I hadn't even turned on the coffee pot yet but I decided to head down to the lake on this frosty morning. The water has receded below the area where there would usually be lake water. On this frosty morning I found uncovered ground frozen over by a mid-December freeze. I took three exposures on my Sony NEX-7.
Frost on the Lake
Every month my wife has me set-up for a photo shoot of our newborn baby girl. I used to laugh at the idea. Really? We're going to shoot every month's birthday? But I got over that pretty soon when I realized she wasn't kidding.
I also began to see this as an opportunity to improve my portrait photography skills. Yesterday I shot a new round of photos. I started out using my Nikon D800 but quickly switched back to my older Canon D Mark II with a 50 prime lens. That lens is stunning and I simply don't have an equivalent lens for the D800. I dropped the depth of field to a razor thin margin so that I would get her eyes as sharp as possible while softening out the rest of her face. I did that on a few photos and others I opened up a deeper depth of field.
My daughter at 7 months
I took a series of photos during my nephew's baptism backyard party. I was really focused on learning the effects of shutter speed. Remember I founded this blog because of my son's 2nd birthday party photo fail. I wrote more about that here. My son's party was entirely out of focus. I never understood how to switch shutter speed.
In the days before my nephew's party I vowed I wouldn't have a repeat performance. I'm mostly happy with how they turned out. Here's a young boy in mid-swing going for that piñata.
Swinging for the candy.
I really enjoyed this bizarre street performer in Germany. He wasn't really moving at all and folks who walked by didn't really stop and stare they basically just strolled by. I shot this with a Sony NEX-7. If I had it to do over again I would have increased the shutter speed. But I actually like how the men are a touch blurry as they walk on by and the performer is perfectly still.
German street performer
When we arrived at the Aulani resort in Hawaii I was struck by how beautiful the lobby was. Due to a combination of both jet lag and children I woke up before sunrise and ran down to the lobby. I set up my Nikon D800 and grabbed a series of exposures.
I have been using a light weight tripod that's really not meant for the hefty Nikon D800. It's the Slik tripod that I'd been using with the much smaller Sony NEX-7. I had quite of bit of shaking to deal with even with using the timer mode.
I wanted to get these shots when no one was around. One worker was cleaning the windows and remarked that he'd never really paid much attention to how beautiful this lobby was. He said he hadn't thought about it until he noticed me taking photos. Amazing what a little perspective will do. Maybe he'll have greater appreciation for the windows he's cleaning.
Aulani: A Disney Resort in Hawaii
After escaping the hurricane damage in New Jersey my wife and I retreated to our in-laws' house in California. I woke up early because of jet lag to shoot some photos at sunrise at a local winery. I didn't get many great shots but I was happy with this one.
The problem I had was with the landscape. Sure the sunrise was great but the landscape was flat and boring. There were trucks, houses, and power lines in the way. So I decided the best option was to get really low to the ground and shoot directly into the sunlight.
Here I shot seven exposures about 6 inches off the ground. The house in the background is used for theater but not much else. It sits on the winery grounds and is owned, I later learned, by John Madden. You can see the front steps in the shot.
Concannon Winery, Livermore CA