January 31, 2009

There is nothing spectacular about the subject of these photos. My purpose in taking the picture was to practice shooting in shutter priority mode of my camera. The first shot was taken with a fast shutter so as to "catch the motion" of the water. Notice how you can see the individual droplets of water. The second shot was taken with a slower shutter speed to allow the movement of the water to blend together.

Below: 1/1600s, f/3.5


Below: 1/13s, f/8.0

January 30, 2009

The head is overexposed. Next time I will spot-meter on his head then take the picture.

January 29, 2009

Heads or Tails

January 28, 2009

Ring Billed Gull
1/200s, f/3.5, 8:07 am

January 27, 2009

This is my entry for the "i heart faces" "JOY" Adult category.

This is my entry for the "i heart faces" "JOY" Child category.

January 26, 2009

I also think this praying angel is beautiful.

All these shots were taken at 8:55 am, 1/80s, f/3.5 but each with a different focal length.

January 25, 2009

The cemetery was home to some beautiful statue/figurines. I liked this little angel.

Above: 1/125, f/3.5, focal length 31.2 mm, 8:52 am

Above: 1/125, f/3.5, focal length 72.0 mm, 8:52 am

January 24, 2009

Our photography class went on a sunrise photo shoot this morning to the Mission of Nombre de Dios. It is a very old Catholic church and cemetery (founded on September 8, 1565). The setting was lovely, however the fog made the sunrise a complete dissapointment. There really wasn't much of any sunrise, but on the upside I got to put into practice some of the ideas that I have been learning about in the classroom. So for the next week you are going to see photos from this mornings outing.

I think I will start with crosses. The Great Cross, made of stainless steel stands 208 feet high over the marshes of the Matanzas River.

Above: So much fog and so little light. (1/320s, f/4.0, 7:30 am)

Above: A bit more light and less fog. (1/800s, f/4.5 7:44 am)

Above: Fog is almost all gone and the sun is up. (1/1000s, f/4.0, 7:56 am)

Above: The light reflecting off of 4000 small wooden crosses. (1/30s, f/3.5, 7:26 am)

January 23, 2009

Yes, that is a dirty booger coming out of her nose. Au natural! They were out in their bare feet digging in the driveway. You should see the rest of her!

January 22, 2009

January 21, 2009

This is my entry for the "i heart faces" adult category.

The Boy, age 5 years. The Dad, young-at-heart

January 20, 2009

This is my entry for the "i heart faces" kids category.

The Boy, age 4.5 years

January 19, 2009

January 18, 2009

January 17, 2009

January 16, 2009

January 15, 2009

January 14, 2009

January 13, 2009

This is my entry for the "i heart faces" kids category
(http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/).

January 12, 2009

January 11, 2009

January 10, 2009

I tried to focus the face and blur the rest.

January 9, 2009

January 8, 2009

I saw these rose bushes at the Zoo the other day, and they reminded me a bit of the Wild Alberta Rose. They are called "Blushing Knock Out Rose".

The color in the second picture might be a bit over saturated.

January 7, 2009

This was taken at 7:10 am. There was heavy fog, which is what I was trying to get in the picture. I should have taken the shot even 15 minutes earlier, and I think it would have looked better. However in this shot the sun was up and the fog was dissipating. Plus, there is not enough contrast with the cow and the grass. I'm sure photoshop can fix that, perhaps I will try.

January 6, 2009

I don't usually shoot in black and white. I did with this picture because the color of the wall behind this Princess is a pea green color and it looked terrible with her aqua blue shirt. Sometimes black and white works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm still trying to figure it out.

I am a much better photographer outside with natural light. I have yet to figure out inside shots. As you can see in this picture, there is a dark shadow all around the subject. This is so common in my indoor pictures. Drives me nuts. Yet another thing to learn.

January 5, 2009

I only have a 12x zoom, but I love it. One day I will have a real camera with a real telephoto lens, until then I am happy with my 12x. Not only does it allow me to shoot my subjects without them knowing (and thus I don't get the "posed" shot, but get a natural expression) but my zoom lets me be far away from the hot end of this kid's bat! He can really whack a ball and I need to keep my distance. The down side of zoom is the potential for blurry shots.

January 4, 2009

January 3, 2009

These are some twisted, wind-blown trees near the beach.

January 2, 2009

January 1, 2009

Walking on the beach, as with most any activity, is more enjoyable with a good friend.