Day 42

I guess I can go on about how "lame" flower shots are, but the reality is that God made them pretty, so it's kind of hard to ignore beauty when you have a camera.

Things I've learned: This was taken in the woods on a sunny day. Shooting in the woods has to be the trickiest lighting situation I've encountered. One photo would be exposed fine, while others would be under exposed without warning. It was hard to tell before you took the shot if you would under-expose. I thought I was going crazy when I reviewed these at home. Turns out I wasn't paying good attention to my histogram. Gonna have to remember that next time I'm in a lighting situation like this.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm f/4 lens @131mm

1/2500sec

f/4

ISO 1250

Day 41

This post was a no-brainer for me. I've been anticipating this little girl smiling ever since she was born. You sometimes have to work very hard to get it, but it is worth it. Either way, I finally got a little smile captured on camera. 

Things I've learned: Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between ISO 1600 and ISO 3200. They both have a lot of digital noise to work with, and in the wrong light, ISO 1600 seems just as bad as ISO 3200.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @47mm

1/100sec

f/2.8

ISO 1600

Day 40 (x2)

Audrey and Liam have discovered "Helicopters", which are the seeds that are blown from the trees near our house every Spring. I had to include both pictures, because I thought that they both communicated very well the kind of energy and joy these two get every time they walk out our front door. It's quite enjoyable to watch.

Things I've learned: I LOVE this new lens. One of my fears with getting a good quality zoom lens is that I'd stop composing creatively, since I can zoom without my feet. I'm not finding that to be the case, which is good. Still, I'm going to put this lens through a lot more testing before I decide to keep it as a main lens.

Canon 30D w/Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens @41mm and 26mm
1/400sec
1/250sec
f/2.8
ISO 400

The new lens in action

Here are a few shots I took today with my new lens. Just some extras I thought would be worth sharing for those who might be interested:

Day 39

 

Today I got a new lens. It’s a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens. I needed a higher quality lens to get wide angle shots for some of my photography clients, so this one fit the bill. I also purchased a sensor-cleaning kit and finally cleaned my dirty (for almost a year) sensor. Now I can shoot at apertures smaller than f4 without dust spots and smudges all over the place. To demonstrate, I took the above photo with my new lens.

Things I’ve learned: I’ve missed shooting at smaller apertures. I just realized that when I finally cleaned my sensor. I also love what wide angles give me with landscapes. This new lens might be the daily lens i use now, because of its wide-angle attributes and low-light abilities.

Tamron 17-50m 2.8 lens @17mm
1/250 sec
f/16
ISO 100
(tripod mounted)

Day 38

I’m very happy to have beautiful children. Especially when they can tolerate their dad’s photography addiction.

Things I’ve Learned:  I saw a photo several months ago, and wanted to copy the look of it. To do so, I had to go back and learn and understand a few things, as this particular photo involves techniques with exposure compensation and tricky light metering. Sometimes it pays to do your research before trying an idea. I actually have several similar pictures from this shoot, but found this one to be the most interesting to share.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/30 sec
f/2.8
ISO 1000

Day 37

Some flowers are just more interesting with water droplets. Being that we are expecting to get a good bit of rain for the next few days, this is a good time to get photos like this.

Things I've learned: This is a seriously huge crop of an image. In fact, more than 50 percent of the original image was discarded. This was because I didn't have the equipment needed to capture the original thought that I had in mind. Sometimes getting the shot you want requires relying on heavy editing. Not my preferred method, but one I'll take when I need it.

Canon 30D w/ 70-200mm lens@200mm

1/500 sec

f/4

ISO 200

Day 36

Shot in my back yard. This is the time of year to put these things to work. :-)

Things I've learned: Like many days, I've taken a few photos, and it seems like the photo I always aim to get isn't the one I choose, but the one I get without trying so hard is the one I use. Seems like intuition plays a huge role in the making of my art.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @126mm
1/500 sec
f/4
ISO 100

Day 35

I actually took this photo a while ago, but only now, after some post-processing did I find it to my liking.. This was shot near the school where I work.

Things I’ve learned: Don’t be too hasty to delete old pictures. Sometimes you can learn a new editing technique that can bring an old photo alive. I guess as a tool to further enable you to capture the vision you had when you took it.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @200mm
1/1250sec
f/5
ISO 100

Day 34

I came home today to discover that my wife had decided to decorate the facade of our city home with a door wreath and fill our empty flower boxes with these flowers.

Things I've learned: Flowers are a difficult subject to shoot. Not technically, but perhaps creatively. It seems like I've seen flower photos of every kind, and despite their obvious beauty, they lean heavily on the "been there, done that" side for me.

I've also been shooting in manual mode lately, rather than aperture priority mode. I'm surprised at how much I ignore my shutter speed when I think that the lighting is good enough. Maybe its a good idea to shoot more in this mode.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @200mm
1/320 sec
f/4
ISO 200

Day 33

Little Isabel just over 6 weeks.

Things I've learned: A portrait is more than just a straight-on head shot. I love exploring facial features. Sometimes there's beauty in the form of a face. Sometimes the form of a face, when seen as forms, shapes, lines and tonal values can be inspiring all on its own.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens@200mm
1/250sec
f/4
ISO 1600

Day 32

Another photo from yesterday. This time the flare is a bit overwhelming. I really love this shot though, so for what it is worth, the moment was unique, which is why the photo is especially meaningful.

Things I've learned: Lens flare isn't always good either. Sometimes the uniqueness of the shot can overshadow the technical failures and still make it a good picture.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens@131mm
1/1000 sec
f/4
ISO 800

Day 31

This is my beautiful firstborn being a willful model for her daddy. Dora tatoo and all. 

Things I've learned: Lens flare is something that you are supposed to avoid when taking photos outdoors. I enjoy the challenge of trying to use it creatively when I can. I kind of like these types of photos when you can do this. It takes a lot of patience and willingness to go blind (just kidding). 

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @87mm

1/1000 sec

f/4

ISO 800

Day 30

Shot this the other day while walking to the ice cream shop with the family.

Things I've learned: Some days you can get a lot of good shots. Other days, you feel like you should have left your camera at home. Of course, I'm not willing to do that. :-)

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @200mm
1/8000 sec
f/4
ISO 1250

Day 29

The remains of an old building that collapsed last week in Lancaster City, about 4 blocks from my house.

Thing I've learned: You can't always plan a good photo. In fact, in many cases the chances of you making a bad photo due to inexperience or a careless mistake are just as good as you coming across a suddenly crumbling building at sunset. However, achieving your vision might involve both situations. Be prepared.

Canon 30D w/ 70-200mm f/4 lens @140mm

1/3200 sec

f/4

ISO 640

Day 28

For the next several days, I am going to be sharing shots I took using my camera set at ISO 3200. These shots won't necessarily have been taken on different days, but the goal is the exploration of the limits of my camera. I will still probably shoot every day as well, so I can get my photos ahead of the days. This will ensure that I can continue posting and not miss a beat if something causes me to forget to shoot for the blog (sometimes I do shoot personal pics, but nothing I'd share for the blog).

Things I've learned: The supposed rule with hand-held shots is that you can hand-hold your camera, and whatever the focal length of your lens (ie, 125mm), that is the minimum shutter speed you can shoot at (ie, 1/125 sec, also keeping in mind the crop factor of your sensor). However, I took several shots and found that my hands are shaky enough to break this rule now and again.

Canon 30D w/70-200 f/4 lens @172mm
1/8000 sec
f/4
ISO 3200

Day 27

I don’t expect to win any photography awards for this photo, since it was done as an experiment in testing. What was I testing? The highest ISO setting on my camera (3200). This was done to see how well I could control the digital noise if I ever dared attempt to shoot at this setting for more collectible shots.

What I’ve learned: Adobe Lightroom 3’s noise reduction improvements are just plain amazing. I pretty much considered my camera’s highest ISO setting unusable until now. This software has changed the game for me in terms of what is doable in low-light. Look for more posts at this setting, since I am going to put it through the ringer for the next several days to see how it holds up in a couple of other settings.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm lens @ 200mm
1/800 sec
f/4
ISO 3200 (!!!)

Day 26

Thanks go to God for providing just enough light and fog this morning to enable me to get this shot. I’m a fan of minimalist photography, so this one really appealed to my senses.

Things I’ve learned: Rushing doesn’t work in photography. I took some other photos of a different scene and wound up tossing them. I was in a hurry, and pulling over on a foggy road with no shoulder on the crest of a hill isn’t the safest thing to do. Those shots were taken without checking my settings, and I ended up with a 1600 ISO image at f/8 shooting almost right into the sunlight. The results were lousy, but in my haste I was too overwhelmed to stop and think about the right settings that I needed to capture my vision.

Canon 30D w/ 50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/3200 sec
f/4
ISO 100

Day 25

Today we gave our students an assignment to take a 1-second exposure of anything to bring in for critque (We are studying action/motion in photography). Shortly thereafter, I took this photo using a 1-second exposure. Normally I don't hand-hold 1 second exposures and this was one of my better using this method.

Things I've learned: Its hard to take photos at 1-second exposure without having a plan. If I ever do another assignment like this, I need to give myself more time to think about it.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1 sec
f/16
ISO 100

About blogging.

It might seem weird, but I have been blogging for about 6 years now. I started this actual blog back in 2004 when my first daughter was born. It was just a place for thoughts, links of interest, and the occasional photo. I then played around with random things to post, but didn't find much inspiration. As I grew more into photography, I began writing more tips on here, and now I've added the photo-a-day project, which should keep me busy for a good year on this blog.

Some of the readers of this blog might be surprised to know that I actually have a couple of blogs that I maintain. One of them is rather new, but another is rather old:

http://jurina.wordpress.com  -this is strictly a photoblog. I don't write anything on this site, I just post a photo and technical info. It is kind of like a fine art portfolio, and I try to choose only stuff I really find inspiring or that I think is some of my best work. I have been keeping tis blog for about 3-4 years now. My posts vary from several a month, to one or so a month.

http://jurinaphotography.com/blog.cfm - This is a rather new blog, designed for my professional photography work. There is some writing on here, and sometimes personal photos, but mainly I post client shoots and anything related to my photography business.


So, if you like my work and are interested in keeping up with my other stuff, you can check out the links above. Thanks for visiting!

Day 24

I’ll be the first to admit that this is not really the best photo I’ve ever taken. I’ve been experimenting with self-portraits, and this is what I came up with when the free time was there.

Things I’ve learned: Sometimes you just gotta live with mediocrity. Not every day is going to be be your best, but its the trying and the inspiration and drive that will eventually lead you to a new opportunity for something great.

Canon 30D w/ 50mm 1.4 lens @ 50mm
1/60 sec
f/1.4
ISO 400

Day 23

Self-portraits are not my most favorite thing in the world. Many photographers prefer to be behind the camera than in front of it. In fact, some take pictures for this very reason. I'm not that shy, but I've seen way too many pictures of me that make me wary of photos. That being said, I had an idea with this one and it worked out well, after only a couple of tires. Self-portraits can be tough to do right. This one came out almost exactly as I had planned.

Things I've learned: I really would like to explore the self-portrait area more. I find it kind of challenging, but it is also neat to try to come up with different ways to photograph yourself. I think I'll be taking more of these in the future.

Canon 30D w/ 50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/160 sec
f/1.4
ISO 1250

Day 22

Just as a disclaimer: We don't ever bathe our 2.5 year old in the kitchen sink. I really have a lot of great photos to share today, but this one is here because I want to remember it. I remember when we first gave Liam a bath in a sink and how tiny he was. This is my tiny little baby now, growing up and sticky with marshmallow all over him (which is why he got this rather efficient clean-up tonight).

Things I've learned: Not related to this shot, but today I realized how critical it is to keep tabs on your camera settings when making decisions to make changes to things such as exposure compensation or using extreme aperture settings. Sometimes, forgetting about those things can ruin a shot (or even a whole shoot), or just simply make your life harder. I need to figure out a way to remember this more efficiently.

Canon 30D w/70-200 f/4 lens @126mm
1/60 sec (burst mode)
f/4
ISO 1600

Day 21

Today I asked myself the question, "what am I going to photograph today" and with one glance down, I saw the answer. I've been photographing a lot of babies lately, which might explain how this image stood out so quickly to me.

Things I've learned: I've recently had to use a flash until for some of my photography in people's homes. I'm finding that I can get some extraordinary good photos with it. On the negative side, I hate the added weight and other factors (such as constantly weighing in on the technical aspects of the photo, rather than the vision of the image) that come with it. It's a love-hate relationship.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @ 50mm
1/100 sec
f/3.5
ISO 800

Day 20

Today we took a trek to our favorite Dairy for some yummy ice cream and our weekly supply of milk (Dairy milk rocks!) I took plenty of photos, but this one captured best the way I felt standing there with the silos reaching up into the beautiful blue sky.

Things I've learned: I took only one lens with me, thinking it would be all I needed. But the age-old saying came true for me, "The lens you want/need most is the lens you left at home". I really saw some great landscapes that would have been amazing with wide shots of the sky and farms. Oh well. Now I know why I should take all of my gear with me...even on trips for milk and ice cream. :-)

Canon 30D w/70-200mm f4 lens @70mm
1/4000 sec
f/5.6
ISO 400

Day 19

This was kind of a last-minute shot for the blog. Not much to say about this image, but that I'm still trying to figure out the physical impossibilities on the head-to-body ratio of Dora the Explorer. Just amazing.

Things I've learned: This photo reminds me of a technique I once read about for taking photos of a television to avoid the weird line that shows up on older tv sets: you have to use a slow shutter speed (like 1/30th or 1/20th), which I did not. I also learned that I need to check my ISO more often.  Oops.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm

1/200 sec

f/1.4

ISO 1600

Day 18

This probably won't be the first model train or toy train photo I post. A good friend of mine has been collecting trains for over 30 years and this is just a glimpse of his amazing setup. My children also have come into an abundance of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff, and I admittedly turn into a kid myself when they play with them.

Things I've learned: It's kind of neat the kinds of images that can be made with a wide aperture. Especially when you have no other choice. The lighting was terrible in the room where this train set was, and I had to shoot at high ISO's and even dangerously slow shutter speeds to get this shot, but when I finally got around to checking it out, I kind of liked the results. 

Canon 30D w/ 50mm 1.4 lens @50mm

1/50 sec

f/1.4

ISO 1600

Day 17

My daughter has been practicing on her scooter lately, and I wanted to try my hand at an action photography technique called panning. The idea is to follow your subject to keep them sharp while the background blurs, showing motion. It's kind of tricky to do, but it was fun to try, both for me and my daughter.

Thing's I've learned: For me, it seems like 1/60th of a second was the prime shutter speed to set up to. I also found more keepers shooting in jpeg and burst mode.

Canon 30D w/ 70-200 f/4 lens @113mm
1/60 sec
f/11
ISO 100

Day 16

Just so you know, this cake was "okay" it would have been better, but the plastic bunny mask wasn't very sweet and was incredibly tough to chew...just kidding.

What I've learned: Don't trust image stabilization. I was shooting without really worrying much for my shutter speed because I had image stabilization on. There were some shots that I took that were still blurry, even at decent hand-held shutter speeds. Technology is no substitute for good technique and skill.

Canon 30D w/18-55mm IS lens @55mm
1/30 sec
f/5.6
ISO 800

Day 15

This photo is the product of both persistence and luck. Luck, because I needed something quick to photograph for this assignment, and persistence because once I got started, I got rather absorbed into the project and spent a while getting exactly what I wanted. This flower is about the size of my thumbnail, and it was one of many that my daughter had picked and put in a small vase.

Things I've learned: I really need to get my sensor cleaned. This was hot at f/8 and the dust is really starting to show on my sensor. This turns into a lot of work when I'm not shooting wide open.

Canon 30D w/ 18-55mm kit lens (reversed)
1/20 sec
f/8 (DOF preview button held down during lens reversal)
ISO 500

Day 14

This is Liam. He's the little guy around here, and he's pretty elusive sometimes when it comes to pictures. He likes to suck his thumb, so I have a hard time getting good shots of him without his thumb in his mouth. Today we wandered into the path of a sunlit window and I managed to get a shot. He even gave me a little grin.

Things I've learned: The use of reflecting light can be very flattering with portraits. I took some other shots as well of my daughter, and asked her to hold a white piece of paper under her face, and it reflected the sunlight and eliminated some shadows from her eyes that would have been there due to the strong light of the sun. 

Canon 30D w/70-200 f/4 lens @ 200mm

f/4

1/200 sec

ISO 640

Day 13

This morning I, along with several other Hershey Christian school teachers had our property "forked", as some sort of lame senior prank for April fools. Since I don't have a front yard, they just left piles of forks on my steps, car, and window boxes. 

Things I've learned: Students will drive a long ways to pull a prank (I live about 30 miles from the school). My kit lens is capable of producing really decent images at times, and I shouldn't discount it when I want to make a good photo.

Canon 30D w/18-55mm IS Canon lens @55mm

f/5.6

1/100 sec

ISO 400