Monthly Archives: August 2010

I had quite a nice time last night up in Bucks County shooting some portraits for a very nice family. As I was driving up, the last of the clouds were parting, the sun was getting itself into just the perfect position, and the light all around was just wonderful. Wide-open fields, white fences turned golden in the early evening light…you know the stuff. I was pretty excited. Then I drove into the woods.

All was not lost. We found a nice patch of sunlight over in the corner of the yard to start, and we made do with very nice ambient light and my speed light. In between shots, Mom ran up to her daughter and applied, ever-more urgently, ever-increasing amounts of bug spray. The mosquitoes were brutal and I’m pretty sure I donated a pint to mother nature.

After the shoot, a mosquito the size of an Irish wolf hound landed nearby, burped, and said, “Thanks for the dinner,” its voice tinged by an accent I couldn’t quite place. I would have swatted it, but I think I would have needed a license for something that size.

The younger brother, who I’ll just call The Scooter Maven, was also swarming around, getting in some good scooter time, getting in some shots, getting up in the air. Ah, the last days of summer.

Fun family to shoot for–thanks a bunch for the opportunity!

Wow. check out the barrel distortion on that one! If anyone has a truck and would like to help me out by crushing my 18-55mm lens, please contact me at MyKitLensReallyGetsItsNoseRightInThereAndSucksIt@…oh, whatever. I’m just angry that vacation is over. For maybe the first time ever, the vacation seemed to just go on and on. Not in a sitting-on-a-hot-stove-for-a-minute kind of way; it really was enjoyable, and just seemed to never end. Until the traffic jam yesterday. But I’ll focus on the positives.

I tried to photograph lightning Wednesday night, and it was a shameful failure. But then there was a storm with really wonderful clouds just off the coast, so I had to get my meteorological ya-yas out with that.

You can’t see her here, but my wife (and my mother…and maybe even my daughter, although it’s difficult to tell what form her cognition takes) is making fun of me for lying down on stomach in the wet sand to photograph shells. Whatever.

When I look at this image, it almost makes me want to not smash that 18-55 into the types of pieces surrounding the shells here. But it’s not healthy to think that way. There will be a day when my finances allow me to outgrow this silly piece of optic glass. That will be sooner rather than later.

My other lenses don’t disappoint me. Not at all.

I got interested in featuring reflections in images a couple weeks ago when I was shooting a bridge over the Schuylkill River. It’s an interesting way to vary the look of the image without having to get into too much editing or manipulation…insofar as using water as a sort of filter doesn’t count as manipulation. These shots were taken in Bolivia, NC, where I am passing a most rockingest week playing with the kid on the beach and in the pool.