Day 31, 365 Day Project.

Well tonight is the end of he first month and I thought it was just right for a fun famliy image. Cool was being so kind and sharing his Nintendo DSI Lite with his brother Luke since Christmas. Unfortunatly Luke has taken a liking to the system and monoplolizes it. So today I felt that since he has been such a patient and good brother, I would get Cool the special edition Nintendo DSI XL. Like many of the new things today there is a bulit in camera in the unit. Of course Cool likes this and all you can do with it. He was doing some fun self portraits when I decided to grab a shot of him working on it. I thought this was pretty neat. Shot with the Canon 7D at 12,800 iso (I actually love the grain feel of the image), 24-70 f2.8 lens @ f4.5 1/60th of a second.

Day 30, 365 Day Project

With this being January and there being a number of cold days I find that I am doing more of my images in the studio. In one way I have rediscovered the joys of table top shooting. Today I took our souvenir from the Taj Mahal where we visited in 2005 and placed it on a piece of black plexi. I then took a small strip of mirror and placed it underneath the model. I light a painted background with one of my Balcars and then use a 3 degree grid spot on the other Balcar to just skim the top of the Taj model. I used only the modeling lights and set for the tungsten setting on my Canon 7D. I shot for 1/15th sec and @ f2.8 on the 24-70 f2.8 lens as I wanted shallow depth of field. The above is the result. The bottom image is the set-up as taken by me iPod touch camera so one can get an idea of the set up and the small space I am working.

Day 29, 365 Day Project.

Well it was a snowy, cold day here in Calgary and I had a shoot scheduled for my Wedding Photography class. A number of subject's were lined up but the miserable weather and bad driving conditions kept all of them away except for this lovely couple and my son. We went over to Heritage Hall and discovered that most of the building was being set up for a graduation banquet. I approached one of the people who seemed to be in charge and explained what our class was. Since we would be finished before the guests arrived she said it was OK to work around their set-up. We found a nice spot close to the big windows at the back and I confirmed with a second person that it was OK to work there for a half hour or so and then we would move to the upper levels. She also said it was fine. So we got started and within 10 minutes another woman came by and told us we could not shoot here saying the event planner did not want anyone taking photo's in the area. I explained that I had got the OK from two other people (who had SAIT credentials like I had) and then said we would move to the upper level. On our way up we passed another photographer who I think was hired by the planner and she sheepishly apologized as she did not realize it was a SAIT class. I think she was the one who went to the planner and mentioned something probably worried that we were taking her job. Any way we found some more places to work.

The light was not to intense today in the Heritage Hall due to the overcast skies so I decided to work at some high ISO's again. The image above was shoot at 12,800 ISO @ 1/50th sec, f6.3 on the Canon 7D and 24-70 f2.8 lens. The image below was shot using a table lamp as the light source and was at 1600 ISO for 1/50 sec @ f4.

Day 28, 365 Day Project.

We have this clear Corning Wear pots that I like to use to make pasta for the boys (tortellini is their favorite). I've always been intrigued watching the water as it is boiling and thought tonight would be a good night to try and capture it. Again I used the Canon 24-70 f2.8 and I realize I must get a macro lens as I seem to be doing a lot of close up images so far with this project. Canon 7D @6400 ISO1/80th sec at f2.8.

Day 27, 365 Day Project

I was sitting on the couch reading to Luke when I looked over my shoulder and saw the sun shinning through the flowers in the bay window behind me. I quickly ran and grabbed my camera and got off a few shots before the sun dipped behind the trees. I love the rim light on the flower and the way it made the rest of the flower glow. I am not sure what type of plant this is (anyone knows you can tell me), but one of the things I don't like is that the blooms always look waxy and fake. If I did not see it grow I would think the thing was made of plastic. This image makes it more attractive to me.

Shoot with the Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f8.0, 1/200th sec at 100 ISO.

Day 26, 365 Day Project.

Since I purcahsed the 7D in September I have grown to love high ISO photography. Till this point I have not tried the High setting (12,800 ISO) so I thought I would tonight. I had finished my class at SAIT and slipped the camera on to "H" and headed into the hallway. Seeing the water fountain I moved in close and shot the above image. The shutter speed is 1/80th sec @ f7.1 with the 24-70 f2.8 lens. I am totally impressed at the noise level in these images and can see me shooting much more at 12,800 ISO.

I then drove over to Crescent Heights hill and photographed the next three images.


This image was shot at 1/15th sec @ f 5.6 handheld.

This image was at 1/125th sec @ f5.6 handheld.

Finally I saw this reflection in the window and mirror on the driver side as I was about to drive away. This is at 1/20th sec @ f2.8.

Day 25, 365 Day Project

An absolutely gorgeous day here in Calgary which afforded me a chance to take a nice long walk in Nose Hill Park near my home. I started out shooting the trees, but as I trudged through the snow I started to become fascinated by the shadows being cast by the blades of grass breaking through the snow. I did this for close to two hours and in doing so was able to accomplish one of my other goals for the New Year, that of doing at least an hour of exercise a day. Walking through the deep snow and going up and down the ravines got my heart rate going and I worked up a good sweat. In all a very good day.

All images shot with the Canon 7D and the 24-70 f2.8 lens. Trees shot at 100 ISO at 1/200 sec and f8.0 and 1/100 sec @ f10 for the grass and shadows images.