Finding the Warmth
Finally got out an did some shooting with a friend of mine today. It was snowing here in Ottawa and we decided to just walk the nearby trails and see what inspired us.
Alas due to the snow and clouds there wasn’t much warm light so everything felt black and white. Finding some warmth in our coloured shots was hard. Some nice B&W shot came out nice and were well fitted to the atmosphere.
Then we came across this bridge that the city put in this summer and the rust colour just stood out against the white and black ambience. plus the added symmetry made this a good shot. The snow falling added to the depth. All in all I liked this shot. Hope you can enjoy the winter.
Till next time keep shooting.
Winter is here!
Well XMas is in less that a week and I thought I would try my hand at photographing some sparkle. I took a bunch of shots with different ornaments and played around in Lightroom to get this result.
Now hopefully Santa heard my wishes for some new gear. nothing spectacular like a new lens r body, but maybe some light modifiers. Either way I am sure it will lead to some more shots and posts.
Winter is completely here in Ottawa and that means it is very white outside and very dark inside. Tomorrow is the winter solstice and the sun will set at 4:21PM. Basically it will be dark when I leave in the morning and it will be dark before I get home. This makes shooting a challenge plus the cold makes it hard to have your hands exposed to the elements for changing up settings. So all this is to say it brings on more challenges. Can’t wait!!
Till next time keep shooting. Oh ya and Merry Christmas!
The Last Image
Ok ok it’s not my last image but it is the last or at least one of the last images I snapped off before I dunked my SB-800 into the water.
Ya I was hiking with my family and decided to bring along my camera and a flash to do some macro stuff. Well 5 minutes in I dunked it into the lake! I was so pissed. Any way I ordered a new SB-900 which should be here soon mean while I thought you might like this shot before I start a review of the SB-900. The 800 was an awesome flash and I watched a lot of Joe McNally training videos which helped me get the most out of it. Can’t wait to put the 900 through the same test.
Tell next time keep shooting!
The Pumpkins of Halloween 2010
Halloween has come and gone and although ours at home was non existent, we were lucky enough to get invited to some friend’s house. Since both of our kids are young and still not sure what Halloween is all about, we only did a very short walk. Along the way though I decided to take some hand held shots of the pumpkins we saw along the way. Remember these kids were only two so we did a block and then went home. It was all good cause it was a cold Canadian fall evening.
Enjoy the shots. Till next time keep shooting.
You never know
The family went to the park the other day and of course I brought my camera. While I chased the kids at the park I shot from all kinds of angles to practice some composition.
On the way home there is a creek that passes under the road and this seen caught my eye so I took an extra second to take a shot. Hope you like it.
Till next time keep shooting!
Close up with a 50mm
Went for a walk with the family this weekend and a brought my new 50mm 1.fG along for the trip. I spent some time shooting people but on the way back home spotted this little patch of mushrooms on the path. So I decided to try to see how well the 50mm would focus up close. This is result. Added a little vignetting and voila!
Enjoy the image until next time keep shooting.
If Only
If Only
After a few variations of the shot either with one breast or two I choose this one. I did post process the image a bit to get some of the colour I wanted and to soften the skin a bit with out un-sharpening the glass and its contents. I might try this again to get some different performance out of the lens but so far I am happy about the trade up.
Fall Leaf
Leaf
I am still experimenting with it but so far I like the results. It is interesting having two flashes at the end of your lens that light up an object or subject just enough. Any way I thought I would share this image that I took some Lightroom liberties to.
Enjoy!
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Spider
Enjoy the picture.
Till next time keep shooting.
Just a rose
Rose
Till next time keep shooting.
Inukshuk By The Ottawa River
Inukshuk by River
Now I am sure if you have crossed the Champlain bridge in Ottawa/Gatineau or driven along the Ottawa river you have seen them. Usually they are about 2 feet tall but this year with the hot weather we have had here in Ottawa the river is at a really low level so people have made some inukshuks 6-7 feet tall. Amazing art.
I find that they never get boring year after year. And even though the river washes them away each winter, people still come down to the river side to build them up again each summer. Simply amazing. Built from simple rock from the river bed. Assembled using only balance with no added support, these stand freely all summer long.
Open gallery to see an image of my wife and son sitting by one of these huge statues. You can get some perspective as to how large these displays of art and culture are.
Till next time keep shooting.
Photo Publication
Green Stink Bug
I have setup a gallery here of my possible choices. So it would mean a lot to me if I can get your help on choosing some pictures to submit. All I am asking you to do is to leave a comment to this post before the 26th of August with your top 3 picks. Just give me the number of the photograph that is located at the bottom left of the gallery. I will then tally the votes and make a few choices.
Thanks for everyones help and I will keep you all posted on the results if any.
Steve
*** Update Just to let you all know I posted pictures 8, 9, 15 all based on your comments. Thanks again for everyone who replyed to my call. ***
Panning
RC Car
So what better thing for a guy to photography on a week night than his neighbours racing up and down the street with their RC cars. Panning at 35mph If I can get that surely a couple dancing at their wedding won’t be half as hard.
Here is what I learnt. 1) Light is the key here and this might be the down fall of a lot of these shots to be perfect but I was close. In a wedding shoot, light maybe more scarce but the speed at which you pan is nowhere near 35mph. 2) Lens: A prime lens was much easier to get sharp images with. I used a Nikkor 105mm f2.8 Macro VR. It was sharp and fast to focus. The 105mm magnification was a bit troublesome on the street though. 3) Surrounding obstacles could be an issue at a wedding dance. On the street it was kids, curbs and real cars. At a wedding it would be people, kids, and other stuff. Check your surroundings and if you can find out if the couple has a planned dance.
All in all it was an excellent experience in photography. I am waiting for a sunny day to attempt it again. I will update this post with the results of the shoot to compare. You can be the judge.
Till next time keep shooting.
Glowing sky
Glowing Sky
Taken with my Nikon D300 with a 17-55mm – 17 1/500 @ f4.5 ISO 200. Oddly this image at f4.5 turned out well for a landscape.
Enjoy the photo.
Weekly photo
Rocky Mountains
I will try to post the shot and post process info each week but some of the images will be older so my memory might not serve me correctly.
I am starting these weekly post to get more active on my site which up until a few days ago I have been absent from.
So since I have quite a few photographs in my catalogs I thought it would be a good idea to start posting some of my favorites.
Shot this year in Alberta on my vacation this is a little stop in the rockies. Shot with my Nikon D300 with 17-55mm lens at 17mm, 1/60 sec @ f11, ISO 200. Two gradients one from the top down to the edge of the mountains to enhance the sky. Another from the bottom to the water line to enhance the reflections in the water. Then just a bit of sharpening for the reflections.
Enjoy the posts.
World wide photo walk 2010
Worldwide Photo Walk
The above is a link to a gallery of images I liked and post processed in Lightroom 3. The images are OK but I feel I can do better. I have to admit landscape and urban landscape photography are not my strong suites and I use these events to try to better my skills and open my artistic view.
The location was in an area in Ottawa we call the market. Lots of little shops, restaurants and tourists. The biggest issue of the day was the heat and humidity. Almost 95% by noon! So it was sticky and not a breeze at all. Now the area is great for a photo walk but I have lived here for a while and actually did some photographic art classes in the area which had us out side shooting a few times so I felt I needed something new.
I think if you are comfortable you could shoot random people if you were able to get their permission or at least take the shots from a distance. I think this could make for some interesting images and stories.
So all in all I think I might have failed my first photo walk. None the less there is a small gallery for you to be the judge.
Till next time keep shooting!
Maternity Photo Ideas
Different perspective
Even if you are not a pro shooter, from time to time we all get asked by someone if we would mind photographing them. It could be as simple as a Facebook profile picture, or family photos, or even a full wedding. Recently I did a maternity shoot for a friend of my wife’s. Now I never photographed my wife when she was pregnant with our son because I was still very new to the professional approach to photography. This has been my wife’s main selling point to have another child. Any way, so when my good buddy John Major photographed her it allowed me to learn a lot for techniques and poses.
Additionally I always search the internet for ideas for each shoot I do and I encourage my “clients” to do so as well. What this does is gives you a fresh look at what may be out there and it gives your “client” an idea as to what may or may not interest them.
Now a maternity shoot also is dictated by what the subject is comfortable with and as a shooter you have to respect that. Most maternity shoots are done in the 3rd trimester which means the woman has a lot of pressure on her back, legs and bladder so be prepared for many bathroom breaks.
Clone Stamp tool
Before
The first steps where to cut up a fruit or vegetable and piece it together using toothpicks as shown here. It wasn’t easy to get everything to stay together right away. I would suggest you start small maybe and work your way up to more complex displays.
Look no hands!
Look no hands!
Since I started to learn photography I have tried in many ways to get my family involved in my hobby. My wife constantly poses for me and my son and daughters are ready for any sort of paparazzi their future careers might engage them with. But really I have been looking for some photography to get them excited about seeing the image and sharing it with their friends and grand parents.
While looking through an issue of a photo magazine I found a simple technique that wasn’t new to me just showed a different way to use it and get the family involved a bit. So today I am going to demonstrate how to use mask edits to create the following type of pictures.
Step one you need to shoot two images and they have to be done on a tripod other wise you will have a hell of a time lining up the images. The first image I shot was the person or people propped up on a supporting object(s). In my case was an upside down toy container which is usually the state it is in in my house. I used my cameras lock focus to ensure that the two images have the same focal point and depth of field. You might have to do this if you are in a shorter room or not in front of a window. Next I shot the empty image as I call it. It is void of any people or props.
Flowers
Just wanted to share some images I did this weekend. I got my wife some flowers for her birthday and like always I photographed them just incase she tells me one day I never buy her flowers. Just kidding!
Any way all I did here was use my D300 with either my 105mm or my 17-55mm. Coupled with and Ezybox softbox to defuse the light over my SB800 against a black fabric background. Simple! Then using Lightroom or Photoshop I removed some stems.
Hope you enjoy.
