Monday, January 25, 2010

Ethan Aberra - Three Months - Lifestyle Photography - Stockbridge GA

Just a little something to start off your week. Who can have a grumpy Monday after they watch the gorgeousness of this little guy.

Warning: There is music, so you may want to turn down your computer.


ENJOY!




Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Siren Song

About 10 years ago, a young idealist I know intimately dogged digital photography within an inch of it’s life. She swore digital would never be better than and definitely would never replace film. Film was just better by such a large degree, it was unfathomable. Ahh, the innocence of youth.

Flash forward to 2004 and by this time, digital photography has grown by leaps and bounds that that photographer. . .ok I never had thought possible. In December of 2006 I purchased my first Digital SLR a Canon 30D. I was in LOVE! It cost me more than any of my film cameras, heck more than all of them put together (I will admit, I saved money by purchasing old reliables from fellow photogs with the desire to upgrade).

But the cost was not so bothersome to me because there was another cost that was entirely obliterated by the advent of digital. The costly processing of film and having to have every photo printed. And then came the weeding out of the “bad” ones. So my 3 or 4 Canon SLRs got packed away in a camera bag along with loads of unused film only to see the light of day every once in a while.

One of those times was when my husband and I planned a trip to Piedmont Park for him to try his hand at photography a bit more than he was used to. I brought out one of my old faithfuls and the accompanying rolls of film in order to not feel empty handed. It was torture not seeing the fruits of my labors right away and whether or not I got the shot. Sadly, it was not torture enough because they are still lying around undeveloped. My curiosity was evidently not that great. . .

. . .or rather, the real culprit is my frugality and the fact that there are no decent local film labs in my area that could lovingly develop my film and scan it to CD for me so that I may view my film creations in the same ease that I do my digital work. Either that or the ones I find have the ability to bleed me dry in the area of my wallet. {{inward groan}}

Early this summer, before my Canon 30D was sadly demoted by the acquisition of a 50D, I shot a couple that you saw before on this blog here. As I shot with my trusty 30D, I loaded one roll of film for Spencer to shoot at his leisure. Knowing my tendency towards procrastination, I got the film developed and scanned to CD right away. . .at Wal-Mart. :( I even got a set of prints for kicks and giggles.

I was thoroughly surprised by the results. They were creamy and rich in a way digital is not always. Sadly, the following images do not do the prints justice.

Frazier Blog Film 22 Frazier Blog Film 07 Frazier Blog Film 11 Frazier Blog Film 17The above images were completely untouched by Photoshop. Straight out of the camera.

For those who do not follow closely the buzz in the photography industry, the reason this post came to be is because there has been a lot of said buzz in the photography world about film. Now, by no means do I plan on going back to film as my sole media as do the amazingly talented Jose Villa (please check out his phenomenal work which is a source of inspiration to me) and several others that I have come across (Joseph Canlas is another good one to check out that is 100% Film as his blog proudly bosts) but there are certain things about film that I miss.

One day, some time ago, I came across an order a bride had placed with me for prints from her wedding that she never retrieved (lesson learned there that we won’t get into right now) and I marveled at several facts.

1. I have grown by leaps and bounds in the past 5+ years.

2. I was amazed at the memory of the confidence I used to have shooting weddings and such. I looked over the images and recalled how it used to be when I would shoot roll after roll of film, trusting myself and my abilities enough without the possibility of seeing how I truly did until anywhere from a few days to weeks after the actual event. {{sigh}} Those were the days.

As I typed this, I looked over at my dear 50D and picked it up and changed the review time of an image after shot from 2 seconds to None. I still have the ability to push the play button, of course, but I am going to endeavor to resist unless necessary.

As wistful as this post may sound, I do not plan on giving digital the heave ho by any means. Too blasted convenient. However, relegated to the post of “knick knack” is my first ever SLR (single lens reflex) that I bought from a pawn shop for $100 of hard earned money. My dear Pentax K1000. Also there resides my overpriced TLR (twin lens reflex). An $80 E-bay find. My Yashica A.

As I mentioned on Twitter just the other night, I have 35mm and 120mm film lying around the house and an itch that needs scratching. We shall see how this turns out and I will be sure to keep you updated.

P.S. “This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were removed.” Mitch Hedburg

P.S. For real. Check out this blog of an old friend of mine who has also succumbed to the siren song of film.

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Thursday, January 7, 2010

I am a blog stalker

And it is an addiction I am trying to cure. I don’t check my blogger dashboard nearly as often as I used to and this is a GOOD thing since I follow a LOT of blogs. There are several though that I always try to take the time for. Tara Whitney in particular, usually makes me stop, smile, and appreciate something I had not thought about before. Not to mention, I absolutely adore her work.

As I was catching up on a few blogs tonight, I ran across her post from yesterday about this very neat fellow blogspot blogger and I just had to check it out for myself.

NotebookDoodles, thank you for your little pieces of inspiration.

And considering the time of night I am writing this, I felt this one to be highly appropriate.

There are many many more where these came from but I these were some of my favorites. I will let you find your own. ;)

Now I must go to bed, early for me, because I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Night night loves.

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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Resolve

Well, it's a “new” year and I see many make resolutions that they are bound and determined to follow through on. Despite my longstanding feeling that it's just another day (no offense) I plan on following through on a little resolution I actually made back in November.

I was taking pictures of my in-law family and after the fun/formal shots were taken I went to get my camera off of the tripod and get some candid shots when my lovely sister-in-law and my even lovelier husband started completely goofing off for the camera: SpenceEmCollageBlogAs I was reviewing these in Adobe Lightroom a part of me was really jealous. Not in the way you may traditionally think. I mean, c’mon does it not look like they were having fun and not really caring about looking their absolute best for the camera? In turn, they do look their best. Who doesn’t look their best when they are having fun and enjoying life?

The sad fact is that there are not many pictures of my husband and I and, when there are, they are not very fun. You know, the “Awww, look how goofy they are, they must be really good friends as well as in love.” type of pictures. I haven’t had the fun kind of pictures of myself much at all since my carefree (comparatively, and you all know it) teenage years when all you want to do is make a fool out of yourself in front of the camera with your friends.

SO, my resolve is to suck it up and get in front of the camera too. Have fun. Make memories. Not always put my hand in front of my face when the camera is pointed at me.

First attempts at this were Friday night. We took my brother and sister-in-law out for their upcoming 7th anniversary to Nori Nori in Atlanta.

Why yes, I am quite short. Static-6257 editA little more of a level playing field with Em sitting down. Then it is not quite so evident that I am a shorty.Static-6260Here it would seem that I decided to eat her ear. Not sure what was going on there. Seriously? Hmmmmm. . .Static-6261 My husband and brother-in-law, however, have learned this lesson long ago as is evidenced by the following images.Static-6265 I think Emily was bribing them a large sum of money to never do this again. Static-6266And this was the image immediately following because they couldn’t keep it up for long. Static-6267 liquid Static-6273 What trips me out about this one is that neither knew what face the other was making. Ahhh, brothers. :DStatic-6275

Of course, I have another recurring goal that most normal people have that will actually make my resolve to be in pictures less painful. Losing my first 20 pounds was surprisingly not as difficult as I thought. Now, though, it seems nearly impossible to shed anymore. Brick wall, plateau or whatever else you want to call it, I just call it the devil and am bound and determined to get past this! 20 more pounds in 2 months. And then we’ll go from there.

So, New Year or not, each day I am resolved to make things better for me and my little portion of the world.

Here goes everything. . .

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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Liam David Henton Morris – Covington Georgia ie my backyard

It sucks every parent in no matter what it seems. Those dreaded, and terrible, school commissioned pictures. Usually Spencer insists that I buy a few and I am not too hard to convince because it’s nostalgic and I like nostalgia. This fall, I did not order them because Liam seemed to have forgotten how to smile. Fortunately with the way it works now I can order them whenever I want online if I have a change of heart. ;)

Due to all of the above, I am very glad that I took him outside that day after school and got my handsome man in all of his cuteness.

SEE!?!?!

Liam_Six_Years-0404

And then I got some shots that you can not get from school images. Liam fully enjoying some of those “boy and his dog” moments that will make me smile for years and years to come.

Liam_Six_Years-0407

Liam_Six_Years-0408

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Although, I have to say, THIS one is my favorite. To the untrained eye, it may look like the others just above. . .but, AHHHHH, it is not.

Liam_Six_Years-0406

When reviewing these priceless gems, Liam and I caught this and got a bad case of the giggles. Good stuff, seriously good stuff. Liam_Six_Years-0406 ArrowAnd look at that, a REAL, genuine, honest to goodness smile. These do not happen too often in pictures. This momma couldn’t be any happier when they make their rare, mythical appearance. Liam_Six_Years-0413 contact me or view my online portfolio. . .

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