Day 136

This was a shot I took a few days ago on a hike in Susquehannock State park. It is probably one of my favorite landscape-type shots I've taken in a while.

Canon Rebel XS w/18-55mm IS @18mm
1/500sec
f/8
ISO 100

Day 135

If I could sub-title this, I think that, "License and registration please," would add to the expression.

Shot with iPhone 4

Day 134

This is Oscar. We are dog-sitting him while our friends are away. He's a cutie, but he doesn't like to hold still as you can see.

Things I've learned: A blurry image isn't always a wash. Sometimes it captures movement or expression that is part of the importance of what the image says.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/4sec
f/1.4
ISO 1250

Day 133

Okay, so this image was from yesterday, but I wanted to get Liam on the blog, since I've been posting so many of the other kids. I love that Liam has his camp shirt on with the little fire going, and he is actually playing with a stick in the fire of our little fire pit in the back yard.

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

Day 132

Due to time issues and other conflicts, we haven't had the opportunity to camp that much this year. But what we have been able to do nevertheless, is roast S'Mores in our fire pit in the backyard. We call it camp-fire practice for Liam, since he just pokes the fire with a stick and eats the marshmallows out of the bag without roasting them. It really is a fun family time.

Things I've learned: Fire can be a tricky subject to photograph during the night, but during the early evening, it is not hard at all. The camera has enough light to not have to choose between a light or dark exposure, so you get both the ambient scene and the light together.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/1250sec
f/1.4
ISO 800

Day 131

Probably one of the funniest things that I find about this picture, is how Izzy's eyes match the expression of the froggy towel that she is wrapped in.

Well, despite the cool novelty of an improved iPhone camera and the ability to post from the phone, it also feels good to get a good 'ol quality photo out of my DSLR. It also feels good to remind myself that I can shoot at ISO 1600 without any worries for noise.

Canon 30Dw/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/60 sec
f/1.4
ISO 1600

Day 130

I like this shot a lot. I was going to delete it, but after playing with it in Photoshop, I kind of like it.

iPhone 4

Day 129

Recently, the daughter of a friend of mine decided to make this sculpture of me taking photos in a museum. Pretty good job! I'm actually honored that she views me so much as a photographer. Interestingly enough, I don't believe that I've ever been at a museum with her, but still, it's very cool to be the subject of somebody else's artwork.

I also love this shot because it was taken on a table near a window in natural light. The effect is almost as if it were taken under a light tent.

Photo taken with an iphone4

Day 128

Little Izzy is 5 month's old now. I figured that an updated photo is necessary. Well, I have others, but this should do.

Things I've learned: I figured out how to make collages, mosaics, and triptychs today in Adobe Lightroom. This will definitely expand the output possibilities for me on both a personal and professional level when it comes to displaying multiple photos and such.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens
various shutter settings
f/4
ISO 400

Just for fun

While I was waiting for my clients to show up for their photo session, I took this shot with, yes, my iPhone. I'm really impressed with the image quality, if I haven't repeated that too many times already. Anyways, I figured that I would post another shot to make up for my lack of posts recently.

Shot with iPhone 4.

Day 127

Shot this while walking downtown to get ice-cream with Audrey. I love how you can walk around the city and find a randomly placed piano waiting for attention.

Shot with my iPhone 4

Day 126

This is my wife. I think she's beautiful.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/200 sec
f/1.6
ISO 400

Day 125

Today Audrey came home from a 6 day trip to South Carolina with her Grammy. Everyone was really happy to see her. However, nobody happier than her Mommy, of course.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/800 sec
f/2.2
ISO 200

Day 124

This photo pretty much describes the month of August for me: knee-deep in tech work for school. I took this photo with the iPhone, which has really impressed me with it's image quality.

Things I've learned: sometimes the subject has little relevance to the quality of the photo. Sometimes the compositional elements are what makes the photo.

Shot taken w/iphone4

Day 123

I guess I could concede failure for the photo-a-day project, since I've not actually posted a new photo every day. However, as far as I'm concerned, it can't be called failure unless one gives up, and I'm not going to do that. My goal is to post 365 photos on this blog even if it takes me 2 years.

I took this close-up shot of a flower while out on a top-secret photo shoot. We were in a neat garden, and these flowers were everywhere.

Things I've learned: Shooting from a distance of more than 5 feet is risky with an aperture as wide open as f/1.4, because it is easy to miss your focus plane. I had taken some shots and later found out that the lens had focused behind the subject multiple times, and I did not notice this in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens @50mm
1/2500sec
f/1.4
ISO 200

Test post

Testing a post from my iPhone. The iPhone has proven to be an adequate camera at times. Look for the occasional post from my phone when the opportunity permits.

Day 122

Behold, the Future Machine! Shot this with a ridiculously slow hand-held shutter speed in burst mode. Love the burst mode trick for slow shutter hand-held shots.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens@50mm
1/13sec
f/2.8
ISO 1600

This is why I do this

I recently discovered a video that I think captures the essence of why I do what I do with pictures both professionally and personally. If you have 6 minutes of time, watch this really well-done commercial from Kodak. The message is very strong here on the value of photos to people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Bpg2CBams

Day 121

Uh, yeah. Those of you who have or know any crazy little boys will probably be able to identify with the scene you see here.  I was taking a lot of shots of our little baby girl, when I look to my right to see this going on about 5 feet away. I guess that bashing toy trains with plastic bottles and milk jugs is just so much better when you are in the nude. Go figure.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens@50mm
1/80sec
f/2.8
ISO 800

Day 120

Today I did commissioned project for a friend, and this is one of the shots that came out of it. I can't really explain it, but I get enamored with these lights every time I see them. I actually took a photo of these lights right at the beginning of my exploration into photography as a hobby. I think these lights kind of remind me of how far I've come into where I am now. Which is absolutely nowhere...just kidding.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @50mm
1/4000 sec
f/2.8
ISO 500

Day 119

This is the last in my "Tomato Series" on the blog. I've really enjoyed exploring this tiny little tomato as a subject for my daily blogging. Hope you all enjoyed it too, even if it is just a little tomato.

This shot was processed as a split-toned monochrome image (red-tinted black and white) for a couple of reasons: 1. I wanted to explore the subject with an absence of color  2. I thought that the results gave the image a neat feel.

When you take much of the color out of an image, your focus turns to the light, shadows, shapes and textures. There isn't really much to this little tomato, but the image feels comfortable and safe, and in some way a little more significant in an emotional sense. Almost nostalgic.

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

1/100sec

f/2.8

ISO 400

Day 118

This shot was my favorite because of the low-key effect, plus the strong direction of the lighting.  Rembrandt was one of the painters who really mastered lighting and the affects of lighting direction in his paintings. This photo reminds me of his work a little bit (although, I am in no way saying that I'm even close to quality and skill that he had as an artist).

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @50mm
1/100sec
f/2.8
ISO 400

Day 117

I really like this image because of how the angle allows the light to hit the stem and top of the tomato. You can see the texture really well in this shot and it creates a neat backlit situation to show the shape and texture.

Things I've learned: I mostly shoot in Aperture priority mode on my camera, as my main goal is to control my depth-of-field in  most shots. However, in this study, I was forced to work more creatively in manual mode so that I could get the exact lighting effect that I needed. Aperture priority is fine when you aren't worrying much about light exposure, but once lighting gets tricky, it's sometimes time to go full manual with your camera and tweaks things a bit more.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @50mm
1/50sec
f/4
ISO 800

Day 116

This isn't one of my favorite images from the series, but it does kind of convey the sense of perhaps loneliness that I was going for. I thought to try and bring out some sort of feelings of pity on the lonely little tomato by shooting the shot in a very low-key lighting situation. It is kind of an attempt to bring a "humanity" and sympathy to the shot. I'm not sure if that is how it make any of you feel. However,  feel free to chime in with a comment. I'd be interested to get your thoughts.

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

Day 115

This image is the result of a series of images I've decided to do on one subject (see previous post).

Things I've learned: Sometimes a narrow aperture makes it difficult to focus when working really close with your subject due to a reduced depth-of-field. I stopped down just one stop and got my camera to focus a lot easier. I've also learned that moving back just slightly can also yield the same results when you have focusing issues with your lens.

Canon 30D w/17-55mm lens @50mm
1/125sec
f/4
ISO 400

Day 114

One of the best pieces of photographic advice I've ever heard, was to take a subject and try to photograph it in many different ways. While I haven't quite done that with this upcoming series, I have done some minor study on light, shape and composition with this tiny tomato. How tiny? Well, it is a cherry/grape tomato from our garden, and is about the size of a penny. Audrey picked it for me this morning, and I figured that it would make an interesting subject study. The following few days are going to have photos from this photographic study. Each image is processed in a different way to help emphasize the impact and mood I'm trying to convey with the subject.

For those of you who may not be seeing the point, I'd like to encourage you to focus on the light, shadow, shape, and other perspectives that you will see. Think of it as a combination of shapes, colors, textures, etc., and not just a tomato. And if you are taking my photography classes this year, consider this an early primer for you. :-)

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @50mm
1/100sec
f/4
ISO 400

Day 113

This photo kind of comes across a little more serious than it is, so I'd like to let you all know that they were actually enjoying a little bit of a Baby Einstein video. This particular photo is saying more like, "Dad, do you mind? We're watching a video here!"

Things I've learned: I love black and white photography. But I'm also very aware of how moody it can make an image. If used right, you can get some shots with high impact, but if used wrong, then you just wind up with a colorless image. I prefer to shoot in color, and then convert in black and white when I edit the image. It this particular case, I actually set my camera to give me a B&W preview, so that I could envision the final result better. 

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

1/80sec

f/2.8

ISO 800