Focusing...

Three shots taken with the new Mark III that came in the mail the day before my brother-in-law's wedding reception, showing the power of what the new camera can do.

The group shot was taken on fully automatic focusing mode, with the camera set to "machine gun." Every single shot taken (more than 30 over the course of a few seconds) is in focus. The camera was able to intelligently decide the subject, figure out how fast it was moving toward the camera, and keep up with the focus every step they took. Unbelievable.

The second shot was taken with the 85mm 1.8 lens - a lens that usually sits in my closet. With every other DSLR I've had, the thing was way too erratic, simply because at 1.8 the focus is so shallow that I would almost never focus on what I wanted it to... but with the Mark III, almost all of the 100 or so shots I took with the thing are focused... and that includes some really low-light, tough situations.

Finally, the last shot is of Ira, my father-in-law. It's taken at ISO 3200, and hasn't had any post-processing done to reduce noise. The noise level in the shot is simply stunning and now allows me to shoot at ISO 3200 at a wedding when I'd only go to 1600 before.

Nearly every shot was in focus the entire night. Every one. Even when it was extremely dark and muddy (indoors with artificial light) I was getting shots I wouldn't have thought I'd get before without taking dozens of photos and hoping for the best.

The night was a blast, and the Mark III helped me capture the moments. I think that makes it worth the money...

One more IR

Another IR before moving on to different shots...

Flexing

Sometimes, in order to get better, you have to flex your muscles, or work them out. Using a infrared filter on a lens seems to have that effect on me in photography.

The Hoya R72 filter, when placed on the lens, seems to cancel out pretty much all light visible to our eyes. When you look through the viewfinder, it's a bit of a shock, as you might think your camera is broken - all you see is black.

You pretty much can't trust your light meter, and although the autofocus does seem to work, you might not be sure what you're focusing on, not to mention the exposures being so slow it's almost impossible to use a high f/stop without a tripod (and I hate tripods).

It's kind of light the film days - when you'd have to do the best you can, make a very educated guess, and see what happens when you get the film developed...

It's exciting because it slows me down, makes me think, and humbles me just a little bit. All good stuff for the photographic brain.

The shot above was taken at f/13 and one full second on the shutter. I had placed the camera on the ground and took just two photos at different exposures. This one worked out the best.

Dream World

My wife keeps describing the photos taken with the infrared filter as "dream like." I'd have to agree. Very cool.

Opportunities

My wife and I went out late last night to catch a few night shots of the Mutual of Omaha Banner put up for the Olympic swimming trials in Omaha. Far too often we miss these things - but we made an effort to get out there. I actually brought my tripod for once, even though tripods are mostly for sissies.

BONUS SHOT: BEHIND THE SCENES

Five years and counting...

This is my 200th post. No big deal, really, except to say that it comes the day after my five year wedding anniversary.

To celebrate, my wife and I took to the countryside, visiting Brownville, NE - a small town at the edge of Nebraska - a town that hangs on despite the odds against it still being there. We visited art galleries, had a tour of the winery, and had some time to walk around and take some photos.

It was a blast, and we followed it up by visiting Lincoln's art district that night for First Friday. It was a surprise to meet some old friends and chat about their artistic adventures, and it was just fun to check out the galleries, hold hands, and smile all night.

Life is so strange and full of impossibilities. I'd have to say that I would never consider myself a photographer if it weren't for the belief and encouragement my wife has in me.

Through the 200 posts in this blog, you can see me grow, from a very rough beginner to a pretty damned good photographer. I owe everything to my wife, as she's the one who has been there for me every step, making me believe that I could be something more.

It's been five years of Marriage - 200 posts in this blog - and I can't wait to see what kind of photographer I'll be like in another five years and a few hundred more posts. Whatever changes happen, I'll owe it all to my wife.

Thanks, Casey, for five of the greatest years in my life.

Direction

Sometimes it's tough to know what the right choice is. You have to ask yourself if the road you've been traveling on is the right one - or if another route might work best.

I'm making some changes in my newspaper class that will take us on a completely different road... exciting, but somewhat scary. Let's hope it's the right road for us to be on.

Look up

Sometimes beauty can be found in the simplest, most common of things. I wish I took the time more often to notice.

The Naked Cowboy

Hello again, everyone. Sorry for the absence. I just returned from a school-sponsored trip to Chattanooga, and I'm still getting my bearings. Over the past few months, I've done more traveling than most of my life!

Here is a shot from Times Square (where else?) of the Naked Cowboy. It was madness around him, with everyone giving him money and asking him to pose for photos. Great stuff, and he really seemed like a nice guy. I love this photo!

Letting Loose

So today was just another day, until I watched a video sent to me in a mass email at school.

If you know me, I almost never watch those things, and make fun of them more than not, but I was a bit bored of editing papers and wanted to take a break. So I watched it.




The video, and my wife's wonderful blog (http://poemfish.typepad.com/poemfish/2008/04/the-right-time.html), really hit home with me, and made me realize that I wasn't being myself this year - that I was focusing on the wrong things as a teacher.

Sometimes I get too caught up in the little details. This year I've been so stressed out at the small stuff that I've actually yelled at students - and that's just not me. It's not who I am as a teacher, and not who I ever want to be, period.

So today I showed my newspaper class the video, and I teared up as I told them how hard it's been for me, and how I didn't want to be that guy. I asked them to remember to try to let go of the little things - the "he said/ she saids" that so often disrupt young lives. I asked them to look at their lives and ask themselves how they can choose, every day, to have a better one than the last. I told them that I would do the same. More than half of them rushed me with a "group hug."

My problem has been tunnel vision: "WE MUST GET THE YEARBOOK AND NEWSPAPER DONE!" has been my theme... and all the commas must be right... always write "said" and never says with quotes... everything must be written in AP Style... etc. I've forgotten that the yearbook and newspaper is, absolutely, not worth having a bad day over, and what's important is to help the students become better people.

So I convinced my editor-in-chief to let us all go out and play touch football. We did, and it was awesome. We laughed, we didn't keep score, and I moved faster than the students thought possible. Two students took pictures - a few decided to sun bathe rather than play - but we all had fun just goofing off. No deadlines - no drafts - just getting together as a class and bonding a bit.

I need to remember that I must be the example for my students - and that I should, and will, choose to have a great day, every day.

Chance Ridge

I've been waiting for this photo for around ten years. It's out near my in-law's house in Elkhorn, NE. I've driven by this spot hundreds of times, and each time when I see it, I think to myself "that would make a cool shot."

I tried a few times - but they all stunk. They were flat. They contained the phone lines just above. Or they just had poor composition.

Maybe this time, I finally got a good photo. I got closer. I put more depth-of-field in the photo. I "composed" the shot, and then I added some effects in Photoshop.

Poem Ten

This is a spot in a back alley in New Hope, PA, just off the main tourist-trap street. I walked right by the scene before it registered in my brain moments later. I stepped back and grabbed some shots with the my Pentax.

Poem Nine

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

Poem Eight

you're keeping in step
in the line
got your chin held high and you feel just fine
because you do
what you're told
but inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold

just how deep do you believe?
will you bite the hand that feeds?
will you chew until it bleeds?
can you get up off your knees?
are you brave enough to see?
do you want to change it?

what if this whole crusade's
a charade
and behind it all there's a price to be paid
for the blood
on which we dine
justified in the name of the holy and the divine

just how deep do you believe?
will you bite the hand that feeds?
will you chew until it bleeds?
can you get up off your knees?
are you brave enough to see?
do you want to change it?

so naïve
to keep holding on to what I want to believe
i can see
but i keep holding on and on and on and on

will you bite the hand that feeds you?
will you stay down on your knees?

NIN - Trent Reznor

Poem Seven

Poem Six

A Clear Midnight
by Walt Whitman


This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson
done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the
themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

Poem Five

I wait.
I compose myself.
My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech.
What I must present is a made thing, not something born.

Margaret Atwood - from The Handmaid's Tale

Poem Four

THEIR NAMES


Their names linger on the tongue:
Fallujah, Ramallah, Samarra, Ryad --
Like water, whispers, illicit love.

But in the rubbled streets
Fear, hunger and flames
Embrace flesh, whole families

Burning homes to ground
Memories to ashes
All that was precious to the dead

But is of no value on this earth
To the living who ignite the fires
The ones who erase their names.

- Nancy Metcalf - http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org

Poem Three

On Deaf Ears - by One Minute Silence

Nobody listens any more to the lies
Is there a woman who keeps swallowing flies
Is there a Jesus waiting arms open wide
Too many stories, and too many.

Nobody listens any more to the trees
All moving too fast turning birds into bees
Some say the hurricane will soon be a breeze
I want to see it I want to believe

Wake up and smell the roses trust me and leap
The hand that rocks the cradle rocks you to sleep
It's not what you think it's not what you see
Is there a future or is it just me

Poem Two

The hills find peace
Locked armed guard posts
Safe from the screams
Of the children born as ghosts
Gates guns and alarms
Shape the calm of the dawn
Peering down into the basin
Where death lives on
When young run foaming at the mouth with hate
When burning batons beat the freezing who shake
Under the toxic sunsets they dine and toast
Of walls deny the terror faced
By the children born as ghosts

-Zach de la Rocha