Day 131 – Seagulls!

Most people like photographing them at the seashore.

Me? I find them in the parking lot of the local home improvement store sparring with some crows over a plastic bag filled with who-knows-what.

Day 130 – Baby Vine

Our grapevine is sprouting!

Day 129 – Waxing Philosophical

I shot this candle tonight, processed it with Daylight white balance, and it just screamed for something to go with it.

Day 128 – Nosy!

I was shooting the dogs again today after reprinting my final project, and Nina got a little too close to the camera. But I like it, so it’s my photo of the day. Time for bed!

Day 127 – I got a new toy, so of course, I went a little crazy.

After finally getting all the photos from the Medical Outreach Event processed and posted to Flickr for review by the organizers of the event, and after doing the grocery shopping (a chore I hate), I rewarded myself with a Mocha Frappuccino (no whip) from Starbucks and headed home.

Finally, play time had come!

This didn’t cost me much, but it sure is nice. It arrived on Friday, but I didn’t get the chance to take it out of the box until today. It’s a nice little soft box for a Speedlite flash. Unlike other similar soft boxes, this one doesn’t attach with Velcro strips stuck to the flash, but rather uses an elastic strap with a Velcro closure to keep it on the flash. I struggled a bit at first getting it on the flash, but once it was on, it was fine and did not slip.

First I shot in the house to see the quality of light it created.

All shots were with off-camera flash (TTL cable).

First, the critters.

Pretty nice. Flash held above and to left of camera, pointed down on Nina. I like the soft shadow instead of the usual harsh lines one usually sees.

Next up, Maya. I like the catch light in her eyes, and again, the soft shadow.

So then I started playing with the flash and ambient light. The light glowing to Maya’s right is a table lamp. Daylight is peeking out from behind the curtain. Neither were blown out by the flash, the wall color is true, and Maya is filled in nicely.

Maya again. No harsh shadows and the wall color is true, not washed out.

So I shot Sweetie chilling with his scotch after a day full of chores. Again, he is decently lit, lamp isn’t blown out, and the flash just provided fill. (Yes, the wall behind him is a different color than the one with the window.)

Of course, then I had to take it outdoors and work on shooting in shade with bright background. You may remember I covered this on Day 108. The idea is to expose for the bright light, then stop down two stops or so and adjust the flash to match. The idea is for the flash to be the main light with ambient light providing the fill; basically the opposite of what I was attempting to do in the house.

Here’s Buddy in the shade of the garage with the bright backyard behind him (no flash).

And here he is properly lit. If I’d tried to expose for the shade, the backyard would have been completely blown out.

Such a handsome boy. I had to shoot some more. At first he didn’t want to cooperate, but eventually I got him to look at me.

This shot cracked me up. He looks like he’s thinking, “It’s a good thing I love her.”

Buddy is really a calm boy.

Nina quit moving long enough for me to get this shot.

Buddy once again. Smile? Or gas?

I love this so much.

Day 126 – Scars II

As I mentioned in the comments in Day 70 – Scars, I have a much larger heart surgery* scar than the one shown in that post. I’ve been wanting to photograph it for quite some time and tried to do so in my Intro to Digital Photography class last semester. At the time I had no clue on how to light it so to show it effectively. I’ve learned a bit since then, and so this morning I gave it another go. My goal was to show my entire scar, and these two photos pretty much do so. And I wanted the shots to be artistic, not clinical.

At some point, I’d like to do a series of photos of scars (mine and others). I’m fascinated by them, and the stories they tell.

Lighting was my two soft boxes on either side of me. The one on camera left faced completely right. I place the light at camera right slightly forward of the other and faced it slightly back. ISO 100, f/8, 1/50s. I would have liked the photos to have a bit more contrast but for a first try, I’m okay with these.

* For those of you new to the blog since Day 70, if you are interested in my congenital heart defect history, I’ve covered it at my other blog. You can find all posts HERE, but the main explanation of my defect is HERE).

Day 125 – Quickie

I didn’t realize my Friday was going to turn out so full but I had no opportunity to shoot “for myself” until late this evening. I actually did quite a bit of photography today, but it was for work. I was asked to shoot our site, inside and out. Here’s just one “non-identifying” shot.

The shoot went late and I left work about 6pm, the time I was supposed to be meeting Sweetie and our friends for dinner in Fernley (40 minutes away!). Dinner, enjoyable as it was, ran long and I just didn’t get much of a chance to shoot. By the time I got my camera out again, it was very late.

Shameless Appeal

My husband and I will be heading to Oakland, CA on June 8th to support the Congenital Heart Walk to be held on June 9th. As some of you know, I was born with a hole in my heart (atrial septal defect) requiring open heart surgery and other interventions. So while I’ve participated in many fundraising walks before, this is the first time I’ve done one where I am one of the ones the walk is being held for. My story and donation page can be found at this link, if you are so inclined. If you would like to spread the word, I would doubly appreciate it.