Familia Photography

Creative Pictures of the Kids

2011-07-11T20:44:00.001-05:00

As a guy that has made a hobby of taking pictures of his children I loved this post my wife turned me on to. Take a look, very fun and creative.

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/a-father-who-creatively

Photographer Love

2011-04-10T13:15:00.001-05:00

Couldn't pass on posting the above, it's an old photographers joke but a good one.

Thanks for the laugh Canon.

52 Variations - Variation Thirty-Two

2011-02-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

Making the Shot

I've spent far too long apologizing for late or delayed posts. Unfortunately, I find myself in this position once again. It has been too long and I have missed my goal of a shot a week, ending the project with the end of 2010. Life, more specifically my job, has gotten in the way. I do have to pay the bills. :-)

The above shot, my re-entry into the 52 Variations Project is my tribute to the person Gustavo is developing into. He has never been an aggressive child when it comes to sports, but he does love them nonetheless. When he wanted to join the 4th Grade Basketball team I thought it would be typical of his other experiences. He will do, okay, be a defensive player, not one to make baskets and score points. After all, Gustavo's first instinct is to protect...an excellent trait.

This season I have seen Gustavo truly develop as a player. His defense has gotten better, sure; but more importantly he began doing some offense. This was new, and to no small part due to his coach who is very nurturing and encouraging. All of this new behavior culminated yesterday in Gustavo making his first basket during a game. Took three attempts but was a wonderful thing to see. He was so proud and his team was so affirming to the accomplishment it made me proud of all of them. Gustavo is fortunate to play with some wonderful kids.

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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 Thirty-One

2010-08-21T23:47:00.000-05:00

Hide & Seek

Another variation from out trip to Guatemala. Grabbed this one while Gustavo was playing hide and seek. It is a classic name that requires no explanation. Even with Dulce growing up in Guatemala and Gustavo's Spanish being a bit limited, they were able to bond amazingly quick and find ways to play that both loved.

No great photographic skill went into this, but I've found as this project progresses that is as much, if not more about, the moment than the planning and execution of a artsy shot. In the beginning we did staged shots that captured variations of Gustavo, but in the shots of late I am getting spontaneous variations of his personality. The spontaneity of this is more him, much more natural. I won't be moving away from the staged shots permanently but it is fun to explore the spontaneous road with my son. I hope you enjoy this little diversion with us.

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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 Thirty

2010-08-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

Duck!

Another entry from out trip to Guatemala. In this one Gustavo was playing in the ball room of the Guatemalan City Children's Museum. The objective of the room is to, through various devices, get the balls into a over hanging container. When the container if full enough it empties and this is where the fun comes in. An alarm goes off and the children and families run under the container so it can shower balls down upon them.

This is where we see another variation/side of Gustavo. He is a bit timid regarding getting hurt or bruised. It took a lot of encouragement from me to get him under the ball container. And as the picture shows, Gustavo being on the far left of the group, he covered himself up as best possible so as to not get bruised.

In the end he came out fine proclaiming that it was cool and that he wanted to do it again. Yep, dad's know best sometimes, after all we are masters of fun for all ages. :-)

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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 Twenty-Nine

2010-08-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

Little Sister

Today is a to-fer; yes you guessed it, I'm trying to catch-up. :-)

As I mentioned in Variation Twenty-Eight, Gustavo loves being a big brother. It is something he has asked for since age 3. In my opinion, while I know many children love being brothers or sisters I have never met one that wanted it the way Gustavo does. For example, every Christmas list has had little sister on it. I don't know about you but it just warms my heart to see such desire for family.

The one drawback to this desire for a little sister is that the waiting has been hard on him. For years Yesenia (my wife) and I tried to conceive naturally, thinking it would be easy as it was with Gustavo, but unfortunately it was not. Then when we decided to adopt things have taken longer than any of us could imagine. This has been hardest on Yesenia and Gustavo, each wanting Dulce home with us more than they have expressed.

I worry the most about Gustavo though. On several occasions I have found him standing outside what will be Dulce's room in house, staring at it with an expression of longing. (We painted and prepared it two years ago based on when we were told she would be home.) When I ask him what he is doing he always says something like "Just wishing Dulce was here...or...I wonder what Dulce is doing right now." It breaks my heart, all I can do is hug him and thank God for such a son. I often wonder if I'm worthy of having him in my life.

I don't mean for these entries to be overly personal and I had to stop to find a tissue, but I wanted to take a moment to share a bit of Gustavo's psyche. To appreciate the above variation you need to appreciate how much he wants to be a big brother.

The above is another shot where I needed to make noise work to my advantage. I grabbed this one while walking to breakfast Friday morning. The light was horrible and the onboard flash of my G11 was causing all kinds of color casting, so I turned it off, bumped up the ISO to 3200 (what I knew would be grainy as all heck) and shot away. This picture is evidence of the "any photo is better than none" adage. I was going to stop shooting but didn't and I'm oh so happy I didn't.

They problem was I had make the grain work. I ran image through Noise Ninja and got the noise out but at the expense of detail and the resulting pic was fuzzy to the point of distraction, even for Gustavo who usually does not notice such things. Then it hit me, how about a vintage look, pictures are always grainy in vintage photographs and it is almost expected that they are to boot.

The above is the result, what do you think? I'll share that Gustavo doesn't like it too much, he likes color pictures, but for me it works. It has an old feel to it, like the feelings of love and devotion Gustavo has are old, but eternal. Feelings we all should have toward are families and loved ones.

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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 Twenty-Eight

2010-08-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

Hug

We are in Guatemala this week visiting our adoptive daughter. While this adoption has dragged on longer than any of us could have imagined, her having been referred to us 3 years ago, it is always a joy to be here and spend time with her. At 3 she is a joy to be around as I've forgotten how much fun a 3 year-old is. Gustavo at 9 is a whole different kind of child and while also a joy it is a different type of Joy. She (Dulce Maria) has a joy of everything, of the simplest touch or interaction. Gustavo has a joy of learning, testing his limits and discovering things for himself. I love the contrast and Gustavo loves being a big brother. More on that posts to come.

Now on to the purpose of this entry.

Above is my humble submission for this variation. The time we wait for Dulce to arrive is the most anxious of these visit trips. This picture is one of Gustavo attempting to console his mother, ensuring her Dulce will be with us soon. Not to mention, he loves to hug; hence the variation's name.

When I travel in Central and South America I make it a habit to only bring my G11 and a little bit of strobist lighting equip. This allows me to stay under the thieving radar and still get some good pics. The biggest drawback to this setup, especially for someone used to shooting with full frame DSLRs is the noise I get at what I consider to be low ISOs. This is why the above is in B&W. At ISO 800 there was too much noise to make a color version look tack sharp the way I wanted it. However, in B&W the rendition is soft and contrasty, just as I wanted.

I'm very pleased with the outcome, what about you, I want to hear your thoughts. Does this picture work as a B&W?

Anyway, stay tuned, more variations will come from this trip.

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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 Twenty-Seven

2010-07-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

Aim...Fire!!!

Keeping the water theme going we have Gustavo in the middle of a water gun fight this past weekend. Seemed logical to continue this theme as like most children he loves swimming and water games. Makes me remember how I loved it as a child. Yep, watching him I was wishing I was 9 again.

Here's to wishing we were young.

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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 Twenty-Six

2010-07-23T20:13:00.000-05:00

Sprinkler Play

Still behind, oh so behind. I have no excuses, I won't even try.

Another simple quick one of Gustavo playing in the sprinkler. Watching him I forgot how much fun that is, oh to be 9 again.

The shot has no merit from an artistic perspective, but it does go to remind me of the fun of youth, so that as so many of the entries in the project have been is what I offer this shot up as, a celebration of being you and having fun.

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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 Twenty-Five

2010-07-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

Pool Play

I'm way behind, way way behind. Did I mention I'm behind. I wish I could blame it on work but its not so. I have been caught up family things, like enjoying the summer. Sorry but fun came before the project. I'm so embarrased. :-)

The above does little to get me up to where I should be but it is a shot that gets a new variation of Gustavo. As I've mentioned before, he loves to swim and play in water. The above came from a party he was at over the weekend. He found himself in the middle of a splash war. Very serious matters for a 9 year-old. Anyone with children knows what I mean.

Its a casual shot, not of any artistic merit, but due to the sense of another side of Gustavo I had to present it to you. So enjoy and see you soon, I promise to dig myself out of the hole I find myself in with this project. I do, I really really do.

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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 Twenty-Four

2010-06-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

Chef

Everyone will have to wait another week for the crafted shoot I did last week. Yet again I came across a opportunity shot that pulled me in.

This week we had the pleasure of celebrating the second birthday of a dear friend's daughter. In fact, he is Gustavo's Padrino, Mark (Godfather). It was a wonderful day. We were able to catchup with friends and Gustavo was able to spend some long over-due time with Mark. One of Mark's skills includes creative culinary interests. As a result, we had some wonderful fetta turkey burgers which Gustavo found himself mixing.

It was fun to watch. Those of you that know my son know he hates dirty hands. So seeing him dig into the Turkey, mixing the ingredients, messing up his hands. It was great to see and when Gustavo began complaining about his dirty hands it was no shocker. For my wife and I it was wonderful to watch. Bonding moments like this just make me smile.

Have a great week everyone and treasure moments with friends and family, they are far too fleeting.

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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 Twenty-Three

2010-06-07T17:57:00.000-05:00

Bummer

You've heard me say this before but I had a different plan for this week. I even executed the idea and have it ready to process and post. However, as life does, I had an experience yesterday that made me change plans.

Yesterday was supposed to be the Inter League soccer Tournament for Gustavo's AYSO team. We had all been looking forward to the day as it was to be our first at the event. Unfortunately, as happens in Chicago, the weather did not live up to the forecast and we ended up with rain. Luckily we did not lose out on the entire day was were able to play one of the three scheduled games, but the below shows Gustavo's disappointment at the time when we thought the day was cancelled.

The handiness of the G11 proved it self again, as I just brought it along to capture the odds and end shot. Very little processing went into the picture, a bit of drama was added to the sky and a little clean up to the umbrella. However, in general this is how things looked. Abandoned soccer fields and a sky boding rain. Another fun day in the midwest.

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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 Twenty-Two

2010-05-31T12:01:00.001-05:00

Fore

Continuing a small series of Gustavo playing sports. This week I submit him playing a new sport, golf. This one is a recent interest, just beginning it late last summer. We did some lessons together which I think helped me more than him, but solidified that he truly enjoys playing golf.

The above was taken with my walk-a-bout camera, my faithful G11. It also exemplifies why I have a walk-a-bout camera, you never know when a you'll come across something worth capturing.

Please enjoy a bit of enthusiasm for a new sport with me. I don't know if or for how long it will last, but I can't think of a nicer way to spend a day than with my son walking some beautiful greens. Oh, and cross your fingers that he doesn't get too much better than me too quickly. The kid seems to be a natural.

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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.

New Territory

2010-05-27T09:36:00.003-05:00

Thank God for wives. My son's soccer league was not going to have team and individual pictures this year so she volunteered me to take pictures of my son's team, the Blue Sharks. So off I went, to take sports team pictures, woot, woot.

I have never done team or individual sports portraits. I have done more game pictures than I care to think about, I've also spent endless hours in event and controlled portrait work, but never done onsite team pictures before. As always, I learned a ton about how I must adapt as a photographer to this new photographic form.

So if you have some time, not too much needed, lets talk about what I learned and must now integrate into my photographic life.

What did I know going into the shoot.

I would be shooting in mid-day sun. Therefore I would need fill light to prevent harsh shadows.
I knew posing would be challenge - kids like to slouch.
Corralling 9 year-olds is very, very difficult. Nine year-olds are fast. :-)

As you can see, I knew some things that would be challenges, like getting the the kids to cooperate and dealing with the bright mid-day sun. I felt prepared as I had done my research to address these. I knew what I could know, but no more.

How did things develop?

The consensus was to use a goal as the background. Not my personal choice, but the right one given the streets and mall surrounding the soccer field.
Using the goal caused issue with the sky. It was a very bright day with no clouds or color, just sun. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the sun under control.
Challenges in posing showed. Looked at the team picture in the memory mate above. A few of them were wearing sun glasses. A rookie mistake. I did ask them to remove the glasses after a few pictures but every shot taken after that had a bad pose. Closed eyes, looking at a passing car, etc. Sadly, the above was the best of the shots.
The most valuable thing I brought were weights to prevent my light-stands from blowing over. I have scientifically proven that winds pick up as soon as an umbrella opens, and calm as soon as the umbrella is closed.

At the end of the day everyone seemed happy as was my wife, my most important customer. Enough for now, as always, if you have any suggestions let me know. Lets just say I'm glad I had the opportunity to do this shoot and look forward to doing more team and individual sports portraits in the future.

52 Variations - Variation Twenty-One

2010-05-23T20:38:00.001-05:00

Futbol

With soccer season drawing to a close I had to make sure and get a picture of Gustavo playing the game he loves so much. This sport has done a lot for him. Gustavo, as many of you know, is a very gentle child. At times this gentleness is manifested in a passiveness, not a bad thing, but a challenge for a soccer player. Over this season I have seen him become more and more assertive, fighting for the ball, driving hard to contribute. I couldn't be more proud of the progress he's made.

The above is a slice in time, a slice of the new assertiveness he developed this season. For those of you with children playing sports I know you can understand the pride I have. There is nothing like seeing your child grow and excel. It is really quite wonderful.

So enjoy the above picture with me. He didn't score a goal, but stole the ball. All to often that is more important.

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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 Twenty

2010-05-22T08:13:00.001-05:00

Pull...Pull

Late again...what can I say, work has been a killer lately.

Originally planning to do a crafted shoot, I came across the opportunity to take some shots of a Tug of War contest at my son's Cub Scout meeting. Not only were the Scouts victorious but the event provided great fodder for capturing another side (variation) of Gustavo.

Pulling as hard as possible, giving it his all, he was determined to win. The title comes from this determination as all I heard him say was "pull...pull", driving himself to keep at it. This determination paid off with a win, but is impressive for other reasons. It shows his focus on a goal, the goal of doing his part, of being part of the greater entity which is his Cub Pack. It is so the essence of my son, always focused on the greater need/good. I could not be more proud.

Enjoy this moment with me and have a great week everyone.

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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.

Lonely

2010-05-20T08:45:00.001-05:00

Quick little post this morning.

I finally got around to importing some pictures from my walk about camera, my G11. Amongst them was the above which is a picture of a goalie at one of my son's soccer games. So much of the game was spent at the opposing goal he got board and sat down for the majority of the game. I like the capture as it shows his boredom and isolation during a very busy game.

I wish I could say this is the goalie for my son's team, unfortunately, his goalie was very busy. Lets just say we lost and leave it at that. :-)

Have a great day everyone!

Thanks Ernie

2010-05-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law called me today asking for a passport photo. Sure thing I said, I'd be glad to help. Little did I realize that my over-thinking would get in the way.

I knew what I wanted to do. I would do a single light setup with a softbox to camera left while using bounce fill on his right. Looking above you can see that is not what we ended up with. Let me say first off that Hernan (my brother-in-law), Ernie as we call him is an extremely talented artist. Understanding what all good artists do, that the art must work for the intended audience, he went to the U.S. Passport office web site for direction on how the photo should look. Thanks to him I learned that the photo needed to be much simpler than I conceptualized it.

There are all kinds of rules by the way. Subject position in the print, size of the print, pose and even lighting direction are all on the site for reference. I was amazed. Fundamentally, the light needed to be even with little if any shadows. In the end I had one light on each side, set to provide even (what some would call flat) lighting.

It was perfect in its simplicity, it was everything a passport photo should be. Better than the P&S passport photo's taken at the local drug store, showing a bit of the character of the subject while being simple and straightforward so any customs agent can easily identify Ernie and the proper passport owner.

So why is this post entitled "Thanks Ernie"? Because thanks to Ernie I focused on what the picture needed to be and stopped over-thinking what had to be done. In focusing on what the portrait needed to be I was better able to capture the person my subject is.

Thank you Ernie. Thanks for the opportunity, thanks for the lesson in not over-thinking.

52 Variations - Variation Nineteen

2010-05-09T15:17:00.001-05:00

Jammin

Gustavo like millions of other children loves to play Rock Band on his Wii. Seeing how much he loves to jam on the virtual guitar I thought it would be fun to capture some of the essence of jammin on the guitar this week. Something which has a bit of a Fender Stratocaster advertisement feel.

Above is the outcome of the attempt. It is a very simple shot, using only one speedlight into a gridded 24" softbox. But it gave me the light I was after, soft, yet a bit hard thanks to boosting blacks in post processing.

This was not my original plan. At first I wanted to get a stage lighting affect, but just couldn't get it to come off the way I wanted. This was plan B, and with the angle, I'm actually quite happy with it.

What do you think?

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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 Eighteen

2010-05-03T17:01:00.000-05:00

Joyful

Let me start out by saying that this photograph will not win any awards. It is the result of candid shots I was taking at Gustavo's last Cub Scout meeting. I'm using this picture because of the joy he exudes in it. I know I promised a constructed picture this week, but when processing this I couldn't resist and needed to use this picture. It has too much personality in it not to.

It is a simple shot taken with my G11 at its highest and worst quality ISO. I did the best I could to remove the noise and sharpen it, but walking the fine balance of detail, the above was the finest balance I could achieve.

I ask you is to remember the power of the snap shot. As Ansel Adams said, "it captures moments which would otherwise be missed." I didn't have any of my DSLRs with me, nor was there time to setup a proper shoot, as anyone that has been to a Cub Scout meeting would know. I was there with the "best camera" as Chase Jarvis would call it. The camera I had. A camera that captured Gustavo reveling in a flag swiping across his face...the pure joy of the moment. The G11 captured the joy, a joy I feel it when looking at the shot, I can ask for nothing more.

So revel in joyfulness with me. Enjoy the moment, Gustavo sure did.

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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 Seventeen

2010-04-25T19:42:00.001-05:00

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

2010-04-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

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

2010-04-11T22:03:00.006-05:00

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

2010-04-06T10:50:00.000-05:00

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

2010-04-04T21:51:00.000-05:00

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.

52 Variations - Variation Thirteen

2010-03-28T20:22:00.008-05:00

Razor

My son like millions of other children loves to ride his Razor, what he calls his scooter. Interestingly, he is not so much a bicycle kid as he is a scooter kid. According to Gustavo "its just more fun." Good enough for me. So off I went to catch his "Razor Attitude" as I call it.

The concept was simple, get the sun coming over Gustavo's shoulder creating some flare while filling Gustavo with a 580 EXII at full power shooting into a 24" softbox. Simple enough really and worked relatively quickly. No drama, very straight forward now that I think on it.

Sorry I didn't get a setup shot, but there isn't much to see with my softbox attached to my deck using a super clamp. As always, let me know your thoughts.

Now I'm off to figure out what to do next week, I have no idea what I'm going to shoot. Any ideas, please let me know.

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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 Twelve

2010-03-21T20:30:00.007-05:00

Burbuja

For those of you that don't speak Spanish Burbuja is Spanish for bubble. Why am I using the Spanish word, it just seems fitting and besides, I love the way it sounds. Spanish is such a beautiful language.

As I"m sure you figured out from the above, the theme this week is bubbles/burbujas. Since my son has been little he has loved bubbles, as most children do. So when we were at Target and saw the bubble stuff we just had to get some for this week's shoot.

The objective was not to only catch him playing but get a lot of speculars in the bubbles. Color and reflections were order of the day. I think that worked out well as the umbrellas provided the speculars I was after. If you look at the full size images on Flickr you'll even be able to see the detail of the umbrella, flash, stand, etc. I just love it. :-)

The setup was simple, two flashes into reflective umbrellas. A 580 EXII camera right at full power and a 430 EX camera left at 1/4 power for full. Both flashes were gelled with 1/2 CTO gels to warm the skin a bit. Simple as simple can be.

Now here is the problem, I couldn't decide on a picture. I was down to 4 and asked my wife and son to pick and all they could say is that I should get all of you to vote. So, below are the remaining 3 pictures, look at all 4 and leave a vote in the comments for the one you like the most.

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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.

Still Learning

2010-03-16T19:38:00.005-05:00

So, I've been wanting to learn some new techniques and decided to start with High Dynamic Range (HDR). Above is my first, very first, did I mention first attempt at HDR photography. It is an interior shot of my Church. Achieved with 9 images at 1/3 stop increments.

My objective was not only to capture the image but also to make is natural looking without all the high contrast, extreme blacks and extreme saturation. I think I'm on the right track but still need to work on this a bit. I'm sure it will come in time.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Not a horrible start, but I have a long way to go.

52 Variations - Variation Eleven

2010-03-14T20:59:00.004-05:00

Puppy Play

You are going to think I have attention deficit or something. Several times now I've intended to perform a specific shoot which was put to the side when I saw Gustavo doing something worth changing plans for. The below is one of those pictures, today was another one of those times.

Not much on the strobist front to share, just a speedlight on camera. What works for me in the capture is Gustavo's face. He is so enjoying himself and the dogs were having such a good time romping around with him. always nice to see that kind of joy. That is what this picture is about, purity and joy.

So take a look and remember these times in your life. They are fun to experience, especially as a parent.

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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 Ten

2010-03-07T18:23:00.006-06:00

Grandparents

Simple, that is this week's theme. My parents have been watching the project so far and wanted to be in it. However, my mother made it a point to say that they wanted to keep anything they did as simple, "no drama" as my mother said. I could do simple, why not, my son loves them to death.

Simple enough shot to execute. Two speedlights shooting in reflective umbrellas with the light on camera left a bit stronger so the lighting wasn't too flat. I'm not sure I was successful in that as the light is a bit flat, but my parents seem thrilled with the shot and that is all that matters at the moment. Below is a quick setup shot for your reference.

In the end it was not difficult. However, I didn't want to draw attention to their wheelchairs. Both of my parents can no longer walk but are no less individuals as a result. Therefore, I wanted the picture to be of them, not their chairs. I wasn't trying to hide them, just not draw attention to them. Hope it worked, I think it did.

As always, let me know what you think. One thing this shows is that I do need to work on my group portraits a bit. I know I can do better.

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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 Nine

2010-02-28T18:55:00.003-06:00

Sweet Dreams

Kids like sleep. There is nothing new about that, and my son is no exception. So when thinking about this week's shoot I figured why not capture a bit of sleep.

The idea was to get the light of a cracked door going across my son's bed, illuminating his face. In addition the alarm clock would illuminate the side of his pillow to ad a bit to the shot. Below is what we ended up with.

Of course my son's door is not in a position to cast light across the bed, nor is the light from the hall dependable enough to use. Further his alarm clock does not put off enough of a glow to get any light on his pillow. So, off to create light I went. How fun, after all, photography is about painting with light.

We tried a lot of poses, under covers, on top of covers, etc. But in the end my son had the idea that worked best. He has this tendency of sleeping up side down on his bed. No matter what end he falls asleep on he ends up with his feet on his pillow and his had at the foot of the bed. It is comical and wonderful all at the same time.

To achieve the door cracked open affect I took my 580 EXII gelled it with a 1/2 CTO, and put a snoot on it. As you can imagine though, the light was not nearly narrow enough. So gaffers tape came to the rescue. With two pieces I created a narrow, almost touching slit, on the end of the snoot. This had the desired effect of creating a crack of light across the bed. Very fun, I was so proud of myself...yes I amuse easily.

The alarm clock glow was straight forward as well. I put a 430 EX with a full blue gel and a 1/8 grid facing his pillow. The light was the right shape and density (although I keep thinking I should have used green) but it covered too much of the bed. I needed to narrow it down. To the rescue came gaffers tape yet again. I used it to gobo part of the grid, resulting the light illuminating what I wanted. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy as my son says.

Below is a quick shot of the setup. (Yes, that is a roll of gaffers tape on the floor, I do love that stuff.)

Let me know what you think, does the affect of partial lighting come across, do you see the light from the alarm clock?

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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 Eight

2010-02-21T21:26:00.005-06:00

Light Art

It has been a busy weekend so I thought we would have a little fun today. I've seen many photographs where the subject uses a flashlight to write or draw in the shot. Telling my son about it, he was excited by the idea so I figured why not, lets have some fun.

Of course the idea was simple. Light him with strobes at the beginning of a long exposure and let him draw for the remainder. The above was a 6 second exposure lit by two flashes at full power. A 580 EXII camera right shooting through an umbrella as the main light and a 430 EX camera left shooting into a reflective umbrella. Worked well I think. Exposed him just enough that he could move after the flash and draw what ever he wanted without losing any sharpness. I would like to note that the exposure of the background came as a result of the 6 second exposure. Had there been a somewhat normal shutter speed the background would have been black as in some of my previous posts. Thats what ya get when using F22.

Of the more than 100 shots we did the above was my favorite as it captures his personality the most. Yes, he was pretending that he was waving a sword. Boys will be boys after all. The light pattern is nothing but squiggles but I love it just the same. It is a aspect of his personality, that is all I need. :-)

I mentioned the lighting above but do want to make one comment about the flashlight. To do this you need nothing special, we did ours with a $2 LED light from Home Depot. The only modification to it was to toss some green gel on the end so as to get the green color to light, nothing special. Below is a quick setup pic. As always, please excuse my messy basement.

Oh, and yes, that thing in the foreground is my tripod. There is no way I could have held the camera still for 6 seconds otherwise.

A bit of a diversion is in order. We were having such a good time that we dragged my wife over and started playing around with her and the light as well. She drew on Gustavo and he did the same to her. Lets just let it be said that clown hats were in order. In tribute to her participation below is one her contributions where she drew my son's nickname with light. Very fun in my opinion. In case you have trouble reading it, the word is "Nene". It is a Spanish language slang for little boy. Something we have called my son since was born.

So what does everyone think?

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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 Seven

2010-02-15T21:24:00.005-06:00

At Play

God smiles when his children are at play...or so the saying goes.

I had an elaborate shot planned for this week, one you will have to wait for. While I was setting up for the shoot, I looked over to see my son playing with a paper dragon we picked up at the Chicago Chinese New Year parade yesterday. Below is the result and for obvious reasons put my planned shoot on hold.

I became distracted watching him, it was fascinating. He was having such a good time, making growling noises and moving the dragon as he had seen it moved the day before. It was one of those times that remind me why I love being a parent. His joy brought me joy.

Of course I had to take some pictures. I only had the softbox up with my 580 EXII in it at 1/32 power. So I turned it toward him and snapped away not really knowing how things would turn out. Luckily it was an okay, or should I say lucky exposure. Sure fill light would have helped but I did not want to ruin the moment. The softbox going off was distraction enough.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the shot as much as I do. There is nothing else to really tell, no setup shot or complex problem to solve as there was last week. I needed to take you into a happy parenting moment, I hope you enjoyed this brief journey.

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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 Six

2010-02-08T08:22:00.007-06:00

Jedi

My son, like so many children is a huge Star Wars fan. Its not the Star Wars of my youth, but fun just the same. So with that interest my son asked that I make him look like a Jedi in this week's shot. I said, "sure, why not" he has a couple toy Lightsabers, how hard could it be. Boy I can be dense sometimes.

I'll get to the how we did it bit a little later. Below is what we ended up with. Gustavo holding a Lightsaber while wearing his hooded Jedi robe.

Not too bad in the end, there are a lot of things I would change later but I think it gets the general theme of Jedi with a Lightsaber across to the view.

However, as you would expect, the Lightsaber turned out to be a huge issue. It ends up that the toy Lightsabers do not generate any where near the amount of light needed. So I looked at taking the toy apart so I could attach a speedlight to the bottom of the colored tube. I knew that would be enough light. The problem was that my son still wanted his toy and I would have destroyed it to do what I want. I wanted my son to be happy and thus could not destroy the toy, what to do...what to do....

I was stumped. At one point I thought the shoot was scrapped and I would need to find another idea for this week. Of course, I had no other ideas for which I was prepared. I thought at one point I would not meet my goal for a shot this week.

Staring at the 430 EX sitting on my desk an idea suddenly came to me. I had a sheet of 1/2 green gel somewhere. I could wrap the end of the 430 EX and effectively turn it into a Lightsaber. So I found the gel and wrapped the 430 EX creating a tube on top of the strobe. It looked ok, but when held by my son's face it over-exposed his skin resulting in an unusable shot. Also, the tube of the Lightsaber was very transparent, not giving it the feel of solid light. More road blocks, what to do...what to do?

Well, my 9 year-old found the solution. What a creative child.

Gustavo thinks gaffers tap is the greatest thing ever. For those of you that don't use gaffers tape I suggest getting some. Think of it as duct tape that is easy to remove, and it was what I used to attach the gel to the flash and create a cap for the end of the gel tube. Gustavo noticed that the light at the top of our home made Lightsaber was stronger than in the main part of the tube. His suggestion, use more gaffers tape. Brilliant!!!!

Placing gaffers tape along the back and part of the side of the tube there was the dual effect of creating a reflector and gobo for the light. The tube took on a more solid appearance while keeping some the strongest light off my son's face. What a bright kid, no pun intended. :-) In the end we had a 430 EX (aka: Lightsaber) with a 1/2 green gel at 1/64th power as our main light

Once this problem was solved I just had to setup the fill light. A reflector would not work as out Lightsaber did not send off enough light to reflect. We ended up using a 580 EXII at 1/32nd power just a tad to camera right with a 1/2 green gel and a 1/8 grid to fill in the face. Worked just fine and kept the look of the glow from the Lightsaber going.

Below is a quick setup shot. Notice the speedlight based Lightsaber in my son's hand. Yes, that is a radio trigger hanging from the speedlight. And yes, he is wearing a sweatshirt as his Jedi robe. Its the best thing I could think of. :-)

So what does everyone think? Most importantly, and as always, did we achieve the goal, does he look like a Jedi?

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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.

Protective Puppy

2010-02-06T22:30:00.006-06:00

In Ansel Adams' Biography (CLICK HERE to see it on Amazon) he states how he liked the proliferation of cameras to the general public. He said that these cameras made it possible for moments in time to be frozen, moments that would not be captured otherwise. I've always liked this philosophy and tried to subscribe to the moments in time when ever I can.

The other day my son was home sick from school. It was one of those illnesses where he was sick enough to not go to school but not sick enough to have a bad day. Fortunately I work from home and was able to keep an eye on him. When an hour or so had past and I had not heard any noise from him upstairs I assumed he had fallen asleep on the sofa. So I went up to check and what I found was one of the moments in time Ansel Adams spoke of.

We have two dogs. A male German Shepherd and a Female Golden Retriever. The female is very attached to my son and takes it upon herself to protect him when ever possible. Needless to say, when he is sick the instinct to protect goes into over-drive, hence the image above. I count myself lucky that I had left my camera bag on a nearby table and was able to get the above before the delicate balance was ruined and both woke up. Which of course they did when they heard the sound of camera.

Anyway, I wanted to share this as I thought everyone might like it and have similar stories to share. Let me know any experiences like this you might have. I would love to hear them.

52 Variations - Variation Five

2010-02-01T18:22:00.012-06:00

Nerf Warrior

Let me start out by saying that my son is one of the gentlest children I have ever met. That is not just me, a proud father saying that, it is a common comment about him. That he is gentle to all things, almost to the point of harming himself so another won't be.

So it was a surprise to me when discussing this week's project shot when he said he wanted to show off his Nerf Dart side. I knew what he meant, he takes on a different attitude when playing Nerf Darts. He is so focused on eliminating his opponent it is amazing. By the way, that opponent is usually me and I'm a large enough target which means he rarely misses.

With the above in mind we decided to shoot him as a Nerf Warrior, someone intimidating and bent on victory. Below is our attempt at that. You will have to let me know if we were successful.

While executing the shot was not difficult, strobist info to come later, choosing a shot was hard. I ended up with two shots that have different feels to them. One was my favorite and one was my son's favorite. Below are the shots with a brief description as to why each of us chose them.

Shot #1:

Gustavo's pick because it made him look tough. In case you are wondering, and pick up on it a bit, yes he was growling when I took the picture. It was a cute growl you had to be there though.

Shot #2:

My pick because it shows a bit of the child he is while bringing out how serious he is about the game. I like how it reinforces his age. It could be his left hand or his face, I'm not sure, but it makes the capture for me.

What does everyone think? Which is the best and why?

Now on to the boring strobist stuff...

I was going for some dramatic lighting which I achieved using two speedlights. A 580 EXII above to camera right at 1/4 power with a 1/2 CTO gel and a 5" snoot to focus the light while giving some hard shadows. The second was a 430 EX level to his face and a touch to camera left at 1/2 power with another 1/2 CTO gel and a 1/8 grid to soften its shadows and act as fill and directional light at the same time. Below is the setup shot.

Yes, he was sitting through the shoot. It took me a while to get things how I wanted them so I let him sit so as to not tire him out. I just got on my stomach while taking the pics. Thank goodness the dogs were outside or I would have been licked to death.

So what does everyone think? Which capture is best and why? Most importantly, did we achieve the goal, does he look like a Nerf Warrior?

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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 Four

2010-01-24T20:15:00.008-06:00

Research

It was a tough one this week. I had a very elaborate shot planned which involved all kinds of photographic magic and skill. No I wasn't going to bring in a guess shooter. Well, not as far as you know. :-) However, my son had to work on a school project which consumed his entire weekend.

Trying to get time to do the planned shoot proved impossible so I had to go with Plan B. Almost sounds like a had a Plan B doesn't it. Plan B ended up being my taking advantage of the research session he was doing with my wife, doing a "no involvement needed" shoot. The idea was to get them by the glow of the laptop. Below is my feeble attempt at "no involvement needed".

I would have preferred to set a flash on the keyboard (so the light looked to be coming from the laptop) but couldn't as they were using it for their research so I settled for propping a 580 EXII gridded and gelled with a 1/2 CTO on the table by them setting it to 1/128th power. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. At least that is the story I'm sticking with.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have a setup shot. Right after I took the above the research session broke up and both my wife and son were gone. Opportunity missed.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed with the photo as I know I am capable of much better, but am proud I kept to my shooting schedule, finding opportunity where ever I could. Don't worry folks, I'll be back strong next week. See you then.

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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 shot by Clicking Here.

Photography Bucket List

2010-01-19T21:36:00.003-06:00

Darren Rowse over at the Digital Photography school recently posted his Photography "Bucket List". I love this idea, listing things I would love to shoot but have not had the chance to do so yet.

As a result, I have decided to steal, ehem, borrow, Darren's idea and create a Photography "Bucket List" of my own. This list will be updated as I can, marking off the items I've completed and adding new ones as they come to me. So be sure to come back often to see how I'm doing.

Now for the list.

A Beautiful Sunset: You know one of those classic ones over an ocean or mountain range. Problem it is requires my getting out of the city. Now that is a novel concept.
Sparkling Child Eyes: Those eyes that are so bright, so colorful and so sharp they seem to draw you in.
A Compelling Pano: Not sure of what yet, but something breathtaking in its scope. Perhaps a skyline shot of Chicago, but there are so many of those.
A Wedding: I would like to be the primary on a wedding. This is a long way off for me skill and courage wise, but I would love the challenge of capturing the emotion of one of the most emotional days a couple can have.
A 365 Project: I would love to have the time to devote to such an endeavor. Perhaps when I retire. :-)
The Homeless Project: Here is in Chicago there are so many homeless that they go largely unnoticed for those of use going about our lives. A while ago I began documenting an idea for highlighting their unknown presence among us. This is something close to my heart as a former Social Worker and is something I feel compelled to do.

Thats it for now, check back for updates. Now you just have to share what is on your Photography "Bucket List".

Thank you for the great idea Darren.

52 Variations - Variation Three

2010-01-16T21:45:00.009-06:00

Snap Shot

Week three is here and I'm ready to post a day early...yet again. What momentum, what dedication, how exciting! Okay, posting a day early is not really exciting but I'll take what I can get, no matter how small and insignificant.

This weeks photograph was inspired by my son himself. Not in the way the entire project was, this time he told me what he wanted the picture to be. I love that he is taking an active role in the 52 Variations Project. Digressing for just a moment, he does love taking pictures and has a wonderful eye. I wish I could master the rule of thirds the way he does. Not bad for a 9 year-old.

So here was the idea, that I should take a picture of him taking a picture of me. How simple how beautiful. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it. My planned picture for the week was much more complex, and much more mundane. The brilliance of a 9 year-old, how I wish I were 9 again. So here it is, my son's brilliance at work.

Here's the how we did it. I gave my son my 40D, yes without the grip, (he is only 9 after all) and my Nifty Fifty (50 f 1.8). The trick was deciding how to trigger it. Expecting us both to push the button at the same time was too optimistic, so I called my buddy at FlashZebra (Lon) and ordered a cable so I could trigger the 40D with my CyberSyncs. It was a thing of beauty as I was able to trigger the 40D and 580 EXII (upper camera right at 1/4 power) at the same time. It was sweet, if I do say so myself.

The last two weeks I found I fell in a rut or was about to as I used a 1/8 grid and 1/2 CTO on my 580 EXII. This week I wanted the light source larger but yet soft, so I used my 43" Wescott collapsable umbrella in a shoot through manner. Worked like a charm, at least I think so. Let me know if you think I'm smoking crack on this one. Below is a quick shot of the setup. As always, please ignore my messy basement. (Note that the CyberSync triggering the camera is on the floor as the cable was nice and long.)

There are things I would do differently next time. For example my depth of field is too shallow and the Canon and 40D stamps on the camera are not sharp. Also, I had to crop out his right hand as his index finger was not on the shutter button. Kind of ruins the illusion of him taking the picture. However, in the end I'm happy with the outcome as long as I did justice to my son's idea while getting a bit creative by capturing him while firing his flash while softly applying lighting to his face and the camera.

So what does everyone think? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and input.

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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 shot by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Two

2010-01-09T11:50:00.006-06:00

Piano Hands

Ok, week 2 is done and even a day early. I was motivated as I will be traveling on business as of tomorrow and if I did not get it done today it would not be done. I'm proud of myself as I do not want to miss my goal for the year.

This week the picture is of my son practicing the piano. I wanted to focus only on the hands and ended up achieving this with a similar lighting setup as last week with my 580 EXII above him to left on a light stand at 1/128th power while being gelled with a 1/2 CTO and using a 1/8 grid.

In the end the picture took very little post processing, just adding some edge darkening and some sharpening for the web. Other than that it is out of the camera. So here it is, Piano Hands...

On the whole I am pleased with the shot but there are of course some things I would change. For example, I would have pulled back the sleeve on the sweatshirt he was wearing as it invades his left hand. Attention to detail is something I need to continue to work on. Oh well, what is life without constant advancement. :-) But as I said, on the whole I am pleased with the outcome and my wife is already asking for a print. That is a very good sign!

And for those of you that like setup shots...

Feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you think.

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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 shot by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation One

2010-01-04T21:13:00.014-06:00

Focus

Here we go sports fans. The first of my weekly project for 2010. I'll do my best to keep these posts short, so lets get going.

My son like millions of other children loves video games, in particular, his Wii. Watching him play this evening I decided to get him playing to the glow of the TV. Below is my attempt at that.

The setup was simple. My son was sitting on the sofa, actually playing his Wii by the way, with my 580 EXII about 3 feet in front of him on a light stand at 1/128th power. The 580 was gelled with a 1/2 CTO and had a 1/8 grid on it to focus and soften the light. I didn't want the light to spread too broadly while not wanting harsh shadows, hence why I did not use a snoot.

By the way, did I note that my son does not love having his picture taken? Well, he doesn't as he has been my photography test subject for years. If you don't believe me take a look at the below from this week's shoot. It shows that he tolerates my obsession. Thank you Gustavo for putting up with me.

Well, what does everyone think? Do you like the lighting, do you get the feeling he is illuminated by a video game screen?

Oh and for those of you that like setup shots here you go. Just please ignore my messy basement.

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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 shot by Clicking Here.

52 Variations

2010-01-03T20:30:00.035-06:00

aJust like millions of photographers out there I made a new years resolution to shoot more. My first instinct was to do a 365, or shot a day project. However, I know myself and I know my workload from my paying job. Anyone who reads this blog knows I can go some time without making a post due to my job. So I need to temper my project with the reality of my job.

Reality, how boring, how do I do a project with the reality of my work...hmmm....let me think...

The idea of a shot every week is very doable. My first stab at that with the Shot a Week project last year showed that. I had a goal of 10 weeks and made my goal. So I decided to extend my goal, or stretch it a bit. So here we go...

The idea is a shot a week. No excitement or challenge in that, but each shot is to be of my son and there must be one for each week of the year and must be planned, not candids, and involve some sort of staging even if it is simple. Hence the name 52 Variations. I want to force myself to plan and execute, not just take advantage of what is in front of me. I've determined that is the area I need to grow in, planning and execution.

My objective is to plan the shot during the week, executing it over the weekend and post it on either Sunday or Monday of the following week. This is realistic and very possible, even with my workload.

So keep you eyes open on Sundays or Mondays for a new shot of my son. He is an unwilling subject so this should be fun.

Click here for the Flickr Pool for the project.

Project Index:

- Variation One: Focus

- Variation Two: Piano Hands

- Variation Three: Snap Shot

- Variation Four: Research

- Variation Five: Nerf Warrior

- Variation Six: Jedi

- Variation Seven: At Play

- Variation Eight: Light Art

- Variation Nine: Sweet Dreams

- Variation Ten: Grandparents

- Variation Eleven: Puppy Play

- Variation Twelve: Burbuja

- Variation Thirteen: Razor
- Variation Fourteen: Spring
- Variation Fifteen: Aquaman
- Variation Sixteen: Tender Moment
- Variation Seventeen: Speed
- Variation Eighteen: Joyful
- Variation Nineteen: Jammin
- Variation Twenty: Pull...Pull
- Variation Twenty-One: Futbol
- Variation Twenty-Two: Fore
- Variation Twenty-Three: Bummer
- Variation Twenty-Four: Chef
- Variation Twenty-Five: Pool Play
- Variation Twenty-Six: Sprinkler Play
- Variation Twenty-Seven: Aim...Fire!!!
- Variation Twenty-Eight: Hug
- Variation Twenty-Nince: Little Sister
- Variation Thirty: Duck!
- Variation Thirty-One: Hide & Seek
- Variation Thirty-Two: Making the Shot

Starting off the year right

2010-01-01T14:05:00.003-06:00

How long as it been, too long I know. While we were in a recession in 2009 and I was fortunate to be employed work was a killer. The scramble for business and the the nature of my full time work consumed all of me in the second half of 2009. So of course keeping up my blog was the last thing on my mind. It shouldn't of been, but it was. I needed it but it just wasn't possible with everything else going on.

Of course I have a resolution for a new project and have a new system to ensure I follow through with it better than I did with the Picture a Week Project, so keep an eye open for a description of what will be going on with that.

For now I leave you with the above water drop shot I did the day after Christmas with my son. The purpose of the shoot was to educate him on some basics physics, but it was also fun for me as water drop shots were something I had been wanting to do for a while. Feel free to take a look at the full set of shots at Flickr if you want to.

Talk to you soon.

Rediscovering 17mm

2009-08-04T10:56:00.006-05:00

So, I was on vacation with the family in Washington, DC. While I always love being on vacation with the Familia I also use these opportunities to take pictures...something I can never get enough of.

I went with a straight forward kit consisting of the below, taking some things I knew I would need and others I hoped I would use.

- 5D Mark II

- 24-105 f/4 L

- 17-40 f/4 L

- 70-200 f/2.8 L

- 580 EX II

- Tripod

- Other misc. items like batteries, etc.

Now, I knew I would use the camera, duh, and the 24-105 as it is a great travel lens so that was a given. However, I had my doubts about the 70-200 and the tripod. I was pleased I got to use the 70-200 even though it was only once, but I did. I did not get to use the tripod, no surprise, I brought it for night photography but was too tired after all the walking during the day to go back out at night.

What was a pleasant surprise was my 17-40, a lens I've always enjoyed but don't get to use as often as I like. It has been months since I had a need for it and I new I would need it when indoors at the various Capital Buildings and Monuments, but boy did I forget what it can do in the simplest of applications. Take the picture above as an example.

Its a simple portrait of my wife and son standing in front of the US Capital Building. Using a standard range lens I would have to back up quite a bit to get them in the picture, resulting in a lot of useless space a need to crop, etc. With the 17-40 on I was able to get nice and close, keeping them as the center of attention while getting the whole Capital Building in the background. Short of a a slight angle fix (something a lot of my pics from the trip needed - I seem to have been tilted the whole time) has no cropping, you just have a love that about a lens.

So my wish for everyone is that you go out and use a lens you have not touched in a while. Force yourselves to do so. You know why you love these lenses and why you keep them, you just need to go and remind yourselves by seeing some real world examples.

Oh, and have fun.

Picture a Week Project - Week 10

2009-07-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

Metro

I find myself saying for the second time that it has been far too long since I posted to the project. Dustin Diaz and his Daily Picture Project are putting me to shame. May I be worthy. :-)

Regardless...

Above is a shot I took while on vacation with the family last month. Was standing in the metro station in DC playing with settings and got the above. My objective was to capture the movement of the train and bring out some drama in the lighting, etc. What does everyone think? This is not an award winning photo by any means but does it stir anything up in you?

Love to hear your feedback.

Week 9: Eyes Have It

Domke F-3x Review

2009-06-30T10:21:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to post my opinions of this bag for sometime as it has been grab and go bag for sometime. Let me give one caveat to start. This is not a professional product review, it is my review of how I use the F-3x, nothing more. I will discuss how I load it, etc. so read on if you find such things interesting.

We all know about the pluses of Domke bags. The durability, flexibility, room, etc. is almost legendary, and if you don't know about these things Jon at POTN will gladly remind you. What I want to discuss is what fit in this Tardis like bag (that was for the Dr. Who fans out there). So lets take a look at what this bad boy can do.

Lets start with a shot of everything I load in it as my grab and go F3-x. (Excuse the pictures, batteries in my 40D were dead so I used my wife's P&S)

Here is where everything goes.

Main Compartment:

5DII with grip and L-Bracket attached
24-105 f/4 L hood reversed attached to 5DII
17-40 f/4 L in wrap around pouch
85 f/1.8 hood reversed in wrap around puch

Front Compartment:

Hood for 17-40 f/4 L
RRS B87-B flash bracket
Extra AA batteries
Memory cards
Body & Lens cap

End Compartment #1:

580EX II

End Compartment #2:

Pocket Knife
Flashlight
Rocket Blower
ETTL cord courtesy of FlashZebra
Glasses

Back Compartment:

Lumiquest ProMax System

Here are two shots of it loaded up.

Front:

Top:

Everything fits well and access to the items is very easy. Only catch is that I must remove the 5DII to get to my other lenses. But that is not an issue since I only need them when changing lenses so the 5DII is already out of the bag.

And for everyone's reference here is a shot of the F-3x with the main compartment open, just so you can see how things look.

Extra lenses only:

With 5DII:

I have to be honest that it took me some time to come to this configuration. I started out by not pushing the bag any and as a result what I fit in it was limiting. However, over time I found myself adding this then that, and eventually learning the beauty of a Domke, its ability to continue to take what ever you throw at it. In fact, I'm sure I could fit more if I really wanted to.

The only thing to be aware of is that the bag can get heavy fast as you continue to load it up. That is what led me to get a Postman's Pad. The pad is amazing, it makes carrying the bag no matter how full a breeze.

One question I often get is if a 70-200 will work in the F-3x. I'm sure it would, but I have to be honest in that when I use my 70-200 f/2.8 I move to my F2. I like the extra room.

I hope you find this useful. As I mentioned the purpose of this post is not be a formal review but to provide an idea of what can fit in the F-3x. I guess the final question is "would I recommend this bag?" My answer...without a doubt!!!

Letting Go...

2009-06-29T21:35:00.003-05:00

There is an old joke in photography that goes something like this...

A man is standing with his wife watching a beautiful sunset. They are lovingly looking into each others eyes when in the golden sunlight his wife says with a soft tender voice, "I love you." At this moment what is going through the man's mind, "I love you too", "You are wonderful", or other such niceties, nope. Instead, he is thinking 1/125th at f/5.6.

Its a fun little joke, but shows how many of us are constantly thinking of our art and not the moment. Here is where I would normally leave all of you to reflect on the need to let go and recognize where you are, blah, blah, blah. But nope, this is where I tell myself to recognize where I am, blah, blah, blah.

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary. I have been married to the most wonderful person imaginable for 13 years, it is hard to believe that she has tolerated me for so long. :-) In a tender moment this evening we sat down with our 8 year-old son to look at our wedding pictures. There was oohing, ahhing and fond memories galore. Through it all what did I do? Let me tell you, I kept looking at the pictures thinking that the backgrounds were underexposed and the poses were poorly executed.

Not only was I thinking this but I made the mistake of mentioning it to my wife. How stupid could I be, I was essentially implying that she did not look good. How dumb could I be? As you can imagine, there was back peddling and many assurances that she was in fact beautiful...which is no lie by the way. I even went as far as to say the photographer probably underexposed the background in order to draw attention to her. I think that one might have worked...ok it didn't. :-)

So the lesson for me is to let go of my obsessions and live in the moment. Being a photographer is fine and I do love it, but being a good husband is much more important to me. So honey if you are reading this, I love you and thanks for putting up with me for all these years. I hope to one day earn the love you shower on me so freely.

Picture a Week Project - Week 9

2009-05-27T21:06:00.003-05:00

Eyes Have It

Had an opportunity this past weekend to hook up with my best friend and his family. Why is this special? He has been living in Europe for the past 4 years and I have not had the opportunity to meet either of his children. So when we got together at the park I of course brought my camera.

The shot above is his oldest son. The shot is far from perfect and is not nearly as sharp as it should be if I were on my game, had the camera in One Shot which does not allow for moving children. Grrr. :-) Anyway, this little boy's eyes just jump out at me. The are large bright and expressive. So this weeks post is dedicated to this little lad with the big expressive eyes.

I will have to make the time to photograph him again some time. There are stories to be told in the eyes.

Week 8: Baseball Fun

Week 10: Metro

Picture a Week Project - Week 8

2009-05-20T21:03:00.004-05:00

Baseball Fun

So my wife walked up to me and said that she needed a quick portrait of our son in his Little League uniform. No pressure....

Furthermore, we had to do the shoot in our back yard in bright sunlight and no shade. Oh, and there was no time to setup lightstands, etc. so there was no chance of overpowering the sun with one speedlight. My goose was cooked.

Anyway, the pictures turned out okay even though I wasn't able to eliminate shadows completely. I was even able to get over my frustrations to take a couple fun pics, the above being my favorite. So what did I learn, to get past myself and my need to do things certain ways and just enjoy the moment. When with family that is the most important thing after all.

Week 7: Confidence

Week 9: Eyes Have It

Picture a Week Project - Week 7

2009-05-05T11:04:00.003-05:00

Confidence:

I'm so happy!

This past weekend was my son's first communion which gave me the opportunity to hold a portrait session in front of the church at a gazebo at the local park. I was excited I would be shooting on a sunny day but in a shaded area, how would I approach this? Hmmmm, let me think...photographic geek-type excitement.

I ended up using two speedlights. One was camera right at full power shooting into a silver lined umbrella and the second was camera left gobo'ed to prevent lens glare and shooting at 1/16th. Both were gelled with a 1/4 CTO to match the sun and give the subjects some warmth.

In general, I'm very pleased with how these turned out. There are a few rookie mistakes, my son was moving around not keeping the church in a consistent postion and I managed to cut off part of his foot in the shot above, but again, given how hard it is to keep an 8 year-old still I'm very pleased. On a side note, this was the first shoot I've done with him where he didn't use the standard all teeth smile which anyone with kids knows is phony and reveals nothing about the subject. This time we were able to get an expression which reveals a bit of his nature. I think I'm starting to get over the hump on this issue. The title for this post comes from his expression, he just has an air of confidence...it seemed to just work.

Let me know what you think, and please share your experience as well.

Week 6: Pride
Week 8: Baseball Fun

Picture a Week Project - Week 6

2009-04-28T09:25:00.004-05:00

Pride:

Alright, it has been far too long since I posted to this project, I've been bad, I'm very sorry. However, this past week I was finally able to get out and do some shooting and was able to capture the below. Woohoo, I finally held a camera again.

The above is a shot of my son at a friend's 1st communion party. I call this shot 'Pride' as it reminds me of one of those shots of a restaurant owner in front of his life's work. Now, my son is not a restaurant owner, he is only 8, but the expression on his face is a break from the normal teeth grin he usually provides and the smirk or half smile is as if he knows something I don't - which by the way is probably true.

The shot was executed simply with an flash and flash bracket set to vertical mode. I was playing around with him getting him to the point where he was about to poke me or toss something at me, those things an 8 year-old does, everyone with children know what I'm talking about. It was at the point he thought I wouldn't take the picture that I did. The processing was minimal just a bit of color boost.

As usual, take a look and let me know your thoughts.

Week 5: Victory is Mine
Week 7: Confidence

iPhone Shots

2009-04-16T21:06:00.005-05:00

I acknowledge that have a project going on now, the Picture a Week Project, however, I am having such a good time with the iPhone and the post processing that can be done with it, I decided to upload any pictures I take with it to Flickr.

There are only a few rules.

The picture must be taken with my iPhone.
Any post processing must be done in the iPhone, no use of Lightroom or Photoshop.
The images must be uploaded right from the iPhone to guarantee they have not been touched on a PC.

So stop by and take a look now and again. To view the iPhone set on Flickr, Click Here.

Oh, and I do want to give a quick thank you for the inspiration to do this to Chase Jarvis. Chase is doing a wonderful iPhone Project and has inspired me to do mine. Not that my shots will be anywhere as good as what Chase creates.

iPhone Picture Quality

2009-04-15T14:51:00.005-05:00

Well I've been out playing around with my new toy a bit and am enjoying the heck out of it. One thing I have noticed is that the many comments andcriticisms about the camera are justified. It is limited in pixel count, is horrible in low light, etc., etc.

However, given all the software (discussion to come later on that) which is available for post processing right on the iPhone makes for some very usable results. The above is an example of my son and which was post processed in the iPhone and uploaded right to Flickr. Using the basic photography mantra of know your gear and its limitations I think I ended up with a usable picture which is sort of fun with the balloon and boarder added. This is a first pass and very rough but I think representative of what can be done.

So, stay tuned, more to come on this and other things as I play more and more.

iPhone Goodness

2009-04-14T18:28:00.001-05:00

Ok, caved..I bought an iPhone. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do, but this thing is fantastic!

I have a lot to learn but am finding the flexibility amazing. I fact out of tribute to this device I'm doing this post from my iPhone...how coolis that.

Anyway, I will be posting more on the device, apps which are useful, so stay tuned.

I know there are a ton of posts like this, but I'm a geek and this thing is so cool.

Mobile Blogging from here.

Gel Holder

2009-04-08T13:40:00.003-05:00

With 3 speedlights and several gels for each I needed to come up with a way to carry them around. Something simple yet effective. So here is what I came up with...

Lets start off by talking about what I have to carry. I carry the following which you can multiply by 3 for a total of 24 gels. (You can pick all of the below cut for your speedlights from PhotoGels.com.)

Full CTO
1/2 CTO
1/4 CTO
Full CTB
1/2 CTB
1/4 CTB
Full Plusgreen
1/2 Plusgreen
1/4 Plusgreen

So how could I carry it? First a discussion of the mechanics of attaching the gels to the speedlight. Actually, this is easy enough, I put velcro on the gel and use a speedstrap to attach it to the speedlight. Why is the important you ask, because in my DIY gel holder that velcro will also keep the gel in place there. Again, simple enough, no rocket science.

With the above, lets get on to the actual holder. The concept is to use a day planner and use adhesive velcro to attach the gels, one gel type per open page set. Very simple but very effective. Below are a few shots of the planner with different gels so you can see how it all comes together.

1/4 CTO:

Full Plusgreen:

1/2 CTB:

As you can see, it makes identifying the gels to use nice and easy and with the velcro in place I am able to transfer them in and out as needed without fuss. There is only one challenge I have faced with this system. The planner gets very thick due to the added bulk of the gels and velcro. It could be easily overcome by using a bigger planner but I wanted to go no bigger than what would fit in the end pocket of Domke bag. Hence, my setup looks bulky, but it is light and plyable, easily used and carried. However, in the spirit of full disclosure below is a picture of the holder on its side so you can see the thickness.

Anyway, take a look and give it a try, I think you'll find it usable. More importantly, if you have any gel holder ideas let me know about them. I'm always looking to improve my systems.

Picture a Week Project - Week 5

2009-04-03T18:31:00.003-05:00

Victory is Mine!

Well, I've been bad. I didn't get a picture last week to post. Work has been insane and well, that is how I pay the mortgage.

I decided to dig into my archives and see what I could find. The above is a picture taken at the Bristol Renaissance Fair outside of Chicago in August of 2008. I've always liked how this turned out just do to the bit of drama picked up. Not a lot to say, this week I'm merely sharing a picture I've always enjoyed.

As always let me know what you think. I will be better next week, I promise.

Week 4: Tired
Weel 6: Pride

Picture a Week Project - Week 4

2009-03-27T13:09:00.004-05:00

Tired:

It has been quite a week. Work is killing me but I don't want to lose focus of my project commitment. So when I saw this picture after shooting some pictures of my son's Track-A-Thon (a fund raiser for his school) where he gets pledges to run around a track, racking up the dollars, I knew I had my picture for the week.

The above was taken at lap 68 with a minute and a half to go. My son committed to running 70 laps. Ya know what, in the remaining minute and a half he did it, he completed 70 laps exactly. He taught me a lesson, no matter how tired more can always be done. (I acknowledge this sounds a bit like a sports gear add.) Relating this to myself, no matter how much I'm working I can always shoot and find pictures which make me reflective, which teach me something, which force me to grow in something I love.

So while this weeks post is short, take a look and reflect about your passion, do you have the time, do you make the time, will you hit your 70 laps no matter how tired you are?

Week 3: Reading
Week 5: Victory is Mine!

Picture a Week Project - Week 3

2009-03-23T14:39:00.007-05:00

Reading:

Wanted to look at things a bit differently this week. Having started shooting back in the film days I was taught to always try and solve all issues in camera, to have the picture as taken represent what I want it to be. As a result it has always been a bit of a struggle for me to see an existing image differently as the result of post processing. This is due to my taking it as I want it to be and why you often see me saying that a picture required very little post processing.

When my wife and son were reading this past weekend I took the opportunity to take a quick shot as I thought it was cute how they were laying on the bed. Below is the picture I intended it to be, a nice traditional snap shot.

It is what I meant, clean and simple with a little bit of a knowing look coming from my son. Its that look where he is telling me to leave him alone and stop taking pictures already. :-) Yes, he is my favorite subject.

It was the look that made me consider another take on this picture. Looking at pictures processed at the dawn of color film and the styles of the 70's street photographers I thought that a LOMO based look with higher contrast and muted colors would be interesting. Below is what I came up with, a LOMO version of the same picture.

I'm not sure I'm in love the the above, but it is different and demonstrates as with last week's picture, that I'm seeing more than I initially would, this makes me very happy. Anyway, let me know which rendition you prefer, I'd love to hear the feedback.

Week 2: Transformer
Week 4: Tired

What The Duck

2009-03-13T22:17:00.003-05:00

Been wanting to let everyone know about the cartoon strip 'What The Duck' for some time now. Published by Aaron Johnson this is a very entertaining look at photography illustrating its humor through our main protagonist, a duck...yes, I said a duck. Personally, I find this the perfect parody as photographers love to test new equipment by taking pictures of ducks. I don't know why this is, but its fun and makes for a great comic strip in Aaron's capable hands.

You can find information on 'What The Duck' by clicking here. If you want Aaron also publishes a weekly YouTube animated strip. You can find all the strips by clicking here.

Below is his most recent post on YouTube, enjoy....

Picture a Week Project - Week 2

2009-03-11T11:24:00.006-05:00

Transformer:

Okay, I'm not a guy that is excited by cars. They are nice to have, but I don't spend much money on them nor am I usually impressed by them. When I buy a car I buy it for utility, not because it is fast, or cool. Strange as this is to my family, I come from a family of car mechanics, a profession to which my Father and Brother both belong. So when my wife and I went to the Chicago Auto Show this year it was to research a new car purchase, not to just look around. As my wife will attest, I'm very task oriented at this type of event going with a list of cars to look at and as usual I wanted to review those and then leave. Nothing surprising, its my MO.

Then something unusual happened. I was walking by the GM display and came across the new Stingray concept car. It caught my attention, but not why you might think. I kept thinking how much like a Transformer (yes the Hasbro toy) the car looked...so I started taking some pictures. It didn't disappoint as the tail light reminds me of the eye, as if the Transformer is looking at me. I had a vision of the environment being dark with light showing the contours of the car. All of the above was done with available light and the only post processing I did was to boost the blacks a bit to darken the non-car areas of the shot.

What I like is that this showed that I was seeing something for more than it appears to be at first glance...seeing what something could be. To me this demonstrates that I'm using a new part of my brain, being less rigid than I normally am. So thanks to a car, something I'm normally not excited by, I've expanded and grown. Thanks GM. ;-)

As usual, take a look and let me know what you think. You can find the full gallery of Transformer shots on Flickr by clicking here.

Week 1: Three Friends
Week 3: Reading

Picture a Week Project - Week 1

2009-03-03T17:51:00.016-06:00

Three Friends:

This is a picture that revealed quite a bit about the subjects to me. The shot is of my son Gustavo (center) and two of his best friends. The one on the right and my son are very close, they call each other best friend and how they are leaning into each other is typical. They have a genuine concern and caring for each other, typical of an 8 year-old friendship.

However, its the boy on the left that brings the story to the picture. He is a best friend of my son as well, but is a very independent spirit. He's a great kid, but you often see in his affect that he is independent and does not need anyone, that he is here by choice and could leave at anytime. He adds the character to the picture. The stark contrast of the two that cannot be separated juxtaposed to the one that is fiercely independent is fascinating to me.

I kept the processing simple, just doing some high contrast black and white. It allows the picture to remain simple while naturally placing the two close subjects brighter than the one off to the side. It just seemed to inherently exemplify the contrast (no pun intended) between the two themes.

Anyway, let me know what you think, the shot is far from perfect, but the story it tells is compelling to me.

Week 2: Transformer

Picture a Week Project - Introduction

2009-03-01T09:54:00.006-06:00

Work has is very busy lately and I find my shooting has decreased to the point where I find it concerning. Thus the Picture a Week Project is born. The projects objective is simple and while I intend for this to the first of many projects, it is the first so I need to make my goal achievable.

The idea is not to force myself to try new things as ideas are not the issue, but to force myself to take pictures. That is what I need right now, I need to take pictures plain and simple. This does not mean there are no parameters or controls to the project. The pictures have to meet two criteria.

It got me out to take the picture.
An either or...

That it tells a story about the subjects. or...
That there is a story as to how the picture came to be.

To me photographs are about stories so that is the purpose, that there be a story and I get off my duff and take some pictures.

So sit back and enjoy and let me know your thoughts. Also, don't be shy about letting me know when I'm late getting up submissions. I'll need your encouragement to make this happen. I look at this like a weight loss program but in this case I want to lose spare time not weight.

Click Here to see the Flickr pool of images.

New Pocket Wizards

2009-02-26T14:26:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm excited about the new Pocket Wizards and their ability to support ETTL. However, I learned of a serious concern. Apparently when using them with a 580EX II, 430EX II or 430 EX the range of the triggers is limited to 50 feet. This is a pretty serious issue for me. 50 feet is not nearly enough. I'll continue to monitor this but it is something that would make me go with RadioPoppers over the Pocket Wizards.

Also, I learned something new about the RadioPoppers this week. Seems with a PX transmitter you can get High Speed Sync even when using JrX receivers. This is very exciting as it allows a step into a high value (at least for me) feature without having to shell out for the PX receivers initially.

I'll let everyone know what I continue to find out.

Now I'm confused

2009-02-20T20:59:00.005-06:00

Well, I know I need TTL metering and High Speed Sync with any remotes I purchase, so I had resigned myself to the fact that I would need Radio Poppers. Well, of course now I have options. Pocket Wizard announced this week that they have TTL compatible remotes for Canon and Nikon coming out in March. Just great. :-)

These things look fantastic as they don't need wires to attach to a flash nor do they need to mount over the infrared sensor like the Radio Poppers. They simply mount using the hot shoe adapter. Further, they have a feature called Hyper Sync which essentially allows the sync speed of your flash to increase. For example you can get a Canon 1D Mark III to sync at 1/500 of a second, very cool in deed.

There are two models, the MiniTT1 which is mounted on the camera to control remote flashes and the FlexTT5 which can be a transmitter or receiver. With the FlexTT5 you can control your camera as well. With prices being $199 for the MiniTT1 and $219 for the FlexTT5 you just can't go wrong as they come in cheaper than the Radio Poppers.

Well, take a look at them with the links above and let me know what you think. You can also see the Strobist review of these by clicking here or Chase Jarvis discussion by clicking here.

Now I have to make a decision. Great, just great, I hate making decisions.

Shooting in the Mountains

2009-02-05T10:46:00.000-06:00

Meant to post this some time ago, but hey, I'm finally getting around to it.

I took this shot while on business travel in Phoenix. I like to take one body and a walk around lens with me on all trips. My hope is that I will get out in the evenings to take some pictures and relax. While I'm not usually able to get out, given late work nights, this was a happy day where I did.

So I get in my car, not knowing Phoenix at all, and started driving about. I ended up in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix and stumbled upon the above at sunset. Trust me this was luck, I'm not good enough to be in plan for this sort of event on purpose. After all Ansel Adam's moon picture was a happen to come across a moment photograph, so I figure I'm in good company. (No, I'm not comparing myself to Ansel Adams, I'm just saying we were both lucky once.)

Taking out my trusty camera I snap a few hand-held shots which with very little processing (bumping the darks and boosting vibrancy) I end up with the above. When I return home and process the images I'm thrilled. What more could I hope for.

Here is where it gets fun. I was on the phone with some co-workers in the Phoenix area, telling them about my excursion. They are thrilled for be but had one question. "Did you see any snakes or scorpions?" Snakes & scorpions I ask, you have to be kidding? Let be set the record straight, I'm a city guy, I have lived in major cities most of my life and always find it a bit strange to not have concrete around trees. So you can tell me about roaches and I'm fine, but snakes and scorpions, I don't think so. Apparently, snakes & scorpions are very common in Arizona. In Chicago we get roaches while they get scorpions in Arizona. That confirms it, I'm never moving to Arizona.

So why did I post this picture? Because its pretty? Nope! Because I learned a lesson taking it. The lesson being that I should pay attention to my surroundings, keeping myself aware of what is going on around me. Every time I see a sunset or mountain photograph I think of this lesson and smile. It was a good trip, a good trip in deed.

Have any of you encountered this lesson? If so, let post your experience, I would love to read about it?

L-Bracket Heaven

2009-01-29T09:39:00.008-06:00

So I finally knuckled under and got an L-Bracket for my 5DII. Thanks to my friends at POTN I was referred over to the folks at Really Right Stuff who make some fantastic products.

You might be wondering what the purpose of an L-Bracket is. Its a good question. But also a very simple one to ask. An L-Bracket is designed to keep you lens over the center of the tripod head regardless of shooting in Landscape or portrait mode. The prevents the camera from hanging off the side of the head, creating more stress on the head and most importantly prevents the aspect of the shot from changing. In one simple change you are able to move the camera from one orientation to the other and still have things line up. If you want a nice review of the L-Bracket advantage go check out this link at Really Right Stuff.

On to what I got...

I decided to use the L-Bracket on my 5DII only as my 40D is for sports and I don't currently have a pressing need for an L-Bracket. Since I always shoot with a grip I got the BGE6-L model which places the bracket comfortably on the camera with the grip attached. Below are a couple pictures of the bracket on the camera. (Note: I took pics myself, but the below from RRS are much better so I'm linking over to them. Thanks RRS!)

As you can see it fits very nicely. I was skeptical getting a bracket as I thought the size and weight would be an issue. Its not! This thing is light and I really don't notice it when shooting. I'm trying to leave it on all the time so I don't have to worry about putting it on when needed. Also, it attaches with a screw on the bottom which would make it a bit tough putting on in a pinch, so leaving it on has benefits.

Now there is one caveat to getting an L-Bracket, you'll need a clamp on your tripod head which can hold an Arca-Swiss type plate. As I use a Manfrotto 488RC2 I needed to make a change as the plate would not work. I ended up getting the RRS B2 LR II which is designed for the Arca type clamps. In the end all I had to do what replace the Manfrotto plate with teh B2 LR II and I was good to go. (Note: If you have a 488RC2 the Manfrotto clamp will be hard to get off as they use locktight on it. Just heat the clamp with a hair dryer to soften the locktight and it will come off easy enough.) Below is a picture of the B2 LR II on my 488.

In the end this setup works fantastic. The 5DII is a dream to mount with the L-Bracket and the clamp is much easier to use than the Manfrotto, I'm very glad I made the change. Let me know if you have any questions on this, I'd be glad to help out where I can.

Genius of Photography

2009-01-20T21:49:00.004-06:00

Then Genius of Photography is a BBC documentary focused on Photography over the decades. Thanks to Pixsylated I’ve learned that all episodes have been posted to YouTube for general consumption. Those of us in the States will appreciate the importance of this as these have been very difficult to catch as they are so infrequently shown.

So, when you have some time go over to Pixsylated and use the links to get to the series on YouTube. I guarantee that you will find it educational and informative, I sure did.

Well, enjoy and let me know your thoughts, I should have all episodes up in the next day or so.

Click Here to go to Pixsylated’s post on the series.

Night During the Day

2009-01-18T00:31:00.002-06:00

I was board today. Then I found a large icicle hanging outside my dining room window. So I pulled out my 5DII and start to take some shots as I’ve always found the textures of ice interesting. Using the ambient light I got board quick. Then I remembered and article I read on Pixsylated (click here) about using high speed sync (HSS) to turn day into night. So I figured, why not lets give it a try.

Below is what I came up with. I cranked up my shutter speed, closed down the aperture and lowered the ISO to get everything as dark as possible. The only post processing was to boost the blacks a bit and add some sharpening.

I have to say I’m happy with the results for a first attempt. Let me know what you think. After each picture is a shot of how the light was setup. I used my 430EX off camera using my homemade clamp (click here) and triggered it with my 580EX II as a master.

One thing this exercise proved to me was how diminished power is in HSS. Not something I couldn’t work with, but it is much the reason the flash is so close to the ice. I eventually knocked the icicle down by bumping it with the flash, or I would have gotten more shots. ooops!!!

You can find the images at my Flickr site if you want to look at larger versions and see the EXIF (click here)

Disney Fireworks

2009-01-07T12:00:00.006-06:00

I often see people asking questions as to how to shoot fireworks and where to take them when at Disney World in Orlando. Just wanted to take a quick moment to outline some of the places I've found which are good for fireworks shots. I will do a post later on how best to take fireworks shots.

Magic Kingdom:

Approaching Cinderella's castle walking up main street go to the right of it as if you are walking to Tomorrow Land. As you make the turn immediately to the left is a Kodak Picture spot. About 45 min prior to the fireworks the Disney potog will leave and you can walk up to this fence and setup with you tripod. I was there two nights and not many people came up to the area, seems pretty unknown to watch them. Some people will hop the fence after the parade is done, but they don't stay. Each night I was there only one family was next to me, plenty of room for that.

I with I had a pic to post of fireworks from this great spot, but the first night I didn't know we would be there for it and didn't have my tripod and the second it rained like a mad man and I didn't take my gear out so as to keep it dry.

Trust me though, with my 17-55 IS I could have framed the fireworks with the castle on the left and trees below if I wanted and still got all the action. Very nice location.

Epcot:

Go into Italy and you'll find a small Italian style bridge. Pick a spot anywhere on this bridge and you'll be all set. People don't go on to it until right before the actions begins so you'll be left alone to setup. There is an alcove right below it that would also be a great vantage spot but that is where most people hang out and in my opinion it is no better than the bridge and you won't have to fight for real estate.

Below is a pic from the bridge. I am no expert at shooting fireworks and I'm sure this could have been framed/executed better, but it will give you an idea of how clean a view you'll have of the action.

As always, please let me know if there are any questions.

Click here if you want to see all the pictures on Flickr.

Good Bye Friend

2009-01-04T12:31:00.003-06:00

Well I did it. I sold off my trusty 17-55 f/2.8 IS so that I can get a wide angle lens that will work on both my full frame and crop cameras.

This was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make. The 17-55 has been an outstanding lens, always delivering top quality pictures, with great color, contrast and bokeh. The fact that it had an f/2.8 aperture and IS only added to the appeal.

I know I'm doing the right thing for my kit and the 17-40 L will be a solid performer with great versatility. But I do want to let everyone know what a great lens the 17-55 is. Don't let the fact that it is an EF-S and non-L scare you away from it. If you have a crop body, get this lens, it is the perfect walk-around for a crop body.

Below are a couple of my favorites from over the past year and a half. Just wanted to share.

My daughter at 4-months:

My daughter at 1-year

First post of the year

2009-01-01T01:29:00.005-06:00

Just want to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year. I hope the new year brings all of you prosperity and joy. Above are some fireworks to celebrate 2009 (yes they are from Disney in the summer of 2009, but its all I had) and below is my son with a gift for everyone.

Take care and have a joyous year.

I'm loving this thing.

2008-12-22T10:29:00.003-06:00

I have to admit that I am just loving my new 5D Mark II. The pictures in this post were just shot yesterday in an adhoc fashion using my 580EX II as filler. The post processing was minimal on these. All I did was do a minor tweak on exposure due to my error. But there was nothing done to colors or sharpness. What this camera produces is just amazing.

I also have to give a plug for the shutter sound of the 5DII. As I mentioned in my 5D Mark II First Impressions article these are quiet and smooth. When I would shoot my dogs with my 40D (while its a great camera) due to the louder shutter the dogs would get distracted and stop being cute...as my wife calls it. With the 5DII the quiet shutter made it possible to take shots without distracting them. In essence they did not realize I was taking shots and kept doing what they were doing. I can see how this would be a tremendous benefit to wedding and event shooters.

Well, I'm sure I will have a lot more to say about the 5DII but wanted to share this experience with everyone. I'll continue to keep you posted as to how things turn out.

A Lighting Lesson

2008-12-21T19:48:00.002-06:00

Well, I learned a lesson about effective lighting recently. I was taking some pictures of my son doing some Christmas Caroling with his Cub Scout Den at a local nursing home and assumed I would need a flash. There were two errors in my thinking...which I will get to later.

Having used crop bodies for years now, with a ceiling ISO of 1600 or so, I slapped on my 580EX II flash and configured my settings appropriately. I was convinced that given the dark situation there was no way to get shots without the flash. With my 40D this is a true statement, at least without unacceptable image noise.

Okay, so you see one of my errors in thinking, that I had to have the flash. I was forgetting that I was now shooting with my 5D Mark II, a camera I have discussed here previously and one that has much superior low light abilities to the crop bodies I have been using. In retrospect, with the 5D Mark II I should have 86'ed the flash and cranked up the ISO.

In shooting with the flash, one I am comfortable using, I realized after the fact that I was shooting down which caused the flash not cast evenly out across the halls and large rooms we were in. So the nearest part of the shot was over exposed and the back underexposed due to the angle of the flash.

So what did I learn???

Keep in mind what camera you are using and shoot for that camera. If I had remembered the 5D Mark II's capabilities I would have not used the flash and gotten much more natural exposures.
Thought about how my light was reflecting. Even if I had used the flash no matter what I would have adjusted the angle to best cover the space I was shooting.

In the end my lesson is to pay attention to what equipment I am using and what conditions I am shooting in. I was able to adequately fix all the pics in post processing but getting it right the first time is always best.

5D Mark II First Impressions

2008-12-20T12:05:00.000-06:00

Well, I have had the 5DII for about a week now and gotten to go on a couple shoots with it. Below is a quick list of thoughts after using it for a bit. This is not a review, there are plenty of those by people far more qualified than myself.

Size & Weight: It is larger and heaver than my 40D. However, as I like a larger body size this works for me. I still added a battery grip and find the 5DII to fit my hand the best of any Canon I have used in years. My xxD bodies fit will but this one is just outstanding.
Feel: It has a nice feel to the touch than my 40D. The covering feels softer and higher grade for lack of a better expression.
Menu System: I know it is different than the 40D but not enough to make using it difficult. Now that the 5DII has a my menu I have what I need at my fingertips just like in my 40D so the learning curve was very small.
Back Buttons: Ok, this is one of the biggest learning curves for me. Having the buttons below the screen on the 40D for the past 18 months I have gotten used to having them there. It is taking some getting used to having them on the side. I know when I pull out my 40D I will be going to the side instead of the bottom. My wife just laughs at me as I make a "Doh" sound every time I go to the wrong spot.
Back Screen: Absolutely fantastic. I never thought the 40D screen (or any previous Canon DSLR screen) was bad until I got my hands on this one. It presents a crisp and clear image that when magifying allows for precise knoweldge of focus accuracy. This is turning out to be a pleasure and having used it with Live View while doing some night photography it has finally converted me to the value of Live View. On the 40D I didn't use Live View as the back screen made the image look drab.
Top Screen: Seems a little larger than my 40D's and some of text is different sizes. But on the whole it is similar and consistent with what I am used to. The only thing that gets me is the backlight button is now on the right when I am used to it on the left. I think I can live with that. :-)
Shutter Sound: Notably much quieter than the 40D. I see that as having huge benefit for event shooting when you don't want to draw attention to youself.
Shutter Button: Very smooth, almost a buttery feel to it. Very easy to press and helps promote a smooth motion which helps promote better technique and more a squeeze versus press (which can lead to increased camera shake) method.
Battery Life: As expected it is great. I like having the meeter which tells me the level for both batteries in the grip. As a bit of a worrier about power this gives me more confidence when I'm out. But that could just be me and my paranoya.
ISO Performance: The ISO performance is fantastic on this camera, it is worth upgrading for this alone. Below are links to some posts I've done for a few quicks tests to show the high ISO performance. Take a look, I think you'll agree that the 5DII is usable up to 6400 at a reasonable print size.

Person High ISO Test
Flag High ISO Test
Ladder Joint High ISO Test

These are just my impressions and as I said not scientific in any way. They are just hte opinions of some guys that likes to take pictures. Let me know your thoughts as well, I would love to see what others think of the 5DII.

Have a great one.

5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 3: Ladder Bolt

2008-12-20T11:54:00.005-06:00

Ok, here is the final set. This is a 100% crop of the stair joint on a ladder laying in the horribly lit hall I mentioned in the first installment. This time I got smart and expanded the range to start at 1600 to give you even a better feel for the capabilities of the 5DII. Enjoy and as always, let me know what you think.

ISO 1600:

ISO 3200:

ISO 6400:

ISO 12800:

ISO 25600:

Previous Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 1: Person
Previous Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 2: Flag

For my first impressions of the 5DII take a look at the 5D Mark II First Impressions Post.

5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 2: Flag

2008-12-20T11:46:00.004-06:00

Ok, here is the second set I took last evening. This was an American Flag with all conditions mentioned previously being consistent and the images being 100% crops.

ISO 6400:

ISO 12800:

ISO 25600:

Any thoughts?

Previous Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 1: Person
Next Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 3: Ladder Bolt

For my first impressions of the 5DII take a look at the 5D Mark II First Impressions Post.

5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 1: Person

2008-12-20T11:42:00.003-06:00

Well last night I was in a large hall taking some candid shots of my son's Cub Scout meeting. This hall is one of the worst shooting situations I shoot in as the lighting is horrible, its dark and the walls have the most God aweful color on them. I always shoot with a flash in this enviornment as a means to compensate for the innate challenges, however, I thought that this time I would give it a shot at high ISO with my 5DII. Below is the first set of what I found.

All these shots were done with my 5DII with 24-105 f/4 L with no post processing, just a conversion of the RAW file to JPG. The EXIF is in tact if you want to review as well. The only changing variable was ISO which as you will see impacted shutter speed. Note: all pics are 100% crops.

(Please Note: the shutter speeds would get a bit lower than the IS on the 24-105 L could compensate for so please be forgiving of any lack of sharpness. Normally my 24-105 L is a very sharp lens.)

ISO 6400:

ISO 12800:

ISO 25600:

So what do you think?

Next Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 2: Flag

For my first impressions of the 5DII take a look at the 5D Mark II First Impressions Post.

New Radio Poppers

2008-12-12T22:39:00.005-06:00

Well the new Radio Poppers have been announced. Anyone interested in wanting ETTL without the concerns of line of site will be interested in these. Check out the video below for a review or go to the Radio Poppers Blog for details.

I'm just giddy...

2008-12-10T17:15:00.002-06:00

This will be a short post, but I just had to tell everyone that my new Canon 5D Mark II arrived today with the BG-E6 grip and an extra battery. Thanks to Paul at Calumet Photo in Chicago for getting it so soon after release and thanks for shipping it to me in Florida while I'm on business. This way I get to play with my new toy without waiting until the weekend.

Below is a quick pick of the boxes. I'll post some body and sample pics once my batteries finish charging.

Woohoooo....

My dog ate my camera strap

2008-11-24T12:54:00.007-06:00

A bit a story I wanted to share...with a little bit of a point.

So, on Saturday I am getting things ready to go to our the Christmas Festival of Lights here in Chicago. Well my POTN Strap (a OpTech strap branded for a photography forum I visit quite a bit) had been off my 40D for a while as I've been using my R-Strap...so off I go to find it. Well, its not where I left it, where could it be? Hmm, asking my wife she says, is it black? "Yes I say." And she tells me our 8 year-old has been using it for some play. No worries I think, he is a good kid and doesn't break things. I go to his room and ask him where it is and he hands it to me, or should I say what is left of it. Ends up he had been using it to play tug of war with our German Shepard. Lets just say there was not enough of this strap left to use.

Here is what it looks like uneaten.

I was heart broken, I always liked the POTN strap, it was comfortable and as a person that normally did not like neck straps, it was the only one I ever found which was usable. Since I needed a neck strap for that day off I go to Calumet Photography to see what I can find. I come across the Domke 1.5" Strap.

It looks so simple in comparison to the POTN strap, however, I love my Domke bags so I figure what the heck, lets give it a try.

I have to admit, I was suprised, this is the perfect strap for me! Just the right size around my neck (I did think the POTN strap was a bit wide), held like iron on my shoulder as do my Domke bags and when hanging the strap next to the camera it did not feel too large. I hate to say this but I may never get another POTN strap.

I'm willing to take any ribbing my forum buddies have to offer me. This strap is that good. Well, thanks for reading I wanted to tell my story. They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

"My name is Paul and I use a Domke neck strap." There I said it!

I did it!!!!

2008-10-23T21:51:00.004-05:00

I did it, I just had to, I couldn't help myself. As a Canon fan I found the new 5D Mark II very exciting and I've been wanting to go full frame for some time. Well, I caved and pre-ordered the 5DII last week. I'm so excited I just can't stand it. Hence the happy dance.

Sorry for the pointless post, but I couldn't help myself.

Playing with Extension Tubes

2008-08-16T09:59:00.007-05:00

So our family was off to Guatemala last week. Knowing there were great flowers there I picked up a set of Kenko Extension Tubes so I could start doing some macro experimentation. Below is a link to the tubes I purchased from B&H Photo

Kenko Extension Tubes for Canon EF Lenses

I have to tell you, these things are very cool. They do as advertised and allow you to focus in very close. Of course the first thing I did was stack all three together, toss on my Nifty Fifty and snap away. While this was very fun, it tought me a lot.

First off, the depth of field is razor thin. This is very neat, but makes one very aware of apeture and the like.
Puting these on my 70-200 f/2.8 causes the focus to be fixed and I had to use the zoom to focus. I was suprised by this but got used to it quick enough.
Don't be over zelous, use one tube a time to start. I wanted to toss the 36mm on or stack all three when I later learned that using the 12mm is much more effective. Be patient and start simple, you will get better results more quickly.
Use a tripod when ever possible. With the thin DOF any movement will make a shot out of focus. Look at the flower below. While all was still most of the flower is out of focus because of the ever so think DOF.
Finally, get the Kenko tubes. They are fantastic at at $169 for 3 you save yourself lots of money over the Canon version.

The point here is if you are considering some macro play and don't want to lay out the cash for a dedicated macro lens, extension tubes can be a great way to experiment. Give them a go and see what you learn.

Consideration Of Others

2008-04-20T18:21:00.010-05:00

As I'm sure is true for many of you, much of the time my primary photographic subject is my family. As a result, I find myself often lugging my gear to and from my children's events, swimming, baseball, Boy Scouts, etc.

Last week was no exception, it was swim class day and of course I went with my usual gear. My gripped 40D with a 70-200 f/2.8 L attached, all sitting on top of a monopod. I like the 70-200 when shooting swimming as the pool is indoors and every bit of speed is welcome as well as the fact that I like to shoot from across the pool so as to get the best angle, thus every bit of reach is welcome as well.

Now on to the point of this post...

Now keep in mind, this is a pool at the University where my wife works/teaches and where my son has taken over a dozen swim classes, we are known by name to the pool staff. So last week I was sitting there with my gear, snaping away, happy as any enthusiast photographer can be when a pool security guard walks up to me and asks if my son is swimming. I answer yes and point to my son (pic above) who at that moment waves to me. At that point he tells me that shooting pictures at the pool is not allowed...something I've been doing for years. However, he tells me he will give me a pass this time and walks away.

I didn't think much of it at the time but looking across the pool I see the security guard and other staff talking and pointing at me. My wife notices this as well and walks up the security guard and staff and points out I am her husband, my son is swimming in the class and I can stop taking pictures if they wish. They tell her no and she walks away. Unfortunately, jabbering and pointing continues.

The short of this is that it seemed obvious my presence and camera were making pool staff very uncofortable so I decided to pack it in for the day. After putting everything back I went and sat over by my wife. This is when everything came together. Apparently my sitting on the other side of the pool with a big white lens, shooting away was making some of the other parents nervous so they were asking pool staff who I was. Pool staff whom I at least looked familiar to wanted to do something to put the parents at ease. Hence why the pool staff were obsessing over me so much.

Apparently, my coming to the other side and sitting by my wife put things at rest. I allowed the other parents to realize that my son in fact was in the class and my interest was merely that of a parent that loves to take pics of his family, nothing more sinister.

This was a huge learning experience for me. I was reminded that while my intentions are pure, not everyone's are. I learned that other parents care and wish to protect their families as I do. I learned that letting other parents know who I am and why I'm sitting across the pool with a big white lens will go a million miles in eliminating issues and headaches. This week I showed up with the same gear and was not bothered in the least.

Thanks for reading along with this long story, just remember that a quick introduction in some circumstances can go a long way in putting your subjects at each and making your presence not affect the situation around you. This week, not only were the parents more relaxed but so were the children, resuling in much richer and more valuable outcome.

An Affordable Clamp

2008-04-11T20:11:00.010-05:00

So I'm working on developing my strobist kit. One of the things I need to do is get my lights off camera and be able to trigger more then one at a time. Of course I will need a trigger for the flashes but most importantly I need a way to mount them to things. I wasn't too hot on buying a $25 super clamp (Click Here) as I am saving for more strobes and remote triggers. Two clamps would cost me almost as much as a Sunpak 383 flash. So after hanging out on my favorite Photography Forum I was inspired by the do-it-yourself ingenuity of many of its members. This inspired me to make my own clamps. Following is the process I followed and the outcome. Hope you find this useful.

Here are the parts you'll need and the steps necessary to make your own clamps.

1. Get a spring clamp from Home Depot. I went with the Babco generic brand and I figured why spend more on a Pony clamp which is twice the price and has no benefits that I can discern. You can find the clamp at Home Depot for 99 cents (Click Here).

2. You will need to cut a hole in the back handle where there is a pre-drilled hole ready for you to use. As the handle cover is soft I was able to do this with a sharp knife with ease.

3. Know you'll need a few more parts which will allow your flash to attach to the clamp.

5/8" bolt...about 40 cents
5/8" locking washer...about 15 cents
5/8" nut (Click Here)...23 cents
Umbrella adapter which hot shoe mount (Click Here)...$16.99. I got mine at Calumet Photo but I'm sure you can find this even cheaper at B&H. I think their Impact brand is $13.99.

4. Now assemble mount for the flash bracket by pushing the bolt through the bottom then placing the locking washer and nut on the other side, tightening everything up nice and tight.

5. Now just screw on the umbrella mount to the bolt. It will tighten up nice and tight for you. Providing the perfect place to put your flash.

6. Finally just put your flash on and hook up your other items like remote triggers and you are ready to go. Below is my 580EX II attached. The bracket holding on to my desk nice and tight.

While this might not be the answer for all situations will provide me a nice sturdy clamp for all my needs for an great price. Only $18.76 compared to $44.94 when using the Bogen super clamp.

(Note: I included the umbrella bracket in my pricing. Taking out the umbrella bracket--which I like to use as it gives me adjustability for the flash--the DIY clamp is $1.77 versus the Bogen clamp at $27.95.)

Regardless of how you choose to ultimately go I would recommend giving this a try. Not only is it affordable but most importantly it is effective. Feel free to let me know if there are any questions.

Now this is a camera strap.

2008-03-12T18:28:00.005-05:00

Those who know me know that I don't use a neck strap much. I do have one, the OpTech POTN (Click Here) strap which is the best I've found, and while it is always on my 40D I don't use it nearly as much as I use my E1 handstrap. Why, because I don't like the weight on my neck and am not happy with how the camera bounces around when I walk. I have come to accept that I would rather just carry the camera in my hand.

This has not solved the issue that I would like the camera on me and quickly accessible while giving my hand a rest. I have tried hanging it via the strap off my shoulder but find the camera getting twisted as it spins when I walk, making access slow. Yes, I'm hard to please.

Anyway, I think I have found the thing which can take care of this for me. There is a new device/stap which may address this issue for me. There is a new strap called an R-Strap which slings the camera across your torso and puts it in the perfect position for quick access. Further, the strap is designed in a way to make access fast and easy. At least that is how it looks. I have ordered one of these and will post a review once I use it for a bit.

Below is a video of the R-Strap in action. Give it a click. Perhaps I'm just a geek who is easy to please, but I think it is pretty cool.

Finally, below is a link to the R-Strap site. Take a look, it seems very cool...but only time will tell.R-Strap Website (Click Here)

Product Comparisons & Reviews

2008-03-07T20:39:00.007-06:00

As you may have picked up already I like to use this blog to share information. Below are links for product comparisons. Just click the links and you will be taken to the sites. I will add to the list as I find new resources.

Hosting Photos

2008-03-05T12:31:00.006-06:00

I hear this question quite a bit. People always appear to ask where is the best place to post their pics, which is best, which is cheapest, yada, yada, yada.

I'm going to try to answer this question, but will say this. Go to the link below from the Photography-on-the-net forum, a Canon forum I frequent. This thread has a great review of the different options and how to use them. If you wan't to assess your options click below.

Where to Host My Photos - From Photography-on-the-net.

Now with that said I do have a preference.

I use Zenfolio and love it. I find the interface to be clean and professional, my users like the presentation. Further, I am allowed to sell prints, etc., etc. All of this added up, with their affordable price to make a good package for me. My recommendation is to take a look at Zenfolio, they have many different package options and outstanding customer service. There is even a 30-day free-trial you can use to give it a whirl. Finally, if you end up subscribing use the code below and save $5.00. Below are also some links which include the main Zenfolio site as well as my Zenfolio site so you can see it in action.

Zenfolio
My Zenfolio Site
My coupon code: EC6-9EB-3RX

Feel free to let me know if there are any questions.

Tutorials

2008-03-05T12:12:00.019-06:00

This will be an ongoing process/task, but I thought it might be useful to create a list of tutorials which I have found useful. Right now there isn't too much here but I plan to flesh this out with everyone's help

Lighting:

Flash Photography 101 - From Photography-on-the-net

Chapter 1: Beginners Guide (Click Here)
Chapter 2: (Why) Should I Get a Flash Unit For My Camera (Click Here)
Chapter 3: A Systematic Approach to Bounced Flash (Click Here)
Chapter 4: Guide Numbers and High Speed Sync (Click Here)

ETTL Wireless Config - From Photography-on-the-net

Part I: Working with a single remote flash (Click Here)
Part II: Working with multiple remote flashes (Click Here)
Part III: Working with remote flashes in Manual Mode (Click Here)

Strobist Tutorials

Lighting 101 (Click Here)
Lighting 102 (Click Here)

Scott Kelby Lighting and Gear Week

Day 1 (Click Here)
Day 2 (Click Here)
Day 3 (Click Here)
Day 4 (Click Here)
Day 5 (Click Here)

Misc Tutorials:

Shooting Large Groups - From Chuck Gardner at Super Nova (Click Here)
Evaluative vs. Average flash metering (Click Here)

Post Processing:

Aircraft Post Processing - From Photography-on-the-net (Click Here)
Black & White Conversion with Layer Blend Modes - From Photoshop Essentials (Click Here)
Brightening Eyes - From Photography-on-the-net (Click Here)
Skin Smoothing - From Ferradas Photography (Click Here)
Using the Unsharpen Mask - From Photography-on-the-net (Click Here)
Getting That Cool Gritty Look Right in Camera Raw and Photoshop or Lightroom - Scott Kelby (Click Here)
How to perform soft proofing - From TechTutorials (Click Here)

Note: Should you have any you would like to share feel free to post a comment.

Recommended Books

2008-03-05T11:07:00.016-06:00

I love books, I like to read and learn and have been no different when approaching photography. Therefore, below is a list of photography related books I have found useful. I will attempt to keep them grouped by category as best I can.

Should you not see a book you know to be good please post a comment with your recommendation.

General Reference:

Best Business Practices for Photographers: Second Edition - By John Harrington (Find it on Amazon)
Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography - By Stephen Johnson (Find it on Amazon)
Vision Mongers: Making a Life and Living in Photography - By David DuChemin (Find it on Amazon)

History:

Ansel Adams: An Autobiography - By Ansel Adams (Find it on Amazon)

Image Editing & Management:

The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers - By Scott Kelby (Find it on Amazon)
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers - By Scott Kelby (Find it on Amazon)
The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers - By Peter Krogh (Find it on Amazon)

Lighting:

Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting - By Fil Hunter, Steven Biver & Paul Fuqua (Find it on Amazon)

Technique:

Understanding Exposure: Revised Edition - By Bryan Peterson (Find it on Amazon)
Understanding Shutter Speed: Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/125 of a Second - By Bryan Peterson (Find it on Amazon)

Note: I'm sure some of you are seeing that I am a bit of a Scott Kelby fan. His books are sometimes accused of being recipie books and while I do agree with this to an extent I find them providing me the base I need to go forth and learn on my own. I rarely need another book once I've reviewed his. Photoshop Elements 5 is the best example of this. I had the purchased 2 books prior to Scott Kebly's, each claiming to be the definitive resource and it was not until I read his that I became empowered enough to work in this app on my own.

A Plug for Natural Light

2008-03-04T22:19:00.005-06:00

Take a look at the picture below. I would like to use to make a plug for natural light. This was taken in a hotel room in Guatemala during the afternoon sun which was shinning through some white curtains which covered the windows.

This was a pure opportunist shot, taken while my wife was playing with my 4-month old daughter. Granted I got lucky, granted, but I wanted to share as it acts as a means to illustrate to not miss the moment and work with the envionment you are given. Everything came together true, but hey, if I hadn't ignored the urge to take out my flash I would have missed this.

Hope you enjoyed the shot, it brings me joy each time I look at it.

Update: The light was coming in camera left going through some soft white curtains which gave it a great feel.

Who'ed a Thought...

2008-03-04T22:06:00.005-06:00

Needed to share something that dawned on me this evening.

I am not a guy that follows or is intersted in sports. In fact, I find them boring. I am notorious amongst my friends for falling asleep during a Chicago Bulls game back when they were winning the championship every year and Jordan was still playing. Many say this behavior is a genetic defect, however, I'm not sure.

Well, with the above said, it has come to pass that I am now shooting more sports than I know what do with. Baseball, basketball, volleyball and even football...I've been shooting it all. Now I do get some income from this activity which can be called its own motivator, but that is not the astonishing thing. The thing is, I enjoy the heck out of it. Make me sit and watch a game from the stands and I am bored as can be. Give me a camera and place me on the sidelines and I'm off and enjoying myself.

Needless to say this confuses my friends even more than my nature not to follow sports. But hey, who am I to complain, I found something new and exciting to do with my hobby. Perhaps I should just shut up and accept it.

No real relevance to anything, I just wanted to share.

Current Equipment

2008-03-04T21:27:00.065-06:00

So what am I using now? Good question. As I am a bit of geek and like all things geeky (as my wife says) this list can and will change and grow over time. I will do my best to keep it up to date.

Note: All items are links to the item on the appropriate retailer should you want to learn more.

Bodies:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Canon BG-E6 grip
Canon EOS 40D with Canon BG-E2N grip
Canon G11

Lenses/Optics:

Canon EF 17-40 f/4 L
Canon EF 24-105 f/4 IS L
Canon EF 50 f/1.8 II
Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L
Canon EF 85 f/1.8
Canon EF 1.4x II Extender
Kenko Extension Tubes (12, 20 & 36mm)
Italian Foot Zoom

Lighting:

Canon 580EX II Speedlight
Canon 430EX Speedlight x2
Canon 550EX Speedlight
Sekonic L-358 Light Meter
Really Right Stuff B87-B Flash Bracket
CyberSyncs (CST Trasmitter x1, CSRB Recievers x3)
Cheetah Qbox 24 with Louver/Grid
Calumet 36" Silver White Umbrella x2
Westcott 43" Collapsable Umbrella x2
Manfrotto Nano Lightstand x2
Calumet 10' Air-Cushioned Lightstand x2
Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce
Lumiquest Promax
Lumiquest Softbox II
Lumiquest Softbox III
Honl 1/8" Speed Grid
Honl 5" Speed Snoot
Honl Speed Gobo
Impact Super Clamp x2
DIY Lighting Clamp x2
Various cords and such courtesy of FlashZebra (thanks Lon)

Supports & Support Accessories:

Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball Head
Manfrotto 3021BPRO Tripod
Really Right Stuff BGE6-L L-Bracket
Really Right Stuff B2 LR II Clamp
Manfrotto 680B Monopod
Canon TC-80N3 Remote

Bags:

Straps:

Entering the Digital Age (2004 to 2006)

2007-12-01T12:31:00.002-06:00

I stopped into a local camera store in 2004 after a hecktic day at work where the stress could not have gotten any higher. All I thought while driving home was I need stress relief, what can I do to relieve stress? At that moment I drove by that local camera store. The light went on in my mind and immediately pulled over (I think I cut someone off in the process) parked the car and went in.

Of course I gravitated over to the Canon bodies. They were like old friends calling me home. The clerk (I won't call him any more than that tried to get me to Nikon, probably made more on them, but the 20D I picked up just felt right in my hands. Felt like an old friend I had not seen in a while. Well the clerk popped in a CF card I took a couple snaps in AV mode, they were horrible and told him I would take it.

I was off and running. I began taking pictures immediately. My wife was happy I got the 20D she was glad to see me do something other than work for a change. Although if you ask her now while she still encourages my photography I bet she is a bit tired of my taking her picture and explaining how one is different from the next. Man she is good to me. I have a keeper there.

Well the 20D was a whole new world for me. For once I was not constrained by rolls of film. The CF card set me free. I finally felt it was ok to make mistakes and if I did that I wasn't waisting/throwing away money in the process. In the two years I had my trusty 20D I don't know how many 10s of thousands of pictures I took. The one thing I know is I improved. When first getting it I was almost at ground zero, as photographic skill is like a language, don't use it and you will lose it.

So if I enjoyed my 20D so much why did I move on? Well, its a sad story, but let me tell it anyway. One day I was walking out of my house with 20D in hand to take some pics of the birds at the feeder. Well, my dog ran past me, sneeking out of the house and hit my hand. The 20D went flying, about 5 feet in front of me and down a flight of stairs onto hard concrete then bouncing off a fence. It was a violent death and one that could not be recovered from. It was time for a new body. In retrospect I was due...I guess.

Here is the culprit...yes he is still around. :-)

Credit: Thanks to the Canon Museum from where I got the pic above.

Until I Went Digital (1989 to 2004)

2007-12-01T12:05:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the long delay in posts. Things have been very crazy at work and I needed to focus on that for a while. Anyway, I'm back on track and promise to do at least one post a week from now on.

We left off my last post talking about the AE-1. Great camera but where did I go after that? Well...let me tell you. I spent 1989 to 2004 doing what I could in photography but never having the time to spend on it I wished. My cameras where always sitting in the corner taunting me, wanting me to use them. When I would I'd be so happy, but then I wouldn't have time or the money to keep it up. It was during the time that I studied to be a Catholic Priest and finished my bachelor's and Master's degrees. Needless to say that a vow of poverty and student loans don't leave much disposable income for photo gear.

However, its important to note that I didn't foget my passion at this time, so what did I do/use???

Well, Christmas of 1989, right after taking a vow of poverty my father gave me the gift of a EOS-1. I told him it was too much but he figured with a vow of poverty it was the last camera I would ever get so it should be a good one.

Well, this was one amazing camera and was the only one I had until 2004. My only regret is during this time I never had the time or resources to put this body through its paces. I primarily used it for social photography and always felt like I was driving a Ferrari to work at the McDonald's in the mall. Definitely too much for the job.

Well, time moved on, I got married, had/have a family and am became settled in a career. No, I didn't become a priest. If I had I'd still be using the EOS-1. In 2004 it was time to re-ingnite my passion, on came the digital age.

Credit: Thanks to the Canon Museum from where I got the pic above.

Expanding My Reach (1980 to 1988)

2007-11-04T21:47:00.001-06:00

Well, when my TX died I had to save up for a new body. Luckily I had put some money away and my father was willing to front me the difference so I could get myself a used AE-1. This was amazing to me especially since I now had a power winder and 135mm zoom to round out my kit. I was in the big time. I was getting pictures of my high school football team and having the pics published in the school news paper. They may have well been published in Time Magazine, I was so proud. Looking at them now I think they are bit soft. :o)

But looking back at my trusty AE-1 the best part was the auto-winder which got me to a speedy 3 frames per second. Thinking about it a bit more I think this explains my soft pics. With manual focus I wasn't re-focusing fast enough when shooting sports. At least thats my story and I'm sticking to it. :o)

While the AE-1 was not revolutionary, as it was still fully manual, the metering was so much better than the TX and I was now taking pride in my shots much more. Futher, this was the period during which I was able to setup a basic black and white darkroom. I now had so much control over my processing it was scary. To this day I believe I only scratched the surface of what I was able to do with that rudimentary darkroom setup but it still ceases to amaze me, and do through experimentation alone.

This was the period where I experimented and grew in what I could do. Unfortunately this hobby often fell to the back of my teen interests and goals at times. However, I'll tell you I never moved, either it be to college or my first apartment without my trusty AE-1. It was always there, maybe not used for months at a time, but always there.

Looking back at this time I have accepted three things.

Even when life gets busy I will always have an interest in and participate in this hobby.
It was the time when I grew the most in what I could do as I now gained confidence in my abilities.
I would never do this for money, it was just too darn much fun.

Credit: Thanks to the Canon Museum from where I got the pic above.

My Gateway Drug (1975 to 1980)

2007-11-03T21:49:00.001-05:00

So this is how the obsession started. At the age of 12 I had a friend who's father was a real estate photographer. I thought what he did was so cool, I think it was the chemicals in the dark room as it all seemed a bit like magic. So my father being the encouraging man he was picked up a Canon TX for me. It was full manual film body with a top shutter speed of 1/500 sec and center weighted metering.

This was the coolest thing I ever held. It was heavy, awkward, and almost impossible to figure out. Since my father bought it used from a co-worker it had no manual and I had no books or internet in which to do research. Literally it was trial and error, and let me tell you the film was expensive for a 12 year old. I was washing dishes for money and all my pay was going to B&W 36 shot rolls of film.

My big day was about a month after I got the TX when I figured out what the light meter did. Suddenly my pics were more than black or white, I saw gradations of grey, it was amazing. I remember taking a picture of a Willow tree at the local park which turned out great as far as I was concerned. I literally spent hours looking at how the darks moved to light and visa-versa.

The TX served me well for 5 years when the shutter finally gave out. I don't think I could tell you how many rolls of film I took with my trusty TX. I have no idea how many acutations were on it when the shutter gave but I'm sure it was in the tens of thousands. And as a rough teen I'm sure I didn't treat it as well as I should have. I know one thing for sure, I would not treat my digital equipment like that today.

Well, that is body #1. Next we will take a look at the replacement to the TX, the AE-1.

Credit: Thanks to the Canon Museum from where I got the pic above.

So, what next?

2007-11-02T17:01:00.001-05:00

Been thinking about this. Wondering how to share a passion I've decided to take it in steps and categories.

Share some history about my photographic journey sharing the things I have used.
I will also discuss the reasons I enjoy this hobby so much. I've got to share this with someone, my wife is tired of listening to me. :o)
Discuss elements of photography, sharing my experience and what I have been able to gleen from others more skilled than myself along the way.

To achieve the above I will make sure to label each post so you can filter on them by either history, passion or experience, equipment, etc.

Either way, lets see how it goes and take things from there. Please leave me feedback and such along the way. If there is something you wish to hear about just let me know.

A new day...

2007-11-01T20:12:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Familia Photography blog. This site is very much in its infancy but feel free to stay a while to indulge my obsession with Photography. My father made the mistake of giving me a Canon TX at the age of 12 and I have been obsessed ever since.

Over the coming months I will post things that interest me, but as you can guess these things will probably be photographic in nature. So if you like drawing with light as I do, stay a while and hang out with me. Remember to leave comments as you wish, sharing your experiences as well.

Have a great day and I'll be talking to you soon.