Photography by Derek Miller

Melanie

2012-01-03T15:49:00.002-07:00

Melanie and I met a few times in different locations for her portraits so she could give her husband a surprise for Christmas. These two below are from the last time we met and probably at the top of my list for favorites of her.

Jill Stevens

2012-01-03T15:28:00.003-07:00

The last time I saw Jill was years ago in high school. She is the former Miss Utah, a soldier and currently an emergency room nurse. It was fun to catch up with her while taking photographs.

Recent Portraits

2011-12-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

New Lens Test

2011-12-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

After acquiring the Pentax FA* 80-200 f/2.8 lens (yes, I'm excited) last week from France I thought I'd share a few of the first pictures from it. Yes, it was shipped from France. This lens is quite rare, and it's been even more difficult to find one in the condition I wanted.

Just in Time for Christmas...

2011-12-08T08:44:00.001-07:00

...See some of my photos at the Canyon Gallery, located in the historic Rock Loft in Fruit Heights. Canyon Gallery is a very nice, quaint fine art gallery and they are currently featuring one of my photographs of Santa for Christmas. They have multiple size prints available too!

And here's another one of my photos displayed at the gallery below, visit them and tell me what you think.

A Few More...

2011-11-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

While many braved the crowds and tried to avoid getting trampled last night I was enjoying the comfort of my home working on recent photos. Or maybe I had just eaten too much and didn't want to get up...

Weekend Shoot

2011-11-22T14:04:00.001-07:00

A Few More

2011-11-16T13:57:00.001-07:00

...As promised. It was a fun shoot.

A Father and His Little Girls

2011-11-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

They braved the cold weather for a photo shoot last week just before the snow came. More photos from this session will be coming soon...

Using a 36-Year-Old Lens

2011-10-20T09:09:00.001-06:00

One of the benefits of my camera system is the ability to use over one million older lenses without any adapters. Pentax has made some pretty nice lenses over the years and with their backward-compatibility it's simple to use some of their nicest lenses from the 70s and other eras on their newest cameras.

Here's an example below from a 36-year-old lens on my camera recently. I don't think it did too bad. What do you think?

Old, Abandoned Buildings

2011-10-03T13:05:00.000-06:00

Does anybody else enjoy finding and exploring old abandoned buildings? I try to avoid the haunted ones, but finding new places to investigate is always an exciting discovery, especially if it's a ghost town instead of just one or two buildings.

Anyway, here are some recent treasures from my travels.

New Lens Test

2011-09-22T13:36:00.002-06:00

Today's post is about the Pentax DA 15mm f/4 Limited lens. It's small, built really well (all metal, like the other Limited lenses from Pentax), and resists sunlight flare like no other lens. A nice starburst is created when photographing bright lights. See for yourself below. What do you think?

Farmland

2011-09-14T14:40:00.001-06:00

It seems as though I'm often out in the middle of nowhere finding pictures. And just as often it happens to be in Idaho, the only place I know where it's common to park an old school bus in your backyard and a new school bus in your driveway. Idaho is beautiful country. What do you think?

Silly Girls

2011-09-06T15:48:00.001-06:00

These are my two silly girls on film- Lyla, 2, and Amelia, 4.

Something a Little Different...

2011-08-29T17:46:00.000-06:00

Audrey

2011-08-22T14:57:00.000-06:00

Here's a few from a portrait session with Audrey.

The Beautiful Blue Skies of Idaho

2011-08-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

Some Recent Pictures

2011-08-08T17:05:00.000-06:00

Motorcycles - Part 2

2011-08-01T17:29:00.000-06:00

Motorcycles - Part 1

2011-07-26T14:00:00.002-06:00

Exhibition riding today . . . Stay tuned for some race pictures coming soon. Thanks for looking.

Last Couple Rolls

2011-07-20T14:03:00.000-06:00

Here's a few pictures from the last couple rolls of film developed:

Rockets

2011-06-28T08:58:00.002-06:00

It was a great day to launch some rockets recently. Here's the results after developing the film:

A Few From Last Week

2011-05-25T12:04:00.001-06:00

I just developed this roll of film and I have a few more rolls coming soon. Here's a sample:

Easter's Here

2011-04-21T12:52:00.000-06:00

Projects & Plans

2011-04-18T15:08:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again. The weather is finally starting to warm up, the yard needs care, the garden needs planted and much more. Keeping busy usually helps me stay out of trouble, but recently I haven't had much time for trouble at all. I apologize it has been so long since a post here. Among so many projects I haven't taken the time to show some pictures, so here's one thing I've been spending a lot of time with recently:

New Gallery Book

2011-03-19T13:24:00.003-06:00

An owner of a local art gallery has decided to feature some of my photos. He suggested I bring a book with some of my work in it in case his customers want to see more of my pictures. He ordered a 30 x 30 inch print of the photo on the cover, which was his favorite, so I put that one on the front. I can't wait to see the photo displayed and framed when he's done with it. Here's the online version of the book for you to flip through:

The American Bald Eagle

2011-02-16T16:09:00.001-07:00

As I've mentioned before I'm not much of a bird shooter, however there are a couple exceptions. One of them is traveling to beautiful Farmington Bay during the first part of February to catch the Bald Eagles flying down from Alaska this time of year.

Heading out there last Saturday morning, I don't think we could have picked a better day or time to visit. Pictures are below.

Abstract Pattern

2011-01-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

Film Cameras

2011-01-10T12:49:00.001-07:00

Today's post features my film cameras. I've had a few others too (models ranging from 1960 to 2002), but sold them for various reasons and these were the ones to keep. All of them are manual focus and metal, two of my requirements for film cameras. They can all be used without a battery, as most of them only use the battery for the light meter. But my favorite part about them is they all use the same lenses. Today's lenses fit these cameras and the old lenses pictured below mount to my digital camera without any adapters.

First up is the KM from 1975:

Then came the K1000 (my first SLR camera) around 1976 and later the K1000 SE (Special Edition):

Next is the K2 DMD (Dedicated Motor Drive), Pentax's pro model from 1976:

Around the same time (1976) Pentax released the MX, one of the smallest SLRs:

A few years later (1980) the equally small ME Super came to market. The ME Super was the ME's (1976) big brother with more features:

The LX was another pro-level camera, produced from 1980 to 2001. This camera features dust and weather sealing, making it perfect for outdoor pictures during rain and snow:

In 1983 the Super Program was released. This camera has a light inside the viewfinder to view settings in low-light or dark conditions:

Recently Developed Film

2010-12-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Many of you already know I enjoy using film. It's not just the characteristics of film providing the experience for me, but more the camera used. My collection of old cameras include many produced from Pentax long ago, some even before I was born. The K1000 was given to me nearly 20 years ago, a simple, yet elegant and beautiful camera creating a long relationship with Pentax products. It still works perfectly and is a pleasure to use.

The joy I get when using the Pentax MX is hard to describe, but it still makes me smile every time. I don't know if it's the LED light meter in the viewfinder moving up and down as I adjust my exposure or the bells and whistles built into such a small package. (Maybe a future post should include a few pictures of my film cameras.)

After just finishing a roll of film recently in the MX I picked up the results last week. Here are a few pictures from the roll.

Portraits of Children

2010-11-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last week I did some portraits of children. Here are a few samples.

A Few More . . .

2010-11-01T11:10:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to highlight a few non-traditional shots taken not too long ago.

Recently Developed Pictures

2010-11-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

Nicole

2010-10-25T12:27:00.002-06:00

There were quite a few nice pictures from this shoot, so it was difficult to pick a couple to showcase here.

From the Weekend

2010-10-14T15:38:00.001-06:00

Here's a few photos of Bailee from the weekend.

Is it a Surprise, Film Again?

2010-09-20T13:56:00.000-06:00

More Outdoor

2010-09-13T11:35:00.000-06:00

With the temperatures dropping and nice weather here I'm taking more photos outside. The photos below were taken with film up in the mountains.

There used to be a bridge here, long before I was around:

Flowers

2010-09-07T10:37:00.000-06:00

Spending a lot of time outdoors lately I've come across a few good photo opportunities with flowers, so here's a few of my recent favorites:

Some of you may recognize the flower below from the dragonfly pictures posted not too long ago.

Hanging Out with Film Again

2010-08-30T11:14:00.000-06:00

These pictures were taken during the weekend.

More Film

2010-08-30T11:03:00.000-06:00

These are from last week:

Dragonfly

2010-08-23T14:09:00.003-06:00

I was so excited to see this large blue dragonfly I put the film camera down and pulled out my digital camera. This dragonfly had to be four to five inches long!

Here's a crop of the above photo for more detail:

Another set with a cropped photo (click on them for a larger view):

And finally, here's one with a couple extension tubes added to the camera behind the macro lens.

Film

2010-08-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

I'm giving my digital camera a break and pulling out the film again. Film is much more enjoyable to shoot. I tend to slow down, focus on what I'm doing and compose the shot better because I only get one shot with film. Maybe I should try harder to use the same method when shooting digital too.

Anyway, here are a few pictures developed over the weekend:

Moo

2010-08-03T13:42:00.000-06:00

The cows wouldn't hold still for me very long. I thought it was difficult to take photos of young children, but cows are even harder. Or maybe it's just me, or maybe it's just these cows.

Recent Portraits

2010-07-28T15:02:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures to look at:

Space

2010-07-06T16:07:00.002-06:00

Roses

2010-06-28T11:32:00.001-06:00

A very large rosebush lives in my backyard.

Camping

2010-06-21T15:54:00.000-06:00

While taking the Boy Scouts camping in Idaho last week I had the opportunity to take a few photos.

New Lens Test

2010-06-14T11:49:00.007-06:00

This lens was actually purchased just before the 77mm Limited tested in my previous post. However I have to admit I hadn't made time to test this lens until now because I was more excited for the arrival of the Limited lens.

Today's lens up for testing is one of Pentax's newer premium design lenses. The DA * 16-50mm f/2.8 is the little sibling to the highly-acclaimed DA * 50-135mm f/2.8. The * indicates it's built using premium quality materials. It's weather-sealed (and I've never tested this with this lens) so you can take it out in the rain and snow. The weather-sealing matches my Pentax camera which can get soaked and still operate fully-functional in inclement weather. The seals also keep dust out too, not just liquids.

New Lens Test

2010-06-08T08:38:00.003-06:00

With a couple new lenses recently arriving I'm guessing the next post here will be another test. Today's test shots are from the incredible 77mm f/1.8 Limited. I've been looking for this lens for some time now to complement my 43mm f/1.9 Limited, both film lenses and carrying the Limited name, they're all high-quality metal and glass - no cheap plastic. The 77 is a great portrait lens giving the subject a unique 3-D look as you'll see in a couple samples below.

SBK Championship Races

2010-06-02T14:43:00.000-06:00

There was a big crowd at the races Memorial Day weekend. Here's a few track-side shots.

Tigers

2010-05-17T10:45:00.001-06:00

In continuation of the theme from the last few posts here's a couple photos of tigers. If possible, I'll work on finding different subject matter for the next post.

Ladybug

2010-05-10T08:06:00.000-06:00

While out in the yard at the new house during the weekend this little lady wouldn't leave me alone. (I think my wife was getting jealous!) I grabbed my camera for a few close-up shots.

Fox Cub

2010-05-03T14:05:00.000-06:00

Most people enjoy animals. People who are fond of animals like baby animals even more. It's been a while since I've been able to post anything as I've been busy moving into and fixing an old house. Here's a fox cub I ran into during the weekend though. (I know a baby fox is properly termed a kit (or cub or pup) and a male fox is called a dog, a female fox is a vixen, so is it proper to call the fox pictured below a vixen kit?)

Cardinal

2010-03-22T13:27:00.000-06:00

I'm not much of a bird shooter as I typically prefer other subjects. However I do take the opportunity when I see Blue Jays or Cardinals.

Paint

2010-03-15T10:38:00.000-06:00

Here's this week's blog post. Thanks.

More Bubbles

2010-03-08T08:54:00.001-07:00

Continuing with the bubble theme from the last post, here's a few more:

Another Planet, Maybe?

2010-03-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

While I may not have visited another planet to take these photos, I do like how some of them turned out.

I used a macro lens to capture these bubbles in common, household dish soap.

Album

2010-02-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

Color

2010-01-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'll probably try this again sometime down the road, as I'm not thrilled with the results. I think this happens often with photographers and other artists. Speaking for myself though, I'll envision what I want to achieve in my head and then set up the shot. It's pretty rare to get the results to match with what I saw in my mind, but when I do I'm pretty excited about the photo.

New Lens Test

2010-01-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a macro lens for a while now, and I recently came into possession of a dedicated macro with 1:1 capability. I find myself constantly looking around for unique objects and surfaces to photograph with this lens, but for now here's a few of my first shots with it.

The photo below had a 2x teleconverter. I removed the teleconverter for the second one below.

Film

2010-01-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've loaded film into a camera, but recently having acquired another old Pentax film camera I wanted to test it out. Having no other film in the house except a couple rolls of 400 ISO expiring nearly seven years ago, I decided to go ahead and give it a try during Christmas time. I was especially excited to use the film camera when Santa personally paid a visit to the family on Christmas Eve. Below are two examples from the roll, the first being my favorite by far.

Fog and Frost

2009-12-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I arose early to get to a location I pass on the way to the office perfect for photographing the sunrise. I packed all my camera gear and was ready to go. As I stepped out of the house I immediately realized I wasn't going to be getting any sunrise pictures with thick fog in the air.

I was already up and itching to take some pictures, so I headed to the spot anyway. Instead of turning east to catch the fog blocking the mountains and the sun and the sky, I turned northwest and snapped this picture:

While walking through the snow out in the middle of no where, I decided to take some pictures of plants using my macro lens to capture the morning frost.

Patience

2009-12-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how patient my wife is with my photography habits. Especially when I'm constantly asking her to let me take pictures of her to try new things, places, lenses, tricks, etc. She often hears me asking her to hop in the car with me to check out something with my camera.

Just before the snow hit, we were doing just this. I had a few places in mind I wanted to try some pictures with to see how they turned out. I threw my camera gear in the car and off we went.

Jeremy and Erin

2009-12-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and Erin wanted some fall family portraits so we hurried out before the snow came and here's a sample of what we got.

Painting with Light

2009-11-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Wanting to try something new and finding a few helpful tips online, I tried light painting for the first time. I colored two LED bulbs, one red and one blue, with a marker and tied them together and this is the result:

Wall Project

2009-11-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

While browsing another photography blog some time ago I came across a picture of photos hanging in someone's nursery. I liked the idea and showed it to my wife (who had been asking me to build something to hang photos in our house for a while now), who also liked it. After a few trips to stores for supplies and a while later, we completed our project over the weekend. The first photos below are from our oldest child's room (my half of the project) and the second set is from our second child's room (my wife made these ones).
I wanted bright colors for our older girl's room, while my wife did muted colors for our second girl.

Heidi's Brideys

2009-10-26T13:59:00.000-06:00

Here are some shots of Heidi's bridal portraits.
And here are some "Before and After" pictures. Let me know what you think because I'm not sure which ones I prefer (I know it's up to the bride, I just want your comments for my preferences).

Before

After

Before

After

Mountain Man at Heart

2009-10-19T15:52:00.000-06:00

When people ask where I'm from the typical reply comes I was born in a log cabin in the mountains. To those who aren't believers yet I've revisited my birthplace, this time with a camera. It still looks just like I left it as a young child raised in the wild.

I'm a mountain man at heart, and if my job would allow it I'd have a mountain-man-beard to match. Until then I'll have to be content following dress and grooming code. I'd be a happy soul if I could move back and rough it, but my way of life might not be supported by the occupation of mountain man.

I'd live high on the hill, far away from any visitors . . . Wait, maybe I'm confusing myself for a mountain man instead of a hermit.

I could be both.

Dan & Heidi

2009-09-24T09:23:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time, in a land far away lived a boy named Dan and a girl named Heidi. Well, Dan and Heidi have decided they're getting married. Last night we were able to get a few engagement pictures taken before it was dark, and here they are:
And they lived happily ever after.
The End

New Lenses: Tests

2009-09-17T12:15:00.000-06:00

I recently acquired two new lenses. It takes some time to become familiar with a new lens. I'm not yet fully comfortable with these, as more testing is required to find sweet spots, etc. However, when a new lens arrives, I can hardly wait to open the box and try it out. Below are a few test shots.

DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited
DA 17-70mm f/4 SDM

Moose on the Loose

2009-09-10T16:14:00.001-06:00

During last weekend camping was the plan. Well, I guess three moose had camping on their agenda too. While in the canyon a momma moose with her twin calves decided they liked our camping spot too, and I wasn't going to say no to a momma moose.
While following them for quite a few hours momma moose was getting used to me being around. The calves weren't too sure about me being so close, but only about 20 feet away I was able to get one of the babies to pose and smile:
After some time of running and playing together, the babies started to get tired:
After a short nap the babies woke up and were ready for a snack. Forgetting I was there, the two calves walked toward me and started eating leaves on nearby trees. I could have reached out and touched them as they walked by, but didn't want to push my luck.

Shoot for the Stars

2009-08-24T13:41:00.000-06:00

During the weekend's road trip there were a couple nights with no moon in the sky. With nice weather I set up a tripod and used my homemade remote to fire away some shots. I set my remote to take pictures continuously, so when I came back about nearly an hour later I would be able to see how much the stars had moved during that time. Here are a few photos.

The Milky Way
Star Trails

Cars

2009-08-18T16:24:00.000-06:00

I didn't hit Nevada during the last two weeks of road trips, so I decided it was time to go west. I had a few photo hot spots I wanted to visit too. On my way back from Nevada I stopped by the Bonneville Salt Flats as I'd never been before. It was the final day of races there, so I was able to see lots of nice cars and a few trying to break records. I was able to get a few pictures of old cars too.

Road Trippin'

2009-08-10T16:51:00.000-06:00

The last two weeks flew by, both in a matter of time and out the car window, as I spent most the time on road trips. Driving through Utah, Wyoming, Montana and to the northern tip of Idaho and back I was able to take a few pictures. Here's just a few:
I was in a sea of yellow while photographing the two above.It didn't bother the elk at all that I was only 15 feet away.The frogs weren't home, but I saw lots of lily pads floating on the water.

A Little Prayer

2009-07-20T09:19:00.000-06:00

Amelia was a great model this weekend. I asked her to pretend like she's praying and pretty soon she's having a heavenly conversation. This was a fun shoot to do. Amelia enjoyed it too and was excited to run up to the camera to view the result each time the shutter fired. These are two of my favorites from the shoot.

Police Shootout

2009-07-07T15:19:00.000-06:00

I was recently asked to photograph the Utah Highway Patrol's Public Information and Education section for a project they are working on. This shoot was a lot of fun because I was able to ride around town in some pretty nice cars. Here's a couple from the first session:Following the first shoot: "Then...", a second one was scheduled: "...and Now".
Here's a couple fun outtakes from the group:

New Lens Test

2009-07-01T10:05:00.000-06:00

I recently purchased a new lens; when it arrived I was so busy with work I couldn't go home early to take a look at it and try it out. I had two work meetings downtown near each other, and in between the two was 20 minutes to spare. The new toy sat in the shipping box for almost a week before I was able to open it. But this morning was different: I opened the lens and threw it in my camera bag and left for work. After the first meeting I headed over to Liberty Park and while taking a lunch break, attached the new lens and fired a few test shots.

Above is my favorite from the set, 300 mm, f/5.6.
I also want to mention today is the second shoot with the Utah Highway Patrol. The first went really well. Images will be posted soon.

Trees (and Good News)

2009-06-25T13:29:00.000-06:00

I like trees. During the weekend I just planted a second apple tree in the yard, right next to the white nectarine tree and the new raspberry bushes placed over the weekend too. I was busy digging holes, so I wasn't able to photograph the moment, so I'll show some other trees I've enjoyed.

The good news (and main reason for this post) is I was asked to do a photo shoot for the Highway Patrol today. It's not every day someone gets asked to shoot police officers! It all goes down Monday, the first of two shoots. I'll probably post the pictures here once the project is done.

This tree was photographed only a few months ago, the others were taken some time ago.
This next one was taken as a thunder storm was passing by. I love the colors and the twisted tree trunk.

Idaho (Part 3)

2009-06-06T19:39:00.000-06:00

This is the third and final post of the Idaho pictures (until my next trip). The first part contained photos of people, part 2 had vehicles and finally, this one will show images of buildings (and a couple landscapes because they had no where else to go).
I now see what Katharine Lee Bates meant when she wrote America the Beautiful and included the line "for purple mountain majesties" when I took this and a few other sunset photos:

Idaho (Part 2)

2009-05-31T17:21:00.000-06:00

The last post had images of people, so in part two of my Idaho trip I'll put up photos of cars and trains. Check back for part three, the last of the series, for one more category of photos.
My little girl kept asking me if she could sit in the old cars as we rode by them on the 4-wheeler. She also told me she was sad because the cars were broken and didn't work anymore. Instead of allowing her to sit in the dirty cars I told her she could climb on a few of the old tractors instead (as I pulled out my camera). There are two pictures of her on a tractor in my last post.

Idaho (Part 1)

2009-05-26T12:36:00.000-06:00

During Memorial Day weekend our family went to Idaho to camp near Bear Lake. I had been looking forward to this for some time, as I figured this would be a great opportunity to get some photographs (and I was excited about riding the 4-wheelers, shooting guns and having some pretty serious paintball wars).
Here are a few with one of my favorite models: my little girl.
We took a few 4-wheelers to the nearby train tracks to smash some pennies, which my little girl was thrilled to see. While we were waiting for the train I took a few pictures.

In the Spotlight

2009-05-21T08:03:00.000-06:00

Here's what I came up with last night. I've been a little busy with projects around the house and work, so it's been a while since I've taken any photos. I'll try to make more time for photos this summer.

This concept isn't my own. I read about the idea and thought it would be fun to try. I have a light low in front of the ball to soften the shadow created by my wireless flash above the ball. I also have two reflectors on the sides of the ball to reflect some more light on the bottom so it didn't make the bottom half of ball black. The ball was placed on my coffee table in the dark and the shot was taken.

(Click on the photo for a better view.)

Campfire

2009-03-23T10:54:00.000-06:00

The recent warm weather (although it's snowing outside right now) urged the family to get together for dinner over the fire, dutch oven desert and a night under the stars. Adjusting my camera to a large aperture and a fairly rapid shutter speed, I was able to hand-hold my camera and get fairly crisp flames with no blur. Here they are.

Keeping the shutter open for a fraction of a second longer for this second shot showed trails of glowing ashes after poking the fire with a stick.

On the Playground at the Park

2009-03-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

My little 2-year-old has been excited to go to the park to play. We told her she would have to wait until the snow melted and the weather was a little warmer. But as I considered photo opportunities, my little girl was about to get her way (as usual).

It was a cold evening so our visit to the park was short. I didn't even stick around long enough to pull out proper lighting equipment to use while shooting, so I grabbed my camera, two lenses and a tripod and set up my gear on the playground. My wife was a great sport standing at one end of the merry-go-round while I was on the other end. I mounted the camera to a tripod and selected a smaller aperture than I typically shoot with to increase the exposure time. We got the merry-go-round spinning at a good speed, and I fired away until my fingers were too cold and numb to press the shutter release button anymore (which didn't take long). We were dizzy and a little sick for a couple hours after this because of the spinning, but here's two photos that made it worth it:

I typically don't use color filters to make adjustments to my photos, but I wanted to try a warming filter for this one, as well as a few other adjustments such as the vignetting and blur around the edges.

Sugar and Smoke

2009-02-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

While taking pictures of smoke proved to be a lot of fun, I initially set out to do more with the smoke displayed in my earlier post. As the smoke traveled upward, an object placed above to disturb the path might be interesting. After obtaining a spoon from the kitchen and fixing the handle to a box to elevate it above the smoke, I placed the box next to the plume. As the stream of smoke rose it filled the spoon, spilling around the sides and continuing in it's original direction.

Once I was done taking the pictures, I simply cropped out the box supporting the spoon and rotated the picture 180 degrees. The two samples below are actually viewed upside-down.

The result from the first example above turned out well, so I thought I'd mix things up a little and try a setup where I wouldn't need to turn the picture upside down. Over the weekend I used a similar setup from the shoot above and while sitting beside the box supporting the spoon, I poured sugar over the cereal with one hand, and fired the remote shutter release with the other.

It was difficult to aim the sugar over the spoon in the dark, so it took a few tries to get some good ones. I'll probably redo these in a couple weeks and change the lighting setup so the cereal is brighter. Until then, here's what I came up with below.

Equipment

2009-02-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about photographers' equipment nicely arranged in a picture that draws me to it. I've always been interested in the various assortment of camera gear other people use. So maybe there are others out there who would like to see what I use. I took this image yesterday using my wife's camera.

The equipment in my hands most often are the Pentax K10D attached to a 43mm f/1.9 Limited FA Pentax lens, and an AF-540 FGZ flash. I use various filters, and all the lenses in the photo above have filters attached to them.

Photographing Smoke

2009-02-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

For my first post on my first blog I thought I would discuss a recent photography project: Photographing Smoke.

This was the first time I've tried to photograph something like this indoors. I set up my studio in the dark late at night and set up my wireless flash (AF-540 FGZ) to the left of the subject. The smoke was produced by a single stick of burning incense.

The problem with my set-up caused light to spill on my backdrop. I shoot with the K10D, so I don't need a hot shoe remote to trigger the flash. Instead, the wireless flash is controlled by the in-camera flash. Because the wireless flash required my in-camera flash to fire, extra light showed up in my photos (even though I had a card in front of the in-camera flash to block the subject from the light). You can see this in the example below.

After going back to the drawing board I doubled the size of my backdrop, allowing me to double the distance of the smoke from the backdrop. Then I placed the flash in a small white box to effectively direct all the light toward the subject. Again covering the in-camera flash with a card I was able to produce much better results the second time around.

I call this one Pregnant Woman:
This is one of my favorites from the shoot:
This one is a compilation of several shots: