Every year, photography trends roll in like seasonal fashion, bold colors one moment, muted tones the next. One month, everyone is chasing moody neon; the next, they’re knee-deep in minimalist beige. If photography had a thrift store, last year’s “must-have” editing style would be sitting in a bargain bin, right [...]
Read MoreRemember when “virtual happy hour” was the hottest thing in town? Well remote modeling sessions rode that same wave out of necessity back in early 2020, and they’re still bobbing along, for better and worse. My take might ruffle some feathers, but here it is: what started as a lifeline [...]
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In all the excitement of the county fair entry here I forgot to post the results. I entered three images and my son Jarren entered one. I entered in three different categories, visual manipulation, portraits and photojournalism. My son walked away with a first place in the junior photojournalism category for his awesome shot of a F/A 18 breaking the sound […]
This is Technical exercise number two. Lighting a white sphere on a white horizonless background. The light is a focusing spot and it is snooted and sits about 45 degrees downward behind the camera to the right. The goal of this exercise was to show volume on the sphere using only one light. After the cube project this one seemed like a […]
Schools back in and I am back in studio lighting which means its time for technical review. The object of this project is to light a white cube on a white horizonless background simulating natural light. So simulating natural lights easy, we live on a planet with one light source, the sun. The horizonless backgrounds achieved with a 30X40 mat […]
The leaves are turning, the hot fall days in Santa Cruz are upon me. Today I was out wandering and took a few shots of Neary’s Lagoon. I love this place its so cool with the sewage treatment plant right on the other side of the wall from this great scene. Schools back in, we start shooting next week. Studio […]
This weekend my boys and I headed to Mountain View Ca. for the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. If you haven’t heard of the Mayhem Festival its an all day affair featuring the biggest and best Metal and Thrash bands around. The music is certainly not for the faint of heart. The venue allows personal cameras as long as they do not have […]
Generally I am not one to share artilces written by others, but in this case I really liked the photos and the story. Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet http://scotthaefner.com/beyond/mothball-fleet-ghost-ships/
It is getting closer to fall which means its getting closer to fall classes. Lately I have been working on sharpening my studio lighting skills for the class. Heres one I shot this morning its a skull piggy bank with my sunglasses on. I shot with a 2 flash setup. The first flash is behind and at full power to […]
Its good to do new things right? as a photographer, shooting something that provides a real challenge can not only teach you that you have more to learn, but also inspire you. Some friends of mine were bowling in the USBC open championships in Reno, so I offered to shoot them. I figured how hard could it be, compared to my sons […]
I am still shooting indoors these days. Seems I tend to randomly switch between in and outdoor focus. Heres a couple more shots using my Novatron flashes. Both shot at IS0 100 @ f5.6 1/250 sec using a fized focus 100 mm macro lens. These shots aren’t for any company, just what we had laying around the kitchen on the counter. […]
Summer is coming! I’m in the final weeks of my art classes this semester. Art history has been interesting, not unexpected as far as content but the contemporary concepts in photography since 1945 was a bit askew from where I was anticipating the content to be. I found the weight of some of the more well known photographers perplexing. […]
The wife and kids walked with me this morning down to one of the more remote beaches. The surf was pounding and the surfers were running from their cars down the half mile hike to the beach to get to the sweet waves. It was super foggy but not cold at all, summer is coming here on the Central Coast […]
I seldom shoot panoramas. its not that I don’t think about doing them, I actually have a few that I really like. For some reason this scene seemed to need a bit more than the regular shot was going to give me. I was using a 50mm prime lens, and shot in portrait. I shot four separate pictures handheld (I braced on […]
Neary Lagoon f/11 @ 1/80th iso 100 According to the Santa Cruz City website, Neary Lagoon is an important part of the urban watershed for the west side of the city of Santa Cruz. A drainage area of approximately 850 acres empties into the lagoon, and from there, out to the ocean. Its a park with about a mile long […]
Even though its a cool picture, it feels like a cop out sometimes when I can take a walk and see this sort of scene to take a picture of. It was chilly yesterday; the tourists were out in full force… All bundled up and surprised that it could be “this cold” at the beach heh. I saw one family […]
I’m enrolled in an art history class this semester and its focused photography. I feel that seeing what others has done can not only inspire you for more creative images but give you an appreciation for the level of difficulty photographers went through for their art back in the day. I have paid my dues and spent my time in a photo lab, I started […]
It was windy…it was cold, too cold to hold the camera still.. it was cloudy…the road noise was distracting me… heh yeah well none of these really work, I just got a bad shot. I knew full well when I started this whole 1 shot on the walk thing that there would be bad days and I guess today was […]
Continuing with the one shot on a walk theme for myself, I wandered down west cliff drive here in Santa Cruz before the rain this week. Always wanting to add more difficulty to a situation, I chose to not only take just one photo this time., but also take that shot with a fixed focus lens. Rather than have the zoom […]
I spent last week in Oregon at a funeral for a family member. This got me thinking about two things that I have alwys avoided as a photographer, though until now I had not really considered them as a personal rule. The first is pretty easy, I don’t take pictures of people when they are eating. While I understand why people do […]
After yesterdays disaster I had to go out again today with the one picture theme in mind. I feel a lot better about this one. The problem is that the landscapes that I usually shoot are all in winter foliage mode and its all browns and more browns. That coupled with the unusually warm nice weather we are having here […]
I have read in many places that a fantastic photography excersize is going someplace and only taking one shot. It really makes you think before you take that shot. Yesterday I decided to give it a try and went to Natural Bridges. To add a second level of difficulty I decided to go at 1 in the afternoon, not quite […]
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