New Lens!

Ok, I know I just got 2 new lenses with my camera but I already knew which lens was next on my must-have list. I'm a big fan of depth of field in photography which requires a wide aperature. My lenses have an f-stop as low as 3.5 but I wanted one with an aperature of 1.8 or lower. These aren't cheap though. The lower the aperature, the more expensive they get.

Anyway, James and I were just looking on Amazon, Ebay and Craigslist to see what these lenses were going for at the moment when we came across "the one." Someone on Craigslist just posted a listing for his Canon EF 50mm f1.8 USM lens for $80. What?!!!! That's crazy! At Future Shop you could pick one up for $125.99. We were already looking at manual lenses on Ebay that we could buy an adaptor for, etc, but no need.

Soooo... James picked it up for me tonight! We offered the guy $75 and he took it. Now I have a lens that I am In.Love.With. I obviously played with it right away so here's a few samples of what I have to work with! I'm so excited that I get to use this lens for my photo shoot this weekend!

This is the picture James took when he came upstairs with the lens already on the camera. I'm pretty excited.

Thank goodness I hadn't loaded the dishwasher yet or I wouldn't have had this picture opportunity!

This one's for you, Jo!

Cheyenne's adorable shoes. I love how this lens really focuses in on what you want it to!

That's all for tonight! It's going to take some getting used to this lens because it's a fixed lens, which means it doens't have a zoom on it. I've never used a fixed lens before but I think I'm going to LOVE it!

Photo Field Trip

Despite the drizzling rain, my friend, Frances, and I went on a short Photo Field Trip today. I was going to test out my telephoto lens, which I've never worked with before, and she also had a new lens she wanted to test out. We quickly drove to a nearby alley and snapped a few shots, trying to get done before it really started raining. Anyway, it was good to see how the telephoto lens works and how close you can get to your subject and how not far away you can get! But I like having options.

Aside from playing with my camera some more, I found some good places for potential, future photo shoots. I've always been drawn to garage doors and grafiti, and bright doors among brick walls. Well, this alley had a little bit of everything! Here's a few pictures from today that I took:

Frances and her precious daughter.

One of the bright doors amongst brick walls that I love!

A pile of tires that would also be perfect for a photo shoot location.

Thanks for introducing me to this alley, Frances! I think I quite like it.

Now, when you're a photographer you don't often get many photos of yourself. But thankfully I wasn't alone on this field trip and Frances was able to snap a few of me "in action." Here's what we got, don't I look all professional? =)

                         

                

Check out that zoom on the telephoto lens!

                 

                

                

Frances wanted to test out her lens as well so I volunteered to model for her =)

|JAMES & CHEYENNE| family

I had my first photo shoot with my new camera today! My models were my handsome husband and my adorable daughter. Who could ask for a better looking pair? I did a little bit of editing to the pictures and shrank them down in size as the original size was double what these are and was taking forever to upload! Enjoy and feel free to leave feedback, critique, etc.

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I do!

Red to Green

I now am the owner of my very own Digital SLR camera! James picked it up from the states today! Unfortunately you have to wait so long for the battery to charge before you can start testing it out! So, I waited somewhat patiently (not really, though. I kept looking over and hoping the light would no longer be red but a bright, shining green). After about 2 hours or so it happened. The light turned from red to green and my excitement grew! I quickly grabbed my, MY, camera and inserted the battery. Next step, turn the camera to the "ON" position. Check. And now comes the fun part!

My house doesn't have the greatest lighting, especially at this time of day, but I've been clicking away, just getting a feel for the camera and seeing what kind of outcome comes from changing different settings. FUN!

Some of the equipment that came with the kit is definitely cheap looking, but whatever. It's a good starter set and we'll go from there! While I was oh-so patiently waiting for the battery to charge, I started organizing my hard shell carrying case. There's a large piece of foam made up of many small, foam squares that you can pick out to fit the form of the pieces that you want to insert. This was maybe the funnest part! Just kidding. But it was a good time waster, and also kind of stressful as I didn't want to pluck out the wrong square and thus ruin the entire foam-form-fitting ensemble. Alliteration much?

I may need to go on a photographic walk around the complex tomorrow to test it out a little bit more. For tonight, I'll take pictures of Cheyenne!

Inspiration Overload

My thoughts and ideas are consuming me! I can't go even part of the day without thinking something photography related. "I wonder when my camera will get in." "I wonder when I can do the photo shoot with Vicky." "I wonder how I should do her makeup." "I know of a GREAT idea for a photo shoot!" "Who should be my model?" Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera.

These ideas are still haunting me at night! In a good way. I wish I could dial down the thinking but somehow that doesn't seem to work! I am getting lots of ideas and have talked to a few people about potentially being my subjects. I've already got another photo shoot lined up with friends of mine. It'll also be her in her wedding dress but we're going to take advantage of the fact that she hasn't had it cleaned yet since her wedding and do some more outdoorsy shots and I'm going to buy an insanely long piece of tuele (I'm talking like 5 meters worth!) to use as a veil. My cousin had some shots done with a long veil like that and they were gorgeous!

The list could go on and on. But I consider it a good thing. It's when I run out of ideas that I'll start to worry!

I've looked through about 15-20 magazines now, both fashion and wedding ones, and have ripped out a gazillion pictures of poses that intrigue me. I'm taping them all into a sketch book type thing so I can always refer back to it before and during photo shoots. I think I've already realized a lot about my style just from doing this exercise.

I've never been a huge fan of cheesy poses. When my husband and I were looking for a photographer for our wedding the main thing I didn't want was someone who did cheesy poses. I wanted lots of candid looking photos. That's why I chose the photographer that I did. He still put us in poses but they were different and not the "let's-stand-beside-each-other-holding-hands-and-smiling-for-the-camera" type of poses.

Another thing I realized is that I was drawn to the more high fashion-esque photos. Not that they are appropriate for every client or every situation, but I love them and think they would be great for some portrait/one-on-one shoots. I'm going to try some out with my sister.

I also love the pictures done with old fashioned chairs. Weird? Maybe but I love them. And, oddly enough, I liked the ones with the more serious expressions. I never liked doing the non-smiling photos myself, but in a picture they can really set the tone. And I love pictures with fire place mantles. My parents have one and I'm going to utilize it. I wonder if it could support the weight of a person? I might have to have James inspect it for that because I have some wicked ideas for poses on there!

See... inspiration overload! But I'm still loving it all! I haven't had this much desire and motivation and inspiration for something in a LONG time and, boy, does it feel good. My biggest fear, still, is that I won't be able to convey my ideas in the actual photo, and through the camera. But I'll practice and if it's still not working out just right then I can always ask people for help or take a course or something. Not the end of the world. I won't be a pro overnight.

Here's hoping my camera comes tomorrow!

Brainstorming

I couldn't fall asleep last night. My mind was going a million miles an hour. As soon as I get my camera (which could be as early as Monday!!) I plan to practice lots! I'm going to use my sister as my first victim.

The Model: Vicky in her wedding dress (and possibly mine as well, mine is a little more swooshy- yes that's a word. )

The Location: My parents living room. They have super tall ceilings, with white couches, one upright single couch thing and super dark hardwood floor and 2 tall windows with long curtains. Can you picture it? I can and it's going to be fabulous!

The Goal: To take lots of pictures and experiment with my camera settings and lighting and whatnot. Hopefully get some good shots and come out feelings encouraged and inspired!

As I was lying in bed I was picturing where I wanted to postition her, how I wanted her to pose, what kind of images I wanted to capture. I could see the picture in my head and hope that I can translate it onto the camera the same way. But that's what practice is for.

I'd love to get into doing "Trash the Dress" sessions where women wear their wedding dresses and we take the photos in more unpristine locations. By that I mean a little more into the elements- water, mud, snow, dirt, etc. I've seen some photos from these kind of sessions and LOVE them. That would be one thing that I'd like to get into more. I don't know that I could put my own wedding dress through that kind of exposure but maybe there are others out there who don't mind.

It's Coming!

James ordered my camera and accessories for me this morning!!! I'm so excited I can't even explain how excited I am!

Here's what I'm getting:
-Canon 450d (or Rebel XSi) DSLR Camera
-Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens
-Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens
-Pro 0.45% Wide Angle lens
-UV Filter
-8 GB SD Memory card
-SD Memory Card USB Reader
-Digital SLR Slave Flash (I think this is a cheap one but I can upgrade down the road)
-Deluxe Hard Shock Proof Carrying Case
-Padded Soft Shock Proof Carrying Case
-Deluxe Photo/Video Fluid Head Tripod
-Table Top Mini Tripod
-2 Protective Camera Lens Pouches
-2 Lens Cap Covers
-Camera and Lens Cleaning Kit
-LCD Screen Protectors

Pretty impressive kit, eh? We decided to go with a full kit because I will eventually need all of this equipment anyway. Just like when I started hair school, I bought the whole kit that was offered which including everything (well, almost everything) I might possibly need as I started my career in hair styling. It was just the basics pretty much but as time went on I purchased other items to add to my kit and also got rid of many items that I never used. Ever since I started working from home I've been able to condense and refine my stash even more. I think it'll be the same with my photography equipment. You have to start somewhere and then tweak your stash as you start getting your own style and figure out what you use and what you don't. I already know that I'm buying a new lens for my birthday!

Hopefully my camera will be here before the end of the month and I can start playing with it! Here's what my camera looks like:

|CHEYENNE| baby

Here's a few more shots from the first few months of Cheyenne's life.

Play time in the Bumbo.

My favourite picture of her eyes.

A few shots from our 6 month photo shoot.

|CHEYENNE| newborn

A few more pictures from a couple different photo shoots of my daughter.

|CHEYENNE| newborn

Cheyenne's 2 week photo shoot. Don't worry, I didn't have one every week! She was just so adorable and I wanted to capture as many moments as I could. For these photo shoots I used the Canon Rebel XT camera.

She has some very interesting facial expressions.

Winking at her Daddy.

Baby's foot vs Daddy's foot.

This picture melts my heart.

Again with those big, blue eyes.

|CHEYENNE| newborn

When she was only 1 week old, our daughter had her first photo shoot with me. She's pretty much the cutest little thing ever! Yeah, I guess I'm a little bias.

I just love baby feet. There's something about them that is so captivating.

One of my favourite pictures of her.

Holding her Daddy's hand.

My husband's favourite picture, which was also the picture we used for our birth announcements.

Oh, so cute! Her eyes have been so mesmerizing from the beginning.