Paul & Sara :: Maternity (sneak peek)

I feel like a bum having not added anything on here in a while, so here's a quick sneak peek at a maternity shoot I did a few weekends ago for my best friends Paul and Sara.  So in love... and so very soon going to be parents!  Lots more to come...   :)

P.S. I'm playing around with creating a watermark and am no expert in the design field, so any critiques or suggestions in that department would be really helpful.  I guess I'd just like to appear a little more professional, but maybe I just look like a poser instead.  :)  I love this font(Made with B on dafont.com,) but I think it might look better up close.

My "Long Exposure VI" Challenge Entry

I had been dying to do some long exposures, specifically capturing star trails, but haven't exactly had time or the ideal conditions.  Riverside, at least where I live, has way too much light.  When Back-To-School-Night rolled around this year (which keeps me at school in Hesperia until late) I realized it was the perfect opportunity to go out shooting.  Lucky for me a couple of photographers (Joey and Ruben) who also happen to be former students of mine agreed to join me on a photo adventure.  Ruben had recently seen this abandoned building out in Apple Valley where light pollution was definitely not going to be a problem.  The final puzzle piece fell into place when DPChallenge announced that the challenge for the week was none other than "Long Exposures."  That was all the motivation we needed.  =]

This building was waaaaayyyy out in the boonies on a rutted out dirt road, and it was insanely dark out there--even a little scary.  But, it was perfect for what we were there for.  It was fun learning from these guys and collaborating.  The exposures were running around 8 minutes to expose and 8 minutes for the camera to process--definitely a test of patience.  We also did a few with flashes and sparklers.  As a mom with two little kids, I don't get out to shoot as much as I used to, so this was incredibly refreshing.  Thanks for showing me the ropes, guys!

Post Challenge: I ended up 31st out of 83 entries.  Ruben kicked my butt finishing 19th--congrats!  Joey, shame on you for not entering.  I liked your perspective; shooting from inside the building looking out an open window.  Or maybe I should be thanking you, because at least I didn't get beat by the both of you!

My Classroom as a Camera Obscura

The other day we made the photography classroom into a camera obscura. Blacked out the windows and door, cut a hole in the paper covering the door, inserted a uv filter, hung a white backdrop across from the "lens" opening, and turned off the lights. I really like this activity, but then again I'm a photo geek. Hopefully the students liked it too...got a few ooohs and aaahs =] The exposure time for these shots is 25 seconds. The first image is with the uv filter-sized pinhole--nice and bright, but blurry. Small depth of field? Maybe.

If you don't know what my classroom looks like the door is just off to the right. The inverted image is of the two portable classrooms across from my room. You can also see several students in white t-shirts. At the bottom right are some students sitting on the floor.

This second shot is with a much smaller pinhole--about 1 cm in diameter. Darker for sure, and I believe it's also clearer. It seems to line up perfectly with the way apertures work, but I'm not positive if that's the reason for the difference.

Have I mentioned before that I have the best job ever? Add this to the supporting evidence :)

My "Pastels II" Challenge Entry

Even though this is now my personal worst score on DPC (70th out of 157 entries) I'm still glad I entered. I'm not a big fan of pastels, so it was a challenge for me, but that's the point. The other and more difficult challenge to overcome was the fact that we had family visiting from WI and MN the whole time the challenge was going on, so I didn't have a lot of time to shoot or edit. The day the challenge closed we went to the LA Zoo with my mom and step-dad, and that's where I shot this flower. Dustin gets the credit for pointing it out to me and holding it steady for the shot :) It's an HDR, and much more vibrant than it should probably have been for a pastel challenge, but this is how it looked after merging the three exposures, so I left it.

Hesperia's Picture This! Photo Contest

Anybody interested in entering a photo contest? Just got an email about Hesperia's Picture This! Photo Contest and it sounds easy enough to enter. The theme is Environmental Awareness. Here are the official guidelines and the submission form, which includes more ideas of what kind of picture they're looking for. The top 13 photos will be printed in the 2012 City of Hesperia Environmental Awareness Calendar and posted on the city website.

Students: Just a reminder that I always offer extra credit for entering your work in photo contests other than those within our classroom.

Banner Design

So, we're using a new website at school this year and it seems like it'll be really great. The only downfall I've encountered so far is that it's very cookie cutter looking. I want to spice up my pages with a photography-related banner. I really like the one shown here but don't want to use somebody else's picture without permission. Since I'm not well versed in fair use and copyright law, I'd just rather err on the side of caution. I'm going to try and whip something up myself, but the next week and a half are crazy busy! So, if anybody is feeling creative and wants to give it a shot I'd be interested to see some other ideas. I'm looking for about 600 x 100 pixels. It can include text or not.

If you're taking photography with me next year an attempt at this banner will count for extra credit :) Just email it to me.

Many thanks in advance!

Venice

The Venice boardwalk is so colorful in every sense of the word--the people, the artwork, the smells, the ocean, the architecture, the music. I was there visiting family, so it wasn't specifically a photography trip, and therefore I didn't spend a whole lot of time shooting. I'm definitely going to need to go back. And next time I'll have to bring a long lens, a pocket full of one dollar bills, and a braver attitude, becuase there are quite a few "No photos please" and "$1 for photo" signs up by the various vendors and performers.

An Artist at Work

At the skatepark.

Shame on me, because the first time we went to the skatepark there were tons more skaters and some were doing crazy tricks, but guess who didn't have her camera. We went back specifically to get photos, but there was barely anybody there and we only had about five minutes to shoot. There's always next time...

Shoot From the Hip - Harry Perry

This was my one brave move. While watching another group of performers this guy skated behind us playing his electric guitar. I quickly turned, shot, and turned back... so sneaky :) Or so I thought... When I looked at the shot later it looks like he was looking right at me.

"Ballerina Clown" by Jonathan Borofsky

Apparently a symbol of the variety of people you'll see in Venice. It's gigantic and is perched above the enterance to the CVS on Rose St. Yes, I realize we're looking right up his/her skirt. Guess it just adds to the weird factor.

"The Binoculars Building" by Frank Gehry

This is an alternate view that doesn't look too much like binoculars. You might have seen this building in the movie I Love You, Man if you were paying close attention. Also by Frank Gehry: The Guggenheim, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Experience Music Project, and many others. He's worth looking up.