Fun and Challenging Indoor Photo-shoot – Some Technical Technique

I had the privilege this week of being the photographer for our church’s annual Vacation Bible School.  For years now, our church has had it’s VBS in the evenings where entire families can participate, with many, if not most of the adults volunteering to help out in many ways to make it a wonderful experience for our children as well as many other children in the community!  It spans four evenings starting with the Sunday evening service and ran through the Wednesday evening service time.  My job was to cover the entire confab and to capture all the varied classes, skits, games and activities over the four day affair.  It was challenging but a lot of fun!  Each night, several of our members with acting skills or ambitions put on a skit.  This year’s theme was “Moses”, but with a decidedly Wild Western flair.  When shooting the skits, which were in the main auditorium, I found myself shooting both from the balcony and different pews near the front.  My 50mm f1.4 was very handy for the pew shots enabling the capture and freezing of the actors in the rather dim lighting, but I found myself resorting to my 90mm f2.8 in the balcony which provided good, uncropped frames.  The dim florescent lighting presented challenges and I ended up deliberately underexposing slightly due to the actors having a lot of bright white in their outfits, which resulted in better results. My new Pentax K-30‘s new features proved very handy indeed as the first three nights found me walking into the building in moderate rain (the K-30 is water-sealed!).  Another feature I found very useful was the new “TAv” mode combined with dual control wheels, which my K-x lacked.  I had not used this mode before, being primarily an “Av” (Aperture-priority) mode shooter myself since my film days.  With “TAv” mode, you can adjust the aperture and shutter-speed quickly and simultaneously with the wheels while allowing the camera to sling the ISO within a range you preset as needed.  This was extremely handy as I had to be concerned with both shutter speed and aperture to do the fast-paced, low-light portraiture that dominated the shoot, with less regard for ISO.  Without Pentax’s “TAv” mode, I most likely would’ve ended up setting the ISO at 6400 thus needlessly giving up image quality on many shots.  This way, I actually got several good portraits as low as ISO 800.  I bounded the ISO range to 200-6400, making good use of the K-30’s good ISO noise-reduction. I found myself constantly switching between low F-numbers to make portraits of subjects pop out within groups and capture fast-moving kids at play and upping the F-numbers a bit to get depth of field needed with the classroom settings, etc.  Most of my shots were at f1.8-2.0 and 4.0-6.3, keeping shutters between 200 and 360ish for the kids playing games.  Pretty much all shots were done indoors in varying florescent light.  I set the white-balance to “auto” and (since I shoot raw), simply redeveloped the few that the camera did not get quite right.  As I mentioned, I used the 50mm and the 90mm for the auditorium skits and then mostly my fav. 40mm 2.8 pancake for most walk-around shots, while switching on the 21mm in my pocket for the classroom / group captures.  The 90mm is actually a macro lens, but works better than my longer kit zoom for long shots, particularly having the 2.8 aperture, which I needed in the low stage light.  On the last night I decided to change up a bit and stick with the 50mm for pretty much everything, enabling me to get some better and different portraits with a little more DOF contrast than I could get with the 40’s f2.8 minimum, which turned out a good decision for adding some variety to the album.  The only trade-off is that the 50mm is a little softer and larger (than my pancakes), while also needing a larger hood. Thunderstorm building Northeast of Weatherford;  by (© 2013) me.It was a great opportunity to really bond with my new camera and I gained some good photography experience from the exercise!  Unfortunately, I can not include shots here on the wide-open web since they are almost all portraits, particularly of children.  I took nearly four hundred shots during the four days but narrowed it down to 130 for the final album I gave to the church.  At one point during a lull on the last night, I did step outside to capture a beautiful thunderhead though, which I included here.  >>>>> In other news, we got over three inches of much needed rain, slow and spread out over four days this last week.  Summer took a vacation during that time as the temperatures struggled to get above the seventies early this week.  We now return you to your normal Summertime blast furnace, Texas…
Image courtesy (© 2013) Patricia Martin “Flashy Photographer”, by (© 2013) Matt Lutton and M. Scott Brauer.	<<<<< Decorated, wounded Marine treated ‘shamefully’ by security screeners by Patricia Kime, Military Times, Jul. 5, 2013. me:There in that image, you have the two Americas personified! Federal Government Mandates Unconstitutional Speech Codes at Colleges and Universities Nationwide by Greg Lukianoff, “The Fire”, May 10, 2013. Cooking Grandma by Willis Eschenbach, “Watts Up With That?“, July 4, 2013. “When I was a kid, the goal of the Public Utilities Commission and Pacific Gas and Electric was to provide cheap electricity…This was seen as liberating housewives from domestic slavery, and supporting business and manufacturing. It was hailed as the wave of the future and the path to success, and rightly so — cheap energy is the reason the developed world was able to lift itself out of poverty…The PUC are not the villains here. They are caught in the middle because of the stupidity of the voters and of Governor Brown. The voters put in a very destructive ‘20% by 2020’ plan requiring 20% of the electricity supply to come from renewables…[but] some congenital idiot ruled that hydroelectric power doesn’t count as a renewable energy source…” (emphasis mine) me:That’s another reason why I’ve resisted allowing them to install a “smart meter” here!  Also, fellow Texans, don’t laugh, I’m sure Washington will soon impose this same kind of crapola on us to “save the planet”. Now that Detroit’s bankrupt, I decided to share this video that sums up why (hint:  Liberals ‘been runnin’ Detroit unopposed for DECADES!): “Detroit in RUINS! (Crowder goes Ghetto)”, by (© 2013) Steven Crowder, via Youtube. How Angelina Jolie was duped by cancer doctors into self mutilation for breast cancer she never had by Mike Adams, “The Health Ranger”, via Natural News, May 15, 2013. U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News To Americans by John Hudson, “The Cable“, Sunday, July 14, 2013.

Out for a Saturday Morning Photo-shoot with a friend

This past Saturday morning, I had the privilege of going (photo) shooting with a photographer friend here in town.  We had planned to go out to Poolville, but ended up finding interesting scenes here.  We went and explored some of the beautiful local countryside near Weatherford.  She showed me some places that I’ve never seen up close before as well as some different angles on some I’ve shot before!  We both took a bunch of photos and really had a great time.  The sky was a perfect dark blue with a few white puffy clouds around.  Later, I went up to Denton to shoot some candid street around the Square, but I’ll save that for a future post!

Cool old tractor in abandoned lawn, just North of town off of Hwy 51. Large crypt in Greenwood Cemetery.  >>>>>>

Greenwood Cemetery.  I really like the old metal fencing. <<<<<<  “Wind, Water &Spirits” – Old windmill and rain barrel at Greenwood Cemetery.

These purple flowers are everywhere right now!	Neat old barn just North of town off Hwy 51.
Abandoned house just North of town.	Hilltop view of Greenwood Cemetery and downtown

Nacogdoches Photo-shoot, Part II: Azalea Garden

As promised, this is the second part of my Nacogdoches shoot Saturday. These are from the Nacogdoches Azalea Garden, which is part of Stephen F Austin University.  The clouds blunted some of the color, but overall I was fairly pleased with the shoot, having caught it near peak blooming season (which is actually a little early this year in Texas due to the very mild and wet Winter).  I found myself constantly switching lenses between my Tamron 90mm macro and my 18-55mm Pentax kit. Please visit my Flickr site for these and more!
More interesting stuff: Quote of the Day: “While a legion of celebrity idiots and political operatives push the Kony 2012 hoax, Ugandan people are currently facing a very real threat of murder and displacement that has nothing to do with the Lord’s Resistance Army.  It’s being carried out by the Ugandan government itself in alliance with the World Bank and carbon trading companies.” From: “Arrest Angelina Jolie For War Crimes: Kony 2012“.  By: unknown on “Infowars.com“, March 11, 2012. me:I can not vouch for the accuracy of this article, but it sounds interesting (from a right-wing conspiricist’s pov., lol.) and gives an alternative view to the “Kony 2012” virus that’s been exploding around the Net lately!  But hey, this blog’s all about presenting little-publicized “alternative news/views”! Arizona sheriff finds Obama presidential qualifications forged. By: Dianna Cotter, Pravda, March 3, 2012. me:It’s a really upside-down world (or else I’m now totally insane) when the RUSSIAN news service is shaming our Amerikan state-run, “drive-by” media for covering up stories! Maybe the cold war ended in a swap – they took us over and we took them over? Coup D’etat: Pentagon & Obama Declare Congress Ceremonial By: Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars.com, March 8, 2012. Interesting structure at the Azalea Garden – old ROTC training structure: >>>>

Nacogdoches Photo-shoot

I’ve been house-sitting for my mom this last week and will be for the following week, while her and her husband vacation in Israel.  Of course work has kept me very busy during the week, but I had been looking forward to the weekend in the middle so I could take a short drive up US Hwy. 59 North to visit Nacogdoches, Texas and do a collaborative photo-shoot with my friend and fellow photographer Richard.  Unfortunately he was unable to make it, so I flew solo and captured some good scenery.  Richard was still very helpful, being familiar with the area and provided me with some maps and locations of photographic interest.  The weather had threatened rain for the day, for fortunately, it held off all day Saturday, but the clouds hung in pretty good.  This minor inconvenience just caused me to mostly stick with b&w, and a yellow filter! 🙂 Anyway, I’ve included some of the better ones of downtown Nacogdoches here.  Please visit my Flickr site for larger images of these and more!  It ended up being a big day for photography because I also got to shoot up the Nacogdoches Azalea Gardens and some local Lufkin Nightlife Saturday evening, but I’m saving those for (near) future post(s), so stay tuned.
Since it’s been awhile since I posted, the stack of interesting stuff has grown rather long, so here goes: Quote of the Day: “Yes, Rush got it right about (loosely) the definition of a prostitute, but wrong on slut. Sluts are girls who give it out for free. Sandra Fluke IS a prostitute: she is JUST plain NOT going to have sex unless YOU, the American public, Catholics and all, chip in your “fair share” and PAY for it!” By: “Minuteman78”, commenting on “Mandating contraception“, By Doug Bandow, page 3; American Spectator, March 1, 2012. me:This (article) pretty much covers all the bases! Iraqi teenagers stoned to death for “emo” haircuts. me:We WASTED how many precious heros’ (and heroines’) LIVES and limbs, and BILLIONS of dollars to LIBERATE that country to now have this kind of $8#% going on just as the door hits our troops on the butts as they’re leaving?! If Bush or Obama had ANY knowledge of history and the conduct of wars, it would have first of all been fully PAID FOR with tribute exacted from their oil. Second, we would have imposed a constitutional republic (NOT a democracy) on them to ensure their citizens equal treatment under the Rule of Law! Short of that, the entire thing has been a complete WASTE and yes, this is mostly Bush’es (BOTH of them’s) fault! 19 Signs That America Has Become A Nanny State – Mr. Conservative, February 29, 2012. 6 Best Free Linux Flickr Tools! How to Manage Processes from the Linux Terminal: 10 Commands You Need to Know. Extra gene keeps mice cancer-free and permanently skinny! By: Alasdair Wilkins, March 6, 2012, IO9.com – “We come from The Future!”, March 6, 2012

Aggie Photography Hack!

Happy New Year!
Well, another Christmas has come and gone! I had a wonderful time spending time w/the fam’, as usual. We do all our traveling on Christmas Eve, which is my dad’s birthday & my wife’s family always opened presents on Christmas Eve, so we always go visit both them and my dad on that day. Christmas day is ours to spend together at our house! Santa Clause was good to me (or I should say I was good to myself & got a new DLSR camera (see prev. story: “Taking the Plunge“) and a new, larger computer monitor, so I gan use a font small enough to get enough text of a long program source on the screen without having to constantly put on and remove my reading glasses while working! Anyway, the new monitor’s in the 2nd pic. below (displaying a pic taken with my jury-rigged lens!)
	I’ve been having fun with my new camera! One of several reasons I went with the Pentax is that it has the same lens mounts as my old ME-Super (Film), which I still occasionally use. Problem is that the one good zoom lens I had for it broke down years ago, so now I only have a 50mm fixed lens for it. The new Pentax came with both a wide angle and a telephoto lens, giving me a combined focal range of 18-300mm. I tried out the 2 new lenses on my Super and, sure enough they mount and work except for not having aperture rings, so there’s no way to adjust the aperture when using with the old (mechanical) camera. Also, the lenses default to the highest (smallest) apertures, the light-meter quickly revealed this fact as did glancing into the lenses themselves. Hmmmmm – what to do? I took a closer look at them and realized that they have a tiny spring-loaded arm that pokes into the camera and that moving that arm with my finger adjusts (opens) the aperture. Looking closer, I concluded that maybe I could create a small shim that could be inserted into the groove the arm travels in to hold the lens open to a desired aperture. I assumed (wrongly) the light meter “sees” through the lens and, based on it’s aperture, calculates and displays the proper shutter speed. I found a large plastic washer that was exactly the right thickness for this task and cut it to the right size to hold the lenses wide open (lowest F-number) and gently attached the lens to the camera. The groove for the arm is approx 3.5mm deep and I was able to add another 3.5mm of protrusion including a groove for extracting the shim with one’s fingernail, and it still fit snugly & mounted perfectly with the camera!

I then pressed the shutter button half-way anticipating seeing the light-meter move up a few shutter-speeds, but it did not budge – What?! The aperture was now wide open! I then decided to take a closer look at the old, mechanical lens that works properly and discovered a tiny, additional moving part opposite the lens from the aperture arm down in a groove into which a tiny arm embedded in the camera extends into that moves as the aperture ring is turned, and which the camera apparently uses to control the light-meter – interesting! So, this meant that I would not be able to rely on the light-meter in auto (Av) mode to properly calculate the shutter-speed – BUGGER¡ But, was I gonna let that small detail stop me – Heck NO (I’m JimPossible, remember)! I decided to (waste) a roll of film trying different exposures and zooms to determine the number of clicks needed to compensate to the proper shutter-speed based on the apertures created by the three shims I had made! I took meticulous notes and told the processors to process ALL 25 exposures onto a CD so I could compare each frame with my notes. Suffice it to say that I was pleasantly suprised with the accuracy of my width measurements & WAGs for each of the 3 shims, as they seem to produce very good results at exactly 2 stops apart, so that now I can select a shim & increase the shutter-speed 2, 4 or 6 stops of offset from what the camera selects to get the proper exposure using the camera’s manual mode! So, for a/b 2 hours labor, a small piece of orange plastic and the cost of a single roll of film and processing, I now have 2 additional lenses worth several hundred dollars for my film camera too – BOOYAH (w5)! Indeed that quote I quoted back in the previous blog entry regarding my new camera rings more true – “…Pentax is like Linux…!” (note: I run Linux & hack my computer (software) too lol! 😉 Another reason I bought the Pentax DSLR instead of a pricier Nikon or Cannon is that in addition to the extra features for the money, I always liked my 25+ year old Pentax SLR b/c of it’s light weight, simplicity, ruggedness, and the good pictures I’ve taken with it! I bought the DSLR more as a complement to it rather than as a replacement. It’s nice though – having a camera that one does not need to “turn on”! Now I guess I’m all set as far as photography goes for awhile!

Aggie’ish Snow tires for your Bicycle! Since this is already such a hacky-whacky post, here comes another great one at you – this guy, though he is in Seattle, MUST be an Aggie too, lol! The title of the article is “Seattle Snowpocalypse“. Anyway, this seems like a cool hack, albeit a bit labor-intensive (to add and remove the fasteners)! Thanks go to my lovely wife for finding & sending this to me!