backing up my world

I've been thinking a lot about backing up, in two different ways, today. First, after watching some heartbreak over lost photos, I had to come to terms with the fact that I have no back-ups and the worst file management system going. So I started working on that today. It's always so overwhelming, but I decided to take one simple year and get my act together. 2005 is now reviewed, with garbage deleted, and appropriate back-ups made. I also took the whole 2004-05 swim team file and moved it to disk, saving just a couple dozen of my favorites of Will and/or the team. Reduced my library from 8200 to 6200 images in total. Everything prior to September 2004 is on the upstairs computer. That will be the real challenge to sort through since iphoto malfunctioned some time ago and dumped files all over the computer.

Then, as I was looking at last year's images, as well as this year's, I see that the 50mm really has me in-camera cropping much closer, especially as I've been using it almost exclusively in the house. I love the results, but everything is so up close that there is very little variety in my work. So, it's a Back Up Baby Sunday here.

I took this one yesterday and have been fiddling with it. After the last post and its even lighting, I wanted to play with more dramatic lighting a bit. I went for a half sepia, vintage look, but I'm losing some of the beauty and drama in the upload...I need to figure that mess out. I think it has something to do with the embedded color, but I'm not sure. Grr...so much to learn.

Tech: ISO 200, 1/100, f 1.8, late afternoon light pouring into the dining room from the west

slow saturday

It's a strange slow Saturday here. I have a list of things to do a mile long, the house is a disaster, and Rachel is just taking it easy. I've been loving the soft look of leather in photos of little people...it's so warm and gentle.

Tech: ISO 400, ss 1/100, f 1.8

big eyes

A couple of new developments, I've created a gallery at betterphoto.com. There's a permanent link on the right (under "links" --> "Portfolio Gallery"). I'm still uploading images and figuring out what work I want there to represent me, and I'm just starving for a bit of time to do that.

I've also started entering their photo contests. I was surprised at how much feedback there is (yes, it's good to get some external validation for my efforts sometimes), and I must admit to being a competitive person by nature, so it's rather fun too. I'm enjoying going back to see previous winners and finalists, both to see the wonderful efforts of others and also to recognize images I've seen worked on and reconsidered on other boards. It's great to see other photographer's work evolving.

Forgive me that the image above it something of a repeat. I used it in the tea party storyboard, but had never cropped and processed it to stand alone. I continue to struggle with skin tones, a real challenge with Rachel as she has a slight natural yellow cast and I often photograph her in her yellow sun-filled room.

I'm getting no comments and very few readers here. Since I'm doing this mostly for myself, and to keep me accountable each week for the images I make, I guess that is just fine. But it is perhaps time that would be better spent behind a camera, especially if no one is really reading and returning to my babbling and images. Is anyone out there reading this?

nora ellen

One of those ah ha moments happened last night. Nora had been promising to sit for me all afternoon, but we both kept getting distracted. Finally, after the sun had set but it was still light out, we stepped outside for a few quick photos. What great light it turned out to be. I love the top image, though Nora does not. She much prefers the one below.

I'm also experimenting with a watermark. It feels so pretentious to do so given that I am not in business nor do I intend to be anytime soon, but others have cautioned about protecting images on the web. So I made a quick design.

Tonight is sectional finals for swimming for Will. Keep him and his team in your thoughts. It will be exciting!!! Go CA!

rest in peace and grace, Tracy

Last night a wonderful mother, teacher, artist and friend passed away. Tracy was an extraordinary woman who faced both the joy and heartache of life with courage and grace. She raised two beautiful children, traveled the world with her husband Jim, and taught children to love art as a teacher at a wonderful little preschool. Tracy was the author of a very special art book, Picture the World: Children's Art Around the Globe, published in 2000.

The image on the right is a painting Nora made with her in 1993 when she was just three. Tracy had it mounted for a community art show, and it continues to hang in Nora's room to this day. Today, we took a photo of the painting and turned it into a sympathy card for Tracy's family. It turned out so beautiful.

vday and a splash

It's been a wild week...a whirlwind trip to NYC Tuesday and Wednesday and then the sectional swimming prelims tonight. Rachel gave me all of 30 seconds for her Valentine's Day pose for a card...and she loves this shot. I'm not so sure...

Will placed third at sectionals in both the IM and breast stroke. Finals are Saturday night. The pool at Brockport was dark and yellow. Nearly impossible photo conditions...I quickly gave up when even 3200 ISO wouldn't cut it.



Tech: top, ISO 200, f 1.8, 1/125; bottom: ISO 3200, f 7.0, 1/50

little miss

I'm really struggling still to be able to see these images as others do. It is not helped by the huge variations I'm seeing from computer to computer, program to program, web host to web host. But generally, I seem to have been processing everything too flat and too dark. My dad had always said as much, but I just couldn't quite see it. I posted these pictures on ilp.com and got some helpful comments.

It is all probably related to my tendency to underexpose. These were definitely underexposed despite careful checks with my in-camera meter. I was using a white background, however, and that definitely threw me. I also think that the light in my bedroom, where I took these, is rather flat, due to the number and location of windows.

My other new challenge is to find a way to get images organized. Shooting in raw in putting new strains on my organization and iphoto isn't cutting it. My charming husband is going to blow a gasket if I don't get the files organized. I'm currently cluttering up the desktop.

I'm traveling for work this week, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post.... (though I do have an image saved for Valentine's Day).

Tech: ISO 200, f 1.8, 1/320

finding nemo

We took a trip to the zoo today. Beautiful, sunny winter day in the 30s. I took a few shots of clown fish and their friends.














It was, however, a somber day at the zoo. The community's long-awaited African baby elephant birth had ended with the death of the calf. The community came out to express their support, and zoo volunteers and workers were still crying and shaken two days after the announcement had been made. There was a lovely display of flowers that had been sent and the cards children had made for Genny C., the expectant mother elephant. I wish I had taken a photo of the display, but I was so moved at the time that it never occurred to me. Genny C. and all those who have loved her and cared for her are very much in my thoughts.

Tech: ISO 200, f 1.8, 1/160

reflection

Today was sobering. I wanted a photo for my profile and I also wanted to test a new backdrop setup, so I turned the camera on myself. I swear it was a wake-up call... the wrinkles are suddenly appearing, the bags under my eyes are darker, and my burn scars are now more pronounced. It's time to take better care of myself.

I have to say, however, that the new healing brush in CS2 is simply amazing and helped to correct some of the aforementioned problems...at least temporarily.

It looks like I messed up some formatting when I add the profile back in...I'll have to tackle that beast in the morning.

Tech: ISO 200, f 1.8, 1/160...it is so cool to be shooting indoors with those kinds of numbers...loving the new 50mm 1.8.

comfort food

I console myself in the thought that they are cheaper than therapy, but still I wonder if this hasn't become something of an unhealthy obsession. I just love the Lindt white chocolate truffles. If I have them, I'll eat them all. If I don't, I spent my time thinking about when and where to get my next fix. I know that I will soon need to go cold turkey on these, but for the time being....YUM!

As for the photo, I decided these sweeties were worthy of a PS action, so we tried out the good old Midnight Sepia.

Tech: ISO 800, f 2.8, 1/40...yes, pathetic

in a funk

My plan, in an effort to keep this thing moving and interesting to the few people who are so kind to be checking back here, was to post a great photo or two during the week from my "archives." I work full time, with a demanding job, and I'm also taking a couple of graduate courses this semester. So photography has to fit around the edges, filling my weekends and my thoughts.

The problem is that now that I am learning to look more critically and creatively at my work, the archives seem void of anything worthy of showing. I briefly had this false hope that if I simply went back and reprocessed some of that old work with the newly acquired PS CS2, that maybe there would be gems to be discovered or perhaps "saved."

There is no shortage of images. Our lives are well chronicled, and as far as snapshots go, they are probably ok. But geez, not up to the new standards I'm setting for myself. And I find myself wishing I could go back in time to recapture these precious moments.

At last, in my search last night for today's image, I found a wonderful photograph in iphoto that speaks to me. It is one that Nora took on our trip to Vancouver Island last summer. We had traveled 30 km off the beaten track to this little port, and I took a series of classic water/mountain landscapes, nothing remarkable, and she captured this....

tea time

What fun we had today with a tea party! What a wonderful lesson about not spending all my time trying to get the kids to sit for photos. I confess to setting this up with photos in mind, but Rachel had such a wonderful time playing. She kept going with her tea party (and the subsequent dish washing) long after I had left and uploaded my photos.


I need to thank Danielle (see link to right) for the tea party idea. I took a slightly different direction than she did, but greatly appreciate the inspiration.

I'm still struggling a bit to learn the new lens, but wow!...I can see we are going to be good friends.

Tech: ISO 200-400, ss 1/125-1/250, f 1.8

go willy, go!

Last night was the League championship for the varsity boys. Will got 3rd in both the 200 IM (2:10.06) and the 100 breast stroke (1:06.90)...pretty good for an 8th grader. He also swam on the winning medley and 200 free relays. Given that the season began with a colarbone break in September, these were wonderful results and quite an accomplishment.

Unfortunately my favorite shots of Will from last night are all centered. I was playing around with reflections. There were some really great shots of the other boys, but we haven't completed releases yet on them.





Tech: 1600 ISO, 1/125 and 1/320, f 5.0

50 mm...and there is light!

The 50mm arrived. Wow! What a difference. I actually shot a quick round with Rachel this morning before school and overexposed most of them. This lens really lets the light in, even more than I imagined it would, or even that I could see through the in-camera metering. I can't wait until she gets home to play some more!!!

It's going to take some work to really master the exact focus that is needed and to play creatively with the light. All previous efforts have been so focused on a futile search for light. So this is a lame first try with the lens. More to come...



Tech: 800 ISO (what was I thinking!?!...old bad habit from the kit lens), 1/125, f 1.8.

And on a totally different front, I had fun shooting a diving competition last night. This one was rather fun.



Tech: 1600 ISO, f 4.5, 1/125 (in shutter priority).

hop, skip, and jump

Another pull from the family archives. This was early morning, on the first day of preschool. She was flying high and we went to the front yard to work out some energy.

I must confess that this was taken in auto action mode, before my recent venture back into manual. I did a little color pop for fun (no action...did it myself in PS.)

I did a photo shoot at work today for our website and actually work in full manual. My subject was kind and patient and let me work with the light. I just realized that I cannot process in raw at the office. Grrr... I'm way too impatient for such delays. (Yes, I was the queen of one-hour processing in my film days.)

And good news, rumor has it that the 50mm 1.8 and PS CS both arrived in the mail at home today. Woo hoo!