New Pet

Obviously i am kidding. This little guy moved onto our deck the night after we bought new patio furniture. He has been the only one that has really used it so far. This shot was taken this morning on his way back to the woods. He's cute and i will miss photographing him in the mornings but i rented a trap today and will hopefully be finding him a new home first thing in the morning.

My Buddy Bob

We just got back from a nice little weekend trip to Portland and Freeport Maine. We had a great time and i had my camera around my neck while Bob and I rode the elevator to the basement in the American Eagle store in Freeport. The light was cool and bob looked up at just the right time. I retouched the elevator wall quite a bit, desaturated, and not much more.

Dominican 2013

We were very glad to have been able to spend a week in punta cana this month. It was the first trip that i took a real camera on as i needed some images for something im working on for this summer. It took me a few days to come up with an idea for the images but luckily i still had time to go with it. I did a bunch of 180 degree panos that made the beach look like an island. This image is actually not one of the ones i plan to use. This one was an hdr pano test. I did three panos all at different exposures and planned to strip them together and then run the images through photomatix. I was able to stitch two of the panos together but the lightest exposure did not work. I ran the two images through photomatix and this is what i got. There were a few troubled areas but really not too bad. I retouched the problems and did a curve for contrast and sharpened and that was it.

spotlight

I had a request this week for an photo of a hockey player named darryl boyce who played for UNB and then went to the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was not the image they wanted but i had shot a few shots of players before the game in the hallway getting ready which i never did anything with. A good idea at the time but then no time to follow through, just move on to the next shoot and repeat. I am glad i found this one however as it was not much to begin with but after 5 minutes or so i was happy with it. It was quite flat and the color was bad, and everything else in the shot was as bright as he was. I started by darkening a new layer and masking him out. A couple curves for highlights and shadows and a bit of sharpening and i was pretty much there. I took out a couple distracting bright objects around him and was done.

Hockey clarity

Thought i would enjoy a couple periods of hockey tonight and took a camera with me just in case i saw a shot or two. I didnt shoot many but got this one which i liked. To get the "look" i just increased the clarity to 100%.

snow day

I shot an event today that there were not many people at. This meant that for images i had to make something out of nothing, or not much. This girl was ready to head down the hill when i yelled to her mom "just a sec". It ended up being about 5 minutes because the video guy was lugging much heavier gear and wanted to go further down the hill than me. So while she sat there and started to get bored i asked her to try and catch some snow in her mouth. I put the falling snow on the darkest background there was around so i would show up and then i took a bunch of shots. She was great and the photos and video both prove it. I was a little worried because my camera was very wet but it dried off well and still seems to be working fine. I am still learning the tricks to the d800 but the one thing that i find seems to be giving me the sharpest images is a fast shutter speed. When i shoot at 1/15 or 1/30 sec, i am not happy with the results. When im above 1/500 then all is well.

cross country

I took a few photos at a cross country ski event today.

snowman

I took a couple photos of this man today doing an ice sculpture. He was shooting snow everywhere and was completely covered in snow. Unfortunately he wiped his glasses before i could ask him not to but it still made a cool shot. I have been using a nikon D800 camera since Christmas and i have mixed feelings about it honestly. I love the way it handles and all the functions that it does. The problem lies in image sharpness. When its sharp its really sharp but when its not its just off enough to upset me. I have read that since the resolution is so high it is a different way of shooting. I am still getting used to it and hopefully i will have it figured out very soon. Another thing to get used to is the affect of very shallow depth of field. I shot this image at f4 but it looks more like 1.8 to me. Oh yea, and another thing is the image size. I forgot my sd card at home so popped in a 4gb slow sandisk ultra 2 card. It chugged to say the least and i only got 99 photos on it before it was full. The sd cards i use are made by promaster and are 90 speed. I bought them from ivans camera in moncton and they were around $90 each. I highly recommend them. No chugging i swear. Since i got the camera this is the type of image that i have wanted to shoot with it. I wanted a close up of a face and wanted to see every pore of skin. I finally got my chance and am very happy with the result. Glad i lugged my camera out with me today.

Christmas Tree

Our tree is up and decorated for another year. We are all looking forward to the holidays and some much needed relaxation, along with lots and lots of great food. Merry Christmas to anyone who may read this. As always i wish everyone the best year to come and may it be filled with awesome creative photos.

Rememberance Day

These a just a few faces in the crowd from todays rememberance day services.

Natural Light

Sometimes going with natural light, or somewhat natural, works just fine. I did suggest that one of the guys lean closer to the screen but other than that i did not change a thing. Just had to see it and shoot.

Summer Trip

I havent posted in awhile and wanted to freshen up the page so i took a couple photos from this summers vacation and hopefully they will stay fresh until tomorrow or the next day or next time i have time to post.

Golden Light

I came out of a building downtown tonight and walked right into this scene. The light was incredible and i just happened to have my camera bag on my shoulder. I did a 5 stop hdr, hand held, and threw it together quickly tonight.

Wedding Models Shoot

I had a great shoot today with a couple wonderful models, who were not really models, but really could be.

Football Dad

I am a proud football dad but often feel antisocial as i dont sit with the other parents. I kneel on the sidelines until my ankles go numb, holding my camera and monopod. This was game two which was played tonight and i managed about 30 shots that i was happy with. Next game is sunday and i hope to get 50 to add to the collection.

Inspired

I was downtown doing a quick commercial shoot tonight and this scene stopped me in my tracks. The quality of the clouds moving behind the cathedral cross was very very nice. I placed the cross in a highlight area of the cloud and composed for the rest of the clouds that were trailing off. I did quite a bit of photoshop work on it just to darken distracting bright cloud areas and lighten others. I didnt realize it at the time but when i got home i clued in that tomorrow was sept 11. That inspired me to prepare the image tonight and post.

i phone photography

I been throughly enjoying shooting with an iphone this last few weeks. I have been using hipstamatic, instagram, and camera plus, as well as a couple more that i cant remember the names of. I have taken close to 300 photos and find i shoot so much more because i have the camera in my pocket all the time. I took these two today on the side of the road while driving my daughter and friends somewhere. Took 20 seconds to shoot, 20 seconds to edit, and then they were online. I plan to take many more and be posting some here in the near future.

Canada Day 2012

Happy Canada Day to all. We spent this years holiday in Shediac New Brunswick and saw lots of great images. For this one we were actually eating breakfast and the light was really nice on my niece and her boyfriend. I went out to the car to get my camera and met this man when i was walking back to my meal. He was very nice and i told him i had to get a shot of him and his great tie. We talked for 5 minutes, i met his wife, and then i finished a great breakfast.

family photo

I had a great family photo session tonight with a great family. I have only download one of two cf cards and have a post already. What does that say. I tried some different things tonight too which was fun for me. I left my lights in the bag (crazy i know) and set my lens at f1.4 and left it there. I feel so young and wild, or wilde (only one person will get this one). Ok, cant wait any longer, must see the other card.

riverdance

Overall this show was ok i guess. I am not a fan or anything, i was just practicing shooting under concert lights, thats all. I did not stay long and really only got a couple shots. This was just one of them that i thought was ok.