2012...I Hate to Say Goodbye

 I started the last day of 2012 never intending to write down any sort of end-of-year reflection.  However, as 2013 inched closer, I felt more inclined to at least document a little something.

This past year I have had ample time to reflect on the position I am in.  Financially, I'm in a place that scares me a little, but it has been slowly improving as of late.  Emotionally I feel that I've grown stronger and more resilient.  My outlook on life has been brighter.  I like to think that I smile a little more, dream a little bigger, laugh a little louder.  I believe that Rain and photography had a large part to do with that.

To be honest, I am not entirely sure if it is the actual act of photography that I am so enamored with.  I suppose it is a combination of several things, the smallest of which may actually be photography itself.

I absolutely enjoy taking shots of things I find beautiful.  Most of the time they are sunsets and mountains and clouds.  Occasionally they will be emotions.  Rain has been my subject countless times as well.

Seeing those moments captured by what seems to be my vision, my eye, creates a feeling of satisfaction that is quite addictive.  But that really isn't all there is.

No, photography has become more than trying to capture a beautiful image for me.  It has become an outlet and an inlet.  An outlet to forget the day to day mundaneness and lose myself in the small and large overlooked wonders of the world around me.  An inlet to discover and rely on the child inside me and foster the creativity that I believe I once had.

It's taken me 28 years to learn how to trust in that child.  Actually I take that back.  28 years to START learning how to trust in that child.

Photography has also become a much valued time that I spend with Rain.  She irritates me sometimes.  Wandering off to find some deer poop to munch on.  Crying when I tie her up so that she doesn't wander off to find some deer poop to munch on.  Rushing off whenever other people or dogs come close.  Half the time is spent taking pictures, the other half is making sure Rain isn't off doing something mischievous.

But I think she enjoys coming along.  She makes it so much more fun.  She's funny too.  Munching on deer poop.  Lol.  And when I catch her, she's like a deer in headlights.  Could I get better shots if she weren't there?  Probably.  But it's hard to say that I would be out there if she weren't.  I like to think that my photography has been improving because of her, not despite her.

I just read over what I wrote, and I guess I didn't really document much of anything.  Just rambled on a little about how I felt about my dog and taking pictures.  But that really was my 2012.

Rain.  Photography.  And how they have changed my life.

It was a good year.

See you in 2013.

Thanksgiving Back Home

The past week and a half was spent back home.  Family, food and photography.  Hard to beat that combo.  The only thing that was missing was Rain.  Hawaii has pretty strict policies about animals flying in, so she stayed with her mom and dad.  I missed that dog like she was family because, well, she is family.

I took a good number of pictures back home.  I really am loving photography more and more.  And I dare say that I am improving bit by bit.  It really is all about getting out and using your camera.  No substitute for personal experience.  Not just in terms of learning how to use a camera, but also being able to get to a point where the camera is no longer there, and you can connect to the subject in front of you, whatever it may be.  Still working to get there.  But part of the fun is in the process.

Been contemplating getting more into dog photography...

Now that I'm back in Utah, I have a pile of pictures to go through and edit.  I'll post them as I go along, but here are a few.

Lanikai Beach.  All my years living in Hawaii, and can you believe I've never been here till now?  Thanks to Tyler and Alana Yates for taking me here.  Awesome little piece of paradise, and this canoe just happened to be at the waters edge at sunrise.  How lucky can you get.  This picture was about a 2-3 second shutter at f16(ish).  It was about 7am just as the sun was coming up.  I had to boost the colors in post.  The lighting was actually a bit dull, but there were hints of color that I was able to utilize.  I also cropped out some of the sky to make the composition a little more tight.  The pano-ish feel works with the long canoe, IMO.  I do wish there was some point of interest on the left hand side though.  Maybe Rain.  Overall, I'd give it maybe a 6/10.

I Got My Camera Back

After nearly 3 weeks, my camera is fixed and back in action.  It was quite fun and educational experimenting with film but I must say that it is nice to have a digital in my hands again, one of the biggest reasons being that I don't need to dish out $9 per roll of film.

Trying to shoot with film has definitely piqued my interest though and reminded me that I still have tons to learn about photography.  The time while my camera was getting fixed, I thought a lot about what direction I want to go in with photography.  I have a few thoughts brewing in my mind, but they are still a little too premature to say anything right now.

On a side note, I have added the Nikon F6 to my wish list.  Perhaps in a couple years...

Needless to say, I went out shooting this weekend, hoping to catch something...anything really.  And even if I didn't, man did it feel nice to be walking along the harbor with my camera and Rain.  It was a cloudy weekend, but the sky cleared up Sunday afternoon and provided a nice sunset to welcome back the return of my camera.

This was a 25 or 30 second exposure at f16 and ISO100.  Because the contrast between the sky and the foreground was so great, I increased the fill light in photoshop and then boosted the colors.  More detail in the shadow was recovered using some HDR editing.  It was my first time using this technique, and I will probably experiment with it more on future shots.

Pinhole Camera Assembly

My D7000 is off to the repair shop for the next 3-6 weeks.  The D3100 is being lent to a friend for his photography class.  I guess its just a good a time as any to test out my new cameras.

Putting together the pinhole camera (pics taken by my webcam):

$17.68 on Amazon.

Reminds me of the days I used to put together Gundam models.  Yep, still a geek.

Everything is  made up of really stiff cardstock-like paper, tape, and a few plastic parts.  It's crazy to think that this thing actually might take a picture.

It took a little over an hour to assemble.  First roll of film in place.  Not sure if I did it right...just have to wait and see.

Holga and pinhole camera.

Putting in a roll of film for the first time was kind of exhilarating (in a very subdued sort of way).  Now I know why I was never  allowed to touch the rolls as a child.

All that's left is to go out and take some shots.  Here's hoping for good conditions, good lighting, and a whole lot of dumb luck.

Running Rain

Today I took this picture:

I believe this was about 1/2000 of a second at f2.0 or 2.2.  As you can tell, the sun is behind me and to the right.  I find that many times for Rain it works pretty well to have the sun shining at an angle on her, especially for shots like these.  It normally doesn't work for people, but people don't normally have dark coats of fur.  The light is able to bring out the definition and contrast of her black coat.  If she were between me and the sun, I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the luminosity of her coat.  RAW file imported into Photoshop.  Black and white applied in post. Contrast and fill light adjusted in post.

 I started off by having Rain sit.  I walked about 15-20 paces away from her and placed her tennis ball on the ground.  Then I went back to where Rain was, walked about 10-15 paces away from her at a 90° angle and focused the camera on her.  Then I walked about 5-10 paces toward the ball but stayed parallel to the path between Rain and the ball so that the camera would be focused on Rain's path of travel.  I got low to the ground because I wanted the viewpoint to be on the same level she was.  I said "go" and fired away.  Here is a diagram:

I repeated this about 8-9 times before my camera stopped working on me.  I decided on the picture above because it had the most sense of action.  I like how Rain's tail is touching the tip of the frame and how her legs are bunched up ready to explode.  The one major improvement I would like to make is the focus plane.  I think I missed it by half a foot or so.  I either needed to be more exact in where I positioned myself, or I could have closed down the aperture to make the focus plane a little wider and give me more room for error.  The hardest part was trying to nail the focus.  And getting Rain to stay while I prepped for each shot.

Here are some of the "missed" shots:

It All Started With a Dog

Like most journeys, there is a specific moment in time that I can point to and say "Yes, this is where it started".  For me it was when I decided to get a dog.  It doesn't really have a lot to do with photography, but this really is the beginning.

I believe that people tend to gravitate toward a certain course in life regardless of what situation they are placed in.  No, I don't subscribe to destiny.  Quite the opposite in fact.  I like to believe that people are empowered to decide how to shape their lives.

What I am trying to say is that no matter where someone is born or how they are brought up, they tend to make millions of decisions, both big and small, that ultimately take them to where they want to be and what they want to do. 

Sometimes that end-goal is clear from the very start of the journey.  For others it is just a hazy feeling that sways day to day choices one way or the other.  I tend to be the latter.

I had always wanted a dog but our family never bought one.  It was one of those childhood dreams that vanished like dreams often do when you wake up and realize you have to face the day.  And the day I actually decided to get a dog, it couldn't have been further from my mind.  

It was the middle of November.  It was quite cold, as it gets here in Utah, and all I was focused on was getting through another work day.  Every so often I'll check the company classifieds to see if anyone was getting rid of anything that might be of value to me.  That day, someone had posted that a friend had just had a litter of Labrador pups and was looking for homes for them.  By the end of the shift, I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to get one of these pups.

A couple weeks later, I called Joe, the owner, and asked if I could see the litter.  He lived in a quaint little town about 40 minutes south of where I lived.  When I arrived, he told me that I was one of the first to look at the pups.  As I picked them up one by one, I noticed one little black pup on the far side of the yard away from everyone else.  All the other pups were snuggling up around my feet, but she was by herself stumbling through dirt and weeds just exploring the far reaches of her little world.

She was the one I wanted to bring home with me.

The day that I was to take her home I stopped by a local Best Buy and walked out with my first DSLR--a Christmas present for myself.  It was a Nikon D3100 with a 18-55mm kit lens.  The only reason I bought it was to take pictures of her, this yet to be named dog.  It was either going to be Aspen, Willow, or Rain.  The day was overcast with a few showers here and there.  With help from the light drizzle during my drive to Joe's place, I decided on a name.


December 18th, 2010--I drove home with a beginner DSLR in hand and Rain in a laundry basket.  Photography and that dog have been a part of my life ever since.  I'm not sure where this will end up, whatever it is...but I'm sure this is when it all started.

That there is Joe's hand.

Rain and the Nikon D3100