The Wedding Photographer

Sorry I haven’t posted much the past few days, but I was stressing out because I was gearing up for my first wedding shoot. Needless to say, the stress wasn’t all that warranted, and I survived relatively unscathed! I rather enjoyed it actually, I rented a 24-70 f/2.8L lens from Pro Photo Rental - I HIGHLY recommened them, they are US based but had no issues sending me the lens across the border into Canada. FedEx on the other hand - they need to get their act together.

Anyways, I shot the wedding with 2 Digital Rebel XTi/400D’s. One had the 24-70 f/2.8L on it, the other I slapped on my 75-300 f/4-5.6 USM. Managed to snag a 430EX from the maid of honor so both XTi’s had external flashes as well which made a huge difference. Also took my laptop along, was a great idea - offloaded one card after the shooting at the bride’s residence in the morning, and then some from the afternoon shoot in between the ceremony and the reception. Good thing too because all said and done I ended up taking 1897 images, I’ll keep you posted as to how many I show the bride and groom in a week or two. I’d love to show you some of the shots but I told the bride they’d be the first to see them, and I think that’s the way it should be. So that’s why you got a shot of me above with that sweet piece of glass… I don’t want to send it back tomorrow!

Oh yeah, here’s the MOO cards I had made up from the pre-shoot which were placed at every setting at the reception. Great little piece of MOO-vertising if I must say so myself!

Tags: 24-70, 24-70mm, B&W, black and white, canon 24-70 f/2.8L, L series, moo, photographer, photography, self-portrait, wedding

flickr Fave of the Day : If only you were here…

Originally uploaded by M.Gruber

I must say, I’ve been following M.Gruber’s stream for quite some time now, and he continues to amaze! Having completed the first year of a 365 days of self portraits projects, he’s trundled on to a Year Two and is continuing to raise the bar!

Great shots the last couple days man - keep up the great work!

Tags: fave of the day, flickr, m.gruber, matt

Published?

Received an interesting Flickrmail this morning, does this count as being published?

I am from Totems, a office for communication and architecture in Amsterdam. At the moment, we’re designing the Expo Pavillion for the Netherlands in Zaragoza, Spain. In the lounge of the pavillion will be a collage of different landscape images. We really like your picture “Wood plank : 001″ (see link below) and therefore want to ask you if we can use it in the collage. Thanks for your reply,

Kind regards,

Tanja Ziegler
Totems Amsterdam

Of course I’ve agreed and allowed them to use my image, I have requested follow up photos of the collage they create and/or the stand at the Expo so we’ll see!

Tags: creative commons, expo, netherlands, plank, texture, wood

New look…

As you may have noticed if you’re a repeat visitor, I’ve tossed up a new look here at pixelens.com. I plan on making some tweaks but I want to know what you think about the new look. Feel free to leave your comment below!

Tags: new look, redesign, request for comments

Photography is not a crime!

Check out these cool shirts over at cafepress.com!

Tags: cafepress, photography, shirt, swag

myContraption process (and finished product)

Well, a bit more electrical tape and some black felt and we’re done! See notes on photo above…

Definitely best viewed on large size…

The top piece can be removed from the bottom and folded for storage. One piece of tape removes the bottom from around the Duaflex. I might tape up the outside for a bit of weather proofing/aesthetics but all in all I’m pleased with the end result!

Thanks again to Russ Morris (link to flickr) for sharing his trials (link to website) and providing plans for his myContraption-v2.

myContraption-v2

Thanks to Russ Morris (link to flickr) for sharing his trials (link to website) and providing plans for his myContraption-v2. Fortunately his plans were for the Kodak Duaflex I which is the only one without the flip up viewfinder, which as you know by now, is the one I acquired.

I wasn’t sure how well poster board would work, it seemed a bit too flimsy, and foam board seemed to thick. So I searched around and found a peach box and used that for this iteration. I think it worked out rather well.

Russ’ instructions and plans worked out pretty good, just had to make a few minor tweeks and slight cuts to make it fit perfectly. I used electrical tape to seal the edges. In the photo above, you can see there are two sections, the bottom section was created using the pattern, the top created to fit the distance while using my 18-55mm without the macro ring - it sits a further 5 1/2" higher than the top of the bottom piece. I ran out of tape so have to get some more to finish it off. I plan to make little tabs on the inside so that this piece can slide on and off easily, this way I can make different pieces for different lenses and lengths.

Another thing I did differently than Russ was not totally sealing the botom piece as a solid unit. I left the back right side open and folded the piece around the Duaflex, then sealed it with a piece of tape - this way I can remove it and fold it for easy storage. I plan to do the same for the top piece as well.

Took it for a test drive as you see it above, and darned if it doesn’t work great! Some sample pics coming soon!

I’ll also update the construction/process as I finish it off.

Easter Lily

Not 100% sure I like this composition… like the effect though… did a few more at different ranges so I’ll play around some more…

Rare Helen Keller pic with doll discovered

Found this interesting… and it is photography related so I’m posting it!

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) — Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod.

The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan’s hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Read the article over at cnn.com.

Immigration Hall, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (HDR)

This building stands behind my work… took some shots last week thinking it was an old school… turns out it’s the old Immigration Hall. It’s not an historic site, but it should be. Now if only I could get past that fence!

Found an article about it written in 2004. Excerpts below.

"The diminutive immigration building couldn’t handle all the demand and so, in 1930, the City of Edmonton issued a building permit to the Dominion Government, Department of Public Works for a new Immigration Hall at 10534 100th Street. The new hall, a brick and reinforced concrete structure, was designed by Dominion Government architect T.W. Fuller and erected one block east of the original Immigration Hall.

…

Given such tremendous numbers of newcomers, overcrowding was again an issue at Immigration Hall and a three-storey addition valued at $108,000 was constructed in 1954 to the west of the original structure. The new wing featured concrete foundation, steel frame and similar brick facing. It was built by Edmonton’s Poole Construction.

Cariou’s report says there is evidence that space in the original building was renovated for use as a courtroom. ‘Further research may reveal that some sort of Citizenship Court was located in the building, which would add to the significance of the structure.’

…

The 1954 addition appears to have been upgraded and reconfigured sometime in the early 1960s, the report says. Eventually the 1930 portion of the structure became vacant. In the early 1990s, the 1954 addition was leased to the Alberta Department of Social Services for use as a women’s emergency shelter. The shelter closed in the early 1990s and the building has remained vacant since."