A nice way to end the day...I think my son would like to be out here fishing away if he could. I think my father-in-law would join him...and my son's Godfather as well. Me? I'd probably be playing with my camera just like this!
-ehw
P.S. Fujifilm X-E1, 55-200 zoom. Jpeg using the Velvia film profile
I love a rainy night...ok twilight! The rain was very, very light but the open ground was soaked! So that of course means dark, contrast filled colors if captured right!
The mood was pretty somber as well. I thought the taxis would get busier (and therefore happier), but the rain was so light it actually felt good in the humidity...sort of portable Miami air conditioning in an old school manner!
Even the park benches were quite lonely.
Maybe some sun tomorrow? Oh that is another song...."The Sun will come out tomorrow! Tomorrow! You can bet your bottom dollar...." Ok I'll be quiet before security comes up and makes me an offer I cannot refuse.
-ehw
P.S. For you gear heads all these came from my Fujifilm X-E1. Today was zoom day. I travels with my standard zoom (XF18-55 F2.8-4). Nicely made lens, and it did allow me to reach out and grab a few photos without moving my feet. I will say that the biggest thing it did for me was the mild telephoto effect. The second and fourth photos show what happened when I racked it all the way out to 55mm...or a short telephoto of about 78mm Full Frame equivalent. The telephoto allowed me to compress the elements in the frame, and they seem closer than they would with a standard focal length.
Something else I learned is that I got the shots in low light by increasing my iso to 3200. However this also made much the photo very bright, approaching daylight scenes. So I went back into the camera and applied negative compensation to bring the scenes closer to what I saw. I did not want a night vision goggle effect here.
Finally these are almost exclusively out of camera jpegs. Your camera probably has a very powerful RAW converter. Use it, save variants and shoot some more. If the product is good, variants will help you explore the what if's of your camera's potential.
It is that time of year when I need to catch up on things before the crush of school year life hits us with the power of a thunder clap.
So before my lovely big daughter grows out of her 2013 dance costumes I just had to take advantage of it to take her portrait! This time I think she enjoyed it...at least for the first 90 minutes and four costume changes! The last change is the one you see here.
I'll share some more over time, but this one has the emotion in the smile, the sweet innocence of a 12 year old, and the eye contact a daddy longs to get in the lens. It was a wonderful time spent with my daughter. This is an image I will not soon forget.
Now below you will see a photo of the little guy Kevin, he so wanted his photo taken with his dogs, the only dogs he'll ever get in my household. I'm allergic to them, but he is not so far....and he reminds me of that every other day at least. When these guys don't have breakfast with the two of us, one is smelling up my bed. The miricle here is that he looked at the camera! Grin is a little goofy, but everything at six is a little goofy for good reason!
So what do I take away from today? Constant lights are perfect for kids indoors. Set them and work them. I just recommend you get as much power as you can. I need more power from them to make the photos at a faster shutter speed, so I'll save up for a while and see what I can do. I learned a lot, like I will not shoot portraits without my tripod. Too much fun. I also like how my mirrorless camera lets me back off the viewfinder and use the screen. Much easier to keep eye contact with my subjects...and make them laugh!
Ironically the first two shots I am sharing are the only two I shot without my tripod! The top is the Fujifilm X-E1 with 60mm Macro while I stood on a stool. The second it the Pentax K-5 shot head on a few feet back. Both processed simply in Apple's Aperture using some Sara France Presets, and custom contrast curves. I really concentrated while shooting to avoid eye reflections today in the glasses, and I think I did pretty well. In both of these I actually thought through some classic posing rules as I worked the slightly more casual portraits.
I hope you enjoy them! These are two of the five lights in my life! Go capture some images of your blessings today!
-ehw
Here is Friday Night Lights as I am living out right now....
My son was out in right field, and it was a long night of walks...17 of them in fact. So the only action all night long were the throws between the pitcher and the catcher.
Making the best of it I got a high vantage point in the parking lot, went as high ISO as I dared on my Pentax K-5 and shot away. I was at 1600 here and at F4.0 on my long telezoom. Pretty much convinced me that one are two artsy type shots were all I'd get last night. This would be the one reason I'd like a fancy full frame sensor...but I don't have the extra five thousand to get the body...not to mention more to get the right lenses.
When you got what you got, you just need to work that gear to the max...work your technique and make art with the scene God gave you.
Amazing how everything in photography is a microcosm of life!
-ehw
By Friday I am smoked. Coming home from work all I could think of was getting dinner down and crashing. As God would have it I walked into the kitchen with four kids all doing their assigned tasks (table setting, feeding baby, getting water) while Mom and the five year old boy spoke to Grandma on the phone about his Valentine card. Somewhere in there dinner was almost done on the stove. Each child broke away from their job one at a time to give me a hug before I put my work bags away and hang up my coat. We had a great dinner, and then my daughter hopped to her newly assigned duty of clearing the kitchen with me.
The reason you see her smiling...is not because Dad was goofing off with his camera ... but because I had her favorite music kicking on my iPad. We trade turns choosing songs while we work. It is sweet and fun to be able to enjoy my eldest daughter on nights like this..and let me remember why there was so much more than a nice nap waiting for me at home on Friday night.
For you techies...nothing fancy. Just a snap with Mr. Pentax K-5, Sigma 17-50 zoomed out to 50mm So on the crop it gives me a 75mm short telephoto compression effect. I used a high contrast B&W conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 with a sepia tint. I used a U-Point option here to increase the exposure on her face and skin...which of course helped remove some minor flaws just like they do with fancy smancy models.
-ehw