A Beautiful Bug

Big changes...

Coming soon!

I will be dividing my website into two parts, one for my landscape photography and one for my portrait photography... still working out all the kinks, but hope to have it done soon.

Keep your eye on my entry page...

Skillage

Aside from a couple of sessions since December, the winter has been a total write off for me... We had a major basement renovation going on, in which I was heavily involved and for the past 2 months it has consumed my every waking moment.  The result is that my creative juices are barely trickling and finding inspiration in the dull, dreary, grey mess that lies just outside my door is practically futile.  *sigh*

In the brief glimpses of respite that I have had - usually when my muscles ache so bad that I can barely lift my little finger - I have spent some rare moments perusing the wonderful world of photography online and gleaning whatever tiny morsels I came across that could aid in furthering my post-processing skills in CS4.  Now that the chaos in the basement has wound down and I once again find myself limber and relaxed, I thought I would seize the opportunity just play. :)

I have to say that I am happy with the things I am learning, and I am beginning to feel the awakening of my artistic identity once again.  And it's a good thing too... spring is knocking on the door and this year I am going to need my mojo running at full potential.

52 Weeks - Week 1

One of my New Year's resolutions is to take and post at least one photo each week for the entire year.  I know I am already late at posting, but at least the photos were taken within the first week of 2011.

I was on my way out the door to take Peanut out to buy his girlfriend a birthday gift, and when I opened the front door I was greeted by a whole flock of Cedar Waxwings in the crabapple tree in my front garden.  At first I thought they were Blue Jays, but then I realized they were too small and they were a pretty shade of taupe grey with yellow underneath.  And Blue Jays are usually loners, so it would be rare for 25-30 of them to all be in the same tree at once.  I was pretty sure they were Cedar Waxwings, and a quick Google search proved me right.  It was quite a treat!  They are so pretty. :)

Finally...

I've done a few photo shoots in the past couple of months, but I wasn't able to share any of the photos because they were for Christmas gifts and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. (Not that anyone is really reading this blog on a regular basis, but with my luck THAT would have been the time when someone who was on the receiving end would find the post. LOL)

Anyhoo... I am going to share some of my favourites from a shoot with my own kids way back in October.  My kids are very comfortable being in front of the camera so it provides great opportunity to practice and hone my skills and technique.

More from other shoots to come...

Revisiting the Past

So I found this photo from a shoot I did for my friend waayyy back in 2006 when I had no clue how to use an SLR and was afraid of RAW so I shot only in JPEG.

Both girls are so adorable and naturally sassy.  Originally I was satisfied with my limited abilities in post-processing, but when I came across the file in my archives I decided to have another go at it.

To begin with it's a technical nightmare and a JPEG to boot... there are about a million things I would do differently if I were to shoot this same shot today, but this is what I came up with after just a few mins of tweaking in Photoshop.

Shooting the Moon

A big beautiful moon came up over the farm out behind my house the other night, so I grabbed my camera and   tripod and went out on the deck...

This is the first shot I took...

Obviously this isn't the shot I intended to get, but I thought this turned out interesting... in a that-is-really-weird-and-doesn't-look-right way.  It almost looks like the sun at night... does that make sense?

I really need to go back to my lessons on long exposures and shooting at night because I just couldn't get the shot right. I tried everything... Aperture, shutter, ISO, exposure compensation, etc.  I know the moon is difficult to shoot because it moves across the sky so quickly, but I just couldn't figure out how to get a crisp, clear shot and keep the details that the naked eye could see on the moon.  In every shot I took after this one the moon is either blown out or there is no detail in the rest of the shot because everything other than the moon is black.

Photo of the Week

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, during a shoot with my own kids.  There will never be a photo that  reveals the true character of my children better than this... I just can't get over how much this is "them".

2nd Place

I logged on to Facebook this morning to find a pleasant surprise... One of my photos earned second place in a photo contest.  I had entered it (along with one other) and not given it another thought really, until this morning when I got the message about being the second place winner.  The entries are voted on by regular folk, and there is no "prize", other than bragging rights I suppose, but just knowing that my photo appealed to people is prize enough for me.

 

Crossing the Oxtongue

Dwight, ON 

A whole year????

Where does the time go???  It's been a year since I posted...  UGH.

Photo of the Week

So... a couple of days this week have ended with spectacular sunsets. The first time I was in the middle of a couple of hours worth of playing "Mom's Taxi" and, much to my despair and disappointment, I didn't get any photos.  The following night however, as you can see, I was much better prepared. I had been watching the sky all afternoon and had a really good hunch that SOMETHING was going to happen...

Obviously, it pays to be prepared.
I wonder when I'll learn that lesson? *sigh* 

Algonquin Park

I spent an amazing weekend in Algonquin Park last weekend. Camped in the back of my van, all by myself, which was an exciting experience. At least I was warm and dry. ^.^

The colours were spectacular, to say the least - there really aren't words to describe it, and the pictures just never do it any true justice - and despite the rain and overcast skies, I did manage to get some good shots.

The weekend before that, I was in Thunder Bay and did do some shooting up there, but by comparison the reds and oranges we get here are absent due to the lack of sugar maples so the best shots by far involve water. I need more time to explore the region's parks and forests for great locations, which I am hoping for the opportunity to do in the spring.

Summer

Whew! Where did the summer go???
I have been very busy this summer with my first life (family, day job, baseball, etc.) and have not had much time to focus on my course, so I am only a few lessons into it. However it is very well done and I have very much enjoyed it so far.

As far as shooting is concerned... Well, I have been out a few times and do have some files to comb through. Most of it has been local, with the exception of the opportunity to visit Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. What a perfect place to shoot! Lots of interesting compositions to be had.

I do hope to have some new work to share with you in the next couple of weeks, as I have given notice at my day job so that I can devote my attention to photography. Although I will miss my associations there (and the steady income! LOL) I am very excited about what the future holds.

Education

I am now a student at the New York Institute of Photography. I am so excited to be doing this and can't wait to get started. It sounds like an intense course, but I know I am going to love every minute of it. :)

I have almost everything up and running correctly now. The only thing I am still working on is my sales room where you'll be able to purchase prints of my work. Let me know if you find any errors. Keep your eyes on this page to find out what gets updated.

*UPDATE*
Check out the page for pricing for the additional services (from the pricing page). This page now offers you a sampling of some of the more distinct effects I can add to photos.

Construction

I am working hard to get my website and blog up and running smoothly. Thanks for your patience and support.