On the Aesthetics of Photo Cropping

The Pip running, in a wider shot.

The images from my new camera are huge– 6000×4000 pixels– so when I post them here, I need to re-scale them (in theory WordPress can do that automatically, but it’s never worked right on the rare occasions that I’ve tried). Since I’m opening the pictures in GIMP anyway, I generally do a little cropping and… Continue reading On the Aesthetics of Photo Cropping

028/366: Peek-a-Bench

The Pip grinning from behind a bench.

The JCC day care is closed today and tomorrow for the start of Sukkot, so as a result, I spent most of the day home with The Pip (SteelyKid went off to school as usual). Which means I got a whole bunch of photos of him playing at home and at a couple of local… Continue reading 028/366: Peek-a-Bench

027/366: #SuperBloodMoon

SteelyKid looking at the eclipse through her telescope.

Really, was there any question at all what the subject of today’s photo would be? I mean, I’m a geek, I have a fancy camera– of course I was taking pictures of the lunar eclipse. But more importantly, I was sharing it with SteelyKid: That’s SteelyKid looking through her telescope at the early stages of… Continue reading 027/366: #SuperBloodMoon

019/366: Lots of SteelyKids

Multiple images of SteelyKid bouncing at the trampoline park. Composite image made with Motion Shot.

Weekends around here tend to be ridiculously busy, so you get a cell-phone photo again. But with a twist– over in Twitter-land, Frank Noschese mentioned a smartphone app called Motion Shot that takes short video clips and processes them to provide multiple images of some moving object. This is, of course, basically irresistible for a… Continue reading 019/366: Lots of SteelyKids

017/366: Guessing Game

SteelyKid's clues for the "guess which kid wrote this" owl at her school's open house.

SteelyKid’s elementary school had their annual open house tonight, and they tried something different with it this year. Rather than having prepared presentations in the classrooms, they had the kids lead a “tour” for their parents– she got a map and a “bingo” card, and then led us to her classroom, the cafeteria, the library,… Continue reading 017/366: Guessing Game

015/366: Ascent

The Pip climbing up a twisty slide.

I don’t want to turn this into “Photo of the Kids of the Day,” but I spent most of today with The Pip, because his day care was closed for Rosh Hashanah. And while I took a bunch of artsy shots of trees and stuff, I really like the way this one came out: He’s… Continue reading 015/366: Ascent

013/366: Accessorize!

My right hand.

Elite Northeastern private college tuition and fees (1989-1993): ~$80,000 Gold class ring from elite Northeastern private college: ~$500 Colorful Rainbow Loom bracelet from your seven-year-old daughter: Priceless. SteelyKid made this bracelet the other day at her after-school day care, while demonstrating to her friends that she could knit the rubber bands together with her fingers.… Continue reading 013/366: Accessorize!

012/366: Rocket Dude!

The Pip attempts to send a Stomp Rocket into orbit.

SteelyKid spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing at a friend’s house, so most of the photographic activity of the day involved The Pip energetically playing with various toys. This included a good while spent in the back yard with a Stomp Rocket: In this shot, he’s leaped with great force onto the rubber… Continue reading 012/366: Rocket Dude!

011/366: Expensive Selfie

Yeah, it's still me.

Another crazy-busy day, with a really exhausting pick-up basketball game at lunchtime, but I did have a little time to try out two features of the new camera: the “Live” shooting mode, and the display screen on the back that flips out. These combine to allow you to take a really expensive selfie, if you… Continue reading 011/366: Expensive Selfie

010/366: SparringKid

SteelyKid, in sparring gear, with her taekwondo coach.

I said when I started this that there would inevitably be a few cell-phone snapshots, on days when I’m too busy to get fancy with the DSLR. This was one such, so here’s a quick shot of SteelyKid at tonight’s Elite Team taekwondo practice, talking to her coach. The Elite Team class is all sparring,… Continue reading 010/366: SparringKid