Happy day

What do you do when you have something to celebrate, but all Dairy Queen has on hand is birthday cakes?  Make a big mess on the top of the cake and enjoy every forkful, that's what!

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
65mm - ISO 400
1/60s- f/4

Thank you

The Kansas City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fountain was built to honor the men and women from the Kansas City area who served in Vietnam, and those who lost their lives or are missing to this day.  A number of people came through the grounds while I was taking pictures, including these three strangers, who paused for a moment to stand together at the memorial wall.  Eventually, they all went their separate ways, having honored those that they came to remember.  I can only guess at their stories, but I am grateful for the sacrifices made by those in their memories, and to all who have served this country I am so fortunate to call home.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
105mm - ISO 200
1/320s- f/9

So that's the way the wind blows.

Today we went to a park in Lawrence with some photographer friends, and had a great evening.  I had a hard time deciding what to post, so you will eventually see some on Flickr (although not tonight, I'm tired!), but I ended up with this one of some long decorative grass.  The strong wind and small aperture created some great motion.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
105mm - ISO 200
1/125s- f/4

Noisy little birdie

I saw a hummingbird on the feeder this evening, and had to take its picture.  It was getting dark outside, and I had to stay pretty far away from the feeder or I would scare it off.  So, this is a cropped shot that is a bit grainy.  The hash pattern is from the screen on the window.  I was really surprised that it showed up so strongly.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
47mm - ISO 100
1/320s- f/11

A bright spot in a rainy week

The sun made a brief appearance today before the rains came again.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
47mm - ISO 100
1/320s- f/11

Smiles in the darkness

I was going through some boxes of old stuff tonight, and came across my smiley face collection from college.  This is one of those rotating light thingys, which fortunately rotates pretty slowly, allowing me to take its picture clearly.

Canon 5D Mark II
Promaster 70-300mm f4-5.6
180mm - ISO 1250
1/100s- f/4.5

That's the breaks, kid.

My windshield was a casualty of the weekend's hail storm, and this is a photo of the world looking out through it.  It is getting replaced tomorrow, so this was my last chance to take its picture.  I actually wanted a photo of it on a bright sunny day, with the sunshine refracting through all of the cracks in the glass, but we haven't seen sunshine in days.  I liked the way the blue of the glazed glass and the green of the trees overhead mixed together.

I heard a great tip from pro photographer David Hobby at a conference I attended earlier this year, which I am paraphrasing as "400 and done."  The gist is, before you leave the house in the morning, set your ISO to 400.  That is a reasonable range for most DSLR's, and that way no matter what comes your way, you will be reasonably prepared for it.  For example, if you were at a concert the night before shooting at 3200, and forget to bring the ISO back down, you are going to be in a world of hurt when the perfect shot comes up outside at noon.  Or conversely, if you have it cranked down to 100 for that noon-time shot, and then try to whip your camera out of your bag and snap that yummy-looking, lit-by-candlelight appetizer before your dinner date starts throwing things at your head, you won't be too happy with what you get. So, just set it to 400 in the beginning to be safe.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50mm f1.4
50mm - ISO 400
1/200s- f/2.5

Filthy lucre

I guess you might call this the money shot.  I used an on-camera flash bounced off the ceiling with the smallest possible aperture to preserve the greatest amount of detail.  Happily, it allowed a ton of detail on all of the coins, and a large depth of field, so all of the coins are in focus.  Contrast that to yesterday's photo with a low aperture which caused the focal zone to be measured in millimeters.  It's amazing what a little light can do!

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
105mm - ISO 400
1/15s- f/22

Canon 580EXII
Full power
17mm zoom
Flash on camera bounced off the ceiling

First harvest

Here is the first harvest from my strawberry plant, which is trying to take over my front yard.  It jumped out of a tiny pot that I had on my porch, and by its third year of life, it is now about 10 square feet in size.  (The part left in the pot died within a few months.)  I used my handy little flash-mounted softbox to take this.  It is actually a little loose, so when I angled the flash forward at a 90-degree angle, the softbox actually flopped down so the light was coming down from overhead, which I really liked.  I kept the aperture pretty low, so that combined with the softbox angle created a pretty dramatic light fall-off.  I missed perfect focus on the front berry by just a hair.  Prime lenses can be tricky to focus perfectly.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50mm f1.4
50mm - ISO 125
1/200s- f/2.5

Canon 580EXII
1/164 power
17mm zoom
Flash on camera 90-degree angle
Shot through flash-mounted softbox

A wide front-lit back side (not what you may be thinking)

We headed out east today behind some big storm cells to take the back-side pictures that I mentioned in yesterday's post.  The color is much improved!

Nikon D90
Nikkor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
27mm - ISO 400
1/1000s- f/8

Funnel cloud (I prefer funnel cake)

This is a funnel cloud across the street from my house from a storm this afternoon.  Note, it isn't a black and white picture!  It is a good example of ugly back-lighting.  The trees and everything else look completely black because of the strong light behind them.  I could probably have brought some of the color back if I had thought to adjust the settings (this was taken on full auto mode) but I was a bit freaked out. 

I've seen photos and videos that other people took of the storm, and they all showed some beautiful color, but they were taken from the back side of the storm, rather than looking into the brightness.





Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
105mm - ISO 125
1/100s- f/4

Spreading fear & terror

My original picture-of-the-day idea fell through, so I decided to fall back on an always-entertaining pastime - terrorizing the kitten with the flash.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50mm f1.4
50mm - ISO 160
1/160s- f/1.4

Canon 580EXII
1/16 power
17mm zoom
Flash on camera, bounced up to ceiling

Pretty pretty flower

My friend Abby brought the most beautiful peony to work this week.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to immortalize it.  It is sitting in front of a window with light coming in from the overcast sky.  I like the way it almost seems to fade away into nothing.  I used the macro feature of my lens.  I find macro photography enjoyable because it has a way of taking the most ordinary of objects and finding something interesting in it.

I experimented with adding some flash fill to the right side of the flower, to brighten up that side, but I think it just detracted from the picture.  Sometimes, all-natural is best!

I could have set up a bounce card to catch some of the light from the window to fill in some of the shadows.  I think I will try that next time.

Canon 5D Mark II
Promaster 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6
300mm - ISO 400
1/30s- f/4.5

Fly away, dragonfly

Today I caught a windchime mid-flight.  It was a gray, cloudy day, so I was just trying to get the colors to pop.  All credit to the 5D - its image sensor truly is a thing of beauty.  The detail it caught on the chimes is just amazing.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4
105mm - ISO 100
1/200s- f/5.6

A pile o' pots

I was in an old barn this afternoon, which was filled with dusty antiques and all kinds of treasures.  This tray of pots caught my eye as it was lit by the strong side light coming in a nearby window.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105vmm f4
105mm - ISO 3200
1/60s- f/4

Words of comfort

This has been a tough week for my family, with the loss of a loved brother/uncle and a furry friend.  It has brought to mind my favorite verse in Scripture - Psalm 145:8.  It reminds me that God's love for me is ever-present.

I bounced the flash off the ceiling, and because I was using TTL, it narrowed the flash beam to work with the 300mm zoom.  That caused a nice fall of light down on my focal point, with little spill around the edges of the page. 

I couldn't have done it better manually.  I am learning a lot from TTL - both what to do and what not to do when manually adjusting everything.

Canon 5D Mark II
Promaster 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6
300mm - ISO 400
1/60s- f/5.6


Canon 580EXII
TTL
On camera, bounced up to the ceiling

Lonely hearts club

Today I was at the local hotspot for all the single cardinals in town.  The male (red plumage) is enjoying dinner while a lady (orange beak, sitting on top of the left-hand feeder) admires him from afar.  I know it is a bit difficult to pick the birds out of the background.  A longer lens would have helped, (by blurring the background) but I didn't have one with me.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105vmm f4
105mm - ISO 1250
1/100s- f/4

Early Father's Day

My sisters were in town this weekend from out of state, so we decided to celebrate Father's Day early.  My dad is getting into metal detecting, so we got him a treasure chest for all of his loot.  Nothing really scientific going on here, just a nice candid moment.  It's a reminder to always have your camera with you, because life is full of special moments like this one.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105vmm f4
60mm - ISO 3200
1/25s- f/4

First rose of spring

This is the first rose of spring blooming in my garden.  We had an early heat wave that starting things going a bit early this year.  I missed perfect focus on the bloom, but it was actually just a few inches off the ground, and I was trying not to get all wet in the muddy flowerbed.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105vmm f4
105mm - ISO 100
1/60s- f/4

Shooting sparks

Blogger (the service I use to host my blog) was down all yesterday, so I'm sorry for the missed post!  It is kind of funny too, because yesterday I took my picture within a half hour of getting up in the morning, unlike most nights when I get around to it in the evening!  I was super-advance-prepared and then it was down.  Oh well!

Yesterday's picture is an example of what happens when you have a short in your curling iron and you plug it in.  I was holding it my left hand when I plugged it in, and sparks shot out of it!  I dropped it and screamed.  I wasn't burned, but there was black stuff all over my hand!  Who knew beauty could be so dangerous!

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105vmm f4
105mm - ISO 100
1/80s- f/4

Canon 580EXII
TTL
On camera, bounced up to the ceiling

A portrait of frustration

Taking a self-portrait by myself tonight proved to be the longest, most frustrating shoot of the year.  You have to set everything up essentially blind, guess on the focusing, pose, hit the remote, run around to the back of the camera, look at it, adjust lights, adjust settings, rinse, repeat, ad nauseum.  I finally got the lighting close to where I wanted, although I could have used a separation light on the background, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get rid of the reflection in my glasses.  So, I gave up and just made faces at the camera.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50mm f1.4
50mm - ISO 100
1/200s- f/2.5

Canon 580EXII
1/16 power, 105mm zoom
8' to left and above subject, shot through diffusion panel 


Nikon SB900
1/16 power, 17mm zoom
2' to right of subject, bounced off of white wall 

Bloomin' vinca

I love the drama of this hardy vinca vine, which puts out just a very few flowers every year.  They practically glow in the dark.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105mm f4-5.6
105mm - ISO 2500
1/60s- f/4

Little pearls of relaxation

A little sprinkling of bath pearls lit by a flash bounced off of a reflector to camera left.

Canon 5D Mark II
Promaster 70-300mm f4-5.6
300mm - ISO 100
1/25s- f/18

Canon 580EXII
1/8 power
17mm zoom
Flash on camera, bounced to the left off of a reflector

Hope's fragile leaves

I start morning glory plants from seed in Februrary-March each year, and then plant them outside so they can grow up the trellises that I have stationed around the yard.  Beginning in August, they bloom non-stop for several weeks.  This year I didn't start them until the middle of April, and only two have survived so far.  They have a lot of growing to do between now and August.

I have been under the weather again this weekend, so didn't get out for a nice picture.  So, tonight's picture is an example of how you can use a pop-up flash for some dramatic lighting. 

Normally I hate the blasted look created by the pop-up flash.  So, when I have to use it I like to put some tissue paper or even a Kleenex over it to diffuse the light, which helps bring down the intensity. 

In this case, I stuck the metal rim of a work light (with the bulb removed) around the pop-up flash, directing the majority of the light up, so it fell softly down onto the plants, letting them glow out of the darkness.

Nikon D90
Nikkor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
105mm - ISO 800
1/60s- f/5.6

A good day for a nap

After a day of plant shopping, I felt like curling up for a catnap too!

Nikon D90
Nikkor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
105mm - ISO 400
1/500s- f/5.6

How much do chew love me?

Sometimes you just have to let me get away with a weird picture.  This rubber crab chew toy has coexisted for approximately 9 years of life with a Labrador or two, which is more than any other toy in our universe.  I can't even fathom how many times it has been squeaked, stepped on, left out in the rain, buried, dug up, thrown, been thrown up on, etc.  It used to be shiny and brightly colored, but the rubber is so ancient now it is hard to believe it all stays together.  I guess maybe that is what happens to us all along the way.  The harsh overhead fluorescent light really shows off all of the pits and surface flaws - which is one reason why I don't recommend it for portrait photography!

Nikon D90
Nikor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
70mm - ISO 1100
1/125s- f/5.3

Bringing on the rain

Some days, you just let nature do all of the work.  Nothing fancy - I used the no-flash auto setting at a pretty spot with the sunset and rain coming on.  I LOVE having a driver who will park by the side of the road and whisk me away when my shot is complete.  One of a girl's most important photographic accessories is a supportive husband!

Nikon D90
Nikor 150mm f1.8 
18mm - ISO 200
1/200s- f/7.1

May the Fourth Be With You

May the Fourth Be With You!  I found myself without an extra flash tonight, and had to improvise with a flashlight.  I used it directly down onto the Luke Skywalker figure.  It bounced up a bit and cast a bit of a blue light over the mask, but I think it worked out okay.  I used my new grid on the flash to light the mask, but I still don't understand it well enough to explain - so more on that later when I figure it out!

Nikon D90
Nikor 150mm f1.8 
75mm - ISO Lo 1
1/100s- f/8

Nikon SB900
1/32 power @ f8
17mm zoom
Approximately 6" above and pointed down towards the helmet

Softly, my dear, softly.

Part III in my lighting mod series involves my favorite one so far - a 48" reflector/shoot-through panel.  This particular one came with gold, silver and black covers, and a white translucent panel.  It can be used as a reflector, bouncing light back to the subject, a (large) flag, blocking light from a particular area, or a large softbox, when you just use the white panel, as I did here.  It is a beautiful way to cast a soft, diffuse light over the subject.

The photo below shows the exact same subject, camera and flash settings and positions, just without the panel.  Do you see how the harsh shadows just melted away with the use of the panel?

Nikon D90
Nikor 150mm f1.8
50mm - ISO Lo 1
1/160s- f/1.6

Nikon SB900
1/32 power @ f5.6
17mm zoom
Approximately 6" above subject 
And abput 2' to the right
Shot through 48" reflector
Flash triggered with Pocket Wizard

Hot pink & blue

My husband just finished building my new computer, which I am super excited about.  It is in a pink case (!) with lots of blue glowing parts inside.  I wanted to show off both colors, so I took the picture in a dark room on a long shutter speed with a small aperture, and then used a small flashlight to paint some light around the case.  I would have liked the pink to pop out a bit more, but I had to block the beam of the flashlight from hitting the clear plastic (and very reflective) side of the CPU, and didn't get it quite evenly lit.

Cory tells me the machine is very quiet, but with two ear infections, everything is currently very quiet, so I will have to wait and see hear for myself once that clears up.

Nikon D90
Nikor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
18mm - ISO 200
30s- f/22

Lighted bulb

Part two of my series on my new lighting toys involves a snoot, which is loosely defined as something that narrows your flash beam into one that fits your goal.  In this case, the flash was held directly above the little white lightbulb, and snooted down to about the diameter of the light bulb. 

After I finish the shoots showcasing all of my new toys, I will start combining them together for some more sophisticated lighting scenarios, and start experimenting with other aspects of the flash that I haven't ever spent much time thinking about, such as aperture and zoom settings on the flash itself.  These are some pretty sophisticated devices, and I know I have only scratched the surface of their capabilities.

Nikon D90
Nikor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
105mm - ISO 200
1/200s- f/5

Nikon SB900
1/32 power @ f4
17mm zoom
Approximately 6" above subject 
Pointed directly down