is the beginning of my 3rd year in the 'Daily Photo" community. My experience these last two years has been astounding. Number one I have made some true friends who I know I will know forever...the growth in my photography over these two years has been more than I ever dreamed. I thank you all for your constant support and enthusiastic cheering of me. It has boosted my confidence beyond words and has helped me open up to new techniques and ways of looking that I would not have thought I could do. I just hope in the coming year I will be able to participate more and give back at least in part some of the great things you have all given to me! Hugs and thanks!!!

Post 626 11.08.09 SUE, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU!!!! Last night we were out for dinner and a music concert. This is our friend Bob...(Sue's husband in case you were wondering who Sue was..) Anyway, I just took this shot to sort of test out the low light in the venue and I really liked how this came out. The lights at the bar behind his head gave such a lovely bokeh..really framed him well. Our evening entertaining was a double treat. We heard Judy Gold who is originally from Philly. She wrote the song, "From a Distance" that was a major hit for Bette Midler. We also enjoyed a wonderful young upcoming musician who is also a friend of ours named AVI WISNIA. If you want a real treat go to his website ( www.aviwisnia.com) and check out his music. He will be coming out with his first full length CD soon and with his easy flowing bossa nova style he is really a pleasure to listen to. Let me know if you do take a moment to hear his music!

Post 625 11.07.09 I was reviewing some of my shots from our trip to Gettsyburg, York and Lancaster a few weekends ago. I really liked this shot for some reason.. This is an Amish young man who passed us by. There were many buggies out on the road for their Sunday outings but I wasn't successful in getting a good shot...This I liked, I think, because of the zoom and compression of the distance..He only wishes that the end of the road was that close, I bet!

Post 624 11.03.09 Guard Dog "Woody" watching at the window... When I pulled up in front of this house to park yesterday before work I could feel Woody's eyes on me! He just kept staring...I took out my camera and this was the one shot I took. He is a great pup...He looks fierce, which would keep strangers away, but he is a sweetie!

Post 623 11.02.09 A view from the other side.... Everyone is familiar with the front side of the Philadelphia Art Museum from the movie Rocky where he runs up the steps... While on our brain tumor walk yesterday from the Art Museum up the river behind it this is a shot from the 'back side' of the art museum. It was a beautiful view all along the river yesterday.

Post 622 11.01.09 Hillary and Phyllis...Happily sharing our same day birthday together again! This is Steve's sister Phyllis with me. We walked a 5K in the "Race for Hope" in Philadelphia. This is a fundraiser run/walk to fight brain tumors. We share November 1st birthdays and this was a great way to get out and do something good and enjoy the time as a family together. Steve took this shot, by the way and personally I think he did a great job making us both look a few years younger! Happy Birthday to us!!!

Post 621 10.31.09 My Guy, Steve! This was a shot from a couple of weeks ago when Steve and I drove up to Lambertville, NJ just about 30 minutes north of us to visit the farm of some patients of mine to walk around and take some pictures. Going through the shots today I wanted to post this one. He is so supportive of me and my photography. He is very good natured about driving me places and just hanging out while I am busy behind my camera..this shot is so typical..iPhone in hand to keep him busy and keys ready to go when I am ready...Love you Stevie! PS- I am processing more and more in Lightroom2. If you open this to at least X2Large you can see what nice pp Lightroom allows me to do. I don't think I would have had the same finish if I was still using Picasa...maybe I am finally learning something!!! :-)

Post 620 10.30.09 Meet a new SmugMugger and member of the Daily Community. My friend Debbie! We were introduced by our mutual friend who thought our interest in photography would give us a lot in common...She was so right. We have gotten together in person twice, but have exchanged a number of emails in the meantime. Debbie also writes a blog where she posts her wonderful photos and you might enjoy visiting and checking out her blog: http://zenequus.blogspot.com/ or seeing her posts here on SmugMug at: http://larkphoto.smugmug.com/

Post 619 10.29.09 Another from Saturday night's "Class of 60 Somethin' Dance Party' in York, PA. I really enjoyed the opportunity to shoot all I want in a dark concert setting and see what I could do with my 70-200 2.8IS lens. I have really not used it as much as I should and this was a good time to do it! After the class I had on Friday in NYC at the Photo Plus show about difficult lighting I was really inspired to try and shoot under the low light conditions. I like how the highlight to the left of his face show him off. The shot I posted the other day of a different fellow had much softer edges and less contrast to it.

Post 618 10.28.09 A shot of fall while traveling through Lancaster, PA last Sunday on our way home. We had a very busy weekend and I took a lot of photos. I hope you will look at my last 5 pics that I loaded last night and this morning. I had some wonderful opportunities for variety. Thanks to all of you and your patience with my not having time to comment much. I will try and get back into look more tonight while watching the PHILLIES! GO PHILLIES!!!! :)

Post 617 10.24.09 Post 2 of 2 for this day. (Saturday) Saturday night fun at the "Class of 60 Somethin' Dance Party" We stayed overnight in York, PA for our little trip to visit Gettysburg. Steve looked for us to do something fun Saturday night and found an article online advertising this dance party. There were nearly 1000 people there..pretty much all baby boomers. The music was strongly 50's R&B..the dance floor was packed and no one stopped me with my 40D and my 70-200 2.8... :-) I really had a great time taking pictures and talking to people. The musicians were mostly people who had been popular in the area during the 60's and the crowd was greatly people who had been following them over the years. This dance party has been held twice a year for the past 13 years. We had a great time. The light was low so a lot of the shots I converted to black and white. This was one of my favorites of the If you are interested in seeing the whole gallery, you can find it here: http://www.photosbyhillary.com/Events/Classof60Somethin/10090282_hrfyr#692792335_UkEob.

Post 616 10.24.09 Shot 1 of 2 for this day (Saturday) A View through the tour bus window at Gettysburg, PA. It was raining quite hard off and on Saturday when we were touring the battlefields at Gettysburg so at this stop we stayed in the bus. When I looked across the aisle through the window and saw this image I knew the light was right. I love how the rain on the window softened the image and that there was almost a star filter effect to the canon. It was an amazing learning experience and we were really taken by surprise at how huge the whole battlefield really is. A worthwhile trip for anyone interested in the history of the American Civil War.

Post 615 10.23.09 2 of 2 for this day. A model under studio lights....a first for me! This was a fun photo op... I passed by this booth with lots of photographers taking shots of this beautiful model. I had my camera with my 50mm 1.4 and thought I would shoot a few, too. Isn't the light nice in this? Studio lights can really make the shot, can't they. Just one of the neat parts of going to a photo trade show. Wish I could have been there for more time.

Post 614 10.23.09 (Friday) Post 1 of 2 for this day. SmugMug Hero - Jeff Jochum and his adorable daughter Chloe at last weekend's NYC Photo Plus Expo at the Jacob Javits center. It was a delight to meet this guy and get to tell him how much I love SmugMug and how it really has changed my life! It has guys, really. Through SmugMug and this daily community it has fired my enthusiasm, helped me grow technically, fueled my desire to be a better photographer and most importantly given me the opportunity to make some really wonderful new friends through the Daily Community!!! YOU! The show was great...I was thilled to put in a 'pitch' in person to Jeff to get a SMUG started here in Philly (SMUG = Smug Mug Users Group for those who may not know and Jeff is the CMO for SmugMug..he sets up the SMUGs around the country ) I was only able to be there for the afternoon, so I made the rounds quickly on the tradeshow floor before and after a great presentation by photographer Cliff Mantner.. Wonderful afternoon, then back on the train home then right away in the car with Steve to go to York, PA that night and then Gettysburg, PA on Saturday. The last 5 days have been really busy and I haven't posted a daily, so I will post a few different shots tonight as there have been lots of photo ops, but no ops to post. Again, I hope you don't mind my bending the rules a little to post a few days on one day!

Post 613 10.23.09 part 2 of 2 This is an update on the swans and the cygnets. Only 3 of the of the 7 babies are still there, but at least that is more swan babies than survived last year.

Post 612 10.23.09 A touch of fall in Yardley, PA. 1 of 2 today. Busy weekend for me. This was taken near my work yesterday. I will upload 2 for the day as I have been behind in recent months and decided I could do that. I hope you all don't mind.

Post 610 10.22.09 Yay Phillies!!!! Why a White Sox guy shown here!? This is Ryan Buch..a local young man and patient in our practice. He was drafted by the White Sox organization last spring and is working his way up into the majors. I took the shot on Monday and wasn't able to post it until today and the timing is perfect. He may be a White Sox player with the clothes he wears, but he is a Phillies Phan through and through...Let's hope he makes it as a pitcher in the majors and ends up on the Phillies...go Phillies and go Ryan!!!

Post 610 10.21.09 Another shot from last Sunday in the Washington Crossing State Park.. There was a "Harvest Day" festival and in one of the old houses these ears of corn were near a window. I grabbed a quick shot and wish I had taken more time for a careful, sharper shot...Best viewed in small size so you can't see how unsharp it is! LOL!!!! :)) I worked on this shot in my photo class tonight in black and white. I may post it when I have finished processing it, but in the meantime thought I would add it here!

Post 609 10.20.009 A. O. B. Yes folks, this is an Act Of Boredom! :)) I had this picture on my iPhone from my outing Sunday with my Mother-in-law. I have a new app for 'Photoshop' and used the poster effect on the iPhone then uploaded directly to the Dailies from my iPhone. Work was a little slow, but I did do this on my lunch break, I swear! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS ON SAM'S BOOK COVER. I SHARED THEM ALL WITH HIM AND HE REALLY GOT A KICK OUT OF YOUR RESPONSES!

Post 608 10.19.09 This is an amazing book cover my son Sam created. He is doing his teaching practicum and the kids call him Senor Meatball for some reason. He decided to write a kids book/poem for them to read to them on his Tuesday's there. I loved what he created for the cover and wanted to share it! First grade is open to lots of creativity!

Post 607 10.18.09 JSun - Isn't that a cool name? This handsome young man allowed me to take a photo of him yesterday while we were in the city (NYC, of course) As we were walking down the street, he was on his cell phone and we just exchanged eye contact and a smile. I asked if I could take his pic, he agreed and simple as that another wonderful people shot..He was nice enough to give me his email, too, so I could send him a copy. I love meeting people with my camera! Happy Sunday everyone!

Post 606 10.17.09 A Fall Shot! I have been neglecting my official recognition of the fall season, my favorite time of year. This shot was taken at Whole Foods in Greenwich Village in NYC. We ran in for a few things after a movie and before meeting our son for dinner! I am posting it as yesterday's shot as I took it, but was too tired last night to post. I will have something else for today. I am trying to keep up better with my dailies!!!