cheap macro 28-80mm

cheap macro, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

I caught a store liquidation sale in passing, and happily nabbed a 28-80 aspherical macro lens by Sigma for only $13! It's got a greater zoom than my kit lens (which is 18-55) and the macro feature is a new asset for me, but otherwise it's very slow, somewhat noisy, and made of cheap plastic. Worth about $13.

Laundry, part II

We decided to open things up a little more and get rid of the enclosure around the landing at the top of the stair. Now it's all part of one nice open room we'll call our mudroom/laundry.

Not a careful photo, per se, but still used the lightstand/umbrella/skyports, which is what's lent that soft delicious light.

easy subject, tricky lighting

So all of the studying I do about how to set up lighting correctly was not entirely helpful, because as it turns out, when you have people waiting to have their picture taken and the room is small and warm -- well, I lost a bit of technique to to plain nerves.

But it was a satisfying first event. I won't post more pics here for the privacy of my friends, but this little girl was a sweetie who slept right through our time together. Her parents (good friends of ours who live nearby) are totally laid back and fun, and they three make for a beautiful family. Can't wait to come back when she's older for more pictures.

practice

Replace sneaker with baby? New light and newest lens make for delightful combination.

This was a fantastic Saturday. We worked at the farm for several hours, went on a long walk and generally soaked in some beautiful weather when it was supposed to have rained. I used the camera -- a lot. Tomorrow I get to photograph a newborn using my new flash stand and diffuser.

Demo's done -- now what?!?

Not that this is photo worthy, but its at least some explanation of where my Saturday's been spent...

We're enlarging our laundry room to capture some much needed eave space. The horizontal boards you see just beyond the stud wall are actually the underside of a steeply sloped roof, and there's about 2.5' of space there to be had if we take out the studwall and nail a sloped ceiling/wall to the back of the roof rafters. I will confess I didn't realize this wall would be bearing, but indeed it appears to be, so progress has been brought to a halt while we figure out what to do.

Can this be a photo/construction blog?!

portrait

IMGP7853.DNG, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

We spent an overcast day talking and walking with my brother Adam, including this stop off inside a crowded dog park -- you can maybe detect the bright sandy ground giving his complexion a bit of glow amid otherwise gray scene.

chops

IMGP7743, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

Who'd have guessed that the Natural History Museum would let you take pictures in nearly every exhibit? This was also a highlight of our trip.

happy happenstance

IMGP7553, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

Just back from three wonderful celebratory days in New York City, and the wedding of dear Heather and Victor on their 10th Anniversary of their first date together. It was the most special event I've attended since, oh, about 6 or 7 years ago! Fantastic days.

The whole event was actually crawling with photographers because their professional photographer actually had two assistants in tow, and when he learned that I was a budding amateur, he welcomed me to keep my camera out of the bag and snap all I liked. It was great. I was gleaning tips from the other guys, comparing settings and generally watching their actions.

This shot seemed an appropriate one to share: because there were actually four of us with serious gear taking pictures, this was a happy coincidence where two flashes and two cameras enjoyed a symbiotic synchronization.

Yes, they make a beautiful couple!

undocumented pizza

IMGP7345, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

This one's the best of a not-so-great batch because it embraces the blur as motion as opposed to other exposures that were blurry for lack of focus on the right thing. Had my camera hoisted above my head and could not focus well, I guess. Also like the pizza boxes in the background.

day 29: bummed

IMGP7298, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

My trigger battery was dead! So no off camera flash could brighten this scene with the best sushi I have ever eaten. I post this picture out of regret for what it COULD have been... Teaches me to charge these elinchroms up more regularly.

day 28: bitter

IMGP7290, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

this subtle texture caught my eye during breakfast yesterday. Color balance is tricky in long morning light on a warm colored surface with warm colored subjects. this could probably use some adjustment.

day 26: suspended

DSCN2212, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

I caught this one with a point and shoot garbage camera while on a foggy job-site for work. It seems like all my hobby time has been consumed in legal/ procedural business related to the house. I'm sad on days when I neglect the blog, so I'll try to do my best to keep up. Don't want to lose momentum!

day 24: offer approved

P1040294, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

We placed our first offer on a condo last night which was accepted today. My mind has not been on photo making, except insofar that I documented every neat thing about the house. This photo shows the front; ours will be the 3rd and 4th floors with the big arched/bay windows.

day 23: fingers crossed

P1040279, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

day 22: my brown eyed girl

IMGP7243, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

This was fun. I read about this "heart shaped bokeh" technique on my friend's blog last year, and the opportunity to try it myself became available with the new fast 50 lens. The technique is simple and plain neat in its concept, but I found that the fixed lens made the execution of the actual shot to be quite a challenge: In order to really blur the background, you move your subject as far from the dangling christmas lights in the background as possible -- done -- and you use the closest focal range possible on the lens. Unfortunately the closest point in my fix lens would be less than a foot from the lens -- too tight for a portrait like this. Very frustrating, because I could see that if I had focused on something closer to my lens the hearts would be nearly double the size that you see here!

But alas, I had to fit in my brown eyed girl, so smaller hearts it is. Lesson learned: I think this would work easier with a fast and wide telephoto lens.

Works on street lamps and car headlights as well!

Here's a bonus picture from this afternoon.

IMGP7266, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

day 21: new religion?

IMGP7167b, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

Three weeks, and almost without fail -- I can't think of another hobby I've picked up with such regularity in recent past.

Today's photo was during a hard freeze after a few days of warm, sloshy thaw.  A lunchtime meander brought me to a fantastic old shingle-style Gothic revival chapel near my office, and the condition of the white-washed shingle courses was befitting of the day: weathered. 

Couldn't quite decide how to crop the photo, so I've posted an alternate on flickr.

I like really desaturated palates for winter, but they're hard to get right. This one still feels a little rose colored.

One more frustration: I don't think I can rely on Picasa anymore as a direct viewer for RAW files -- it's the reason so many pics turn out grainy, because it's stretching out the histograms to brighten the dark photos.  Still, the Pentax software for developing RAW files is asinine.  Any free software out there that does a better job?

day 20 (and day 3/3 of "norovirus")

IMGP7150, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

Not a stretch of the imagination or talent, to be sure--I see how tabletop photos are becoming as much of a rut as was shooting things out of the window--but these were nevertheless photo-worthy and handy.

Still staying in, but finally feeling 100% again.  Thanks for the well-wishes.

day 19

Enough said.

day 18: guest picture from the Nile

photo taken by Linda Floyd

Well, I'm sicker than a dog today and could barely sit up to my computer much less take the camera out. But I have to give a shout out to Linda for just one of her many fantastic shots from her river cruise down the Nile. I love the color and composition, the expression on her subject, and the variable textures of the water, grass and sand. An inspiration!!

(I think I've got the same bug Peter had on the boat... hope it ends as quickly as his did.)

day 17: dusty vase

IMGP7073, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

This remote strobe fun almost shouldn't be allowed.  Makes for nice pictures and formerly impossible setups in very little time.  This is is a normally opaque glass vase but illuminated with a strobe below and behind it at a very low power setting (1/132).  The vase then becomes a kind of bulb to illuminate the rest of the scene.

day 17: alice in stripes

IMGP7027, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

I may post quite a few strobe balancing photos going forward, because I'm totally addicted. This little lady was a pleasant model despite having an unpleasant stomach bug. She's in a somewhat dimly lit, late-afternoon setting by a north-facing window to her right/front, a dining room light to her back right, and my remote triggered strobe almost immediately behind her on the piano (ceiling bounce).

Once again, I didn't get many shots that I was pleased with today because my moving target was so often out of focus. But one thing I learned is that my success was better once I turned my Select Focus dial to Center-focused, and then turned the AF to single focus (instead of constant). My buddy Chris (Alice's dad) reminded me I could center focus first, lock it in, then re-frame the shot. That's so much faster and I think more dependable than using the focus selector tool to move the red dot focal point around the screen to where I want the focus to be.

day 16: trigger happy

At last I have control of my strobe! Picked up the triggers today at the Calumet store in Cambridge, and I'm indeed grateful. The ability to fire remotely AND have full control of all of my flash functions (including reduced power) will be revolutionary. Consider this fact alone: when firing only the power necessary to balance a shot (often 1/4 power or below) the flash takes almost no time to recharge, so I can take rapid fire shots! Amazing.

This photo is certainly nothing spectacular (except for its subject of course!) but it illustrates a challenge I've already discovered: when attempting to balance by first taking a meter reading and metering the camera as if taking a picture without flash, what if the meter reading comes through as impossible to shoot without a tripod, such as in Sharon's dark office tonight? Clearly, the flash then becomes the dominant source of light and not just a balance fill. I'm trying to figure out what the rules would be in this case, because I imagine this is common problem to 90% of parties, receptions or indoor events.

Also, why is everything so much more grainy in dark lighting conditions such as here:

day 15: bok

Our local grocery store called Market Basket is a great place to find produce that is fresh, varied and colorful. (I'm struggling to hold back a virtual glut of pictures that all were contending for the photo of the day, only because I went overboard in Produce). The store is such madhouse of bustling shoppers that nobody stops to notice an amateur photographer snapping away.

day 14: nearby shops

IMGP6753, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

I broke away for lunch to take pictures at the bikeshop, but gladly stumbled upon another neighborhood goldmine.  But damned if I didn't mess up the focus under pressure in my eagerness to get the flash/lighting right!  The barber was a little unhelpful too in that he kept posing and looking straight at the camera.  Nevertheless I'll keep trying,  because the challenge of peopling my pictures is too rewarding!

Of course, bikes are still cool too...

IMGP6727, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

IMGP6749, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

IMGP6739, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

IMGP6737, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

IMGP6742, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

day 13: textures morning and night

IMGP6675, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

two pics from my walk to and from the subway today, ca 7am and 7pm. We had new snow monday, and very clear skies ever since. I had to bump the contrast on the morning shot in order to bring out the subtle texture of the snow to contrast with the obviousness of the bark. The night shot would have been nice in color, but I didn't have a tripod and had to use 1600 iso at 1/40s and you could really tell in the color shot -- grain and blur was more prominent.

IMGP6707, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

day 12: early

IMGP6633.DNG-1, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

it's winter. I'm not getting out as much as I'd like. Here's one more view out our window. (Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I've covered everything there is to see out there.)

So my fear was that the obvious blue tone would misconvey the scene -- like maybe I didn't meter it correctly -- but this is honestly what our morning looked like at 6:20am. The lit windows help to tell the story, I think.

This pic makes it look like a pretty shabby neighborhood!

day 11: pinhole

IMGP6618-1, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

This was a very keen gift from my brother Adam, Christmas 2006. I'm ashamed to admit I've only ever used it as an objet d'art on our mantle, but that's mostly for lack of large format film and processing. (Excuses...) They're sold by the Lomographic Society in New York, and it's exquisitely crafted and finished: a beautiful reduction to photographic elementals. And I love the bubble level on top for its eminent practicality.

day 10: out the window again

IMGP6495, originally uploaded by elbowclarke.

Still studying--exam on tuesday--so here's another one from out our apartment window. I added a touch of gradient to the sky and bumped the contrast some. I ended up trading back to the 50mm to get better sharpness/detail of the woodgrain, though compositionally it meant accepting a certain amount of bleeding with the subject running out of frame in all directions. I see now that the focus is just off the wood, more on the wires beyond. Rats.

I'm interested to buy a book on flash work, if anybody's got a recommendation.

Go Pittsburgh!

day 9: orchard and dover

Today I put my 18-55 lens back on for the first time in two weeks. Even for its decreased focus or speed, the versatility of a zoom is like a drug after two weeks of a fixed prime, especially at wider angles. Been cracking open my flash manuals today and trying to relearn all the bells and whistles before we add radio slaves to the mix, but I got no quality pictures to show for it. Wasn't really aiming.

This is our vantage where we watch people spin their wheels in the ice while we eat our toast in the mornings. Actually, more people spin at night for some reason.

day 8: just 'cuz

They put the flowers close to the check-out at our grocery store, and I wanted something to bump my single item purchase in order to use the debit card, so...Sharon's luck.

Light-wise, this is still pretty flat. Till I get the flash trigger I'm in a bit of rut, wanting to use off camera flash for its ability to transform my otherwise greenish lit apartment with too cheap compact flourescent bulbs, but unable to temper the flash while in slave mode. So I'm going to go ahead and buy the Cactus V2 flash triggers.  Jesse, what sorts of tricking out did you do to yours to make them better?

Also I've been curious: where on your 285HV does the PC connector plug in? I'm looking at mine and haven't the foggiest (it's an original from 20 years ago or more). Not a problem, it plugs in using the hotshoe. I just wonder why it's not obvious and thinking that may be a feature from a newer model.

day 7: a blur

Busy day, no time to play. This was on the fly, and the unfocused version turned out more interesting than focused. No great shakes.