Category: Pennsylvania

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Blogging Chester County clouds Equipment Filters Gadgets Lionville Nature Photo Journal Photography Tone Mapping

First Day with ND 3.0 10-stop filter

As part of “Daddy Day Camp”, I took the kids up to Lionville Elementary School to practice their biking riding, in prep for taking off the training wheels.

We first started in the upper play ground, and after parking, I unloaded the bikes, and the kids were gone. I had to coach them a little, but with the follow-up tweaks after Sunday’s outing, both kids were doing much better.

Now I was able to grab my tripod and camera and set up for some shooting.

The wind was rather gusty, and was really nicely formed white clouds against a very deep blue sky, and I had my new filter… Tee hee! wink… wink…

With my first few shots, I felt like a complete amateur, because as I would set one thing that, I’d forget about something else, and the shot would be blown, but I got into a rhythm and finally began to click off some shots.

Long exposure 019 – Take of the intersection of Rt 113 and Devon Drive.
Long exposure 022 – Taken from the outfield of one of the Baseball diamonds.
Long exposure 024 – Taken of the Main School Building
Long exposure 035 – Tennis Practice

Most of these pictures were taken at ISO 100 f22 for 30 seconds to 1 minute, the tennis practice image was around 3 second, using the B+W 58mm 3.0 ND MRC 110M Filter.

At one point, I could hear Logan asking me why I was taking pictures of cars, as I set up for my shot looking north on Route 113 with the Devon Rd. intersection in the background.

He was very puzzled, and even more so, when I showed him the pictures later during proofing. The cars just disappeared!

While playing with my new filter, it became very apparent to me, that I was going to need to recalibrate my water shots, and how to do my HDR work with so much potential ghosting issues during processing.

But as they say no gain without pain.

So come back again, and see what new things I’ve done with this new filter of mine!

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Blogging Chester County Exton Restaurant Review

China Grill – Review

MAS writting her review
MAS writting her review

China Grill is an awesome buffet where you can get Chinese food!

My parents tell me, that China Grill was the first restaurant that they took me to, They put me on the table in my baby carrier.

When I got older to eat on my own, I had to use a fork or a spoon, but I now use chop sticks just like my parents! It was hard to learn how to use them.

They also have a lot of sushi! My favorite type of sushi to get there is the avocado, crab/pollock, nori seaweed and orange roe (flying fish eggs) around the outside!

I remember watching my parents putting this brown stuff into a small bowl, and then add this green stuff to it. It looked really yucky!

I now really like soy sauce, and the last time I went, I tried the wasabi, mixed with it and that is good, but can be hot if you are not careful!

My dad has a rule when eating there: “You have to try at least one new thing each time we go”.

One time, my dad made me try these round little balls covered with seeds.

At first, I was not sure, but then I tried one, and it was really good!

I now like the sesame seed balls filled with sweet bean paste!

Trust me they sound weird, but it’s like chocolate inside a sesame ball!

Even I like them, and I’m 8!

There’s a whole little dessert part of the buffet, and sometimes they even have a chocolate fountain on!

There are so many things there to try, and I think you’ll really enjoy it!

– Maddie ; – }
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Update

8-Year-Old Foodie Strikes Again, Reviews China Grill

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Blogging Chester County Exton Restaurant Review

Bistro 24 – Review

MAS writing her review
MAS writing her review

Today  I went to Bistro 24 with my dad.The food was yummy! I would give it 3 out of 5 stars! I recommend getting the sampler platter! The chicken wings on the platter were delicious! I think we will be going back as a family! And I think my dad agrees! ; – }

– Maddie ; – }

Update

6/18/2012 – My review was picked up by the Exton Dish!!

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Categories
Blogging Chester County Downingtown Nature Streams

Misty Waters

Norwood Road Creek 034 tm
Norwood Road Creek 034 tm

I love this picture because of the water. The water is just plain beautiful!

– Maddie
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Blogging Chester County Downingtown HDR Photo Journal Photography Projects Sunsets Tone Mapping

Sunsets – Week 2

It is very early in the morning, and I have finally finished my last edits and touch-ups of Week 2 of my sunset series taken that Shamona Creek elementary school.

It is been a couple of weeks since the last time I posted, mainly because the weather has been rather dry, and there have been very few clouds wandering the skies.

So without further ado, I offer up Days 8 through 14 of my continued series of sunsets:

Day 08 - 120320 sunset Shamona Creek es 022 efex
Day 08 – 120320 sunset Shamona Creek es 022 efex

What I find very spectacular about this particular photo is I was able to capture the crepuscular rays, which seems to be a theme for this week’s images!

Day 09 - 120409 sunset Shamona Creek es Panoramic 02
Day 09 – 120409 sunset Shamona Creek es Panoramic 02

The panoramic above, is actually a combination of four images that I took very quickly so that I did not have to worry about the cloud movement.

It also offers up a good overview of the location that I have been shooting from for the past two weeks.

Day 10 - 120412 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 03
Day 10 – 120412 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 03

This image captures the sunset fire of the back-lit weeds, growing amidst the cornfield, and also underscores my looking beyond the general sunsets for more elements within my images.

Day 11 - 120417 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 10 efex
Day 11 – 120417 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 10 efex

This is another two shot capture also shows some more crepuscular rays.

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 02
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 02

Technically, I should not be including this within my series, only because it was not taken in the same location as the rest of the collection, but it was taken on my way to the hillside where I have been doing my shooting.

The hardest part about this shot, was trying to figure out a way to accentuate the backlit dandelion seed heads, without losing the overall feel due to the brilliance of the setting sun.

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 06
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 06

In the shot you can see the newly installed garden planters!

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 07
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 07

Again the onslaught of the ever-present dandelion seed heads, which all kids love to pick and blow off the seeds, to the horror of every person that needs to maintain a lawn.

One of these days, I’m going to collect the required amount of dandelions and finally try to make some wine out of them!

Day 13 - 20120501 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 33
Day 13 – 20120501 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 33

There is very definitely turbulence in the air as you look at this image, along with more crepuscular rays.

I also struggled during processing not to overly emphasize the colors that are inherent when dealing with high dynamic range (HDR) images.

Day 14 - 20120512 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 46
Day 14 – 20120512 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 46

The final image of this week, goes back to the backlit weeds during the early evening sunset.

Every day I continue to look West as dusk approaches to see if it will be another chance to capture more images from the Shamona Creek elementary school hillside that I have spent so much time at during the past couple of months.

I hope you enjoyed my images from Week 2, and you will check back soon to see what I have added for Week 3!
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