A Wedding Shoot in April

I had an opportunity to shoot a wedding at the end of April.  I used my Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens and received wonderful results.  While I zoomed in and out throughout the ceremony and reception, I kept my aperture at f/4.  That is one of the nice features about this lens.

Here are the results of my wedding shoot:

I brought my Nikkor 85mm lens with me and it ended up staying in my bag the whole time.  That's how well my 24-120mm lens performed.

Part of my wedding process is designing and printing my own CDs and DVDs which is part of the wedding package.  I have an Epson Artisan printer that is my workhorse.  I can print my CDs/DVDs and photos on this printer.  It's been a lifesaver for me.

In case some of you are wondering I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and photographing weddings on the side.

Next up...a wedding in May.  This time I'm the guest!  :-)

Senior Portrait Session

Back in the beginning of March, I had an opportunity to do Senior Portraits for a friend's son.  Normally I prefer to do Senior Portraits in the Spring or Summer before the student's senior year.  Sometimes the Fall season works as well for last minute portraits.  March was a bit cold to be taking pictures outside.  Given it was a last minute request, I couldn't turn it down.

We met up at the local train station.  I could tell my friend's son was a bit unsure of the portrait session.  I immediately took charge and started to take pictures of him.  After the first ten shots, my friend's son started to relax in front of the lens and started posing for me.

Here's a sample from the photo shoot:

Her son is not an early morning person, so we agreed to meet in the late afternoon.  I spent two hours with my friend and her son taking his portraits at two different local locations.  I used both my 85mm/f1.8 and 24-120mm/f4 lens.  I used my 85mm for the first hour and literally had to "zoom with my feet" to get the right shot.  I used the 24-120mm lens for the second hour and at the second location.  It was a sunny day and I still used my flash for fill-in shots.

He really got into posing for me.  He was a natural at this and made my job easy and fun.  Moments like this is why I enjoy photography.

Taking My D600 to The Plains

This past weekend, I took a trip to The Plains, Virginia.  It's a quaint tiny, tiny town.  My mission was to visit a yarn shop called Hunt Country Yarns.  How fitting.  It was a bright sunny day and my D600 had a great time capturing the scene.

The Rail Stop restaurant, once owned by Robert Duval (the actor).  He currently lives a few miles north of The Plains on a 350+ acre farm

This is downtown...The Plains.  I told you it was tiny.  To the left is Hunt Country Yarns and The Rail Stop restaurant in the center

It was a pleasant walk through town

On the other side of town, I found an old 1800 stone church.  I was fascinated with this stone tower-like structure

A glimpse through the archway

The church was very majestic looking

My D600 performed beautifully inside as well as outside:

Hunt Country Yarns:  I fell in love with this hand knitted sweater on display.  I need to learn another knitting technique...entrelac knitting

Hunt Country Yarns: there were cubby holes full of colorful yarns.  All waiting to be "squished" by me!

All pictures taken with my D600 and 50mm f/1.8 lens

I'll be back with a review of my new camera and a comparison with my D7000.  Stay tuned!

Running a Photo Challenge

I'm running a weekly photo challenge on FaceBook for the month of July.  This week's challenge:  what is your favorite shoes?  So naturally, my favorite shoes are flip flops.  Here's an example photo I submitted to help my friends think outside of the box:

Flip flops and sea shells

Here's what I submitted for my photo challenge:

Gadget: ExpoDisc...a True Winner

I received a new toy...an ExpoDisc by ExpoImaging.  It's a White Balance (WB) incident tool that eliminates the need for post-production color or WB adjustments.  With the ExpoDisc I can set a custom WB in my camera, shoot a WB reference frame to be used later in my photo editing software, or I can use it to set the exposure.

My 77mm ExpoDisc with the outside facing up

There's two sides to this ExpoDisc.  On what I consider the inside is a flat plain white filter.

Plain side of the ExpoDisc with included lanyard

I put this side against my lens.  I then set my camera to WB Pre-Set (or custom) and take a picture at my light source with the ExpoDisc covering the lens.  Basically, I'm taking an "incident reading" of the light source.  After the WB shot is taken, my camera is ready to take a picture.  

ExpoDisc place against the lens (picture from ExpoImaging site)

I took the following picture before setting up my custom WB:

WB set to Auto (without ExpoDisc)

Here's the results after using this nifty WB ExpoDisc gadget:

WB set to Pre-Set or custom (with ExpoDisc)

More test shots:

ExpoDisc with WB set to Auto 

ExpoDisc with WB set to custom using the ExpoDisc

Can you see the difference?  This device is so easy to use and so far, I think it's the best WB tool.  Each ExpoDisc is hand calibrated and certified for neutrality.  Included in the box was a quality control card.  My ExpoDisc was certified at 17.85% light transmission (close enough to the 18% neutrality).  Also in the box was a nylon case (storage) and a woven lanyard (wear the disc around my neck).

The disc comes in several different lens sizes.  I purchased one of the larger sizes (77mm) to accommodate my largest lens or future lens.  When I use my smaller lens, I just place and hold the ExpoDisc against the lens and take a picture.

Note:  the only post production I did was to crop the photos and add my copyright.  Pictures were taken without flash and in a room with incandescent lighting.

Here's a link to the ExpoImagining site.  Here you will find a few videos on how to use the ExpoDisc.  It's pretty cool!

Nurturing the Right Side of My Brain

In my quest to to nurture the right side of my brain with creativity, I took a trip to an art center.  The Workhouse Art Center used to be a reformatory or correctional facility.  Knowing this, I figured I would bring my camera along.  I'm glad I did.  

The Workhouse Art Center

There are several buildings on this campus.  Each building connected to a long corridor like this one:

All the bricks seen in the photos were produced by the prisoners who resided here.  They built their own prison buildings.  

Small gallery:  bricks on the left side of the wall painted white

Many different artists' studios can be found here.  From mixed media to fiber arts to beading and jewelry making.  I enjoyed hanging out in the studios.  I'm getting ideas for my future studio.

Many of the studios looked down right comfy:

The oil paintings here look so realistic...like photos.  

Walking across the lawn

Inside one of the buildings with long hallway galleries and studios

Inside the ceramics building:  several potter's wheels

Here is one of three guard towers that are still standing:  

Guard tower

This is a very unique art center.  I feel like I could spend hours here observing and learning.  I'm looking forward to coming back during a work day to see all the artists in action.

My Hubby...Apostle John

Last Sunday, Hubby was busy presenting a plant lecture at the local garden center.  Today, Hubby was busy presenting a sermon to our church.  He was the Apostle John.  Let me say...he was very convincing.

A close up of Hubby (200mm)

My Hubby can be very animated during a lecture or sermon and is constantly on the move.  It makes it very difficult for me to take good/sharp pictures of him.  After our church service, I thanked him for standing still or moving slowly.  His  reply?  "Well I was portraying an old man...so I couldn't move that fast"

In case, you're wondering...I'm building a pictorial porfolio for my Hubby.  He is looking to become a pastor one day.  

(200mm)

Yes, one day I will become a Pastor's wife.  I can't sing worth beans.  I can't play a musical instrument.  Let's just say I'm not musically inclined.

I can take pretty decent pictures.  Maybe I can become a Pastor's Photog wife?

I took over 100 pictures of my Hubby, Apostle John.  Only a handful came out blurred.  We both had a great day!

Taking My Micro Lens to Church

I took my camera to church to take some pictures of my friend's daughter, Gabby.  Gabby, a high schooler, was presenting her sermon today.  As I mentioned before, our church doesn't have the best interior lighting.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out my new lens.  Here's the results:

This is one sharp lens!  Again, no flash and no tripod.  All pictures were taken hand held.

At the end of the service, one of the church members approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking their wedding pictures next month.  I felt honored and said I would.  I plan on using my D40 and D7000 to capture this special moment.

Looks like I'll need to get a real tripod and ball head.  Does anyone have any recommendations?  What do you use?

My Hubby Preaching

This morning my hubby preached a sermon "Is He Real?" at our church.  He is recovering nicely from his surgery from a little over two weeks ago.  He still has to take it easy and avoid any lifting for a few more weeks.  Being around church family and friends is very uplifting for the both of us as well as sharing God's message.

It took me a couple of practice shots before I finally captured a decent picture.  Remember, it's been a few weeks since I've picked up my camera.  No flash used.

With D7000, Leave the Flash Behind

That's what I should have done when we left for our vacation.  I used my external SB-600 flash for about 15 minutes and I used it to take pictures of our cabin.  That was it.  I'm documenting it here as a lesson learned that I don't need to bring everything with me.  That's how great the D7000 is.  I did bring a spare battery with me.  I'm still averaging about 1200 pictures per battery.  Really cool!

Here's some pictures taken without flash:

Art Gallery on board (I did spend some time here)

Hubby's breakfast

Welcome Aboard champagne

Fellow cruisers dropping off their liquor purchases in Cozumel...they get it back on the last evening of the cruise

The gym on board

Galley tour!

My breakfast of champions (including oatmeal and granola)

A visit to the Medical Center for dear Hubby.  

A martini demonstration

Pouring different martinis...neat trick!

The captain's champagne fall...I watched the crew stack the 616 champagne glasses!

There were times while on the ship I left my camera(s) in the cabin.  There were many times I missed some wonderful shots.  There is always something going on or an event taking place on the ship.

Next time, I'm leaving my flash behind.

(Note:  all pictures taken in P-mode)