Afternoon Coffee

Afternoon Coffee [293/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Normally I am mostly a one-coffee-in-the-morning kind of person, but these days I've been so busy at work, and staying up too late working my 366 project, that I find myself needing an afternoon coffee to get through the day.


Taken Oct 19, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
3.2 sec at f/13, ISO200, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

The Reds of Autumn

The Reds of Autumn [292/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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A fallen red maple leaf catches the last of the evening sun. One more in comments.


Taken Oct 18, 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₂₅ sec at f/6.3, ISO200.
Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 64 mm

Pear Still Life

Pear Still Life [291/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

291/366

We've been eating a lot of pears lately, and this evening the light on them in our fruit bowl struck me as especially nice.


Taken Oct 17, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₅₀ sec at f/3.5, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Hayride Variation

Hayride Variation [290/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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With the nights getting colder, it is time for some richer cocktails. This is a modification of one I found on one of my favorite cocktail blogs. I'm calling it a Hayride Variation, as it is based on the Hayride. Here is what I made; you can find the original version here.

1.5 oz blended Scotch (J&B)
1 oz sweet apple cider
0.5 oz Benedictine
1 dash Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters (sub Angostura if necessary)
1 egg

Shake in a cocktail shaker vigorously without ice, then add ice and shake again. Double strain into a rocks glass, and garnish with grated nutmeg and an apple slice.

This shot is about 90% of what I envisioned while setting it up. I was going for something dark and a little desaturated, so I shot this slightly underexposed using my silver umbrella as a reflector. I think I should have added a reflector camera right to get slightly more even lighting across the body of the drink, but other than that I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Happy Tipsy Tuesday, everybody!

Taken Oct 16, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at f/6.3, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Urban Reflections

Urban Reflections [289/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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On Monday, I was downtown for lunch and had a few minutes to walk around the financial district afterward and spend some time shooting urban reflections. This is my favorite, of the Fed reflected in the entrance to the subway station. Two more that I liked are in comments.


Taken Oct 15, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₆₄₀ sec at f/8.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 14 mm

A Side of Hot Peppers

A Side of Hot Peppers [288/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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We often make some variant of rice noodles with peanut sauce for dinner. It is a favorite of our toddler Isaac, and has the advantage of being very quick to put together. I like my food pretty spicy, however, so to accommodate the rest of the family I often serve myself diced hot peppers in a bowl on the side to top my noodles with. I'm not totally happy with the lighting on this, but it was the best I could come up with at the time so it will have to do.

For Macro Monday's "In A Bowl" theme.


Taken Oct 14, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at f/11, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Next Year's Applesauce

Next Year's Applesauce [287/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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For the past several years, we have made and canned a big batch of applesauce every fall to eat over the course of the next year. It is both really easy and way better/cheaper than the store bought stuff, and with good apples it is nicely sweet without any added sugar. This year was no exception. I usually also make a few jars of apple butter (basically sweeted, spiced, and thickened apple sauce) as well. This is the end result: the apple butter is the darker jars on either side of the applesauce in the middle.


Taken Oct 13, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₆₀ sec at f/2.8, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Fade to Red

Fade to Red [286/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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I've been hoping for the right weather to take some shots of the autumn leaves in nice light, and this morning I was rewarded with beautiful morning light on my walk to work.


Taken Oct 12, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₂₀₀ sec at f/5.6, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 85 mm

The Fences of Somerville Are Ready for Winter

The Fences of Somerville Are Ready for Winter [285/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Yesterday was a nice sunny day and I was hoping to shoot some fall leaves in the sun for once, but I did not manage to leave work early enough and the light was gone by the time I was walking around. Fortunately, I stumbled upon this yarnstormed fence all ready for winter.


Taken Oct 11, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₅ sec at f/2.8, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF28mm f/1.8 USM @ 28 mm

Autumn Rain #2

Autumn Rain #2 [284/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Another rainy fall day today, another perspective on the season. This is a macro shot of the water droplets on a broad-leaved plant (not sure what kind) we have on our front porch, with the yellow leaves of the adjacent tree in the background.


Taken Oct 10, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₄₀ sec at f/7.1, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm with 32mm of extension tubes.

Hanky Panky

Hanky Panky [283/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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I finally got some black and white foam core, so I decided to try some bright field photography tonight for Tipsy Tuesday. I perhaps should have wiped the condensation off, and I'm not quite sure how to get better definition on the back side of the rim, but other than that I'm pretty happy with this attempt. This is a Hanky Panky, which is one of my favorite fall gin cocktails:

2 oz gin (Hendricks)
1 oz sweet vermouth (Dolin)
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
orange twist

Strobist: 430 EX (with improvised snoot) aimed against white foam core behind glass; black foam core on either side for more definition.

Taken Oct 9, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at f/5.0, ISO100.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Hot Tamales

Hot Tamales [282/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

282/366

Isaac has been really into a retelling of the "Three Little Pigs" called "The Three Little Tamales", in which Senor Lobo (the big bad wolf) chases around the three little tamales. After talking about tamales so much for the past few weeks, we decided to make some for dinner. I had never made them before, but I think they came out pretty good.


Taken Oct 8, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₅₀ sec at f/4.0, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Balanced on a Knife Edge

Balanced on a Knife Edge [281/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

281/366

For Macro Monday's theme, Balance. One outtake in comments.


Taken Oct 7, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₂₀₀ sec at f/13, ISO100.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm with 68 mm of extension tubes.

The Trumpets of Honk!

The Trumpets of Honk! [280/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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This past Saturday was the Honk! festival of street bands in Davis Square. It is one of the most fun of the many yearly events in my neighborhood, featuring 30+ activist street bands from around the country (and a few from other parts of the world). It is a great day of music and activity and draws big crowds. For some reason most of my best shots from this year ended up being of trumpet players, so here are the trumpets of Honk! For the main shot I picked one of the trumpeters from the Detroit Party Marching Band. In the comments are trumpet players from the Brass Liberation Orchestra and the Gora Gora Orkesta.


Taken Oct 6, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₅₀₀ sec at f/5.0, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 220 mm

Autumn Path

Autumn Path [279/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Fall makes everything so easy, photographically. The late afternoon light on across the fallen leaves on the bike path was irresistible.


Taken Oct 5, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₅₀ sec at f/9.0, ISO200, no flash.
Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 28 mm

Light and Dark

Light and Dark [278/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

278/366

Playing around with my macro extension tubes to create some abstract images tonight. Any guesses as to what this is? I'll give you a clue: it is something that has featured in my 366 project already.


Taken Oct 4, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₂₀₀ sec at f/14, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Autumn Rain

Autumn Rain [277/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

277/366

A rainy fall day today, drizzly but not too cold with the first color starting to show in the leaves.


Taken Oct 3, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₆₀ sec at f/2.8, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

The Spark Ignites

The Spark Ignites [276/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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A match at the moment of ignition. This was a lot of fun to photograph, even though it took some trial and error to get the right setup, and then about 50 matches to get the timing right.


Taken Oct 2, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₃₂₀ sec at f/6.3, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

South Station, Boston

South Station, Boston [275/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

275/366

Brought my wide-angle lens downtown after work yesterday and had a lot of fun shooting some of Boston's architectural landmarks. This is South Station, Boston's main train station. Originally built in 1899, it was the busiest rail station in the world in the early 1900s before the decline of passenger rail in the United States after World War II. One more in comments.

Much better in Lightbox: please press 'L'.

Taken Oct 1, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₀₀ sec at f/8.0, ISO400, no flash.
Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm

Mmmmm Chocolate

Mmmmm Chocolate [274/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Trying to think of a Sweet Sunday idea for today, and decided to play around with chocolate. This is a selection of what is currently in my pantry.


Taken Sep 30, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₀₀ sec at f/8.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Deflated

Deflated [273/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

273/366

My wife made an incredible apple-cheddar souffle for dinner tonight. I was all set up to photograph it right out of the oven: set up the flash, took a few test shots of an empty baking dish to get the exposure right, and thought about the composition I wanted. Unfortunately, my flash failed to fire as the souffle came out of the oven, and in the five minutes I spent fiddling frantically trying to get it to work the souffle deflated. I eventually figured out it was a loose connection, but the moment was lost. So frustrating!

After dinner and a drink and some contemplation, I decided to go in a different direction, and broke out the macro lens instead to photograph the deflated remains of an incredibly delicious dinner.


Taken Sep 29, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₀₀ sec at f/9.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Peeking Through

Peeking Through [272/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

272/366

A gray, rainy, early fall Friday had me looking for a fence to shoot. Inspired by :Elizabeth:'s shot from yesterday, I went with this.


Taken Sep 28, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₃₂₀ sec at f/2.8, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Lights in the Square

Lights in the Square [271/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

271/366

At work late tonight, so decided to try for some light trails in the traffic at Harvard Square. I was hoping for something that would use the light trails from the traffic to capture a bit of the sense of activity in Harvard Square, but the timing is a bit tricky since this is right in between two traffic lights. This may not be quite the right location to get the shot I was envisioning; I may have to try again from somewhere with a bit better traffic flow. Still, I was reasonably happy with how this came out so I'm using it for my picture of the day.


Taken Sep 27, 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
10.0 sec at f/22, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 21 mm

Happy Monochrome Bokeh Thursday

Happy Monochrome Bokeh Thursday [270/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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This is actually yesterday's photo, but I knew I wouldn't post it until today and so was thinking about shots for the Monochrome Bokeh Thursday group. It was a pretty gray day and these flowers seemed to fit the bill.

Taken Sep 26, 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₅₀ sec at f/3.2, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm

Grilling Burgers

Grilling Burgers [269/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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On Tuesday, we had some friends over for a final cookout of the season. I've wanted to get a picture like this all summer, so I seized my chance. It did not come out quite as well as I had hoped, but the burgers were done so I had to stop fiddling. I wanted to get a shot with the coals glowing and yet the burgers light enough to see some detail. I am still not sure how to get everything properly lit in this shot, so I ended up just underexposing the burgers a lot and fixing it in post. It is amazing what you can recover from a RAW file. In the end it is decent, although I'm a little annoyed the focus is off. Should have used a somewhat wider depth of field to get more of the front burger in focus.

Taken Sep 25, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₅ sec at f/3.5, ISO800, no flash.
Lens: EF28mm f/1.8 USM @ 28 mm

The First of the Fall Bokeh

The First of the Fall Bokeh [268/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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Although I was running late for a meeting, I could not resist the golden light falling on these leaves in the grass.

Taken Sep 24, 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at f/4.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF28mm f/1.8 USM @ 28 mm

Tomatillos

Tomatillos [267/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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On Sunday, my sister, my brother, and I made 16 pints of tomatillo salsa for the winter. I love the vibrant green of these delicious fruits, and use them frequently in salsas during the late summer and early fall.

Taken Sep 23, 2012 in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at f/5.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF28mm f/1.8 USM @ 28 mm

Farm Day Portrait

Farm Day Portrait [266/366], a photo by timsackton on Flickr.

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This is my wife, Kate. A couple of Saturdays ago we went to a community work day at my sister's farm, First Root Farm in Concord, MA. The morning was gray and overcast, which turned out to be a perfect day for weeding and spreading compost into the beds. The overcast sky also created nice light for a portrait of my wife against the backdrop of the farm.

Taken Sep 22, 2012 in Concord, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₁₀₀ sec at f/7.1, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm