Capture Pt 2.

Here's the rest of my favorites from Tuesday. Thankfully I can use this as ammunition to convince the rest of my friends to let me take pictures of them, or at least stop protesting when the terrible glass monster comes out to play.









Between these pictures and the recent wedding I shot, my confidence in my photography is approaching "damn-proud". I think I'll finally stop being a terribly low budget photographer and be at least a medium market photographer. Maybe I should see about getting that business license if I want to take this even more seriously.

-k

Capture

While I'm all for headshots that involve somebody smiling at the camera, I really do like the ones where they're not looking at me, and they don't necessarily expect me to take a picture. I do love pictures where a genuine smile or laughter is captured, but I like off beat natural expressions that people don't always get to see of themselves. This is my good friend Sara, she scrubbed up and pretty for our night on the town seeing the touring production of "Wicked". I've been meaning to take some portraits of her for forever, but the opportunity didn't really present itself until yesterday.

We're in a little alcove next to the Georgian Terrace Hotel, a good bit before our show. It was a bit weird at first because I'm not used to posing somebody in a public place, who isn't obviously in an event.... like a wedding. Sara proved up to the task though, and I think we were able to eeke out some keepers with her talent, and my mediocrity.

Camera-philes, the above photo is with my trusty 20d, the venerable and affordable 85mm F1.8, my 420ex flash as fill off of a Demb Flip-it flash diffuser. My only gripe about this particular shot was that I accidentally had the camera in the default "green" auto setting, so I only have this in a JPEG format. For those of you that haven't moved to shooting RAW yet, do it. Get bigger memory cards (or more of them) and you'll find with patience and a little know how you can control so much more in your images to get the end result you want.


I'll post a few more of the keeper from this session tomorrow.

Forum Fun, and Caveat Emptor

The internet is a vast and terrible beast. But it's also capable of putting you right next to people who are interested in the exact same thing you are. The best (and arguably the worst) way to learn and share is through an internet forum. If your addiction happens to be photography like mine, I can recommend the forums at www.fredmiranda.com. I'm a Canon shooter, and I find that it's most informative site for other canon users. Most Nikon fans opt for nikonians.org. The FredMiranda forums are all encompassing though, from picture critique in all types of photography, monthly image composition contests, local "shooter's groups", and the most active private Buy and Sell forum. If you're in the market for a used digital SLR, or some nice lenses, this is the place to go. Remember though, traditional e-buyer caution is a must! I've made several purchases myself there already, and it's very friendly and very informative.

If you're into computers and computer sales, you can't really beat the 1-2-3 combination of Anandtech's Hot deal forums, Fatwallet.com, and the summary of scoops at Slickdeals.

The viral interwebmachine is housed within the forum structure, which is both good and bad. But since you're usually among understanding peers in those situations, the benefits far outweight the occasional internet troll.

If you're into something, find others like you that are into it too. You'll get far more enjoyment out of the hobbies that make you, you.


-k

Output!

So I've been busy. This past Saturday was the wedding photography gig, and this time it wasn't a direct friend of mine as the bride or groom. Sarah-Irene and John were great though. I had a lot of fun and I took a bunch of pictures that I culled down to about 340. I've got a bunch of faves, most of them respresented in the above collage. My favorite non-portrait pictures are the wedding environmentals. I had a great day and lighting for pictures, (overcast with sprinkes of rain, and the church has plenty of skylights and windows that would have normally flooded traditional film out. ) and it also helped to have technology on my side (Thank goodness for digital, and whitebalance!) . Editing these photos was almost as addicting as taking them. The times I get to grind out a creative product on my computer lately are a rare and cherised delicacy.

Having shot my own share (and by many less-than-brave photographer's standards one is too many) of weddings using traditional 35mm film (in Professional emultions of course), it's an amazing breath of fresh air to be able to say that I've reviewed the pictures, culled the pictures to a more managable size, and edited the pictures for color/composition all just 2 business days after the wedding! Before, it took me almost 2-3 weeks to see the returned proofs from the photofinisher I used. As it is, if I was just delivering the final digital images on a DVD without any type of prints, I'm done. Digital is blazing volcanic changes to photography workflow.

Here are some of the environmentals at very tiny sizes compared to their "deliverable" quality siblings.

Flash dance

So Tuesday night I was so curious to know if my current tripod setup was strong enough to handle my camera + new lens. The lens is of a relatively normal zoom range, but with optics both exotic (Ultra-Low Dispersion, and Aspherical) and enormous. The outer diameter of the front glass element is 77mm, the largest round filter thread size. Even though I own a tripod that's quite heavy, I had to make sure it would all be stable. So I get everything setup, and find relief in that my tripod is quite sturdy despite it's newfound heavyweight friends. I satisfied my curiousity further by taking test shots with the new flash diffuser I've purchased as well. My apartment has several large windows that face the parking lots, and I can't help but wonder if people could see the blitz from my flash bleed through the blinds.

On Wednesday night Sara and Shaun and I hung out at El Torrero for some tasties and distribution of Japanese artifacts made in China. (Sara had recently gone to Japan to visit her best friend). Afterwards I informed Sara that I would need to use her as a test subject for my new setup, which she was kind enough to oblige. So I've got a set of photos that involve Shaun and Sara combatting with pillows on my futon. It's hot. Or Sarcastic. Or something. At least I know my photo gear is working.


(The above picture was stolen from this website, and it shows my camera, my lens + it's lenshood, and something I don't own...yet... which is the vertical grip - located on the bottom of the camera).

Anticipation(s)

I photograph weddings as a pro-am and it's something of a labor of love for me. One thing that I haven't been able to shake though, are the jitters and worries that plague me a month before the shoot. These butterflies are like my social worries about meeting new people. I'm entirely dodgy and shy and unconfident when the mere idea of new socialities surface to the now. But put me in that firey cauldron and I strive to be the dominant flavor. I like to think that I'm the same way with photography. Since it actually involves a good bit of personable ability, I'm more at home behind a lens and in front of people than I am anywhere else.

With that said, I'm terribly excited/scared about this weekend. While I'm responsible for creating the images that last a lifetime, at the same time, I'm responsible for creating the images that last a lifetime.

(the above picture was from the Semonova-Shattuck wedding I took last August)

Friendly Monster in all of us.

Here's my buddy Eduardo. Those of you not fans of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends take note: He's a scary looking monster, who's more scared of you than you could be of him. Oh, and he bilingual. Bienvienido, Eduardo!

Picture was taken with my Canon 20d and my new lens. Thank you everybody who contributed to the Nevkil Birthday Lens Fund '06!