Archive for the Personal Category
Recharging My Super Power
June 27, 2009 | Filed Under Personal, Photo Tips | 2 Comments
It’s been a rough weekend around my home — as far as manual labor is concerned. First off, my 32″ Sony television died, so yesterday I had to get that beast from inside the house out to the pickup truck, followed by a nice trip to the dump.
Once unloaded, I went and had 2 cubic yards of mulch loaded into the back of the truck, to finish my landscaping project I have been working on.
After countless trips with the wheelbarrow, loading it with mulch, and then spreading it out in the proper areas, my energy was depleting.
Finally, after cutting the lawn and cleaning up inside the shed, I called it quits. Well actually my back made that decision for me.
As I was sitting on the deck taking a rest, I looked up at the mid-day sun and immediately had a vision of a picture I wanted to create. I went inside, grabbed my camera, lightstand, two pocket wizards and a flash.
I first dialed in the exposure on the sky I wanted to achieve to get the starburst and keep my shutter speed at sync speed, which was ISO 50; 1/200; f/16. Next, I setup my flash on the lightstand, set it to 1/4 power and took some test shots, moving the light to produce the proper exposure of my hand.
The hardest part was trying to get my finger positioned on the sun without blinding myself in the process. Yes, it’s a goofy picture, but it was much more fun to do that than put down mulch.
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Kids Will Be Kids
May 31, 2009 | Filed Under family, headshots, kids | 1 Comment
Today my 7-year old daughter Keely, tried her hand at doing face painting … on my 2-year old son, Henry.
I happened to be setting up for headshots I’m doing on Tuesday, and my daughter decided now that she has mastered the art of painting on faces, to try her hand at doing photography. She gave Henry explicit directions on how to pose (which of course went on deaf ears), and then manned the camera (with my careful eyes on her making sure she wouldn’t break anyting) and snapped off a few shots. I was able to salvage a few somewhat usable images. I think it’s time for me to spend some time now educating Keely on the art of photography. I think she is showing a liking to it.
Tires Ain’t Pretty
May 1, 2009 | Filed Under everyday life | Leave a Comment
Today I awoke to a gray, dreary, rainy day and thought, “I think today I’ll buy a new set of tires.”
I’ve owned my Honda Element for just over three years now, and have 66,155 miles on it. I’ve been driving on the original tires, rotating them twice over the years. The tread was getting almost non-existent on the edges, so it was time to head on over to BJ’s, crack open the wallet and help the economy (and my safety) buy purchasing four new tires.
BJ’s is a great place to get tires, for as you are waiting the 35-45 minutes for your tires to be installed, you can browse around the store (and spend more money), rather than sit in a boring waiting room, reading magazines that are months old.
Tires ain’t pretty, but boy what a great feeling driving on brand new rubber. It’s at this time you realize the difference between tires with 60K miles on them, and tires that still have those little rubber spikie things still attached to them.
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Headphone Discovery
April 25, 2009 | Filed Under family, kids | Leave a Comment
You’ve got to listen to WonderPets without outside noise distractions.
Ice Ice Baby
January 28, 2009 | Filed Under everyday life | Leave a Comment
Mother Nature brought us some snow on Tuesday and freezing rain on Wednesday. The roads in the morning were covered with a nice layer of ice — too bad I don’t have any ice skates any longer. I could have skated around the neighborhood. Schools were closed, many people stayed home, or went in late to work. I slid off my deck to snap a few pictures.
Christmas Ornaments
December 7, 2008 | Filed Under Personal | Leave a Comment
Here in Maryland there is a light dusting of snow on the ground, temperatures in the high 20′s low 30′s. My wife and daughter are out to see a play, and my son is upstairs taking a nap. The only football game on right now is the Eagles/Giants game — yawn.
I’m bored. What to do? I know, take some pictures of the Christmas ornaments on the tree we recently put up.
These shots were taken on a tripod with my 135 f/2.0 lens. ISO 200 and a tungsten WB. The average shutter speed was about a third of a second.
That Summertime Feeling
June 21, 2008 | Filed Under family, kids, People, Personal | 1 Comment
Ah, summer. You remember those days as a kid don’t you? Being out of school and running out of the house in the morning, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face, wondering what that day of fun would bring.
Unfortunately, I’m not a kid anymore and those days of three months of vacation are only a memory. However, I can relive those moments watching my kids experience it as I once did.
No matter what type of camera you own, keep it handy, and take photographs of your family. You, your family, and future family members will appreciate it in the future.
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