St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Dayton, Ohio's historic Oregon District were enthusiastic. I was in the shop most of the time and was unable to adequately document the happenings. I did take some photos for my own purposes; mainly as an attempt to set up my camera, which has been sadly idle in recent months. The bars were closed about 1:30am (bar time, or 1:15am actual time ET). I took a walk down East Fifth Street to see what could be seen. I was stopped by a pair of girls who asked me to take their photograph. I don't recall their names, but I told them I'd post the photo so they could find it. Thanks to them I'm sharing 3 other images which would otherwise have remained in the vault, for obvious reasons. I hope to shoot and share some interesting things soon, if time and life allow me to get out and shoot. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and enjoy the humble photographic offering.

Green Hoodie & Jean Jacket with Mickey Mouse Shirt

I hope these girls find their photo. I told them I'd label it so they could find it by searching for what they were wearing. I suppose adding the word Aeropostale might help them track it down. Enjoy!

Bicycles - an attempt to fine-tune my night shooting settings, so I could avoid using flash. I couldn't quite get things the way I wanted them. Also, waiting for a break in the passers-by so I could get a clear shot took a while.

A view across the street. While I keep the bookstore open, naturally it's important to stay nearby.  There's not a lot to see from my vantage point near the front door, but I took aim across the street. The book store is in a location between bars. During party events like St. Patrick's Day, most folks are simply passing by on their way to the next watering hole, which explains the seemingly sparse crowd. There are plenty of folks East and West of my spot. This was taken about 9:30pm. Later in the night the street became filled with traffic and people even in this between-zone.

This is simply another of many, many photos I take inside the book store whenever my camera is at the ready and I'm stuck inside. There are hundreds of such photos that I'll never bother to upload.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I hadn't planned to share any of my photos from tonight, but I felt I should share something more than just the two girls who asked me to take their picture. Honestly, sharing these forces me to take consider my lackluster photography knowledge and the clear need for improvement. Feel free to visit my galleries on Picasa (Google+), Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else my images end up. Relevant links can be found in the sidebar. Again, thanks for stopping by, and expect to find better and more interesting things here in the near future.

Abandoned Theaters - Stages of Decay by Julia Solis

A must see slideshow
Abandoned Theaters

Photogs Unite! First Friday Full Moon - keep your pants on

This Friday, September 4th, is another First Friday Art Hop in downtown Dayton, and it's going to be a full moon!

Weather permitting, I invite fellow photographers of all skill levels to come downtown on Friday and take advantage of these combined events. Something like "Light Up Dayton" back in May, but with one giant night-light for the nite-life! And stop in Bonnett's Books to say Hello. I'll be working, but I'll have my camera ready to grab shots should opportunities arise.

I'd be interested in seeing some of the results that come from this exercise, so I've set up a Flickr Group called "Keep Your Pants On" in case anyone wants to share.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/kypo/


If you're a new photog, or new to Lunar photography, these two links might be helpful (if you know of others, please share):

• Joel Alexander Photography - Photographing the Moon
• Keith's Moon Photography

Below are some slideshows of my past moon sets. The first two were shot in the Oregon District. One set was to document a Lunar eclipse and the other was a much earlier unplanned shoot. Enjoy!





This one isn't a full moon, but two subjects are better than one, right?



Finally, this full moon was supposed to be particularly bright due to a closer orbital path than usual. But, as the song goes, "the clouds got in my way."

Updates & Facebook maintenance

I've been busy lately. If you're reading this on Facebook, click through to read the whole post and see the links therein to learn more. Feel free to begin with these:

• BonK! on Blogger- http://blonking.blogspot.com (what you're reading right now)
  
• BonKH on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/BonKH
  
• BonK! on Picasa - http://picasaweb.google.com/khbonnett
  
• KB.Ultra on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/kb_ultra

Lately, I've been doing things that have kept me away from Facebook, so FB, if you're feeling ignored, don't. So right now, when I finally get to a point where I can check in on it, I find my FB account is unavailable due to site maintenance. Phooey.

If you haven't already noticed, I've got this blog's feed piped into Facebook, so if it takes a few MORE days before I check in over there this should get through to let those who care know why.

Updates:

• FOOD - Roberta has been making foodstuffs like a crazy person. It's AWESOME! She's experimenting with 'stuffed' this-and-that, so I've been eating a lot of stuffed green peppers, and tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad... never heard of that before, but it's delicious! I've neglected to photograph these things and I hang my head in shame for the slack. I actually rather enjoy photographing food and drinks, but my faves involve a burning flame, like food on a grill (see my FesTiki shots on Flickr). I like to give these shots a vintage look, as if they came from some old cookbook of the 60's or 70's. But this is about the wife's cooking...

In the last week or so I've had zucchini bread, banana bread, the aforementioned stuffed vegetables, a mushroom omelette and bacon, charcoal grilled hamburgers, corn on the cob, and more, all by her hand, and every bit of it as good or better than comparable items I've had elsewhere. She loves cooking as I love photography, but I think her skills are proportionally more advanced than my own. Oh, I just remembered, I did take a photo of Sunday breakfast. It was so good, even the coffee maker wanted some...

• Another thing worth mentioning, FesTiki's headlining band, The Cocktail Preachers, asked me for a couple of photos I nabbed of them at that gig! They're not my best work, but I'll blame it on the beverages. They're the same photos from my FesTiki video slideshow on YouTube. I've recently updated the video with music by Dayton's legendary surf band, The Mulchmen. The Nick Kizirnis Band still performs a number of Mulchmen tunes... really good stuff. They had me at "theremin".

• And, one more thing. I met a genuine published author at work on Wednesday, and I'm actually strongly interested in reading his book. More on that coming soon on the "Penciled Margins" blog of Bonnett's Used Book Store.

And that's about that... oh, except, I wanted to shoot the moon again tonight. The waxing slice visible tonight was very low and setting when I spotted it, but it was a deep orange color that I wanted to catch. I didn't stop to shoot it, and by the time I arrived home it had already set. I'll be watching for it tonight.

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, July 2009 -- Variety Pack!

If you find this via Facebook, click through to see the slideshow.
I keep certain photos in the following locations, if you'd like to take a closer look at them than is possible in these video slideshows:
My Original Online Gallery -- http://picasaweb.google.com/khbonnett
Most Recently Used Gallery -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb_ultra/
Most Underused Gallery -- http://morecrap.deviantart.com/

There's a wide range of stuff in here, from quickie mobile phone images to artistic architecture.



BTW, I should explain my use of video slideshows.

Google's Picasa is where I have kept most of my images but I'm nearing the storage limit. They offer an upgrade option but money's a bit tight... (no, really?).

I started using Flickr to supplement my photo storage addiction, but I'm bumping into their limits as well. Flickr seems to have become THE place for online photo storage so I'm considering scraping together the money for an upgrade there. BUT! I've never ever been a fan of Yahoo! or any of their products, of which Flickr is one. I'm even more turned-off now that they're partnering with Microsoft and switching to Bing as their internal search engine.

Soooo... Google's Picasa makes it very easy to create video slideshows of your photos and upload them to YouTube, where there are no storage limits! I can upload video slideshows all day long to share my photos. Also, using video instead of stills somewhat helps keep people from 'borrowing' photos without permission.

BTW, I keep my Picasa/YouTube slideshows silent, but you can add music. Just be sure you use something that won't get removed by the copyright police on YouTube. ;-)

Ciao 4 now! :-)

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, June 2009

Facebook users! Visit my blog at http://blonking.blogspot.com, or my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/BonKH to see the video slideshows included in these posts.

This is a nice colorful batch of my photos. Some of them might appear to be the same as things I've posted before, but they aren't; they're different pictures of something I've shot before. There will be few such duplications in the future. These were simply a matter of circumstances. Enjoy! :-)

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, May 2009 Part 2

I don't have an exact count, but this slideshow should put me above my 'picture a day' quota. I warn you, this is one of the most mundane batches yet, but it's worth the watchin' for a nice glimpse of the Dayton Five Rivers MetroParks fountain at RiverScape and some fresh glimpses of that totally sweet Lotus Elise I posted some time back (maybe on "Penciled Margins", if not here). As always, enjoy. :-)

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, May 2009 Part 1, Light Up Dayton

Some of these pictures have appeared on Facebook, MySpace, and maybe even Flickr (I can't remember off-hand). But most of them are making their debut right here and now!

If you see anything interesting and would like to know more, as always, feel free to contact me about it.

All alone, this video slideshow goes above and beyond the call of duty for May's requirements. It should help make up for a bit more of March, and there's more May yet to come! I could actually put myself ahead of schedule... but, at this point, I'm not even really counting anymore.

Enjoy!

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, April 2009

With April comes Spring and many more opportunities for photographs. My wife and I attended the home opener of the Dayton Dragons (they lost, but it's tough to have a bad time at a Dragons game) and the Monsters of Burlesque tour visited Gilly's. I took plenty of photos for both events, putting me above my picture a day count for April. The photos included in this slideshow help make up for my March deficit.

Be sure to check the archives for the Dragons and Monsters of Burlesque slideshows.

Enjoy!

A Picture A Day Catch-Up (not quite) - March 2009

It seems I was far more preoccupied than I had realized in March. I took a total of 91 photos in March, most of them concerning private family functions, and not to be shared here. From the remaining shots there are fewer available than there were days to fill. I will make up for the difference in short order.

A Picture A Day Catch-Up, February 2009

Another catch-up video attempting to fill in my 2009 "A Picture A Day" project. While working on these video slideshows I've realized that, technically, such a project should consist of a picture taken on every day of the year. This year hasn't been compatible with such an endeavor. I take a lot of photos, but often they come in bursts related to specific events or outings. So, many photos taken on one particular day will have to suffice for filling in the spaces this year.

Once again, enjoy.

A Picture A Day - Catch-Up - January 2009

On January 2nd, 2009 I began trying to post "A Picture A Day" throughout 2009. The project quickly slowed to a crawl and was eventually derailed in the wake of a family emergency. This was originally intended to consist of pictures from my phone. In short order I began including pictures from my 'real' camera, and later I included some graphics cobbled together without any cameras at all. I've been shooting, off and on, the whole time. This video slideshow completes the quota for January 2009. I'll attempt to create catch-up slideshows for the other shorted months as well, through to December if needs be, should I never actually get caught up.

This video slideshow was assembled using Google Picasa. The captions were supposed to appear in the lower left corner, ala music videos, and were supposed to be colored to provide contrast with the background, making them legible. I'm not sure why the captions didn't appear where I told the program to put them. Future video slideshows will forgo the use of captions altogether. If you see something you like and want to know more about it you may comment here or send an email.

Enjoy.

Kahiki Restaurant slideshow

My photos of the Kahiki, taken just before they shut down for good to make way for another pharmacy box. The images are small, low-rez, and of poor quality, but they provide a rare glimpse at what may have been the coolest restaurant ever, anywhere.

Enjoy

Kahiki Salvage operation

The Kahiki Supper Club: Legendary restaurant, or placeholder for a Walgreen's? It turned out to be both.

When Kahiki closed there was talk of building a new Kahiki. Key components of the original were salvaged and stored. Whether or not they are still being stored is unknown to me. I've heard no whispers of rebuilding since then and, in this economy, the prospect seems less likely than ever.

I found a link on Facebook to these photos of the salvage operation. If you were/are a Kahiki fan, grab a tissue or two before clicking.

Kahiki Salvage operation

TOS'n' 'bout my generation

OK, fresh banner here at BonK! because my son gave me an action figure of Captain Kirk in his chair. The new figure is Kirk at his captainy best, shiny ankle boots and all. My other Kirk figure is the 'battle damaged' Kirk with scratches on his face and a dirty shirt.

My first idea for the banner was something based on "The Enemy Within", an episode of Star Trek in which Kirk is split into two caricatures of himself. One is caring, peaceful, quiet, and timid; the other is angry, boistrous, and aggressive. As the story goes, neither of these two half-Kirks is worthy or able to command a starship... Only someone who has balanced these factors can be a strong and compassionate leader.

I'll try my original idea later. I just couldn't resist including Vena in this trial. It's still a good Kirk/bad Kirk idea, but this Orion slave girl is keeping them apart and breaking the 4th wall, gazing directly at us. I was unable to find words to put in her mouth. Any ideas for a quote or caption?

Oh, the background is the board from a limited edition Star Trek board game I've never had opportunity to play. If I'm going to teach myself to shoot miniatures I should probably put a bit more effort into their settings.This is a pretty terrible photo... I know it. At least the colors are nice. ;-)

Lotus Elise - A Picture Every Now & Then # 34

A Picture Every Now & Then 034 - Lotus Elise

What is there to say? Enjoy!

Photographic notes:
Normally, I snap a few photos, move them to my computer, and use Picasa for some simple editing. I've found it completely satisfactory for my needs.

My philosophy has been: If Picasa can't fix it, it isn't worth fixing. To me, that's my way of accepting the fact that I've taken a bad photo and using that knowledge to try and avoid making the same mistake again... however...
I've recently started experimenting with the GIMP photo-editing software because I've heard of something called HDR imagery. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. What it means is that an image will display nearly the full range of light that our eyes can see... here's an rough example: You're on a tree-lined city street with the sun low enough to cause you to squint when looking at the people or buildings down the road. You can look down the street and your eyes can adjust to make out details, colors, and textures because they automatically adjust to the light. You're camera isn't so good at that. If you take a photo of that scene you're likely to get a blindingly bright sun and everything else in the image will be in silhouette. Now, look down the street away from the sun... a photo taken in this direction will be well lit, perhaps too much so, losing definition and detail. HDR imagery allows you to combine multiple exposures of the same shot to bring out much of the detail that the human eye would see.

Typically, three exposures of an identical scene are used. It's possible to use more exposures, or only two. I've read that a single image in RAW format can be used to create an HDR as well, but I'm not so sure ( Please forgive any mistakes I may make, and feel free to correct me. I'm a novice, especially in the software side of photography). Getting three (or more) exposures of the same shot is quite easy these days. Many cameras have an auto-bracketing feature built-in. 'Bracketing' is when you take a picture, then take an under-exposed version of the same picture, and and over-exposed version. These images can be composited to make an HDR image of the scene.

What I've posted above was composited using exposure masking. Some folks think exposure masking is HDR, but I'm not so sure that's right. I took three bracketed shots, layer masked them together in The GIMP, and finalized it with some Picasa tweaks. I can barely do this process, let alone explain it. Search for the terms I've used above and you'll find the same info I found.

Here are three links I've found helpful:

• HDR tutorial: how to create HDR photos with free Qtpfsgui and GIMP | Design live
• Your first HDR image!
• Gimp HDR how to - Google Search

MONSTERS of BURLESQUE - A Few Pictures Every Now & Then #33

Submitted for your approval "The Monsters of Burlesque!" From the 4/29/09 show at Gilly's in Dayton, Ohio.



Neil O'Fortune is our Master of Ceremonies, presiding over performances by:
Clams Casino, Creamy Stevens, Jonny Porkpie, and Nasty Canasta

"The '34", a Led Sled Customs original - A Picture Every Now & Then #32

A Picture Every Now & Then 032 - "The '34", a Led Sled Customs original

I've known about Led Sled Customs for some time, but I've forced myself to ignore that knowledge in order to avoid a terminal case of frustration.

I've always loved cars, especially hot-rods, customs, and 'fantasy' cars, like the Batmobile and Mach 5, but I've never really had the chance to take up REAL cars as a hobby. That's life. I'll have to settle for appreciating the craft of others.

So, my wife and I spotted this bad boy outside The Southern Belle Tavern after the opening day game of the Dayton Dragons. We were in a hurry to get home and feed our dog or I would've tried to go inside and find it's owner. Anyway, I didn't have many options, photographically speaking, but I'm really diggin' this shot, so here it is. This is what I'd call a 'real rod', a workin' man's hot-rod, not some glorified showroom piece that comes no closer to the road than it's trailer will allow. This is the real deal, steel and wheels. Rock and roll.

Easter B-Ball - A Picture Every Now & Then #31

A Picture Every Now & Then 031 - Easter B-Ball

Family members enjoying a sunny Easter Sunday at the hoop.

Dayton Dragons Opening Day - A Picture Every Now & Then #30

A Picture or more Every Now & Then 030 - Dayton Dragons Opening Day



Dayton Dragons Baseball games are a good time, every time.