I Heart Faces - My Favorite Face(s) of 2010

My favorite photo of 2010.
I didn't have to think very long about this, and I'm a little surprised I didn't choose a picture of Max, but this picture makes me smile so much, every time I look at it!
Both parts of this couple have been friends of mine since high school, and we've already decided that my Max will marry (or at least go to prom with!) their little girl.
I had so much fun shooting a bunch of pictures for their Christmas card, but this one just thrills me.
Technically, it's really excellent for me; since I've only been really working on my skills for a couple of months, a capture like this is rare, and it came out exactly how I was envisioning it, so that's exciting for me!
Emotionally, I just love everything about it... Daddy's adoring look at his baby girl, mama giving me one of those laughing smiles that are my most favorite thing.

Thanks for looking!

This photo is submitted for the weekly challenge over at I Heart Faces... wanna see more Favorite Faces of 2010? Click here:

Digital Tilt Shift

Tilt shift lenses are a specific type that skews the depth of field of the image, and the effect often causes full-size things to look like miniature models.
These lenses are not inexpensive, so the challenge is to recreate the look digitally.

My first attempt, a picture I shot of Temple Bar in Dublin on our honeymoon
BEFORE


AFTER


My second try, with a picture of a local house I shot with the intention of tilt-shifting it... the elevated POV from the original helps with the miniature look, as does the increased saturation of the after image.

BEFORE


AFTER

Off with Their Heads!

Take a photo without showing the subject without a face or head, and tell a story.
Image shot at 4/4.5, ISO 1600, 1/50ss, 18-70mm @ 70mm

Week 10 - Landscapes

There was a list of 10 goals for this week, but I couldn't get them all (No time to get up Mt. Diablo for a "bird's eye view" LOL)

Nighttime Scene / Use lines to lead the eye
Image shot at f/11, ISO 800, 6 ss, 35-70mm @ 35mm

Play with shadows
Image shot at f/8, ISO 800, 1/1600ss, 35-70mm @ 70mm

Consider an urban landscape
Image shot at f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/50ss, 35-70mm @ 35mm

Pay attention to composition
Image shot at f/8, ISO 800, 1/1600ss, 35-70mm @ 70mm

Find a focal point

Holiday Top Ten

The challenge was to make a list of the first ten holiday/Christmas related things that you thought of, then to capture each one in a photo some time during December. So, in no particular order (other than the order in which I shot them!), my ten things!

1. Christmas Tree Lane Image shot at f/11, ISO 800, 6ss, 35-70mm @ 35mm


2. Ornaments Image shot at f/3.5, ISO 800, 1/15ss, 85mm


3. New Christmas PJs Image shot at f/4.5, ISO 800, 18-70mm @ 18mm


4. Tradition Image shot at f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/60ss, 18-70mm @ 29mm


5. Christmas Tree Image shot at f/25, ISO 800, 30ss, 18-70mm @ 25mm


6. Excitement Image shot at f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/20ss, 35-70 @ 70


7. Parties Image shot at f/3.2, ISO 800, 1/50ss, 35-70 @ 35mm


8. Cookie Decorating Image shot at f/5, ISO 800, 1/40ss, 35-70 @ 35


9. Presents Image shot at f/2.5, ISO 800, 1/15ss, 85mm


10. Stockings Image shot at f/1.8, ISO 800, 1/10ss, 85mm

Photographing Ornaments

I've always gotten ornaments for Christmas, and it's a tradition we've continued as a couple and now as a family. A couple of years ago, as we were decorating our tree, I realized that I was starting to forget some of the stories that go with the ornaments, so I've been wanting to photograph them all, and then write down the stories that go with them
I found myself with a little time last night, and decided to start shooting... I took pictures of each ornament as it hung on the tree, and I got stuff like this:

It's not terrible, but I knew I could do better.
And today, I did! Check it out!

What's different? Well, let me show you! First things first, I took the ornament off the tree!
Let me show you my setup:

See it? So I took a spare branch that we'd trimmed off the tree, and using a couple of zip ties, I attached it to the top crossbeam of our old stepstool. Next, I positioned it about 5 feet away from the tree, and put my camera on the tripod about 3 feet from the stepstool. (I shot at f/3.5, ISO 800 (Probably could have gone a little lower), using an 85mm lens) I hung my ornaments on the branch attached to the stepstool and shot my little heart out!

By moving the focal point (the ornament of the moment) further away from the background (the Christmas tree) I was able to get some lovely Christmas-ey bokeh in the background, but the little bits of branch around the ornament pull it all together for a nice cohesive look.

I can't wait to get them all finished, but here are a few more for some inspiration! (I'd love to see your photos if you do a similar set-up!)

Week 9 - Portraits

This week is covering portraits; again, as these weeks go on, they get a little more and more vague... but here's basically the assignments.

Portrait of an individual - I shot a few that would count for this over the last week or so, so I've got a few that, IMO, all count as "portraits"

Image shot at f/2.5, ISO 800, 85mm

Image shot at f/2.8, ISO 400, 35-70mm @ 52mm

Image shot at f/1.8, ISO 800, 85mm

Portrait of a group - I was limited to families for my "groups" but I'm happy with them!

Image shot at f/2.5, ISO 200, 85mm

Image shot at f/3.2, ISO 200, 85mm

A "keep it casual" group portrait

Image shot at f/3.2, ISO 200, 85mm

Image shot at f/4, ISO 400, 35-70mm @ 40mm

Convert a portrait to black and white (I used the FREE Creamy Chocolate B&W action from the CoffeeShop Blog... love it!)

Image shot at f/2.5, ISO 800, 85mm