Dark Autumn Water

I decided to do a set-up shot tonight trying to capture a bit of the fall season.

I found a leaf that had a nice golden colour and just a hint of curl from drying out. I use a glass casserole dish on a black sheet, got the camera low and had the flash off to camera left nearly parallel to the water surface to pick up some of the minute surface ripples.

Here is the result:



I'm really, really happy with this shot. I expected the leaf to look nice, and the ripples just blurring off in the foreground and background are what I was hoping for on the clean black background. Where I got lucky was the crisp reflection. I was dropping the leaf and clicking away madly, so to catch it just at the point of contact with the reflection was a real bonus.

I'm just happy that I had an idea, shot it, and can be this proud of the result. Consider me rekindled!

Blowing the dust off...

Hi everyone!

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not a bit embarrassed about my lack of posting lately, but man have things been busy. The good news is that I actually have real paying customers lined up for family shoots in October, so things are not a total disaster in photography land!

I took my daughter to her new GymKids class today and brought my camera with me:

Marching and Shaking the Shakers


Stretching Time


Parachute Game


We went to St. Vital Park in the afternoon as well, just to go for a walk, but I was lucky enough to see a male wood duck that was pretty much fearless and came nice and close for a portrait:



I'll try to post again sometime before the next three weeks :)

Pics from the weekend

Had a couple of trips out this weekend, and here's a few favourites.

We went back to the zoo for the third time this summer, this time with friends and their son. I promised them at least one family picture, but their little guy was not in the best mood and basically refused to make eye contact with the camera. Still, I managed a fairly nice shot:



The goal in this shot was just to keep it informal and loose, but still a nice family shot. I just wish we could have got a smile out of their little dude. He *did* smile for me later, in a shot that I like much better that was taken on the playground in the zoo:



Where was that big grin earlier in the day?! I took a candid shot when he was racing his father as well, and I think it's cute:



My daughter would simply not allow pictures to be taken without her chance in front of the lens, so she decided to jump for a picture:



Yeah, she's a goof.

A few animal shots from the day as well. First, a gibbon who decided to stare me down:



And our Zoo's newly arrived Lioness, who was napping at the time:



I think there is a universal rule that the coolest animals at the zoo are always asleep. They might be stuffed, I have no idea.

Our other day trip was back to Oak Hammock Marsh, but there were some high winds so despite it being migration season, most of the birds were hunkered down. Didn't shoot much and what I did shoot was just too far away for the 70-200 even with the teleconverter. I'm looking forward to the day I can land a 400mm+ lens for these birding trips.

I *did* take another bee/flower shot that had a nice colour contrast though:



Thanks for reading!

I'm alive! Woof!

So I took a hiatus, and it was much needed. I felt like taking pictures was becoming a chore rather than a hobby or a passion, and I didn't like the way that was heading.

I took out my camera for the first time in about two weeks on the weekend, and went to visit friends who just brought home their new Sheltie pup, Rascal.



He's a cute little guy and it was fun to get down on the floor and play with him. Not a great picture, but I'm easing my way back int and just shooting what I feel like when I feel like it. It's a lot more natural and a lot less stress.

Project something-something-something...

As should be painfully obvious, I am really not able to keep up the Project 365 pace these days. I enjoy shooting every time I get my camera out, and I'm learning each time, but there are just too many demands on my time right now.

There is just not enough time in the day to allot an hour or more to shooting, editing, and posting a picture with two young kids in the house, a job, and a wife who works from home in the evenings. I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far, but at this point I'm prepared to admit that I can't keep it up for the remaining 180 or so days.

So, my point (finally). I will shoot, edit and post as frequently as time allows and as inspiration permits. I will continue this blog, and I will continue to try and support my business. I will continue to enjoy photography as often as I can, but I am no longer going to frame my goals as a photographer with an arbitrary requirement to shoot daily.

I appreciate everyone who reads this blog, and I'll continue to document my learning journey for as long as anyone cares to follow along.

Thanks.

Mercurial...

Today, I combined my love of flower shots, water shots and inverted trickery. Day 188's shot:



In this shot, a blue background is placed behind my acrylic tank and lit with a speedlite off to the side, and a softbox is overhead of the tank. The flower if held down into the water, and air bubbles are blown up from below it. Invert the shot in post processing, and you get what looks like mercury drops on the flower.

I've seen this technique used before, and my shot is not up to to par of a lot of the other ones I've seen. My bubbles are too big, and I think my setup is a bit amateur compared to the others, but it was a fun shot to do!

I miss Carl Sagan...

Not much to say about day 187, but this is my take on the Pale Blue Dot.



This is the same paperweight used in this shot but lit more simply, and with (to my eye) a stronger composition. A blue gelled LP160 at 1/2 power through my SB3 softbox is above and to the right of the weight (a little to close thus the strong specular highlight) and a second gelled LP160 is shooting through the left side of the lightbox at 1/16th power, just to fill a bit but not blow out the shadow. Shot at ISO 100, 1/200th shutter, f/5.6.

A simple shot, but crisp, I like the colour and the composition works. I'm glad I got this shot, I was about ready to give up for the day before I reworked the entire light setup and reshot it. Perseverance!