Dash & Daddy day at the Arboretum

Hey everyone!

After Vasquez Rocks on Saturday, I was ready for a low key day on Sunday, my first Sunday off in 4 months. My daughter wanted to go see "How to Train Your Dragon", and normally, I would take her to the movies and my wife would stay home with our 2 year old, Dash. But I suggested that my wife take Stella, as they haven't had a girls day out since my son was born, and I would take Dash out to the Arboretum.

Dash didn't like the idea at all originally, but just before we got off the freeway at Baldwin, I had him smiling and laughing, and we proceede to have a great day. Normally when we go, we are so busy chasing his sister that he has to stay in his stroller all day. But not on this day...

Shortly after we got there, I took him out. And he wandered, sat, stared, marveled, gazed, ran, reflected, and enjoyed his time at the Arboretum. He fed geese, stared at Koi, played in the Catywampus, sat by the lakes, laughed at the Peacocks, and watched the fish. It was a fantastic day, and I am a better person for not having missed that or cut it off early to go to work.

My wife also really enjoyed her day out with Stella, and the movie gets enthusiastic thumbs up from both her and my daughter. She also couldn't believe that she hadn't just gone out with my daughter for something other then a Dr's appt or a haircut in 2 years. All in all, a beautiful weekend

Vasquez Rocks

.
Hey everyone!

A few photog friends and I got our kids together for a trip out to Vasquez Rocks. The weather was comfortable but windy, but that didn't slow down the kids at all. They loved every minute of it as we hiked all over the rocks, and let them climb to their hearts content. I must say that it isn't easy climbing rocks, watching kids get precariously close to edges, and haul gear around all at the same time, but we had a blast! We finished it all off with a great meal at the Backwoods Inn, run by our very own Carol Ohler. Thank you so much for your hospitality Carol!

Coming up this week in my classes:

Monday night we will talk about booking weddings and gear
Wednesday night we will cover gear
Thursday night we will teach everyone how to set up their cameras and flashes for off camera lighting.

See you all soon!

Lighting on Location

IMG_4141-EditPSweb
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Hey everyone!

My lighting on location class kicks off tonight! It's been what seems like forever since we've had this class. The picture you see above of Sondra was done in this class the last time through.

It's a really easy set up, shot with my Canon 5DMKII, the 17-40 f/4L, and the Canon STE-2 was used to trigger my 580 EX flash.

I got the great sky behind her by dialing down the exposure compensation in camera 2/3rds of a stop.

Add a set of these, and you have a whole studio set-up in your trunk:

We will be doing things very similar to this in class, so come on down!

Faded & Blurred day 83

Faded & Blurred day 83
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Finished off Vision Mongers by David duChemin yesterday. A fantastic read.

Today I am very excited to start Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig, this book has been highly recommended to me. Food, inspiration, and words for the soul...

In a rut?

I am often asked what I do when I get in a rut creatively, or when I get bored with my images/processing/etc. I am a huge believer in many of the exercises that David duChemin talks about in his eBooks "10" and "10 More" where David's whole premise is based on ways to improve your craft without buying gear. With that in mind, I did 3 things this weekend that I haven't done in a while.
For our Faded & Blurred photo walk in Hollywood, I took 3 rarely used lenses, my 17-40mm f/4L, my 35mm f1.4, and my 100mm f/2.8 macro. Those are the only 3 lenses I used, not my comfortable, well loved 70-200mm or 24-105mm. I didn't even pack them in the bag. And I still shot with 2 bodies, but 1 of them was loaded with film. Ilford 400 HP5 B&W or Kodak 100 Ektar. We'll see how that turned out soon...
Then on Sunday, I took my favorite model (my daughter) out to my favorite spot (the Arboretum), and I only brought my 135mm f/2. I love this lens, I just don't get to use it enough. But by limiting myself to just 1 focal length, it forces me to get creative, and MOVE, to get the framing, composition, and focus that I want.
Don't have a prime? Then tape down your zoom to a particular focal length. If all you have is the 18-55 kit lens, and you are always at 18 or 55, tape it down at 28. My buddy Corey over at Last Minute Photo Studios mentioned grabbing a friend or family member and shooting off 400 images. Just get out, go shoot for 2 hours. And come join me at Vasquez Rocks on 3/27. Have fun. Remember why you fell in love with this in the 1st place

Hollywood!

So, Hollywood was hot, dirty, sweaty, steamy, smelly, nasty, crowded, hard to get to, there was a protest closing the street, a scavenger hunt, pissed off super heroes, a sad Big Bird, and Wonder Woman really let herself go,and I loved it. What a great day. Enjoy. More to come when I get my film developed... (I hope)

Faded & Blurred day 76

Faded & Blurred day 76
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Hey everyone!

Just getting prepped for Faded & Blurreds big photowalk on Hollywood Blvd. The street where celluloid dreams get started, so I and several others will be shooting film. So looking forward to this walk, for more info, go check it out at http://fadedandblurred.com

Hope to see you there, and if you want to participate in the contest for this walk, we will have a couple of extra cameras available.

You could win 1 of these:

20100313-IMG_8640

20100313-IMG_8640
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Hey everyone!

This is a picture of my son on the escalator at Universal Studios. We went there for my mom's birthday, and the kids had a blast.

This is the last week of school, so here is what's up:

Monday night: Review, final questions

Wendesday night: Review, final questions

Thursday night: Bring me your images, review, show and tell, potluck

Sunday: Bring me your images, review, show and tell, potluck

Through the worm hole

Through the worm hole
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Don't try this at home ;-)

I took the picture above with my iPhone pointed directly into the sun at noon today, and I love the way this came out. I think I may need a new phone...

Faded & Blurred 365 day 67

Faded & Blurred 365 day 67
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

For my 365 group, I occasionally post a quote or question that I think may be thought provoking. According to the comments left on this image, I hit my mark.

This excellent question came from Syl Arena's "Lessons I Didn't Learn in Photo School"

Several other books that I love and highly recommend:

Vision Mongers

Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

The Hot Shoe Diarys

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)

And os course, this was shot with my trusty little Canon S90. I love this camera!

A new B&W from an old image

RachelBeachWeb
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Hey everyone,

I came across a B&W image that I really liked by one of our Tri/F&B members, JoJo. After some prying, she finally gave me her secret... ;-)

I shot this picture of Rachel 2 years ago, but started messing with it using JoJo's method which requires the Nik Color FX plug in, or Niks Silver EFX, and I really like the way it came out. And yes, I did this in Photoshop...

Coming up this week in class:

Monday: So, what's in store for you on the wedding day?

Wednesday: Paperwork and contracts

Thursday: We will be shooting. This will be our last shooting class for this semester. Start prepping you favorite images for show & tell and pot luck on the 18th!


Sunday: We have 1 couple (Bride and Groom) and if anyone knows anyone else that wants to shoot, let me know. This will be our last shooting class for this semester. Start prepping you favorite images for show & tell and pot luck on the 21st!

Power Poles B&W

Power Poles B&W
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

I have always had a strange fascination with Power Poles, so they end up as a common shot in my flickr photo stream...

Buzz Boots

Buzz Boots
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

Right where I'm supposed to be

Faded & Blurred 365 day 64
Originally uploaded by fwisneski
Some days are harder than others. More distractions, disruptions, disasters. There's never enough time. Too many people requiring too many things from you. Occasionally the feeling of burrowing inside rears it's head. Cutting ties, shedding responsibilities, taking more "ME" time.

I've been there for awhile. The hectic schedule is insane. Having to leave the house while my wife takes our child to urgent care, or has to call a plumber/ac guy/garage door repair guy kills me. That's my job. But I can't do that job, because I have all of these other jobs. My wife is a saint, and a very strong woman, and also very tired.

So I ponder possibilities, and think about giving up some things. Quitting. And then I go to an ATM in a dirty mini mall at 6 am. And at that moment, I am in the most beatiful place in the world, and I realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be...

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Uncrustables!

Uncrustables!
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

I took Wednesday off so I could edit, and then edit, and then edit some more. It was very productive, and for the first time in months, I'm all caught up with client work. (I'm still WAY behind on personal work)

One of the benefits of taking off is I got to take my daughter to school. Here she is at school eating her breakfast. It's an Uncrustable sandwich. Shot with my iPhone.

Amanda

Hey everyone!

I had a great time shooting at Encanto Park yesterday, and I hope you all did too. As always, I expect images from all of you, as do our models. But for those of you that shot Amanda, I'm gonna be breathing down your necks for them. Her father is my best friend, and I have known him since I was 17. And Amanda just turned 17, I have known her all her life, so I expect (as always) images on a cd, as the subject matter means a lot to me.

How beautiful was the weather yesterday? Kinda sad to see so many left early, you missed the "sweet" light, and last night it was perfect...

Also, last semester, many of you shot Jedi with light sabers. It was recently brought to my attention that not many images were turned in. Please see if you can gather up some images and bring them in to me.