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.