Painting of Blimp

So this isn't a real painting.  I took a picture of a blimp with my phone, and then painted over it in Photoshop.

Photos from cell phone in Big Bear

Here are some photos I snapped with my phone.  I didn't want to take my big camera hiking, 'cause a)  I'd have to carry it, and b) it was snowing.

Just east of Big Bear is this amazing view of the Lucerne Valley:

Me in front of Lucerne Valley:

Patrick and I hiked up to where this trail intersected the PCT:

Patrick at the PCT Junction:

Snow on pine needles:

The terrain at the crest we hiked to.  It was snowing lightly and there was this heavy fog rolling through most of the time:

Snow on this cool, purple-colored plant:

Staci Jumps

Staci shows off a very cool jump at the cabin in Big Bear.

I love how, at the end, her arms sort of parallel the mermaid's in the painting in the background.

Larger version.

Patrick on jet ski

We found this jet ski and saw a fun chance to play with perspective a little bit.

I also blurred all the background elements a little to create some artificial shallow depth of field.  I had taken the shot at like f16 or something, so everything was in focus.  Creating that blur in the background made Patrick stand out more.

Big Bear Lake

Taken from the shore with the camera about an inch off the ground.

Baldwin Lake

This brown meadow is actually Baldwin Lake.  It doesn't really look like a lake this time of year, but I guess there's alkali water in there in slushy deposits. Loved the mountains in the background, though, and the low clouds.

San Bernardino at night

Shot this coming back from Big Bear.  20-second exposure at f16, ISO 400 on my 28mm lens.

Store in the Valley

Took this a long time ago, and found it when I was looking for something else.

 I think it might look better, though, flattened out like this:

Actually, no: I think the first one's better.

Camera in mirror

Picture of my camera in the mirror (flipped it so the words would be correct).  Thought the reflection of me in the lens was cool.

People in Hollywood Hills; Sunset

This is this spot up in the Hills where you can get fairly close to the Hollywood sign and take pictures with it in the background.  Shot these folks towards sunset.  It looked fine sharp, but I kind of like it better out of focus: they're less specific people, and more archetypes of relationships between people.

Another shot of Hollywood Reservoir

Another shot of Hollywood Reservoir.

Hollywood Reservoir

Was amazed to find this man-made lake so close to me.  It's only about a mile, as the crow flies, from Hollywood and Highland.

Push forward!

Spotted this scrawled on an old sign next to the Hollywood Reservoir.  The colors are all natural; I just bumped up the contrast a little bit.

Tiny waterfall at La Jolla Shores

This is way down south, past the Marine Room.

Jack jumps again

Jack jumps again, this time on the rocks.

Jack jumps

Jack jumping at the La Jolla Shores on Christmas Day.

Fallen tree

A big branch fell off of a tree across the street from me.  

Sphinx sky replacement

Here's a picture of the Sphinx I found online:

 

For fun, I took out the sky and put in a starry night sky:

Wee!

It's a shame that it's so hard to get actual night shots of the Sphinx since, being a feline, that's when it's most active.

Final project for Photoshop

Alrighty, here it is.  My final project for my Photoshop 101 class.  The assignment was to find a movie poster and recreate it from scratch.  We had to change all of the words and use original pictures, but still make it look as much as possible like the original.

I chose this awesome poster for the movie Futureworld (1976). 

Here's the orginal:

 

And here's my version:

Thomas in Texas 2006

I found some old Hi8 tapes when I was home for Thanksgiving last weekend, dug out my old camcorder, and popped one in.  Here's a still I extracted by taking a macro photo of the camcorder's LCD screen that shows me in Kilgore, Texas on July 3rd, 2006.  Look at that dapper fellow!  

The picture kind of looks more like it was taken 50 years ago.