Andrew's Photo Blog

Roses in the late afternoon summer sunlight

2010-06-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for ever for the Roses in our yard to really bloom, I know there aren't a lot of rose pictures just of some thorns and a rose that was vibrant and free of blemish. The late sunlight made the new thorns glow, not really used to that.
I thought this one would be kinda cool in b&w with different filters.
Red filter
Orange filter
Yellow...
and green.
The green filter made all the veins stand out, I would have liked to have lighten it more but the result was not favorable, lots of artifacts, pixely, in general it looked horrible. This last photo is the happy medium. To me it almost looks like a black rose! So I thought everyone would like to see what color filters do in b&w.

My favorite two subjects and other things

2010-06-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

Time seems to just speed up, these photos are from late Feb. during a rare day of sun, the kids were going nuts inside and making chaos. Obviously I took them out to play for a bit before lunch and the following pics were what i took...well some. I had wanted to get those two hugging for a while but the camera was always packed away.

Of course they cant hug forever before falling over in a fit of giggles.

Ok, so the next few are not of kids, I like them because they show detail, texture, or something else. Lately I've really been into black and white, funny thing is I see more little things that are not so obvious in color because color distracts the eye.

This is a block of green glass, the light was hitting it just right to make it glow, i thought it was interesting.
Lots of texture here, the leaves almost look like sand paper

you gotta admit those eyes are very expressive!

Being goofy, which side did he get that from, Sari and I are still debating that one

In the sunlight this little girl's eye glitter like sapphires, I need to capture that. The big cheesy grin will do for now.

She knows when the camera is trained on her, I swear.
Mike and Cathy came over that day, and just about every time Mike picks Annie up she pulls on his beard just like this. I finally made a copy of it and gave it to him.
Till the next post!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that it has been so long since my last post! I'm a slacker, really I've been so tired and exhausted this last year with house hunting and with Sari being pregnant my kids demand so much more of my attention. Well fortunately for me I have a few days off, actually two weeks, and already I feel fairly well rested. So monday night I had a thought as I watched the train going round and round and the Photo is that result. I tried to get the lights on the tree but the power outlet was so old that if I bumped it just wrong that the power cord for the train would fall out. I plan on a re-do soon as in christmas eve with all the presents in place and maybe one more that I've been thinking of. I like this kind of photography, lately its been called light painting, I've known it as time lapse photography. We've seen examples of it in some certain cell phone companies ad campaigns where they create multiple images using glow sticks or some other source of light. This was my simple idea of the moment, I hope to improve upon it soon and will post it here. Till next time!

As promised I re-did the original idea and discovered a few things along the way; such as the more lights you add the harder it is to add in a still at the end. The train is very ghostly or ephemeral, almost non-exsistant. A stronger flash at the end might have made the train stand out more, maybe even letting it sit for a few more seconds would have helped. Over all I think it looks very good considering the actual amount of time spent on it. So again Merry Christmas everyone, be happy, be safe and enjoy every last second of it!

2009-03-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

During my stay in Greece I tried to take as many photos as was permissible. With my time consumed by work and not feeling too much in the mood to shoot, I was amazed that I did get one photo that was more than a mere tourist type photo. I was shooting everything at the Acropolis, nothing was sacred. I was also shooting in jpeg which I hate doing only because jpeg is a horrible format for working with a photo (the photo degrades a bit after being saved so many times). What caught my eye here were all the lines and the near symmetry. I shot this area several times looking for the right angle and a minimum of people, although there is a person in this one somehow she doesn't detract from it but adds a little more interest. She is facing the camera and coming toward the camera and her face is out of focus, thus remaining anonymous. The lines lead the eye to the middle of the photo and the light has a great effect, it cuts across near the middle diagonally neatly seperating the two sides, that and the light is slanted toward the viewer. Things I don't like: That I didn't have a tripod or time to really set up the shot and take it in raw.

Frost

2009-01-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, when the Saunder's place was just getting an addition on top I went the wrong way. Out of habit I turned onto Lowell-River road to Everett right out of Snohomish. Well I guess that I was meant to go this way cause these are a couple of pictures I got. The first was sent to King 5 and was selected for the best weather pic of the day. Truth be told the photo does not really do justice to that morning, the whole way down on that road was like that.

Of course I had to get a close up of what was on the trees, little white spikes all up and down the branches. This picture also shows a very short depth of field, notice only some of the branches are actually in sharp focus. I didn't like it at first because of the depth of field but Sari said that it made the branches kind of poke out at you, I have to agree.

The obvious reason for posting these two is that it is winter and cold outside, at least in the mornings. I hope to shoot a few pictures of Greece while I'm there and if any turn out real good I'll post them here.

2008-11-22T15:02:00.001-08:00

It's definately been a while since I've posted anything on this blog. Life has been very busy and chaotic. Not to mention I haven't really gotten out to shoot photos. However there are a couple that are worth while sharing.

This one was from the very first group of pictures taken on my then new camera. Instant gratification and feedback. no more spending money on pictures that just didn't come out quite the way imagined. For this time of year I thought it appropriate now that all the leaves are on the ground. One thing I learned sometime ago from somewhere was to frame the subjects so that not one was fully in the frame leaving it partially out or covered.

For this one t.v. is the inspiration. Several times now while watching a show there was a noticeable use of light, it may have been studio light but it may have been sun light during sunset time. Either way the effect is the same. The strong and warm side light comes in from just perpendicular to just shy of directly looking into the light what ever is comfortable for the subject. The effect is that the eye is lit up and seems to glow. It is a subtle and stunning effect. First time I saw it was on CSI: NY (yeah I know, cheezy) but the young cop with the blue eyes was in the scene and the side light effect was used on his eyes. Said effect made his eyes appear cold and shine with a predatory gleam. Then I started to notice it in other shows just not so apparent. Duplicating the effect in a still photo wasn't hard just the timing and the convincing of a little man to cooperate. Overall the lighting may have been too bright because it created a shadow across half his face, not to mention the glass door's frame created a small problem. When doing photos with a 2yr old one must take what opportunities present themselves. Hope you all like it!

Seattle

2008-09-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

One of the places I've been trying to photograph is Seattle. I've been meaning to go over to Alkai beach for ever. It has been especially difficult since moving to Oregon, cause everytime we come up we are rather busy or the weather is crappy. So I set up a day in advance after Alta Lake with Maria and Sari to go to Alkai beach. Still we almost didn't go because Maria was driving the youth of her ward to the temple that night and the weather the day before was nasty. I was determined to go, as long as the weather was good. Even so Sari and I left late and ended up being in a hurry all the way there. I still got a lot of great shots, but I learned that a good steady tripod is essential. For the reason of a cheap wobbly tripod my photos did not turn out as sharp as I would have liked. A nice image stabilizing lens would have been great too. The pictures did turn out great for what I had. The colors are good too. These are the best of the bunch.

I like how the changing light changes the mood.

Then the lights pop out.

A book I read a while ago said to find something to put in the foreground that leads out to the distances. I think that a pier would have been a bit better but those are extremely busy, on second thought that would be kind of neat, hhmmm... I've got a new idea!I'd like to get different views of seattle and closer
This was when I first set up and Sari was taking in the view, it was a "must take it now or lose the opportunity" candid shot.
The most annoying thing though is I had just recently cleaned both lenses and I still ended up with lint on them. It's a curse I tell you! Thank goodness for photoshop.

Alta Lake

2008-09-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was actually able to get for a couple of hours during vacation to get some scenic shots. I was trying out the time of day mostly. Appearantly most photographers shoot early in the morning before sunrise or late in the evening just after sunset. My first post was a morning shot obviously, but I was way too tired to do that at Alta Lake. So one evening after the kids were down and asleep (a miricle) I went to the lake to do my thing. Well to my disappointment there were people still there. About four or five kids were playing in the area of my shot and were not going to leave any time soon. Oddly enough the photo came out all right, maybe even better because of the human element. Blurred images of kids playing in the water late in the evening, kind of like ghosts.
This was an earlier shot, attempting to avoid people in the photo. At one point some guy walked in front while I was taking a picture, not this photo of course. Since it was a long exposure all that was visible was a leg walking across the sand and that only a faint image.
I also tried to get a moon rise, one problem. The moon was a speck, so tiny that I didn't like the results so I went for the glow over the hill that I had captured earlier.

Little Feet

2008-08-06T22:20:00.001-07:00

My sister sent me an e-mail today with her hand holding her son's foot. Very well done! It gave me the idea to get a photo of little girl's feet while she was sleeping. One problem, I was rocking her and she was asleep, and we don't dare disturb her. Sari to the rescue, she handed me the camera and I set it up for the shot and let her take the picture. I think it worked out beautifully, Thank You Love!

I like this photo but I want to work on it at different angles and in different light.

This is the photo Laurie sent, I love the effect of the strong side light and the sepia tone.

Portraits

2008-08-04T20:49:00.001-07:00

The following are portraits that I have taken of various family members. I have learned a lot with each one and study them every now and again to see what makes them good and what makes them kind of so so.

I believe that I had my camera for all of two weeks when Megan asked for a portrait session. Never having done such a thing I jumped at the opportunity. I learned to select my back grounds a little more carefully so that the back ground does not overwhelm the subject. Even then there were a few mistakes. This picture was one of the best but it displays some stray hairs that are a bit of a distraction from the subject's face. There are a bunch of other minor details but that is one of the biggest.

So here is Maria, she and I had a discussion at Jeff and Hillary's wedding that we would not be in to many of the photos. So here is the result of that conversation and a memory for Jeff and Hillary. What I like about this Photo is that Maria is leaning in slightly, gives a sense of intensity. The camera also fills her face, which is all you ever see any way when she's got her camera trained on you which is exactly the effect I desired. The frame is very closely cropped as well, done in camera no post processing, giving extra focus to the subject, the background is blurred on purpose and doesn't detract from the subject. Finally her head is in the center portion of the photo giving it balance. What I really don't like is my little scribble I placed on the photo, wish I had never thought of it in the first place, well I really wish I had kept the original file.

Abe's beautiful bride, she was stunning that day. I was trying for a candid shot when she caught sight of me. So she flashed a brilliant smile and this is what I got. If I had been quicker I would have gotten her looking intently in the direction of her husband to be. I told her after that she wasn't supposed to pose for the camera every time but ignore it, thank goodness she didn't know that before hand! To me she looks like she has a halo with the sunlight hitting the veil. I wish I had used a little bit of fill flash to lighten her up against the veil.

SariAnn was just glowing all day at Abe and Courtney's wedding, I knew I had to catch it now or never. I picked the gazebo where the ceremony was to take place and used a very soft fill flash to fill in the deeper shadows on her face. I love my wife but she has a tendency to pull some odd faces that are not very flattering and make her a little difficult to photograph, not to mention her skin tone tends to show every blemish. However in this photo everything came together. The only thing I don't like, and it bugs me every time I look at this photo, is that I didn't place her in the center very well. Just a bit too much room on the right.

I suppose that this was more of a self critique than a display, but I learn more every time I take a photo and more importantly how to make a good photo. Before I started doing portraits I really only photographed objects and landscapes, that tends to get a bit boring. Well, I have found people to be very interesting subject matter, and since then I like to do both, mostly whichever is available.

Portriats of the kids

2008-07-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Children in general are pretty easy to photograph, my kids are definately no exception. They change expressions every moment, find something new to do, or just absolutely surprise you.

I love the expression on Annie's face, kind of a smirk frown. The detail I like most aside from Annie is the little sun spot peeking through the tree, it looks better in the original.

Then the next face is something else altogether.

This was just too cute to pass up.
So like I said one expression one moment then...

POW! You get something quite unexpected. I have this one posted on my tool box at work, a lot of people have made comments on it. With these two I've learned the biggest key is to just keep taking photos and be fast on the trigger 'cause ya might miss that special moment. I didn't change anything on these pictures other than a couple of parameters like exposure and how much blue filter was added, I accidently left my camera set for a lot of blue filter. Normally I zero out the settings. No harm done because the pictures can be processed after the fact. However the two of Mathias were obviously taken some time ago, I don't remember what settings I was using but I was trying for a halo around his head. It kind of worked.

Black & White

2008-07-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Rogue River bridge Look at the size of those
Those of you who were wondering if I actually did anything last Sunday when I slept in, well here is your answer. I tried out a little B&W on a subject not so inspiring as the sun. Looking at the bridge in detail is what got me started on it. All the large fastenings to hold it up and then when you look at it from far away it seems to be more normal. Okay so this bridge is "tiny" in comparison to other bridges, but when does one actually get out of the car and inspect what is there? Usually I just see the whole bridge without even looking at anything else. Interest is found in the details. One thing that is missing from these pictures and is not by photoshop is all the cobwebs everywhere. For some reason those are not so visible. By the way how many triangles are in the first photo?

First Post

2008-07-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well you can see the very first photo I've posted on this blog. I got up early enough, or so I thought, to get this one. Fact is I almost missed it, I needed at least another half hour to set up. Sari didn't think I'd actually get up on a saturday just to take some pictures of a sunrise. This is one I've been wanting for sometime, every day while going to work during the summer this is the view cresting the hill. Admittedly the extra light hurts the eyes for a bit but worthwhile. Now as for the final product I ended up photoshopping the image to get the desired result. I actually got so involved with it that I forgot to go to Pat and Randy's to hang out. I was on a mission and wasn't about to quit. So from here on out I will be posting at least one photo a week that I enjoy that's been filed away and every now and again I'll post one more recent.