B&W Tuesday

Las Vegas Nevada 2012

B&W Tuesday

Miami Florida 2012

Black and White Tuesday

Neon Boneyard - Las Vegas Nevada

Black and White Tuesday

I'm a big advocate of personal photography projects. They force you to engage, create and improve as a photographer. I have a few small projects that are on-going but wanted to try something that I could share on my blog on a weekly basis. I've noticed that my friend Ann Torrence is doing Black and White Tuesday on her blog. I've been getting into shooting more and more personal work in Black and White and thought this would be a good project for me to start as well. Be sure to check back on Tuesday's for fresh Black and White photo.

Project[52] - fifty two (it's a wrap)

 



Well, this is the final post in my Project[52] project that I started 52 weeks ago. The idea was to post a photo each week that was taken during that week. I'm happy to report that I was able to do that for all 52 weeks. I don't know how people can take on a 365 project where they post daily, it's a big commitment that I'm not sure I would be able to do.

I have a few things in the works for this year for a new project but will be continuing to post to this blog as regular as I can.  I appreciate all the comments. I'm a big believer in personal projects and will continue to do them to keep the creative juices flowing.

Update: I just noticed this post did not auto publish, it should have posted two weeks ago.  

Project[52] - forty two

Project[52] - forty one

After attending a photography meeting in Ogden Utah, I wanted to see how my newly acquired Fuji X100 handled long exposures/night photography.  When I shoot long exposures I will use a tripod and a shutter cable release as to avoid any camera shake.  I have a tripod but no shutter cable release for the X100.  The X100 has a customizable Fn button on the top that can activate various setting on the camera.  I typically have this set to modify the ISO settings but changed it to activate the delayed timer.  It was so easy to set and use I may never get a cable release for this camera.  It was different for me working with a fixed lens but I like the challenge.  I'm happy with my purchase and look forward to many more long exposures in the near future.

If you want to read about what my Project[52] is you can visit my first post that explains it here.

Project[52] - thirty

I was able to get my hands on the new Fujfilm X100 camera for the weekend.  This is the first time I've used a rangefinder camera and I have to say I really like the form factor, It's the perfect size for a walk around camera.  I was impressed with the quality of the images and the ease of use.  My wife above posed as we were scouting out a location for a family photo session, all natural light.  The hefty price tag, $1200 is over priced for this type of camera but apparently I'm the only one that thinks so.  It's hard to find them in stock anywhere.  As you can tell below I like shooting wide open.  The quality of images is similar to the quality I was geting from my Canon 40D.  I've even heard people mention they are comparing it to the Canon 7d.



 



 

Project[52] - thirty one

This past weekend we were able to enjoy a quick get away at our cabin in Wyoming.  It's nice to get away from the distractions at home and spend time relaxing with the family.  I was able to enjoy the lightning show from our deck one evening.  I forgot my tripod so I positioned my camera on the railing, set the timer to a 2 second delay and set the camera for a 30 second exposure.  The lightning show lasted about 30 minutes so I was able to get a few keepers from the evening.    The images below were from our hike on Saturday to periodic springs.



 

Project[52] - nine

Spring is just around the corner in Utah but in Wyoming it will be a while longer.  We just spent the weekend at our family cabin in Wyoming.  I enjoy going there this time of year because the snow is at it's deepest and hasn't started to melt off yet.  We've only been there a few winters but this year has been the deepest I've seen the snow yet.  I'm six feet tall and the snow was just above my waist.  I find that when I'm there I don't get out and make photographs as much as I'd like.  I enjoy spending time with my family and relaxing.  I was able to make a few photographs and thought I would share a few of my favorites.  We have a plans to make it up there again next month, I'm excited to see how much snow will have melted or accumulated in a months time.

 

 

Project[52] - six

I spent this past weekend photographing some girls for a homework/study group theme to add to my iStock portfolio.  I used three models and photographed them separately and together as a group.  This is the style of photography I enjoy doing but finding the time is my biggest challenge.    We recently had a custom bookcase built in our basement which made for a great background.

Project[52] - four

My theme for this week was to capture something related to the Superbowl.  I wasn't able capture an image of the actual game on Sunday or the food we devoured but thanks to my family I was able to pull something together Monday evening.  The image isn't my best work but when you have just a few minutes you work with what you have.  I would have added a bit more fill light on the entertainment center to even out the lighting.

Project[52] | two

For this weeks post I wanted to photograph at night with a slow shutter speed.  I was in downtown Salt Lake City the other night and happen to have one of my tripods with me ( it's always in my car) and took advantage of the evening.  I didn't want to just capture photographs of buildings at night so I added a few elements and I think these photographs convey: blurred motion, moon, stars and lights.

I used a tripod and set my camera in aperture priority (av) mode and used a two second timer to avoid any camera shake.  I had to time the second photograph just right to make sure the train passed by completely while the shutter was open.  To achieve this, I adjusted the aperture to f/6.3 until I was able to get a 25 second exposure.

Android Photography 1.12.11

This will be my last post for my Android Photography project.  I will be replacing it with a different project that I will hopefully be able to announce next week.  I enjoy having a camera with me at all times and the smartphone is turning out to be a great point-n-shoot device.   I'm also excited with the announcement of the Verizon iPhone which is another reason for me to retire my Android Photography project as I'm going to be making the switch sometime soon.

Trashing the Bulbs

I spent Saturday with Nathan Marx in my garage capturing images of shattered light bulbs.  It took us some time to get things setup just right but after trying a few different techniques we were able to capture a few good images.

We used an air soft gun and a sound trigger.  The trigger was attached to a strobe that would flash when the gun was fired.  I included a behind the scene shot of our setup.  We ended up using two bare strobes with snoots, we found that the strobes would freeze the bullet better than our studio lights.