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Inspired to Create

Max Tracks Looking EastI hadn’t explored my photography hobby for a while since we’ve got our new computer. I’ve noticed a pattern in my behavior that after I get a new computer, I’m into a season of video games.

Recently, I visited some MySpace profiles of some Oregon State University students who recently got married. The both of them are photographers and I really enjoyed their wedding photos. They’ve got a studio together and I hope that the Lord blesses their passion for photography. I’ve never officially met her or her husband, but I’ve seen her out dancing in Portland on a few occasions. Seeing their portfolio and their own wedding photos got me inspired about photography again.

I also found a tutorial on the web sometime this week that showed how wedding photographers add vignetting and oversaturation to their photos. The tips were well-timed as I was wondering how wedding photographers get the colors to pop so well.

For vignetting, I learned not to just create a feathered border around the picture, but to create a curves adjustment layer and darken the whole image. Then using the brush, I paint black on the areas I want emphasized. I liked this approach because it reuses the existing colors of the image for the border and it looks much less artificial.

I borrowed my company’s new digital camera, a Canon 400D/Rebel XTi, this weekend in hopes to get to know how to use it better. The lens I recommended for them was a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, a lens I am interested in purchasing. I’m still getting use to using a zoom lens more since my primary lens is the Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, but I enjoy using the 17mm end of the Tamron to capture a bigger view.

What amazed me most about the Canon 400D is image quality at high ISO. The noise levels are very acceptable, even at the 1600 range. I can’t say the same about my own camera, the Canon 300D. Guess I have something to look forward to when I eventually upgrade.

Here’s a picture of my friend Leah’s cat, Sophia, taken with the Canon 400D, Tamron 17-50mm @ 50mm, f/2.8, 1600 ISO, and a shutter speed of 1/6 sec. No flash, no noise reduction, and some sharpening in Photoshop.

Sophia

I’m thankful that I’m being inspired to create again. Playing video games is great and fun, but it’s a consumption activity. I find life much more meaningful when there’s a good balance of doing activities that consume and activities that create.