When Family Matters

I hope that when I get older, and my kids are grown up that we still get together on a regular basis.  One would hope that they live close to home, but what you really want is quality family time together since they will most likely choose their own path in life and who really knows where that will take them.  I have not had the opportunity to shoot to many grown families.  Most of the time it is the new families with young children wanting to capture their childhood.

A really good friend of mine, and his family wanted to get their picture taken as its been years since its been done, and I had to accept.  It gave me a chance to use my new umbrellas in an outdoor setting.  Generally these are used in a studio setting, but I had wanted a chance to see how they performed outside.

Friends, Laughter, Wedding…Minnesota

I was asked last spring to attend a wedding of a friend of mine that grew up with me.  Once invited a few months later I was asked if I would take the pictures. If the first part wasn’t enough of an honor, the later really meant a lot to me.  A really small wedding on the beach of a quiet lake made for quite the romantic little ceremony.  With that backdrop, mixed with the fun of the “North Woods” we had a great weekend filled with laughter, crying, and a lot of shutter clicks!

Summer Joy

Had the great pleasure to meet a young family and share a sunny afternoon together taking pictures.  What a joy it was to see smiling young faces as we walked through the grounds at St. Francis Monestary.

The Burlington Beat

As the fall arrives here is Wisconsin, there is no doubt leaves on the ground.  Instead of a traditional fall look, we walked through downtown Burlington, WI to get a little different perspective on fall pictures.  Little Eli, who just turned 3, rocked the lens all day.  The guy knows how to work it!

Hot Summer at Grand Geneva

A summer afternoon in Lake Geneva generally pans out to walks around the lake with a stop downtown for some refreshments.  This time I had the chance to walk the grounds at Grand Geneva with two young families to capture their kids, their expressions, and their youthfulness.  This summer I have been working on using the Canon 580EXII flash during the middle parts of the day to bring in a more washed out, over exposed look.  In many other instances, I like to back up the subject against the light, so that the sun is behind them and use my flash as fill light to light their face.  This has really helped with keeping some of that harsh midday shadows off their faces.

Back Home

With daddy being home on leave from the service, we were able to get everyone together for some candids.  It is so rewarding seeing this young son and his father!  Using the back drop of the St Francis monastery in Burlington, we were able to capture this young boy, his smile, and his wild side.

The Train Yard

I recently found a fantastic venue to shoot at while taking a few shots of my 1986 Nissan 300zx. This place is great, our little subject could not stop talking and pointing to all the surrounding train related items. We found everything from rustic stock yard buildings, to rail spikes. A great place for a young train enthusiast.

Zootober

We had family in town for the weekend, and while most people were heading to the apple orchards to eat caramel apples, taking hay rides, and cutting up Jack-O-Lanterns…we went to the zoo.  I have to be honest and say that I have never been to the zoo outside of the summer months, so it was going to be interesting to see the animals in their winter habitats.  Still, as of mid October, there were many that were still outside.  What was missing though was the mass barrage of families.  The place was dead…maybe 50 cars in the parking lot.  This made for watching our oldest girl much easier.  We didn’t have to constantly look for her as you might with the large crowds.  I took my zoom lens in hope of spotting a few key shoots, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results…even indoors, and some through the glass.

I am seldom a believer in printing pictures, especially in a digital age.  However, these will be printed larger for my daughters room as there is one strange thing about kids, they know their farm and zoo animals before many other things in life and we have the stuffed animals for them all to prove it.

Farm Life

I had just finished up with shooting an engagement for a couple at Minooka park, and I was heading home.  It occured to me that I needed to stop at a few places on the way home and take pictures.  Why?  Since I didn’t have my wife and two little girls with me, I could take my time to get home, stop at these places that I drive past all the time and finally check them off my list.  I left the lens that I usually keep on my camera when stored in my bag, and threw it in the front seat.  Stopping off at two farms on the way home in Saylesville and Mukwonago I keep my 50mm lens stopped down to f/1.4 and grabbed these pictures.  Towards the end of the drive, the sun was setting under these wrinkled clouds that with a little Photoshop to enhance the purples really makes for a nice background.

Frame Park Falls

I had to run a few errands one afternoon up to Waukesha, and it just so happened that I had my gear with me.  I have been wanting to try out my neutral density filters since I got them a few months back.  Its funny, when shopping on Ebay and purchasing something from China, you cant wait to get it during the three weeks of shipping.  However, once it gets delivered, I never seem to use it right away anyway…so why don’t I shop there more often?  Thats another story for another post.  The purpose of a ND filter is to although greater flexibility with the shutter speed in daylight.  In this case, I used a ND8 filter and slowed the shutter down to 1/5 – 1/30 to let the water soften through its natural motion.  I really like the effect however, some blur did occur as it was a bit windy for even the tripod.  I look forward to taking some pictures again here soon…there are other areas that I didn’t have time to explore.

Circle of Life

On my way to work over the past few years a tree has been dying, and this summer it finally gave up, and no visible leaves were present.  In the morning, the sun shines perfectly on this tree, and its surrounded by a lush forest preserve.  The clouds were finally right where I wanted them, and I had remembered my camera.  The bark is stunning on the tree, and the amount of limbs that hang over heard makes it creepy driving past it at sundown seeing the shadows on the road.  It was there to tell stories, shade and protect new growth, and now shows it legacy to all the saplings nearby.

If You Believe…

I came home from work late and couldn’t stop looking at the moon…I thought that this would be a great way to grab a shot…clear night, nothing but the moon and the stars.  It was a little breezy making the tripod a tad tricky.  I had to wait for just the right moment to snap the shot.