My last self portrait was taken back in like February, when my 52 Week Project ended. At that point in time, I was SICK of seeing any photo's with my face. Well a few months have gone by. I kind of missed taking them now and then. So when I was home for lunch last week, the urge suddenly hit me to take a new selfie. Partially because my photo stream has been a bit slow the past couple weeks. No events going on and not much free time to get out and shoot. So, a photo of me it is! I was actually pretty happy with out this photo came out. I think I took the pic and processed it in Lr2 in about 15 minutes total. Which makes it the best kind of self portrait. The kind where little effort was put into it. Now... onward to shooting photo's of things besides me.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Spencer, Senior Portrait
Occasionally I break away from photographing animals, landscapes and sports and take on some portrait work. This was such the case with graduating high school senior, Spencer. Before the session I was talking to his mom, asking if she thought he'd have a hard time relaxing infront of the camera. She laughed and said "No way, Spencer is a crack up!". She wasn't kidding. He did a great job and was really comfortable in front of the lens. Always laughing, cracking jokes and smiling.... made my job easy! In fact, a few times I had to make him be serious so I could get some shots without a huge smile plastered across his face. But it was great having a subject so at ease and wanting to have fun on the shoot. His laugh and smile are contagious and I think made me a more relaxed photographer as well.
Congrats Spencer!! Off to bigger and better things. You'll go far my friend.
Congrats Spencer!! Off to bigger and better things. You'll go far my friend.
The John Cowand Band
Got to shoot another band last Friday night. This time, The John Cowand Band. Kind of a rock, bluegrass mix. This was another show that I really enjoyed shooting. Great music and atmosphere at their show. The small'ish crowd really seemed into it and I was actually surprised it wasn't a larger audience. Those who did show up did seem to be familiar with who he was and his music. A few times I caught myself watching and listening and not snapping the shutter on my camera. Then i'd snap out of it and focus on shooting again. That's a sign their a captivating group. Id like to see them again if they come through Denton in the future!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Enjoying the Dog Days of Summer
This past Saturday was the long awaited Dog Days of Summer festival in downtown Denton. Id missed the past 2 years of it because I always had something going on, on the exact day of it. But not this year! I was ready and waiting. Emily, Zita and I were to meet up with our friends Beau and Sarah with their Golden Retrievers and small dog at around 10am. Of course this event would provide a wealth of photo opportunities! I wanted to travel light since I knew I'd have Zita's leash in hand as well. So no big camera bag with multiple lenses this time. Bummer. No worries. I removed my battery grip from my 30D and selected my 28-70mm f/2.8 Sigma lens as my only lens for the day. I figured it would give me all the range I should need for doggie shots and the wide f/2.8 aperture would be perfect for portraits.
There were a couple times during the day when I wished I could have switched over to the 200mm. But, I made it work out alright. I managed to get several quality shots I was happy with. Although the one thing that annoys me about this lens is how it handles sunlight when its anywhere but directly at my back. For some reason this lens creates sun flares more easily than any lens I know. And it also seems to blow out images with lots of sun, easier than any of my canon lenses. Getting a decent shot in normal sunlight often requires really stopping down to f/6.3 or smaller. And thats when shooting even at ISO100 with a polarizing filter. Overall the lens is "alright". I can see myself selling it and putting the money into the upcoming Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 IS lens being released in a few months. I suppose this is the classic case of "you get what you pay for". This Sigma lens runs about $300. The Canon lens im waiting for will run around the $1200 range. Ouch... I know.
Anyhow, back on topic. The Dog Days festival was a blast. Our little Heeler, Zita, had a ton O fun and was exhausted when we got her home. Went to sleep on the floor ASAP. Another great thing about this festival is the free stuff. Frisbees, chew toys, snack and doggie bandana's are handed out to all. You can bet we'll be looking forward to next years as well!
There were a couple times during the day when I wished I could have switched over to the 200mm. But, I made it work out alright. I managed to get several quality shots I was happy with. Although the one thing that annoys me about this lens is how it handles sunlight when its anywhere but directly at my back. For some reason this lens creates sun flares more easily than any lens I know. And it also seems to blow out images with lots of sun, easier than any of my canon lenses. Getting a decent shot in normal sunlight often requires really stopping down to f/6.3 or smaller. And thats when shooting even at ISO100 with a polarizing filter. Overall the lens is "alright". I can see myself selling it and putting the money into the upcoming Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 IS lens being released in a few months. I suppose this is the classic case of "you get what you pay for". This Sigma lens runs about $300. The Canon lens im waiting for will run around the $1200 range. Ouch... I know.
Anyhow, back on topic. The Dog Days festival was a blast. Our little Heeler, Zita, had a ton O fun and was exhausted when we got her home. Went to sleep on the floor ASAP. Another great thing about this festival is the free stuff. Frisbees, chew toys, snack and doggie bandana's are handed out to all. You can bet we'll be looking forward to next years as well!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Me and the Cub
This past Sunday I had the unique opportunity to attend a local private "Fly-In" event. One of Emily's friends, who is an airline pilot, invited us out to their neighborhood for this little get together and the chance to photograph all the great aircraft. You didn't have to ask me twice! We arrived at the airfield at about 4pm and were quickly introduced to many others who had aircraft at the event. This is an interesting neighborhood, made up of pilots. So practically every house has a small airplane. And rather than having a neighborhood swimming pool, they have a 3000 foot grass airstrip. How cool is that!?
I immediately set out, shooting various angles and features on the planes. So many bright colors. So much to see. I was in photographers heaven! Then Emily's friends husband asked if I would like to go up in his Piper Cub. Sure!! Was all I could say! We squeezed into the small aircraft and taxied down the runway. I was very interested to experience this flight in this aircraft because Id recently been doing a basic pilot training in Microsoft Flight Sim and I wanted to see how it compared to the real deal! (I know, you're laughing)
Well, we reached the end of the runway, turned facing upwind and went full throttle. Just like the flight sim, 40 mph and we were lifting off the ground and headed upward! What a cool feeling! We began circling the surrounding farmland where he pointed out various landmarks and points of interest. We flew around for about 30 minutes while I snapped pics constantly. It was surprisingly like the flight sim, with the exception I was just a passenger..... and it was a real aircraft. :-) With both side windows down, the cool evening spring air poured in, but I was having too much fun to care. Also having the windows down made it easy for me to move my camera around for the best shot.
Finally it was time to land. He circled around to the end of the runway to what seemed like too high of an angle compared to the end of the runway, to me at least. Then again, im not the pilot with 20+ years of flight experience, like the guy sitting just in front of me! But without hesitation, we dropped down quickly, flared up a bit and drifted smoothly onto the runway. The Piper Cub is such a small maneuverable air craft, it doesn't need much runway to take off and land. Nothing to it.
We taxied back to the hanger and headed in for one more bite to eat before driving home. Really a fun day and a first for me! An afternoon I'll never forget.
I immediately set out, shooting various angles and features on the planes. So many bright colors. So much to see. I was in photographers heaven! Then Emily's friends husband asked if I would like to go up in his Piper Cub. Sure!! Was all I could say! We squeezed into the small aircraft and taxied down the runway. I was very interested to experience this flight in this aircraft because Id recently been doing a basic pilot training in Microsoft Flight Sim and I wanted to see how it compared to the real deal! (I know, you're laughing)
Well, we reached the end of the runway, turned facing upwind and went full throttle. Just like the flight sim, 40 mph and we were lifting off the ground and headed upward! What a cool feeling! We began circling the surrounding farmland where he pointed out various landmarks and points of interest. We flew around for about 30 minutes while I snapped pics constantly. It was surprisingly like the flight sim, with the exception I was just a passenger..... and it was a real aircraft. :-) With both side windows down, the cool evening spring air poured in, but I was having too much fun to care. Also having the windows down made it easy for me to move my camera around for the best shot.
Finally it was time to land. He circled around to the end of the runway to what seemed like too high of an angle compared to the end of the runway, to me at least. Then again, im not the pilot with 20+ years of flight experience, like the guy sitting just in front of me! But without hesitation, we dropped down quickly, flared up a bit and drifted smoothly onto the runway. The Piper Cub is such a small maneuverable air craft, it doesn't need much runway to take off and land. Nothing to it.
We taxied back to the hanger and headed in for one more bite to eat before driving home. Really a fun day and a first for me! An afternoon I'll never forget.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Family Fun!
Finally getting around to making this blog update! A couple weeks ago I was contacted by some of my old college friends who were now married with 2 kids. They wanted some fun family portraits and for me to take them! Id done a photo session with them in the past so their two children, Molly and Fiona were comfortable around me. So I knew we'd have a good session. This time they wanted to include their dog, Scout. Whoa... 2 kids and a dog? This could be a challenge!
They arrived at on location about 15 late and everyone piled out of the car. Parents, bags, kids and the dog. I spent a few minutes petting Scout and letting him smell my hands and get comfortable with my voice and playing with me. I quickly learned this is one smart pup! Very obedient. Actually more so than the children! haha Wherever we setup to shoot, Scout quickly listened, sat... layed down. Whatever we needed. It was great. The challenge was getting the kids to both look at the camera and working quickly enough so that they didn't get too tired and bored.
After about 45 minutes we had a good assortment of photos. Just in time as the 2 little ones were starting to get impatient. This was one of my favorite shots of the day. It wasn't actually even a planned moment. We stopped between locations and Amy was trying to liven up the tired kids. She began playing with them, getting them to laugh and i just started shooting. A great moment captured!
Its always fun to see Amy, Jason, Fiona and little Molly!
They arrived at on location about 15 late and everyone piled out of the car. Parents, bags, kids and the dog. I spent a few minutes petting Scout and letting him smell my hands and get comfortable with my voice and playing with me. I quickly learned this is one smart pup! Very obedient. Actually more so than the children! haha Wherever we setup to shoot, Scout quickly listened, sat... layed down. Whatever we needed. It was great. The challenge was getting the kids to both look at the camera and working quickly enough so that they didn't get too tired and bored.
After about 45 minutes we had a good assortment of photos. Just in time as the 2 little ones were starting to get impatient. This was one of my favorite shots of the day. It wasn't actually even a planned moment. We stopped between locations and Amy was trying to liven up the tired kids. She began playing with them, getting them to laugh and i just started shooting. A great moment captured!
Its always fun to see Amy, Jason, Fiona and little Molly!
Where The Wild Things Are
This past Saturday morning (after shooting bands till 1am), fellow photog Rocky Phillips and myself got up and hit the road at 8am headed North. Leaving Texas, crossing the Red River and into Oklahoma we went. Destination: Wichita Mountains! We'd been really excited about this photography road trip for some time. The chance to shoot interesting landscapes and a wide variety of wildlife would put a smile on any photographers face.
After the 3 hour drive we arrived hungry and headed straight for Meers Restaurant. Meers is pretty much a 100+ year old building, one of the last standing in this one time miner town, which now serves some of the best Long Horn burgers Ive ever had. Then again, I don't know where else Id find a Long Horn burger. I like them because the meat is much leaner than normal beef. Very tasty as well. Especially when you've been hiking in the local mountains and are starving! So Rocky and I chowed down and headed out to shoot.
First stop was Sunset Trail at the base of Elk Mountain. This zig-zag mile long trail winds its way up to one of the best views in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. The trail isn't overly challenging, as long as your not severely over weight or have bad knees. Really a fun hike. We reached the top in about 40 minutes and commenced shooting photos. We hung out up there for close to an hour, until we both felt we had a decent amount of good shots. Then began our hike down.
Something funny happened on our decent. We ran into a boy scout troupe headed up. We stopped and chatted briefly and the scout leader asked how much further. We told them about 10 more minutes to go. Then he asks me, "So, did you guys hike up here?" Thinking to myself I cannot imaging any other way i could have arrived in my current location I replied, "Well, I don't recall being dropped off by a helicopter". He just gave me an odd look and we moved on hiking down. Rocky found that little exchange pretty funny. We're still wondering what exactly he meant. lol
Once down we stopped at a large field where a heard of Bison (pictured) were grazing and playing. This was a joy to watch and photograph. We had to use caution though. Unlike normal cattle Buffalo are known to randomly charge if they feel you're too close. Thank goodness for zoom lenses and our car! hah Our shutters snapped away as these massive animals butted heads, jumped, rolled and pushed each other around playing. The weather has been getting warmer and as you can see in the photo, their winter coats are beginning to peel off. They are very powerful animals that move surprisingly quick. What a blast to shoot!
A few hours later, tired and running out of daylight, we hit the road for our three hour return drive. It was a full day, but it was fun and a Saturday well spent!
After the 3 hour drive we arrived hungry and headed straight for Meers Restaurant. Meers is pretty much a 100+ year old building, one of the last standing in this one time miner town, which now serves some of the best Long Horn burgers Ive ever had. Then again, I don't know where else Id find a Long Horn burger. I like them because the meat is much leaner than normal beef. Very tasty as well. Especially when you've been hiking in the local mountains and are starving! So Rocky and I chowed down and headed out to shoot.
First stop was Sunset Trail at the base of Elk Mountain. This zig-zag mile long trail winds its way up to one of the best views in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. The trail isn't overly challenging, as long as your not severely over weight or have bad knees. Really a fun hike. We reached the top in about 40 minutes and commenced shooting photos. We hung out up there for close to an hour, until we both felt we had a decent amount of good shots. Then began our hike down.
Something funny happened on our decent. We ran into a boy scout troupe headed up. We stopped and chatted briefly and the scout leader asked how much further. We told them about 10 more minutes to go. Then he asks me, "So, did you guys hike up here?" Thinking to myself I cannot imaging any other way i could have arrived in my current location I replied, "Well, I don't recall being dropped off by a helicopter". He just gave me an odd look and we moved on hiking down. Rocky found that little exchange pretty funny. We're still wondering what exactly he meant. lol
Once down we stopped at a large field where a heard of Bison (pictured) were grazing and playing. This was a joy to watch and photograph. We had to use caution though. Unlike normal cattle Buffalo are known to randomly charge if they feel you're too close. Thank goodness for zoom lenses and our car! hah Our shutters snapped away as these massive animals butted heads, jumped, rolled and pushed each other around playing. The weather has been getting warmer and as you can see in the photo, their winter coats are beginning to peel off. They are very powerful animals that move surprisingly quick. What a blast to shoot!
A few hours later, tired and running out of daylight, we hit the road for our three hour return drive. It was a full day, but it was fun and a Saturday well spent!
Backside Pick
After shooting the Tennessee Three over at Boiler Room, I threw my camera gear back over my shoulder, sprinted up the stairs and ran one block over to Haileys Bar. Performing at their CD release party there was Backside Pick. I got in the front door and through the line of people and ran immediately into lead singer Rocky Ottely (pictured). I guess he knew i was there shooting for mydentonmusic.com and introduced himself. Not only was he a very talented singer but a genuinely nice guy. He didn't even complain when it took me what seemed like 30 minutes to dig my buried biz card out of my camera bag. haha Rocky took the stage with the band a short time later and immediately got the crowd fired up and moved in close to the stage. Backside Picks music was kind of a rock/funk/jazz type mix. Well, thats coming from me... someone who's no music expert. But, it was really good stuff and a fun atmosphere to be in. Similar to the previous band, they were also a fun shoot and the mostly college aged crowed seemed to know the songs and was really into it.
Id definitely go to see them play again if they returned to Denton. Sometimes its hard to really get into the music when im focused on shooting photo's. So it would be nice to have a second listen to them.
Id definitely go to see them play again if they returned to Denton. Sometimes its hard to really get into the music when im focused on shooting photo's. So it would be nice to have a second listen to them.
Performing Classics
If you're a fan of Johnny Cash you NEED to catch a show by the group Tennessee Three. I had the pleasure of shooting some live show shots last Friday night over at the Boiler Room in Denton Texas. They were in town for one show and had a pretty good turn out in the small club. The Johnny Cash songs they performed sounded as if it was the man himself. Not to mention the lead singer, who I believe was actually a part of Johnny Cash's original band, looked the part of Cash himself. It was a fun event to shoot. The crowd was really into it and the band appeared to really enjoy performing. I hope they come back to Denton again some time.
Again it was the wonderful 70mm-200mm f/2.8 lens which shined for shooting in this dark stage lighting. I can't say enough about this lens and how it continues to impress me. Expensive? Yes. Worth every penny? Indeed!
Again it was the wonderful 70mm-200mm f/2.8 lens which shined for shooting in this dark stage lighting. I can't say enough about this lens and how it continues to impress me. Expensive? Yes. Worth every penny? Indeed!
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Head West Young Man!
Actually North-West. This past weekend myself, Emily and friends Craig and Bex packed our bags and boarded a 1 hour Southwest Airlines flight for Amarillo Texas. The city itself wasn't our goal. Just south of Amarillo sits the Palo Duro Canyon! Which, by the way, is also a 26,000 acre National State Park. With miles of trails and endless vista's, this was a rugged wilderness Id been wanting to photograph for some time. My chance was finally here!
We arrived in Amarillo's airport at 8am, got our rental car and headed out. It was a chilly 46F and drizzling rain. Not optimal conditions for hiking and photography, but we forged on not letting it dampen our spirits. We decided to first make a stop at a local Walmart for some snacks and so I could buy a sweatshirt hoodie to stay warm. My long sleeve pull-over I brought with me wasn't enough! From there it was off to find a place to grab breakfast. We found a little mom & pop dinner in town, where we enjoyed pancakes and french toast. Which I am glad we ate a high carb breakfast considering what lay ahead.
By the time breakfast was finished, the rain had stopped and the skies looked a bit better. It had also warmed up a few degree's, so it was time to get to the Canyon. A short 20 minute drive and we were at the parks main entrance. The lady working the gate gave us a map of the park and off we drove. We found a nice overlook section to park and start getting some photos. There was a visitors center near by with some exhibits and literature, which was very interesting.
We took a "quick" 2 mile round trip hike along a trail that followed the canyon rim. This was a great opportunity for many landscape and general scenery shots. The photo included in this blog post is from this portion of the hike. What you'll see here is a nice view over the canyon, with a striped red dirt area in the upper right of the photo, famously known as the "Spanish Skirt" because of the way it fans out with bands of color. Very nice view.
From here we drove to our next trail head known as the Lighthouse Trail. This of course referred to the Lighthouse rock structure, one of Palo Duro's most famous landmarks. (And which can be seen in my flickr stream!) This was a bigger challenge than we originally thought it would be. Three miles each way, 6 miles round trip... through hilly terrain. Although the trail itself was rather smooth, not requiring a high skill level of hiking. After about an hour and a half we reached the Lighthouse Rock. It really felt like an accomplishment and yielded some great photos. The last climb actually up to the Lighthouse was the most challenging. A real leg muscle burner! But we made it up and spent a good 30 minutes at the top enjoying the view and the breeze. Then, gathered our stuff up and began the 1+ hour hike back. We actually made it back in quicker time and we were exhausted! But we did it.
We all headed back to the hotel to relax, shower up and get ready for dinner. So where does a visitor to Amarillo go when they're only in town for one night? The Big Texan of course!! This restaurant is made famous for its "Free 72oz Steak Dinner" offer. The catch being, you have to eat this nearly 4 pounds of beef, along with the appetizer, salad, dinner roll and large iced tea in 1 hours time. Or its NOT free. In fact, its $100. There is a board on the wall signed by all those who have beat the challenge, accompanied by humorous quotes such as "Best and worst day of my life", or "Whats for desert?" haha It was an entertaining dinner in this authentic Texas steak house and we're glad we got to experience it.
Our flight Sunday was at 2pm, but we had one more destination to hit while in this Texas Panhandle town. Just west of Amarillo on the old Route 66 the Cadillac Ranch can be found. This is like an automotive version of Stone Henge, complete with old Cadillacs sticking up from the ground. Front ends all buried in the dirt, tail lights pointed to the sky. Lined up across the bleak, flat West Texas landscape. Its definitely an "art exhibit" worth stopping by.
After that, we were pretty much done with Amarillo. To the airport and time to get on home.
Yee-Haw!
We arrived in Amarillo's airport at 8am, got our rental car and headed out. It was a chilly 46F and drizzling rain. Not optimal conditions for hiking and photography, but we forged on not letting it dampen our spirits. We decided to first make a stop at a local Walmart for some snacks and so I could buy a sweatshirt hoodie to stay warm. My long sleeve pull-over I brought with me wasn't enough! From there it was off to find a place to grab breakfast. We found a little mom & pop dinner in town, where we enjoyed pancakes and french toast. Which I am glad we ate a high carb breakfast considering what lay ahead.
By the time breakfast was finished, the rain had stopped and the skies looked a bit better. It had also warmed up a few degree's, so it was time to get to the Canyon. A short 20 minute drive and we were at the parks main entrance. The lady working the gate gave us a map of the park and off we drove. We found a nice overlook section to park and start getting some photos. There was a visitors center near by with some exhibits and literature, which was very interesting.
We took a "quick" 2 mile round trip hike along a trail that followed the canyon rim. This was a great opportunity for many landscape and general scenery shots. The photo included in this blog post is from this portion of the hike. What you'll see here is a nice view over the canyon, with a striped red dirt area in the upper right of the photo, famously known as the "Spanish Skirt" because of the way it fans out with bands of color. Very nice view.
From here we drove to our next trail head known as the Lighthouse Trail. This of course referred to the Lighthouse rock structure, one of Palo Duro's most famous landmarks. (And which can be seen in my flickr stream!) This was a bigger challenge than we originally thought it would be. Three miles each way, 6 miles round trip... through hilly terrain. Although the trail itself was rather smooth, not requiring a high skill level of hiking. After about an hour and a half we reached the Lighthouse Rock. It really felt like an accomplishment and yielded some great photos. The last climb actually up to the Lighthouse was the most challenging. A real leg muscle burner! But we made it up and spent a good 30 minutes at the top enjoying the view and the breeze. Then, gathered our stuff up and began the 1+ hour hike back. We actually made it back in quicker time and we were exhausted! But we did it.
We all headed back to the hotel to relax, shower up and get ready for dinner. So where does a visitor to Amarillo go when they're only in town for one night? The Big Texan of course!! This restaurant is made famous for its "Free 72oz Steak Dinner" offer. The catch being, you have to eat this nearly 4 pounds of beef, along with the appetizer, salad, dinner roll and large iced tea in 1 hours time. Or its NOT free. In fact, its $100. There is a board on the wall signed by all those who have beat the challenge, accompanied by humorous quotes such as "Best and worst day of my life", or "Whats for desert?" haha It was an entertaining dinner in this authentic Texas steak house and we're glad we got to experience it.
Our flight Sunday was at 2pm, but we had one more destination to hit while in this Texas Panhandle town. Just west of Amarillo on the old Route 66 the Cadillac Ranch can be found. This is like an automotive version of Stone Henge, complete with old Cadillacs sticking up from the ground. Front ends all buried in the dirt, tail lights pointed to the sky. Lined up across the bleak, flat West Texas landscape. Its definitely an "art exhibit" worth stopping by.
After that, we were pretty much done with Amarillo. To the airport and time to get on home.
Yee-Haw!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Art & Jazz Fest
Last weekend (April 24, 25 & 26) was the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. I'd been looking forward to it for some time. Its always a really fun weekend of sitting in the park on a blanket, listening to bands play, eating good food and people watching. That last one is more of a highlight if I have my camera handy, just as I did with this ride operator. This character begged to have his picture taken by me. Well, he didn't literally beg me. But by looking interesting, he was asking for a shot to be taken. He was operating the bungee ride for the kids and I knew he'd draw interest if i got a good shot of him.
Another fun thing about hitting up the A&J Fest is all the artists booths. For me, particularly the Photographers booths. Its always interesting to see what type of shots they're selling, what they're prices are and if they're drawing much interest from passer-by's. I was surprised by the wide range of photographers skill levels who were selling their work. Some where clearly more polished than others. Sometimes makes me think I should have a go at the A&J Fest one year. See how id do. Hhhmmm... haha
Anyhow, this was one of a few interesting people shots I got that day. The fun thing about it is its so crowded, no one really notices nor cares that Im taking pictures. And its events like this, that the 70-200mm just shines! Everywhere I look there's a great shot in range. And since its really a fast lens with its f2.8 aperture and Images Stabilization, I can shoot well into the night. Love that lens, can't say it enough.
So, another Arts & Jazz Festival is in the books for this year. I probably had more fun at this one than any in the past. The weather was awesome and i had lots of friends come out to hang with. Emily and I really enjoyed the weekend.
Another fun thing about hitting up the A&J Fest is all the artists booths. For me, particularly the Photographers booths. Its always interesting to see what type of shots they're selling, what they're prices are and if they're drawing much interest from passer-by's. I was surprised by the wide range of photographers skill levels who were selling their work. Some where clearly more polished than others. Sometimes makes me think I should have a go at the A&J Fest one year. See how id do. Hhhmmm... haha
Anyhow, this was one of a few interesting people shots I got that day. The fun thing about it is its so crowded, no one really notices nor cares that Im taking pictures. And its events like this, that the 70-200mm just shines! Everywhere I look there's a great shot in range. And since its really a fast lens with its f2.8 aperture and Images Stabilization, I can shoot well into the night. Love that lens, can't say it enough.
So, another Arts & Jazz Festival is in the books for this year. I probably had more fun at this one than any in the past. The weather was awesome and i had lots of friends come out to hang with. Emily and I really enjoyed the weekend.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
People In My Life - Portrait #8
Just when folks started to think I had forgotten about my People in my Life project, I throw one in there! So, as the text under the photo says... this my buddy Rocky. Rocky came across one of my motocross action shots on flickr and wrote me saying he was interested in shooting some race shots in the future as well. I checked out his flickr stream and profile and could see he was also a serious photographer. So I wrote him back inviting him out on to the next race. He replied back a few days later and then joined my Denton Area Photographers Flickr group. It wasn't long before we were talking about techniques and our photography experiences and trading ideas. I even let him borrow one of my lenses for a big shoot he had lined up. I had only known him for a couple weeks, but I could tell he was a good guy and would take care of my equipment just as I would.
This past Wednesday has asked me what I had going on after work. Well I wasn't going to my usual soccer scrim because of my sore knee, so I told him I had no plans. He said he had nothing going on as well. That's when the idea to go on one of my photo drives came to mind. I normally go on them alone, getting lost on dirt back roads, walking through fields and stopping at ever run down building i can find. But hey why not take a buddy? So I asked him and he was all for it. I picked him up and we headed North out of Denton. It wasn't long before we found some interesting fields and later returned to an old abandoned farmstead I had found a few weeks back. I had forgotten how much fun it was to go shoot with someone else. As we roamed around the abandoned buildings, we exchanged shot ideas, setting information and shooting angles. This opened many new creative windows that I might have passed up before.
So while out on this recent photo drive it hit me that Rocky was worthy of my #8 Portrait. I snapped this one with my 10mm wide angle as he was shooting an old work shed. The device mounted on top of his Canon 1D MkIII is called a Pocket Wizard. Its used to trigger a remote flash, which he had setup inside the shed. As soon as I saw the shot i had taken, i knew that was the photo to use as his portrait.
Welcome to the project Rocky!
This past Wednesday has asked me what I had going on after work. Well I wasn't going to my usual soccer scrim because of my sore knee, so I told him I had no plans. He said he had nothing going on as well. That's when the idea to go on one of my photo drives came to mind. I normally go on them alone, getting lost on dirt back roads, walking through fields and stopping at ever run down building i can find. But hey why not take a buddy? So I asked him and he was all for it. I picked him up and we headed North out of Denton. It wasn't long before we found some interesting fields and later returned to an old abandoned farmstead I had found a few weeks back. I had forgotten how much fun it was to go shoot with someone else. As we roamed around the abandoned buildings, we exchanged shot ideas, setting information and shooting angles. This opened many new creative windows that I might have passed up before.
So while out on this recent photo drive it hit me that Rocky was worthy of my #8 Portrait. I snapped this one with my 10mm wide angle as he was shooting an old work shed. The device mounted on top of his Canon 1D MkIII is called a Pocket Wizard. Its used to trigger a remote flash, which he had setup inside the shed. As soon as I saw the shot i had taken, i knew that was the photo to use as his portrait.
Welcome to the project Rocky!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wedding Bells!
On the rare occasion I do take on a wedding photo shoot, I try to look for some type of creative scene or angle. Well this past Saturday evening I helped my sister shoot a wedding she had signed on for a few months back. It was my first time operating as the "2nd shooter" as its called. But I did enjoy it, as it let me roam around getting the other shots of interest while she worked on taking all the groups portraits. Which is actually the real meat of a wedding event.
The scene captured here was at the end of the night. All the guests lined the outside hallway leading to the parking lot, holding sparklers and the bride and groom ran through them together. I knew this would be a perfect opportunity for a wide angle shot. There was just so much going on in the scene i wanted to capture. The only problem would be I had pretty much one shot at this, no redo's!
I managed to get off 3 or 4 shots. Only 2 of which came out satisfactory for use. Not too bad. But this one was my favorite. So much happening in this one scene. I caught all the guests laughing and waving and cheering, the groom running out of the scene quickly and the boy and his father on the far right playing with their sparkler. To me, all things which make for an interesting shot of the night!
I think the bride and groom will be happy with the shots my sister Macey and I captured. Overall we got some really nice photo's of the evening and really captured their 'big day'.
The scene captured here was at the end of the night. All the guests lined the outside hallway leading to the parking lot, holding sparklers and the bride and groom ran through them together. I knew this would be a perfect opportunity for a wide angle shot. There was just so much going on in the scene i wanted to capture. The only problem would be I had pretty much one shot at this, no redo's!
I managed to get off 3 or 4 shots. Only 2 of which came out satisfactory for use. Not too bad. But this one was my favorite. So much happening in this one scene. I caught all the guests laughing and waving and cheering, the groom running out of the scene quickly and the boy and his father on the far right playing with their sparkler. To me, all things which make for an interesting shot of the night!
I think the bride and groom will be happy with the shots my sister Macey and I captured. Overall we got some really nice photo's of the evening and really captured their 'big day'.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Art Gallery Showing
For those that could not make it up to Oxide Gallery on April 7th for the shows opening, here's a little recap. In early January I took three of my framed pieces to an artist open call at the gallery. About a month later I was notified the judges enjoyed my work and wanted to include me in the March-April-May show. This was great news! Id never done anything like that, so it would be cool to be involved.
So, I attended the gallery show opening on March 7th, showing my 3 pieces along with about 25 other local artists. We had a big turn out and it was a blast. It was shortly after that, the owner of the gallery contacted me to say he had a new offer he wanted to know if i would be interested in. I called him back and we met at the gallery one evening to discuss what he wanted to tell me. He said there had been a lot of attention on my 3 pieces and he wanted to know if I would like to be the featured artist for the month of April. Wow.. thats was pretty cool. Then he told me I would need to have 20 to 25 pieces framed and printed. Ouch. That could get expensive! On the 3 I already had in the current show, I had spend between $140 to $170 getting framed and matted with really nice frames. Warren then gave me a crash course on framing on the cheap. And once i talked to the custom framers, I realized I was able to cut my framing costs literally in half (or more) by just going with a basic off white matte and brushed metal frame. And they still looked great. Granted, framing 20 pieces of various size still ended up costing a chunk of $dough$. But I saw this as an investment. What doesn't sell in this show can be used anywhere use in the future. And believe me, Im already brewing some future ideas. So, its considered "inventory" I guess.
Ok so April 7th rolls around and I was the "Featured Artist" of the evening. It was a really cool feeling. All the artists had name tags on so visitors could ask questions and hear from each artist personally about their work. This worked out well, as many people who were interested in my work were able to hear a bit about how I created what was hanging up in the show. Although I didn't want to give away too many secrets. haha This face to face PR must have helped. To the date of this posting I've sold 4 pieces from the show. Very exciting for me!
All of my work remains up for the full month of April. Then, a new featured artist will get the center display area for the May show. And my 3 pieces return to a place on the outside gallery walls. So the pictures in this post are for my memories of all my work hanging in the main show.
Be sure to check out www.oxidegallery.com to see info on their latest show, or to sign up for gallery updates.... or to be notified of the next Open Artist Call!
So, I attended the gallery show opening on March 7th, showing my 3 pieces along with about 25 other local artists. We had a big turn out and it was a blast. It was shortly after that, the owner of the gallery contacted me to say he had a new offer he wanted to know if i would be interested in. I called him back and we met at the gallery one evening to discuss what he wanted to tell me. He said there had been a lot of attention on my 3 pieces and he wanted to know if I would like to be the featured artist for the month of April. Wow.. thats was pretty cool. Then he told me I would need to have 20 to 25 pieces framed and printed. Ouch. That could get expensive! On the 3 I already had in the current show, I had spend between $140 to $170 getting framed and matted with really nice frames. Warren then gave me a crash course on framing on the cheap. And once i talked to the custom framers, I realized I was able to cut my framing costs literally in half (or more) by just going with a basic off white matte and brushed metal frame. And they still looked great. Granted, framing 20 pieces of various size still ended up costing a chunk of $dough$. But I saw this as an investment. What doesn't sell in this show can be used anywhere use in the future. And believe me, Im already brewing some future ideas. So, its considered "inventory" I guess.
Ok so April 7th rolls around and I was the "Featured Artist" of the evening. It was a really cool feeling. All the artists had name tags on so visitors could ask questions and hear from each artist personally about their work. This worked out well, as many people who were interested in my work were able to hear a bit about how I created what was hanging up in the show. Although I didn't want to give away too many secrets. haha This face to face PR must have helped. To the date of this posting I've sold 4 pieces from the show. Very exciting for me!
All of my work remains up for the full month of April. Then, a new featured artist will get the center display area for the May show. And my 3 pieces return to a place on the outside gallery walls. So the pictures in this post are for my memories of all my work hanging in the main show.
Be sure to check out www.oxidegallery.com to see info on their latest show, or to sign up for gallery updates.... or to be notified of the next Open Artist Call!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Shooting Babies
With my camera.... of course! haha So yeah I don't normally do a lot of baby photo shoots. But my sister called me up to tell me her good friend Kim from Michigan was in town and she had her baby along with her. So me, Macey (my sister), Steve (her husband), Kim (friend) and their two babies Isla and Ashley met up at a local blue bonnet field for some shots. Now, Ashley is Kim's baby and is 8 months old, while Macey's baby, Isla, is barely 2 months old. So I knew this could be a challenge.
We started out with Ashley. This photo is of her at the start of the shoot. We placed her in the flowers and everyone got behind me to call her name and get her attention. She was amused and gave us a little smile before going back to playing with the flowers. I thought, "wow, this is easy". Then it was little Isla's turn. Being so young, she can barely hold her own head up yet. So they had to help her. Plus she seemed a little scared to be away from mommy and daddy. So I had to shoot fast. I got some great pics of her too, but she started becoming irritable more quickly.
Overall the shoot was a success. Both mommies were very happy with the pics I gave them. And I felt like I got some good practice out of it. So it was fun. It also gave me the excuse to use my favorite lens, the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L, for the shoot. Holy moly I love this lens. Portraits, wildlife, sports.... it does it all. Any of you who are reading this and wondering if its worth the price...... YES.
We started out with Ashley. This photo is of her at the start of the shoot. We placed her in the flowers and everyone got behind me to call her name and get her attention. She was amused and gave us a little smile before going back to playing with the flowers. I thought, "wow, this is easy". Then it was little Isla's turn. Being so young, she can barely hold her own head up yet. So they had to help her. Plus she seemed a little scared to be away from mommy and daddy. So I had to shoot fast. I got some great pics of her too, but she started becoming irritable more quickly.
Overall the shoot was a success. Both mommies were very happy with the pics I gave them. And I felt like I got some good practice out of it. So it was fun. It also gave me the excuse to use my favorite lens, the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L, for the shoot. Holy moly I love this lens. Portraits, wildlife, sports.... it does it all. Any of you who are reading this and wondering if its worth the price...... YES.
Fire In The Sky
I walked out of work yesterday evening and thought our city was on fire! There was a haze of smoke in the skies and the smell of smoke. Yet I didn't hear any sirens. As I drove home, the smoke and smell was still there. It was odd because the fire seemed to be everywhere, but no where. What was going on??
Well I get home and turn on the news. Top story of the evening is large wildfires on the far west counties of Ft. Worth, burning out of control. This was a good 40 miles west of Denton. So the smoke must have been thick to darken the skies over here! It was even covering the skies down in Dallas. News choppers and weather cams were showing the darkened skies.
Later that evening I went out in the backyard to play with Zita. I looked up at the setting sun and couldn't believe the view I had. I ran back in, grabbed my camera and ran back outside. I started snapping away as the sun seemed to set rapidly. I finally got a shot that accurately looked like what I was seeing. Which is this one. This seemed to be where the sun was passing low through the thickest part of the smoke and ash to the west. The skies lit up a bright orange. You could look directly at the sun without any discomfort. (Still not a good idea im sure) But, it was pretty cool. Later that evening while I was still outside, I noticed small bits falling from the sky. When i looked closer and caught one... it was ash! Blowing East, miles from the fires.
Very interesting evening.
Well I get home and turn on the news. Top story of the evening is large wildfires on the far west counties of Ft. Worth, burning out of control. This was a good 40 miles west of Denton. So the smoke must have been thick to darken the skies over here! It was even covering the skies down in Dallas. News choppers and weather cams were showing the darkened skies.
Later that evening I went out in the backyard to play with Zita. I looked up at the setting sun and couldn't believe the view I had. I ran back in, grabbed my camera and ran back outside. I started snapping away as the sun seemed to set rapidly. I finally got a shot that accurately looked like what I was seeing. Which is this one. This seemed to be where the sun was passing low through the thickest part of the smoke and ash to the west. The skies lit up a bright orange. You could look directly at the sun without any discomfort. (Still not a good idea im sure) But, it was pretty cool. Later that evening while I was still outside, I noticed small bits falling from the sky. When i looked closer and caught one... it was ash! Blowing East, miles from the fires.
Very interesting evening.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Nobody Home
And there probably hasn't been anyone home for a good 40+ years! Last night I headed out about 6pm on one of my evening photo-drives as I like to call them. I basically pack up my photo gear, pick a rural area i want to wander around in... and drive. I take highways, then hop off on to side roads, then turn off on to gravel roads. I basically try to get lost. Its usually when im lost that I find interesting places, such as this old farmstead. I plan on going back to this location. There were 3 buildings, including this one, still standing. Id like to examine it a bit close to see if i can tell what time period its from. Inside the house, there's not much left. Walls are gone, no trace of anything which looked like it was a house. Totally gutted. Only the worn down, weathered wooden exterior remained. Perfect for photography!
So a bit about this shot. This is an HDR image. It worked perfectly for this scene. Using multiple exposures really brought out the detail and texture of the wood and the bits of red, green and blue in the image. You can even make out detail inside the entrance on the left of the image. I took 3 exposures at -2, 0, +2 while I was on-site. Once I got home and had imported them into Lightroom 2, I took the -2 and +2 exposures and created 2 more shots each direction. Giving me -4 and +4 exposures to work with. I then exported all 5 TIFF files into Photomatix and worked on it from there. After that, I moved over to Photoshop CS3 and did some sharpening work. I was happy with this final image. Has a nice feel to it and looks very close to how it did as i stood there on that warm spring evening. I look forward to what shots I'll get there when i return.
For now, I will keep its location secret. Later I may geo-tag it for others to find. hehe
So a bit about this shot. This is an HDR image. It worked perfectly for this scene. Using multiple exposures really brought out the detail and texture of the wood and the bits of red, green and blue in the image. You can even make out detail inside the entrance on the left of the image. I took 3 exposures at -2, 0, +2 while I was on-site. Once I got home and had imported them into Lightroom 2, I took the -2 and +2 exposures and created 2 more shots each direction. Giving me -4 and +4 exposures to work with. I then exported all 5 TIFF files into Photomatix and worked on it from there. After that, I moved over to Photoshop CS3 and did some sharpening work. I was happy with this final image. Has a nice feel to it and looks very close to how it did as i stood there on that warm spring evening. I look forward to what shots I'll get there when i return.
For now, I will keep its location secret. Later I may geo-tag it for others to find. hehe
Thursday, April 02, 2009
April Gallery Night
Mark your calenders! Tuesday, April 7th from 6pm to 8pm is my big show at Oxide Gallery in Denton. In March's show I had only 3 pieces on display. But this show will have about 24 photo's on display. Its been a lot of hard work getting everything printed and framed on time. So I'm very excited to see it all up and hanging. Last months show opening had a great turn out. There were probably 75+ people. I expect just as many, if not more this time. I really enjoy these gallery nights because its so cool to see other artists work as well. It really shows how much local artistic talent is in the area. Besides photography, there are paintings, ceramic sculptures, jewelry and metal sculptures. All the artists present will be wearing name tags so the visitors can ask questions and make comments. And of course the food from Carino's is great. Its not the full sit down meal you'd normally get in the restaurant. But its some of the best snacks and finger foods you could get and apparently my friends thought the wine was pretty good too. Ha! Ok, so I hope to see everyone down there. Be sure to come up and say hi. I will most likely be the only Thorpe in the building. Easy to find. :-D
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Finally
So yeah I finally got around to building myself a real photographers website. For quite some time I had just used a quick page I created from scratch. I'll admit, it looked like something a 12 year old put together. It was bad. For the past almost year, Id used Smugmug to sell prints and display my work. But I never really utilized its customization ability which comes with the Pro account I had. Well I finally rolled up my sleeves, dug into their forums and help topics and made enough sense of CSS code and html to put together a good starting point of a website. Turns out Smugmug allows Pro account holders to change just about everything on their web space, totally removing the normal Smugmug look. Which is great. They also have really good support and helpful people in their forums. For example, i was stumped as to why some text wasn't formatting as I wanted it to. I posted the problem in their forums and someone replied with what was wrong with my code, within 15 minutes! Very cool. So now I've got to get my galleries populated, all prices standardized and begin making full use of its ability. Im just relieved its finally put together. And surprised at myself for figuring it all out!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Flickr Photo Meet Up and Walk
This past Saturday, the Denton Area Photoraphy group from Flickr met up on the Denton square for a meet-up and shoot. We had 5 from the group show up on the cool, over cast day. Not too bad. Once everyone met and chatted it up, we started walking the back streets and alley's of downtown Denton. It was a lot of fun just shooting whatever caught our eye and talking about photography. It's really cool to put a face to the people you talk to and comment on the pics of online. Of all the photos I took, this shot of the motorcyle is the one I'm most happy with. It was parked near a parking garage and I knew a low view of it with the wide angle lens would give it a memorable look. A little post processing magic and I was all smiles. We plan to have another meet up hopefully soon as the weather warms. We just need a better location to go to this time. Its time to start scouting!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Street Shooting
I went back through the archives of a Dallas street shoot I did a few weeks back and came across this shot. It was actually one of about 8 shots snapped at this scene. My friend Michael and I had just walked by the nightclub Plush and I wanted to get a shot which really showed the feel and vibe of the night. There were a lot of people outside in line to get into this trendy club. But I didn't want a bunch of people starring at me as I took the picture. So we kept walking by the club. About 30 feet past the door we stopped to survey the scene. We noticed a young woman dressed for clubbing and walking quickly our direction to get in line. I knew this might make a good shot. I quickly set my camera ISO to a higher setting, set it to all its focal points and to multi shot mode. As she walked by I held the camera at my waist and pressed the shutter, firing off about 8 shots. When I returned home and looked through the shots, I really wasn't happy with any of them. They were all rejected for other shots of the night.
Well a couple weeks went by and I went back to this shot. It was slightly blurry because of the movement while trying to shoot it, but I still wanted to use it... somehow. I liked the feel of it. Then an idea hit me. What a perfect chance to add a little radial/zoom blur in Photoshop! I placed the focal point on the nightclubs sign, which luckily was fairly sharp to start with. I then set the zoom level to 12%, giving the view the slight feeling of movement. And then converted it to B&W using a Lightroom 2 preset called PH Perfect B&W, which is one of my favorites because of the tones it uses. All said and done, I was really happy with the result and I was able to salvage a good shot I had previously dumped.
Well a couple weeks went by and I went back to this shot. It was slightly blurry because of the movement while trying to shoot it, but I still wanted to use it... somehow. I liked the feel of it. Then an idea hit me. What a perfect chance to add a little radial/zoom blur in Photoshop! I placed the focal point on the nightclubs sign, which luckily was fairly sharp to start with. I then set the zoom level to 12%, giving the view the slight feeling of movement. And then converted it to B&W using a Lightroom 2 preset called PH Perfect B&W, which is one of my favorites because of the tones it uses. All said and done, I was really happy with the result and I was able to salvage a good shot I had previously dumped.
Dinner, Wine and Thorpeland!
I recently found myself fortunate enough to have some of my work placed in a local consignment art gallery. After attending an artist Open-Call, three of my pieces were selected (along with about 25 other artists) to be put on display and sale for a 3 month span. But I was then approached by the gallery owner to be the featured artist for this dinner event held at the local Carinos Italian restaurant! This was a big surprise to me. Now, the only catch was I needed to come up with more prints to fill the walls of the room the dinner will be held in. So as you can imagine, this week has been spent in Photoshop, uploading and ordering prints... frantically. The above picture is the flier that went out. I will have 21 pieces on display and sale for the evening. If you live in the Denton Texas area and think you might want to come out to this event, feel free to contact the restaurant to RSVP! Guests will be treated to food not available on Carinos' normal menu and variety of wines. And of course an introduction to the artist/photographer of the evening. ME! :-D
If you cannot make this event but would still like to have a look at the gallery, be sure to check out Oxide Gallery in Denton. Its located on south bound Carrol and Hickory and there's currently a lot of good stuff on display by many talented artists!
If you cannot make this event but would still like to have a look at the gallery, be sure to check out Oxide Gallery in Denton. Its located on south bound Carrol and Hickory and there's currently a lot of good stuff on display by many talented artists!
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Its Time
Walked out in the backyard this past warm Friday afternoon to see my tree's with little buds on the branches. This is great news as its proof spring is finally here. I am so sick of grey skies, cold weather (even by Texas standards) and bare branches. Im ready for spring and even more ready for summer and long days. Which by the way, don't forget.... "Spring Forward" at 2am this Sunday morning (March 8th). We gain an hour of daylight back!! Sweet! Nothing is more depressing to me than coming out of work at 5pm to a sun that's setting on the horizon. So... here's a quick shot welcoming the return of Spring and warm Texas weather. Bring it on!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Man on the Street
This particular man on the street was my accomplice for the evening, Michael. We were walking around downtown Dallas looking for more things to shoot when we stopped at this light waiting to cross. I still had the 10mm wide angle on and knew this perspective would make an interesting shot. I toyed with this shot giving it various white balance settings and hue's. But in the end true Black & White just looked great. It gave it that real street feeling in a photo I love. I put no description on the bottom of this photo in the Flickr post. I felt the mystery of, "who is this man standing on an empty city street?" worked well to increase the interest of the shot.
This particular man on the street was my accomplice for the evening, Michael. We were walking around downtown Dallas looking for more things to shoot when we stopped at this light waiting to cross. I still had the 10mm wide angle on and knew this perspective would make an interesting shot. I toyed with this shot giving it various white balance settings and hue's. But in the end true Black & White just looked great. It gave it that real street feeling in a photo I love. I put no description on the bottom of this photo in the Flickr post. I felt the mystery of, "who is this man standing on an empty city street?" worked well to increase the interest of the shot.
Headed to Dallas
This past Saturday was Emily's Bday, so we arranged an evening out with a group of our good friends. We all met up for dinner down at the Village Burger Bar for a great meal. But after that all the girls had plans to go to a dance club. This left myself and Michael with about 3 hours to kill. I already had my camera gear, so we dropped them off at the club and headed out around Dallas to do some shooting. As soon as I told Michael I wanted a cityscape shot of downtown and would like to get a long exposure shot of traffic, he knew exactly where to go. He took me to this small overpass on the West side of Dallas, crossing I-30. It was freezing that night with temps hovering in the low 30's and with the wind gusting. So we worked quick to setup the tripod and camera and start shooting. After about eight shots I got this one and was pretty happy with it. I believe the golden settings were f14, 15sec at 70mm. This was just the first of a few good shots that night as we drove around town. We repeated the same routine of jumping out of the car, freezing while shooting then jumping back in to warm up, all night. But I was having a blast. Big thanks to Michael for knowing some great locations.
This past Saturday was Emily's Bday, so we arranged an evening out with a group of our good friends. We all met up for dinner down at the Village Burger Bar for a great meal. But after that all the girls had plans to go to a dance club. This left myself and Michael with about 3 hours to kill. I already had my camera gear, so we dropped them off at the club and headed out around Dallas to do some shooting. As soon as I told Michael I wanted a cityscape shot of downtown and would like to get a long exposure shot of traffic, he knew exactly where to go. He took me to this small overpass on the West side of Dallas, crossing I-30. It was freezing that night with temps hovering in the low 30's and with the wind gusting. So we worked quick to setup the tripod and camera and start shooting. After about eight shots I got this one and was pretty happy with it. I believe the golden settings were f14, 15sec at 70mm. This was just the first of a few good shots that night as we drove around town. We repeated the same routine of jumping out of the car, freezing while shooting then jumping back in to warm up, all night. But I was having a blast. Big thanks to Michael for knowing some great locations.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Artist At Work
Saturday night I accompanied my wife Emily to a local tattoo parlor. She'd been wanting to get a tattoo, her 3rd, before her 30th Bday. Of course I thought there might be some interesting photo's to be had. So, camera in hand we got her appointment made and returned later that evening so she could get "inked". As the tattoo artist worked on her with his tattoo gun, i started looking around the room. In the area next to the one we were in, another tattoo artist began working on the design for someone else's tattoo. It just looked like a shot too good to pass up as I peered over his shoulder. Shortly after this, they finished up working on Emily's tattoo and we headed out. Overall it was a very interesting evening. Since I don't hang out in tattoo shops often, I found it interesting an full of potential shots. If I just had more time and more reason to be there longer. The people coming in the door alone would provide a 1000 interesting portraits. Ive tucked that idea away for another potential project. Hhhmmmm...
Learning to Skateboard
Woke up early and headed out to the Denton Skate Park this past Saturday morning for an actual paid photography gig. I had a lot of fun watching this small group of 4 to 7 year olds learn how to skate board. Most were more interested in running up and down the ramps on foot, or sitting on their boards and riding them like karts. But a few showed they truly enjoyed skate boarding and were interested in learning. It was a COLD morning. The temps weren't actually that low. But there was a steady 35mph wind blowing what cold there was, right through any layers we had on. The kids seemed un-phased. Quivering lips, snot running down their noses.... didn't matter. They wanted to keep playing and skating. Overall I took around 400 pictures. This one was one of my favorites. The instructor stopped to get a drink of water and the kids were all playing on this ramp. I quickly asked them to line up and show off their boards. I had the 10mm lens on and sat down low to get an interesting perspective on the little ones. I was really happy with how it came out. Especially how one has his helmet slipping over his eyes. Classic kid stuff! I was surprised at how well they responded to my instruction. They went from total chaos to lined up and smiling in a matter of seconds. No fear of the camera. I wish adults were as brave.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sushi and Dan
Saturday night I got a chance to expand my "People in my life" portrait series when my old friend and former college roommate, Dan, dropped in town for the weekend. Dan and I go waaaaaay back to our freshman year in college. While sitting in my freshman algebra class, confused, I noticed the guy next to me looking just as lost. Our conversation started up and I learned he lived on the same floor as me in the dorms. We were pretty much buddies ever since then. We played on the same soccer teams, joined the same fraternity and have kept in touch pretty much daily since leaving college in the late 90's. Dan now lives in the Los Angeles area as a project manager for a (somewhat) major car company. haha He's a good buddy, like a brother and im happy to make him a part of this project. Thanks for posing for the shot Sparky!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Battle in the Sand
Sunday was a day I'd been looking forward to for a couple weeks now. My friend Kyle and I were headed about 1hr Northwest to a remote town called Bulcher for the TORRO off road race series. Our friend from work, JB, was racing in it and we wanted to come out and get some action shots of the event.
Things didn't go as planned though. We arrived at the race track at 10am to find neither of our mobile phones had even the slightest hint of a signal. And we had not yet established contact with our friend JB. So we stood atop a hill overlooking about 200+ dirt bike riders and hundreds of vehicles and bike trailers. We never found our friend the entire day! But that didn't stop us from making the most of it as photographers. We loaded up our camera gear and began walking the track to find the action. We found the popular spectating area at a river crossing. This gave us plenty of action shots. Getting back into the trails of the race event proved too difficult. Too far to walk, too thick of woods and too many hills to make it worth trekking. After a quick trip back to the car for drinks and snacks... we headed down to another water crossing. This proved to be a real goldmine for shots. With the bikes coming straight at the camera, I got some nice keepers. And later had the surprise of finding out one of the riders I snapped was our friend JB! Bonus!
Over all a fun day out with friends and camera. Can't complain.
Things didn't go as planned though. We arrived at the race track at 10am to find neither of our mobile phones had even the slightest hint of a signal. And we had not yet established contact with our friend JB. So we stood atop a hill overlooking about 200+ dirt bike riders and hundreds of vehicles and bike trailers. We never found our friend the entire day! But that didn't stop us from making the most of it as photographers. We loaded up our camera gear and began walking the track to find the action. We found the popular spectating area at a river crossing. This gave us plenty of action shots. Getting back into the trails of the race event proved too difficult. Too far to walk, too thick of woods and too many hills to make it worth trekking. After a quick trip back to the car for drinks and snacks... we headed down to another water crossing. This proved to be a real goldmine for shots. With the bikes coming straight at the camera, I got some nice keepers. And later had the surprise of finding out one of the riders I snapped was our friend JB! Bonus!
Over all a fun day out with friends and camera. Can't complain.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
One year to the week I have completed my 52 Week Self Portrait Project! This shot was my final pic of this final week. For those wanting to tell me its too dangerous to get this close to a train just for a picture, you can relax. The magic of photoshop assured that train was no where near me while i was balancing on those rails. ;-) Looking back over this past year of self portrait photo's, I can see I really evolved and learned as a photographer, massively improved my post shoot editing skills and not to mention got over my fear of being in front of the camera. I used to HATE IT. Now, I can tolerate it. Big thanks to all those who stopped by each week on Flickr to comment about my shot of the week. Those are the kind of things that kept me going and kept me trying to be creative. Some have said I should attempt a 365 Day Self Portrait project. To that, I have to say, No. I just could not produce creative, well done self portraits each day to add to my photo stream. And since I try to keep the photo's on my flickr page to a certain quality level, it would annoy me to know i had just uploaded a snapshot of my face to "count" for that days photo. So, Im not sure yet if I'll attempt another 52 week project, or try something totally new. Either way, im taking a break from selfie's for a bit. But I'll still upload to flickr in the mean time. Stay tuned, im sure I'll announce something as the days go by. In the mean time, i'll stll be updating my blog with the latest events and photo's.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
This was the first shot I ever posted on Flickr. I had been shooting for a while, but didn't really think much about posting them online. So i uploaded it back in 2006, but didn't post it to any groups or even name it. Not till a flickr friend (Greasy_Peach) saw it and liked it, that I thought maybe its a decent shot after all. Lately its been getting more traffic and now that I look back I really did catch a cool moment while in Puerta Vallarta Mexico that evening.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Judgement Day
So, about 3 weeks ago I took a few pieces of my framed work to an artists Open Call at a local consignment gallery. I'd never done anything like this and thought it would be a good experience to get some feed back, see how I compare to other "real" artists and in the process maybe get my work displayed somewhere... besides Flickr. :-)
I took 3 pieces into the Open Call and the gallery owners looked at each and took pictures to take to actual judges. They then told everyone who attended we would receive word on who was chosen in about a weeks time. Well, almost 3 weeks passed and no word. By this time I had just figured I wasn't one of the artists chosen and began preparing which pieces I would show at the next Open Call. But I thought I would send the gallery an email just asking if it was ok to use any of my original pieces in the next Open Call as well. The reply I got back was very unexpected.
From the email reply:
"Thorpe,
I didn't want to say anything last night until I was able this morning to confirm the jury's decision in regards to your artwork. Congratulations!! The jury loved your work and they have recommended we invite you to show in our gallery. "
Well this just blew me away! The photo attached to this post is one I brought to the Open Call. Its one of my favorites and will be in the show. My work will be on display in the gallery with all the other artists March 1st through May 31st. I'll post more details later as I learn more. But getting this news made my day. Its a first for me!
I took 3 pieces into the Open Call and the gallery owners looked at each and took pictures to take to actual judges. They then told everyone who attended we would receive word on who was chosen in about a weeks time. Well, almost 3 weeks passed and no word. By this time I had just figured I wasn't one of the artists chosen and began preparing which pieces I would show at the next Open Call. But I thought I would send the gallery an email just asking if it was ok to use any of my original pieces in the next Open Call as well. The reply I got back was very unexpected.
From the email reply:
"Thorpe,
I didn't want to say anything last night until I was able this morning to confirm the jury's decision in regards to your artwork. Congratulations!! The jury loved your work and they have recommended we invite you to show in our gallery. "
Well this just blew me away! The photo attached to this post is one I brought to the Open Call. Its one of my favorites and will be in the show. My work will be on display in the gallery with all the other artists March 1st through May 31st. I'll post more details later as I learn more. But getting this news made my day. Its a first for me!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Winding Down
This is my Week 51 shot of the 52 Week Self Portrait project. Its hard to believe I have just one shot left before Im done. Hard to believe a year has already passed. I looked back over the collection of self portrait shots ive created this past year and feel overall happy with my work. I joined this project because I normally HATE being in front of the camera. I always felt im not a very photogenic person. So I thought forcing myself in front of the camera would not only help me get over that, but also improve my creative thought process for portrait shooting. I do believe it has succeeded on both fronts. And ive learned quite a bit about various photographic techniques along the way. Not to mention, made some good photography friends and contacts. So.... one week left. I have a plan for this final upcoming shot. I hope I can make it happen. Its going to take some planning and a little luck. But if I can pull it off, it will be a great way to end my 52 Week project. Stay tuned.....
The Hydrant
This past Saturday night I was bored around the house, so despite the cold weather I grabbed my camera bag and headed out into the downtown area of Denton. I found myself at the Hydrant coffee house. I walked in and ordered a medium coffee. It was then that I heard music coming from upstairs. So up I went. There was a band warming up to play, so I grabbed a seat at the back and got settled. As they started to play I thought it might make for a few good shots. So i pulled the camera out of my bag, attached the 10mm wide angle lens and took a few pictures as they played. A couple times the guys in the band (I can't remember the bands name off hand) looked over at me to see what I was up to. But never said anything. I finished my coffee and packed up and began walking the night again. Once I got home and unloaded the shots into Lightroom, it became clear these would look best in black & white. You can see these and more shots over at www.flickr.com/thorpeland
Friday, January 23, 2009
People in My Life Project Keeps Rollin...
Im stll shooting photo's for my "People in My Life" project. This past week I got to shoot some quick portraits of my good friends Michael and his wife Cheryl. I took both their portraits outside a Texas Roadhouse steak house, in the parking lot. I shot them with a 50mm prime lens at f2.0, ISO800. Since I shoot in RAW format I was able to adjust the white balance nicely and boost the saturation and shadows a bit in Lightroom 2, to put some nice well balanced lighting on their faces for the shot. The 50mm lens also gave me some nice background blur (Bokeh), to help them stand out in the shot.
NTPC at the MPAC
I recently joined the North Texas Photography Club. Great group and a knowledgeable teacher. They hold meetups once a month covering a wide range of photography topics. I look forward to going to many of these and hopefully learning a lot. This photo was from my first meeting with them. We covered off-camera lighting and indoor architecture shots. Great learning experience!
Getting Close
Can't believe its already week 50 of my 52 Week Self Portrait project! I want these last 2 weeks to be good shots. Pressure is on. I never thought id actually make it through this thing, getting my picture in every single week. I turned to various events around me for motivation on each weeks shots. Had to get creative. But ive managed this far. Finish strong, I must! This shot was taken just messing around and with some creative post processing, i decided to go with it. Came out alright me finks. :)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A New Challenge!
Week 49
Packed up the camera gear and headed out Sunday afternoon looking for a good place to shoot my Week 49 photo for the 52 Week Challenge. But I didn't want this weeks to just be another click and shoot. It had to be a bit more interesting. After driving around most of Denton county for about 40 minutes, I found myself back in the old town square area. i stopped by Jupiter house for a tasty beverage and sat out side pondering what I could do for the shot I needed. I thought about the equipment i brought along with me. I was sick of driving so I began to look at what was right in front of me. The Courthouse! Now, the Old Denton Courthouse has shown up in pictures a 1,000 times. Ive even used it in what seems like a dozen of my own. So I had to give it a new spin. As I stood on the large steps going up the West side i looked at the large arches and the big pillars and remembered I had brought my 10mm wide angle. I had an idea! Got the tripod setup in a minute and fired off a few shots. When i saw this one, I knew I had gotten one worth keeping. I packed up and headed home.
Once I got the RAW file imported into Lightroom 2 I began toying with various presets and colors. Then I remembered I had been wanting to attempt that "Dave Hill" look in one of my shots. So after desaturating the colors and exposure a bit , I exported to Photoshop CS3 where I have the LucisArt 3 plugin. After a few minutes of playing with the sliders, I knew i was onto something. This was the final product, I was happy with it. I think its quite the eye catching shot and a pretty cool effect.
Packed up the camera gear and headed out Sunday afternoon looking for a good place to shoot my Week 49 photo for the 52 Week Challenge. But I didn't want this weeks to just be another click and shoot. It had to be a bit more interesting. After driving around most of Denton county for about 40 minutes, I found myself back in the old town square area. i stopped by Jupiter house for a tasty beverage and sat out side pondering what I could do for the shot I needed. I thought about the equipment i brought along with me. I was sick of driving so I began to look at what was right in front of me. The Courthouse! Now, the Old Denton Courthouse has shown up in pictures a 1,000 times. Ive even used it in what seems like a dozen of my own. So I had to give it a new spin. As I stood on the large steps going up the West side i looked at the large arches and the big pillars and remembered I had brought my 10mm wide angle. I had an idea! Got the tripod setup in a minute and fired off a few shots. When i saw this one, I knew I had gotten one worth keeping. I packed up and headed home.
Once I got the RAW file imported into Lightroom 2 I began toying with various presets and colors. Then I remembered I had been wanting to attempt that "Dave Hill" look in one of my shots. So after desaturating the colors and exposure a bit , I exported to Photoshop CS3 where I have the LucisArt 3 plugin. After a few minutes of playing with the sliders, I knew i was onto something. This was the final product, I was happy with it. I think its quite the eye catching shot and a pretty cool effect.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
People in My Life
My Latest Project
This is portrait #1 of the "People In My Life" project I've recently started. My goal is to improve my portrait shooting, creativity and editing. While at the same time, involve the people around me in my daily life with my passion for photography. I have no idea how many people my lens will capture for this project. But I plan on carrying it through most of 2009. Should be interesting for me, as to how creative I can get with my shots and how I'll be able to see myself improve. And it will also be interesting for those who follow my photo's on flickr, as they get to read fun facts about those around me. Stay tuned, many more folks to come!
This is portrait #1 of the "People In My Life" project I've recently started. My goal is to improve my portrait shooting, creativity and editing. While at the same time, involve the people around me in my daily life with my passion for photography. I have no idea how many people my lens will capture for this project. But I plan on carrying it through most of 2009. Should be interesting for me, as to how creative I can get with my shots and how I'll be able to see myself improve. And it will also be interesting for those who follow my photo's on flickr, as they get to read fun facts about those around me. Stay tuned, many more folks to come!
Victory Park, Dallas Texas
Finally!
After wanting to get down to Victory Park at the American Airlines Center for about the past 2 years, I finally had my chance this past Saturday night. We headed down to Craig and Bex for dinner. After words we decided to go downtown so I could get some shots. I was wise enough to plan ahead and bring my tripod and gear. As soon as we walked into Victory Park, I knew this was the shot I wanted! I setup my tripod and camera and began firing off dozens of auto-bracketed shots. I had already planned on making an HDR shot out of this. Because of the bright giant LCD TV's and the dark sky and other areas, HDR is the best way to show this place off. I was also thankful for spring like warm weather here in early January... and that the security walking around didn't seem to mind me setting up my tripod. As soon as i came home I wanted to get to my editing. I merged the shots, tonemapped them with Photomatix Pro, then exported the shot to Photoshop CS3. I then used one of the original exposures to mask out area's that were too bright and used an original lighter shot to mask out the areas too dark. Also to get rid of any ISO/HDR noise in the image. Finally some light un-sharpen mask and a once over with LucisArt 3 and... done! I think it came out pretty good.
After wanting to get down to Victory Park at the American Airlines Center for about the past 2 years, I finally had my chance this past Saturday night. We headed down to Craig and Bex for dinner. After words we decided to go downtown so I could get some shots. I was wise enough to plan ahead and bring my tripod and gear. As soon as we walked into Victory Park, I knew this was the shot I wanted! I setup my tripod and camera and began firing off dozens of auto-bracketed shots. I had already planned on making an HDR shot out of this. Because of the bright giant LCD TV's and the dark sky and other areas, HDR is the best way to show this place off. I was also thankful for spring like warm weather here in early January... and that the security walking around didn't seem to mind me setting up my tripod. As soon as i came home I wanted to get to my editing. I merged the shots, tonemapped them with Photomatix Pro, then exported the shot to Photoshop CS3. I then used one of the original exposures to mask out area's that were too bright and used an original lighter shot to mask out the areas too dark. Also to get rid of any ISO/HDR noise in the image. Finally some light un-sharpen mask and a once over with LucisArt 3 and... done! I think it came out pretty good.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
47\52: Some Things Are Worth the Wait
Mouth Watering Goodness!
I took this picture last week for my week 47 shot in my 52 Week self portrait project. Emily was still visiting her parents for Christmas holiday, so I was home alone. She's not a fan of sushi... at all... so this was my opportunity to treat myself! I headed down to the local sushi shop called The Avocado and ordered one of my favorite rolls called the Hawaiian Roll. It has salmon and yellowtail on each roll and is soooooooo good! I brought it home and it took every ounce of my will power to resist eating it while I setup my camera and tripod. But after this shot was taken.... nom, nom, nom, nom... gone. Good stuff! Coincidentally Im about to head out for lunch today to meet my long time friend Sylvia for a sushi lunch. Yessss!
I took this picture last week for my week 47 shot in my 52 Week self portrait project. Emily was still visiting her parents for Christmas holiday, so I was home alone. She's not a fan of sushi... at all... so this was my opportunity to treat myself! I headed down to the local sushi shop called The Avocado and ordered one of my favorite rolls called the Hawaiian Roll. It has salmon and yellowtail on each roll and is soooooooo good! I brought it home and it took every ounce of my will power to resist eating it while I setup my camera and tripod. But after this shot was taken.... nom, nom, nom, nom... gone. Good stuff! Coincidentally Im about to head out for lunch today to meet my long time friend Sylvia for a sushi lunch. Yessss!
The World is Our Toy
I Can Tilt... AND Shift!
So I decided to give a try at a popular new photography editing technique going around these days. Its called Tilt-Shift and its designed to take a photo and render its subjects into an almost toy like appearance. It works best with a shot taken from high above, where the subjects are already fairly small. I went through my archived images and came across this shot I took back in 2007 while in Venice at the Piazza San Marco square. I followed some easy instructions, then did some tweaking of my own in Photoshop and came up with this result. I think it came out pretty good actually. Im adding this to my creative vault of use on other shots which I may find not very exciting in their current "as is" state. If you're interested in giving this technique a try, follow the link below and see what you can do. Its really pretty easy and a lot of fun to "toy" with. haha The key is picking the right shot to use it on.
http://recedinghairline.co.uk/tutorials/fakemodel/
So I decided to give a try at a popular new photography editing technique going around these days. Its called Tilt-Shift and its designed to take a photo and render its subjects into an almost toy like appearance. It works best with a shot taken from high above, where the subjects are already fairly small. I went through my archived images and came across this shot I took back in 2007 while in Venice at the Piazza San Marco square. I followed some easy instructions, then did some tweaking of my own in Photoshop and came up with this result. I think it came out pretty good actually. Im adding this to my creative vault of use on other shots which I may find not very exciting in their current "as is" state. If you're interested in giving this technique a try, follow the link below and see what you can do. Its really pretty easy and a lot of fun to "toy" with. haha The key is picking the right shot to use it on.
http://recedinghairline.co.uk/tutorials/fakemodel/
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Well its been a bit over a month since my last blog post. The weather outside is now cold, cloudy... blah. The lack of daylight is really putting a cramp on my photography. During the summer I enjoy getting out and shooting in the evening sun. But now, i get out of work at 5pm and its already almost dark! Im still chugging away on my 52 Week Project. This shot is my self portrait from week 46. We're just 5 days from Christmas now. Can't believe how fast the year has gone. Doesn't even really feel like it. This year Emily and I are heading out to her parents house in Odessa Texas for the big day. Should be fun since she has a large family and they'll all be there. I'll try to get more pics posted here on the blog and some more interesting, up to date information. Just not a lot going on right now.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Dun Got Hitched!
Well for those that didn't know, I got married on Oct.25th to my long time girlfriend Emily. The very next day we headed off to Miami to hop on a Carnival Cruise ship headed to the Carribean. We made stops at The Grand Turks, Dominican Republic, the British Virgin Isles, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Puerto Rico. We were definitley ready to come home. So now were back and I'm slowly but surely getting our pictures up. I'll be sure to post a full link when they're up.
Well for those that didn't know, I got married on Oct.25th to my long time girlfriend Emily. The very next day we headed off to Miami to hop on a Carnival Cruise ship headed to the Carribean. We made stops at The Grand Turks, Dominican Republic, the British Virgin Isles, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Puerto Rico. We were definitley ready to come home. So now were back and I'm slowly but surely getting our pictures up. I'll be sure to post a full link when they're up.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Under Pressure
So there I am. Driving down country roads, not sure what I'm looking for. Eyes scanning every driveway, cow pasture and dirt road. It was Saturday night and time to get my weekly self portrait done. I knew Sunday would be too busy to get out and take a good one. Besides, this particular Saturday evening the lighting was perfect. A setting sun and clear blue sky was creating that "magic hour" photographers love. As I head farther from home, looking to come across something I had not seen before, my light and my hopes were fading. Suddenly, to my right, I see a wide open freshly cut hay field. This field wasn't empty before and wasn't very accessible. But it was now. I drive past it and quickly turn into the next road. I whip my car around and head back to the tractor trail leading to the field. I get parked, take out all my camera gear and get things setup. I fired off about 10 to 15 shots of what I wanted to use for this weeks self portrait. But the sun was now low on the horizon and this was such a great spot. I wanted to get a little more out of it. So I took my camera off its mini-tripod, put on my aviator shades and began holding the my 30D with 10mm wide angle out at arms reach and snapping away.
Later that night at home while editing, I came across this pic. It reflected the horizon and setting sun perfectly from my sun glasses. It looked ok in color. But then I thought, how would this look if i converted it to B&W and did some cross processing on it? Did some tweaking in Lightroom 2, then imported it into CS3 where I ran it through a film simulator called Exposure 2. This adds the true contrast (darks and lights) and grain of the film brand you select. I tried a few choices and settled on one. I think it was Kodak T-Max P3200. I liked the deep blacks and semi-rough grain. While I did not use this as my selfie of the week, i was really happy with how it came out.
See more of my shots over at www.flickr.com/thorpeland
So there I am. Driving down country roads, not sure what I'm looking for. Eyes scanning every driveway, cow pasture and dirt road. It was Saturday night and time to get my weekly self portrait done. I knew Sunday would be too busy to get out and take a good one. Besides, this particular Saturday evening the lighting was perfect. A setting sun and clear blue sky was creating that "magic hour" photographers love. As I head farther from home, looking to come across something I had not seen before, my light and my hopes were fading. Suddenly, to my right, I see a wide open freshly cut hay field. This field wasn't empty before and wasn't very accessible. But it was now. I drive past it and quickly turn into the next road. I whip my car around and head back to the tractor trail leading to the field. I get parked, take out all my camera gear and get things setup. I fired off about 10 to 15 shots of what I wanted to use for this weeks self portrait. But the sun was now low on the horizon and this was such a great spot. I wanted to get a little more out of it. So I took my camera off its mini-tripod, put on my aviator shades and began holding the my 30D with 10mm wide angle out at arms reach and snapping away.
Later that night at home while editing, I came across this pic. It reflected the horizon and setting sun perfectly from my sun glasses. It looked ok in color. But then I thought, how would this look if i converted it to B&W and did some cross processing on it? Did some tweaking in Lightroom 2, then imported it into CS3 where I ran it through a film simulator called Exposure 2. This adds the true contrast (darks and lights) and grain of the film brand you select. I tried a few choices and settled on one. I think it was Kodak T-Max P3200. I liked the deep blacks and semi-rough grain. While I did not use this as my selfie of the week, i was really happy with how it came out.
See more of my shots over at www.flickr.com/thorpeland
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Looking Ahead
Well its October now and less than one month till the big day, October 25th! Which for those that do not know, is mine and Emily's wedding day! Its fast approaching and we're finalizing all the details. I never knew there would be this much to do for this event. Mainly its been Emily, working every night and weekend to make sure its all perfect. She's very organized. I offer to help but there's not a lot I can do. I feel like Im just along for the ride! haha So, I'll sit here on the shore of the lake, and just look ahead at whats to come. For our honeymoon, we're going on a very nice cruise. Im really looking forward to it and it should be a blast. I am amazed I was able to talk Emily into going on a cruise. hehe She gets easily sea sick, so this could go well or not so well. But at least she's willing to try! What a little trooper!
Well its October now and less than one month till the big day, October 25th! Which for those that do not know, is mine and Emily's wedding day! Its fast approaching and we're finalizing all the details. I never knew there would be this much to do for this event. Mainly its been Emily, working every night and weekend to make sure its all perfect. She's very organized. I offer to help but there's not a lot I can do. I feel like Im just along for the ride! haha So, I'll sit here on the shore of the lake, and just look ahead at whats to come. For our honeymoon, we're going on a very nice cruise. Im really looking forward to it and it should be a blast. I am amazed I was able to talk Emily into going on a cruise. hehe She gets easily sea sick, so this could go well or not so well. But at least she's willing to try! What a little trooper!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Java and a Camera
With time running out for my week 31 self portrait shot, i stopped... frustrated, at a local Star Bucks. I never leave my camera bag in my car so I threw it on my shoulder and walked in. I figured I could have a drink and quietly think about where a good location for a shot would be. I walked up to the counter and ordered a Chi Tea. Not my normal drink, but at the time it sounded better than coffee. I took a seat at a 2 chair table in the back, put my Lowepro 200 camera bag on the table and began pondering. There were a 3 guys at the table next to me, college students holding a study session. One of them asked me where I got my bag. I told him and soon learned he was into photography also. Cool stuff. I always enjoy meeting other lens-heads. I began to chat with the guys and gave one of them my card. They checked out my shots and we talked about camera gear. It was at that time i figured this was as good a time as any to take out the camera and get a selfie for the week. So this stop gave me my pic of the week and a new photography buddy/contact. A win-win.
With time running out for my week 31 self portrait shot, i stopped... frustrated, at a local Star Bucks. I never leave my camera bag in my car so I threw it on my shoulder and walked in. I figured I could have a drink and quietly think about where a good location for a shot would be. I walked up to the counter and ordered a Chi Tea. Not my normal drink, but at the time it sounded better than coffee. I took a seat at a 2 chair table in the back, put my Lowepro 200 camera bag on the table and began pondering. There were a 3 guys at the table next to me, college students holding a study session. One of them asked me where I got my bag. I told him and soon learned he was into photography also. Cool stuff. I always enjoy meeting other lens-heads. I began to chat with the guys and gave one of them my card. They checked out my shots and we talked about camera gear. It was at that time i figured this was as good a time as any to take out the camera and get a selfie for the week. So this stop gave me my pic of the week and a new photography buddy/contact. A win-win.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
30 Weeks and Rolling
Just 2 hours before my "deadline" for getting my weekly self portrait posted, I got it done. This was actually a picture I took Saturday evening but didn't do anything with it until Sunday passed. Just in case I was able to take a better one. Ever do that? Anyhow, not much in the way of creativity for this week in the actual shot. I was able to take a pretty straight forward, looking at the camera SP and turn it into something half interesting I believe.
I think I like the intensity of this shot and the clear focus I was able to accidentally get right on my eye. While shooting at f1.8 the depth of field is so short that if I missed my eye with the focus point, the picture would be useless to me. My face also looks rougher than it actually is. Geeze, its getting worse the more I look at this pic. Oh well.
This is actually the third self portrait taken in this chair, which is my computer desk chair. Hence the lighting to my right is from my computer monitors. I thought it put out a nice glow for a self portrait. I have a decently creative idea for my Week 31 shot, next week. I just hope everything works out and I can get what Im looking for. Man, I can't believe Im on week 30 already. These weeks are just rolling by!
Just 2 hours before my "deadline" for getting my weekly self portrait posted, I got it done. This was actually a picture I took Saturday evening but didn't do anything with it until Sunday passed. Just in case I was able to take a better one. Ever do that? Anyhow, not much in the way of creativity for this week in the actual shot. I was able to take a pretty straight forward, looking at the camera SP and turn it into something half interesting I believe.
I think I like the intensity of this shot and the clear focus I was able to accidentally get right on my eye. While shooting at f1.8 the depth of field is so short that if I missed my eye with the focus point, the picture would be useless to me. My face also looks rougher than it actually is. Geeze, its getting worse the more I look at this pic. Oh well.
This is actually the third self portrait taken in this chair, which is my computer desk chair. Hence the lighting to my right is from my computer monitors. I thought it put out a nice glow for a self portrait. I have a decently creative idea for my Week 31 shot, next week. I just hope everything works out and I can get what Im looking for. Man, I can't believe Im on week 30 already. These weeks are just rolling by!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Week 29
Well this is my Week 29 shot of my 52 Week self portrait project. I'll have to admit this turned out to be one of my top shots so far. Also it was up there creativity-wise. This photo is actually a single exposure. I took it by setting my camera on the tripod and on manual at f5.6 with a 6 second exposure, ISO 200. I then stood in 3 places holding my Canon 580EX II flash and manually firing it each time I moved to a different spot. It took me about 4 tries to get the look in each flash that I wanted. But when i saw this one I knew I had my shot of the week.
Well this is my Week 29 shot of my 52 Week self portrait project. I'll have to admit this turned out to be one of my top shots so far. Also it was up there creativity-wise. This photo is actually a single exposure. I took it by setting my camera on the tripod and on manual at f5.6 with a 6 second exposure, ISO 200. I then stood in 3 places holding my Canon 580EX II flash and manually firing it each time I moved to a different spot. It took me about 4 tries to get the look in each flash that I wanted. But when i saw this one I knew I had my shot of the week.
A Day at the Races
This past Saturday turned out to be a busy one! I packed up my photo gear, met up with my buddy Beau and headed down to watch our friend JB's kid (Hunter) race in a dirt bike cross country event. He was racing in the 65cc class, which I believe still lists him as a "Pee Wee" class rider. But they were still pretty fast. Hunters friend and fellow racer ended up taking 1st place, while Hunter managed to get into 4th place at the finish. Earning him a trophy for the ride home! Right before Hunters race was the really little guys, the 50cc class. These kids were so small, their helmets made them look like bubble heads. I shot many pictures at both races. Each race being 10 laps and lasting about 25 minutes, came home with somewhere around 600 pictures to go through! I started editing them and had most up before bedtime. You can find a few on my flickr gallery at www.flickr.com/thorpeland .
I was supposed to go shoot a womens roller derby match later that night. But after being in the sun all day I was exhausted. I showed, ate dinner and just wanted to lay around and watch TV. Drained. There's another roller derby match in a few weeks which I hope to go to as I think it would make for some great action shots.
This past Saturday turned out to be a busy one! I packed up my photo gear, met up with my buddy Beau and headed down to watch our friend JB's kid (Hunter) race in a dirt bike cross country event. He was racing in the 65cc class, which I believe still lists him as a "Pee Wee" class rider. But they were still pretty fast. Hunters friend and fellow racer ended up taking 1st place, while Hunter managed to get into 4th place at the finish. Earning him a trophy for the ride home! Right before Hunters race was the really little guys, the 50cc class. These kids were so small, their helmets made them look like bubble heads. I shot many pictures at both races. Each race being 10 laps and lasting about 25 minutes, came home with somewhere around 600 pictures to go through! I started editing them and had most up before bedtime. You can find a few on my flickr gallery at www.flickr.com/thorpeland .
I was supposed to go shoot a womens roller derby match later that night. But after being in the sun all day I was exhausted. I showed, ate dinner and just wanted to lay around and watch TV. Drained. There's another roller derby match in a few weeks which I hope to go to as I think it would make for some great action shots.
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