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Fun With My Daugher

Manning the Camera — 2009-04-05T16:40:00Z

I love photography. Anyone who knows me, knows that. When I first got into the hobbie, I was convinced I had to carry my best camera and lenses with me everywhere in order to make sure I got great shots. Inevitably, I'd have at least one camera, two or three lenses, a bag to keep them in, spare memory cards, and in the end - a sore back and shoulders.

Most experienced photographers will tell you this, though it's not what the camera makers want you to believe, but it's your skills and knowledge of how to use camera equipment - NOT the equipment itself - that determines whether your pictures will be good or not. I thought I believed that. But looking back, I can see now that it really took me a long time to make that head knowledge an experienced reality. That's not to say that a good camera is not important, or that some cameras aren't better than others, but given a good set of knowledge and skills around composition, lighting, and the basics of digital photography you can make great shots with even the most basic of cameras (see Power Shots With a Powershot).

These days, unless I'm shooting formally, I tend to carry as little equipment as possible. Most commonly, I use my Canon G10. It's a great little camera that opens up a world of possibilities photographically speaking. It's not so much that the camera itself takes good pictures (that's a common misconception), but it tends to get out of the way a little more than most point and shoot models. Really, when carrying the G10, I don't carry much else. I keep two backup SD cards in my wallet, and that's about it. By the way - I love SD cards. I already have a full set of Compact Flash cards for my Canon 40D and Rebel XTi, but these little SD cards are just so much portable. Plus I don't need a separate card reader for them on my laptop.

Here's some examples of what you can do with a point and shoot camera, a little knowledge of how to use it, some patience, and a fun little girl.

Tip #1: Use the Cloudy or Shade white balance setting - even when

you're in clear light. Why? It adds a bit of warmth to your image.

Tip #2: Use flash outdoors. I know that runs counterintuitive, but when taking pictures of people

outside, a little flash can go a long way - and I mean a little flash. I typically set my flash exposure

compensation to -1 1/3 to -2 stops. This lets the camera balance in the background while

adding a little light to the people in the foreground - eliminating dark shadows accross their

faces. You'll still get enough directional light to keep the naturall shadows, but the really dark

ones will be filled in.

Here's another example of using fill flash outside. I've posted a few more below too.

All of these pictures were shot with the same point and shoot Canon G10 that anyone can pick up at their local Best Buy. All it takes is a little knowledge of how the camera works, the willingness to shoot without using the Green Box or Scene Modes, and some basic computer software (I use Lightroom but even Google's Picasa, a free app, will work just fine), and you can really ramp up your own family shots.

Trail at Starved Rock

Manning the Camera — 2009-04-05T16:26:00Z

I was in Utica, IL recently for a work funtion. If you've never been to Utica - and Starved Rock - you owe it to yourself to go. It's a georgeous area right on the Illinois River, one of the few non-flat spots in the state!

If you go, make sure you punch Starved Rock Lodge into your GPS or mapping tool. You can park at the lodge, and there's a restaurant and hotel on site too. Behind the lodge is a set of steps that descends down to river level. You can then follow various trails either up Starved Rock itself or up to Lover's Leap (which provides a great view of Starved Rock) and Eagle Bluff.

Here's a few shots from my excursion (pardon the goofy borders, I was experimenting in LR):

View from Eagles Bluff

View of Starved Rock from Lover's Leap

These were all shot with my "little" Canon G10 in RAW mode.

Yes, Even More Downtown Rockford

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-28T16:21:00Z

It's fun to shoot downtown Rockford - especially on a nice day. On this particular evening, the light was hitting just right.

"Urban" Decay in Union, IL?

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-17T04:13:00Z

I went for a walk the other evening in Union, IL (where my parents live). The light was warm and golden. There's some old, worn out, abandoned (?) factories on the other side of the tracks. I spent a little time exploring the area. Here are a few of the results...

Every photowalk deserves a macro shot or two don't you think?

Gotta love a random boat outside a factory next to train tracks.

I like this one. Something about the "Private Property" sign in the foreground and the "F Off" graffitti on the door strikes an odd chord.

Macro shot number 2!

These were all shot on my Canon 40D with the Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 DC OS lens. I throw that baby on when I want to travel light and really can't decide what lense I want. It really is good glass - though it occasionally catches a bad rap. If you stop it down to f/5.6 or beyond, it's really hard to go wrong.

The camera was set to shade white balance. Now there's a good trick for you: If you want to add some character to your outdoor shots, warm up a cool blue-ish looking atmosphere, or just really emphasize golden light, use your camera's shade or cloudy white balance setting. Heck, I shoot shade or cloudy even when I'm out in direct sunlight. It provides fantastic warmth!

I took these images in RAW + JPEG, but to be honest, I never even bothered with the RAW files. The jpegs turned out great. The camera was set to Landscape (with some of my custom edits) for the Picture Style. In Lightroom 2, I pretty much just added two points to the black clipping, slightly adjusted exposure and highlights, and sharpened them up. I really didn't need to do a whole lotta work.

Hey, shooting jpeg can be fun!

Power Shots With a Powershot

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-17T04:00:00Z

Who says you need a high end camera to take good pictures? Trust me, it's really not about the camera (most of the time) but how you use it (wow that sounds like a strangely familiar saying). All you have to do is (1) Get the camera out of full manual mode - even into Program exposure mode, (2) Watch your white balance setting, (3) Take control over your exposure compensation, and (4) Turn off that god-aweful little flash (make sure it's a static subject though).

These were all shot on my Canon SD1100IS with black and white conversions done in Lightroom 2. Take a peak...

Yea, yea, I know, it's a hotel bed. Look past the bed at the texture and alignment of the pillows. Well... I thought it looked neat anyway.

And a color shot for good measure...

I think that, most of the time, the reason people don't get serious results from their pocket cameras is because they don't treat them seriously. I mean really - pay attention to the lighting, watch your white balance and exposure compensation, and compose like you would on your serious camera, and you'll often get great results!

Strange Things Make for Good Portraits

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-17T03:52:00Z

As anyone could tell from looking at my library of photos, my daughter is one of my favorite subjects. In fact, I shoot her so much that she's taken to annoyance. I've also run out of ideas lately. Casual portraits are a dime a dozen at this point. Unless I'm documenting something we've been doing, I've been trying to think of ways to get more original.

One evening, I was putting her to bed, when I noticed that she was wearing purple jammies. Now this normally would not be such a big deal - but I suddenly realized that they coordinated with a long purple veil she has hanging from the ceiling over her bed. Now there's and idea! I asked her to indulge me for a few frames (okay, thirty or so), and we shot this:

Not bad for a guy who's been stuck in a rut huh? I shot the image on my Canon 450D (the professional name for the Rebel XSi) with my nifty fifty mark one. The RAW file was imported into Lightroom 2, adjusted, and then exported into Photoshop CS3 where I went to town with the Gaussian blur, sponge tool, and dodging and burning. Hey, sometimes experimentation pays off!

Abstract

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-17T03:47:00Z

Who says all images have to be sharp and clear? Abstract painting has long been an accepted form of art. Why not abstract photography?

After work on a fairly rainy day, I arrived at home and parked in the parking lot. As I looked through my front windshield, I saw a beautiful blur of colors spread across the glass. I grabbed the G10, set for vivid jpeg, turned on the manual focus and back focused a bit, and shot a few frames like this. Personally, I love it.

Images from Downtown Rockford

Manning the Camera — 2009-03-17T03:18:00Z

Well, I'm way behind on keeping up here - so I'll just post images from multiple sessions in one. The first set of pictures are from a few weeks ago. I had just left work, and the light in downtown Rockford was incredible! Beautiful gold rays struck the news tower and glistened back into the sky. I had to run down to the library to return some books (overdue as usual), so I parked the car in the back, stepped out, and snapped these shots...

As I turned around to head back to the car - a man sitting on a park bench struck up a conversation with me. He was an interesting fellow - he said he was a poet - who lived in the Faust building but was out for a walk. After asking his permission, I took a few shots while we talked.

FYI, these were all shot on my trusty Canon G10. Most people love this camera because of its RAW capabilities (which I do like), but these were all recorded in vibrant jpeg mode. I then enhanced them all in Lightroom 2. The black and white images of "The Poet" went through a bit of dodging and burning in Photoshop CS3 as well to enhance the contrast, depth, and texture.

The Canon G10 is not a replacement for your DSLR (unfortunately), but it is a great camera to carry with you everyday when you don't want to be lugging around the heavier models (along with every lens you might have a need for). If it could only focus faster, and perform a bit better in low light, it really could replace my larger cameras for many applications.

Now here's a fun image. This was shot the same night, but I used my new Olympus XA with some Ilford XP2 film. I had the negs developed and scanned at Wally World (they give you 2mp scans) and then did some adjustments in Lightroom 2. If I could find a cheap but good quality film scanner, I think I'd shoot alot more film - especially in black and white. I know very little about dark room work, but film just has a certain "look" to it. If I could get high res scans for cheap, or scan the negs myself, I could really integrate film into my process. The problem is, part of the creative process for me is the digital post processing. I don't usually do much more than would be done in the darkroom anyway - but I have no clue or resources for darkroom work, so large resolution neg scans are where it's at for me. Oh well. One of these days.

Again, these were all shot on my Canon G10 - also in vivid jpeg mode. I then did some Lightroom 2 enhancements.

While I love shooting with my DSLR's (I'll never give them up), I have actually started to enjoy shooting on an LCD screen. Sure, it's a little ackward at first - I love shooting through the lens - but I thoroughly enjoy having an on screen histogram to watch for blown highlights and buried shadow detail. The G10 is great for this because the LCD is a whopping 3", the histogram is live, and most importantly: There's a manual control dial for exposure compensation on the top left of the camera. I can watch the exposure live on the LCD - with input from the histogram - and control it with a convenient knob. That gets fun after awhile!

Sunset on the Illinois River in Peoria

Manning the Camera — 2009-02-26T23:13:00Z

I made another trip to Peoria recently for work. We had a couple days worth of meetings. On my last day, I managed to get out to do some shooting along the river. I stayed at the Paradice Casino and Hotel since they had a good rate. The first couple shots are of the riverboat. The rest are down the river a couple miles. They are all taken from the East Peoria side of the river.

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/15 @ f/11 ISO 100 23mm

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/6 @ f/11 (handheld!) ISO 100 17mm

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/30 @ f/8 ISO 200

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/13 @ f/11 ISO 400

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/30 @ f/11 ISO 400 -2/3 EV

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/25 @ f/16 ISO 400 -2/3 EV

Canon 40D; 17-55mm f/2.8 w/ CPL; 1/100 @ f/16 ISO 400 -2/3 EV

Somewhere on Highway 39...

Manning the Camera — 2009-02-22T02:28:00Z

Do you ever have one of those days where you're driving along the highway, and it's not only the golden hour of incredible light, but the light is SO good it's better than anything you've caught all week...month...etc.?

That's what it was like on the way back from Peoria. I was at a point on Highway 39 where there was just no pulling over, exiting, or hanging out the window. I had to drive for miles watching an amazing sky just pass me by. Finally I was able to exit the highway and catch the tail end of the sunset. While I wish I could have caught some of the earlier sky show, I'm pretty pleased with what I was able to get.

Somewhere on Highway 39
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 35mm; 1/4 @ f/11 ISO 800

Distant Tree
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 200mm; 1/13 @ f/6.3 ISO 800

Distant Light
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 35mm; 1/15 @ f/6.3 ISO 800

A View From My Window

Manning the Camera — 2009-02-22T01:59:00Z

I made a recent trip to Peoria (not uncommon for me) and stayed at the Embassy Suites (very uncommon for me). I had a great view from my window of the river and some of the industrial sites along it. I thought I'd take a few shots the next morning. Here they are...

A View From My Window - Peoria, IL

Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 18mm; 1/10 @ f/11 ISO 100

A View From My Window - Peoria, IL
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 115mm; 1/15 @ f/11 ISO 100

A View From My Window - Peoria, IL
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 200mm; 1/3 @ f/11 ISO 100

A View From My Window - Peoria, IL
Canon 40D; Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OS @ 18mm; 1/13 @ f/11 ISO 100

Another Visit to Quincy

Manning the Camera — 2009-02-22T00:23:00Z

Beach at Lock and Dam 21 - Quincy, IL
Canon 40D; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM; 1/30 @ f/8 ISO 100 AV Mode; RAW Processed in Lightroom 2.

I made another trip to Quincy not long ago. A guy I work with, knowing that I'm into photography, made sure I knew ahead of time that the Bald Eages were back on the Mississippi River at Lock and Dam 21. I brought along my new EF 70-200L f/4 IS USM wanting to give it a workout and my trusty 17-55 f/2.8. I also grabbed my 430EX flash and sync cable just in case.

It was cold as I headed down to the river, but it was worth it. There were more Bald Eagles in one spot than I had ever seen before. I heard that up to 150 eagles are nesting there. You can see them in the tree shot below.

Bald Eagles at Nest - Quincy, IL

Canon 40D; EF 70-200L f/4 IS USM @ 200mm; 1/1000 @ f/9 ISO ISO 800 +1 EV TV Mode; RAW Processed in Lightroom 2

Here's a wider view...

Dawn...Eagles at Nest - Quincy, IL
Canon 40D; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 35mm; 1/13 @ f/11 ISO 100 -1/3 EV AV Mode; RAW Processed in Lightroom 2

Even with my new 70-200, I still did not have enough reach on the camera. I really needed something in the 300-500 range. Since I wasn't getting the shots I wanted, I though I might look around the landscape and see if I could find anything interesting to shoot. I mean, why waste good light right?

I didn't have to look very far. Right by where I was shooting was one of the coolest looking trees I had ever seen. I like my shots of it, but you really need to see this thing in person. It's wicked. It looks like it's walking down the slope toward the river. Weird! I can't wait to go back and shoot it some more. Here's a few selections...

Walking Tree on the Beach - Quincy, IL

Canon 40D; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 17mm; 1/25 @ f/8 ISO 100 -1/3 EV AV Mode; RAW Processed in Lightroom 2

Walking Tree at Dawn - Quincy, IL

Canon 40D; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17mm; 1/50 @ f/5 ISO 100; RAW Processed in Lightroom 2

The Walking Tree - Quincy, IL

Canon 40D; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 17mm; 1/100 @ f/5.6 ISO 100; 430EX fired off camera left; RAW processed in Lightroom 2

After I shot the tree awhile, I noticed that another photographer had shown up to shoot the eagles. I'm not sure what lens he had on (his camera was also a 40D), but it was big and was definitely grabbing those birds better than my 70-200. Still, I was inspired to try again, so I went back to the car and changed lenses again. As I stood on the beach - my toes cold as ever - I was given one last treat: A Bald Eagle decided that he wanted to do a fly by and came nice and close - just within reach of my lens. Here's my best snap.

Bald Eagle - Quincy, IL
Canon 40D; EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM @ 200mm and slight crop; 1/3200 @ f/4 ISO 400 +1 EV AV Mode; In camera JPEG with adjustments in Lightroom 2

You know, I went down to the river to shoot the eagles, and while I managed to squeeze off a few keeper, it was really the Walking Tree that got me excited that day. I guess the moral of the story is that there's always an opportunity for a great photograph - you just may need to adjust your intentions.

2008 Closeout: Winter Beauty Shots

Manning the Camera — 2009-01-08T01:39:00Z

How to Shoot Digital Like Film

Manning the Camera — 2008-12-25T01:36:00Z

It was the glory days of photography: Before megapixels, flash memory, RAW files, and Lightroom - there was film. For decades it was how photography was done, one roll at a time.

There was a certain methodology to it. One was careful what they shot because there was a cost involved. Every frame you shot had to be developed. Every time you clicked the shutter you were spending money. Yet, it was this very limitation that often caused many a photographer to improve. You had to be deliberate and thoughtful. It was important to make the best use of each frame.

Of course film had its disadvantages too. For one, you never knew what you had until it was developed. In fact, if you had the camera set on even one wrong exposure setting (wrong ISO or shutter speed for example), you could have ruined a whole roll of film without ever knowing it. Another common situation was having the wrong film speed loaded for a given situation. You either had to shoot through the remaining images or rewind the film and thus wasting the remaining frames.

Still, even today, there remains a certain sentimentality about film. Whether it's using old rangefinders and early SLRs, or getting a certain consistent tonality or color saturation, many still choose to shoot film - even if only on occasion. Some photographers, frustrated by time wasted with chimping, downloading images, post-processing RAW files, short battery life, and the cost of digital equipment have begun seriously questioning the benefits of digital photography over film photography.

As the argument goes, because you can't see the picture right away, you don't waste time chimping, and you stay focused on your subject. Instead of downloading images at the end of the day, you can just put your camera away and do something else. With film, there is very little need for post-processing, especially if you like the look you get straight up with your chosen emulation (of course tweaking the film results requires extra effort over digital). Also, there's a certain anticipation with film that you don't get with digital. Digital ruins the surprise so to speak since you see the image immediately after shooting, through the processing stage, and in the final print. With film, you get to wonder how things turned out. If you let the film pile up a bit, you may even forget just what you shot. Thus even more surprise.

One popular blogger, Ken Rockwell, has an entire page devoted to the benefits of shooting film over digital (view it here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/why-we-love-film.htm). Ken shoots digital too, but loves to shoot film for the various conveniences noted above.

I find myself agreeing with Ken on many points. I too get tired of spending countless hours processing RAW files, lugging around laptops, backing up images, etc. I also find myself getting distracted by chimping images and wasting shots since digital is "free". When I shoot film, I find myself being even more careful and observant than when I shoot digital. After all, it cost money everytime I press that shutter; no so with digital (unless you count shutter actuations).

Wouldn't it be nice if you could combine the benefits of shooting film with the benefits of shooting digital? Well here's the good news: You can! The rest of this article is about how to shoot your digital SLR like a film one. I'll list the advantages found in film photography, and then show you how to setup your digital camera to shoot in a similar, if not same, fashion. Some points may be controversial. Some may not fit for every occasion. But that's the beauty of digital: Its flexibility for the occasion.

Advantage of Film: I like film because I stay focused on and engaged with my subject rather than being distracted by looking at each shot I've already taken.

Equivalent Digital Setup: Turn off the auto review function on your digital camera. Auto review allows you to immediately see the image you've just taken on your cameras LCD screen. The downside is that it does make for a bit of a distraction at times. By turning off auto review, you can stay engaged and focused on your subject the entire time your shooting, and save the chimping for later. In fact, if you like the "surprise" and "suspense" of film, don't look at them at all. Wait until you download or print them later. This will also save you precious battery life - another complaint film shooters have about digital.

Advantage of Film: I like film because I don't have to constantly charge camera batteries. Heck, one set of batteries could last me an entire year!

Equivalent Digital Setup: Long battery life is certainly an advantage of film photography. In fact, my three film SLR's are still running on the same batteries they've had in them for the last several months, while I've charged my digital batteries countless times throughout the same timeframe. While you'll never be able to get the same battery life with digital that you can with film, there are a few things you can do to greatly increase your battery life.

(1) Stop chimping. Everytime you use your LCD, you're wasting battery life.

(2) Turn off your LCD altogether. While these screens do contain your cameras exposure information, chances are you have another monochrome LCD on top of your camera - unless you're shooting with a Rebel, Dxx, or other entry level DSLR. Even then, you can still get the same crucial information you need inside your viewfinder. With the new Rebel XSi, you even get ISO information in the viewfinder.

(3) Turn off burst mode unless you really need it.

Advantage of Film: I like film because it gives me the same beautiful results, shot to shot, without all the work of post-processing. All I have to do is drop off the film and pick it up an hour later. The result: beautiful pictures!

Equivalent Digital Setup: Shooting film can definitely be a time saver. If you use a lab, you get consistent results time and time again with little or no effort on your part. Digital on the other hand, especially if you shoot RAW, requires several steps to get good results: download images, choose your picks, adjust exposure, white balance, color saturation, levels and tone curves, choose your images for black and white conversion, save images to a card, take 'em to the store to print or upload to an online order facility, etc. Certainly there are times when these steps can be fun, interesting, and fulfilling - but on many occasions, it can sure be a time killer. Even if you tweaked your film results, you at least got an automatic starting point with the emulation you were using. Here's how to get the equivalent digital setup:

(1) Use camera profiles in Adobe Lightroom. Adobes camera profiles allow you to apply a similar look and feel to your RAW files that you would get from using your in camera picture styles while retaining the flexibility of shooting RAW.

(2) Even better, for the sake of shooting digital like film, shoot in JPEG mode (insert shock, horror, disgust, and abandonment of this article here). JPEG gives you all kinds of film like advantages that you don't get with RAW. First, you can usually store at least two times as many images on your memory cards as you can with RAW. Because of the extra storage space, there's not near as much of a need to empty cards at the end of a day to clear space for the next days photoshoot. That means more time spent doing other things. Just shoot the JPEGs and relax. Like slide film, the image is already made in camera.

Second, shooting JPEG allows you to get consistent color tone results across all your images. Any image shot in "Landscape" will have a certain look and feel to it, just like images shot in "Portrait" will also have a consistent result. Sure there are ways to do this with RAW, but with JPEG it's super easy with less thought involved.

By using fine JPEG mode instead of RAW, you will also cut down on processing time. Images load faster and need very little manipulation to look good. If you use sharp glass, use appropriate in camera sharpening, and are careful about your exposure you can even avoid the computer altogether. In fact, if you choose appropriate in camera settings and use your cameras JPEG setting, you can go straight to the lab, pop your card in a kiosk machine, and get beautiful prints in an hour just like you would when dropping of rolls of film. Even better, most kiosks allow you to do minor adjustments to brightness, contrast, cropping, color tone, and saturation instead of a lab tech who develops your film. By shooting JPEG with proper camera settings - you don't need to lug around a computer, just like with film.

Advantage of Film: I like shooting film because I don't like having to worry about white balance like I would with digital.

Equivalent Digital Setup: Shoot in auto-white balance. Is this the best way to get the best colors in every situation? No. But neither is film. Anyone familiar with shooting film knows that it too has its idiosyncrasies under various lighting conditions. You either shoot it as is or drag around a set of color filters to balance the light. Heck, the advantage here goes to digital for sure since auto white balance, even with its quirks, doesn't require lugging around colored filters - AND you can change it after the fact.

Advantage of Film: No detail-smudging noise reduction.

Equivalent Digital Setup: Turn off your camera's high ISO noise reduction. Sure you'll get some noise in your images, but hey - a little noise never hurt anyone. With some cameras it even looks like film grain and can add a certain ambiance to the image. In any case, it rarely shows up in 4x6 prints.

Advantage of Film: Digital images are way too contrasty and punchy. They lack a certain amount of realism.

Equivalent Digital Setup: Edit your cameras picture styles to emulate your favorite film look. Here's my favorite Canon settings:

Standard portrait or realistic look: Edit the "Standard" style with contrast -2 and saturation -1. I also increase the in camera sharpening to +2 or +3.

Note: In camera sharpening is not selective so it sharpens across the entire image just like film. Film doesn't know what you're shooting. It's just sharp across the whole picture.

Velvia or Landscape look: Edit the "Landscape" style with saturation +2 or +3. Sharpening +2 or +3.

TRI-X: This one is extremely hard to get. In fact, I've only been able to come close using third party software (Nik Silver Efex Pro), BUT I have gotten some very good in camera black and white results. Here are my three favorites:

Edit the "Monochrome" style with contrast turned up all but one notch. Same with sharpening. I also have two other profiles setup with the same contrast and sharpening settings but I use the red and yellow in camera color filters on them. I almost always use the in camera red filter style for nearly everything, though yellow is more forgiving on skin tones.

Sure, none of these ideas equals shooting film, and some of them require giving up certain digital crutches - I mean advantages - we have all come to know and love, but if you miss some of the things that came with the old days of film photography, then perhaps these ideas can help restore your faith in digital.

I, for one, still chimp, shoot RAW, and post-process quite a bit, but for more casual, not professional occasions, I find myself using the above methods - or a hybrid approach to them -more and more. It keeps the fun in photography. Perhaps you may find them beneficial too.

Family Photos

Manning the Camera — 2008-12-11T01:35:00Z

A few samples of some family portraits I shot for the Weidner family. These were shot with either the Canon 40D or Canon XTi, 17-55mm f/2.8 or Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lenses. I exposed the camera for the background and lit the family with two off camera flash units shot through umbrellas.

Pen Fifteen

Manning the Camera — 2008-12-11T01:34:00Z

I was in Chicago recently for some meetings. Pen Fifteen was playing at a local bar. One of my counterparts and I decided to show up. Met my cousin there too! Here's a few shots of the group.

For your information: These were all shot with the new Canon G10 in RAW with the built in flash. Not bad if you ask me.

Ft. Worth Texas

Manning the Camera — 2008-11-05T03:33:00Z

More from my Texas vacation a couple months ago...

Downtown Dallas (and a couple Plano shots) Street / Urban Photography

Manning the Camera — 2008-11-05T03:25:00Z

Took these a couple months ago on vacation...

Another Beautiful Day at Lockwood...

Manning the Camera — 2008-11-05T03:18:00Z

These were taken with my new G10...

The Bridge

Manning the Camera — 2008-11-05T03:07:00Z

A little over a week ago, I spent some time at a forest preserve in Roscoe, IL. I immediately fell in love with this bridge. It was a cold day, windy, the Fall leaves were half on the trees and half on the ground - it was perfect meloncholy - an ideal black and white photography situation!

Enjoy...

Of course, I had to add a self portrait for good measure...

Or two...

Or three...