Thanksgivin’ Tilt, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I love this neon sign at a local movie theatre and on a recent visit I took several normal captures of it along with a few that were not as conventional.

This capture jumped out at me because of the boldness of the sign against the black sky and the slanted angle running from the lower left corner to the top right. It breaks a few rules of photographic composition, but I think it still works. What do you think?

My Life in a Bubble, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This convex security mirror in the corner with the green walls made an irresistible target for a self-portait. I love how the capture gives the viewer the illusion of a floating bubble.

Salt Lake City, Utah, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Today was one of those special days in Utah where the mountains Jump Out at you. It snowed last night, but quickly cleared creating marvelous mountain views from all ends of the Salt Lake valley. As I drove back from a bit of work further North this afternoon I took a second to capture this view of downtown Salt Lake City.

Elk Meadow, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Nestled within a residentual community in South Jordan (Utah) is a farmer who has raised domestic elk for many years. I drove by the herd today in my daily travels and decided to take a moment and capture a few shots. It seemed so strange to be within one block of many newer homes and to be looking into the face of this fellow. The size of the herd varies, but today it seemed to be around 50 or so.

In addition to the elk, the same farmer has a herd of buffalo. I’ll have to capture some photos of them the next time I’m in their neighborhood.

Dream Big, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

My 10 year old daughter loves this photo of a duck among some flamingos. In fact, she even has a framed copy of it hanging in her bedroom. She has told me on many occasions that she feels that it should be a motivational poster.

Well, earlier this week I came across a website that has free tools for making things out of your pictures. One of the the things you can make is a motivational poster.

Featured here is my version of a poster using the Dream Big capture. In addition to the motivational posters, you can also make magazine covers, I.D. badges, movies posters, billboards and much more. If you’ve got some time to kill, try it out. It’s quite fun!

The website: www.flagrantdisregard.com/flickr

Djembe Shop, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

A djembe (pronounced “ZHEM-bay”) is a goat skin covered drum shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands.

I had the opportunity to go to Fred Simpson’s shop today. Fred is a master drum instructor that specializes in repairing and maintaining African drums called djembes. He was finishing up repair work on a drum for our church band. As I waited for him to put the finishing touches on our drum, I explored the shop. It was very intriguing to hear him tell of the history of the different drums and how he can tell where the drum was made by the style and the type of wood used (ours is from the Ivory Coast).

This capture is of several drums of various origin waiting to be skinned or tuned. The low light caused a bit of a challenge in photographing. This shot was shot at a shutter speed of 1/13” with the lens set at it’s maximum aperture of f/4.

Thanks Fred, it was very enjoyable learning about the history of the djembe.

Walking the Rails, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

With the unseasonably mild weather in Northern Utah, Saturday was a day to explore an abandoned railroad line. This capture was made with a 300mm lens and a very shallow depth of field to draw your focus to the shoes.

Red Barn Skewed Angle, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

There they sit, waiting to be demolished. An old building can be a very interesting subject when taking pictures. The textures, colors and lines of the structure provide a great chance to be creative in your photography.

This old barn in South Jordan (Utah) is literally days away from being demolished to make way for a freeway off-ramp. In capturing the images of it I found that I was constantly shooting upward to avoid the signs and fencing put in place by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), the owner of the property. I really like the saturated color of the building set against the bright blue sky. Click on the capture to see a larger version, or to see others in the series.

My Daughters’ Self Portrait, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here is what happens when your two daughters take an older digital camera into their room to play.

They set the camera on a chair, and played around pressing the capture button and jumping into the shot before it fired (while the red-eye reduction light flashed). Someday, I’ll teach them about the self-timer setting – but the shots won’t be nearly as fun.

Of course, I’ve not edited the file (other than correcting wb) as to preserve the integrity of their art… :)

Old Gate at Sunset, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I love photographing in the late afternoon and early evening. In addition to the dramatic shadows caused by the sun being low in the sky, the color of the lighting provided by the sun becomes noticeably softer.

In this capture, I stopped to take a couple of photos of an abandoned house when I saw this old gate. I really like the detail in the wood and how the sun accents it. To view this in a larger size, click here.