Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Industrial Photography

I love industrial photography. I work in the oil industry of Alberta, Canada. I have a fabrication shop at my disposal when I feel like taking some steel and spark shots.

I think if I could find enough companies needing this type of photography on a regular basis, I could make a go at a business based on this type of photography and head shots of the management.


Nothing is as slick as a plasma table for cutting custom parts from plate steel. I'm always amazed when I watch this thing in action.



After tacking the pipe together, the welder puts in the root pass. This takes quite a bit of time and is really interesting to watch.



You can see the light from the welding spark shining though the bottom half of the joint where the root pass has not been put in yet.

The pipe is connected to a spinner that rolls it around for the welder so he can concentrate on making a good pass and not on the position he is in.


After the root pass is in the pipe is moved over to the sub arc welder where the fill passes are done quickly and easily.


There is no smoke, or spark with this procedure. Just a whole lot of heat. No special training is needed to operate this welding machine. All you need is a quick rundown on how the unit works and what to do. Away you go. Saved yourself 4 or 5 years of schooling

This photo is of the cutting and beveling procedure. I added it because I really like how it looks. The pipe is cut to length and beveled to make for proper welding all at one machine.


These photos were really fun to take today. I'll have to try to take more of these in the future.
.



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

More Thoughts On My Canon 17-85mm Kit Lens

I've had the summer now to play more with my Canon 17-85mm lens and have discovered it's limitations. Good to know so I can work within them.



The photo of my daughter on the right here was taken with my 17-85mm and is what sparked my interest back into using this lens more.

It's sharp and the color and contrast out of the camera were really nice.

I used it quite a bit for most of the summer and have found it's limitations.

Distance. That's pretty much it. The farther away your subject is, the worse the lens performs.



 In this photo of my son at the park, he's just not that sharp. He is about 30 feet from me here. I had focused and recomposed and I'm sure of the focus.


It just seems that as the subject gets farther away, the lens loses some quality. It was not enough for me not to use this image, I still like the image, it just doesn't have the sharpness that the above one of my daughter has.

The shutter speed was plenty fast enough on this one as well so no help there.



Then we have this one that is sharp again. I'm only a few feet, maybe 5 away from the subject here and everything with him looks nice and sharp.

So this helped to further my assumption about the subject distance.

I think I may just have to save for some L series lenses after all. But at least I'm not just lusting after them.





Chris.

Monday, October 7, 2013

A Family Wedding!

This past weekend we had the first local wedding in our family since my wife and I got married. On her side anyway. There was another a couple of years ago but it was a distance wedding. We just couldn't make it to that one.

Anyway this one was my wife's cousin and his fiancee. I've been waiting for this one for a few years already. We knew it was coming though. They are perfect together.

Both my kids were part of the wedding party. My daughter, one of the flower girls and my son handed out programs to all the guests as they arrived. They looked so good and so grown up. I wasn't the photographer, I will never photograph a wedding. Way too much stress. Also, I'm just not set up for weddings. I need some faster glass than what I have. At least with portrait work, I can control the light if needed. That said, I took my share of photos while I was shooting video for the happy couple.

Here are some of my favorites from the day.


Ready to go! All dressed up in their new dress and suit. When did they get so grown up?



Mother of the groom pinning flowers on my Brother in Law Curtis who served as one of the ushers.



Tears of Joy.



Just seconds before being husband and wife.



The kiss!



Jared and Lainie Gratrix. Larger than Life.



Lainie and the girls.



Jared, Lainie and the helper kids. Is it just me or does five kids look good on them?



Head table decoration.



I'll just have the gravy please.



Dinner kiss as demanded by the clinking of the glasses.



Someone is getting roasted by his best man.
 


The Grooms Uncle Mickey. My Father In Law. My best poporatzi photo of the night.



My daughter enthralled by the happy couple dancing their first dance as husband and wife.
 


Grandma and her grandkids. My kids.
 


God Mother and God Daughter.

These are my favorites of the night that I took. A good time was definitely had by all. It's about time Jared and Lainie got married. They've been perfect for each other as long as I've know them both.

Congrats to you both. I hope you have the best life together possible.

Chris.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Pen As Seen By My iPhone



Well that's that then.

This was more just to post from my iphone than anything else.

Chris.

Fall Morning Drizzle


It's getting much cooler here in Edmonton now. 1C when I got in my truck and raining. Winter is coming so we might as well embrace the cold.

As I was shivering waiting for my truck to warm up a bit, I was struck by the patterns the drizzle was making on the windshield. It put a smile on my face so early in the morning.

Chris.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

0 to 3000


I'm getting back into the industrial photos. I'm around this stuff all day, I might as well take creative advantage of that.

Chris.