Finding time

I had forgotten just how quick the day can go by and how little opportunity you can have to productively fill that time.  Or more importantly, just how time consuming a young puppy can be.

After thinking about it for a long time and always doing the "what if" and the "need to do this first" we decided to jump all in after seeing an adorable rat terrier at a rescue event in a pet store.  We were there to get supplies for our cats and happened to look in to help socialize the rescue animals...and found one special puppy.

Jump forward a couple of weeks and it's been educating to say the least.  And still is, despite the cliche, as I have a new photo subject and the chance to try to capture a small, fast moving critter without it all being a blur.  I might even pick some of the better ones to post here.

Sent from my Motorola Smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint!

Ruminations and Procrastina......

Not been very active here or anywhere online for some time.  To be honest, I've been so preoccupied with my "other" life that I haven't picked up my D-SLR since January.  I have dabbled a little in cellphone photography - in that I have switched camera apps on my phone to one that imitates a full camera viewfinder.  I also found a nice panorama app for my phone, so will be trying it out sometime.

I did finally take a couple of films in for developing - a 35mm one from my Kiev rangefinder and a 120 from my Holga.  So, I will be going "retro" with my film cameras!

I remember reading an article (or several, can't really recall) that artistic people tend to go through a lot of "dry-spells" creatively and often re-invent themselves to break out of their rut.  All I know is I seem to have gone through a lot of these dry-spells lately - at least in actually taking photos.  I still have a lot of visualizing of photos, techniques, ideas - I just have a bad case of procrastination and don't put any of these ideas into practice.

Was good to be out and about with  camera in-hand today.  It may have only been five photographs I took with my Holga but it's still five more than I've taken for some time.  Little steps to breaking my procrastinating bad habit.

Random update

I haven't been spending much time with my camera lately.  Lots of things competing for my attention and I have been busy in other things.

During and after my recent portrait session I realized how little I know about posing a model and how I need to learn more techniques.  My lighting techniques have proved pretty effective and improving my posing should really help my portrait quality.

Instead of taking photos, among other things, I've been reading a lot more.  Both for a technical writing class I'm undertaking as well as  photography techniques.  I've also been reading up on body language, and what a fascinating, complex subject it is.  Hopefully having a better understanding of body language will help with my portrait photography.  It certainly explains why some photos have a stronger attraction or emotive response than others.

I certainly have every intention of picking up my camera again but also plan on continuing my (mixed) reading as it all adds into who I am and also into my photography.

Portrait photo examples

I promised I would post some examples from my recent portrait session and after a longer delay than I intended, I am fulfilling that promise.

All photos were taken with a SB-600 on a stand with a Lastolite softbox and a 42" white reflector.  The lens I was using was my 60mm Micro-Nikkor (effective 90mm on my D100).  The model was a very talented, young lady called Laney.  She is a natural in front of the camera which belies her young age and she has a very classic look, reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood.

Portrait session

I had a great photo session this weekend with a wonderful, young, talented model called Laney.  Despite her young age, she's a natural in front of the camera.

The photo session also gave me the perfect opportunity to try out my new Lastolite softbox.  And I can report that it worked wonderfully - and the extra features of the Joe McNally special edition are great extras.  One speedlite firing into a softbox and a white reflector for fill can produce some wonderful lighting.  So much so, I never did use the umbrella I also had with me and stuck with the softbox/reflector combo.

Now comes the next stage in the photo session where I go through all the photos and carryout preliminary editing to remove any dust spots and weed out any where the focus was slightly off. Once this is done, I'll be burning copies to a DVD for Laney and her family.

Once this is done, I will post some examples here and on my website, so stay tuned.

New gear

My recent birthday brought me some more new photo gear, thank you Lisa!  I now have a Lastolite softbox for use with my SB-600 flash for better portrait lighting.  

Now I just need to break out my camera, dust it off and practice with my new umbrellas and softbox to get used to how they modify the light in portraits and still-life shoots.

The new year has lots of potential to further my photography...I just wonder where it will lead.  I'll keep you informed via this blog and will also try to have some new photos posted here soon.

December update

Still a little quiet on the photography front but I did have the chance to work on my recent group portrait photo.  Fired up my printer and after doing some maintenance work (head clean/tank change) ran off a couple of prints so I can mount and frame the best one.

I did consider getting out and about this morning for a sunrise photo opportunity but it turned out to be a pretty flat and overcast sunrise.  Instead I think I'll look to trying out my new Lastolite 40in shoot-through umbrellas (thanks Santa!).