Author: David

Umbrellas, Can’t Have Just One…

Post author By David
Post date April 5, 2008
1 Comment on Umbrellas, Can’t Have Just One…

Kadie goes ZOOM
After purchasing a silver reflective umbrella as recommended by David Hobby of www.strobist.com fame, I found that I wasn’t very good at getting the light I wanted for portraits. I guess I’m not as good as visualizing how light will reflect off the umbrella and light my subjects. I began to have second thoughts about which type of umbrella I should have ve bought.

Then I read a post on the strobist web site about how David now uses shoot-through umbrellas exclusively, so I had to get yet another umbrella. But I’m glad I did. The shoot-through umbrella is much more intuitive to use for me.

Cute-Babays

Kadence @ 6 Months

Post author By David
Post date April 2, 2008

She grows up so quick and yet it has felt like six months. Let’s see what she can do now:

She bounces and dances in the door jumper.
She laughs to funny sounds her mom makes with her lips.
She hugs our necks when we hold her tight.
She squeals and chirps to tell us what she thinks.
She has two cute teeth she won’t let you see. Instead she shows off her tongue.
She shows her two cute teeth as consolation prizes when she cries.
She grabs our face when we hold her close.
She doesn’t want to go to bed just like her daddy.
She likes to suck in her lower lip and let her drool waterfall.
She sucks loudly on her pacifier, whichever end she gets in her mouth.
She discovers her appendages everyday, and they are remarkable to her.

Picture This

Lewis River Adventure

I’ve often been fascinated by how photographers get pictures of oceans and waterfalls where the water is soft and stream-like. I eventually learned that letting the camera shutter lag will produce the effect and I was able to reproduce it when the opportunity arose.

Then I wondered how people got really soft effects and found out that there was a lens filter that that reduced the amount of light going into the camera. Normally, most photographers are trying to get more light in, but this was an exception.

After a few paid photography jobs, I had some money to spend on new stuff. In addition to a flash, umbrella, and light stand, I picked up a neutral density filter. Jenni’s favorite place is Lucia Falls, and the filter would calm the waters (at least photographically) for a peaceful setting.

Cute-Babays

Bouncing Baby: The Parent’s Extended Cut Special Edition

Post author By David
Post date March 12, 2008
1 Comment on Bouncing Baby: The Parent’s Extended Cut Special Edition

The previous video was too short. Watching her bounce is too much fun to watch just once.

Cute-Babays

The Bouncing Baby

Post author By David
Post date March 9, 2008

While we were on a photo job, there was an seven-month-old boy having a blast on a door jumper. I couldn’t help but smile watching him just bounce himself silly. We received a door jumper from a friend of a friend before Kadie was born. Seeing the door jumper in action reminded us of ours, so we got it out of the closet and spent an hour smiling at Kadie bouncing around in circles.

Clearing the Cache

We’ve Moved!

If you’re a frequent visitor of our little blog, you would’ve noticed some downtime this last week. Our computer had been overheating (c’mon, you’re only one year old…), so I had started turning it off at nights. Then it still had heating issues, so we had been shutting it off during the day. Which meant our blog wasn’t available.

Picture This

My Umbrella Chronicles

Portraits with new umbrella
Ever since Kadie was born, and we took portrait shots of her, my interest in photography has shifted from journalistic to portrait (mainly babies) photography.

Jenni and I creatively used what we had to get the best lighting, usually diffusing our dining room fan light with white cloth and draping a black cloth as a background. We got some great shots, but it never felt like enough light.

So now, we’re experimenting with off-camera flash (much ado after reading the strobist web site and the lighting book I received for my birthday, Light: Science & Magic. I picked up a second flash last month and now we have our first umbrella and light stand setup.

Is it strange that a umbrella makes me feel more “official?” Maybe I can fly with this thing…

See more portraits using our new umbrella »

80's Movie Month Madness

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Post author By David
Post date March 2, 2008

Ferris Bueller's Day Off I’m not quite sure what to think of this movie. I’ve known the music accompanying the Ferrari scene forever because of the Caramello chocolate-caramel candy bar commercials (and a special video project during college) so it was fun to see the origin of the song. Oooooooooooooh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh…. ch… ch-ch-ka!

80's Movie Month Madness

Romancing the Stone

Post author By David
Post date February 27, 2008

Romancing the Stone I believe I saw this movie on television back in the nineties and thought it was a fun action-adventure. If I recall correctly, my mom saw it and enjoyed it.

Revisiting it now with Jenni was a new experience. Much of the dialog made much more sense now that I have more life experience (for better or worse) and it was fun enjoy the comedic portions with Jennilyn, Leah, and Stacy.

The part of the movie where they escape in a jeep through rugged terrain got the best laughs, as the driver is giving the main characters a tour of his hometown as a terrorist group shoots at them with machine guns. The driver isn’t oblivious, but confident that the jeep is secure and happily shares his childhood memories. It all culminates in a spectacular jump over a creek using a remote-controlled ramp— which angles up perpendicularly after they’ve jumped to stop their pursuers.

Treasure-hunting, romance, comedy, and action—a recipe for a fun evening.

80's Movie Month Madness

Sixteen Candles

Sixteen Candles Jenni and I had a hard time enjoying this movie. I think we both had preconceptions of a humorous, heart-warming story and instead we got something cynical and unsatisfying. Throw in the fact that it was our Valentine’s Day movie, it was a classic example of having the wrong expectations going in and slid into a downward spiral the whole length of the movie.