Sugar Snowman

 

Hello Mr. Sugar Snowman. You will be the first eaten when I dive into that Gingerbread House after Christmas.

Chris. 

Concentration Stone

 

This is a stone that I have on my desk at work. I picked it up from the gravel one day when it caught my eye. I find myself picking it up and rubbing at it when I'm stressed out or need to concentrate. I wonder how long it will take before I wear it smooth.

Chris.

Fun On The Hill

I'm Canadian and as a Canadian, I deal with the winter weather in the best way I can. For me and my family, that means dressed warm and facing it with contempt on our faces. We play in the cold white stuff just as if it was summer. We are Canadian, no winter weather is going to get the better of us!

 

Snow covered hills offer an opportunity for adrenaline filled fun! The younger you are when you begin, the better it is!

This photo, taken with my iPhone 4 which I love for moments like this, is shortly after the long trek back up the hill from a good fast run down.

Here is a link to the video on youtube I tried to make while we screamed down the hill at the speed of sound!! Nothing like an HD video camera to make it look faster than it really was.

Chris.

And The Season Of Snow Photography Arrives!

I'm always excited when winter first arrives. The photos look so clean and crisp. The excitement soon gives way to being tired of the cold and having to sweep the truck off and shovel the walks but oh the bliss of the first month or so.

 

It's been snowing most of the day today. The Girl and I tried to make a snow man but the snow is just too dry. She did make for a good subject though.

Chris.

Craft Kind Of Day

My kids love to do crafts. It keeps them busy with their hands and out of trouble. :)

My son painted a couple of bird houses that I'm quite sure anything larger than a hummingbird would not fit in. He likes color. Lots of color.

 

I really liked how the colors came out very saturated. I boosted the clarity all the way up and got this great grungy look.

He's also big on the details too. Adding just the right amount of accent color to please his 8 year old sense of these things.

Such fun to watch him concentrate on it.

Chris.

And Now, The Girl.

We had such good luck at the fence, I decided to make a portrait of the girl there as well.

I think I love this fence.

Chris.

Cool Fall Day Portrait

We popped outside for a bit and I just couldn't resist the color of the fence in the shade. I had my nifty fifty on and had to bump the ISO up to 1600 on my 50D so I could get the exposure I wanted.

I'm excited about the sharpness of his eyes and the way the color of his sweater, eyes and fence go together.

I'm quite happy with this photo.

Chris.

Hi Key Lighting

I've always been a fan of Hi Key images. That's to say images with a lot of bright white. Portraits on a seamless white background with the background completely white. It's something I've never been able to do with a portrait before. I only have the one flash so it makes it a bit difficult to get that white background pure bright white.

This weekend I borrowed a flash from my dad. He has an old Minolta Maxim 7000 film system that he never uses so I picked up the flash and added it to my lighting. This flash is pretty much unusable for anything else when it's off the camera it was made for. It's a dedicated flash with no easy way to adjust the power output. The head doesn't tilt or swivel either so aiming this flash took some creative positioning.

That is all OK for my needs at this time though. I just needed a flash to blast my white background and turn it pure white. This flash was more than enough for those needs. I tore my 8 year old son away from his computer game on my laptop and asked him to model for me so I could test out this flash on the background. I used my umbrella and flash for the main light and away we went. Basically this works the same as my black background that I use but I was not worried about spilling any light onto the background this time. I normally will try to control that on the black background.

What I ended up with was this fantastic Hi Key portrait. I am really please with the results.

 

I don't think the borrowed flash will suffice for long. I have plans of picking up another more modern flash that will allow me some easier control over direction and intensity of the light but I also don't think my dad will be getting this flash back any time soon.

Chris.

Taking A More Minimalist Approach

There has been a lot of discussion out there about how much gear you really need and which camera or lenses you should get. I get caught up in that myself and I will admit to having much gear envy.

But the more I think about it the more I realize that no matter what gear I have or how big and fast my lenses are, it will not make me a better photographer. What I need to do is get my creative juices flowing. I'm hoping to accomplish this by pulling back on the amount of gear I carry around with me.

Here's what I have done. I took my battery grip off the camera. It's so heavy. My camera is almost double the weight with this beast on it. I decided to only take one lens with me when I go out. Today I have the 50mm f/1.8 on the camera. Such a nice lens. Then, and here is the big one, I left my camera bag at home and just brought my camera with me to work. Normally I have everything with me. Today, it's just the camera and the one lens. Nothing else.

I must admit, it's a bit of an odd sensation and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. One lens, no strobe, no other toys! Yikes. Well we will see what happens but I'm hoping to increase my vision instead of relying on any gear.

Chris.

50mm Fun

There is just something about the nifty fifty. My Canon 50mm f/1.8. It's so sharp and light and easy to use. The only thing I wish was different about it is the minimum focusing distance. 1.5 feet is just too far away for my liking. I'd like to knock a foot off that. Maybe extension tubes would help. I'll have to look into that.

Anyway, my son and I were goofing around with the 50mm last night and I really liked this shot so just had to share it with you. It's so sharp! So awesome for a $130.00 lens.

 

Chris.

Black And Blue - Abstract

 

Stripey Goodness. Sometimes simple just works.

Chris.

Keep Calm and Snap A Photo.

Great advice.

Chris.

Luck Favors The Prepared

Every time I hear that luck favors the prepared I roll my eyes and think that sounds like something someone who just got lucky would say.

Well I happened to get lucky.

 

During dinner with my in-laws last Saturday evening, I spotted my neighbor on her deck with her camera pointed at the sky. I've never seen her out with her camera before, heck, I didn't even know she owned a camera. So, being the opportunistic photographer I am, I grabbed my camera and stepped out onto my own deck. The above photo is what I was greeted with.

The sun was almost down and a nasty fall storm was rolling in. Really nasty, hail, lightning and thunder with some pretty nasty winds. Of course I snapped several shots. This was my favorite of the bunch. Such amazing color on the  sky.

So, luck favors the prepared. Always and I mean always keep your camera out and ready to go. You never know what's going to come your way.

Chris.

More Flash Required

I've decided that I need to start taking more photos with my flash. You can use the cheapest nastiest lens and get great results with a bit of strobe thrown in.

Here's a couple quick and dirty photos for example. No editing just good quality light and a cheapo 18-55 kit lens.

 

There's just something so nice about off camera flash.

And Thus It Begins....

Looks like winter is on it's way....again.

 

Winter is on it's way! We got a nice preview yesterday with some blowing snow and a nasty wind.

Today we have frozen puddles and a wind chill of -10C. Good thing I had the tripod to hold the camera!

Here's to getting some great winter photos this year!

Chris.

Thoughts About Feedback

Let's face it, we all crave acceptance. No matter who you are or what you do, you just want someone to tell you you've done a good job. I see it in my kids. Every drawing, every Lego creation, every fancy back yard gymnastic move, they want to know that you thought it was 'cool'.

Me, I like to hear that my photos are good. It makes me smile inside when someone says "Nice Photo". But, lately I've begun to dislike that kind of comment. And since the universe loves to throw things at me that I need I came across this fantastic post over on Digital Photography School about the very thoughts I've been having.

After reading the article I realized I'm stuck at the level I am now because I'm afraid of constructive criticism. I don't really want to know what's wrong with my images. That has to change.

I love to share on Flickr. I like the community and most of the people are great to chat with.I'm a member of over 90 groups right now. That's way too many for me to be actively involved it. I need to cull that down to 10 or so really good groups that are offering some great feedback. That's going to be tough. So far I've brought it down to 46. I'll see what I'm actually involved in from here on.

I think I need to be more involved in the photography community in general. I spend so much time worrying about what people might think that I never put it out there for people to actually see and comment on. That changes today. It just has to.

So going forward I'm going to be much more involved with the community. Starting with Flickr. I'll start posting into the groups and commenting on photos from those groups in hopes of getting some good feedback from other members in the groups.

Chris.

Foggy Morning Drive

In keeping with my plans for motivation, I had my camera on the seat beside me on the drive to work this morning. It was quite foggy and I took several shots from the window while I was sitting at the red lights. This one was my favorite. I love the color gradations in the sunrise and the fog lying low. It was a nice drive and being on the look out for photo opps helped me to appreciate the drive all the more.

Chris. 

A Question Of Motivation.

I love photography. There's just something about capturing a moment in time that seems powerful to me. But I find that lately my motivation for photography is slipping.

When I purchased my first DSLR I went crazy. I took photos of everything and anything. Then I started learning. I took the New York Institute of Photography's Complete Course in Professional Photography. I learned so much so fast. The whole time I was taking the course (3 years for me) I was constantly taking photos. Then I completed the course.

Now that I have no reason to practice my course materials I find that my motivation for taking photos has slipped. Don't get me wrong, I still love photography and I still love taking photos but I just don't seem to have the same passion for it anymore. Some days I don't even look at a photograph or take my camera out of the bag.

I've been thinking, again, about how to better motivate myself to get out there and practice this art I love so much. I know, I've blogged about this before and probably will again but I'm really struggling with it this time.What am I going to do?

I have noticed that listening to photography related podcasts and watching YouTube videos really make me feel like getting the camera out and taking some photos.I guess this is a great start then. I have my iPhone so listening to podcasts happens all the time for me. I'll just need to ramp up the photography side of the podcasts I listen too. As for YouTube, well I subscribe to several photographer's channels but I think I may need to look for some more.

Another thing I'm going to try is always having my camera handy. When I got to the day job this morning I took it out of the bag and put it on my desk I took the lens cap off and put the hood on the lens then turned it on. Now when I see a great shot or some great light, I'll be more prepared to take advantage of it. I'm also going to keep my camera out of the bag in my truck on the commute to and from work each day. There have been times where I saw something that would have made a great photo but didn't have my camera out in time.

As I right this, when I should be working at my day job, there is some fantastic early morning light streaming into my office window. I'm feeling motivated so please excuse me for a moment while I take advantage of this amazing light......................................Ah, that's better.

Here's what I got!

Now that I have gotten that out of the way I can focus on my motivation again. Just kidding. I realized that I had my camera out and the light was just right so I found a couple of good subjects to show off that light. Good thing I did it when I did too, within a couple of minutes some clouds crossed over and the light was gone. By the time the clouds moved the sun was much higher up and the light was a much different quality.

So for now I guess I'll up my consumption of photography related media be it podcasts, YouTube videos and blog posts. Hopefully the universe will help me out and life will be grand again.

Chris.

Sunday Walk In The Park.

 

A girl and her dog.

We went for a walk and stopped by for a quick portrait. Not looking at me but at least they both are looking the same way and have their eyes open.

The dog even has her tongue in her mouth for a change.

I love the colors in the background. I think I need to do some more fall portraits before the dreaded white stuff hits us!

Chris.

50mm Friday - Rusty Lock Hasp

Friday September 28 2012. 50mm Friday.

A great shot of a rusty crusty lock hasp in the early morning light. Nothing looks better than rust in the morning light.

Chris.

Started From Scratch

As I've noted in a previous post I was very unhappy with the portraits of my kids I did out at the lake this summer. Of course I waited too long to do them and the day felt rushed and so on and so on.

What I did was take the photos in lightroom, reset them completely and worked them a bit from the beginning. I'm happier with the results now and I think I'll let it go and just be glad that I have something from the rock at the lake this year. Sometimes you just need to accept your own failings and move on.

 

 All in all, I think they look good enough to print. There's a project for the weekend.

Chris.

Priceless.

Click for Priceless Photography Funny!

Arachnus Deathicus

It's for stuff like this that I need that 100mm macro lens.

 

Chris.

The Best Camera....

It's been said, over and over again, that the best camera is the one you have with you. Well, I suppose that is true but I still think my Canon 50D kicks my iPhone 4's ass every time. That said my iPhone is easier to take along on bike rides and get great fun memories like this one.

She made the 2 mile ride to the 7-11 and never complained once. That's my girl.

So, my iPhone may not be the best camera I own but it sure is the most convenient.

Chris.

Cool Rock - Fridge Panel

My kids found the coolest rock a while ago. It's been sitting on the front porch for weeks. Today I thought "hey, that would look really cool on my fridge panel" and here we go. I was right.

Chris.

Reflective Panel

I have a black fridge panel that is nice and reflective. I used to use it all the time for small objects. Over the last year, I've been so busy at work that I've stopped taking photos of those small objects on my fridge panel on top of my desk. I've decided to change that.

Here is the first of what I hope to be many fridge panel photos.

Chris.

It Comes Down To Complacency

I've become complacent. Yup. I finally figured it out. I like to think I'm such a great photographer and then I go and do something that a beginner would do. I took a photo of my kids in a more or less back lit scene and screwed it up. I know better but I was in a hurry and just rushed through it.

Here's what I did.

I posed them on a rock that I use every year out at the lake for their portraits. It was late in the summer and early in the morning. That rock is to my south so the sun was coming in from behind them camera left when I took the shot. I used spot metering (no idea what got me on that kick) and just took the shot.

Well to say the least, it looked like crap. I'm not happy with the photo at all and when I tried to fix it up a bit, I just made it worse. Here are the results.

Original image.

 

Ok, I could have just adjusted the exposure on the image but if you look at the hot spots along the side of the kids and the rock where the light is coming in, you can imagine how blown out that gets with even the slightest adjustment.

So called edited image.

To say the least I'm going to have to redo these shots. The problem is it's a 2 hour drive out to the lake one way just to take them. Fortunately, I have to go out in a couple weeks anyway so I will take the kids and reshoot the photos.

What will I do differently this time? Well first off I'm going to pay more attention to the direction of the light. I'm going to take my flash, my light stand and my umbrella this time to get a nicely exposed image that I will be happy to print and give out to family and friends. Not this crap I produced this time.

It just goes to show that once you start thinking you are a good photographer, you start to make mistakes that can just be avoided. All I needed to do was slow down and analyze the scene.

Here is a shot I took using my flash in a very similar situation. Much better exposure.

The sun is coming from behind her camera left just like the rock portraits but by this time I had figured out my error and popped the flash on my camera with the diffuser as well. I'm happy with this photo. I didn't do any editing other than a crop and a very slight exposure bump. Very slight just to bring the whites up a bit.

Now if you are a potential client of mine, please only look at the last image. :) Talk about not showing your mistakes! I believe in helping people to learn and showing how human I am no matter what I tell myself.

Chris.

It's Back! Now I'm Afraid.

It's back. That feeling that I want to start making more photos. Not just taking snap shots of the family at the lake but actual making of photographs. It must be that time of the year.

I've been very focused on my health since June 4th and have been devoting a huge amount of my free time to reading different health related books (10 so far) and blogs as well as podcasts. As a result, I've put photography on the back burner for the summer with the exception of family snap shots at the lake.I figured that if I didn't get my health in line I was not going to have the energy to pursue my passion for photography for long. Things were not too bad health wise but were bad enough for me to take notice and do something about it. Now though, I'm feeling great! I have energy to spare and my mind started racing this morning about some personal projects I want to do and about starting that portrait business that I so long to do but have been hesitant to start.

I've asked myself "Why have I been so hesitant?" I've compiled a list of reasons.

• I'm afraid of failing.
• I'm afraid of succeeding (that one hit me pretty hard).
• I'm afraid I'm not good enough.
• I'm worried that my gear is not good enough (I know that' silly).
• I worry about what my family will think. 

Let's look at these reasons one by one. Not too deeply. I don't want to use this as a personal growth session that you are stuck reading but maybe you have the same thoughts and maybe my working through them will help you work through yours as well.

I'm afraid of failing.
Well now, there's a basic human fear. Everyone is afraid of failing. Even those who say they are not. They are lying to us. They are still afraid but they push through the fear and give it their all anyway. This is in my opinion the hardest and most important of my fears to get past. It stops me before I even get started.

How can I get past this first road block to my success?

I have to realize that not trying is a guaranteed failure. How can you ever succeed at something if you never begin? Even if I don't succeed, at least I will have stretched myself beyond my comfort zone.

I'm afraid of succeeding.
I know, I know, how could one be afraid of succeeding at something? Well I thought about it and this is what I came up with. If I succeed at it, I'll have no excuses not to follow through. I might get too busy with it. I might get too big too fast!

What the heck is that all about?! I can do as much or as little of it as I want to. My own business means I'm in charge of the work load. Only I can push to do more and more and more.

I'm afraid I'm not good enough.
Ok. Maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I'm more than good enough. If I strive to improve my photos every shoot and only show the best of the best well then, I'll just get better. As it is I think I'm a good photographer. I'm not a fauxtographer like you see on some of the poke fun websites. I don't try to pass off poorly exposed, out of focus and badly photoshopped images as professional quality. I do however think I'm a descent photographer with some skills. I take images like this one on a regular basis.

 

So I tend to think I know what I'm doing. I may not be Photographer To The Stars but I do a good job.There is no issue with my skills for taking photographs. I will admit though that I need practice with strangers and posing. I'll never get more comfortable with taking photos for people I don't know if I don't take photos of people I don't know. How profound is that. Posing is a creative endeavor that I'll just need to work on just like composition and lighting. All creative aspects.

I'm worried my gear is not good enough.
Ok. I suffer from gear envy just like everyone else but my gear is better than the gear the photographer from our wedding used back in 2002. Way better. I shoot with a Canon 50D and various lenses. No high end "L" series glass yet but what I do use is still so much better than what that wedding photographer had 10 years ago. Remember, it's the photographer who makes the photo not the camera.


I worry about what my family will think. 
This is a major one. I'm not worried about them liking my photos. That's between me and the client or for personal work it's my opinion that matters in the end. What I am worried about is the family being upset with any time I spend focusing on photography and business. I've been holding back a bit because my kids are still at the age where they actually want to spend time with me. Once they are teenagers I'm sure they will want to spend more time with their friends than with their parents. That will open up some free time for me to pursue business more aggressively. But that is no excuse for me not to start building a business now.

 
Well, now that I have that all figured out, ;), I just need to get out there and do it. It's not going to happen over night I know but if I keep at it I'm sure it will work out just like I want it to.

Chris.

Summer Time Means Lake Time!

We spend a lot of time at the lake in the summer. Every weekend and a couple weeks straight. Summer is so short in Canada that we just have to take advantage of it when it's here.

I'd like to take this opportunity to share some of my favorite photos from our summer so far. I was going to wait until after the September long weekend but I decided to just share some now.

My son sure loves his new Kayak.He's all alone in his own world just paddling around the lake.

My Dad, out in his canoe testing the 2HP Engine he bought for it. He was like a kid with a new toy the whole time he was out at the lake with us. :)

Out for a cruise.

Still too small to keep at this lake though. Only 80cm long. It was pretty thick though.

We had to get back from the lake in time for supper at our lot so we really had to fly.

My Daughter. She caught the one on the stick first. She was so excited. I put it in a pail of water and she just watched it and watched it. I told her, you realize that's not a pet right, we are going to eat it. She said yes.

The one still on the hook was second. It swallowed the hook so had to stay on that handy handle.

I bought her a new fishing rod just for her this week. She is very excited to go back fishing.

So, here is where it went bad for me. I hit some waves and started to bounce really bad. The rope snapped out of my hands and there I was. Stranded in the middle of the lake.

I yelled to him not to let go and they kept on going with out me. I'm not sure he even cared about losing me. LOL.

Yes, That's me learning to wake board. I'm a slalom skier so this is very different! I fall a lot but, hey, that's half the fun.

I didn't edit these much as they are just summer snap shots but I just had to share the fun.

Chris.

Fauxtographer Meds. LOL.

This is one medication I need to have my doctor put me on!

Great Stuff!

Chris.

Colorful Plants

One thing I like about summer is the abundance of color in plants. Flowers are everywhere. Berries, seed pods, you name it they are there with a ton of color.

Chris.