In The Rain

 

I'm trying harder this year to make the most of the unusual amount of rain we have had this summer. All one needs is an umbrella to keep the rain off your camera and away you go.

Chris.

Updated Family Photo

My Brother and I and our wives threw a 50th anniversary party for our parents this pas weekend. It took a fair amount of planning and a whole lot of secrecy and pulling the wool over our parents eyes for months. Everything went really well and they were very surprised that we could manage to cooperate for the time it took to put this all together. It was a lot of fun in the end.

Here is an updated family photo of all of us. We have never had one will all our kids in at the same time. It just never seemed to work out. Finally I have that photo. I'll have to be sure to print one for my parents and my Brother and Sister-in-law as well for the wall.

 

 It is official, I am the tallest in my family now. Dad was the tallest at 6'4" but he's shrunk with age leaving me the tallest at 6'3". I'm taller than any one on either side of my family now. It's good to be the king. LOL!

Chris.

July In Alberta Means Thunderstorms!

I think the best part of July in Alberta is thunderstorms. I really want to get out of my back yard though and get some distance between me and the storm so I can really get some dramatic photos.

That said, the sky last night was very dramatic over the city. Always best when the cells are small enough that they don't cover the whole city at once.

 

Chris.

More Time With The 17-85mm.

So, I've been spending a lot more time with the 17-85mm that I had all but written off. I'm sure the last time I used this lens was 4 years ago. I'm not sure why I got it into my head that it was not a good lens. I do that kind of thing from time to time. Like when I learned that I could shoot at very high ISOs in the day light to get really fast shutter speeds. Then I got stuck thinking that all my shot's should be at a high ISO just to get that fast shutter speed. What ended up happening was poor photos with bad contrast and color.

So, what I'm learning about this lens is also something that I'm learning about myself. It is pretty good. And I'm pretty good. I don't want to toot my own horn but my photography is pretty descent. Even if few people actually look at it. I don't really go out of my way to promote myself these days. Maybe soon but I don't do it right now.

Anyway, I've drifted from my topic a bit. I tend to do that.

Here is a photo from my playings around today that really shows off what this lens can do under the right circumstances. We were out in the yard again, boy I love summer, and I had my speedlite on the camera to test what this lens could do with some nicer fill flash. I was quite happy with the result.

 

Let's ignore her mop of a hair doo this evening. It's been hot and the play was hard! Look at her eyes, so sharp and the color is just popping out at you. Then there is her freckles across her cheeks and over her nose. They just pop as well. With the right amount of light, this lens is very sharp. Sharp enough that I'm proud to show off this example from the lens.

I have a shoot tomorrow with a young married couple with a new born. They are looking for some good quality photos of their new son and I'm confident that I will be able to produce some very good images for them with this lens and my 50mm. I'm taking all my gear. The tripod and my umbrella too. Might as well run through everything I have.

Chris.

Mikayla - Back Yard Portraits

 

Playing around with my Canon 17-85mm lens some more. Pop a bit of fill flash in there and It made for a really nice portrait.

Chris.

Backlit Sweedish Aspen Leaves

 

Playing around with my Canon 17-85mm kit lens that I got with my 50D 4 years ago. I don't use this lens much at all. I didn't really like the results I was getting with it but as my skills as s photographer increase I'm finding uses for all those old lenses I didn't think were any good at the time. I was such a lens snob.

I think I need to play around with this lens exclusively for a few weeks and see what it's real limits are. Not the ones my attitudes had placed on it.

Chris.

Peek A Boo...

 

I see you. And I 'm not going to fly away until you leave.

I was trying to get a photo of one of the swallows coming back to the house and landing on the front. I waited and waited for almost an hour before I got too hot and decided to go in the lake instead.

Swallows - 1
Chris - 0.

It's That Time Of Year Again...

 

Now that the weather is turning hot instead of raining the balloons are starting to come out again.

I love hot air balloons. They look so peaceful just drifting across the city.

One day I will have to ride on one.

Chris.

Are You Shooting For You Or For Others?

Are you shooting for you or for others? That's a powerful question. If you are shooting for what you think other people want, you will never be able to feel satisfied with your photos. In my opinion anyway.

I post on Flickr and as of late, I've noticed that not too many people are commenting on my images or even looking at them. This bothered me for a while and I was unsure of why it was happening. I started to wonder what do people even want to see. Maybe I can photograph that and they would like my images. Turns out I have no idea what people want to see and I'm starting to not care anymore. I have noticed that photos of people are more popular on my stream but only slightly.

I've been very busy lately and have not been participating in any groups. That makes a difference. But still, I have several people that have me on their contact lists and clearly what I'm posting is not good enough for them. But, do I care? Well, not anymore.

I'm tired of trying to please other people with MY art. It's mine and I need to be the one to like it. It should mean something to me. It must resonate with me.

Take this photo for example.

This one means something to me and probably only me. This is my hard hat, gloves and coveralls. I wear these every day at work. They keep me safe. I like the colors in this photo and the contrast of the blue coveralls with the tan gloves and white hard hat. And because I really enjoy my job, this photo makes me feel good. I doubt anyone else will feel that if they don't wear the same gear at work.

So the next time you are out taking some photos take some just for yourself. I'll be you like them a whole lot more than you think.

Chris.

Photos Of Fire

I love taking photos of the fire in the fire pit at the lake. I set myself up with a fast lens, usually my 50mm f/1.8 and a higher ISO so I can get a really fast shutter speed to freeze the flames. Quite often you get some really interesting shapes and designs in the flames. Sometimes you will see a face here and there or snakes or dragons. As long as you look at them in a small size you can still see that shape but usually if you blow it up to say 8x10 or so, you will lose that shape to the holes in the flame that created it in the first place.

But every now and then you will get one like the photo below. See the dog on the right side just above the middle. That face stays there no matter how large I look at it. The really creepy part is that the image looks just like our family dog. You can see a recent photo of her here. We have always wondered why she is so afraid of fire and then she shows up in a photo of flames. If I were superstitious, I would read all kinds of things into this. :)

 

Next time I plan fire photos, I'm going to wonder what the next winning lotto ticket numbers are!

Chris.