Photography

Live from Seattle

Posted by Pam on May 28, 2009 in Life, Photography, Travel | 6 comments

On Friday I will have been in Seattle a whole week. The days I’ve been here have flown by, probably because my friends and I have filled it with lots of sightseeing. My first two nights I was here I found myself quite overwhelmed by being in a new place, and I’ll be honest at times I wanted my Mom. Back home I’m used to the comforts of a lot of space from other people, so it felt odd being surrounded by people. It still feels odd but I seem to be coping a lot better. My friends are heading back home tomorrow and it’s inevitable that I’ll probably freak out again. Heh-heh.

Speaking of freaking out, Tuesday was our first time using public transportation by ourselves and it was a complete disaster. It took a good portion of the day switching from bus to bus to get to the Space Needle. Finally we got there and I don’t think any of really got to enjoy it from all of the walking we did during the day – trying to get there. Today was a lot better. My friends stayed at a hotel last night and are doing so tonight. I met them down at their hotel today and made it there without any trouble. Go me! I feel a bit more confident using public transportation because of the problems we had on Tuesday; I guess it was a blessing in disguise.

Here are just a few photos I’ve taken of Seattle so far . . . I’ve still got lots and lots of editing to do and hopefully I’ll get around to it eventually. I’m feeling very inspired being in Seattle right now.

Week 1

Posted by Pam on Jan 8, 2009 in Photography | 6 comments

My first week of Project 365 is officially complete! With the exception of tonight’s photo I’ve been pretty happy with the results. I know it’s going to become harder to get quality photos when classes starts next week. I just need to accept I may not be happy with every picture I post each day. I guess that’s the whole point: looking back and seeing how far you’ve come.

Both of these photos are from Tuesday’s trip into the city. I picked the wrong day to go because it was non-stop rain and very hard to get out and take photos. I did happen to capture the fog over the 2nd St. bridge (top photo). There was much more fog, but I waited on taking the photo until after I finished my lunch. My friend Rob warned me it would be gone by the time we finished, but I didn’t listen. I guess I should listen to him more often; I probably won’t though! That night Rob showed me how to paint with light (bottom photo). I’ve always wanted to know how to do this, but was too lazy to really seek it out. It really isn’t too hard once you figure out how to write legibly. I had probably 40 photos on my camera just playing around. I was told you have to write backward, but found that writing normally and reversing it in Photoshop works perfect. Heh-heh.

The new year

Posted by Pam on Jan 2, 2009 in Internet, Life, Photography, Technology | 7 comments

I first began this post wanting to detail 2008 and the many things that happened, but I don’t want to bore you with what you’ve been able to read in the past, or that I’ve told you. Most of my readers are close friends who hear about what I’m up to on a regular basis, especially if you read my twitter updates. I probably update twitter more than I should at times, but I suppose there are far worse addictions. Overall, 2008 has been a wonderful year. I’ve met a lot of new friends, mostly through flickr, that I continue to see on a regular to somewhat regular basis. Most importantly, I traveled more than I’ve ever done before in a year span. I think that was my big “resolution” for 2008: to travel more. To view photos from 2008 click here.

As for 2009 I’m not making any “resolutions” per-say, maybe a few goals. The word “resolution” seems like a doomed word, who really keeps their resolutions? Well, I suppose there are people out there with willpower, but I’m not one of them. I guess my big goal for this 2009 is to complete Project 365.

I attempted Project 365 last year and it fizzled out shortly after day 100. I lasted longer than I originally thought I would . . . so that’s positive? If you’re unfamiliar with Project 365 it’s pretty simple: you take a photo each day. I recall learning quite a bit about my camera when I was participating, and it’s not a crazy goal to have to keep up with. It helps that some of my friends are participating this year too. I posted my first photo (left) yesterday of my niece. If you’d like to keep up with the my project without joining flickr, you can subscribe to the feed here or livejournal users can add tmg_flickr to their friends.

I’m also brainstorming design ideas for a personal photography website. My brother told me I should do it, and for some reason I’m listening to him. What’s the worst that could happen? Not getting any clients? I’m at least attempting a step forward.

I hope 2008 treated you well and 2009 continues to do so! Happy new year!

Christmas party

Posted by Pam on Dec 29, 2008 in Photography | 2 comments

Jason, Christy, Paul, Rudy’s girlfriend, Rudy, Me, Rob, JJ (Santa), Kim, Scott, Jack, Jenn, John, Ben, and Tom

We had a Christmas party at Kim and Scott’s new place on Saturday, where we all engaged in some fun photography. I wish I took these photos, but alas, I did not. I have John and Jenn to thank, who are the masters of light. You guys rock! :)

The top photo were all individual photos of Kim, but Jenn put our heads on Kim’s body. Thank god, because no one would want to see me in that outfit! ;-P I have to say I do look pretty good with a gun, right?

The bottom photo, John took individual portraits of each of us and grouped them all together. This is definitely my favorite group photo to date. I am very glad that I met these fantastic people in 2008 on Flickr. I have learned many things from this group of people, and I always look forward to hanging out with them. I can’t wait to see what 2009 brings to us!

Vote for me, please!

Posted by Pam on Dec 9, 2008 in Photography | 8 comments

Please vote for my photo @ JPG magazine. $100 is in it for me if it shows up in the magazine, and you have until February. If I win, I’ll give out personal hugs for anyone in a 50-mile radius! Heh-heh.

Night Shooting

Posted by Pam on Nov 27, 2008 in Photography | 6 comments

Last night Rob and I ventured out in the cold weather, and we headed to downtown Louisville to take long exposure photos. The photo to the left Rob took, and the lower one I took.

The photo of me wasn’t a long exposure; Rob simply placed his strobe on the ground in front of me. I was really surprised how dark everything behind me looks, given the fact the bridge (2nd Street) that we were on was fairly lit up. I imagine as he took these photos he blinded many drivers as they passed by. Fortunately, there were no accidents! Heh.

By the end of the night, I wasn’t sure how I felt about my photos. Compared to Rob, who has been doing this much longer than I have, my photos were pretty mediocre. However, I was happy to find a few that I did like this morning. The photo below was taken with Rob’s 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens. I’m really surprised that he let me borrow it, considering that I told him I was going to steal his 5D Mark II camera when/if he bought it! O;-)

I’ve been saving a little money here and there for a new lens to replace my kit lens. I’m torn between a wide angle or a lens with a focal point similar to the kit lens (18-55mm). I’ve been eyeing the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 and the Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens. The 17-40mm would be wide enough for what I’ll be using it for, but I love the look of most photos taken with an ultra-wide angle lens. I have to add that Rob’s 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens was really nice…. but definitely out of my price range! I think the lens itself is more than I’ve invested overall in my camera collection. Ha!