The picture was taken through the windshield of my car as I was sitting in traffic trying to get somewhere.  Before I get started, I do NOT condone the activity of texting while driving, taking pictures, posting to twitter, facebook, taking videos or otherwise.  With that out of the way, as I was sitting there (not, to barely moving), I noticed a rare opportunity.  I grabbed my BlackBerry Storm and held it in what I felt was an “artistic” angle and pressed the shutter release.  It was a cool picture.  But, what I noticed was a rich blue color in the picture that was not as rich in the sky.  The storm clouds were darker, the road signage was slightly blurred… It was a great shot!

When I showed the picture (and my contest entry) to a friend of mine, he asked me what I used to alter the picture – “Was it PhotoShop? Was it LightRoom? What was it, there is no way that came out of your BlackBerry without doctoring it!”  I grinned and asked him to think about it.  After a few moments, he figured it out and called it a “camera filter of opportunity.”  Wow, what a great assessment!

So, how was it done – simple.  Some cars – not all – have some sort of sun-screening material on the top edge of the windshield.  In this case, I was in my Acura TSX, which has one with a blue tint to it.  By holding my camera phone at just the right height and in that “artistic” angle, I was able to produce the shot you see below.

If you think this is a great shot – which I hope you do – I ask you to vote on it.  Then, share it with your friends via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LiveJournal, Xanga, or just share this blog posting with others via email.  The only way I can stay in the top end of this contest is to not only get votes, but also get it on as many social networks, blogs, etc.  So, if you are going to share it, do so from the links provided after you vote.  Thanks in advance friends!

Touch It. Love It. Share It. Win It. Phase 2 Sponsored by BlackBerry Storm

Tall Trees with Autumn Leaves

Originally uploaded by dgmiami

So, I was in the Seattle, Washington area earlier this month for a conference at Microsoft when I found out that it happened to be the peak of the season for the leaves changing colors. With a little research, I found out about the Washington Park Arboretum.

The Arboretum consists of 230 acres including North America’s largest collection of Sorbus and Maple. Since I had NEVER seen this up close and personal, I eagerly drove to the park to see the famous colors of fall that everyone talks about. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised!

My GPS took me directly to the visitor’s center at the park where I promptly gathered my back pack along with my camera to capture the spectacular beauty of the colorful trees. I shot hundreds of pictures (many bracketed for HDR later) as I walked along clearly defined paths in the park. The colors of fall are indeed something to be seen first-hand. Whether you are in the Pacific Northwest, or elsewhere, take a drive to one of these areas in the middle of October and see what you have been missing!

In capturing the image here, I was challenged with framing it properly. There is actually a sprinkler head on a pipe sticking out of the ground about 2 feet high just behind the center tree. I had to take small steps left or right of my optimal composition to get the shot you see here. My walk in the park was cut a little short that day unfortunately, as the famous rain in Seattle started to come down and chased me out of the park.

I hope you all get to see this in person sometime – it is spectacular!

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Camera phone closeup

Originally uploaded by dgmiami

When it comes to photography, we often forget that there are millions of people out there with camera enabled cell phones. It is actually surprising to me that we haven’t heard more and more stories about people taking pictures of things that they shouldn’t be with all the cell phones that are out there!

Ever since I got my BlackBerry Storm, I started noticing all the people that are sharing their cell phone pictures on Flickr. I decided to start a group there to have people post their best cell phone pictures and have other members of the group give them “awards” for taking nice pictures. I really started this as an experiment, and so far there are 14 people that have submitted a total of over 100 pictures! Some of them are geotagged, so it is actually pretty cool to open the group map and see where all the pictures are coming from throughout the world.

If you have a cell phone camera and have a data plan, Flickr has a great way to share your pictures instantly from your phone. I take random shots and upload them directly from my phone once in a while. if you get into it too, be sure submit your best ones to my group.

And let’s not forget, some of the things that you do on your cell phone should simply NOT be done while intoxicated… For instance:

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