Category Archives: Photography

Photography

Backyard birds–Cooper’s hawk

I don’t mind being roused from my slumber in the mornings.

Just as long as the culprit isn’t a leaf blower or my next door neighbor’s outboard motor.

On most summer mornings, I can’t sleep past 6:30 am anyway.

My bedroom door which opens to the backyard is always open to let in the cool night air.

Cooper's Hawk--this fine specimen along with 3 others have been waking me up each morning. They must have a nest nearbly.

I lost the coin toss and ended up on the side of the bed which is directly in front of that door.

 

Even if I ignore the bright beams of sunlight, the heat will do me in eventually.

The past three mornings, I’ve been hearing a strange high pitch call from my yard.

Finally this morning, I grabbed my Canon 40D and my longest lens to investigate.

Before heading outdoors, I set my camera to shoot RAW and jpeg, guess the exposure: ISO 400, 1/500 sec at f2.8.
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Photography

Children’s Portraits 2

Adding some color to the scene can make pictures more interesting. Don’t forget to show your subjects a preview while you shoot to boost their confidence. I added a red gel on this shot.

Now that I’ve decided on the location of my makeshift studio, a stairwell, it’s time to break out the light stands and speedlights.

Before beginning, I set the zoom setting on all my speedlights/ flash units to 105mm so that the light is more focused and not scattered all over.

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Assignment, Photography

Children’s Portraits 1

Simple lighting–One main light, a 580EX inside a Lumiquest softbox on the right, about a foot away on the right gave me f5.6 @ ISO 200. Canon 5D Mark 2 with a 50 mm lens
I added a 2nd Canon Speedlight, a 430 EX with a red gel to jazz things up. It was set to give 1 to 1 1/2 stops less light than the main light, the 580EX in the Lumiquest softbox.s

Setting up a makeshift studio doesn’t require a lot of space but it does require some improvisation.

I was in the basement of the First Congregational Church recently to photograph some children who attended Puppet Palooza–a week long puppet making workshop by Creative Kids Have Fun.

Young children are not the easiest of subjects.

That’s why there are photographers who specialize in just children.

Just like any kind of portraiture work, you have to engage your subject, spend some time with them.

 

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Internet & Technology, Photography

Cameras you don’t need to focus is next?

This latest news about a camera capable of letting photographers choose the focus of their pictures after the fact is mind boggling if it’s true.

Ren Ng, CEO of Lytro, the company developing the technology claims ” images are focused after the fact” and “users don’t have to spend time focusing before shooting. Nor do they have to worry if they wound up focusing on the wrong thing.”

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