A Rainy Sunday in the Park with Alex.
A light drizzle means no lines at the playground.
And because people always ask, the images were made with a Sony A7 and an old Canon FD 35mm f2 lens on an adapter. Images were salted to taste in Lightroom.
Partial Eclipse in the Park
Okay, that wasn't very clever.
Like millions of others across the country, I took to the local park to watch the sun partially duck behind the moon, a feat that still seems improbable at best. I didn't feel like dropping the $200 for a proper filter to make pictures of the actual eclipse (although after seeing some friends images, I kinda wish I had) so I decided to keep my lens pointed mostly to the ground to focus on the effect. So this happened.
Alex.
Amanda.
The swing.
One of the effects of the eclipse is that the main light source– the sun, becomes less bright when compared to the surrounding skylight. In other words, the shadows aren't as deep.
Amanda in the swing.
The eclipse activated the street lamps around the neighborhood.
A corona of my very own.
Feeling it
We as creators want to create. I'd argue that finding a tool that makes the process enjoyable is as important a part of creating an image as the objective quality of the tool. Like Dorothy Gale (from Kansas!), as far as I'm concerned there's no place like home– or in this case, my first "real" camera. I've owned almost every kind of camera out there, from Leica to Mamiya to 8x10, but the classic SLR best fits how I naturally "see" the world. It's the tool that I kind of forget about when it's in my hand. Currently my Sony a7 with vintage Canon FD manual focus lenses gets me as close to the intimate experience I'm looking for as anything I've found, with the fewest amount of distractions. I just purchased a new (20 year old) Canon FD 35mm f2 that joins my FD 50mm f1.2 and will probably soon be joined by the 85mm 1.8. They are all small, unobtrusive, and relatively cheap. While they may not be the sharpest tools in the shed, so to speak, they have a certain feel that just gets me to my happy place.
Here are three of the first images I've made with the 35mm f2. (Yup, the kids.)
All images are full frame, straight outta camera with only color temperature adjustments made in Lightroom, with the exception of #3 which has some vignetting. These are all shot at f2 with the camera in Aperture priority.
And a few oldies but goodies with the Canon FD 50mm f1.2...
Three Shades of Tiger
Alex demonstrates 3 of the many shades of Tiger.
Alex, my oldest, is my muse. There's really no other way to put it. Now four, I've been photographing him intently since the day he was born. While I generally photograph him on the run, I actually got him into my studio this past Sunday to make some pictures of his Tiger facepaint, courtesy the 'Taste of Wheaton' festival. There was some discussion as to whether or not it was actually a Monarch butterfly, but turns out either is cool with this kid.
These little side projects with Alex are constantly pushing me to try new things. While this 'look' is dated, it's fun to push the boundaries a bit and this is a fantastic light that can work in very small locations. Besides– look at that face!
Tech specs ('cause someone always asks): Ikan Piatto PL90 daylight balanced LED light (this thing rocks!) with a handheld Canon 5DmkIV and a 100mm 2.8L Macro. 1/125 @2.8 at ISO200. The slight greenish fill is window light bouncing off some trees outside.
The images were funked up a bit in Nik Analog Efex Pro 2 and only hit Photoshop to make the Triptych. On a related note, Google, who bought Nik a few years ago, just announced that they would discontinue support for the software which makes me feel like this ---->
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