The Girls At Aldridge Gardens

The Girls At Aldridge Gardens (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/15 second, f/4, ISO50)

Harriett wanted to take Katelyn to Aldridge Gardens to see the scarecrows and displays that had been setup for Halloween, so one Saturday we packed up the girls and went. Different people or organizations would sponsor a little exhibit with a Halloween theme. There were some very imaginative entries and all were done very nicely.

Our oldest son, Christopher, decided to join us and he and Katelyn had a great time enjoying the park.

I decided to use the flash and this time set the camera to barely underexpose the ambient light. In some of the darker areas of the park, the shutter speed got pretty low, but between the the flash and the IS lens, there wouldn't be any noticeable shake. I am still learning about the high-pass filter and trying to get it just right.

Panama City Trip

Panama City Trip (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 10 seconds, f/16, ISO100)

We took a trip to Panama City, FL for our anniversary. We found a really good hotel and had a very relaxing weekend. While there it was so nice to just sit out on the balcony and watch all the traffic go by. I thought I would take the opportunity to play with some long exposures.

I had to play a while to get the shutter speed where I wanted, but really enjoyed the effects of the headlights as the cars moved down the highway.

I remember the humidity being so high. The temperature was high and the wind wasn't blowing a lot, so it took about 15 minutes before I could keep the lens from fogging up during the long exposure.

Katelyn at the Park

Katelyn at the Park (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/350 second, f/16, ISO100)

On Saturdays, when nothing else is planned we usually end up at the park. I had just seen a podcast about adding space around the subject of photos and thought I would try using the wide-angle lens to get some shots with space. I decided to use the flash to get a little more fill light to the subjects.

Actually the brightness played into the shot I wanted. With the light level being so high I could use a small aperture and still get a relatively fast shutter speed. This let me keep everything in focus, foreground and background.

Alabaster R/C Club

Alabaster R/C Club (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/30 second, f/16, ISO200)

Foster is a member of the Alabaster R/C Club in Alabaster, AL. On this particular Saturday, the club sponsored a "fly-in" where all the club members and some guests come to the field to show off and fly their planes. As an invited guest, it was quite a show to see all the model planes and helicopters. It was even more impressive to see the way the members could fly them - loops, rolls, dives and many various and wondrous maneuvers.

I wanted to show all the speed of the airplanes flying so I slowed my shutter speed down to give the motion blur to the background while following the airplanes with the lens. They were moving so fast, it was quite difficult to time everything right and keep it in focus. Since the background was going to blurred by the motion, I bumped closed down the aperture to increase the chances that the plane would stay in focus as it crossed in front of me.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/125 second, f/8.0, ISO200)

I found myself with a little time before having to meet my wife, so I took a little side trip over to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It had rained all day and it was very hot and muggy, but I found myself at the gardens as the sun was breaking through the clouds. As it ended up, I got some great shots.

Dottie's 75th Birthday Party

Dottie's 75th Birthday Party (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4.0L lens - 1/20 second, f/5.6, ISO 200)

On June 16th, Dottie turned 75. Her kids Sherry and Allen, gave her a birthday party and invited everyone on July 5th, 2009. Sherry and Niki (daughter-in-law), and the kids Kelsey and Ansley, worked to put on quite a party. Everyone had a wonderful time.

I shot these pictures in Aperture-priority mode with -1 stop compensation. I had the Canon EX 580 II flash set normal. I had to do a little post-production work to get a consistent color across all pictures. The combination of flash and florescent lights was playing havoc with my color balance. I tried to stay out from under the lights as much as possible. Also, the light tan colored walls would throw off the meter when I got close to them, causing some of the images to over expose a little. I wasn't anything I couldn't correct though.

Giving Jennifer A Bath

Jennifer's First Bath In Crossville (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/20 second, f/5.6, ISO 400)

It's a tradition in our family that all the kids take a bath in the sink at least once when they are young. On Saturday, it was Jennifer's turn. She seemed to enjoy it pertty well. Honey made sure to keep her warm the whole time. Even then, when she got out of the water, her little lip started trembling and it was cute.

I was shooting with the camera in Aperture priority mode. I adjusted the background down a stop while keeping the Canon EX 580 II flash normal. That created just a little separation between foreground and background while keeping the whole scene at pretty much the same level.

Katelyn at the Lake

Katelyn at the Lake (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/180 second, f/8, ISO 50)

After playing around the pool for a while, we decided to make our way down to the lake to see what was going on there. While there were people in the lake, it was mostly deserted and Honey (Julie) and Katelyn decided to get in the water and play for while. They had come up with this game where Katelyn climbs Honey and then jumps off, down to the water. Of course, Honey is helping her on the way, but Katelyn has a lot of fun and laughs the whole time.

For this shot, I set the camera in Aperture-priority mode and adjusted down about a half-stop. I set the Canon EX 580 II flash at normal. I was about 10 yards away and got a good flash. Luckily the water reflection from the overcast sky didn't overpower the scene.

Katelyn At Crossville

Katelyn At Crossville(Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/500 second, f/4, ISO 200)

In Crossville for the 4th of July holiday, we had a very relaxing time around the house. Not a lot to do and a whole lot of time to get it done. We ended up speding a lot of time watching the kids (or should I say kid) out by the pool. She was in and out of the water a lot, but sure did like to play with cups and bottles throwing the water everywhere.

Katelyn decided to try on Honey's flip-flops at one point and was excited that she could navigate the deck with them. I think they slid off more than they stayed on, but she was cute trying to walk in them that we just couldn' help but chuckle.

Fireworks from Next Door

Fireworks From Next Door (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4.0L lens - 2 second, f/11, ISO 200)

The family went to Crossville, TN for the weekend of the 4th of July. That included Gram, Pappy, Honey, me (Pops), our daughter Stephanie and her daughters Katelyn and Jennifer. We had a great trip with a lot of activities.

About dark on Friday night, we started to hear firecrackers next door. After a little while, the pops were getting deeper and louder indicating bigger and better fireworks. We decided to move out on the back porch to check out the show. I grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out as well. I learned a valuable lesson. Always make sure to focus the camera and zoom in to make sure the detail looks OK. On the small viewer, the pictures looked fine, but later I found that the lens was not in focus the fireworks were blurred.

I also realized, again, that a tripod is an absolute must when taking pictures of fireworks. I was using the 24-105 Canon L-series lens with IS, but even with the IS, the exposure was long enough to be very shakey.

Katelyn At The Pool

Katelyn At The Pool (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/125 second, f/8, ISO 200)

Fireworks at Crossville

We made plans to see the fireworks at the Lake Tansai resort in Crossville. We left in plenty of time to stake out a great seat. We made our way into the park, and right off, there seemed to be something amiss. We didn't see the normal traffic and thought maybe it was our good fortune. Since there was no obvious congregation of people, we asked a ranger about the location of the fireworks display. His answer, while disappointing, explained the lack of people. They were not having a fireworks show this year, but were suggesting everyone go to the main fireworks display in Crossville at the Industrial Park.

So, it was off to town we went. Since we packed a picnic, we could eat there just as easily as Lake Tansai so everything was working out fine. We staked out a good place to park, spread out the eats and settled in for the show. about 20 mintues before the start of show, it started to rain. The local radio station said the fireworks show was still a "go" and said the rain would move out of the area by the start. Sure enough, when the time came for the show to start, I had to rush to get the camera setup and

The Williamson Reunion

The Williamson Reunion (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/125 second, f/4, ISO 400) 

On Saturday, we joined the Williamson Family for the annual family reunion at Wind Creek State Park, Alexander City, AL. It was hot, but very good to see everybody there. With about 60 people there, food to feed twice that many, it was good time visiting with family and friends.

We had some fun in the lake too. Julie and Katelyn decided they wanted to wade in the lake. So Julie took Katelyn in while Kaitlyn (a cousin) waded in also. Katelyn (the granddaughter) was having fun playing with Julie. We managed to lose the dress, but prudence demanded that the diaper had to stay. The more we played, the more the diaper absorbed so that by the end of the journey, it was about 10X the original size. And Katelyn was just enjoying it more.

Taking pictures under the pavilion was pretty easy. Once I determined the correct setting for the pictures, I just set the camera to manual and snapping away. Of course, when I moved to take pictures outside the pavilion, it turned out a little bright until I remembered to reset my settings. Then, of course, when I came back to the pavilion, I had to remember to set them back. But I managed to get a few good ones.

Sleep Over Weekend

Sleep-Over Weekend (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/100 second, f/4, ISO 100)

Another eventful weekend! I got home Friday night and found that the power was off. Julie's mom suggested a "sleep-over" at her house. We decided that it would be a good idea to stay over there Friday night and come back home Saturday after the power was back on. So I packed up a few things and the camera and went over to the Tates for the night. When I arrived, Julie, Katelyn and Harriett were busy making cookies. We stayed up late Friday night playing around.

On Saturday, we got up and it was raining hard. It rained for several hours and I took the opportunity to snap some weather shots showing the rain. Just after lunch, the sun came out and the skies cleared. Katelyn decided that it was time to go swimming, so we took the camera outside and got some action shots of Katelyn playing in the pool. After watering the plants, cars, trees, some people, and well, just about everything, we decided to move back inside to eat dinner.

Harriett had just finished smocking Katelyn's dress and wanted a picture or two of her in the dress. So we put Katelyn in the dress and took some pictures of her around the living room. I chose f/4 to get the depth of field that would get a blurred background while getting her whole face in focus. I chose ISO 100 to get the detail. I chose the 1/100th shutter speed to allow the background to show up and not look dark. With the Canon EX 580 II flash on ETTL, I just starting flashing away. Katelyn was tired (as were we all) and I wasn't able to get a great amount of good shots, but I got enough to feel successful.

Lilies

Lilies (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/4 second, f/16, ISO 50)

Well, these last few days have been very eventful. We helped our oldest son move back into the house this last weekend. We went to the hospital also this weekend to begin the process of becoming Grandparents 2.0. So I didn't get pictures of kids this weekend. However, Julie's mom said that she had some lilies that had bloomed and wanted pictures of them. As it turned out, they were almost perfect specimen - beautiful, full and open. I was able to get some with existing light, some with flash, using bounce and not. It was very exciting to get so many great pictures. Believe me, it was hard to pick the finalist for the album.

I like this picture because I don't see 2 lilies in a picture too often - especially two such beautiful specimen. I had the Canon 5d setup on a tripod with remote trigger with the EX 580 II on top. On this one, I bounced the flash into a white reflector to soften the light from the flash. Except for a little extra saturation, a little unsharpen mask and little levels adjustment, there wasn't anything done to this photo.

I used the f/16 to keep the depth of field up. I used the ISO 50 because I had the tripod and 1/4 sec shutter wasn't bad with the remote trigger. Since the flowers were located outside the garage, I got some brick wall, door and a chair in the background, but because I was using the flash, I could adjust so the background was dark. I used the levels adjustment to darken the background even more. I put in just a little unsharpen mask to try to bring out the details. It seems that it was harder to do than I first thought. I was hard to strike a balance between getting the details sharp and creating halos around some of the objects. Anyway, I hope it's good enough.

Well, I guess it's time to get back to be being a granddad again. Until next week...

Memorial Day Weekend

Katelyn in the Studio (Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/18, ISO 100)

This weekend was busy.  We spent a busy Friday night getting ready for a busy Saturday.  There was just so much to do that we didn't get Katelyn as normal, but decided to postpone getting her until Sunday, since we had Monday off for Memorial Day.  Well, Saturday, we got a lot of stuff done - stuff that has been needed to be completed for a long time.  

Sunday, after church, we found out that my brother and his family was coming down from Oak Ridge, TN.  Mom and Dad had arranged lunch.  We had already made plans of our own but thought we might could work it out.  Well, to make a long story short, we missed them.  

As a consequence, we picked up Katelyn early and had some time, so we went to the park.  After playing for a while, we headed home where we caught up with Steph and Benji.  Steph had wanted some family photos before Jennifer is born so I set up the studio and got some.  We put Katelyn in a smocked dress that Julie had just completed and sat down for pictures.  Katelyn just wouldn't sit still, but we got a few good ones anyway.  After the family pictures, Katelyn was playing around on the backdrop and I was able to get a couple of just her.  I was really proud of this one.  I attached my Canon L-Series 24-105mm lens to my 5d and stuck it on the tripod.  With the small aperature, the whole scene is in focus and with 3 flashes (Canon EX 580 II and 2 Photogenic Studio Max III's), I had enough light to really "pump up the volume" on the light meter.  By the way, Katelyn is sitting in a chair which belonged to Pappy (her great-granddad) when he was a child.

I had a photo shoot schedule for Monday morning so I spent some time Monday night getting ready.  I had not heard from the model in the last few days and I tried to email her for confirmation.  I could not get in touch with the model so I ended up cancelling the photo shoot.

We had a family gettogether for Memorial Day.  Pappy fixed hamburgers and hot dogs.  With the cole slaw, potato salad, and chips, it was a great meal and we had a good time.

Katelyn at the Sink

Katelyn at the Sink (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/30 second, f/2.8, ISO 400)
This weekend, Katelyn started playing in the sink. By the time it was over, we had one wet and happy young lady and a very clean kitchen floor.  As the spilled water would make it's way to the floor, Julie would mop it up. Since it ended up covering most of the floor, Julie finished it off and we had a nice clean kitchen floor.  I guess that's one way to get your housework done. 

I was going for the "stock photography" look in the pictures. I had my trusty Canon 5d with the Canon 70-200 L-series lens and the Canon Ex-580 II flash.

I set the ISO to 400 hoping to get fast enough shutter speed to stop the water and Katelyn together without producing too much noise. To start with, I was shooting apperature-priority mode  with the apperature set at f/2.8 which had the shutter speed around 1/500th based on exposing Katelyn correctly. That should be enough to stop the water. I metered the background to get my shutter speed. That got my shutter speed down to 1/50th. But I found that f/2.8 was way too shallow for depth-of-field. I was getting her shirt in focus but her eyes would not be. I just wasn't fast enough to keep focus on her eyes. I moved the apperature up to f/4.0 which increased the depth of field, but it slowed the shutter speed down even more. I ended up getting the best results, as far as exposure, around 1/30th. Of course, shooting at 200mm I was really depending on the flash to stop the action. It seemed to work out OK. I got several shots that I am proud of.

Katelyn in a Chinese dress

Katelyn in Chinese Dress (Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens - 1/80 second, f/2.8, ISO 1000)

Today we took some pictures of Katelyn (our granddaughter) in the dresses which Julie's mom brought back from China about a week ago.  Katelyn seemed to be wired and was all over the living room, kitchen and back porch.  As it turned out, she was very tired and just wouldn't sit still.  I was using the Canon 5d with the Canon 70-200 L series zoom lens.  I had also fired up the Canon 580 EX-II flash with the Gary Fong LightSphere on it.  I ended up having to bump up the ISO a little to get some of the ambient light high enough.  Since most of the light was almost always coming from behind, I used the flash to fill in.

Well, this is the beginning.  I am really looking forward to sharing ideas, tips and tricks through this blog.  I hope that some people find it useful.  I may not be able to blog every day, but I hope to add entries at least once a week.