These are the very first shots the night Rory came home from the hospital after her birth.
Quick! Get a shot of her brother meeting his sister for the very first time. I was not quite prepared. The light was poor. As you can readily see there is a lot of grain(noise) in these photos. I had not planned for dim lighting and did not want (simply forgot) to use flash.
Hey! A shot is a shot. I have to live with that. It’s all we got. No one else was holding an iPhone nearby. I wish….
One – me/I – never cease comparing myself and my work to others. Do I measure up? Am I better than ordinary better than average?
Family snaps? Easily I am as good or better. Professional group shot? Um, the jury is out. For sure, I am less expensive! In a quiet moment, I can stage and shoot a family portrait right up there as good as the best of them. Gesture(s)? “Jump!”
I favor natural light. Avoid harsh shadows. Bright sunlight is too much for the camera to compensate over such a wide range. Incandescent home lighting tends toward yellow tones. I prefer a good shot out of the camera as opposed to a long fix in Photoshop. No one group shot is ever perfect. Someone is looking, frowning, talking, or simply has their eyes closed. Take multiple shots, pray the crowd is patient, and hope for the best.
When it comes to a group shot, there are no bad ones – it’s all about posterity, eh?
Another day, another party, another group shot. I am about tapped out. There is not room within this small space to jump.
Point!
Aha! It works. At least this is not run of the mill. Different. Fun! Laugh! Ok! I got a new trick.
As with all things, exposure and focus would help. And it would help if everyone were looking at the camera. Of course someone always has their eyes closed. So I shoot multiple shots and pick among the least worst. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Kathy with a “K” or a “C” I am never quite sure. But birthday for sure! It was but a moment in the birthday aisle to get a tiara. No brainer! Embarrass the birthday girl? Nope?!
At home, poor light, but enough to shoot without flash. Flash? Better? But distracting. I went with the automatic everything settings and got a decent documentation of the occasion.
It recalls our relationship with Russia. Here and now it is among my older cats and Mozart, the new. (pardon the mess) Mozart is ready to pounce upon the two Maine cats. They are alert and wary. Mozart jumped up. He jumped down. No fur was lost. Everyone remains in a state of high alert. Mozart remains a kitten in search of a bit of acceptance and affection. Willow? Mostly they orbit but do not interact. I fear that Mozart is an “only cat” in a room full of cats. He walks about the house “chirping” and hoping to make a friend. At this point the best I have is less hissing when Mozart enters a room. BTW, how often do you get an opportunity to get three cats in the same picture frame? Lucky!
It’s all flash (photography) for different reasons. I need the very fast shutter effect. Movement would kill my shots. The room is otherwise too dark to get a good image. It’s ain’t great but a least it’s less worse. Posing a cat on a table is less worse unless you factor in the squirming. Flash, sometimes it is necessary. I have it, and, use it.
Here is the end shot. Ah! Ha!
After all you the reader are the end user. I decided today was the day for a family pic. It ain’t easy. First you clear the table. Oh dear! My my! Then set up the tripod. Get out the big camera, the flash, and the remote. Catch each cat and pose with them. Ha ha! Eight cats! It’s a good trick to find and then catch them all. But after all, I am the human. No cats and no humans were injured in the production of this photo.
There! Easy! It took 109 shots and a couple hours. I can do it again. Would you want to? Yes, yes, I realize we’re gonna need a bigger table. …’cause I saw this cute orange cat in the pet store…
And yes, I used Photoshop.
Our first time back since the pandemic…
It’s nice to be back. It is a small joint. They survived the pandemic. We have not been here since 2019. Crazy. Yes, the food is as good as we remember.
I find it easier with a point and shoot camera, or any camera. iPhone is fine. But… I do not facebook, Instagram or tik tok. We all have our preferences. I prefer a camera.
Don’t overthink! This is the last shot in my catalog. … for right now. It won’t be the last for long. Things are an utter mess. Photos go missing in a heartbeat. I can’t find…. But then I do… find things. No matter how orderly I think I am, and, how careful, and how redundant, things go missing all the time. mistakes are made. Punctuation? Capital letters? Whatever? I lose stuff all the time. I try. Try?
Laugh and clap! I am old… older. Memory fades! I shall be at peace and worry less. By this very writing I am worrying. Oh gee! Darn! Etc etc.
Fun! Fun with food! It’s soft, not quite in focus. It’s fine. It will do. It is fit for my illustrative aim. It makes you giggle to see how puff pastry can look in an amateur baker’s hands. Mine! We ate it all up. The puffs were roundly admired. It’s easy to do. Maybe this might inspire you too? … to photograph, silly, not to bake. But if you like my recipe….
…Next shot please.
…spring. As this is posted we are probably in full swing with spring. Hey! A rhyme!
I love this flower. It looks like it has a little tongue sticking out at you. I know the name of it. I search for the plant in the nursery every spring. It makes me smile all summer long.
In this instance a macro lens helps. The flowers are tiny. Every task has its best tool. For closeups… well, rest assured, you can get a shot without a special lens. I did it for a long time. But the purchase is justified in the end by the results and the ease with which the proper tool makes it so much better. Does it? Hey! One always tries to justify expense to my dear wife in the face of a lot of $$ going out the door. My previous macro lens was so old… how old?… it still focused manually. I would liken it to a hard line phone in your home. How quaint!
Oh yeah! Inflation! The price of eggs topped $5. We – Colleen – buys organic free range yada yada…. Yes, double the price of regular eggs. It’s pretty entertaining too! Blue eggs! Yup! Technicolor. She lifted the lid and I was blown away. I will note an egg is an egg. The yolk is still yellow. You won’t see the shell when you eat the egg….
Grab shot in the supermarket. Yes, who takes pictures of a carton of eggs? Lighting can be tricky. Fluorescent lights have a green tint. Ha ha. The new modern camera compensates. I am saved! … except for the blue colored eggs…
Oh happy eggs!
PhotoCritical 