Congratulations too... John & Tonia

We did engagement portraits for Tonia Hillman and John Itzo today. A wonderful couple who plan to wed this summer on Saturday, July 25, 2009. John and Tonia relaxed and were very comfortable in front of the lens. We got plenty of great images for them to enjoy. I will add some of these to their album after the wedding.

My grandson Nathan is taking after his dad and becoming a huge Miami Dolphin fan. HaHa...maybe not when he grows up and comes to his senses he will be a Buffalo Bills fan.

More macs for down under

Contrary to popular belief, good macro photography is very difficult to achieve. The equipment used is very different from what standard portrait photographers use. I am just a beginner in this field so I have started out easy with a diopter lens which fits easily to most of the lenses I already have. Once I master this I will probably progress into reversal rings and maybe a high quality macro lens. The diopter gets me in the range of some good macro photography like I am interested in but as I continually tell you...it's all about the light. Properly lighting a subject you can barely see is very tricky and takes lots and lots of illumination to light your scene. Not only is light a major issue but your subject needs to be in focus and if your subject is an insect...yikes they move fast and depth of field is also a problem. Then there is the background to consider. And to make matters worse there is a dust issue to think about too. Way more skill and thought goes into a good shot than I ever imagined. The image above is a really close up view of broccoli sprouts. As you can see I am just a beginner but I plan on getting better.

Close up

Close up image of a pencil tip. I can not emphasize the importance of lighting. It makes no difference what camera brand you use. Lighting is the language of photography. Learn all you can about it. Learn to read it, see it and understand it. Without it you have no image. This macro was made better because it was lit properly. The subject is lit well with shape and dimension and it stands out from the background for separation. Learn and practice your lighting skills as often as you can and your photography will improve tremendously.

Macro Photography

I started doing some macro photography. I am using a Raynox 250 video lens on a nikkor 28-105 mm lens. When shooting macros it is very important to light your subject properly. The raynox lets me be far enough away from my subject ( 6 in. ) to get light on it. The images above of some Irish coins ( 20 pence, 50 pence, one shilling )were lit with one sb-800 speedlight from camera right.

Nuthatch

Welcome to the new year. I hope your holiday season was joyous and safe. I took these images of a nuthatch at Goat Island over the holiday break. Isolate your subject for the best results when shooting birds. In these I used a long lens at 200mm to compress the backgrounds and add blur. This separates my subject from the background and makes the nuthatch stand out.

Today in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle , Wendy and I decided we'd had enough and took a relaxing ride to Goat Island. We stopped at the parking area by the three sister's island and fed the birds. We had all kinds of varieties come down and feed right from her hand. I was hoping a cardinal would come in close but no such luck. It was fun to watch them and we had a great time.