Saturday, June 9, 2012

And There Was Lightening...

I've always been a bit obsessed with storms.  I love the beauty of lightening, the sound of the thunder cracking and rumbling, the contrast of colours in the sky and the eerie feeling of the calm before the storm actually hits.  When I was still living in Saskatchewan I used to chase down storms just to sit and watch them.  I've always wanted to try and capture one but it's never worked out...until today!  I happened to be in the kitchen, looked out the window and saw this wicked, colourful sky and ran into the dining area where my camera was and quickly got it ready and rushed outside.  At first I was just happy to capture the colours of the sky but then I realized, because of the eerie calm before the storm feeling, that there was more coming.  I put the camera into continuous shooting, adjusted the exposure and just starting shooting, and shooting, and shooting.......and shooting.  Over a 100 pictures later it started to rain a bit so I came inside.  Out of those 100+ photos only 8 captured bolts of lightening.  After a bunch of deleting, I managed to put together the following from my first lightening shoot!  No editing other than cropping was done to the following photos. 
Cloud Contrast - June 9, 2012 (101)

Gray's with at hint of Blue - June 9, 2012 (102)

Contrast Clouds II - June, 9, 2012 (103)

My First Lightening Bolt!  (It's not the size of the bolt...LOL) - June 9, 2012 (104)

Gray's - June 9, 2012 (105)

Little Bolt - June 9, 2012 (106)

Broken Bolt - June 9, 2012 (107)


Bolt Explosion! - June 9,2012 (108)

Change of Mind - June 9, 2012 (109)

Bolt Across the Sky - June 9, 2012 (110)

Off Shoot - June 9, 2012 (111)

Monday, June 4, 2012

What I've Been Up To...

Wow, it has been WAY too long since my last post.  It's been a very busy few months!  I've been keeping busy with the photography I'm doing for work.  The first shoot was a group shot for a Early Childcare course we have.  It turned out great and will be featured in our Annual Report, so I'm excited about that.  I had the opportunity to go off site and shoot the launch of the report on the Family Resource Centres from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.  It was an amazing event and I was able to get some great shots.  The Program Director from the Family Support Program was very happy with my photos, again, that made me very happy!  The most recent shoot I had at work was the big group staff photo!  It's tricky to shoot a group of 45 people but it turned out pretty good.  I also shot the management team photo.  One of each will be in the Annual Report!  I'm so stoked.  The Executive Director and her assistant told me they are the best photo's that they've ever had done, better than professional photographer's they've hired in the past so that definitely made my day!  I will post the link to our website when the AR is put up! 

I had a chance to take a photography seminar from a couple really great Manitoba photographers (one of them was a Master Photographer) and it was awesome!  I learned so much and have been playing around with some of my newly acquired "skills".  Before the seminar I hadn't taken many photos so it was nice to get inspired and motivated again!  There are so many cool things that I'm going to be trying in the near future and I will be sharing them with you, aren't you excited??  :)  I'm becoming more comfortable using my Manual settings.  It's scary at first but you learn quickly.  Tyler's friend Trevor gave me my first lesson just after I got my camera and said "from now on you will shoot in P, nothing below that".  All the settings below are all presets and that's just cheating!  LOL  Since the seminar I've started shooting in the higher manual settings on the dial and I'm loving it!  So much to factor in but it just gives you that extra element of control over the photo.  Exposure, aperture, shutter speed, oh my!  ;)

A friend of mine and her family came to Winnipeg and I was able to go see them for a bit and had a 5 minute photo shoot with their little baby Celeste!  It was literally 5 minutes because she got hungry and Kaelynne was getting into everything into their hotel room but I still managed to get a few cute shots.

I stumbled across this really cool photography project in the Metro one day, read more about it at www.aday.org.  People were asked to set up a profile, take pictures of their daily lives on May 15th and then post them onto the site.  It's SO cool and should be done soon so you can view everyone's photos from that day from all around the world.  I submitted 3 pictures and am stoked to look through the site when they're done compiling everything!  

Stay tuned for my first attempt at a Maternity Shoot (which ended up being 2 parts)...

Hopefully this time it won't be MONTHS between posts.  Happy Summer everyone!!  Get out there and SHOOT!

Daffodil's from a co-worker! - March 2012 (94)

Daffodils - March 2012 (95)

Miss Celeste - March 2012 (96)

Miss Celeste - March 2012 (97)

Miss Celeste - March 2012 (98)

Chevelle (she's going to be famous on aday.org)! - May 2012 (99)

Our Street (I was so happy there weren't any cars parked on the street!) aday.org entry - May 2012 (100)



Saturday, April 7, 2012

Nova Scotia Part III

There's been a lot happening lately!  I ordered and received my flash, I did my first official photo shoot for work and I finished editing all of the pictures that I'm going to post on my blog from my Nova Scotia trip! 

I love my flash, it makes a world of difference.  My husband tells me that's my last toy for my camera that I'm allowed to order for a while.  LOL!  It is quite an expensive hobby, I will admit.  I don't really need anything more for now anyway, so I'm okay with not ordering accessories for a while.  :)

My first photo shoot for work went well.  It was a report launch for CCPA (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives of Manitoba) called You Know You're Not Alone, Community Development in Public Housing.  It was a lot of fun, I got to meet some really incredible people and I got some good pictures.  I can't post them on my blog but there will be some posted on another blog from the CCPA and The Family Centre of Winnipeg's website.  I'll keep you posted! 

Here are the last few pictures from the Nova Scotia trip!  I hope you enjoy. 

In the town of Shelburne, Nova Scotia - March 2012 (89)

Shelburne, NS - March 2012 (90)

Harbour in Shelburne, NS - March 2012 (91)

Harbour in Shelburne, NS - March 2012 (92)

Harbour in Shelburne, NS - March 2012 (93)

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Nova Scotia Part II

It's a rainy weekend which is perfect for editing pictures!  I'm a little over half done with all of the Nova Scotia pictures.  I haven't taken many pictures lately, I'm trying not to because I have so many in my editing queue!  It will be so great to get caught up and get out shooting again.  After all Summer is coming up and we will be outside a lot!

I've received a few new toys for my camera since the last post.  One being a cool polarized filter for my 58mm lens.  Pictures to follow at a later date.  I got a new camera bag too!  My camera and equipment has outgrown my smaller bag.  I got a Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW and I love it!  So much room for my camera, lenses and toys.  My next purchase will be the flash I've been talking about and I can't wait for that!  Then I will be good for a while...hehe.  It's an expensive little hobby.

A couple weeks ago I did a few group pictures for a class that was wrapping up at work and they loved my work so much that I am now the Official Photographer of were I work.  I get to go to a big government program report launch to shoot at the beginning of April which I am really excited about.  I'm also super nervous!  No pressure.  LOL. 

Here is part deux of the Nova Scotia trip.  There will be a part three for sure and maybe even a part 4 and then I should be done.  Enjoy!

Anchor door knocker, Port Clyde, Nova Scotia - March 2012 (74)

50th Anniversary Kiss, Port Clyde, Nova Scotia - March 2012 (75)

Joy and Happiness candid Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (76)

New Love, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (77)

Clyde River Bridge - March 2012 (78)

Seagull, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (79)

Clyde River out to the Atlantic Ocean, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (80)

Clyde River, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (81)

Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (82)

Strang's Lane, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (83)

Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (84)

Walking Path, Port Clyde, NS - March 2012 (85)

Walking Bridge over Clyde River, NS - March 2012 (86)

Bank of Clyde River, NS - March 2012 (87)

Clyde River, NS - March 2012 (88)


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Nova Scotia Part I

The trip to Nova Scotia was amazing!  The weather wasn't awesome though so I didn't get as many pictures as I thought I would but I got quite a few despite the rain and snow.  Next time I go back it will be in the Summer or Fall!  :)

My latest enemy has been editing!  I love taking pictures but am not a fan of editing.  It has its perks and I like the end results after I edit but it's so time consuming.  I have so many pictures from the trip that I would like to sit down and edit.  Then I just keep taking more and more pictures, adding to my editing queue.  Even as I sit writing this, I'm thinking, I should be editing some more damn pictures!  Oh well, I will get into an editing mood one of these days and hammer through them all for you!  For now here are a few from the first couple days of the trip.  Hope you enjoy.

Peggy's Cove, March 1, 2012 (62)

Peggy's Cove Atlantic Ocean, March 1, 2012 (63)

Peggy's Cove, Atlantic Ocean, March 1, 2012 (64)

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, March 1, 2012 (65)

Peggy's Cove, March 1, 2012 (66)

Gate - March 2012 (67)

G & G's backyard - March 2012 (68)

Pine - March 2012 (69)

Captivated by Papa - March 2012 (70)

Story time with Grandpa - March 2012 (71)

Cuddles with Grandma - March 2012 (72)

New toys - March 2012 (73)