Sweet Moments Rarely Captured

I'm normally only in the wrong place at the wrong time, so I never actually capture anything worth actually photographing. Today was different in that I actually picked up my camera and pointed it at a situation I felt was worth using up a shutter click for. Maybe this can happen more often from now on?

Mama and Kiddo looking out the window for the afternoon delivery of kids. Kiddo didn't make it to school today (sick) so she looked for her friends from the warm house.

It's been a while..

I know, I know. I've been rather busy with non-photography related stuff lately, but I haven't neglected my camera(s) completely. I managed to fill 2 more rolls on my Hasselblad (see my Flickr) and I've been shooting some macro. Firstly though, some business. I shot the following yesterday with this exact picture in my mind:



I used my flash mounted to a shoot-through umbrella at full power. I placed to the left of me, maybe half a foot away, set to wide angle for maximum light dispersion (as much as the flash is capable of anyway). Camera off to my right, manually focused at the spot I was going to be sitting in, roughly. Focus wasn't extremely important since it was going to be a hard B&W silhouette. Camera wide open, ISO 400 for maximum yin/yang between noise and light gathering abilities and click! Yeah, I did have to do 'some' processing to remove the remaining detail, but I'd say this was a success.

Best macro of the year (from my camera anyway):


I'm rather proud of my macro. I've been following this bud since its inception right after the snow slowed down here. Make no mistake: to date, it has yet to actually stop snowing. There was still a 'flurry blizzard' just this morning. Ridiculous. Anyway... There will be many more macros of this particular Lilac over the course of the next few months.

^_^

Hassy time!

Today was a great day. From here down, there will be lots of film work mixed in.

Valentine's Day, in light.

Any day is a good day to put an idea on paper, as it were. Today, the flashlight was my victim. Here is the result:



For those looking for an idea for Valentine's Day: it's more creative than a store bought card and your date/girlfriend/wife will love it because you created it. All you need is a little camera skill, a tripod and some patience. A dark room also helps (turn off the lights at night).

A winter of Black and White.

The cold weather (sub-zero temperatures) really lends itself to stretch the post processing muscles a little. This time, instead of doing a bland "average" gradient map conversion, I actually used Adobe Camera Raw's black and white conversion tool, and played with the color sliders a little until my model's skin tones looked 'right'. It's a little more work, but I feel it was worth it.



As usually, you be the judge! I really liked the way this particular photo converted.

Macros, Because You Know You Love Them.

I'll start with admitting this wasn't entirely an original idea, although I can't for the life of me remember who I got this from. I do like the results and I'm putting it on the "to explore" list.

I don't think this needs to much explanation, I included a pullback! Yeah, don't expect it too often. I like a little mystery to my work.

50mm, ƒ/11, 1/250sec and ISO 100. OCF camera right @ 1/8 power.


Pullback with same settings:

The Light is Golden.

Everyone with a camera will eventually stumble upon that moment when they say "dang, I wish I had my camera on me, right now!". Those are the moments worth recording. Today, I was making my way to make a cup of coffee. I walked into the kitchen, making my way toward the coffee maker. I noticed a rather nice shade of sunlight out, but from this floor there's usually very little to photograph. I then looked out the window. What I saw was nothing short of stunning.



The picture doesn't do it justice. I tried my hardest at finding the perfect angle from the window I shot this from, and this is the best I could find. The crystal look of the ice in combination with the way the light fell on it and the snow on the roof stopped me dead in my tracks. The light was by any definition of the word, Golden.

Focus on Manual Focus

So in the past few days I've been playing with the thought of exclusively using manual focus for a while. So out come the macros! Yeah, portraiture might be a nudge more difficult using fly-by-wire manual focus. I'll definitely have to practice that. That said, though, I'll have to practice that anyway, seeing as my addition will be fully manual.

Naturally some samples of my plays:


and



That last one was hand held at 1/40sec. Kudos to Olympus for getting it right with in-camera image stabilization!

Practice Photo Shoot. Oh yes.

Well, I suppose for you who actually know me a little, you know I've been working up to this moment. All these funny exercises, all these pics of my little one, it's all been for this one turning point where I'm now considering myself a decent (digital) photographer. Yes, there is a distinction. With film, there's not nearly as much post processing to be done as with digital, and I find film to be easier to expose correctly for some odd reason. More on that in March when my Hasselblad 500c/m arrives.

So anyway, here we go. I had the pleasure of working with a very cooperative model. I think you will enjoy viewing these as much as I did capturing it.

In no particular order, except for the one I numbered the images in:

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I would say this isn't bad for a first practice shoot. I will say this: for you guys from ILP, I will never put these up for CC. The stuff images are hacked and slashed for on there is just ridiculous unless you're one of the "liked ones", then all of a sudden the white balance issues and weird crops are okay. I know the minor issues these images have, and I'm okay with that. I enjoyed this session way too much to end up feeling bad about them.

Having said that, I am using some of this session for a future portfolio, and more shoots are coming soon. I figure if I'm planning on being in business some day, and living in New York, I have to put up with the cold and snow. Winter is just another season, and it can be a beautiful one, photographically.

Natural Light. On Steroids.

I was watching a video located here the other night; and for those not wanting to check it out, it's about an excellent headshot photographer who goes into what he does and why he does it. Long story short, I picked up a few tips on how to light using natural light from a large window behind the photographer. I was very surprised at the results.

The color version:


And here is the B&W I made from this:

50mm, ƒ/2.0, 1/160sec and ISO 400 (1/3 stop underexposed by accident, but pulled back in PP).

Another one, just for fun:


This was a no-effort exercise. The big window behind me produced the main light, a window 45° camera right added bright side light, and a window 45° camera left added fill. Zero PP done, apart from the B&W conversion, and I didn't even use a Raw file for this. The in-camera JPEG was plenty "high-quality".

As a foot note, I do have to say I shot Raw+JPEG, because I'm a chicken and wouldn't dare using JPEG only. I still don't feel I nail exposure perfectly on a consistent basis, or at least not enough to stick with JPEG only.

I'm a photographer. A studio photographer, apparently.

So I went for some more inspiration searching today, and ended up plopping a teddybear on a tripod, chucking an umbrella light in front of it and snapping away. The experiment ended with a thought. It's much easier to play with light in a controlled environment. Even if this environment was built with a speedlight, an umbrella and two pieces of white poster board as reflectors. I think the next item on my wish list is a set of real lights.

Here's the shot, pretty much SOOC:


And here's the pullback:


It was almost too easy to get nice light this way. I can totally see why people do studio over natural light, because there's no time of the day you couldn't shoot, and you don't have to drag your gear all over.

Inspiration. Maybe?

So it's that time of the year again. Halloween. What did I wait with photos through the most beautiful season of the year for, you ask? Well, that's what happens when you get into an inspirational funk. No photos, at all. Now, however, I found myself with this burst of energy and creativity. And a daughter who, dare I say it, wanted her photo taken. This is an opportunity I couldn't pass up.



Now that I have your attention, let's proceed with the rest of these.


Up to no good, I tell ya.


Hm, cute, but that face doesn't fool anyone, yanno.


Ah yes. More distractions.


Mama wanted some attention too.


The color version of the first pic. Notice how her cheeks are oh-so-close to being blown. Lucky, because pics like this don't get a reshoot. I didn't intend to take this, as she was too close to the umbrella, but it was too cute to pass up. Lucky lucky.


One more for the road. Natural light this time. Yum! And all this recent talk about medium format B&W film has made me want to beg my mom for her Yashicamat, that she has never used. It's new, not like-new, and all I need to do is load film and call it a day! I wish.

Tilt/Shift

I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately. Knowing the buttons, knowing the numbers and knowing the techniques doesn't make the images interesting. I'm finding myself looking for creative outlets rather than technical correctness. And so I arrived here:


Olympus E-3, OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 @ f/1.8, 1/50sec and ISO 1250. Converted to B&W, with no other post processing apart from "sharpening for web".

Playing with tilt/shift photography. Freelens style. Do not try this at home unless your camera has a good self-cleaning system, as dust is inevitably going to enter the camera this way.

^_^