September 19, 2009
Well I’m still in the middle of getting these portraits done. The editing of those is taking up a lot of time so I haven’t been able to really get out there and shoot some more. But all of that should be completed in about a week.
The second thing is the animation. Which I still plan to post! The thing is I guess you need a video upgrade to post that type of thing here. Since I don’t do enough video work to justify the upgrade, I suppose the next step is to post them on YouTube instead and embed them here. And to do that I need to change their current format, which takes a while.
Until then!
September 10, 2009
Voilà- More photos from a game better forgotten. I didn’t take any tailgating shots this time because Watson and I were too busy either dominating in bags or destroying some hot dogs.
I’ve also decided this site needs a new layout because the horizontal shots have to be crappy-small to fit. And I hate that smiley!
(pop -up)
September 10, 2009
(Empty lines so the linkless links column doesn’t cover the picture)
…
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That should do.
A few friends and I went to the Sox game the other day against the A’s. Unfortunately, it was the game where we got rocked 11-3. But we were on the lower deck and ended up spending most of the game on the fan deck out in center, boldly going where I’ve never gone before.
So I thought I’d try my hand at a panoramic shot. I mean, literally- I didn’t have a tripod with me.
Anyway, here it is. I’ll post more pictures from the game another day. Tomorrow’s going to be an early morning.
August 27, 2009
Our Father’s Day gift to my dad this year was a Chicago Fire soccer game. However, due to scheduling issues, we only just went to the game this past Sunday against the Colorado Rapids. The first half went scoreless… then the Rapids scored relatively early in the 2nd. Twice.
But the Fire somehow managed a comeback, tying it up very late in the game and then scoring the winning goal in stoppage time for a 3-2 final. It was pretty exciting to say the least.
I’d also like to note that lenses over 6″ long are not allowed in Toyota Park for whatever reason. They have a very scientific process of measuring the lens by holding their hands to it. My 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM was put under review and was given to someone else to be “measured”. Though her hands were smaller than the first guy, the lens was allowed to enter.
(It rains red confetti before the game and every time the Fire score.
(The family with something to smile about. Don’t like these kinds of pictures, m’self… but family outings… what are you gonna do?)
(after scoring the winning goal)
August 19, 2009
Quick Note: My laptop screen is in need of calibration, so the colors are a bit off at the moment.
On Monday a couple friends and I went to the Sox-Royals game in Chicago. Once we got on the road, we realized we forgot the tickets so we had to turn around. We were afraid we were going to miss our chance for some quality tailgating, but (and I never thought I’d say this) luckily there was a rain delay which allowed us a couple batches of hot dogs and a few rounds of bags. And we still made it in time for the first pitch.
And better still, the Sox won 8-7
(And the Lord smiled on the White Sox, allowing them to win even though Scott Linebrink blew a three run lead with 2 outs.)
(Our seats were some of the best of the worst in the house)
August 13, 2009
(137 exposures. ISO 100, 30-seconds, f/2.8, focal length = 16mm)
Last night I went out to try and catch a glimpse at the meteor shower. Once the camera was set up, I got to thinking: Without a remote trigger and knowing the exact location of the radiant, how can I hope to photograph any meteors?
The answer came in the form of a star trail shot at 16mm. The only problem then is, how well will the 1-2 seconds of light from the meteors show up on a 30 second exposure?
That answer is: not very well at all.
There were at least 3 (that I saw, I spent a lot of time looking elsewhere) that came into the camera’s field of view while the shutter was open, but I captured maybe one. Which, in the final image, is covered by the clouds that moved in.
Here’s the frame by itself
(The streak in the lower right)
As you can see in the final star trail, there were several planes that flew threw my shots. But since this line is not dotted like the others and originates (or terminates) within the frame (as opposed to entering from one side and exiting the other), I’m going to go ahead and call this both a meteor and a victory. Huzzah!
Maybe by next year I’ll have figured something better out.
August 11, 2009
The lights I ordered arrived today, and after I struggled to tell the FedEx guy how old I am (turns out I’m 23), I put everything together and tested things out.
So here it all is in the painfully small living room.
The background is a Calumet support system with 53″ by 36′ “Storm Gray” background paper. The unit also expands to support the 107″ x 36′ Black background I picked up.
The 3 lights are from Cowboy studio, up to 160 watts each. The pack includes 2 soft boxes, 1 gold umbrella, 4 color filters, 1 four leaf barn doors, 1 scrim, and a wireless transmitter.
The jury’s still on this deal for a couple reason.
- The only kind of instruction manual came in 2 languages: French and Dutch.
- The soft boxes were listed as being 24″ x 24″, when they’re really 50cm x 70cm (about 20″ x 27″)
- The scrim wasn’t advertised as being included
Obviously, none of that is a big deal… it just strikes me as odd (though I was prepared for the lack of manual from reading reviews). But the lights seem to work just fine. I’ll post some shots when I take a little more and am a little less tired.
August 9, 2009
Well it turns out that the van I’ve been driving qualified as a clunker. Which is fine by me since the ever-growing list of problems with that car included
- Dashboard lights out (Therefore, unable to see anything inside the car at night. Including speed)
- Driver-side window broken
- Heating/AC reduced to two settings: Full Blast or Off
- Occasional turn-signal malfunctions (as in, try to signal right and the left blinker would turn on)
and the other day the check engine light came on. So since the car has to be able to drive itself in, the folks decided the time had come.
What they came home with was this
2009 Nissan Versa SL
My mother behind the wheel.
And the newer van becomes my car. Or as my dad puts it…
“My car that I graciously let you drive.”
(Also, these were shot with my brand new EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM)
August 9, 2009
In my neighborhood there are these 4 Sandhill Cranes who show up from time to time. This morning was the first time they’ve ever been close enough to get decent photos of. Which is good and bad because I guess it means there are grubs in our lawn.
Though I’d rather have these guys digging up the lawn than the skunks.
Then after a few shots, they turned their backs on me and strolled away, occasionally stopping to snack.
All images copyright Donald Eggert
August 5, 2009
Over the summer I took these engagement photos for a friend. It was my first time shooting these types of photos, so we spent a lot of time walking around trying different sorts of things (mixed in with the go-to shots).
It might’ve been nice if the flowers were out a little more at the time, and I would like to take a shot at these kind of photos at night working with some longer exposure. One could probably do some neat stuff.
But they were pleased with the results, which is the most important thing. And we had a good time taking them, which isn’t too bad either.
These were shot with 35mm f/2, 70-200mm f/2.8, and even ef-s 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (gee, guess which one)
Images copyright Donald Eggert.
