Eyes Wide Open

Fall colors near Park City, Utah

It’s that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, there is a slight nip in the air, and the trees are changing their verdant robes for more regal shades or red, orange, and yellow.

Last weekend I was shooting a corporate event up in Park City when I shot the photo above.  I shoot 5 of these types of events each year.  They run 10-14 hours a day Wednesday through Saturday, and I usually run through about 1000 exposures per day.  No, as a salaried employee I do not get paid overtime, but I’m fine with that.  These events give me the opportunity to just get out and shoot.  In one weekend we cover lecture-style meetings, corporate tours, catered meals, semi-formal receptions, and fun outdoor activities such are snowmobiling, horseback riding, fly fishing, rides in hot air balloons, and even indoor skydiving.

My point is that I feel that these events give me a terrific opportunity to hone my skills as a photographer.  I need to get great shots where the environment is constantly changing, the light is rarely consistant, and the subjects’ activities are varied.  Sometimes the situations in which I find myself can be a little precarious but they push me to become better.  The following Monday I am a bit tired heading back into the office but I love going through my shots, and finding little gems like the shot above.

So, what do you do to sharpen your skills?

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My youngest son has the funniest expressions. This is just one of a thousand itterations he’s able to make with his face. I sure do love him.

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I’ve found myself reading more about photography than actually shooting lately. Nothing against keeping up with the trade, but I’ve got to make myself go out and shoot more.

My goal is to spend atleast one hour a week shooting something new.

Wish me luck!

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A few weeks ago I was in Toronto and my wife called me to tell me that a robin had made a nest in a tree in our front yard and there were 4 little blue eggs in it. I meant to take a picture of them when I got home but I forgot. Yesterday when I got home I decided not to wait any longer. However I found that two of the little blue eggs had since hatched and the little birds were growing up. So I snapped a few shots. Pretty soon mama robin came back around and I thought it best to move on.

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We have a foosball table here at work but like most things, you have to know where it is in order to see it. Even if you are able to find your way to this table of mysteries, you are not guaranteed the right to play. I have only played the table a handful of times myself, but usually stand to the side as a casual observer.

Allow me to extend this to a metaphor of life. Some people play the game, others master it. Some don’t even know there is a game going on, behind closed doors.

So, what do you do? Get in line and demand your turn? Sit back and watch others vie for the handles?

It’s up to you, isn’t it?

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We did some sumo wrestling in the lobby of our office today.

Watch out for flying sumos!

We’ve got a sumo down!

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Spring has been very capricious this year. One day it’s nice and warm the next it’s snowing. This has really been hard on our flowers. We usually have a yard full of color by early April but this year our flora has been quite confused.

This past weekend I photographed some of the flowers in my backyard. As you can see there is quite a variety. The tulip on the top-left looks to be in good form. The next tulip to the right appears to have been frozen before it could open. The next flower on the bottom-left appears to have met a similar fate. It was fully enclosed until my 4 year old son touched it and the petals fell from it like shattered glass. I don’t remember the name of the last flower, my wife is the one with the green thumb, but I liked the detail and color that seemed freeze-dried in it’s postmortem bloom.

All shots were taken with my 50mm @ 1.8.

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Dang there’s still a lot of snow up at Park City.

I’m up in Park City, UT this weekend for a corporate event photoshoot. There is a ton of snow. It’s cold, but the shoot is going well.

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So I was messing around with Photoshop Saturday night when I came across something I had never seen before. In the ‘Curves’ adjustment layer there is a drop down that includes a Cross Process preset.

I love adjustment layers. They let you make changes without bruising your pixels, you can go back in and tweek the layer when you feel like it, and you can adjust the opacity of the layer so you can ease your changes in and out as you please.

This new find had me giddy. I must have processed about 20 images this way.  I found the default profile a tad too green so I created my own version. I’ll be posting a few photos here and there so you can see the results. Let me know what you think.

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I just can’t seem to get this little guy’s face out of my mind. He has very haunting eyes. His smile is almost impish but his eyes look as though they’ve seen to much.

Last weekend I went on a Photowalking outing and came across this guy in the downtown library. His mother was looking at bus routes and he had pulled himself into this tight little corner behind the glass. I was able to snap this shot before he jumped up to his mom.

I didn’t think much about it at the time but I really think that I could have helped them out somehow. I was just looking for something cool to shoot and I wish I would have stopped to see what I could do.

Next time.

Canon 20D-30mm-1/200 sec.-f/1.4

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