Philly Coal Piers

Yesterday I got the opportunity to do something awesome and different for me - I met up with other photographers in the area and headed to an awesome location in Philly to do a photoshoot.  The Coal Piers are off the beaten path, and definitely a little interesting to get to, but it was so worth it.  We went down a dirt road, turned the corner, and encountered this graffitied abandoned structure right on the river with beautiful light and things to climb on and lean against.

The location was awesome, everywhere you turned there was something different, and a totally different feel.  We had a few models along who were incredible and beautiful and a total joy to take pictures of.  It was a new experience for me, to get to pose people, and I definitely learned a lot from watching some of them ore experienced girls.  Overall, a total blast.  Here's a selection of my shots from the day.  Which are your favorites?

(click the image to see larger)

Shooting 101 Course at Clickin Moms

Yesterday I mentioned sharing photos from the Shooting 101: Best Darn Beginner Course class I took on Clickin Moms this past month.  Don't let the name shock you, I haven't magically/randomly become a parent yet.  However, this site/forum/classes has provided a great photography community geared towards women (most of whom are moms, but it's not required thank goodness) and features tons of great tutorials and other useful information for taking your photos to the next level (and I am most definitely not paid to say that).

I decided to take this Shooting 101 course because I wanted to make sure I really had all of my basics down.  I've been shooting in manual since the summer, and I understood a lot of the basics (Exposure Triangle, basic composition, importance of white balance) but I knew there were some gaps missing.  I wasn't nailing all of my photos in camera, and definitely required a lot of lightroom editing to fix wonky white balance.  This class has rave reviews and I figured it was worth it to figure out where I stand and see what I should focus on learning next.  Here's where that crazy unpredictability of my life comes into play.  I figured February would be a good time to take the class since typically it's a slow month for theatre and corporate events.  So I signed up thinking I'd have lots of time to complete the assignments. And you can guess what happened...I ended up very busy, and actually out of town for 2 of the 4 weeks.  I pushed through it though, and managed to turn in an assignment every week.  If you're considering an online class to really learn to use your SLR, I would highly recommend this one. Lynne Rigby, the instructor, provides great feedback and all of her materials are informative (plus her kids are really cute) and the community of fellow classmates made it a great experience for me.  I can't wait to take another workshop, the question just becomes what to try next.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures I used for the class, which not only shows my progress, but also gives an idea of how I've been spending the past month.

Week 1 - Taken in DC while working an event in a hotel. The only time I went outside was to get the picture since I needed one with outdoor light.

Week 2 - It turns out I can get some great window light in my room, which is nice since most of my apartment has no windows!

Week 3 - A combo of gymnastics and my trip up to Syracuse (Go Orange!!!). For purposes of this blog post I did fix the White Balance on the gymnastics one.  I forgot to change it in camera and she was a little blue.  This 2 second fix makes me like it better

Week 4 - Also taken in a hotel, cause work can be crazy like that.  I fixed the WB here too for blog purposes.  But I love how blue her eyes are.

And there you have it!  I hope you enjoyed, and maybe I've encouraged you to check out and take a workshop.  Feel free to ask me any questions and also to leave any feedback :)

Until next time....

P52 - Weeks 6-9

Wow.  Long time no blog.  It's been a crazy month work wise, I've felt a bit like a pinball bouncing between different cities for work.  I'm sorry I've been neglecting this space, but it's been all I can do to make sure I even get my photos taken, let alone posted.  Also, I took a Shooting 101 course over at Clickin Moms and it's been crazy getting those assignments done.  Don't worry, I'll post my progress from that course soon!  Also to anyone looking for recipes, hopefully I'll be home a bit more this month and will have time to cook and thus post some of the things I make.  I miss making tasty things for dinner and having a good lunch - chinese and pizza gets old very quickly, especially when you want to be healthy but long work days don't quite allow for creative lunching (or you have no say in what's provided).

Anyway, what you really come here for, the photos! (Or you like listening to me ramble, but for some reason I doubt that).  The theme for Week 6 was texture.  I took this photo while working on an event in Washington DC.  At the back of the stage was a large LED wall and it made for an interesting texture.

Week 6 - Texture

Next up, Week 7, where the theme was Symmetry.  This fell around Valentine's Day, and I thought this heart fit the theme perfectly.  I know it's upside down, but I still think it gets across the idea of being a heart and expressing love.

Week 7 - Symmetry

Week 8 brought us the theme of Shadow.  I was a little stumped on this one since I wanted to be creative and not just take a picture of my shadow outside, or have a photo where shadows fell across someone's face awkwardly.  Then I found this shot I took of my fireplace with fire blazing and realized it could totally work! I thought it was funny that this was only the 2nd time I've used the fireplace in my apartment, and I did it unintentionally for the picture.  But hey, I'm totally going to take it.

Week 8 - Shadow

And finally, to catch us up, here's Week 9 - Glass.  This one came about at the end of a very long work week, where at the end up the day we'd been aiming colored lights at a beautiful chandelier in the center of a hotel ballroom.  On my way out, I went to the lobby where you could look down on the chandelier, and there were these beautiful glass beads hanging around them.  I couldn't resist and grabbed my camera to capture the beads with all the color and reflection.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Week 9 - Glass

And that's where I am right now. This week seems a little calmer (famous last words, I know) so stay tuned for a post about my Shooting 101 course!

P52 Week 5 - Low Light Photography (plus Gymnastics!)

Have you ever had it happen where you're in a situation and think "ooh this would be such a perfect photo" and then regret you're doing something that stops you from being able to capture it?  That would have been the case for this week's picture for the P52, except I happened to hit a red light, and my camera was in my gym bag next to me.

I guess I should back track.  I was driving on my way to gymnastics, heading up Broad St (in Philly) and saw City Hall all lit up.  I pass this every day, especially if I'm driving home from work, or trying to leave the city, but I've never taken pictures at night. (Fun fact, it seems like everyone who gets married in Philly takes pictures standing on the center median of Broad St during the day so they can get pictures in front of City Hal).  Anyway, it looks very cool, especially with the colored lights from surrounding buildings, and I realized this would be perfect for the theme - Low Light Photography.  Only one slight catch - I was in my car.  Driving.  And pulling out a camera, futzing with the dials (since I shoot in manual) and framing a shot just isn't a safe thing while operating a moving vehicle.  Luckily for me, and the photo, the light turned red.  Giving me just enough time to flip the camera on, bump my ISO and go for it.  No time to take a few different shots to get exposure right, I just had the opportunity for the one.  And when I imported it tonight, I loved it.

(Settings - ISO 6400, SS 1/320, F 4.0)

This is another example of why I love my D600 - my old camera would never have handled this well in low light and I never would have been able to get this shot.

So I got a nice photo, however, my night was just beginning.  I headed to my adult gymnastics class, tripod and camera in tow with the hope of getting some cool action shots.  Hopefully soon I'll have some other ones to show you (including a composite image of me tumbling), but here's what I got tonight.  The first 2 were taken by me using the tripod.  The 3rd was hand held.  And the 4th, is actually me!  Taken using the tripod and the self timer set to intervals so I could try and get myself flipping.  I'm hoping to get to play more with this soon.

So here we go.  First up, the Cheerleading tumbling kids (1st is a layout full, 2nd was part of a triple full attempt)

Next up, one of the adults in my class, mid Back Tuck:

And finally, me.  Not my best back tuck, but given I was trying to get the timing right, it worked out pretty well.

I'm definitely looking forward to play more in the gym.  I know I need to work on getting things a little sharper (hard with how fast flipping is), and I wish I had a better backdrop, but I work with what I can :) Does anyone have any tips for action photography when you can't adjust the bad gym lights (or use a flash since that's dangerous)??

Until next time...

P52 Week 4 - Weather

And I'm back!  This week I give you week 4 of P52, with a theme of weather.  I put off doing this one until late in the week because I heard we were getting snow.  I think this is one of the few times in recent years I was excited for snow.  Spending 4 years in the frozen tundra known as Syracuse kind of put a damper on the snow loving, since there's snow/ice on the ground for close to 9 months a year sometimes.  Also, here in Philly, people have NO IDEA how to drive in snow.  Which makes my life very frustrating since I a) have lots of snow driving experience, and b) still need to drive places here even when it's snowing.

BUT, on this lovely Friday, there was a light bit of snow.  And I didn't have work, so no driving needed. AND, snow is much more conducive to a photo about weather than just the disgustingly cold gray weather we had the rest of the week.  So, I bundled up in true Cuse fashion, giant puffy coat and all, and wandered down my block to try and get some good shots.  And here are my favorites.

First up, the photo I chose for P52 this week.  I found this cute puppy out on a walk and needed to capture it.

And here are 2 others that captured the weather for me :

And there's some weather for the week.  Next up we get Low light - which is perfect for me since those are the conditions I find myself in pretty much all the time.  Do you have a favorite of these 3 weather shots?  Let me know in the comments :)

Until next time, have a lovely week!

P52 Week 3 - Shallow Depth of Field

This week's theme was right up my alley - I love shooting wide open or with a shallow DOF.  If you're not familiar with Depth of Field, it's what portion of the picture is in focus.  So a shallow DOF has a small portion of the picture, typically the foreground, in focus and then the rest of the picture nicely blurred.  I love the look of a nice soft background with your target object/person all sharp.

The grey disgusting weather we've been having has left me a little lacking in the inspiration or ability to shoot outside with lovely light.  But the week is coming to the end, and I'll be out of town for business for the rest of the photo week (each theme starts on Tuesday), so I needed to pick something today.  Still inside, but today Row and I decided to make the Gooey Cinnamon Squares from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.  I'll try and make them again and write up the recipe/any changes for you guys and take pictures since mine didn't come out very pretty this time.  It did give me a great photo opportunity though, with the best part of baking - licking the beater/spoon.  Here you go:

I'm definitely starting to do more with photography - getting the opportunity to shoot some theatre productions as well as the events I work on.  Hopefully I'll keep improving the skills I've been working on and get to add to my photography toolbox when I take my first online workshop next month.  All of this means more posts from me - definitely with photography, and hopefully also with some new recipes.
And now I go eat some of the baked goods we made (picture a snickerdoodle cookie turned into a gooey cake.  Yeah, they taste as good as that sounds)!  Thanks for stopping by!

P52 Week 2 - Silhouette

Hey there

It's time for another post in my Project 52.  This week the theme is Silhouette which was interesting, since here in PA it's kind of hard to get pretty lighting in the middle of winter, in the middle of a city.  But, I refuse to give up this early in the project and so I persevered and made an attempt in my apartment, without benefit of natural light.  This also would become my first self portrait attempt (using my self timer) since I was home alone.

Also, as I set up to take this shot (clearing some of the debris of the living room and shifting some lamps) I was confronted with the fact that a) my tripod was in my car.  Which was 2 blocks away.  And it was raining.  And b) I was trying to create backlight using 2 floor lamps and needed something to diffuse the light so it wasn't a bunch of ugly bright bulb hot spots.  Enter creative solutions to the rescue.  First, let's look at the finished shot I came up with.

Next, let's take a look at how I made this shot happen:

Yes, that is an empty can (formally housing crushed tomatoes from my last soup) sitting on a book sitting on a chair, aka makeshift tripod.  I put my camera vertically sitting so part of the grip sat inside the can to keep it stabilized.  Then I leaned over, focused the shot and hit the timer and ran to get into place.  Here's a pullback so you can see the entire setup:

Please forgive the mess.  I probably should have staged the shot better, but this is reality not some awesome studio.  And there you have it.  Makeshift softbox created by putting my chef's coat around a floor lamp (one of the ones with 5 adjustable heads) and another lamp sitting below it.  And an awesome chair/tin can makeshift tripod.  Overall, I'd call it pretty successful for working with what I have.  Next up, preparing for next week's shot - Shallow Depth of Field.

Hope you've enjoyed - Do you have better ideas for creating a makeshift softbox?

More Mummer's Photos

Hi friends!

I attempted to put together another collage, using more of the photos I took at the Mummer's Parade.  One of the things I love about the parade is how vibrant it is - I love seeing all of the costumes they put together, especially for the String Bands division.  I think taking photos while at this parade is one of the tings I look forward to most all year.  Not only because of the fun and the colors and the atmosphere, but also because as spontaneous emotive shots go, the expressions I can capture at the parade are so awesome.

It was also fun using my new camera this year and trying out a heavier zoom lens than I was used to.  Maybe by next year I'll have my dream zoom (the 70-200mm 2.8 with VRII) and be able to get things even sharper and more of a range with the depth of field.  But anyway, enough technicalities.  Here's the collage:

Which is your favorite shot?  I'd love to hear which ones people gravitate to :)

Thanks for visting!

Photo Project 52 - Week 1

Hey there friends, long time no posting.

I have lots of food things I've cooked recently that I need to put up here (homemade stocks and lots of soups, as well as some roast chicken things), but until I get around to getting them all typed up and pretty for you, I thought I'd start the new year off with another project I'm working on.

I'm part of a community called Clickin' Moms (even though I'm not a mom, it's an awesome site/forum) and it's inspired me to start a Photo Project 52 - taking a photo a week for the entire year.  The group I'm in is doing a suggested theme as well, and I'm going to do my best to keep up with it each week.  Hopefully posting here will help keep me accountable and on track.

So, without further ado, here is my Week 1 Photo, for the theme "New Years".  Photo taken at the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade of the Woodland String Band.

Photo Challenge

Why hello there Blog!  Long time no see.  It's been a crazy couple of months - being away at camp for 2 months, getting back in the swing of freelance work - all of which amounts to not very much blogging.  I do have some recipes to post soon though!  In the meantime, here's a post without a recipe but with something else I've become passionate about - Photography!!

I've been a fan of good photography since high school and over the summer got more interested in really using my DSLR to the fullest and starting to shoot on full manual.  It's a fun journey to be on, though it's definitely taking some practice and I still have a lot to learn to get my images where I want them.

I decided to challenge myself at the end of the summer, and do a 30 day photo challenge.  Basically I took at least 1 picture per day that I liked and then worked in Lightroom to do some post processing on it.  I know it's a bit late (I finished this in September) but I finally put it together into a collage so I can share it.  I recently upgraded my camera to a Nikon D600 and I'll be doing a photo challenge with the new camera, but for now, I hope you enjoy this collage taken with my trusty D50.