Teamwork

Some pictures really are worth a thousand words. As a photographer, I try to capture as many words in a photo as possible. This picture, however, would be quite the challenge to summarize with such a small number of descriptors...maybe you can do it?

I love these guys.

The Canon 50mm f/1.8 II

It's a damn fine lens for how much you pay for it. Great for when you want to take decently sharp photos without carrying around a big ol chunky lens. Also good for shooting in low light. I bought it awhile ago and only used it a handful of times, and today, I sold. Maybe i'll look into another prime lens when I get some money, but for now I'm happy with my 10-2omm and my 24-70mm. Good times.

Let Us Return to the Classics

My boy Greg, he went and bought up this beautiful Hasselblad. My god, it is breathtaking. This was taken about a month or two ago at the Domes Community Build, capturing essence on film.

Speaking of Film, I have about 7 rolls I need to get developed and I need to find a place to do B&W! or I may just do it myself at the Craft Center dark room. We'll see what happens and what I have time for. I definitely miss working in the dark room, getting lost in my own prints. I take pictures mostly around the Co-ops because I would like to make a photo album before I leave this enchanted place.

Photographing Photagraphers

I really enjoy taking photos of photographers who are in the moment. The ones who get lost in what their shooting are always the best. This was one of my favorite ones that I took recently, enjoy!

Film

So, I got my hands on about 6 expired rolls of TMAX color film. I figure I should put them to good use and load them up into my old Pentax. You know, I can never really describe it, but shooting with film and shooting with digital are two completely different experience. It's like comparing swimming and running to each other, in my opinion.

Anyways, lets see, 6x24=144. Thats about 138 film shots I need to take, better get to work!

Btw, here is a shot of my good friend sean, putting his new 35mm Canon to good use in Desolation Wilderness.

Photography Dreams

This girl was in my dream last night. Photography related stuff. I wonder why? haha She never lets me get really good photos of her, but I always try. Check out some of her stuff HERE.

Photographer of the Quarter

My fellow photographer friend, Sarena, just won Photographer of the Quarter! Big congrats to her. Check out some of her stuff HERE or her tumblr. Super talented.

Here is a shot of her at the March to Save the Domes on 5/25

I Bit the Bullet and Bought a New Toy

Ladies and Gentlemen...I introduce to my dearest: the Canon 7d. It is an absolute monster and I am freakin in love with it. Got a good deal on a "used" body (it looks brand new to me, still had the box) and...oh yea, you see that red stripe? The 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. God damn this is one fine set up if I do say so myself. It just feels so right. I definitely need to do a lot of homework in order to take full advantage of everything on this. I also shoot with my sigma 10-20mm f/4 on it. On the wishlist: speedlite 430EX, and I may look into getting a 70 -200 f/4 (havnt decided if the IS is worth the extra bank yet though). Definitely going to keep my eyes peeled on craigslist.

A comparison shot to my new set up (7d, 24-70LUSM) to my old set up (rebel xs, 18-55IS) which will soon be sold. The 7d could seriously eat the xs. And quality glass makes everything else feel like a toy.

Day 365: A Look Onto the Horizon

So, if you weren't aware, I initially started this blog to try and do a 365 project. That is, where I post a photo a day for an entire year. This plan went extremely well (with a few exceptions when my computer died and I had to stop updates for a bit) in my opinion and definitely helped me develop my photography a bit more.

And what exactly does day 365 mean for you, my loyal followers? Well, don't worry, not too much will change on my site. I will likely stop the daily updates and only post when I have new photos that I'd like to share. Also, I may start posting multiple photos together instead just one a day. Who knows? Anyways, I'm glad you have joined me in photography journey and hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

The photo above is of a lighthouse in Point Arena. I won't stop daily updates yet since I still have a few more Mendocino photos to post.

Also, I should be getting a new camera soon =D

"Studio" Lighting

I swear, one day I'll get a legitimate lighting set up and an actual flash. But for now, I just make stuff up as I need it. This lamp has actually helped with a lot of the indoor shots that I take. Who knew it would've been so handy?

The Pentax

Here is my old school 35mm Pentax MX. I did some tinkering with it over the summer to get it to working order again (I think). I botched the first roll that I shot with it though, turns out the film didnt catch. Oh well. The second roll (400ASA Ilford b&w) I think came out pretty well, but I don't really know yet since I didn't process it myself. Regardless, I started my first roll of color film ever yesterday while I was out harvesting broccoli in the mist with some friends. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

In my opinion, every photographer should have at least one old 35mm film camera. It is just such a different experience from shooting dslr. So much more rewarding.

Back to Film

So I just started a new roll of film, and I'm really hoping this one will go better than the previous one. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. OH, and this picture was obviously not taken with film, but I did originally take a version of it on film for a photography assignment way back when.

Also, reminded me of this shot. Why? They were taken on the same table, silly.

Mycology

I STILL don't have my mushroom guide and it is driving me insane. I have all these lovely photos of mushrooms and I don't have a clue as to what the majority of them are. You, however, are free to enjoy the bounty of my rompings through the marshes and forests around my house.

Now That's Some Enthusiasm

My mother, caught in the act. I never see too many photos like this of me. I think it would be interesting.

Another Technique Shot

Here I did something similar to the last entry, except with "3 exposures" rather than just two. It is all in the same exposure though. The first part (center RJ) was done with the flash to get it nice and clear and then immediately after the flash went off, I turned to my right and held a pose, and then to the left after, achieving a rather ghostly effect on the two side RJ's. The exposure was 30 seconds long so each pose was held for about 15 sec and this shot was taken in the dead of night on Stinson Beach.

"Out of Body Experience"

Altering Your Perspective

Heres a double exposure shot that I did with me DSLR. It was a 30 sec exposure and half way through it, I threw my shirt over the lens (to stop light from getting in. Granted it wasn't the best way to achieve this effect) and ran the camera over to a different angle of the same object, and continued the exposure for another 12-13 seconds. I think it came out pretty interesting.

I feel like theres a lot to learn in double exposures. Especially when I see stuff that one of my photography friends does, Maya M. Crazy good.

God, I need to get back into film.

No Reason To Post Anger

I shot this one day at the beach, I don't know why. I haven't really had anything to be angry about the past, I don't even know how long, but it has been sitting in my picture folder for too long, so here it is. I am kind of in a photographic rut, I feel like I haven't taken any really good shots in awhile. Hopefully I'll get out of this soon.

Photographing the Guy Who Photographed Us

When writing about seattle, I think I neglected to mention that we were photographed by a professional photographer for a Seattle news paper. Pretty nifty. I snapped a few shots of him without him knowing it though. The second one is while he was taking our names down and telling us what he was doing. Not really artsy at all, but a better view of him.

Lenses

A little bit ago, I had a group of people at a rental house at Stinson Beach, one of them being Michael. He is a fellow photography friend and we offer share techniques and such. We had a nice talk about lenses and compared quite a few. I must say, playing around with new lenses is always a treat. I have been rather reluctant to buy a new one and it has been almost a year since my last purchase, so I will probably get this one next. Simple light, and I got to test drive Michael's while he was over.

So, Ansel Adams

He's pretty much amazing when it comes to landscapes. For me, I don't normally shoot them because I like to use a massive f-stop in all my shots to get some narrow depth of fields, but for this shot I attempted as high an f-stop as my camera would allow (I think it was only F22, but still).