Trees in Winter

SONY DSC

Trees in winter display a delicacy that is not present when they have their leaves.  Last week, I took a quick drive down Hwy 6 and photographed some of the trees.  This one was south of Marlin, on the west side of the road.

SONY DSC

This one was at the Falls County/Robinson County line on the east side of the highway.

SONY DSC

This one was on the east side of the highway.  You can really see the effects of the prevailing South winds with most of the branching being on the North side of the tree.

SONY DSC

This one was also on the East side of the highway.  The character in this tree is remarkable.  It is obvious that this tree has been severaly damaged, but has survived the damage with new growth.

Best of 2012

I have gone through the over 7000 images from this year and chosen five that I think are the best.  I am not going to rank them.  Rather, I will present them chronologically.

The first one is from Galveston.  Earlier this Spring, Debbie was walking on the beach and saw that someone had started to pile rocks on each other.  As other people came along, they created their own piles of rocks to the point where eventually, there were hundreds of piles of rocks.  I took this picture of one of the piles.  I used a strobe and softbox to help me make the sky a little darker and to help define the surfaces of the rocks.

SONY DSC

Earlier this Summer, Pat Jones asked me to serve as a second shooter at a wedding.  I enjoyed the process.  The wedding was at an interesting outdoor area in Roundrock.  As the sun was going down, we got the couple to walk with us. There was a place in the woods where the setting sun was coming through a break in the leaves of a tree.  I positioned them in the spot where the sun hit their faces and got this picture.

SONY DSC

For the Waco Wild West 100 Bike Ride, last year, I stood at the end of the Washington St, Bridge and tried to get pictures of the cyclists with the suspension bridge and the Hilton in the background. I got some similar shots this year, but noticed that the river was absolutely still.  So, I went down along the river and shot up at the cyclists on the bridge, with the reflection in the still water.

SONY DSC

Ashley Henager wanted to get some pics at an old house in Speegleville.  A couple days before, she contacted me and asked it we could change and shoot with her husband and son.  I loved the idea.  We shot at Midway Park.  Noah was as cute as could be, but he really wanted to get in the water. He kept trying to get away and get in the water, and at one point, the tug between them resulted in this picture.

SONY DSC

Finally, the last shoot with a model I did was with Heather Lynn Johnson.  I have already discussed the lighting issues, but this shot was really great.

SONY DSC

Galveston Pleasure Pier

SONY DSC

We went to Galveston for New Years.  The weather was pretty bad – cold and wet for most of the time.  Monday night, we decided to go the The Pleasure Pier for dinner.  I took my camera, and got a couple of pretty good night images of the pier.

SONY DSC

Both of these images were taken in the early evening.  I actually ended up underexposing with exposure compensation because the camera meter wanted to make the pictures brighter than it really was.

Iowa Snow

SONY DSCWe went to Des Moines for Christmas.  They got about a foot of snow a few days before we got there, and I really thought it would less evident.  I didn’t think it would be gone, but the snow still adhered to trees and things more than I expected. That allowed me to get some good pics.

SONY DSC

OK. now full disclosure:  Both of these are after some serious photoshop manipulations.  For the first one, I created two layers.  The exposure on the bottom layer was about -2, and the exposure on the top layer was about +1.5.  I then masked the top layer and brushed out everything above the buildings.  For the second picture, I did a similar thing, only I made a gradient mask for the top layer going through about the center of the picture.

Lily

SONY DSCMy sister and Brother in Law brought my Mother to Frisco to have Christmas with my Nephew and his wife and their 18 month old daughter – Lily.  We went to visit them on Sunday, and I took my camera. This was a quick snap inside.

SONY DSC

My sister took Lily outside and started up a bubble maker.  Lily got really animated, chasing the bubbles all over the yard.  This is one of her trying to figure out the bubbles.

SONY DSCAfter the bubbles, Lily played with her ball, and I got this quick one of her.

Bright Sunlight

SONY DSC I had a session with Heather Lynn Johnson in Harker Heights.  We went to a local park for the shoot.  The problem was the sun was absolutely terrible.  It was mid day, and bright.  Since there were no leaves left on most of the trees, there was little actual shade.  It was almost like a fight.  I kept trying to get her to turn her head for decent light, but every time I did, she couldn’t open her eyes because the sun was so bright.  It turned out that I was able to get some good pictures.  So, it wasn’t a total loss. The one above was somewhat of an accident.  Out of the camera, it was way overexposed.  But, in Aperture, I reduced the exposure, and the result was this picture.

SONY DSCI got some pretty even lighting on this one, and I really like the way it turned out. There was a tree that forked at the ground, and she could lean into it and lay her head on it.

SONY DSCShe brought several changes of clothes, and from the beginning, she said she had a black dress that she thought would be really good to twirl around in.  The problem was the terrain didn’t suite wearing heels.  She did several twirls, and some of the shots came out great.  Then I had her walk towards me, and this was one of the best of the day.

 

Fashion Photography

A model posted on FB that she wanted to shoot Friday afternoon.  I was free, and agreed to do the shoot.  Another model wanted to join us.  The chatted back and forth about what they wanted to do, and since I don’t have a studio, decided on just a general fashion type shoot.  The other model was relying upon a ride from someone who was not able to get away.  So, it ended up it was just the one model.  She asked it it was OK if she brought her daughter, and I agreed.

We met at a park-like area next to the Hippodrome Theater.  It has some sculptures and some covers overhead.  Plus, the side of the Hippodrome had some nice fire escapes.  So, I spent an hour or so shooting the two of them.

SONY DSC

This turned out to be a really good photograph.  It started out terrible.  When I snapped it, the exposure was way off.  It was really overexposed.  But, in Aperture, I was able to bring it back to the point where, I think it is an effective image.

SONY DSC

She wanted a picture in her hoodie.  So, I basically did a head shot, and that came out really nice as well.

SONY DSC

I liked the fire escape.  So, we got a couple of her on it.  Several of them weren’t too good, as she had her face behind the bars.  But this one turned out nicely.

SONY DSC

I also got several nice photos of her daughter.  So, it turned out to be a really great experience.

Family Portraits

I agreed to do a photoshoot with a model.  She knew of a dilapidated house that she wanted to shoot at.  That sounded like fun, so I agreed.  The day before, she asked it it was OK if her husband and son tagged along.  I had not problem with that.  When we met, it was overcast with spotty showers.  She suggested we go to a local park on the lake. We went there.  I spent about an hour photographing them.  The child is almost two and acted it, but it was still a great experience. Here are a couple pics from the shoot.  I really like the first one as it displays the dynamics of a family with a two year old.

SONY DSC

The next one is just a nice pic of the child.

SONY DSC