Jurina Journal

martians overtake DC

2011-12-08T09:53:00.002-05:00

This is a test article

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57339241-94/apple-iphone-sales-looking-extra-rosy-this-quarter/?tag=cnetRiver

Day 283

2011-08-27T01:04:00.000-04:00

We took the kids to a nearby park and had a blast. We took a few photos, and then put the camera away for the rest of the night. Best decision we ever made. Sometimes mental photographs are more important than digital ones.

Canon 30D w/30mm 1.4 Sigma Lens
f/2.8
ISO 200
1/2000sec

Day 282

2011-08-20T21:50:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 281

2011-08-14T00:07:00.002-04:00

Day 280

2011-08-10T13:54:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I had the chance to do a photo session with some good friends of ours and their children. This was one of my favorite shots.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8
f/2.2
1/6400sec
ISO 200

Day 279

2011-08-07T12:35:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 278

2011-08-02T22:25:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 277

2011-08-01T23:06:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone 4. And yes, it was the same day as the last post.

Day 276

2011-08-01T22:58:00.001-04:00

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 275

2011-07-31T02:42:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've been doing a lot of photography. In fact, if I would have an easier way to share it on this blog, I'd have finished my 365 project on-time, rather than still be in this predicament. I take a photo about every day, and on most days, I sometimes take close to 100 photos. Anyways, back to this photo: This was a shot that I took (and processed) with my iPhone while waiting at a red light in the car. The scenery of Lancaster County is extremely photogenic in any season. It's pretty easy to find great landscape shots around here, you simply have to be there with your camera and you're all set.

Shot with the iPhone

Day 274

2011-07-26T22:52:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 273

2011-07-23T22:49:00.002-04:00

shot with the iPhone

Day 272

2011-07-19T22:18:00.002-04:00

Shot this today with my phone while helping my wife out with her homework.

Shot with iPhone 4

Day 271

2011-07-17T21:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, I had the opportunity to get one of those "standard" waterfall shots with the cotton-candy-looking water while on a hike with our family at Rickett's Glen State Park. While I didn't have one of the necessary pieces of equipment (tripod), I managed to improvise and got this shot, among many others.

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4 Lens
0.5 sec
f/16
ISO 640

(mirror lock-up, timer released, stabilized on railing)

Day 270

2011-07-01T14:43:00.002-04:00

Day 269

2011-06-28T22:11:00.000-04:00

Audrey was willing to help me play with a neat little app on the ipad, called "softbox pro". It acts as a little softbox that you can use to illuminate your subject and control brightness and shape of the light. The only light used was the ipad, and I got this fun image of heart-shaped catchlights in her eyes.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.4 lens
f/2.8
1/80sec
ISO 800

Day 268

2011-06-24T18:45:00.002-04:00

Shot on the iPhone 4

Day 267

2011-06-12T22:40:00.000-04:00

My friend found this crab when we were on the beach, so we took it back to the house for a detailed photo session so that he could use it for further study (He's an artist). The crab was not alive, so it made the job a little easier. We were able to pose it. We used a ping-pong table, paper towels, remote triggers, and two off-camera flashes to get this shot lit right. Lots of prep, but lots of fun too.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm F4L @145mm
1/250sec
f/11
ISO 200

Day 266

2011-06-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

Shot this on my vacation from above on a Day Dock. The Jelly fish were so close to the surface of the water, that I was able to get a lot of shots like this.

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

Day 265

2011-06-12T22:30:00.000-04:00

I am not a wildlife photographer nor a bird photographer, but these next few posts do include some animals. This one is of an osprey, which is a rare shot for me. I was very happy with how this one turned out, so I'm sharing it here.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm F4L@200mm
1/2500 sec
f/4
ISO 100

Day 264

2011-06-07T10:29:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone 4

Day 263

2011-06-05T23:23:00.004-04:00

Shot with the iPhone 4.

Day 262

2011-06-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

Somehow, I convinced Liam to let me take a few "studio" shots of him today when he and Audrey came to visit me at work. This was a favorite.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8
1/250sec
f/8
ISO 100
3 speedlights fired remotely

Day 261

2011-06-01T17:52:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4
1/13sec
f/2.8
ISO 320

Day 260

2011-05-30T13:14:00.000-04:00

As we celebrate this Memorial Day, I like to pause and personally remember and thank those who have given their lives in service to our country so that my children would be able to enjoy the freedoms that they fought for. To be able to have childhood memories of playing in the backyard in your kiddie pool is not even the least significant of things not to give homage to those who fought for us. Today we remember the fallen.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm f/4L
1/3200sec
f/4
ISO 320

Day 259

2011-05-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

Decided to mess around with some trendy effects going around in the photography world these days. I call it the "tilt-shift-expired-film-subtle-grain-vignette-overlay" effect.

Canon 30D w/sigma 30mm 1.4 lens
1/400sec
f/4
ISO 200

Day 258

2011-05-29T22:25:00.000-04:00

Admit it. Deep down, you're wishing that you owned a pair of sandals like that.

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4
1/1000sec
f/2
ISO 200

Day 257

2011-05-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4
1/100 sec
f/2.2
ISO 100

Day 256

2011-05-29T22:18:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4
1/800sec
f/1.4
ISO 100

Day 255

2011-05-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4
1/2500sec
f/1.8
ISO 100

Day 254

2011-05-26T14:11:00.000-04:00

The average pile of passes to the computer lab on any given day.

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens
1/1600 sec
f/1.4
ISO 800
(Yes, I wasn't paying much attention to exposure.)

Day 253

2011-05-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens
1/80sec
f/1.4
ISO 800

Day 252

2011-05-19T19:03:00.000-04:00

This photo is probably the first shot I've put on this site that I didn't take at all. In fact, I wasn't even there when it was taken. My wife took it. She is a marvelous photographer in her own rite, and I figured that this image deserved her credit. My contributions would include the post-processing and editing that were done to polish it up.

Canon Rebel XS w/50mm 1.4 lens
1/200 sec
f/1.4
ISO 100

Day 251

2011-05-18T12:13:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/30mm 1.4 Sigma
1/100sec
f/1.4
ISO 640

Day 250

2011-05-17T11:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday a few former students stopped by to visit and had a chance to pose for some photos for me. I had been researching some ideas earlier that day and I managed to pull together an idea. I like the way that this one worked out.

Canon 30D w/30mm 1.4 Sigma
1/250sec
f/5.6
ISO 200

Day 249

2011-05-15T09:37:00.000-04:00

By now any of you following this blog should know that the days that I title these posts don't really correspond to actual days when I took the photos. I've already exceeded a year of time for starting this project. The days are a mere formality. However, I am dedicated to getting 365 photos up on the site in 365 posts. Some posts actually contain more than one photos, so if I were keeping track, I'm probably near the total of 365 "actual" photos. In any case, I am posting one of about 20 photos I took yesterday and today. This one didn't quite nail the focus where I wanted it, but I like it nonetheless.

Canon 30D w/Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens
1/50sec
f/2
ISO 800

Day 248

2011-05-06T10:01:00.002-04:00

Yesterday my family and I went out for a nice walk from one end of Lancaster City to the other. I decided to bring along my new 30mm lens to get a feel for the focal length and quality of it. I also decided to challenge myself to shoot in jpeg, which is a file format that doesn't allow a lot of leeway for exposure mistakes. I haven't been on a photowalk in quite a while, and it was great to exercise the eyes a little and explore. Here are the best of a few photos I took along the way:

Day 247

2011-05-03T11:41:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to play around with some off-camera lighting again, and use a neat iphone app that allows me to remotely fire my camera, giving me a great option for taking self-portraits. I used just one light on a stand with a homemade snoot for a few shots. The settings were ISO 160, f/8, 1/200 sec (manual exposure). The flash was a Nikon SB600 at 1/8 power.

Day 246 (Cars Photoshoot Take 2)

2011-04-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I decided to take another shot at photographing Liam's toys in an effort to create some artwork for his room. I don't consider this to be the last final attempt. I feel that I got really close, but I still need to tweak some details.

For this attempt, I hauled out my lighting kit with shoot-through umbrellas, remote flashes on light stands, tripod, and extension tubes. I shot the cars on a large piece of poster board on the table and used my 85mm lens pre-focused @f/11. The shutter speed was about 200th of a second and the ISO was 100.

Day 245

2011-04-25T21:40:00.000-04:00

Izzy was quite emphatic today at the dinner table when we asked her how big she was.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.8 lens
1/30sec
f/2.8
ISO 800

Day 244

2011-04-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

Our 3 little blessings. God is good.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.8
f/2.8
1/1600sec
ISO 400

Day 243

2011-04-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

Took out the old 50mm 1.8 lens for a spin with my extension tubes to see what kind of Macro shots I could get with it. These are some of Liam's toys that I found pretty fun to shoot. These should make some nice wall art for him some day.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.8 Lens (w/Extension Tube)
1/2 sec
f/8
ISO 800

Our budding little photographer

2011-04-24T11:27:00.000-04:00

One of the joys of teaching students about photography, is to see their passion and abilities come out. It is even more exciting to see this in my own kids. Imagine the pride I had seeing my little girl not only wielding an SLR camera, but also taking some killer shots with it. Here are a few that I took of her in action.

Day 242

2011-04-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, despite my lack of posts lately, I am actually enjoying this photo project. Shooting professionally can easily drain you and make you want to put the camera down. But this side project allows me some room to create a separate space of photography that's pretty much whatever I want it to be. I think that outlets like this are important. I've recently read that part of growing as an artist can sometimes be enhanced the the "side projects" and can keep you going where others tend to burn out from it. Side projects are good.

Canon 30D w/50mm 1.8
1/50sec
f/1.8
ISO 1000

Day 241

2011-04-19T12:52:00.000-04:00

Trying out a new lens. It only took a few minutes for me to figure out that this is definitely a future investment target.

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

Day 240

2011-04-10T20:38:00.001-04:00

Our family went for a walk in Overlook Park here in Lancaster, and happened upon this Llama on a small farm near the park. He seemed genuinely curious about us and came close up to the fence...

...However, when I asked him to sign a model release so that I could use this photo on the blog, he was really shy...

...just kidding, but he was a very friendly Llama.

Canon 30D w/18-55mm IS lens @35mm
1/100sec
f/4.5
ISO 100

Day 239

2011-04-08T08:33:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iPhone 4

Day 238

2011-04-08T08:31:00.001-04:00

Shot with the iPhone 4

Day 237

2011-04-08T08:26:00.002-04:00

Shot with the iphone4

Day 236

2011-04-07T10:38:00.000-04:00

I feel withdrawal when I go too long without taking photos of our kids. I guess I know that eventually it will be harder to photograph Izzy actually holding still, so I'm working to get what I can. All of these photos, except the first one, were shot by bouncing two flashes remotely at various angles towards the ceiling. They allowed me to get proper exposures and add better definition to the shadows. I also was able to shoot at ISO 200 rather than ISO 1600, which yielded much less image noise.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
Various exposure settings
2 flashes off-camera at 1/4 power (bounced) and fired remotely.

Day 235

2011-04-06T15:29:00.000-04:00

Shot this recently during an Advanced Photography class. We went outdoors around the school campus to photograph our theme assignment for the day. I found one of my students crouched in an area with some interesting light and, with permission to take the photo, I got this. Posted with his permission, of course.

Canon 30D w/70-200mm F4 L @135mm
1/500sec
f/4
ISO 400

Day 234

2011-04-04T21:49:00.000-04:00

I shot this photo a while ago when I was bored waiting for somebody. The goal was to make as interesting of a photo as I could with my iphone camera without moving anything or myself from my chair. This is what came out.

Shot with the iPhone4

Day 233

2011-03-31T09:56:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been working with high-key and low-key lighting in the classroom, teaching my students how to use off-camera lights creatively. The idea is to use lighting to create mood and show texture and shape of people and things. This particular post is an example of low-key lighting, which was taught to my students recently.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/200sec
f/8
ISO 100
(Nikon SB 600 fired off-camera through an 8-inch snoot at 1/32 power)

Day 232

2011-03-25T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I got out my flash again and found some suitable background material and decided to try some shots on our youngest. It seems that studio portraiture can sometimes be snubbed by some because of the traditional formal presentation that it brings. I find it to be fun when you can bring true interaction and natural emotions to the shoot. This series was just an experiment in lighting, but ended with several photos of which I'm happy with despite the traditional lighting setup.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
Varied Exposure settings @ISO 100
Canon 430EX II flash (1/8-1/16 power through shoot-through umbrella)

\

Day 231

2011-03-22T07:55:00.001-04:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 230

2011-03-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

Canon 30D w/17-50mm lens @50mm
1/60sec
f/2.8
ISO 640

Day 229

2011-03-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

I purchased a simple lighting kit recently to be able to add to the portfolio of work that my business does. This evening I took a shot of my two little girls, which came out surprisingly well, considering the spontaneous nature surrounding the shoot.

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

Manual Flash 1/4 power (18mm zoom) Shoot-through umbrella triggered remotely.

Day 228

2011-03-12T18:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the brief hiatus. Life has been busy these past few weeks. Here is a shot of Liam who willingly took time from his painting to model for me.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/1000sec
f/2
ISO 800

Day 227

2011-03-01T20:09:00.000-05:00

Izzy is sporting a new hair style these days.

Canon 30D w/85mm lens
1/125sec
f/1.8
ISO 1250

Day 226

2011-02-27T22:06:00.000-05:00

To all of my photography students: THIS is the kind of light that you should be looking for. And THESE are the kinds of moments that you should be waiting for. I saw the light and ran and grabbed my camera. I waited for the moment, and it came. Sometimes it doesn't, but that's the spontaneity of photography.

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

Day 225

2011-02-27T18:50:00.003-05:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 224

2011-02-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

Pulled out the flash again for some experimentation at home. Biggest challenge is how to light a room with dynamically moving subjects at various angles. The typical bounce from the ceiling only goes so far, and sometimes those angles and options are just not possible.

Canon 30D w/17-50mm 2.8 Tamron lens @50mm
1/250sec
f/2.8
ISO 200
Canon 430EX II (ettl bounced)

Day 223

2011-02-18T13:49:00.000-05:00

Today I did some experimenting with some off-camera flash to see if I could get a self-portrait with a simple setup. This particular shot was made with two speedlights: One used to blow out the background, which was a white wall behind me, and one was shot through an umbrella diffuser down into a large silver reflector to even light my face. This was the best result I could come up with. Still learning.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/4 sec
f/7.1
ISO 200
SB800 @17mm 1/2 power (manual) Background light
SB600 @24mm 1/4 power( manual) Main light
Shot with remote flash triggers.

Day 222

2011-02-17T20:59:00.001-05:00

Gotta love the Giant Crane.
Shot with the iPhone.

Day 221

2011-02-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

Shot this in Overlook Park in Lancaster Co. Today.

Shot with the iPhone.

Photographing our Children

2011-02-16T10:30:00.003-05:00

Photographing the kids can be tough. Liam doesn't like to hold still. In fact, he likes to purposely run when he sees me with a camera. It's his little game. However, occasionally, I do get the lucky 1 or 2 shots in:

>

Audrey is too much of a ham. I like natural shots, and she's just too aware of the camera. Sometimes I try to capture her involved in an activity, or just doing her thing. It works better that way:

And then there's Isabel. She's still too little to run away, and too curious to shy away. It's the main reason I get the shots that I do. I love that little baby!

Even though Isabel is the easiest to photograph, all of my kids are great, depending on my willingness to be challenged.

Day 220

2011-02-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

It is normally a festive event in our house with balloons and human horseback riding on the weekends. Yep, that's how we roll.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/250sec
f/1.8
ISO 1000

Day 219

2011-02-14T22:14:00.002-05:00

Morning sunrise. Shot with the iPhone.

Day 218

2011-02-11T19:32:00.001-05:00

Day 217

2011-02-09T22:19:00.000-05:00

This was a "leftover" shot from my photo shoot with my daughter the other day. I recently heard someone strongly advise that when you are creating something, it sometimes is a benefit to just walk away and come back later. Sometimes your mind's eye can develop a new perspective on an image or colors, etc. This photo almost made the trash can without ever being seen again. Now I'm thrilled that it didn't.

Canon 30D w/ 85mm 1.8 lens
1/200sec
f/1.8
ISO 100

Day 216

2011-02-06T17:01:00.000-05:00

It seems relieving to me when I can break away from iPhone shots and actually use my camera a little more. Today was a beautiful day to walk and take some pictures.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/800sec
f/1.8
ISO 100

Day 215

2011-02-05T18:34:00.001-05:00

I've been doing a lot of study lately on composition in art. I'm trying to add more purpose to how I frame my subjects and set up my shots. Not that I haven't in the past, but it seems that the element of composition in art is a very powerful ingredient that one shouldn't ignore. Artistic intuitions can only get you so far.

Shot on the iPhone.

Day 214

2011-02-05T16:12:00.001-05:00

Dad and son.

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 213

2011-02-04T18:05:00.001-05:00

Homemade wheat bread.

Shot with the iPhone

Day 212

2011-02-03T22:10:00.002-05:00

Made this image with the iPhone, while trying out a new filter app. I'm not sure if I like it but I thought I'd share it either way.

Day 211

2011-02-02T14:07:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 210

2011-02-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

This is Bandit. He's the family dog. He's been with us for several years now, and I don't think I have a photo of him on the blog. Recently, the dog of good friends of ours passed a way, and it got me thinking of how much Bandit is a part of our family. I wanted to at least give him a little acknowledgement as a member of our growing family. Here's to you, buddy!

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/160sec
f/1.8
ISO 400

Day 209

2011-01-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

In addition to a new post-processing technique, I've also been working on some other photo techniques in extreme or traditionally "unfavorable" lighting situations. This is one of those times when it worked out great. I also figured that one decent photo of my kids deserves another, and it seems that it was my daughter's turn.

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

Day 208

2011-01-29T17:06:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with a new black and white processing technique lately, that I like quite a bit. Here's an example of a recent image I used this with.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/320sec
f/1.8
ISO 400

Day 207

2011-01-28T19:54:00.001-05:00

Shot on the iPhone.

Day 206

2011-01-27T20:27:00.001-05:00

First snow-jackalope of the year.

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 205

2011-01-26T16:02:00.001-05:00

Today I spent the afternoon playing checkers and teaching Audrey how to play Chess. Good times.

Shot with iPhone.

Day 204

2011-01-23T15:03:00.000-05:00

These are our wedding rings. Worn by 10 years of marriage, I'd submit that they mean more now than they ever did.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens on Extension Tubes
1/4sec
f/11
ISO 800

Day 203

2011-01-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

This week, Izzy learned how to play peek-a-boo with Mommy.

Canon Rebel XS w/50mm 1.4 lens
1/80sec
f/1.4
ISO 800

Day 202

2011-01-19T20:32:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 201

2011-01-18T21:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, believe it or not, I actually still do take pictures with something other than my phone. This shot was taken today on a whim. It's our sorry christmas tree that was never picked up by city collection this year.

Canon 30D w/85mm 1.8 lens
1/640sec
f/1.8
ISO 100

Day 200

2011-01-17T22:09:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 199

2011-01-15T13:50:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone

Day 198

2011-01-13T19:07:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 197

2011-01-11T18:43:00.001-05:00

Shot with the iPhone.

Day 196

2011-01-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

This is the first time that I have ever included a client photo for my photo a day project. I like this photo too much not to share. I love the moodiness of the image and the strong directional lighting. No exif data this time, but I know that I was shooting the 85mm wide open at ISO 1000
or 1600.

Day 195

2011-01-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

Day 194

2011-01-01T11:37:00.000-05:00

Day 193

2011-01-01T11:36:00.000-05:00

Day 192

2011-01-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

Day 191

2011-01-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

Day 190

2011-01-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

Day 189

2011-01-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Day 188

2011-01-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

Day 187

2011-01-01T11:30:00.000-05:00