A Pentaxian's Photo Blog

What to do while the steaks are on the BBQ?

2011-06-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is called multi tasking ...steaks on the BBQ and taking some more pics of Faye's garden. More shots with my new compact camera, the FujiFilm X100; taken off hand in macro mode.

Apple blossoms

2011-06-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

My wife borrowed my car just as I was ready to leave for the office ...so killed some time shooting the apple blossoms in my neighbour's front yard. This tree is right on the edge of his lawn and hangs over where I normally park my car.'

Still getting used to my new FujiFilm X100 compact camera. I think I did a better job with depth of field control in these than in the tulip shoot.

Faye's tulips and the FujiFilm X100

2011-05-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

All photos taken with the FujiFilm X100. I really like this camera, image quality and the analouge controlls are superb. However, some firmware issues and the menu system is not well done.

More on Fujifilm's Finepix X100

2011-01-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Fujifilm continues to tease us with periodic releases of additional information on this exciting new camera. Here is their latest information update expanding the information provided on the camera's lens.

A moment of silence please....

2010-12-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

The last roll of Kodachrome film to be processed anywhere in the world will go through the lab at Dwayne's Photo in Parsons Kansas on December 30, 2010. The standard by which all colour film will always be judged ...Paul Simon sang about it, a park was named after it, and it was the film of choice for National Geographic photographers. Kodachrome 1935 - 2010 R.I.P.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favourite pics from this Christmas. Faye's nephew, Michael, was home with his family so we had some young kids around ...what would Cristmas be with out them.

And finally, a Partridge in a Pear Tree - well, not really ...a Grouse in a Crab Apple Tree. But these guys visit us every year around this time and it makes makes our Christmas.

Hope you all had a happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

If your mother says she loves you....

2010-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

In Mike Johnson's blog, The Online Photographer, he comments on the erroneous report that Kuwait had banned the use of DSLRs by non-journalists. In the article he makes an interesting observation, to wit: . "It's a human characteristic that the more we hear something, and from more different sources—and the better a story it is!—the more it enters our consciousness, and the more we tend to lend credence to it. (It's the foundations of advertising, and now, unfortunately, politics too.)"

This astute observation is sad but true. We should all take note of this when we enter the poll booth to ensure the basis of our vote is made on a clear understanding of the issues, properly researched and objectively analysed. The moral of this story is the old reporters credo "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." We can all learn from that ...you can read the full blog article here.

A new king of the hill....

2010-11-08T16:18:00.000-08:00

There is a new king of the hill ...the Pentax K5. You can see the comparison between Nikon, Cannon and Pentax's top of the line APS-C sensor cameras here.

Of course the difference between the K5 and Nikon D7000 is so small that in practical usage one would not be able to see any difference. Regardless, Nikon has always been known to have good low light performance and ranked as the number one DSLR in that regard. They have also been in the game longer (digital SLRs) and have more R&D dollars than Pentax, who's reputation has always been that of an engineering company that didn't do a very good job of marketing themselves.

Back to the future

2010-09-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Fujifilm have just announced a new camera to be available in March 2011. Here is a camera for those of us brought up on the likes of a Pentax MX with it's analogue dials and tactile feel but with a large APS-C sensor of the type you would find in a Digital SLR and an honest to goodness optical viewfinder.

The viewfinder is a actually a hybrid tour de force that gives the best of an optical viewfinder with the benefits of an electronic viewfinder. This makes the camera unique and in a league of its own. The lens is a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) so those wishing a zoom lens are not on the potential buyer list. This does, however, allow Fujifilm to optimize the lens, sensor and electronics as a unit to provide the best possible image quality and dynamic range. Here are the basic specs:

Sensor	• APS-C CMOS sensor • 12.3 million pixels
Movie clips	• 1280 x 720 pixels (HD) • with stereo sound
Lens	• Fujinon lens with Super EBC Coating • F2-F16 • Focal length : 23mm (35mm equivalent) • 9-bladed aperture diaphragm • 10 cm minimum focus • Built-in 3 stop ND filter
Focus	• High-speed contrast AF
ISO sensitivity	• ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • ISO 3200 • ISO 6400 (ISO 100 - 12800 in expandable mode)
Shutter speed	• 30 sec. to 1/4000 sec
Exposure Modes	• Programmed AE • Aperture Priority • Shutter-Priority • Manual
Continuous shooting	5 fps
Optical Viewfinder	0.5X magnification with approx. 90% frame coverage
Electronic Viewfinder	Ultrafine 1,440,000-dot LCD
LCD monitor	• 2.8-inch • approx. 460,0000 dots
Storage	SD / SDHC / SDXC memory card
Power	TBC
Weight	TBC
Dimensions	127(W) × 75(H) × 54(D) mm

Suffice to say, I want one. It will not replace my DSLR outfit, but the X100 will get a lot of use as my travel and event camera where I don't want to lug around an DSLR and lenses. Of course, I will have to wait till March 2011, but that will give me time to sell of some gear that I don't use in order to underwrite the cost of this new camera. Oh, and about that back to the future remark ...not only is the camera lacking any plastic parts, but even the covering is leather, not some rubberized synthetic.

Willow River Wedding....

2010-08-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't exercised my camera lately, however, shot a wedding (did I say I don't do weddings!) recently in Willow River, so thought I would post some shots. Outdoor weddings are nice, however, from a photographic point of view they can be very challenging, particularly on a bright sunny day that causes shadows to block up and highlights to burn out. Ideal weather for outdoor photography is cloudy bright; a thin layer of cloud to defuse the harsh sunlight.

What made this one easy was that everything was at a single location. No running from the ceremony to the photo shoot location and then to the reception. This was was pleasant and easy and as my health is now better than the last couple of weddings, I managed this event with no difficulty and really enjoyed my self.

Nutcracker 2009

2009-12-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

Judy Russell produces the Nutcracker every second year ...this is a Nutcracker Year. Hard to believe it is eight years since my daughter, Ashley, performed the Clara roll. Anyway, here are some shots from this years production. These shots are from the dress rehearsal Thursday evening, on Saturday December 19th, I just sit and watch without a camera stuck to my face ...and I can enjoy the show. If you live in Prince George, the show is a must see!

Sunny but cold

2009-12-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to a sunny but cold day ...that didn't seem to slow this fellow down at all. We have an Azure Maple right out our front door and this fellow and some friends were there to say good morning and were enjoying their breakfast courtesy of my wife's bird feeders.

Pentax K-7 a winner....

2009-11-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

As we approach the year end, there are numerous "camera of the year" awards being announced and the Pentax K-7 is showing up a winner in many of these. For instance, here is one headline:

Pentax K-7 voted Readers Choice Camera 2009 by Adorama Leaning Center Readers. Adorama is one of the largest photography retailers in the USA, they had 2746 respondents and here is the results of that poll:

And here is what they said: "While we're not particularly surprised that the K-7 won, the margin of victory bowled us over. Apparently, even though it's not made by one of the "Big Two" camera companies, the K-7's combination of groundbreaking features, lower price, and legacy of high-quality optics put it over the top. In other words, price/performance trumped the money's-no-object technical wonders on one end of the spectrum, and price-busters on the other."

Before and After...

2009-11-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

My daughter, Ashley, just returned from a gig with Carnival where she works as a dancer. There was a photo workshop on one cruise and she modeled for one of the photographers and received the digital files of the head shots he took. It is always best to start any post processing with a good "in camera" shot, but post processing is a big part of the final look you get. This isn't photoshop manipulation as often criticized, just basic clean up and correcting of the image. Personally, I always shoot in RAW, which is like a digital negative and gives you the widest latitude for correcting and adjusting the image in post process. This image was shot in JPEG, where the camera does the conversion from the RAW data as captured by the camera's sensor, so limited in what could be done in post process. Anyway, her is a before version (left) and after I did some work in photoshop to try and improve the look. Make sure you click on the image to see the larger version.

Vancouver

2009-11-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

Made a trip to Vancouver to see an off Broadway production of A Chorus Line and made a three day trip out of it. Rented a car so we could behave like tourists and did three walk abouts: Granville Island, Steveston Village and Queen Elizabeth park, including the Blodel Conservatory. Here are some images from that trip ..the one image of the statue taken through the store window, is included at Faye's request. She would like to have had that for her garden but (or should that be butt?) I could not afford it.

Cottonwood Park with the Limited's

2009-10-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

Left the office a bit early and took a stroll around Cottonwood Park to check out my new Limited lenses reported in the previous post. I was shocked to see the damage from last winters ice jams, the bridges over the creek that runs in from the river were totally destroyed. The metal supports looked like pretzels and the trails have been closed. There is work taking place to make new trails that appear to stretch the route somewhat over what it was previously, but some new bridges will still be required.

Here are some shots employing all three of the limiteds, it may be difficult to tell the difference between the 35 and 77 in these shots, but there is no mistaking the perspective of the 15mm lens.

I might add, the reason for all those images of leaves is that I am trying to find an image to enter in an online competition (just the glory, no prizes) where the subject is "Leaves". Here is one taken previously with my 105 macro lens.

Limited Lenses

2009-10-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Pentax make a series of small high quality prime (as opposed to zoom) lenses they call their "limited" series. The DA lenses are for APS-C sensor digital cameras as the image circle is designed to cover that format and may cause some vignetting with a 24X36 negative/sensor size. The FA series was originally introduced in the film era and will cover the larger format, but works perfectly well with the APS-C digital cameras.

My camera bag was getting too big and heavy so time to build a light travel kit. I already had the DA35 macro limited and I have just ordered the DA15mm wide angle and the FA77 medium telephoto. The latter will also make a good portrait lens for available light photography because of it's focal length and fast f/1.8 aperture.

Here is the line up of the 3 Limited lenses ...the images are not quite to scale but this gives a good idea of how compact the series is. I can't wait for the two new lenses to arrive....

There are two other FA limited lenses and quite a few more in the DA series. However, these three provide a useful focal range and will allow me a lot more portability than my regular camera kit. And, what is nice is I funded these purchases from the sale of some old gear that was no longer being used.

Thanksgiving weekend road trip

2009-10-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

Made a quick trip to Grand Prairie over the Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of some friends for whom my wife, Faye, had stood up for all those years ago. They must have all been in kindergarten as none of us are old enough to be celebrating a 50th anniversary.

When ever we make a trip like this, Faye says "OK I'm ready, lets go!" ..I then have a half hour wait before she actually gets to the car. So the first couple of shots is just me doodling, passing the time. We saw lots of game on this trip, the first was the big bull moose that, unfortunately, had snuck off into the willows before I got my camera out. We also saw fox, coyote and deer in abundance, and just as we were reaching home, near the university, we saw a cow moose and her calf and this time the camera was ready.

Faye had wanted to take the truck but I vetoed that, Rob had also suggested that if we took the truck "Mom would be stopping all the time to pick up rocks for her garden" ...well we took the car but that did not deter Faye. We did stop near Bijou falls to pick up some slate and you can see the cliff from which the slate had fallen in one of the shots. Of course the main purpose of the trip was to celebrate Loraine and Albert's 50th wedding anniversary and we were joined at the dinner by an old school friend of Faye's. After the dinner, we all went to Loraine and Alberts daughters house for coffee where I got some shots of the group. Then a long leasurely breakfeast with Faye's nephew, with whom we stayed, then back to PG.

HOG'sToy Run

2009-09-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

I never realized there were so many bikers in Prince George, must have been close to a thousand at this years toy run. Here are some of the folks I know and the bikes....

Storm Trooper Pentax

2009-09-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

This week Pentax introduced their newest entry level camera, the K-x. This is a very well specked out camera despite the target market of first time DSLR buyers. It has several unique features, but the one that is most obvious is colours.

The K-M (or K2000 as it was called in the U.S.), which the K-x resembles physically, had a short run of white models that came to be known as the "Storm Trooper" model - anyone who has seen Star Wars can relate to that. Well, those sold out in a flash and further research showed that, the ladies in particular, liked the colour models. So here we are, red, white and (navy) blue in addition to the standard black. In Japan, you can order this in any of hundreds of colours and chose separate grip colors also. I will stick to standard black, thank you!

Harleys and Water Lillies

2009-09-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wanted some informal portraits of himself so I stopped over at his place and shot a few frames over a couple of beers. He is a member of the Harley Owners Club and so of course there were a few shots of him on his bike. Right after that my neighbor said a couple of water lilies in her pond were in bloom, and since I hadn't got any shots of those this year I went over there and took a few frames. The subjects are incongruous, but so goes the way of an amateur photographer.

Still blooming

2009-09-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was heading to the office (I know it's Saturday) and Faye was heading to the lake to pick blueberries, her parting words were "get a picture of those white lilies. So I did! While I was at it I took a few shots of some of the other flora that are still blooming in mid September.

Seeing Red

2009-09-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

I was heading out to Connaught Park this morning to create some images with a lens I am selling (the potential buyer wanted samples) and as I was leaving, camera gear in hand, Faye instructs me to get a picture of her red begonia. So I did ...and kept going with the red motif.

The Amur Maple leaves are still green, but their seed pods are showing red and the Dahlia is still in full bloom. Unfortunately, the slugs and insects have had their feed on the petals and this is quite apparent on close examination. I am planning to produce a photo book of the flowers from Faye's garden and this would have made a nice addition but for the damage from the slugs.

Late bloomers

2009-08-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Gladioli were the last flowers to bloom in Faye's garden and even those are a bit past their prime. I did however find some that were still fresh and in full bloom so I shot those this morning. Back to my 105 macro lens that I always used in the past for this kind of work, but had been playing with my 35mm macro limited and new DA*300 for most of the garden shots.

Those were the days....

2009-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else old enough to remember the 120/220 folding camera of bygone days? Well they are back, this one is brand new and I would love to own a copy, but the better part of $4000 is just out of my reach.

Summers end

2009-08-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

I think summer is officially over on September 22nd this year, but much of the flora, both cultivated and natural, are beginning to show they are nearing the end of their life. Flowers are losing their petals, the fireweed and grasses are turning to seed. However, some are still in full bloom and the sunflower is still reaching for the sun.

Still playing with my new 300mm lens and these shots were all taken with it.

A different perspective

2009-08-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

People tend to think of telephoto lenses as being of use to take a photo of a distant subject that can not otherwise be approached close enough to photograph. However, lenses of different focal length each have their own perspective. In most DSLR cameras, a standard focal length is about 35mm, a 16mm lens therefor would be a wide angle and a 70mm a modest telephoto, and each lens with a unique perspective - wide angle lenses tend to stretch and telephoto lenses compress perspective. Also the depth of field (the area front to back that is in focus) is greater with wide angle lenses and less with telephoto lenses. This means that telephoto lenses are useful for isolating a subject by their narrow angle of view and shallow depth of field.

The first set of pictures I took of Faye's garden were shot with a 35mm lens, one offering a natural perspective. I wanted to try out my new 300mm lens, so back to the garden as it is the handiest location, just out the back door. This new lens can focus down to 4' 7" and most of the above images were shot at between 5 and 6 feet, not a range one would normally think to use a telephoto lens. But, as you can see, it does offer a totally different perspective than that of the 35mm lens in the first batch of images.

New Lens: DA* 300mm F4ED[IF]SDM

2009-08-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

My new lens, that I traded for my Sigma 100-300 F4 EX, arrived today. I can not locate the (generic) plate for mounting the lens on my tripod, which uses an Arca Swiss style quick release shoe into which the plate fits. Had to order one that should arrive next week, but will test this lens free hand for now, though mostly it will be used with a tripod.

Midsummer garden

2009-08-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

My wife's hobby is gardening, mine is photography, this post is a marriage of our hobbies. Normally I would shoot this kind of subject using a tripod, mirror lock up, manual focus and a cable release. However, I could not get my tripod into positions that would allow me the composition and framing I would like without trampling her flower beds, so I used my 35mm macro lens and hand held the camera for all but one of these shots.

I am really beginning to use this lens consistently for this kind of work, and I really like the perspective and rendition it provides.

Getting published

2009-07-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well, the two local newspapers used a couple of my Tommy images in their reviews of the show, which by the way were "raves", and very deservedly so. Anyway, these were not the images I showed in my Tommy post, so here are those images.

Tommy

2009-07-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Theater photography is tough. You may think there is lots of light on stage, but that's only because of the contrast from the darkness in the audience area. Had an opportunity to shoot the dress rehearsal of Judy Russell's production of the Who's rock opera, Tommy, good test of the high ISO capabilities of my new K-7.

I was pleased at the camera's ability to acquire focus in this situation and the noise at ISO 1600 is quite acceptable. These are a couple of shots, but the whole shoot was at ISO 1600, shot with my DA* 50-135 wide open at f/2.8.

My new camera

2009-07-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

My new camera arrived! Pro grade build, state of the art technology and it's a Pentax, which means you get to employ all that great Pentax glass. There are at least 3 more lenses I covet which means it time to do some wheeling and dealing and getting rid of some of my old gear so I can satiate my LBA (lens buying addiction).

Lupines along the highway

2009-06-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

When I was about 21, I worked as a bank teller in downtown Vancouver. I recall an American tourist coming in to cash some travelers cheques and asked if I would add a postcard she had written to our outgoing mail. Of course I read the postcard which expressed her amazement at the wildflowers she saw along the highways in Canada. Almost a half century later, we can still brag about wildflowers on the side of our highways.

These Lupines were photographed at the intersection of Tyner boulevard and Highway 16 and is one of a number of areas around town that boast a prolific display of lupine.

Mad dogs and Englishmen....

2009-06-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

As the song goes, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun ...and never to photograph. Harsh light and strong shadows is the result, however if you are careful you can do it.

Faye had asked for a photo of her black tulips, so on a cloudless sunny day around 1:00 pm I took the photos and indulged some of my own likes at the same time. Nothing says spring to me more than apple blossoms so some more of those and to try and create a different early morning look, I took my spray bottle ...no that's not dew.

Sunday morning and Apple blossoms

2009-05-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I try to make sure I get my camera out at least once every weekend, today the subject was apple blossoms. Two of these shots are straight forward documentary style photos. The other two are impressionistic, one (the red crab apple) is a multiple (five) exposure shot taken in camera and the second, also created in camera is a digital version of what is known as the Orton effect. The original Orton images were created by sandwiching two slides of the same subject, one in focus and the other out of focus and then rephotographing the image. I simply took two exposures, just as with the multiple exposure shot, but one in focus and the other out of focus.

I like these impressionistic images as they have a dream like quality that is quite representative of how I feel about the subject.

This is not a "snap shot"

2009-05-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

When taking family photo's, my wife thinks I fiddle too much with the camera ...here is an interesting article by Art Wolf, who will be known to many readers, about how he develops a photo by working through options.

Click here to read the article:

Spring has Sprung.....

2009-05-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Every year my wife, Faye, has a number of bird feeders in our front yard so she can sit down at her dining room table in the morning, drink her coffee, read the paper and watch the birds. Actually she has feeders year round but we get different guests in the spring.

This morning I took the opportunity to photograph some of them. The last two shots are of a female Western Tanager, earlier this week I saw the male with his head bright red in full mating plumage, but I haven't seen him for a few days now. Hopefully I will yet have a chance to photograph this fellow. I will also have to photoshop the Christmas light out of the last picture when I have some time.

Now, I have to say bird photography is not as easy as it may seem. Especially with these little fellows who are hyper and don't stay still for a moment. Auto focus doesn't work as you just don't have time to focus and re frame the picture. These were all shot manually with the lens (450mm equivalent) wide open (f4.0 at 1/500 second @ ISO 200) and set to manual focus. The camera (actually the lens) is mounted on a tripod, with the tension on the ball head set so that it will hold the camera and lens in place but still allow you to move the gear to compose your shot. One hand is on the focus collar, the other on the grip with your finger on the shutter release and you have to compose focus and shoot in one motion as you have only a fraction of a second for this. It takes a practiced skill to do this and I am still working on that.

In the greenhouse....

2009-05-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

It's the third week of May and the temperature is scheduled to go down to -1 Celsius tomorrow night. That's why my wife, Faye, still has all her plants in the greenhouse, which we had patched up to last one more year.

I started off trying to get some shots of the tomato plants for a competition being held by Pentax USA (the last two shots). The president of Pentax USA and another well known pentaxian, both of whom live in Colorado, are tomato growers and decided to hold a photo competition of tomato's. Their shots of the early buds were posted a month ago, and theirs were growing out doors; my shots were in the greenhouse.

It's tight in there with all the hanging baskets and potted plants, as well as her tomatoes which she has also has in pots for now. Hardly room to move let alone manage a tripod, but I did manage to get some shots to start the season. I haven't been shooting much lately 'cause of my health but hoping to do lots this year and this is a start.

Incident Exposure Metering

2008-09-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

I shot some family portraits for my neighbour recently, these are a couple of those, one of his kids with their grandparents and the other of his sister, her husband and the parents. The thing about this shoot is that I used an incident light meter and manual exposed the images based on the meter readings. These shots are just as the were exposed ...and I think much better than if I had used the camera's built in meter, which reads reflected light. No matter how good the modern camera, and matrix metering and all that technology, I doubt I would have nailed the exposure in this example as well as did the incident reading.

Half stop exposure difference...

2008-08-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

I had a print made of the first shot below of my son. I didn't like it!

Back to Lightroom and the raw file to make some adjustments ...mostly to exposure which I dropped about 1/2 a stop. Then into Photoshop for some very minor tweaking, lighten the whites of the eye and a bit of sharpening. Some might say this is over sharpened now, but I think it adds to the mood of the image. This is a close crop that I kinda like.

Radio Triggers ...and a reluctant model

2008-08-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired an e-bay radio trigger and three receivers (because I have three flashes) and conscripted my son, Rob, to model for me so I could test these triggers. I used all three flashes, one as a main light, one as a hair light and the last as a background light. I also used a reflector for fill. I found these triggers worked OK, but the tilt mechanism was not strong enough to hold the flashes adequately. I used one of my off camera sync cords attached directly to the umbrella flash bracket with the other fitted into the trigger, which just hung from the cord. That was a lot stronger so I have ordered two more off camera sync cords so I can use one for each trigger.

Another wedding....

2008-08-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

Well, actually the first. I have another next week and the bride and groom want the shoot at Canaught Park where this one was shot ...so I was browsing through some of those shots for inspiration. Bright sunlight makes it difficult, the first few shots were taken in the shade of a large tree, but the whole point of this location was to have some interesting backgrounds; so, had to move out of the shade to do that.

All shots were with a Pentax K10D and DA* 16-50 f/2.8 lens. I think the next shoot I will try some with a longer lens to get a different perspective. Also, hoping my radio triggers arrive before the shoot. I could use some flash to balance the exposure but in such high ambient light optical slave don't work.

I don't do weddings...

2008-07-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

If you have ever wondered why wedding photographers charge as much as they do, try shooting one. It's damn hard work; physically exhausting and you are shooting models who, for the most part, you have never met, wearing cloths they didn't pick, under lighting conditions chosen by a whimsical god.

That's why I have always said "I don't do weddings". However, in the last month I have shot two and another is scheduled shortly and likely a fourth in September. I have done a lot of event photography and some portraiture that lead to my being asked to shoot weddings, and these first two were my godson and a friend, and to be truthful I enjoyed the shoot up till the time I was totally exhausted and then under time constraints to finish the post processing ...the amount of time that takes is something else people underestimate.

Anyway, these are a few picks from my last wedding last Saturday. The wedding took place at Summit Lake and provided the opportunity for some rural settings in which to pose the wedding party.

High Key Portrait

2008-04-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Ashley, likes this shot of herself and uses it as her profile picture on Face book. I shot this with one flash fired through an umbrella at camera left pointing down at about 45 degrees. I would have liked a second flash to blow out the background and eliminate the shadow that you can still see. As it is, I used a curves adjustment in Photo Shop to achieve this high key effect and a mask to retain the proper exposure on the subject.

I Really need more lighting equipment, but my wife tells me I had best save my extra cash for some projects she has in mind; a new greenhouse for instance. Bowens have a nice 400 WS kit with two 200WS units that can be used either with AC or battery. I could use this in conjunction with my two shoe mount flashes to have a 4 light system that would allow a main light, fill light, hair light and one more for the background. Of course I would need a wireless trigger system and a few other accoutrements ...oh well! If I think on it long enough I will find a way.

Edgy effect

2008-04-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

These are some experiments of a look that you may recognize from some CD covers and fashion shots. It even can be applied to some scenic images and I will be scouting for some rustic broken down fences and old rusty, abandoned cars to try this on.

Here is a shot of my son, Rob, and you can see the original of this image below for comparison. Also an old weathered shed that I had originally printed using a watercolour effect. I am not sure which I prefer.

2008-04-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

My son wanted some pictures of himself ...so off to UNBC this morning and shot off a few frames. The difficulty was that while I had an off camera flash bounced off an umbrella, his eye sockets were still in shadow and his eyes were showing black instead of green.

Enter Photoshop and voila! Problem solved. Really need a reflector to bounce some light up into the face and fill in those shadows

Cottonwood Park - April 2008

2008-04-06T14:30:00.001-07:00

Just back from a walk in Cottonwood Park, not much to see at this time of year, but I wanted to see what it was like since I hadn't been there since November. I have another post showing some shots from that November walk, just to show the difference in the look of wet trees and foliage compared to these shots. In particular compare the two similar shots of tree bark ...when wet it looks almost abstract.

Cottonwood Park - Novemer 2007

2008-04-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some images from my walk in the park in November. I love the saturated look of the images when wet.

Portrait Session

2008-02-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

My daughter, Ashley, was home for 6 days: She had just finished a gig with Carnival as a production dancer, her fourth and likely last contract, then off to New York with an old friend. She wanted some head shots just in case an audition opportunity presents itself ...so I took a few shots.

Difficult to do this well without space to set up any kind of backdrop, and room to move. I used two shoe mount flashes, one shot through an umbrella for the main light and the other with a difusser for fill. Here is the result.

Waiting for spring...

2008-02-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

We have been in a cold snap for a while now and it's weather like this that makes one yearn for spring. Hopefully this is the last cold snap of this winter. Other than some event photography such as a business convention I just attended, I haven't been taking many photographs lately. So, for inspiration I looked over some of my former shots that I hope to expand on this year. Specifically those of the Mountain Ladyslipper shots I took at Western Acres ...if I can find more of these this year. These are a couple of my former shots of this flower.

Amaryllis

2007-11-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

These plants are popularly but erroneously known as Amaryllis, an African genus of the same family. They are correctly called Hippeastrum, regardless they are a popular indoor plant that blooms in the winter. It is about this time of year that my wife starts her bulbs and these ones bloomed in January 2007. They are a varity knows as Candy Cane, for obvious reasons.

These were photographed with my K10D and Sigma 105mm macro lens. Light was from the dining room window and bounced back with a white mat board.

Bird Feeder

2007-11-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year and my wife has the bird feeders out. She puts them on the trees on our front yard so she can see them from the dineing room window. Photographing birds is not easy, you need some high end equipment ...like long lenses that cost as much as a car.

Regardless, I tried some shots with my DA* 50-135 but had to crop the images down. A flash with a flash extender would be useful also. I am not happy with these shots, it was cold and I didn't spend a lot of time working the subjects. One needs Patience as well as big glass for shooting birds. Birds do make a great subject though, and I will try some more when the weather is milder and I will use my Sigma 100-300 f/4 lens and use a tripod.

Ice Patterns

2007-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

The snow has gone, at least in town, but the weather is colder. As I was going to work, the other day, saw this frozen puddle in the drive way. Ran in grabed the camera and the DA* 16-50 lens and snapped off a few shots. I kinda like this one, a bit abstract, but then this is not ment to be a documentary photo.

First Snowfall

2007-11-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

The month stated with some snow ...but it didn't stay. Here are some pictures of our first snowfall. These were shot from my drive way while waiting for my wife to get ready for a drive we were taking.

Pictures taken with a Pentax K10D and DA* 50-135 Lens.