Day 166

I had previously posted a shot in the same place a while back with my iPhone. I thought the photo was okay, but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to come back to that spot with my camera and get another shot. So here it is.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/160sec
f/8
ISO 200

Day 165

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens @85mm (430EX flash)
1/160sec
f/1.8
ISO 1600

Day 164

Canon 30D w/Canon 85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/640sec
f/1.8
ISO 800

Day 163

This is another in my series of shots I took on my morning commute to work. I've gotten some criticism on this picture, because people think that there is too much sky. I'm not sure that I agree there. In fact, I think that the sky is the best part.

Canon 30D w/Canon 85mm 1.8 lens @85mm

1/3200sec
f/2.8
ISO 400

Day 162

Shot this a while back. I have a lot of shots in this series that I may be sharing from time to time. This was a really successful spur-of-the-moment shoot.

 Canon 30D w/ Canon 85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/400 sec
f/1.8
ISO 200

Day 161

Isabel is going to be a kitten for halloween. Liam will be a puppy (photos of that to come later). Should be one of the cutest dress-up days ever.

Canon 30D w/17-50 lens @31mm
1/40sec
f/2.8
ISO 1600

Day 160

Canon 30D w/70-200mm F4L Lens @70mm
1/60sec
f/4
ISO 100

Day 159

This is actually an old photo that I found, but never really took time to work on. Sooooo, here it is. I don't believe that I've ever published this anywhere, so in some ways it is a new image to everybody else.

Things I've learned: Sometimes it pays to go back and look at your old images, not just to learn from the past, but also to be able to apply new techniques. Sometimes it can bring out the gems.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @17mm
1/125sec
f/8
ISO 200

Day 158 (Goodbye to a friend)

Almost 3 weeks ago, I rented the Canon 85mm 1.8 USM lens to use for a wedding and some portrait work. In that short amount of time, I have fallen in love with the quality and sharpness of this lens. I have ready in many online forums and many reviews about how wonderful this lens was, but not until I used it myself was I able to experience this. It is an AMAZING lens! I feel like it has really allowed me to compose in different ways, and the client images from this lens have been astounding to say the least (at least from a photographer's perspective). Sadly, today will be the last day that I use this lens. I have a client shoot this afternoon, and then tomorrow I am to box the lens up and send it back to California for the next lucky person to try out.

Hopefully, if the finances are right, I will be able to purchase my own copy of this wonderfully-crafted lens. Until then, goodbye to one of the best lenses I've ever used.

Day 157

The photography work on the professional side has been keeping me pretty busy lately, but here is a recent shot I took with my iPhone the other day that I rather liked.

Day 156

I shot this one on the way to work this morning. I actually took several shots that I may end up sharing on this blog. I was really happy with the light and the quality of image coming from this 85mm lens that I rented. One thing that I noticed is that my images looked a bit better when the uv filter was removed. This filter came with the lens as a level of protection for it. I hate UV/Sky filters. For most things, they stink, unless you purchase a multi-coated high quality one for more money than they are probably worth. This little lesson this morning was helpful, because now I know that I will NOT be leaving this filter on for client shoots.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/800sec
f/2.8
ISO 400

Day 155

I took this shot the other day while out with my students for a landscape photography lab assignment.

It is amazing how my students think that you need to have fancy gear to take a good photographs. Sure, it sometimes can make it easier in certain cases, but generally, it's about really looking at your subject. Looking at things not as a field, with weeds, trees, and sky, and more of looking at a combination of colors, textures, shapes, shadows, lines, and movement. Once you begin to break down a scene like that, things can really stand out to you, and your chance to be inspired becomes magnified. It is not hard to see a beautiful sunset or flowers and take a picture, since they are obviously beautiful subjects. However,  to be able to view a boring field of over-grown weeds trailing into a dull grove of trees with an overcast sky and suddenly seeing the textures, lines, colors and lines...that's a little bit more effort. However, the more you train your eye for these things, the easier it becomes to do.

Taken with the iPhone.

Day 154

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/800 sec
f/1.8
ISO 800

Day 153

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/640sec
f/1.8
ISO 800

Day 152

I rented a new lens for a couple of weeks. The purpose is to use it for a wedding that I'm shooting later this month. I'm also trying it out with some client shoots to see if it would be worth investing in for my portrait work. I'm really impressed with it so far. I've not had much time playing with it, but I'm going to be using it tomorrow for 2 back-to-back photo sessions. As you might see here, the lens produces really sharp images with a very shallow depth of field. This is going to be exciting.

Canon 30D w/Canon 85mm 1.8 lens @85mm
1/60sec
f/1.8
ISO 400