I know it.... I can be all caught up in the latest and greatest and knowing everything about photography and gear and such...
However sometimes it's ok to get a little reminder of what it's all about. Luckily I got Emma to show a different perspective which at times can be quite fun :-)
A good capture of mom...
Yeah... I still have to figure this one out... but hey got a suggestion?
Here's baby Jimmy... look ma... no buggers
Got to find some good subjects for taking pictures...
Guess who's reading?
New book but... same subject ;-)
Just like dad we will pose things in the studio...
Some times we can use props in a baby photo shoot and actually get a smile...
Here is how we see papa Jim... and probably dad sometimes...
Eeeeewww it's a dead bug... Where is my camera.... (yeah she actually thinks that all on her own...)
Visiting mam
A different view of the dinner table.
Finally a self portrait of the up and coming photographer.
It's different but sure is a refreshing reminder... Don't think too much about it. Just shoot it... and if you see it... it's too late to capture.
If you haven't seen it yet Nikon has released the Nikon D90 replacing the D80. Quite a few changes and I am sure some of them inspired by the D300, D700 and D3 meaning you get quite a bit for the $$
One thing (being used to handling a SLR) I had been wondering about is the live view... Who would use that anyway??? being a lcd screen and giving a posture for holding the camera that doesn't really support it too good it's kind of well something to have to compete with the point and click ahh well Guess it can be good at times ;-)
But one thing that I thought was completely (hmm how do I put this right)... well let's say a feature that I figured would be useless at best and only add to the cost of the camera...
HD movie mode
Granted it's nice to have all in one... But have you printed a hi-res photo on one of those all-in-one (printer, scanner, fax) printers lately? yeah....
So I was thinking. Take a $995 camera and just make it do everything (except making coffee... still waiting on that one) and yeah it will only add to the cost and be a feature you will never use.
Today however I saw a post from a newspaper photographer recording HD video while being in the field (for good reference the paper is the British Guardian).
Even though it's been a while since I have had time to sit down and do some writing on the blog I have had a few opportunities for playing around in the studio trying to get the colors/light just right... That's kind of tricky though at times when experimenting with different setups.
However here is one that is both simple and well relatively cheap. I was reading an article about how photographers (mostly the press) were modifying their flashes to get the most of them. This has of course spawned several accessories you can buy for the flash but well we can't all go around spending $$$ all the time on things like this.
The good news is that I have found a good way to achieve some good results hardly using any of the good ole $$ :-)
Hope it doesn't sound like a kids show on tv but all you need is some construction paper and scissors... just about it.
The idea I was reading about is how you can swivel and rotate your external flash. This is a good thing since you can avoid the direct flash and bounce it off a ceiling, wall or just about whatever is around. This makes the light spread out and get a softer photo with a better light distribution overall.
However if you were to bounce the light off the ceiling then it would cast shadows under the chin (even though they are nice and soft) and a little fill light would be nice to make the eyes and all come out a bit better.
The good ole photographers would tape on a card of some type to the flash which would reflect some of the light from the flash and direct it directly onto the subject in front on them while the main portion of the light would continue to be bounce off a ceiling and light up behind the subject. This giving a really good light distribution and great photos.
This is why flashes like the Nikon SB-800 (that I have) has a card build into the head. However this is way too small to do justice to any of the old card and tape photos...
Anyway. Here is the flash mounted on the camera and about a 60 degree angle which will bounce the light off the ceiling (ps. doesn't work outdoors) and give a nice distribution of light in the room.
It does however not make the subject stand out too much. So To recreate the old "card trick" I was thinking about how to achieve that and well turns out to be pretty simple ;-)
Get out the construction paper and cutout an official ppp (professional photographer of podunk) flash modifier and raid the kitchen to find a suitable attachment mechanism...
Attaching the modifier to the external flash like this (yeah I know it's not the best photos but hey illustrational purpose only).
Putting the new flash modifier in action (this is the good part ;-)
Now that I don't want you to sit with an empty feeling of where in the world you can get a hold of such a marvelous device... I bring you here a template for making your very own flash modifier :-)
Click this image and print it on construction paper. Cut along the outer lines and fold along the inner ones. That's about it :-) then start shooting...
You know this weekend surprised me in several ways. And the thing is... I never saw it coming. In this case that is a good thing though :-)
Jacki surprised by initiating the purchase of my new camera house. I know it's not the latest and greatest which cost tons of $$. But for me it's more a question of having the tool that will cover my need. Sure my good trusty Nikon D70s has been along for the ride quite a few times and performs great. But in the odd cases I have been running into barriers of things you just can't do with it. Just to mention: high speed capture, time-lapse, better focusing, resolution, histogram for each channel and so on. The new camera body I got is the Nikon D200 with the optional vertical grip (mb-D200) which allows for vertical shooting and well holds an extra battery :-) I got a well cared for used package which I can only say I am happy for.
Well I know it may sound weird but we did the trade in a microcenter parking lot. not that there was anything shady about it. But you know exchanging items from one trunk to the other... but it was very nice of Spenny to meet us halfway since the drive to pick it up would be kind of long. Thank you :-)
Being in the area we went to a wegmans grocery store to pick up a few items for the weekend and some gluten free stuff for Emma of which they have a selection :-) Maybe it's guy thing, geek thing or well just a mee thing but just getting a "new" camera there was no way I would let it sit idle for that loooong... So I grab the camera with me in the store since I can get some test photos with Emma while Jacki is looking for groceries. Or well I thought that would be a no issue (more about that later).
Here goes the first ones:
Not having been to that particular store previously I can only say that it was a mess and people everywhere. Hard to find stuff and of course Emma had to use the potty half way through. So we located the facilities and what do you know... Just so happened that they had a pear tree growing in there...
On with the grocery shopping. Mom is picking out sensible good healthy food :-)
Emma found all the gluten free items that we just can't find in our "normal" grocery store. Well this particular wegmans only have half an aisle with the gluten free goodies but hey. They did have the gluten free ice cream cones soo some good did come out of it.
I like when stores does something special (well in particular for kids) which they don't *really* have to. Like putting up a model train in the ceiling. Emma got very excited as you can see.
And here it is:
And that's the end of the photos from wegmans... why you ask? well certainly not because I got tired of taking photos... I don't know if that actually could happen...
Nope... We were approach by a "floor manager" you know one of those in charge of the ones stacking shelves and they are as such... hmm well you know. She started out "I know you are taking photos of your daughter and all but you can't do that here...". At which point I am just totally baffled... ok.. so I can't take photos of my daughter... So I am getting back (probably with a snotty) "Excuse me.. I can't take photos of my daughter... you got to be kidding???". And she goes on about "It's our corporate policy that you can't take any photos and you have to attain a permission to bring a camera"... at this point I am kind of like a tree in a hurricane and just fuzzing out a million words in a split second about how ridicules that really is and she better make sure to take a note and inform her "people" about how stupid that really is. And come to think of it... If it's a corporate policy. Where exactly is the "no photography" sign or indication of that corporate policy. How can a store have a policy and just "forget" to tell any of their customers about it. I mean what other policies do they have hidden up their sleeve??? You never really can know for sure now can you... May someday you will be told you can't wear pink because it's against their corporate policy... but well I am not going back to that particular store anytime soon...
Maybe it's just that area (which I really don't care too much for either with the traffic and amount of people). Take this as an example. A new apartment complex was put up on the corner with busy streets on all sides. ohh I mean luxury condos with a convenient location ;-) They put up some art to spiff it up a bit
Yep... it's a horse head. Emma had the best explanation for it I ever heard. As she put it they just forgot to paint it. You know like the little figures you can buy at craft stores and paint. Looks just like it now that she mentioned it ;-)
Getting back to mam's house we are preparing for a good dinner. As we are sitting there baby Jimmy wakes up and guess who's there with a new camera ;-) yep you guessed it :-)
Look at this... Mam is in the kitchen and Emma is going nuts... ehhh I mean Emma is excited ;-)
Being the weekend of the 4th Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave came down. Now that is always exciting since it doesn't happen too often (it's a very long drive) and these guys are awesome. You just can't help liking them.
ohh Dave
I'm not kidding. This big
ohhh my gosh
Like last year we didn't completely avoid the rain. Actually it came down pretty good in the afternoon.
But once we made it to Leesburg for the fireworks it was a little wet there but the rain had stopped. This year they didn't have any funnel cakes though which was much displeasure. Now who would think to stop selling something that always sells great on a day like that...
We set up camp on the grass by the cars and got out all the chairs to sit and watch the fireworks. This is where things was different because last year I had made a promise to Jacki about actually sitting down on a chair and just watch the fireworks as I am holding her hand (you know all romantic and stuff). That was made a little tricky since well just got a new camera... I did sit in the chair and I did hold her hand as we were watching the fireworks. and yet I still got a few photos of the fireworks :-) the new one has interval shooting so I mounted the camera on the tripod. Took a guess at the exposure and setup the interval shooting to just keep firring the camera. It somewhat worked but I think it's because it had a slow memory card and halted due to a full buffer. But I got 256 photos on auto pilot while keeping my promise and sitting with Jacki just watching the fireworks :-)
The wind wasn't moving at all that night so the smoke from the fireworks just kind of sat there. So a lot of the fireworks turned out to be more of a colored smoke experience than actual fireworks... But it was pretty cool and we had a good time. Romantic and all that ;-)
Ohh yeah and all of this was on the 4th of July... All in one day. Next up BBQ on the 5th. Check out the gallery with the photos
