last pictures taken in 2010

So this is my last two pictures that I took in 2010.  It was a couple of quick pictures of Sadi and Mikayla taken in our garage when we were on our way out the door.  The first one was modified in Color Efex Pro and the second one in Silver Efex Pro.  Both were taken with my Leica M8.  The more I take pictures with this camera, the more I love it.  Hopefully by the time that I go on my next Honduras trip taking pictures with this camera will be second nature.


What a year 2010 was!  I feel fortunate that many of the things that made 2010 so great were captured with one of my cameras.  I look forward to 2011 and most of all the memories that are waiting to be photographed!  May God bless 2011 for us all...

two more...

Here is two more from this past weekend.  I have more, but I will probably wait for awhile to post them.  Feel like I need to move on to something else.  This is a good thing...  I was able to take several "keepers" in a little over an hour of shooting.  I was able to get shots from my Canon 40D, my Olympus E-P2 and last, but certainly not least (for Sherri), my Leica M8.  Both of these pictures were taken with the Canon 40D and a 24-70L series lens.  Both were edited using one step in separate editing programs.  The black & white one was edited in Silver Efex Pro using the "high structure" setting with a vignette added.   The other was enhanced in Color Efex Pro using the "tonal contrast" setting.  Love them both in their own way.  The black and white is a vintage looking image with the white background looking like old/crinkled paper.  The color image has alot of "pop" to it.  To me, it has depth and almost seems like a 3D image.  The setting does add a bit of roughness to their face, but I really like the effect.  All in all I had a great time exercising my cameras and improving my skills.  Hope to do it again soon...

is anybody there...

Well, this one is definitely different...  They were getting tired of "normal" shots and Sadi and Mikayla started walking toward the camera and acting out.  Sadi was inches from the lens and Mikayla was right over her shoulder.  Once you get that close to the lens, the perspective is somewhat distorted.  I had the aperture wide open (f/1.7) and only with the modeling lights on.  The shutter speed was 1/13th of a second and the camera was handheld.  This camera (the E-P2) is amazing because it has an internal image stabilization.  Sadi is in focus and Mikayla is slightly blurred because the aperture is so small (wide open).  Still have the "normal" shots to post later.

sadi & mikayla photo shoot (outside)...

Ok, here is one of the shots that we took outside on Saturday (after the rain quit).  Basically, we were out of time and running late to get the girls to Rockwall.  I was determined to get at least one shot using my Leica M8.  We stopped and got out for less than 5 minutes and I took around 10 street shots and we got back in the Land Rover and headed to Rockwall.  Love the serious look...

sadi & mikayla photo shoot...

Sadi and Mikayla let me shoot some photos of them on Saturday morning.  Originally I wanted to take the pictures outside in a "street scene" using my Leica M8 camera, but the Saturday morning rain put a damper on that.  So I dragged out my white background and studio lights and shot away with my Canon 40D and Olympus E-P2 cameras.  If you look on my iPhone blog (troybradfordiphonephotos.blogspot.com), you will see that I also used the opportunity to take some of the pictures with my hipstamatic app (the absolute best camera app).  Well the picture below is the first one that caught my eye, so I wanted to post it first.  I will post more later after I get some time to do the minor adjustments.  This one was taken with the E-P2 pen camera. 

follower...

It doesn't always pay to be in the lead.  In this photo, we were in the Dallas West Village area.  Sherri and I was walking behind Sadi and Mikayla.  They were oblivious to us, but focused on each other's conversation.  Even with one earbud in place.  And I thought it was hard to walk and chew gum at the same time...

no peeking...

Started looking at some pictures that I could use to practice on to show off my new Photoshop skills.  Sometimes I think I tend to overdo it...  Or maybe I have the creativity of a rock...  I really liked this picture and I thought it would be neat for it to have the appearance of an old poster hanging on the wall with the image superimposed in it.  Tried the background in several colors and settled on black & white.  What do you think?

Sadi & Mikayla

Got them edited and wanted to post them before Sadi gets them on her facebook.  Lots of fun trying to find new places downtown.  Had so much fun on the last try of "Best Friend Pictures", thought I would try it again.  Wish I could be more creative with the poses, but creativity is not my strong point.  Mostly, I just look for the moment and snap the picture.  Unfortunately, the majority of the time, I overthink it and the moment passes...  Here are the ones that I caught!