Oct 30, 2012

Machine

Old farm implements + Lightroom.  Fun times.
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Oct 29, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup Oct. 29

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Busy weekend of shooting means a busy week of editing fun.  I prefer the shooting part myself.

Interesting book - 100 Ideas that Changed Photography

Football season is wrapping up, so it is onward to basketball...  some tips from ace photog Alan Hess.

Toys stuffed with firecrackers?  Yes please.  Also includes great links and 'how he did it.'

Here is a link ... to a lot more photo links.  This is one to bookmark and go back to when you have browsing time.

Cool gig- documenting Google's data centers.

Of course there will be lots of photography documenting superstorm Sandy... The Atlantic has a nice start on the InFocus blog.

Have a great week.

Oct 23, 2012

Kaufman Halloween photo opp... Come on out for FREE photos!

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If you are in the Kaufman area and haven't made plans for your trick-or-treating adventure, come get a free fun photo at the First Baptist Church Fall Festival from 5:30-7:30 p.m.  I had to miss last year, but this has always been a fun event.

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Oct 22, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup - Oct. 22

My favorite photo subject is 18 months old, and quickly turning from toddler to rambunctious boy.  Fun times to be a dad, and a great time to be a photographer!
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Very clever photog uses mirrors and environment for "framing" his art.  Any volunteers to try this with fashion or family photos?

Photographing a (controlled) airliner crash.  That is a great assignment.

Not everyone is adjusting to professional-quality small cameras very quickly.  In this case the photog was treated as a non-professional because of his mirrorless camera.  That probably also has implications on event venues that restrict "professional" cameras, often defined as cameras with changeable lenses, or a restriction on lens length.

A good list of photog mistakes...  Knowing what they are means you can avoid them.

Biggest new product news of last week (to me) was the new GoPro Hero 3.

One more Joshua photo... with the shutter speed bumped up to black out the environment.  Not sure if it looks like he is checking out a flying saucer or what...
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Oct 15, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup Oct. 15

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The weather held off for us Saturday night for a nice set of senior photos. Sometimes it all works out. Of course, something had to be a little oddball since I was the photographer. When the photos are looking good, I get distracted. Getting low angles for shots like this... HaileyWhiteside-4719

... I managed to lay in a fire ant bed. which is just dumb. And painful. And embarrassing. And did I mention painful?
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It is fall over at the Big Picture blog...

10 solid tips for better cell-phone camera photos.

Awesome - Photog on early 1900s Antartica expedition documented being stranded with Shackleton.

I like my Honl flash goodies a lot.  Turns out his folks make entertaining product videos as well..


Strobist David Hobby reviews my next book purchase... Secrets of Great Portrait Photography.

And, I'll wrap it up with a few more from Saturday.
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Oct 8, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup Oct. 8

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The annual "National Night Out" activities in Kaufman could use a little boost and involvement from more folks.  Thankfully, the KHS Jazz Ensemble sets up and provides some entertainment and good music.  Also thankfully, they bring lights.

Reminiscing about low light shooting ... back in high school, I was amazed to find Kodak T-max 3200 speed B&W film at Ritz Camera in the mall.  That meant I could occasionally get decent photos at football games.  The film has now been discontinued.

Colby Brown has a nice post showing the effects of retouching a landscape image in LightRoom with a nifty before/after slider...

How about riding across the northern USA with eight iPhones rigged as a giant panoramic camera?  Even more curious, the footage is for a "live stage show."

Understandable...

I wouldn't call it a facelift, but if you have expensive Leica lenses, I guess why not?

Going beyond capturing images...


And a few more NNO photos..

5D and 50mm f1.4 makes for nice short-depth-of-field fun.
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Lights, lights everywhere..
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Oct 5, 2012

Carnival fun photos

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It is hard to beat small-town carnival atmosphere for photography fun.  There are lots of people having fun, some having no fun at all, carneys, and of course, lots of lights and lighting challenges. Usually you only have about 30-45 minutes of daylight that is not too bright to combine with slow shutter speeds. (use a neutral density filter to get long shutter speeds during the day) Including a darkening sky with spinning rides is great. Today was better than that... clouds of a cold front rolling into the area just as it got dark. Of course it pays to be early for fun people shots. Did I mention carneys?
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Upside down ride riders... Seagofest Carnival-2316

Fun slide sliders...
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Shooting people on moving rides is hard, but as always, sharp eyes are key.. Seagofest Carnival-2464

Many rides have bright halogen lights directed at the riders. If you catch them going through that light, it is usually good..

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As it gets darker, shutter speeds get longer to capture any sky at all... which also makes for more interesting patterns in ferris wheel lights.
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Ominous!
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How to shoot pretty blurry light photos?  Get a tripod and be willing to look like a shutterbug while having fun with hundreds of your neighbors.

Other posts with carnival photos are here, here, here and here.

Telling the tale of a losing effort

Action shots at sporting events can often be misleading in telling the story of the game.  Photo editors look for shots that depict how the game went, but it is sometimes the non-action shots that really tell the tale.

Such was the case last night as Terrell (the team I was covering) fell behind early.  It was clear that the teams were badly mismatched and it would be a long night for the Tigers.  After several turnovers and no offensive movement of the ball at all, Terrell head coach Kevin Wilson called a timeout in the first quarter to rally the team a bit.  A short walk to my left and I had the team, coach and scoreboard lined up...
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The action shots can be telling, of course, but that becomes a bit like singling out players in one instance of bad play.. A quarterback falling untouched in the backfield for example.. SS Terrell vs WM-2037

Or getting tossed at the line of scrimmage.. SS Terrell vs WM-1460

An interception..
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Or being tackled by more than half of the opposing team's players at once. Not sure how that happens. Seven West Mesquite players got to the runner.
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There were three Terrell highlights, only one of which I managed a photo of.  I was in a bad spot for a fake punt that worked for a first down.  Same an interception that went back for a long defensive touchdown.

A long (81 yard) pass and run for a touchdown was right in front of me, so of course, the receiver was facing the other sideline... SS Terrell vs WM-1304

He turned my way after the catch, but alas, the moment was gone. It could be any play of the game.SS Terrell vs WM-1309

Still, for me, the photo at the top tells the tale pretty well by itself.

Oct 4, 2012

Thursday Night Lights at Mesquite Memorial

The Terrell Tigers will go into Mesquite Memorial Stadium as the definite underdog for tonight's matchup.  Luckily for everyone shooting photos, the lights and unique features of the venue can help make up for what may be a lopsided game. The large communications tower at the south end of the field can be incorporated with a wide-angle lens ...
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And a nice grassy bowl at the end of the field makes a clean background for on-field action.
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And lighting is better than average, so it should be a good night, at least for the cameras.FootballvsWestMesquite-7198

Oct 1, 2012

Monday Photo Roundup - Oct. 1

Settling into fall and football weather..  To follow up on last week's homecoming post, here is an interesting observation.  On Friday, the best reaction upon the announcement of king and queen winners was from the parents rather than the students. Homecoming-8258 Homecoming-8334 Homecoming-8381

Be a Photographer!  1946 vocational film shows that everything has changed, and not much has changed.


The cost of printer ink, relative to other liquids.  There's gold in them thar cartridges!

Big price drop on the still-impressive Canon 5D Mk II.  The dreamy look of modern wedding and family portraiture is, in part, the work of this camera.  However, the autofocus and sensor improvements of the Mk III version may be worth almost twice the price?

There are other Canon rebates as well...

Golden corporate headshot advice from The Slanted Lens is up on Strobist...

Finally... In low-light high school football, you really want the action to be right in front of you (or invest in an $11k lens).  So it was nice to be in the right place at the right time Friday.  In Terrell, the light is particularly bad, as you can see in this series.... Catch-0450 Catch-0451 Catch-0452 Catch-0453 Catch-0454 Catch-0456 Catch-0457 Catch-0460

Have a great week!