can somebody give me a hand with this...

Here is a photo of Tyler and Maci's hands.  Always looking for something new to stretch my picture-taking abilities.  Taking pictures of people is easy, because the expressions set the mood or the make the picture interesting.  Taking pictures of landscapes or architecture gives you a chance to convey the beauty or majesty of something.  But hands...  How much can you portray with hands? Plus, it is awkward taking pictures of people's hands.  We laughed because they kept getting cramps in their arms and fingers from the "hand poses".  

I looked through the images afterwards and this one was "hands down" the best image.  I converted it to black and white using the NIK Silver Efex Pro.  After all of this, I would have to say that I do believe there is a mood to the picture.  The black and white with a dark contrast gives the picture a mysterious tone.  And the placement of the hands (after 10-12 tries) seems to leave you expecting movement.  Seems as if I may be over analyzing the hands...

listen to the music...

Met this guy at a music store in downtown Memphis, TN on Beale Street.  The name of the store was "Memphis Music".  The main reason that I went into the store was they had tons of old photos along the walls.  Very interesting history in this store (both the music and the pictures).  Stopped on the way out to talk with this gentleman.  He was part of the family of one of the owners.  He had been dancing around the store conversing with all of the customers.  He "posed" for a picture in front of the store and then I was on my way.  Alot of character in this picture...

manequins...

Another window shot from a previous night out in downtown Dallas.  The picture is interesting because of the realism of the women.  The anchors for the "tie downs" kinda give it away to reveal that they are actually manequins.  This was taken after dark, but the lighting in the store window was enough to make it look like daytime, hence the women were wearing sunglasses.  Took the photo with the Olympus E-P2 camera and converted to a sepia/black and white using Aperture.  

338 somewhere, memphis tennessee...

Another picture from Memphis.  Along with people photos, I wanted to get some pictures of the buildings in the area.  This one was interesting because of the single post in front.  I say it is a single post because if there was another, it was not interesting enough to include in the picture.  I also like the reflections of the buildings that were across the street and the fact that you can read the text that identifies it as "the memphis college of art".  Notice there is minimal distortion in the vertical lines of the picture even though I was fairly close to the building (this speaks very well of the Zeiss 35mm lense).  It is hard to go to a city one time and somehow capture the essence or mood of the city and its people or buildings.  I already feel like I could do better if I go to Memphis again.  I look forward to the opportunity...

a side of Sadi...

Took this one when we were leaving Stratton's baseball game.  Sadi was busy texting and unwillingly helped me make this shot...  Sadi is showing her talent in being able to walk and text at the same time!  Even though the background is busy, it doesn't really distract from the image because it is out of focus.  I love these non-posed type images!

Uncle Tom and Aunt Rachael...

A couple of weeks ago, we got to spend some time with Sherri's Uncle Tom and Aunt Rachael over in Grand Prarie.  We got to sit around and hear Tom wow us with his stories.  A fun time listening to him...  Rachael always has encouraging words that leaves us all inspired.  Look forward to more times in the future.  I couldn't let the opportunity pass without a picture to capture this "moment in time".  Had my Canon and Leica cameras with me but I used the Leica M8 for this one.  There was a lot of separation between them and the background so I knew the out of focus area would make them both really stand out.  Converted it to black and white to add character to the picture...

they call him Joe...

My first opportunity to take the Leica camera in a street setting amongst total strangers.  Memphis, TN seemed like a great opportunity...  I am absolutely fascinated by street photography, but definitely terrified of approaching people myself and knowingly taking a picture.  I see myself being the guy walking down the street taking pictures from his waist hoping that nobody notices.  This also has it's own set of challenges, focus and aim being the main ones.  Well I passed this guy several times and finally stopped to talk, trying to lead into the question "do you mind if I take your picture".  Joe was his name (so he told me), and he had worked on this corner at this restaurant for over 9 years.  He definitely was more approachable than his appearance might lead you to believe.  He was also overly receptive to "just talking" and even better when it came to the picture.  In retrospect, I think the camera around my neck probably let him know what I wanted even before I asked the question...  Took several more pictures around Memphis and of course every one has a story.  Hope to post them later.

quick shot...

Just a quick shot tonight to show another example of a photo with the Leica M8.  I love the "leica look" that you get with this camera.  The lens was wide open (f/2.0) to create the blurred areas around her face.  I focused on Sadi's eyes and exposed on her face to "blacken" the background.  Sadi was trying on her Boles Hornets shirt to wear it on Friday for Spirit Day.  She was in front of her window and she had me stand on a chair and look down at her for the shot.

same place, same people, different day, different camera...

Seems that I take alot of pictures of Maci and Tyler in this spot (see one at Maci & Tyler post on Friday June 4th).  There always seems to be the right amount of light in this area of our back yard.  Love the background, even though it is a bit busy, but I wanted to see how the Leica M8 with a 35mm f/2.0 would make them look with a blurry background (creating the bokeh).  Well, the camera/lens did a decent job.  Click on the image to make it bigger and you definitely can see that they are separated from the background.  I think it would have been better if I would have moved them farther away from the items in the background.  Oh well, I should have plenty of other opportunities.

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. 

sadi with a smile...

Ok, it is official.  Sadi is tired of my camera (and I am just getting warmed up to it).  Almost every night this week, she has had to endure me taking pictures of her.  I don't take that many, but she knows that every picture is at risk of being on my blog.  This one is making the blog post because she is actually smiling for the camera.  What a beautiful smile...

cotton patch challenge...

Had an opportunity to wake up at 6:00 am on Saturday morning...  well, that wasn't exactly the opportunity.  The opportunity was to take pictures of the cotton patch challenge.  The price was I had to wake up at 6:00 am to get in place for the start of the race.  I tagged along with a friend, John Hughes and felt like I got some pretty decent pictures.

sadi posed...

I would say that this is posed because Sadi didn't want to smile for the picture and she didn't want a picture looking directly at her face.  So this is the result; sorta angry and sorta ignoring me.  But hey, I'll agree to just about anything to get a chance to take a picture...  Modified using Silver Efex Pro.

thought i would also post a color version modified in Color Efex Pro...

sherri...

This doesn't happen very often...  Sherri is not one who likes "posing" for pictures.  However, in this case, maybe she just feels sorry for me.  Spent all this money on a camera and no pictures to show for it.  Made alot of progress this weekend on getting better with the Leica, but lots of learning and practicing will still be required.  Small tweaks on contrast and color in Aperture.

first leica image...

What better image to put first than an image of me with the leica.  This one was taken the first day that I got the camera.  Was practicing using a higher iso and a small aperture to control the depth of field.  Wanted only the camera and part of my face in focus.  Worked pretty well!  Converted it to a high structure black and white in Silver Efex Pro.

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...

an addition to the family

to my family of cameras...  Just bought this Leica Rangefinder camera last week.  I would have to say that this is one of the simplest cameras that I own, but the hardest to use.  All of the people that I have talked to about this say that it becomes easier with use. Time will tell.  One thing is for certain, it is fun to take pictures with this camera!  I just need to get better at using a manual camera (focus, shutter speed and aperture).  Hope to have some good pictures up after shooting with it this weekend.