Missing Dash

I recently moved from Charleston, SC to Dayton, OH and I had to give my dog, Dash, to my sister to watch for a few months.  I'm building a house and living out of hotels until late October so it was much easier to have someone else watch him.  I definitely miss my buddy :(  Here's a few pics from earlier this summer... can't wait to get him back!

Dayton Water Wheel

I really liked this water wheel on the side of a house in downtown Dayton.  What more can I say?

A Day at the Barn

The weather was perfect today to get out and take some pictures of a baby Clydesdale named BOLO (short for be on the look out).  He's pretty skittish but it was a blast and I was happy with the pictures.  Check out a few of my favorites.  

Sullivan's Island Lighthouse

I took this walking the beach one of my last nights in Charleston.  I'm really going to miss it :(

Schuldt Wedding

My brother got married this past weekend outside of Akron, OH.  I was very honored to be the best man but I did have some time to get a few pictures.  Here's some of my favorites :)  Congratulations you two!

Engagement Ring

I spent some time today practicing for pictures to take at my brother's wedding in a couple months.  I really love close up photography and I finally took some time to work on my manual focus skills.  Live view works wonders for seeing where you're focusing!

Fetch

I'm giving myself a bit of a homework assignment today.  I'm searching the house looking for pictures to take and I decided to start with my puppy, Dash.  Here's a few of us playing fetch and him relaxing afterward :)

Centennial Olympic Park

I walked through Centennial Olympic Park on my way back from the Hilton.  These pictures were taken at the fountain as a bunch of kids and couples were having a blast getting wet on a very warm Atlanta night.

The fountains come out of the shape of the olympic rings in the middle of the park.  The colors were really cool and everyone there was loving them.  This photo is a 6 second exposure.  

I actually took this picture on accident.  I hit my remote shutter release right as I picked up my tripod to change locations and I didn't notice until I got to my next spot.  I thought the lights turned out really cool!  After that I practiced a bunch with purposefully moving the camera or zooming in/out over long shutter speeds.  I still think this one turned out the best.  

Atlanta Skyline

On Cinco de Mayo several of the companies at my conference hosted parties around the city.  They were basically trying to impress us in hopes of getting a few military engineers to jump ship and move over to the civilian world.  The night was unreal as I visited about 6 different bars with live bands, open bars, amazing menus including tuna sashimi, filet, etc. and breathtaking views.  The two pictures below were from the rooftop bar (Vandana's) at the Hilton Garden Inn.  The people at the Hilton were kind enough to allow me up on the roof last night so that I could take some pictures by myself.  

This picture was taken just as the sun was setting behind me.  I was about 15 stories up, just above the aquarium and Centennial Olympic Park.  I was actually inside the bar and I used my polarizing filter to cut through the reflections in the glass.

I was so excited about this picture.  I have read many, many times in books from Scott Kelby and Bryan Peterson about taking pictures about a half hour after sunset.  This is the first time I've ever been able to practice the effect.  I set up my camera and tripod and framed the shot, then waited for the sky to go dark.  It was actually nearly black out but there was just enough light let for me to get this brilliant shade of blue over a 13 second exposure.  I kept the camera at ISO 200 to reduce the effect of noise and I was at an aperture of 11.  I also used a remote release to ensure the camera moved as little as possible.  I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!  

Hangin' in Hotlanta

I just got back from an incredible week in Atlanta!  The Air Force sent me to a Society of American Military Engineers conference downtown and I was fortunate enough to have some time to get out and take pictures.  Atlanta really is beautiful and the people were as friendly as they come.  The food wasn't too shabby either :)

I took this picture of a jellyfish at the Georgia Aquarium.  Everyone kept talking about how it's supposed to be the best in the world, but I'm not going to lie, it was nowhere near as good as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  No dolphins, only one penguin... it's not even close.  We did have our ice breaker event there though with free food and drinks so I can't complain.

Not really a fantastic image but I just loved this bus.  I took this in a poorer area of town and it's great to see the neighborhood fired up over Jesus.  

Back Yard Beauty

I live right on a pond and we have had some beautiful birds visiting recently.  This little buddy was hanging out yesterday during a light rain and I went out to get some pictures.  It took me about 20 minutes of playing tag to finally get a good one but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Spring!

I took this picture leaving work last week with my 18-200.  Not the ideal choice but the flowers were beautiful and I was able to catch the bee at a perfect moment.

Dash!

Here's a pic of our new dog, Dash, running around the back yard.  He's a Maltese and weighs all of 7.5 pounds.  I'm sure there will be many more of him to come!

House Fire

These pictures were taken in a neighborhood close to my parents' home in Illinois.  A house recently partially burned down and I stopped by to take some pictures.  I had never seen the affects of a house fire up close and the damage that results is really quite humbling.  It's really hard to believe how a lifetime of possessions can go up in flames in a matter of minutes.  Thankfully no one was hurt in this fire.  Here's a couple pictures.  What really blew my mind is what wasn't damaged.  I found the toy lawn mower exactly where it is in the picture below.  There was also an intact Nike box in the house and plenty of freeze pops in the freezer.

A Lesson on Exposure and Lens Flare

As I learn to take specific types of photos and develop my skills, I'd like to take as many opportunities as I can to explain to others how I accomplished a certain look.  I like this photo not because it looks great (I think you'll agree that it's nothing special) but because it was a major success for me in learning a couple new skills.  First, I was trying to purposefully create lens flare.

Lens flare isn't usually referred to as a good thing but when you control it and use it as part of the overall intent of the image it can work wonders.  I won't dig into what causes lens flare but if you're interested you can check out this link from wikipedia.  Ever taken a picture of some friends in the middle of the day with the sun right behind them?  I bet most of those pictures had big bright circles right over your friends' faces that totally ruined the picture.  That's lens flare.  

We can use the same example to discuss the other teaching lesson in this picture.  With that afternoon, backlit shot of your friends, did they often show up as nothing but a dark silhouette?  The reason is that your camera usually takes into account the entire scene to determine how bright it needs to be.  When so much of the scene is filled with the bright mid-day sun, your friends are going to be significantly underexposed.  The result, silhouettes.  

Sophie's Portrait

I recently purchased a used 85mm f/1.4 and I'm super excited about it!  The first day I got it I took my parents' Springer Spaniel, Sophie out for a couple pictures in the yard.  It amazes me that at f/1.4 Sophie's eyes are completely in focus and even the tip of her nose is slightly out of focus.  It's really cool how the grass in the background is completely blurry too.  Needless to say I'm really excited about the possibilities this lens gives me and I'm really looking forward to gaining more experience with it.  Here's the result from 45 seconds in the yard with Sophie.

Oh, and to touch on actual terminology, the effect of the blurry background is referred to as bokeh.  I'm sure I'll touch more on it later in a separate post.  The Nikon 85mm f/1.4 is known as one of the best bokeh-producing lenses Nikon has ever made.  

In Motion

This picture really sums up a lot of what Chicago is to me - tall buildings and people, cars and trains in motion.  Welcome to the Windy City.

Millennium Park, Chicago

I absolutely love Chicago.  It was so fun growing up less than an hour away.  Millennium Park is a relatively new site in the city but I'd say it's easily the most visited.  I spent about an hour in around the park taking pictures.  Here's a couple of my favorites, not because I think they're fantastic shots, but more because they're unique.  Everyone is going to take a million pictures of their reflection in the bean.  I was hoping to get something different.  

I really like the shapes and form going on in this picture.  I like how the shape of the skyscraper in the middle of the picture seems to follow the same shape of the metal supports in the outdoor amphitheater.  

Bath Time!

My sister and brother-in-law came over to my parent's house last night with their three kids.  When bath time came, the kids were really excited to use my parents jacuzzi tub.  As my youngest nephew would say, it was time for the booty dance!  Here's a couple pictures of him enjoying or possibly contemplating his bath.  

Wrigs Yawnin'

Caught one of my cats, Wrigley (Go CUBS!), yawning under the kitchen table.