the Land Rover...

Came home tonight and parked my Land Rover in the street for a minute.  When I was walking up the drive, I decided to go grab a camera and tripod to take a few pictures.  Remember, I will take pictures of anything.  My biggest problem is stopping at one...  I took one with the Leica M8, one with the Olympus EP2, one with the Polaroid 100 and one with the Polaroid 250.  Lots of pictures, different edits on the digital and different films on the analog...

in the studio with Maci and Tyler...

Took quite a few pictures this past weekend.  Makes for a great weekend!  I guilted Maci and Tyler into coming over on Sunday after lunch to let me take a few studio shots of them.  Mainly took Polaroids, that I will post later on my instant blog, but I took a few pictures with my trusted Olympus EP2.  Really would like to upgrade to the OM-D, but I keep getting winners with this one.  I only took six shots and three of them are below.

  Tyler always seems to start the shoots off by really posing and making faces.  He does this stuff and he knows that I will get the picture.  The great thing is that these are usually the ones that I want to post/print.  I really like this one because Maci was getting ready for the picture and of course she looks over and sees Tyler acting out. What a look, what a moment...

Here is a closer image where both of them have great expressions/smiles.  Square format rules!

Lastly, two different edits of a posed full-body photo.  The first one just has the minor adjustments to contrast/sharpening.  For the second one I added the Aperture vintage preset.  When I can't decide which one, I post them both...

the not yet meets the already gone...

Was walking around in Deep Ellum on Saturday looking for murals and such to photograph.  Came upon this and couldn't resist taking a picture of it.  Up close, it is hard to make out the pictures.  When you step back and look, everything comes more into focus.  Got to thinking about this (because I was just walking around) and realized this is something that is required in our everyday life.  We are always at the intersection of where "the not yet" meets "the already gone".  Are we willing to step back from the busyness of life and let the things around us (that mean the most to us) come more into focus?  Or are we going to let life just be one big blur of meaningless activity...

two tylers...

Took this a while ago and wasn't really happy with the results. It was taken with the Olympus EP2 camera using studio lights.  Sometimes you need to let the image set on the computer and it comes back to you.  

The image that Tyler is holding is an Old Gen PX70 Color Shade image from Impossible that I took of him outside a few days prior to this portrait.  Not for sure if it is my best image ever, but after editing it in NIK Color Efex Pro it definitely has a neat look...

don't delete this one...

Set up all of my studio stuff today to take pictures of Sadi and Jace before they headed to Prom.  Actually, Tyler did most of the shooting.  I just set everything up, assisted him with the photo session and took a few Polaroids (check out my Polaroids later here).  After the setup, we did a few test shots to check out the lighting and background.  Most of the time these photos get deleted because they are just test shots.  Not this one...

still seeing in squares...

This is a long-overdue continuation of the square photos below.  Nobody else in the family is ready for a closeup photo.  All the stars have to align for this to happen.  Got Brad to stop by and let me take some Polaroid shots over the Christmas break and I used the opportunity to add to my collection of head shots.  Instead of a white background, this one was taken with a gray background.  I used the same camera/lens combination because it worked so well last time.  What an emotional photo!  If you know Brad, then you would know this is definitely a "portrait" of his personality...

my polaroid project...

So Tyler (tylertyndell.blogspot.com) bought a Polaroid camera at a garage sale last week.  We both were so excited to try something so basic that we bought some PX 600 Silver Shade film from the-impossible-project.com.  Thought it would be as easy as it was when I was a kid when we used to get Polaroid film for Christmas morning or on our birthday.  Took my first picture this morning and figured out something right away.  It is not easy getting a good picture with the film that is available now.  This is actually a good thing.  It has challenged me to think about what I am taking a picture of and how much light I really need to avoid overexposing the image.  The camera has a flash that always fires.  This has proved to be a challenge for the 600 ISO film.  It is hard to not overexpose the entire picture, but it is near impossible (no pun intended) to do the same for the subject that is near the camera.  The second picture is a prime example.  It wasn't as easy as just taking the picture and shaking it until it finished developing (you are not suppose to shake it at all).  Had to immediately cover the picture and protect it from any light and place it in the original box for 10 minutes to let it finish developing.  Over the course of the day, I took the remaining 7 pictures (8 total).  With every picture all I could think about was how much each one cost ($3.00 each).  I guess learning something new is not free.  I have two more cartridges left.  Can't wait to get them in the camera and "learn" some more.  However, more than anything, this makes me appreciate the pictures from my Leica M8...


**update**  see additional polaroids at my latest blog by clicking the "instant photos" link in My Other Blogs above.

pyper is boo-tiful...

Had the studio stuff set up, so I couldn't pass on the opportunity to take this shot. Pyper was all dressed up in her halloween attire and the shirt says it all...

emotional pictures...

So sometimes I get these ideas in my head that I never seem to be able to replicate in the camera.  This is one of those times when I acted on it quickly and I think I succeeded.  I wanted to produce a square head shot that showed some emotion.  I love it when I have to dig deep to get the picture that I want.  I used my Olympus EP2 camera, my Nikon 50mm f/1.8 manual focus lens, two of my Alien Bee strobe lights and a small white background.  Studio shots such as this allow you to focus on the person and their facial features.  To me, these shots really show emotion.  In the top shot, Maci definitely implies that there is some joy in her life (Pyper is in the other room letting us know she is there).  In the bottom shot, Tyler is determined as a person can be and to me the shadows create by the light (or lack of light) help portray this.  Seeing these pictures just makes me want to create more.  I hope to continue this series with the rest of the family...

clean vs grunge...

Bought a strap for my Leica M8 camera a last week.  Ordered it from gordyscamerastraps.com and I would have to say that it is a great strap for a very reasonable price.  Used my E-P2 camera to take a picture using just window light and a gray background (the E-P2 is my go-to camera for shots like this).  Added some slight basic edits in Aperture.  Really liked how clean and sharp the picture was.  Today I downloaded the App Snapseed on my iPhone.  It is an App created by NIK and it seems to do the edits without degrading the picture.  The edit with Snapseed appears to be just the opposite of the original clean/sharp image.  It gives the M8 the nostalgic look that breathes Leica.  Not for sure which I really like better...  Maybe both...

an afternoon with pyper...

Got to spend the afternoon with Pyper!  It would be a waste of an afternoon if I didn't create a memory...  Set up my new gray background with the studio lights and waited on Pyper to wake up from her nap.  Couldn't wait to try and get a good photo of her sitting up.  Wow, it is hard to get a "posed" picture of a 6 month old.  Here is one of the keepers...

jimmy and kathleen...

So sometimes I like to procrastinate, but this is probably to the extreme.  This was the first of two photo shoots that I did a few weeks back.  The photos were "engagement photos" that were done a little more than two weeks before they were getting married.  We had been planning on doing the photos since late January/early February.  I processed the photos and had them developed quickly so that they could be displayed at the ceremony, but I kept finding other things to do instead of posting them.  Well, here they finally are...  

weekend with Pyper...

Well most of these have found their way to Maci, Tyler, Sadi or Sherri's facebook pictures (because I couldn't wait to share them) but I wanted to post them on my blog to tell about what a great weekend that I had taking pictures of Pyper.  It was almost like she wouldn't let me take a bad picture of her.  She just kept looking, smiling and posing for me.  They were taken with the 40D and the EP2.  Sherri says that Pyper will eventually tire of me taking pictures of her.  I know the day will come, but that is when the bribing will kick in...

more photos from my afternoon with Sadi...

Here are some more photos of Sadi from yesterday afternoon.  They were shot with my Leica M8 and Olympus EP2.  Already looking forward to the next time that I get to take her picture again...

view from a bridge...

Would have to say that taking pictures of landscapes is not one of my favorite things to do.  When I see landscapes, I usually am in a hurry and I always seem to think that I will come back some other day to get the picture.  Unfortunately, that day never seems to come.  Also, it is all about being in the right place during the right time of day.  The best pictures are at sunrise and sunset.  Sunrise is not necessarily my cup of tea (because I would rather be drinking coffee and watch the sunrise) and sunset seems to always get here before I get to where I want to be.  Sherri told me about this river (South Sulfur) passing under highway 224 going from Commerce to Greenville.  Passed it several times, but just never noticed anything special.  Was coming back from Commerce on Saturday and thought I better at least try to get something worth keeping (mainly to let Sherri know that I was listening to her).  The light wasn't perfect, but it seemed to be good enough to get a picture.  Had to increase the contrast and saturation a little bit to darken the highlights.  The sky directly above the trees was washed out.  Almost appeared to be a haze in the sky.

wilco all grown up...

There once was a time when Wilco was easy to photograph.  Those days are long gone.  Now that he has more personality, I have ideas on some photographs that I want of him.  Well, all that I can say is these ideas are just a progress in work.  Along with that personality, came alot of speed and hyperactivity.  The photo below is the "it'll do for now version"...  He looks so calm and innocent.  This was truly a very short "moment in time"...