A little catch up

It's been awhile since I've updated in here.  I've had several photo opportunities recently and just got around to processing and uploading yesterday.

I've shot fireworks for The 4th, more at 1st Wednesday, a baseball game, a small concert, and a church ice cream social.

Here's a teaser from a couple of my new sets.....

Pleasanton Fund Run

I was privileged to attend my husband's first real gig with his new band, The Regulars.  They played for the After Party of the Pleasanton Fund Run Half Marathon.

Worship Concert

I've taken on the role of being a ministry photographer for the church. It was born sort of out of my always being there with a camera anyway (taking photos for my own edification) and Pastor M mentioning that they'd like an official ministry photographer or two. So I immediately sent off an email and volunteered.

Worship Concert.

The Worship Concert provided a bit of a challenge in the lighting. The lighting was concert style, so it was bright (and colored) on stage and dark in the congregation. That's fantastic for worshipping, really tricking for photographing. It was a real test of my ability to expose properly on manual. And of course the flash was off (not that it would do any good being in the back of the sanctuary trying to capture the front). Additionally, the lights would change color and intensity so I'd have to truly meter my exposure for every ... single ... shot. And sometimes I forgot or didn't have time to get it accurate. One thing that was nice was the soft colors up front and the background. The background on stage makes for some really fun photos. The way the plants or backlit and the soft blues off the wall and the pallet like wood structures. It is one of my favorite backgrounds the church has had and I love taking pictures against it. Almost so much that I want to do a couple portraits up there.

I am working on editing photos still. Knowing what to edit and how to edit and how to improve the photo after it's captured. Digitally photography and post-production software has really changed the photographic world and I'm not caught up yet. Some of these I think would make fantastic black and white photos; some need some lighting alterations. Some are perfect just as they are. I didn't go too deep in editing these photos, but am starting to think about what I'd do and how I'd do it.

Anyway ... Worship Concert Photos

No photo shoot is complete without the baby.

I think this could be so much more powerful in B-and-W or even Sepia or similar.  I love the hands raised contrasted with the head down contemplation.

Like I said ... sometimes I forgot to adjust my settings before getting the shot.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to re-meter and reshoot this shot.

So I've been playing with it in photoshop.  This is the best I've done so far.  Cool effect, but I was hoping to just calm down the bright and see the real thing.

Relay for Life ---- in Manual Mode!

This past weekend I was asked to photograph my husband's band, "Northern Static," play as entertainment at a local Relay for Life event.  My two daughters were in attendance, and some friends came by to watch also.

I was very excited to get to take some fun pictures and try to really capture the moment.  Sometimes photographing a band can be difficult, because it all looks the same, so every picture is the same as the last.  At least to a later viewer.  One challenge was to get new shots that were exciting and different from the last.  Another challenge was the lighting. The band was on a stage under a canopy.  It was "dark" to the camera, relative to the surrounding light.  Metering the light on the stage from various angles was challenging as well.

It was fun to also capture the excitement of the event.  The children playing.  The walkers walking.  The tents. The workers.  While not all of these photos were "artsy" and super duper fantastic photos with lots of wow-factor (enough adjectives?), they were important in capturing the day and what the event meant to people who were walking.

My daughter (middle) and her two friends from church.  I love how they looked so captivated by the music.

This "behind the scenes" look was the only one that I really had a chance to get.  It was challenging with the light peaking through from the other side of the stage.  

I didn't realize it when I snapped this photo, but the backlighting provided a great "glow" to her already gorgeous red hair. Because she was back-lit, I kept the exposure the same for her as I did for all the shots on stage.

The walking, rounding the bend.  I was going for a "story-telling" image with this, but only had my telephoto lens with me when I went up the bleachers to capture these shots.  I think it still captures the feeling from being there, though.

Another "story-telling" image.  This one of the center of the field with the stage.  You can  see how dark the stage is  with the shade, relative to the outside.  This provided a great deal of metering challenges.

Probably my favorite photo of the bunch.  I was attempting a leading lines effect.  I like the out-of-focus people in the background. I'm not sure what story this image tells, but I know it's telling something.

Another "behind the scenes" shot of one of the musicians taping his set list to the floor.

The awesome drummer going to town. I love the slight blur on the drum stick , implying the motion that he's moving super fast.  This is a technique I'd really like to work on, and in fact have tried a few times already, but can't find the right shutter speed.

Again, you can see the drastic lighting differences.  I opted to overexpose the light areas and properly expose faces and instruments. I love the images of the musicians really jamming and rocking out and enjoying what they're doing.

 I'm not sure any of these photos jump out as real zingers, but for my first "photo shoot" in manual mode, I am very pleased with the results.  I snagged quite a few fun shots of the kids at play.