52 Variations - Variation Seventeen

Speed

A bit of an opportunity shoot this week.  I had the chance to shoot a fund raiser track-a-thon at my son's school and thought I would make my project shoot catching him in fast motion against the pack of other runners.  Above is my attempt...humble as it is.

Now I have to admit that my objective was to do the panning as a result of dragging my shutter and panning as he ran by.  However, anyone that has ever gone to an event like this knows, it is a bit of organized chaos in that kids are constantly dodging in and out of each other.  As a result, getting a good pan was impossible...at least for me.  :-)

Thus, Photoshop came to the rescue.  Using a friendly motion blur filter and a layer mask I think we have a nice little blur of him woking his way through the pack.  However, I'll let you guys tell me if you buy the effect.

Next week we plan to be back with a constructed shoot using some strategic light.  Lets just say it involves an 80's style hair band.  Enough said, at least for now.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Sixteen

Tender Moment

Sorry for being late this week.  I was sick all weekend and just couldn't muster the energy to do a shoot.  I guess better late than never is my motto this week.

Our shoot is simple today.  Just a nice 'tender moment' between mother and son while doing some vacation planning.  Lit with a on board flash bounced off the ceiling.  Nothing fancy.  In the end there is not a lot to say, I liked the moment and captured it taking Ansel Adams up on his view that snap shots are of value.  I hope you agree.

See everyone this weekend.  I promise not to be late again. :-)

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Fifteen

Aquaman

We are on vacation this week and I don't want to spend much time at the computer so I'm going to keep this simple.

Biggest challenge to my variations project was that I decided not to bring a DSLR kit with me in order to keep things simple and focus on the family.  So I only brought my G11, one 430 EX and a DicAPac underwater pouch.  Please keep in mind that is not a lot of gear for me.

The idea was simple, take a shot of Gustavo swimming under water, hence why I needed the DicAPac pouch.  I'm still getting used to my G11 and this was also the first time I've shot anything underwater.  However, I'm somewhat pleased with the outcome.  He is even in focus.  :-)

Anyway, take a look and let me know any suggestions for improvement, I'm sure that are many ways I could have improved the outcome.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

Simple Mistakes

Saturday was Easter Egg coloring day which means we go over to Gustavo's Godmother's house to color eggs.  Keep in mind that this entails 8 dozen eggs and more colors than most monitors can display.  Yep, its a good time for all.  By the end of the day all eggs were colored, colors were mixed and designs applied.  Most importantly I want to thank Gustavo's Godmother who we call Madrina for her hosting us, making her how and love open to us.

Since Madrina is such an important part of our lives and as she is so loved by Gustavo I wanted to do a quick portrait.  So I quickly pulled out a light stand, reflective umbrella and a 580 EXII to light them.  It was supposed to be quick and dirty since everyone was a bit tired, but that is no excuse for what I did.  :-)

Now to the point, take a look at the above, it isn't a portrait that will be published, nor was it ever intended to be.  But it is one Madrina can have in her wallet to show off to her friends.  The problem I created was the umbrella placement.  Look at the window, yep there it is, my 42" Westcott collapsable umbrella, nice isn't it?

I'm so disappointed in myself, I know better, it was such a rookie mistake.  Sure I can Photoshop this out, but I don't want to miss the growth opportunity the brings to me.  It reminds me no matter how rushed things are that I must pay attention to what is going on around me and pay attention to all detail.

That is the purpose of this post, a reminder to pay attention to details and not rush through a shoot just to get it done.  I'm sure everyone has experienced a similar situation.  If you care to share I would be very interested in hearing about your experience.

52 Variations - Variation Fourteen

Spring

Its been a long winter here in Chicago.  Cold, windy and snowy...you get the point.  We did not get the extreme snowfalls they did out east, but it was one of those winters that is consistent in it cold, it just wore us down.

So it was a real treat to have a lovely spring day for Easter Sunday.  Gustavo and I decided to celebrate the good weather with an egg themed spring shoot in the backyard.  Above is a natural light shot of Gustavo with his egg loot as I like to call it.  Nice fun and warm, just what we were after.

The shot was a simple natural light exposure with a little bit of on camera fill using a 580 EXII set to 128th power.  Nothing fancy, conveying spring warmth was the only objective.

Simple and short post today, but important to us winter exhausted Chicagoans.  I hope everyone had a wonderful and joyous Easter.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.