In Memory of a Fallen Friend

Stare Down with Messy Hair

Photographer in Training

Roaring Prairie

Behind the Scenes of 'Roaring Prairie'

I wanted to share a few behind the scenes images from the creation of my image, Roaring Prairie. The late afternoon was frigid and the wind was intense. Gusts of up to 30 miles an hour whipped through our hair, and we reluctantly found the winter coats again. It was earlier in the day than I had hoped for, but the temperature was going to continue to drop and rain was threatening, so we headed out.

My son, Tristan (15) manned the Sony a6000 and Zeiss 35mm lens. It was too windy for video, so I told him just to take images as I worked. Once we got going, I asked him to throw a winter coat up to Anni (my daugher and model) so that she could warm up between shots. She was barefoot on the rocks and said that the misty rain was turning to ice under her feet. Poor girl. Tristan then threw her some flip flops between shots. We only stayed out there about 15 minutes as we were all chilly. I used my new Vanguard VEO tripod so that I could bracket exposures for the final image.

This image encapsulates all that I feel about the prairie most of the year...cold, windy, and unforgiving. We found a small nest of birds tucked into the boulders. The mother seemed unphased by our presence. Perhaps, she knew we were too cold to care that they were there!

This is the storyboard of how the image came togther. I had initially intended it to be color, but I was in love with the simplicity of the black and white, so I went with that. The image contains two exposures, one for the sky and one for my subject. The color version is straight out of Lightroom using the new HDR merge feature. I may continue to edit this one in color and see where it takes me. 

I wanted to send a big shout out of thanks to my kids! It was cold and you were troopers! I also want to thank Sony and Vanguard USA for making products that make my visions come to life. :) 

Cat and Mouse

Mr. Tips

Prepping the Summer Studio!

The Lensbaby Velvet 56 is Here!!!

To say that I am excited about this lens would be an understatement! I have loved this lens from day one and am very, very excited to get to shoot and share the images from here on out. This lens, the Lensbaby Velvet 56, is everything I could want in a day to day lens, but better! 

I love the 56 mm focal length as it is strong for portraits as well as environmental work. The killer point? It does macro AND it has some amazing halation effects wide open at f1.6. Yes! This Lensbaby has a gorgeous shallow aperture that makes creating dreamy effects a breeze. You can shoot your scene, the main subject, AND detailed macros of the scene, all with one lens! 

One of my favorite lenses to date is a vintage lens from the 1960s. It found new life on my Sony a7s with an adapter. The dreamy bokeh of my 'Dream Lens' is amazing, but I paid over $2000 for that lens. The Velvet 56  has a dreamy book too, and a killer build (very similar to all metal vintage lenses) with dreamy halation properties (the velvet look) from f1.6 to about f4. When you stop down the halation diminishes and it becomes a standard lens that is razor sharp. The only way I can describe it is that it has an "old Hollywood" feel. 

Here is a smattering of my test shots over the last few months. Be prepared to see more as I am IN LOVE!