Winter

Before I begin, a reminder regarding the poll to the right above the music player: please take it! I have several answers already (thanks to those who partook!), but more is always better. Please :). See the post prior to this one for the full question.

After a long line of portrait-related posts, I bring you some mother nature! Woo hoo. These are all from my Christmas "break" (if you call 4 days off a break). The first day we had just experienced an ice storm. The second day it was snowing like crazy, which was quite the challenge. The third day things were clear, and I believe I like that better, lol. I won't be taking many more photographs in the middle of a snowstorm unless I have a large umbrella over the camera and a built-in heater on the lens (ooo, idea! j/k).

Day 1:






Poor penguin :(

Day 2:











Day 3:

Various shots of the creek:







They call it "magic hour" for a reason:









You know what the worst thing about this was? My butt. I crouched down for several shots, and being that we had 6-8 inches of snow, my butt inevitably ended up with some snow on it. Brrrrrrr.

Kira & Harley

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we went to visit my parents at their place in a little city near St. Louis. It's kinda become a tradition! My sister Kira came as well with her dog, Harley. I insisted that I take some pictures of her and Harley, for further practice with my new lens. I think that practice is starting to pay off as I am consistently getting more shots in focus.

I've been mostly out of commission these past few days, so am just getting these up now! Here are a few favorites:

(oh, and her eyes are seriously that blue, that's no Photoshop!)












Climbing a tree. Because that's what she does.

Sophie, Jen, and Brett

Sunday I had yet another session, this time with my coworker Jen and her family. She has a spunky 5 year old daughter, Sophie. She kind of makes me think of myself as a kid!

Unlike the day before, I had a little more luck with the lighting and my camera in general. We did a few portraits inside, and then Sophie changed and we headed outside to the little woods behind their house.

Favorites:





















Well, we're off to my parents' house for Thanksgiving! Happy happy!

Mike, Courtney, and Lexi

Well, I had my first family session on Saturday! I offered to do portraits for my coworker Courtney, as I am looking to expand my portfolio and gain experience. She has an adorable 4 month old daughter, Lexi. We decided to go to her aunt's farm to do the pictures.

It was definitely a learning experience for me. I'm STILL figuring out this new lens. The depth-of-field thing is very, very tricky. I'm glad I took a lot of photos, because I had to prune out a lot! Also, I realized later that my metering mode was set to partial instead of evaluative, which I believe caused a lot of shots to be rather blown out. That was aggravating :(. BUT, I think I got some good shots nonetheless, and Courtney liked them!

Here are a few of my favorites:

















(Like the watermark?? Heh heh)

Prime Lens Practice Time!

It figures that the weekend after I get a new lens, my little guy is sick. I didn't get much of an opportunity to have fun with the lens. Luke wasn't feeling all that smiley or energetic.

I'm glad I had what little chance I did, though, because this lens will take a little getting used to! Upon reviewing my shots later, I realized that the depth of field at a f/1.8 is really, really shallow! Obviously I was expecting this to an extent, but...wow. Just wow. Clearly (or not so clearly, haha) I cannot do a closeup of Luke's face at a 1.8. That is, unless I only want his right eye in focus or something. I guess I need to go back to a 2.8 or a 4, or back up a bit! Or make sure he stays absolutely still while I focus, lol. Good luck with that.

Otherwise I love the lens and the bokeh is really, really nice.











This weekend will be exciting. I'm going to be almost permanently glued to my camera! Yay!

Watermark?

I've decided I need a watermark for my photos. Apparently it is the thing to do. Makes sense, why would I want someone to be able to steal my images? I came up with three different ideas:

#1:


#2:


#3:


I like the font, I like the name. I just don't know which design I like the best. I made a poll - it's on the right above the playlist that everyone loves so much. Please let me know what you think!

Eeee!! New Lens!!

It came, hooray! I ordered the 50mm f/1.8 on Monday, and it has arrived. I cannot WAIT to try it out! I may have to wait until the weekend, though, to have the opportunity to use it in natural light. Stupid winter/no daylight.