Dragonfly lights

My wife bought these really cool solar lights that cast this really cool effect on whatever surface they are sitting on (my wife likes dragonflies).  The light is sitting on the patio 'floor' which is made of a concrete material that resembles slate.

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/5 sec @ f1.4
ISO 800
no adjustments (this is a color shot!)

Playing with Fire 1.1

We had an outdoor fire the other evening.  My youngest son had thrown some pine cones in the fire that are covered with Copper Sulfate, which turns the fire blue.  He wanted me to take some photos, so I got out the camera and took a bunch.  I was experimenting with various shutter speeds and came up with this.  I think this is really interesting.  I believe this is the fastest shutter speed my camera supports. 

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/4000 sec @ f1.6
ISO 500
no adjustments

Now, let's slow the shutter down.  I don't know how to explain what I see, but I think this shot gives the feeling of movement. The flames appear to be 'rushing' you can almost hear the fire roar.  In the prior shot, the flames seem 'quiet'.  Note that these shots were taken ~20 seconds apart. 

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/20 sec @ f14
ISO 200
no adjustments

About a year ago, I posted these that were shot with a 50-250mm zoom.  I prefer the 50mm shots. 

Sea of Reflections

Nothing like rain after a you've just waxed your car.  There are more than 2,000 reflections of me in this shot!  No, I didn't count each one. I'm not that anal (but close).  Sorry, but the contrast is non-existent.  It was cloudy and cool.

Submitted for Weekend Reflections #34.

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/250 sec @ f3.5
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast

Train Bridge railing

This is the railing from the train bridge I mentioned earlier.  I guess it's supposed to keep people from falling off the bridge, but normally, there wouldn't be people on the bridge in the first place!  I provided a monochrome and color version.
 

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens

Exposure 1/250 sec @ f3.5

ISO 200

Curves adjusted for contrast

Railroad tracks

Again, my apologies for not regularly visiting everyone's blogs.  It's baseball season and I help coach my oldest son's team, so that will keep me plenty busy for the next several weeks (we have games Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday this week).  Fortunately, we have several coaches, so if time permits, I take photos :-)

Just a down low shot on the tracks.  I know the train schedule and the Philly inbound has just passed, so there would not be an outbound for about an hour.  You can see a bridge just a few feet up the track.  I shot this from under that bridge a few moments earlier.  See that railing on the bridge?  I have some killer shots that I'll hopefully post this week.

It was a very cloudy day, so monochrome was the ticket.

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/320 sec @ f4.0
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast
I did go a little heavy on the black fill, but I think it looks cool. 

Pansy reflections

Another shot from that cold, rainy day, this time I captured some water drops on a pansy leaf.  The reflection is of the arm that is supporting the planter holding the flowers. 

Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens
Exposure 1/320 sec @ f11
ISO 100
Curves adjusted for contrast

Monochrome Slats

On the back of the Stover Myers Mill, there is a small building attached.  I'm not sure of it's purpose, but it had an interesting view through one of the openings.  I really like the sunlight running across the bottom boards. 

A submission for Shadow Shot Sunday #104 and for Monochrome Weekend Vol 2, Issue 38.  Double trouble :-)

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/400 sec @ f4.5
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast