Day 140 – 15 Years

15 years ago yesterday I found the love of my life. 10 years ago yesterday we officially said I do.

I made reservations for us at Zephyr Cove at Lake Tahoe. Our cabin was a sweet little one-bedroom with kitchenette and a fireplace.

After checking in we walked about 50 yards to this beach. You can see the cabins through the trees.

I got a photo of Sweetie in the cabin.

We had reservations for the Captain’s Dinner & Dance Cruise on the M.S. Dixie. I’d never done the cruise around Lake Tahoe, so this was a first for me but not Sweetie. It was a very short walk to the dock where she is berthed.

A view of the lake from the pier.

Another photo of Sweetie across the dinner table.

We went to Emerald Bay and back. This is Vikingsholm.

The food was just okay, and the dance floor was about the size of a postage stamp, but the two-man band was pretty good, and there were people having a great time, and we did too. Some were celebrating birthdays and others were celebrating anniversaries like us.

In the morning we had breakfast at the lodge and added two more coffee mugs to our collection.

And before we checked out, I got a picture of the two of us by the fireplace.

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.

Light a Structure at Dusk – Assignment Re-Do

Our 10th assignment for our lighting class was to photograph a building at dusk with multiple flashes, taking care to show the texture and dimensions of the building. Once we’ve gone through critique night, we have the opportunity to re-shoot the assignment, if we wish.

My original shot. Really, I only was able to get off two flashes before the timer on the camera clicked off. Further, it was freezing when we were out shooting and I thought I’d done okay. The sun had been down for at least a half hour, but the clear sky stayed brighter than I would have liked. Exposure time: 20 seconds.

My instructor said he would have liked to see more detail on the right and in the area to far left, so I went out last night to re-shoot. Here is the result. The sky was overcast, I was dealing with a street lamp to camera left and I used a longer exposure time (about 45 seconds). In this shot I got six flashes off.

Hope he likes this one better.

Day 79 – Stop-Motion Dogs

The other half of my lighting class assignment: photograph a moving subject without blur.

We tried shooting in the house. No go. So after work tonight we gave it another go in the yard. I don’t know if I will use either of these for my class, but I wanted to share my learning curve with you. I’d like to try shooting this in better sunlight, but I likely won’t get the chance as I’m off to Washington D.C. on Thursday and won’t be back until Tuesday (therefore no daytime dog photography before the project is due in class). I may have opportunities in D.C. to try to shoot other photos though.

The first photo below is a “without blur” version of Nina racing around with her toy (see Day 77). It’s quite interesting how different this one looks. While she was moving just as fast, look how still she looks. The only visual cues to her motion are her flapping ears, her feet off the ground, and her flying dog tag.

Here is Buddy leaping to catch his “Toy.” And by his “Toy” I mean that it is his only toy. It’s not for lack of trying to introduce other toys to him. He loves this toy and only this toy. It is several years old now and it’s been through the washer a number of times. The squeaker has long since died, but Buddy has never chewed a hole in it. It stays in the house and every time Buddy comes in he has to find it and loll it about in his mouth. If he can’t he gets really, really nervous and runs around until he does find it. Anyway, he’s gotten quite good at catching it in mid-air. Like Nina, he is frozen in time, but his off-the-ground feet and his upside-down dog tag indicate his leap.

Day 77 – Blur!

More blur photography with flash; this time in the backyard. I will likely use the first one as one of two photos required for our next assignment which is to photograph a moving subject with and without blur.

This shoot was fun. The dogs were going crazy and running around the backyard. I just sat there and tried to keep focused on them. (Click on photos for larger versions.)

Day 76 – Where does the carpet end?

And the kitteh begin?

Day 74 – Tussling Dogs

More fun with flash and second curtain sync to create motion blur.

Day 73 – Fun with flash and motion

Tonight in class we learned how to use our flashes with ambient light, second curtain sync to create motion blur, and experimented with using more than one strobe exposure in a shot. Lots of fun!