I didn't get a chance to get out and shoot this weekend, so this week we're taking another trip through the archives.

I took this photo in August at the San Diego DSLR club's group shoot in Belmont Park. It's not an ideal technical image, what with the lens flare ghosts from pointing the camera straight into the streetlamps. I keep coming back to it, though, because I think it represents a turning point in my approach to photography--this was the first time I ever approached a stranger and asked if I could take his picture.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, in aperture-priority exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/40 sec (+0 EV), ISO 1600. No post-processing.

Thoughts for improvement: As I mentioned, the ghosting is a little awkward. I should probably also have toned down the lights in post a bit.

I took this photo at 9:08 on a Sunday morning. I came back at 9:13, but they weren't back yet.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/1000 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: levels to brighten highlights and midtones, darken shadows.

Thoughts for improvement: Nothing comes to mind. Other than, you know, taking a picture of something more interesting.

If there's one thing that we San Diegans are good at, it's following directions.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in aperture priority exposure mode (matrix metering). Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/200 sec (+0 EV), ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped to 4x5; curves for contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: Probably should have taken this one at f/8 for deeper depth of field.

Each of the past two weekends I've taken a couple of hours to myself to wander around and take pictures. One of the nice things about this activity--other than the photographs, of course--is that I'm getting to know the city a lot better. Most of the places I've gone for pictures I've driven through before, but to really get a feel for an area, there's nothing quite like being out there on your own two feet.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, in aperture-priority exposure mode (matrix metering). Aperture f/8, shutter 1/400 sec (+0 EV), ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened and cropped; several curves and layers adjustments brushed in over the sea, sky, and foreground; cloned out a dust spot.

Thoughts for improvement: I like the effect that the sun flare gives on the left side, but it makes the photo feel a little unbalanced, since the left and right sides don't match. Possibly I should have taken a lower angle and panned left more, though the sun was already low enough that I probably couldn't have gotten gone much further left without shooting directly into the light. Also, if I'd waited twenty minutes or so, the sky might have been a little more colorful.

"Everyday" is an adjective. "Every day" is a noun phrase. This doesn't really speak to the subject of the photo, but I feel like corporate copywriters should know the difference.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/4, shutter 1/500 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped; curves to bring up exposure; levels for contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: The truck kind of wrecks the composition, so I wish that weren't there. I also wish I had been closer, so that I wouldn't have had to crop so much out--it's left me with a fairly low-res image.

I stood and watched this dog for about five minutes and it barely moved a muscle, it was so intent on what was going on inside that building. That, right there, is love.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/800 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; cropped to 4x5; max recovery adjustment; minor curves adjustment for contrast; levels to brighten midtones; burned over the car windshield and background building.

Thoughts for improvement: I like this image a lot, but I'm not sure how well it works without an explanation. Ideally, a photograph should be able to speak on its own.

This dog was out with its owners for a Sunday breakfast at a likely-overpriced restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter. It was a nice, sunny morning, the mood at the table was convivial, and the streets around the little enclosed eating area weren't too crowded yet. I can think of no reason that this dog should look so sad. Unless maybe it didn't want to be sitting next to a bag of what appears to be its own poo. Though, I don't know--I mean, certainly I wouldn't enjoy that. As far as I can tell, though, my own dog rather likes his poo, so who knows?

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/800 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: minor straightening, but otherwise this is straight out of the camera.

Thoughts for improvement: I like the depth of field here for separating the dog and fence from the background, but the quality of the bokeh isn't great, which is an artifact of the lens. I also think that this would have been better just a little bit to one side or the other, to either completely include or completely exclude the fencepost along the left edge.

Right next to the San Diego Convention center is a very large, very modern, very clean, but somewhat sterile-feeling hotel. Around the side, between the hotel and what I think is a cargo storage area for the Port of San Diego, is the cleanest alley I can recall ever seeing. And, sometimes, in that very clean alley behind that very clean hotel are hotel employees in very clean uniforms having a dirty old smoke break.

("'Scuse me, do you mind if I take your picture?" "You want to take our picture?" "Yeah, do you mind?" "Nah, whatever.")

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2, shutter 1/4000, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; cropped; max recovery adjustment; dodged over the men, the wall, the ground, and the fence; burned over the sky and background building.

Thoughts for improvement: I wish the ashtray thingy weren't right behind the one guy's head. I also had some trouble getting both the horizontal and vertical lines straight, and I'm not sure that the compromise I made looks right. Otherwise, I'm happy.

Every time I ask a stranger if I can take his picture, the first response isn't "Yes" or "No" or "Why?" It's always "Me?" I think that's kind of funny. I wonder if, when this guy got home after work, he said to his wife, "The weirdest thing happened to me today..."

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/1600 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: crop; recovery; several curves layers to darken the man and the bright parts of the ground; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones; burned over the man and ground.

Thoughts for improvement: As always, I need to do more work to get the exposure right in-camera.

Here's one from the archives, taken in August at the San Diego DSLR club's group shoot at Belmont Park. The ride is called the "Beach Blaster," and it involves being swung through nearly 180 degrees of arc while simultaneously spinning. I opted not to go on it, and to just take pictures instead.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, in aperture-priority exposure mode (spot metering). Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 (+0 EV), ISO 1600. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves for highlight recovery; lightly dodged over the people.

Thoughts for improvement: I actually really like the composition here, the use of negative space and the way the frame cuts off half of the seats. I feel like it gives a sense of action, of falling. The problem is that I cut off just a bit too much of the ride--it would be better if the lights and arm along the left side (left of the frame, top of the ride) weren't cut off, and even better, I think, if you could see the central arm that the seats spun on, which isn't in the frame at all. The girl at the top of the frame also should be a hair lower, so as to avoid cutting off her knee.