A Couple Zoo Shots …
Posted on December 16, 2007
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Why Meerkats?
Posted on December 16, 2007
For my sister.
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Shooting Hundreds of Wild Animals
Posted on December 16, 2007
… no, with a camera … I mean really, it says Photography; did I file this under Bloodsport?
Any way (har har), as you might imagine, photographing animals isn’t as easy as it sounds; even at the zoo, which is where I spent the better part of my Saturday afternoon this week, perhaps for the last time until after Christmas.
I discovered (but might’ve expected) that animals really don’t pose well–they tend to either be sleeping (easier to shoot, but boring) or tearing about their pens. The enclosures (glass, fence, fake natural habitat, etc.) consistently threw off my auto-focus–nothing like trying to catch a fleeing lemur and getting a crisp leaf instead–and I was disappointed with how poorly I shot manually. Lighting too was extremely uneven, and so what I ended up with was mostly a bunch of slightly too-light or -dark photos of blurry animals. Even the meerkat photos weren’t as cool as I would’ve hoped.
All the same, it was a fun day, and I enjoyed playing National Geographic photographer (I have a new respect for their job, and I think it’d be even tougher knowing I can be eaten by my subjects), having pizza in the “McKaw cafe” (surprisingly good, I was expecting a cold burger basket for $9.95) and of course laughing at a passerby who had the balls to wear a leopard-print coat to the zoo.
I got a couple of relatively cool shots which I will post later when I feel like editing them for size. Until then,
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Shoot Numero Dos
Posted on December 10, 2007
So this past Saturday I got to spend a few hours kickin around downtown, putting my new camera through its paces for the second time. Once again I went with friends Adam and Danny who were kind enough to loan me their expertise and much higher quality lenses. We almost went to the zoo–National Geographic, here I come–but decided to postpone for another day for lack of time.
Though the excursion was again a lot of fun, I was somewhat disappointed with a lot of what I took this time. I was probably too impatient in composing and lining up the exposure for a lot of my shots, but live and learn.
Sunday afternoon, Toni and I went to the lake near my apartment to let her play with it for the first time. I think I did okay as a teacher and will readily admit she was a patient student who pulled a couple pretty cool shots off! Most of all it was fun to share a new hobby and passion of mine with someone I love!
Below are a couple of the better shots I took throughout the weekend. Unfortunately I am pressed for time (finals, signing up for new classes, wedding planning, Christmas shopping, finishing off two web design contracts, and oh yeah, working) so hopefully I’ll be able to post more later.
$1.50 for 60 minutes in parking spot #8 on a Saturday … whatever keeps our politicians fed.
berries, when Toni and I were walking around the lake … in case you were wondering, I’m pretty sure that blue is the sky reflecting off of the water, not the water itself …
behind door number blue …
the “eet” building.
a Christmas ornament on Adam and Kacie’s tree.
closeup of a chain …
actually taken last week, but retouched for improved color …
because nothing says I love you like handing your fiancee a picture of a red flower …
or a yellow one …
retouched from last week’s shoot–this one with a more “artistic” presentation
I liked the colors in this picture–there’s also just a lot going on in this shot.
neat red/whitish/green contrast.
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Beginning with a Single Step
Posted on December 1, 2007
I love photography, but up until today, I’d never really experienced it firsthand. I enjoy creative expression in so many forms and today I had a blast getting my first “hands-on” with my brand-new digital SLR Nikon D40x. I’ve never owned more than a very basic point-and-shoot, and am/was excited not only to have such a powerful camera, but more importantly to spend a Saturday afternoon learning how to use it to its full potential (even if that knowledge is mostly theoretical in my hands at this point) under the guidance of some greats.
I went shooting with a friend from work, Adam, and two of his friends, one of whom is going to be our wedding photographer (Danny Heinlein–check him out at www.dwphotoz.com and you will understand why I aspire to his skills.) The third, Clint, I hadn’t met, but all three are very easy to get along with and immensely talented photographers. Without a doubt, I learned more in two hours today shooting with these guys than I would’ve in a week on my own.
Here are some of my favorites of the more than 200 I took:
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