Japanese Gardens

One of my favorite places in Fort Worth is the Japanese Garden. We go there a few times a year to admire the Japanese Maples when they turn red.

Water Drops

I remember the first time I saw pictures like these. I thought they were so incredibly beautiful. The amount of form and structure in each little drop overwhelmed me. The ability to freeze that split second of shape seemed unachievable to an amateur like me. I really wanted to learn how to shoot water drops. To make these pictures I used a tripod, ziplock sack, duct tape, long stick, and a few different colored backgrounds. I also used my Nikon SB-600 (external flash) in wireless mode. Basically, I can put the flash anywhere in the room (not attached to the camera body) and it will fire when I press the shutter release. It's called commander mode and it's a feature that my D40 body didn't have. I am excited to find new uses for wireless flash control.

What not to do...

Below is a perfect example of an opportunity being wasted. This is a picture of my sister and as you can see, the composition has ruined the picture, mainly because I cut part of her face off. I really love the lighting and the lines in the background are great, naturally leading the viewer's eye to her face. The worst part of this situation is that I didn't take advantage and snap a few more pictures until I had one I could use.

Borders

When I was in college none of my photography classes were for digital photography. All of the time I spent perfecting my dark room skills seems like a waste now. I remember the first time I saw a print from someone who had superior darkroom capabilities. It was my wife's friend who lives in Brenham, TX. Some of her prints had really neat borders that gave them an antique quality. [You can find her blog here:Shady Acre Blog] I still don't know how she put those borders on in the dark room, but I have been looking for a way to recreate them digitally. I used TTV frames to create a cool border on the pictures below. The bridge is on the way to Round Top, TX just outside of Brenham.

Paige

This is a candid shot while Paige was getting ready to go eat. It isn't sharp or anywhere close to perfect but I like the odd lighting.

Oak Tree

I have always loved trees. This is not the best picture, but one day I hope we can own property with some old, impressive oak trees.

Mariachi

Editing

I mentioned the new camera body but I've never really mentioned editing. The first copy of Photoshop I ever used was Photoshop 7.0 in 2003. I couldn't believe how amazing all the built in filters were and I loved using the clone tool. I spent hours editing photos, sometimes at 350% pixel by pixel.  When I look at those pictures I now realize that the finished product looked worse most of time. I never really knew when to stop. Now I use the most current edition of photoshop (CS5) and a MacBook Pro instead of a PC. Ironically I try to keep any editing extremely basic. I do love the new "Content-Aware" features of CS5 but I mainly just crop, rotate and play with curves (i do still give into editing temptation sometimes).

I just recently started playing with the curves after reading an article about tone. Now I use curves for B&W edits and to create a soft vintage look. I took this picture at the park by our house while taking Ollie for a walk. I have also been reading about sun flares. This is my first attempt to capture a sun flare.

Here is the Original

After minimal editing

New Camera

 I have a cousin in California that takes beautiful photos. One day he handed over his Canon dSLR and asked me to snap a few pictures in a dim church. I was surprised when the pictures came out sharp with no additional lighting or tripod assistance. When I asked how he set up his camera he gave me three of the best tips I will ever get. 1.) Shoot manual 2.) Shoot RAW 3.) Get some fast glass.

I have had the D40 for about 3 years, it was my first digital SLR. I tried shooting with the dial set to "A" and "P" but about 99% of the time I shoot "M" (manual). After talking to my cousin I purchased the Nikon DX 35mm f/1.4. It's was my first prime lens and by far the fastest lens I own. I can't stress how versatile you can be with all those extra stops at your disposal. I still haven't taken the last important step of starting to shoot RAW. 

Now onto the camera. Nikon just released some new models, including the D7000, which I really wanted. I went back and forth between the D7000 and the D90. I decided to go with the D90 for now and upgrade to the D7000 soon. Here are the main reasons I wanted do upgrade my D40 to a D90.

1.) Internal autofocus motor. 

2.) More than 3 AF points

3.) Higher shooting frame rate

4.) Better CSOM sensor

5.) More dedicated manual buttons - 2 wheels

6.) Larger, higher resolution LCD

7.) Higher ISO capabilities

8.) Video recording 

9.) Additional top LCD

10.) Twice the megapixels

11.) Live View Shooting

Ollie

In Austin for Mother's Day

Xmas Tree

Houston Mornings

I snapped this picture about 8 months ago. It was from my In-Laws house in Houston. At the time, it didn't mean much. Late last year they moved to Denton. Now this picture represents the great memories I had at their house including all the catfish that were caught in the pond, and all those early Houston mornings spent getting acquainted with her family (coffee in hand). 

Ema's House

This is a picture of my Grandmothers house in Brady Texas. The house was built outside a small Swedish community just West of Brady. The house still sits on the original land that my Grandfather used to farm and we visit the East Sweden (one room) church every Christmas Eve to sing and listen to children recite holiday poems. The house basically looks like the picture below with the addition of all the wonderful trees and foliage that my Grandmother planted from seed.

Ema's House 2

This is my Grandmother's keepsake box that has been hanging on her living room wall for decades. I had never taken the time to examine all the different pieces. 

X-Mas Downtown Fort Worth

Winter in Texas