Monday, August 25, 2008
My daughter is one of the peoplle working on the school yearbook and she is doing some of the sports photography. I try to help when I can and at the same time practice some of the techniques I've learned. Gyms are really poorly lit so I set up 2 flashes to cross light at the top of the key. I was still shooting at 640ISO and F2.8-F4.0 to get these shots. I think I could have gotten more photos but as an 'outsider' I was a bit hesitant to shoot freely as I didn't want to be a distraction.
They say it's warmer down that area so this filter isn't totally out of line. ;-D. Trying out some filters...easy at times...very difficult most times.
Cheapo Sunset filter + Singh-Ray Graduated filter ND 3G SS.
Cheapo Sunset filter + Singh-Ray Graduated filter ND 3G SS.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
It wasn't the most glorious day ever but at least there was some blue skies and it was enough fo rme. I took a walk to Queen E and took photos along the way. What a great way to spend the morning.
sheesh
Michael Grecco lighting...I tried anyway. Interesting setup. To create the shadow and light the face, you need to block the light coming from the front from hitting the face.
Strobist info: Vivitar 285HV snooted on camera high/left; Vivitar 285HV gobo'ed from low in front.
Strobist info: Vivitar 285HV snooted on camera high/left; Vivitar 285HV gobo'ed from low in front.
Winter trees make for interesting patterns. I didn't convert this to b&w but it's probably more artsy that way. We do miss the sunshine lately as it has been dark and gloomy.
you have been warned...
This fellow has the oddest sense of humour...
Strobist info: Vivitar 285HV with silver umbrella for fill; SB-800 bare for background; SB-80DX with snoot for hairlight; lots of patience as controlling flash is never that simple specially in a small room.
Strobist info: Vivitar 285HV with silver umbrella for fill; SB-800 bare for background; SB-80DX with snoot for hairlight; lots of patience as controlling flash is never that simple specially in a small room.
not a day over 59...
Strobist info: Vivitar 285HV with shoot-thru umbrella for main; Vivitar 285HV with silver umbrella for fill; SB-800 bare for background; SB-80DX with snoot for hairlight; lots of patience as controlling flash is never that simple specially in a small room.
Interesting how the brain works sometimes. I've had this 12-24 wide angle lens for a while. Loved it at first and then started noticing the distortions on the edges. Have not used it for a while until I remembered an article that recommended that the main subject be centered and let the rest be. Why it made sense today all of a sudden is beyond me so here's for a slap on the forehead for finally understanding.
sunset?
Got some cheapo filters and experimenting with it (its totally gray out there in case you haven't peeped out). Now that I got the technicals I am ready to fit to Kitsilano to take some sunset shots...
cross lighting in a room
Created this mosaic from a series of photos that I took in our living room using a 2 flash setup at each end of the room. We were able to move around the room without changing settings and get decent photos. Using flash, once you learn how to, is just terrific.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sunset Beach
ND and graduated filters are part of the tools for capturing landscapes. The ND filters cut down on the light and allow for slower exposures which results in water being blurred. The graduated filters allow one to cut down on the dynamic range of a scene so that one can avoid blown highlights and deep shadows.
Friday, April 18, 2008
patiently waiting
Part of the fun on being flickr is the friends you make and have fun with. As with this photo I took of me being ready for dinner was a result of Teresa showing her thanksgiving dinner. I was ready for it.
Merry Christmas!
Have to try a flash located in the back and visible. Great fun, interesting result.
Monday, April 14, 2008
This 'dance' was performed in the dark by a large number of men (30-40?) who were seated and made these hand/arm motions. They at the same time chanted 'kachak' from where the name of the dance originates.
The set
The set
I travelled to this magical city some 20 years ago. The photos here are scanned from slides that are a bit faded but I think the view that it provides is still a wonder to see.
The complete set is here.
The complete set is here.
Waterfront Station...in the footsteps of knighmusik (Teresa)..at least before her and others and after many others. Stumbled unto while going over the archives.
cuppa joe
Passed by a Cuppa Joe around the Kitsilano area and remembering Teresa's photo I had to try something which turned out to be a Hot Chocolate...not the mocha latte she raved about. Oh well...there's no explaining why we as photographers are always shooting these objects.
flickr.com/photos/7340694@N02/2089557432/
flickr.com/photos/7340694@N02/2089557432/
Xmas present
My wife got me this for Christmas and I wasn't going to wait for Christmas to use it. Got it loaded with photos as soon as I got home. Looks real cool. On sate at Staples.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Call me irresponsible
Seems I'm not the only one buying CDs these days. Picked this up at a Chapters store as I was buying a book for Ashley. An impulse buy but my wife likes the album too.
Good morning Vancouver!
Just want to greet everyone this morning. The sunrise is beautiful with an orange/pinkish colour. Must be nice up Teresa's way in New Westminster. Good morning world.
soy sauce
We photographers must look a bit strange to other people specially when they see us shooting at a restaurant while having a meal. :-D
nice try
Always try to take the light and shadow shots. In winter the bare trees make for interesting patterns. No avoiding these electric lines though.
Brackendale
I went with a Meetup group today to see the eagles in Brackendale. I was nice and cold and there were a lot of eagles about. Unfortunately we were a bit late to catch the feeding time and the eagles were accross the river. It was difficult photographing them as we didn't have the long lens to do it. Oh well, I still enjoyed the morning. The view of the mountains was just wonderful.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
a slow day...interesting sunrise colours
The colors of the skies are not necessarily photoshopped. I just haven't looked enough.
Wired
Really liked the way this come out with so many layers. I also used a P&S which is probably more the reason I even took this shot.
Explosion
The Chrismas Season brings out the light and this one of the St.Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver is one of the best. I accidently stumbled on this technique of zooming and really love the effect.
Fraser Street Mosaic
I wanted to create this mosaic of Fraser Street from a set of photos. I would like to do this for different areas of Vancouver.
magical day
There is a church in the neighborhood and I wanted to set up a shot with the rainbow hitting the roof of the church. But alas and alack there were houses in the way and I couldn't align the 2...sigh.
forecast
With 25mm forecast I guess we'll need this. I've joined the Meetup group which goes to Brackendale this Sunday and I haven't the clue what to wear/bring. Brackendale weather turned out better than Vancouver where it snowed!
run offs
All the snow's gone and the rains keep running off into the drains. Cross-processing sure makes the image look more artsy.
Seth 2
Took some photos at a close family friends Christening reception. I used a flash and umbrella and am now firmly convinced that it is the way to go. I could go with a softbox but the results are just the same so...
Strobist info: SB-800 with shoot-thru umbrella atop lightstand on camera left and triggered by PWs.
Strobist info: SB-800 with shoot-thru umbrella atop lightstand on camera left and triggered by PWs.
panoramic portrait
Non-standard crops are kind of fun at times. And make for interesting results IMO.
snow
First snow of the year. It looks so beautiful out there and although I have lots of photos of snow scenes...there's always more to take.
red 1
We arrived at this spot in the middle of the day where the lighting was flat. But it's a great location and one takes a photo with whatever is there when on vacation. Post processing helps an awful lot...as long as the composition is good. I used the Nik photoshop plug-ins on this image.
yin and yang
I must look odd at times as I shoot everywhere and a lot of times when waiting for the food orders to arrive. I thought this kind of looked cool.
face detection
The face detection feature is quite cool. The square follows the face (the front anyway) as you move the camera so you don't need to get the subject in the center. However I don't think it works as well as it should as the photos are a bit blurry but then again it could be my snapping technique as I have a tendency to more the camera when I depress the shutter button.
Inspiration and ideas
The works of others always leads to inspire us to better our efforts and this book does that for me. Interestingly enough I am starting to see the patterns on how photos are created and so it's made my composition that much better,
Corona del Mar
I took this photo during our 2006 Summer Vacation to Los Angeles. I recently discovered the Nik photoshop plug-ins and this is one of the experiments using it. Looks nice even though not realistic. This leads one to another decision point...use glass filters before the shot or use software filters after the shot? And how much PP is legit. Tough sometimes as it makes one feel guilty.
Strobist
Part of the Strobist exercises.
Strobist Info: AB400 with shoot-thru umbrella as Main light on camera right; SB-800 with snoot as accent light on camera left slightly behind subject; SB-80DX with gobos (flowers and wicker basket) as background light on camera right close to wall.
Which has lead me to my standard portrait setup of a flash with shoot-thru umbrella and a hairlight flash with a snoot.
Strobist Info: AB400 with shoot-thru umbrella as Main light on camera right; SB-800 with snoot as accent light on camera left slightly behind subject; SB-80DX with gobos (flowers and wicker basket) as background light on camera right close to wall.
Which has lead me to my standard portrait setup of a flash with shoot-thru umbrella and a hairlight flash with a snoot.
Super(store) twilight
The cellphones are now equipped with almost decent cameras. And they come in handy on the times I don't bring the DSLR with me. Hey...you try lugging 100 lbs on your back?
shadow
A shallow DOF with my 50mmF1.4 lens combined with cross-processing which I've recently discovered...almost makes me an artist. LOL.
catching the sunset
Been a while since I've used my grad filters and it looks like I'll have to do it again to keep on top of it. Mind you I wasn't at a real good place for it but the sun was sinking fast and there wasn't time to go elsewhere. Yeah, I was real rusty and I have to really work on this some more.
morning frost
Awesome to wake up to the morning frost this morning. I took out the old macro and shot like mad. I thought I was going to post 2 or 3 but found a lot of images came out quite nice. At the same time I heard Rod Stewart singing this song:
youtube.com/watch?v=yCXMkborho8&feature=related
So this series is dedicated to my wife.
youtube.com/watch?v=yCXMkborho8&feature=related
So this series is dedicated to my wife.
old rose
Early morning light is real nice as our east side windows lets it in. The contrast in the red and b&w I think works well.
basketball moon
A twilight shot with the moon in view...a nice time for shooting. Took this before on of Ashley's basketball games.
leaf and flower
Having fun experimenting...am I ever doing anything else? Extreme sharpness isn't the end-all and be-all. Combining colours with blur works if done right,
Applause 2
We were at a new Japanese Restaurant having a late lunch/early dinner and I thought I'd take a few shots of the girls who really hammed it up. These 3 are the more sane ones. I used a post process that I think simulates the cross-processing used in film and I find that it makes some portraits more interesting.
forecast - yesterday, today, tomorrow
Spotted this at Starbucks which kind of conveyed the weather of the day. It's a nice place for backgrounds...if only they'd let you shoot,
twilight
In the old days I didn't do much after the sun had set. I always thought that sunset was the only time to take photos. I've now realized the blue tone of twilights are just incredibly beautiful and not to be missed.
Potsticker
The latest cellphones are amazing. Talking about convergence...phone, camera, video, music. I don't know why you'd settle for the video Ipods...and I guess that's why the IPhone came to be.
edge
This was taken on the Oregon Coast on one of our summer road trips South. I am experimenting with my b&w techniques and a few months later I can't remember how I did it. Sigh...
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