Happy Birthday Claude

Marty CohenAlligator, California Academy of Sciences, Daily Photo, San FranciscoLeave a Comment

Claude, the Albino Alligator

Claude, the Albino Alligator at the California Academy of Sceinces in San Francisco

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Claude, the Albino Alligator celebrated his 16th birthday on September 15, 2011. He weighed 2 ounces at birth and now weighs over 180 pounds and measures about 8 feet 5 inches in length. He could live to be 80 years old. He rests on his favorite rock, heated to between 78 and 95 degrees, at the California Academy of Sceinces in San Francisco.

The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/60 sec at f/4, ISO 500 on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.

The Osher Rainforest

Marty CohenCalifornia Academy of Sciences, Daily Photo, San FranciscoLeave a Comment

Osher Rainforest

Osher Rainforest in the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA

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The Osher Rainforest exhibit is at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA. It is a 4-story rainforest contained within a spectacular 90-foot diameter glass dome. It’s the largest spherical rainforest exhibit in the world. Temperatures are maintained between 82-85 degrees Fahrenheit. The dome is filled with tropical plants, birds, butterflies, frogs, geckos and snakes. You walk up a spiraling path as you go through the exhibit. Once at the top, you descend in a glass elevator into an acrylic tunnel that allows you to walk beneath the flooded base of the forest with catfish that swim overhead.

The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/45 sec at f/11, ISO 500 on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.

A brief time-out to shoot more photos

Marty CohenDaily PhotoLeave a Comment

Luke, Papa Marty and Jake - Photoby Cherise

I want to thank all of you who come to this website to check out my photographs. I’m honored that you have wanted to do that and I appreciate all the feedback, positive and negative, comments, suggestions and critiques.

I have found that I am spending so much time reviewing, re-organizing, categorizing, working on and publishing older and recent images that are stored in my photo library (currently at 35,015 images), that I have had very little time to go out shooting.

So, for now, I plan to stop posting a new photo daily, but I will post about once a week while I get out there and shoot more photographs. I’ll send you an email with each photo I post so you can go and check it out.

I will also be posting occasional informational items about photography, technology or equipment. If you are not receiving any of my email notifications, please use the comment section to let me know you would like to be getting them. I will receive your email address, but it will remain hidden from general view.

Thanks again for your loyal following. I don’t want you to get out of the habit of checking out my blog daily, but I feel this is the best way for me to be creative right now. I also hope that the photos I’ve posted (good and not-so-good) have stirred up a bit of photographer in those of you whose cameras sit on the shelf and you’ll get out there and take more photographs too.

Marty

PS: If you’d like an invite to join Google+ just let me know and I’ll send one to you. I currently have 150 invitations I can give out. If you don’t know about Google+, click here to check it out.

And, remember to scroll down to see today’s photograph of the Buddhist Temple.

Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple

Marty CohenArchitecture, Daily PhotoLeave a Comment

Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple

The Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple in Seaside, CA.

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Cathleen and I went to the 65th Annual Monterey Peninsula Obon Festival this July. It was the first time I had been inside the Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple and it was beautiful. The religious objects, the architecture and the colors were wonderful. I tried to capture as much of that beauty as I could in this one photograph.

The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/60 sec at f/4, ISO 640 on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.

Version 2 of The Outhouse, B+W or Sepia with no HDR

Marty CohenArchitecture, B+W, Carmel Valley, Daily Photo3 Comments

It’s interesting how opinions on what art is or what photography is differ between people. Yesterday’s HDR processed photos in color and in black and white produced a strong majority preferring the black and white image. But there was also a sentiment expressed by some towards standard, one-shot photography rather than the High Dynamic Range photography I used where I merged 5 different exposures so the full range of light and dark (that our eyes see) could be seen better in the photographic image.

So, I went ahead and took the middle exposure (what the camera would have chosen on auto) and processed it in black and white (and in sepia). Now, when I say “processed it”, that does mean doing things to it digitally that are analogous to what the pre-digital, film photographers did to their prints while printing them in the darkroom.

Here they are:
You’ll see them better if you click on the black & white image first, then click on the small double arrows below the enlarged image to see the Sepia version. Then click on the comment bubble and leave your choice in the comment.

Outhouse By The Barn in Garland Park

Outhouse By The Barn in Garland Park

Outhouse By The Barn in Garland Park

Outhouse By The Barn in Garland Park - Sepia Tone


The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 100 on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.