CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-06-17 14:28:44 (28 comments, 30 reshares, 316 +1s)

Last night after shooting at an amazing waterfall we wandered around looking for a place to camp. Maybe we should have stayed here... Because where we stayed was overrun by midges in the morning... Mmmmm bugs for breakfast :)

The trip is going fabulously so far... We found a hot spring to camp at the first night, have had great light at night and warm sunny days. We are now sitting in a restaurant planning our attack for the next few days... Having fun chasing the light with +Michael Bonocore and +Colby Brown. 

Joe
#azure #iceland

2013-06-15 10:20:07 (32 comments, 24 reshares, 318 +1s)

+Michael Bonocore and I have arrived in Iceland. Going to thumb it to town :)

2013-06-14 16:34:41 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 115 +1s)

The adventure begins... Next stop JFK.

2013-06-13 16:28:34 (46 comments, 52 reshares, 494 +1s)

Kirkjufellfoss
    - Iceland

Wow -  I can't believe that in one day I will be on my way back to this magical land of trolls and elves ... and the 5 hour sunset!  

This year I will be traveling with my friends +Michael Bonocore and +Colby Brown to explore some of the same places as last year - as well as bunches of new ones.  Now I need to figure out how to get all my camping gear into this roll-aboard suitcase :)

~joe
#azure   #iceland  

2013-06-12 22:46:06 (17 comments, 7 reshares, 266 +1s)

+Claudia Welsh and I had a wonderful time up in redwood country. It’s such a beautiful area, and we had great conditions – plus two really nice groups of people in our workshops, and the relaxing ambience of the Requa Inn to come home to after a long day of photography.  It was a memorable and enjoyable two weeks.

I’ll post more images from the area soon, but I’ll start with this one showing sun breaking through the fog in a redwood forest. It can be difficult to work with this kind of splotchy light, but I loved the mood of this scene, and luckily the sun hit just the right spots, creating a nicely-balanced pattern of light and dark.

#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography 

2013-06-11 15:38:20 (28 comments, 16 reshares, 310 +1s)

Garðarbæ, Iceland

In a couple of days I will be back here for the summer solstice.  This is as dark as it got last year - maybe around 3:00am.

btw - this is the home town of a pretty famous band from Iceland, Of Monsters and Men.

#azure   #iceland  

2013-06-10 23:14:58 (9 comments, 5 reshares, 163 +1s)

 Evanescence

This shot of the #GoldenGateBridge  in #SanFrancisco  , #California  was taken on a very very foggy morning from #BatterySpencer . This was exposed for 19 seconds at f/22 using a 10 stop B+W ND filter.

To get to the final image, I started off with some minor RAW adjustment for noise reduction in #Apple 's  #Aperture  . Then I took a TIFF to #NikCollection  's #NikDfine  for noise reduction. Then, I took it to #Adobe  's #Photoshop  for some  #NikSilverEffexPro  magic and a few curve adjustments.

I hope you like it. Enjoy!

GPS: 37.827696, -122.481664

#MinimalMonday  by +Olivier Du Tré 
#PlusPhotoExtract  by +Jarek Klimek 
#BWFineArtLE  by +Joel Tjintjelaar 
#LEFineArt100  by +Kees Smans 
#10000PhotographersAroundTheWorld  by +Robert SKREINER 
#BreakfastClub  by +Ge... more »

2013-06-10 14:34:50 (10 comments, 5 reshares, 229 +1s)

Thanks +Olivier Du Tré for #minimalmonday  - just what my eyeballs need this morning :)

2013-06-10 05:42:07 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 26 +1s)

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html?sdid=KGMII

Yeah - the new Adobe Lightroom version is here (5).  I have been using it for a little while, and enjoy some of the changes.  I still will need Photoshop for some of my processing, and I do wish that the capabilities of the plugin api had been expanded more.   I look forward to hacking on it though!

2013-06-09 19:06:18 (19 comments, 20 reshares, 323 +1s)

Camping for 2 Weeks...the packing has begun...

Isn't it funny that some places in my house never get cleaned or organized until I am looking for something like my passport

And a question

- We will be camping in Iceland for two weeks - I need my coffee in the morning .  What is a good light/small coffee maker for this kind of trip?

2013-06-09 02:58:09 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 278 +1s)

The Walk

Sometimes mother nature throws you some curveballs.  While taking this one, the fog was blowing past at 25mph and most of the time nothing farther than 20 feet away was visible.

So I tucked down behind a big pole and waited until a small pocket of clear ait blew through and took some images from under the bridge.  I really wish I could get out there on that walkway :)

~joe
#azure   #goldengatebridge   #monochromephotography  

2013-06-07 01:53:36 (40 comments, 35 reshares, 452 +1s)

Color My World
    - Pier 7, San Francisco, CA

City life ... never a dull moment.  Sometimes it can be hard to find some quiet though ... On this particular night, all it took was a little patience until most of the people cleared the pier, giving me a minute or two to take some pictures.

This one is actually 3 frames shot with about 10mm of left and right shift.

~joe
#azure   #sanfrancisco  

2013-06-06 17:59:30 (12 comments, 21 reshares, 175 +1s)

Who Will Speak?

Today is the anniversary of landings at Normandy in World War II (D-Day)  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings... 

2013-06-05 02:12:11 (16 comments, 4 reshares, 152 +1s)

#TheAzure  

SmugMug Pro +Joe Azure (aka Mr. Golden Gate) recently was at SmugMug HQ and we wanted to capture the side of him that most people don't get to see. The Bad Ass side. 

Smugger in Chief +Chris MacAskill has been itching to try his hand at the +Joel Grimes style of composites, so he gave Joe a leather jacket and had him stand in front of a white backdrop.

After scouring the internet for the perfect background, one of our summer interns, Alexis, found this gritty Chicago photo by photographer Monika Thorpe on Flickr, and we knew it was perfect for #TheAzure. 

Check out the photo from Monika at http://www.flickr.com/photos/monika_thorpe/5219994344/sizes/l/

And check out +Joe Azure's amazing catalog of photos on his Google+ page, or his SmugMug website http://www.jazurephotography.com/

#Photography #PortraitTuesday#TheAzur... more »

2013-06-04 21:50:49 (1 comments, 10 reshares, 126 +1s)

#AutoAwesome Jax

Loving this #autoawesome  of Jax :-)

2013-06-04 17:35:30 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 43 +1s)

Iceland version 2.0 

Looking forward to a great trip!!!

2013-06-04 16:24:11 (29 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

Computer Storage opinions?...

I am thinking about switching my external storage solution.  I want to be able to use USB 3 or Thunderbolt connected to my photo editing computer and wil host my raw files (as well as be a backup system).

Any opinions/experiences are greatly appreciated :)

2013-06-03 16:07:43 (11 comments, 23 reshares, 249 +1s)

The Man Burns in 89 Days.....

How is your planning coming along?   I hope we get a really stormy year - it is about time!

#azure   #burningman  

2013-06-03 05:16:13 (36 comments, 47 reshares, 442 +1s)

Heading back soon... Land of Fire and Ice

In less than two weeks I will be back in Iceland for a couple of weeks.  If you are also there, keep an eye out for +Michael Bonocore, +Colby Brown and myself.  We will be wandering anywhere the light takes as.  So far all I know is that we will be in Reykjavik on June 15th.

Here is an image from last summers trip.
~joe

2013-06-02 21:09:55 (14 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Lens Rentals...

As I am planning for an upcoming trip, there area couple of lenses that I am thinking that I want to try out.  I always like to actually use a lens before deciding if it should be purchased.  

So that means time to rent!  Now I have to decide ... +BorrowLenses.com or +LensRentals.com.   Who do you use/like?

~j

2013-05-31 20:03:03 (10 comments, 26 reshares, 187 +1s)

Burning Man is spreading...

It makes me really happy to see the spirit of Burning Man spread around the world - it really has come a long way in the years which I have been involved.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to go to Burning Man, but it is not always going to be easy - the environment is harsh, tickets must be purchased farther in advance, it takes some travel to get there, and it will engage all of you senses :)

Now go check out this great timelapse from AfrikaBurn 2013! #burningman

http://vimeo.com/66178743

2013-05-31 16:11:35 (41 comments, 102 reshares, 420 +1s)

"Dawn 2"

Trying out a larger-sized upload to see how the new Google+ image zoom works for me.  This is about 8000 pixels wide - scaled down from the full size image.

It has been fun practicing making larger images.  Particularly challenging in quickly-changing light.  I guess that is why it takes practice :)

#azure #sanfrancisco #goldengatebridge  

2013-05-29 20:19:40 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

F-Stop - thank you for the great customer service this week.

It made me really happy that the bags I wanted are in stock and able to ship so soon....  Can't wait to go out and abuse it!!!

2013-05-28 22:37:42 (29 comments, 36 reshares, 449 +1s)

Happy 76th to the Golden Gate Bridge!!

Yesterday was your birthday.  It did not go unnoticed.  Thank you again for being such a great photographic model over the past couple of years.  I learned a bunch, and have thoroughly enjoyed my time out documenting your many distinct and dramatic looks!! (https://plus.google.com/photos/100968313568314999910/albums/5650374756952151025)

Here's to many more years!!!

~joe
#azure #goldengatebridge   #sanfrancisco  

2013-05-28 16:45:18 (12 comments, 24 reshares, 150 +1s)

Thank you for this +Zack Arias !

"Seriously…. burn your xBox. Or, pawn it. Get some cash. Use the money to get a passport and a malaria shot."  

http://zarias.tumblr.com/post/49262199441/at-what-point-do-you-decide-to-put-down-the-camera-and

Go read it!

2013-05-28 03:21:14 (18 comments, 17 reshares, 332 +1s)

I have a posted new blog post titled "Finding Compositions in the Landscape" here:  http://scottreither.com/blogwp/2013/05/25/finding-compositions-in-the-landscape/

2013-05-27 18:44:11 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

+Scott Reither - Thanks for these posts!

http://scottreither.com/blogwp/2012/06/11/peter-lik-gallery-photographer-my-story/

http://scottreither.com/blogwp/2013/02/02/are-peter-lik-prospective-buyers-becoming-more-savvy/

I have enjoyed them!

2013-05-27 00:28:23 (20 comments, 10 reshares, 190 +1s)

I Should Have...

... said something.

Another of this sculpture here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/100968313568314999910/albums/5651851860106942769/5734704175244191682?pid=5734704175244191682&oid=100968313568314999910

I thoroughly enjoyed working this sculpture for images during a damp foggy afternoon here in SF.  It is such a nice area to explore.

2013-05-26 19:05:02 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 25 +1s)

"Sometimes a photograph is a means to say, “Look at this!” and other times a means to say, “Look at me!”  I’ve got too many of the latter and not enough of the former. The ones made for the latter will always be forgettable."
    - +David duChemin 

http://davidduchemin.com/2013/05/nice-capture/

This particular article came at a perfect time - when I am thinking about going somewhere photograph stuff and feel a little like I have not been shooting what I want (for mostly the wrong reasons).

For me ... the photographer/writer most influential to my learning - hands down.   Worth some of your time - go read a bit :)

~joe 

2013-05-26 17:15:20 (21 comments, 16 reshares, 337 +1s)

Love My Frisbee

Say hello to Jax.  This little pooch will fetch frisbees all day if I let him.  Now I need to get better throwing them - because he loves to get all four paws up in the air while catching it.  

It is kind of hard to throw the sandy frisbee then try to get the camera up to my eye and snap shots of him in action.  I will have to practice that too I guess :)

#azure #jax #dog  

2013-05-26 02:16:20 (49 comments, 55 reshares, 557 +1s)

On the Rocks

There is something really nice about the low fog morning in the Marin Headlands.  I started to run out of hard drive space, so have been going through the image catalog and finding stuff to delete.  This is often a fun activity because I find pictures that I have not even looked at yet.... 

like this one.

~joe
#azure  #goldengatebridge #sanfrancisco

2013-05-24 17:39:10 (13 comments, 3 reshares, 71 +1s)

This is a nice little package... 27 watts of solar power in a small book-sized bundle. USB and 12 volt outputs built-in. Should be nice while off the grid a bit this summer :)

2013-05-24 21:53:20 (33 comments, 68 reshares, 349 +1s)

Moonbows for Fun

It's that time of year :)  I know this could have been done differently/better, but I like it anyway.  I wanna go up again and try some more.

#whateverifeellikepostingday  

2013-05-22 18:37:57 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

Opinions on using Canon TC 2X III on the 70-200 2.8 MK II?

What do people think about this combination?  How does it compare to using using the 100-400?  Any other comments/thought appreciated - thanks!

2013-05-22 17:21:27 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 21 +1s)

My morning commute often involves going for a quick peek at the Golden Gate Bridge to see how the weather is shaping up for the day.  Here is Monday's ride:

http://www.strava.com/activities/55308938

I gotta say, biking to work is a great thing ... besides all the money I save (I have done the calcuations - more than a new camera body every year), by some estimates my commute burns about 50 lbs. per year.  That means I get to eat and drink more - woohoo!!!

2013-05-22 16:34:26 (8 comments, 6 reshares, 95 +1s)

Back in March, +Joe Azure, +Casey McCallister, +Maximilian Laue and myself headed up the coast to Bowling Ball Beach and caught a really awesome sunset. You have seen the images, now see the timelapse!

Be on the lookout for Casey doing cartwheels :)

3 cool looking images at the end of the video, so don't turn it off! 

Oh, and sorry you can't view this on mobile...I guess YouTube put a leash on me for using a Led Zeppelin song. But, it's Zeppelin, how could I not? And given the bands history with fish, an ocean timelapse seemed appropriate. 

http://youtu.be/TGWMAgFHq8k

#Photography  #TimeLapse #Sunset #Landscape #California

2013-05-21 15:40:46 (23 comments, 21 reshares, 377 +1s)

Blue Hour at The Gate

This is how my morning started - then it got real nice.  

Now I need to get on my bike and go to work (http://www.strava.com - check it out if you are an active runner or cyclist)

#azure #sanfrancisco   #goldengatebridge  

2013-05-21 02:42:27 (28 comments, 25 reshares, 340 +1s)

Looking for Crack

I had to go down the coast in the middle of the day to find some crack.   This spot fit the bill nicely :)

On an unrelated note - lots of change lately in the photo-sharing sites ...  personally I love change.  Sometimes it's not all perfect, but if things did not change we would still be stuck with the old MySpace, Orkut, and the like.  Either way - change always seems to bring out haters and complainers - which can be a good thing too :)

2013-05-20 21:32:46 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 40 +1s)

Check out the new look on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe-azure/

So far I like it - but I have not dug into it very far yet.

2013-05-20 03:28:22 (40 comments, 25 reshares, 277 +1s)

Mud Puddles

+Casey McCallister and +Michael Bonocore trying to get out of the parking lot without getting stuck :)  This Motion Photo created with the new Google+ Auto-Awesome feature....

2013-05-18 08:22:46 (39 comments, 17 reshares, 256 +1s)

What happens when I take portraits....
:)

Burning Man 2013 is approaching quickly.  The man burns in 105 days.   If you are going to build something, or plan to contribute to an art project, now is a a good time to get started :)  I am looking forward to my 14th year.

~joe

2013-05-17 16:25:55 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 21 +1s)

I just signed up to try this new Cloud-based storage service:

https://copy.com?r=Y2cVNt

20gb for free ... considering I already max out dropbox and Google Drive - it can't hurt to try it.

DISCLAIMER:  If you sign up and try it using this link - we BOTH get get 5gb of bonus space for free :)  I know I could use the bonus space :)   Thanks Colby!

2013-05-17 03:38:33 (56 comments, 46 reshares, 599 +1s)

The Road

Sunrise over a sea fog.  Well, I am actually looking away from the sunrise in this shot, but the light was so nice I could not resist.

I am still getting used to the new interface... the steps for adding it to this album and sharing it have changed slightly, but I think I have it figured out.  I have to say - images look spectacular in the new interface in my opinion!

~joe
#azure #sunrise

2013-05-16 15:20:11 (50 comments, 22 reshares, 73 +1s)

I just signed up to try this new Cloud-based storage service:

https://copy.com?r=Y2cVNt

20gb for free ... considering I already max out dropbox and Google Drive - it can't hurt to try it.

DISCLAIMER:  If you sign up and try it using this link - we BOTH get get 5gb of bonus space for free :)  I know I could use the bonus space :)   Thanks Colby!

2013-05-16 02:58:36 (29 comments, 36 reshares, 447 +1s)

lol - better test the vertical orientation...  ok it works...hee hee

2013-05-15 22:10:37 (24 comments, 16 reshares, 110 +1s)

Google+ Update:  Feature - Album Ordering!

So far this may be my favorite feature yet (granted, I am just getting started on the new UI).   To get to it:

- Open any album in your Photos->Albums page
- Select 'Organize' 
- Drag the images into the order you wish them to appear (you can also  have them order for you by date or name... or even reverse the order)
- Press Done (you may have to refresh the Album view to se your new order)

Voila!   Now anyone viewing your album (includes slideshow), wil see it in the new order!

2013-05-15 21:09:57 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 43 +1s)

Thank you Google!!

I am already loving the new multi-column view of my stream.  And the speed improvements on pages with lots of photos is great!!!

2013-05-16 03:25:11 (11 comments, 5 reshares, 21 +1s)

I am watching the Keynote live.   Looks great!

2013-05-15 18:10:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

http://app.strava.com/boston

#bostonmarathon2013  

2013-05-14 16:44:51 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 28 +1s)

So much truth in this....

+David duChemin has a new blog post: http://davidduchemin.com/2013/05/the-magic-wand/

"I’ve been saying for years that there is no magic wand. I was wrong. There is. It’s making photographs. Thousands and thousands of photographs. It’s being honest with ourselves and not trying to be someone else."

Go read it ... it is chock full of wisdom in my opinion .... I try to think about these things every time I start to feel gear lust creeping into my mind :)

~joe