Scavenger Hunt Sunday 1

My photo board hosts a weekly scavenger hunt on Sundays. 5 themes are submitted each week. 4 of the 5 photos must be new that week. This is the not the first time it has been held, but it is my first entry, hence the "1". So these may be a little lame (since 4 of the 5 photos were taken in a 20 minute period) and/or a stretch, but I wanted to participate this week.

1. Shutter Speed

Exposure Time:	1/5
Aperture:	f/14
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

Cropped and adjusted brightness and colours in curves
This was the POTW challenge for this week as well. It was interesting playing with different shutter speeds to get the effect I wanted. I found that 1/10 was too fast (could see too much of the cars) and anything under 1/5 I couldn't hold the camera still enough (I didn't have my tripod with me). So 1/5 was what I went with! I don't love the composition of this one (the background is distracting to me) but I loved the effect of the blur the best, so I chose it.

2. Patriotism

Exposure Time:	1/1000
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

This is SOOC. I probably should have opened up the aperture a bit more, but I am so addicted to bokeh, I forget to most of the time.

Since Canada is so spread out and large swatches of land are practically untouched, the railway system is often the only thing that connects this country together. An early government mandate was to connect sea to sea via one long unbroken railway line: CPR or Canadian Pacific Railway was born. It has a checkered past, often built on the backs of immigrant labourers from China who were treated little better then serfs, or worse, slaves and blasting fodder. Regardless, its an important monument to the vast expanse of land Canada covers and its attempts to unify such diverse and sparse scatterings of inhabitants.

3. Creative Crop
(from the archives)

Exposure Time:	1/15
Aperture:	f/5.0
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

cropped and contrast bumped in GIMP.
The slow SS was a result of the fact that at the time I didn't have a lightscoop for shooting indoors, and I was shooting a backlit subject. However, I like the effect it has, showing the speed of his fingers as he plays. I chose this crop as the background was distracting and I had a bad chop of his head in the original. I wanted the emphasis on his hands and the length of his guitar.

4. Time

Exposure Time:	1/4000
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

converted to B&W and played with contrast in curves
.
I went with this because our modern conception/reliance of time is largely based on the smooth running of trains and their role in revolutionizing modern industry/capitalism.

5. Flower

Exposure Time:	1/800
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

Yes, I am aware I should have dropped the ISO. I had just come outside from in and forgot to change my settings :). Slight adjustment to deepen contrast and adjust WB in curves.

And there you go! Our assignment for the coming week includes:

1. National Pride (also the POTW challenge for this week)
2. Sunset
3. Fire
4. Favorite 
5. Sepia or B/W with Selective Colour

Give me Your Best Shot and Award fun

Better in Bulk gives you an opportunity to share a favourite shot from the week:

Exposure Time:	1/640
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

normal processing - slight curves adjustment in GIMP

(note: this is not an active train track, but rather an old decommissioned section of track that houses a train museum. The museum sits in the old station. No train would even be able to head down this track now.)

So what was your best shot? Go over to Better in Bulk and share it with everyone!:

In other news last week Trendy Treehouse highlighted my photo for Father's Love as an editor's pick. Thanks so much ladies! So I get to snag this nifty button:





and lastly, a few weeks back Nat from Sanchez Family Updates nominated me for an "Honest Scrap Award". thanks Nat! Sorry its taken me so long to respond. I do really appreciate the shout-out.
I have to list 10 honest (and/or interesting) facts about myself, then nominate 10 other blogs.

1. I am exactly (to the year) 30 years younger then my mom, and K is exactly (to the year) 30 years younger then me. I like repetition, and I like 3s, so this appeals to me.
2. I totally believe in ghosts.
3. my undergraduate degree is in history. No I am not a history professor.
4. I am deeply terrified of spiders. Like I once knocked a rearview mirror off my car windshield because a tiny miniscule microscopic one was dangling from it and I freaked out and whacked at it.
5. I am an expert secret keeper. Like Harry Potter has spelled me good. For example, my BFF got "secretly" engaged about a year before they told anyone. They assumed DH knew and were talking about it in front of him. He was pretty miffed, and they were shocked I hadn't said anything. I am a vault people!
6. I often fear that I will leave this world without making my lasting contribution. But this fear doesn't cure my procrastination for doing something worthy or extraordinary. Because I also suffer from fear of the unknown.
7. I am a terrible correspondent, which makes it ironic I spend so much time on message boards. This blogging is actually my attempt to put my life out there and feel connected.
8. I fear I will never live up to the things people say about me, or the legacies left by my family. There are some pretty incredible people in my family tree; how do I compete?
9. I only make 3 things really well: quacamole, pancakes and canneloni. Everything else is a crapshoot in whether or not it will turn out well.
10. Sometimes I wish I could be a travel writer, but really, can there possibly be any money in travel writing in the age of expedia and trip advisor? I still don't know what I should be when I grow up.

And now for some nominees (in no particular order):

• The Slurping Life
• Parenting v3.0
• A Glass After Work
• Finding my Conscience
• Keddiebears
• The Exposed Mom