The birth of a new kitchen

Ever since November 13, 2008 , the Jackle family has been on the move-both literally and figuratively.  This was the day that we listed our previous home here in Raleigh.   By surprise, we sold the house the very next day.  It was off to the races. 

Since then, we  bought a new house, moved, enrolled our daughter into a new school,  made it through the thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, one of us survived a kidney stone lithotripsy, ripped out new home kitchen cabinets, unpacked some things, and finally installed a new kitchen.   After being without a kitchen sink and dishwasher  for 2-3 weeks, the kitchen is now functional.  No more washing dishes in the bathroom sink by hand. 

Have you ever tried to wash a big bowl, frying pan,  or pitcher in a bathroom sink?  You should try it sometime .  Remember to keep a towel handy for the water on the vanity countertop and bathroom floor.

I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due.  None of the above would have been possible without the efforts and support of my lovely soul mate and wife Jackie.  Ya, that is right!  Jackie Jackle is her name.   Long story on that one! We will keep it for another time. I really appreciate all the things she does for our family. 

The pictures below only touch on one thing that she has done to improve our family life.  The list is endless!!!

Before

  Got to love these vintage 1987 plain white cabinets with the ever so desirable black country hardware.  These are all the cabinets and countertop that existed in the house when we purchased it.  A few of the wall cabinets actually look great in their new home which is in the utility room with the washer and dryer. This was another one of Jackie’s great ideas.

 

After

Here are some of the many new kitchen features and decisions  from the brain child of Jackie Jackle:

•  Over the range microwave.  The previous kitchen only had a range hood.
• The island that you see in the middle for additional cabinet space and family gathering point. The arched countertop was genius Jackie!! Sophie sits on the bar stool to do her homework as we prepare meals in the kitchen.
• New dishwasher.   Our plates would not fit in the bottom rack of the original dishwasher.  We sent the original one to habit for humanity via the previous owner who does a lot of work with them.
• The whole right wall is new cabinets.  Previously, there was only a refrigerator located on that wall.  Can you say “double size” my kitchen please ? 
• New Insinkerator Garbage Disposer – Thanks Mom!!!!!

Photos are courtesy of Jackie Jackle.  A Jackle of of all trades and master of many!!

Packer Gnome felt at home in the snow

 

For people that know me,  it is old news that I am big Green Bay Packer fan.  I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and have followed the Packers since the early 1970s after meeting Bart Starr at the local YMCA in 1971.  I also run a Green Bay Packer fan site called PackerIQ.com which has Packer trivia, NFL picks contest, user submitted Packer “tundra” trivia, and Packer news.   It has been around since 1998-9.

Over Christmas, I received a present from my favorite big brother “Intense Dave”(my only brother- but do not tell him I told you).   He sent me this Packer  Gnome that proudly lives at our oak tree by the driveway to our home.  I never thought he would experience the snow this quickly here in Raleigh, NC.  I am sure that he feels right at home. This picture was taken during our recent snow.

Dress Up at the Ennismore

The Ennismore is place for young models for all ages to show you the world their latest fashion statement.  They have full control of their wardrobe , makeup, accessory choices, and music selections for an impromptu  fashion show. These shows can happen almost anytime.

The pieces that you see here are straight off the rack. Yes, there is an actual clothes rack at the Ennismore where these models can choose their own attire.  This free-standing rack is affectionately called the “dress up clothes rack” and it resides in room at the Ennismore that the models and owners call the “the playroom.” 

The clothes and  makeup are provided free of charge via donations/gifts from various people associated with the Ennismore. The models refer to this people as if they were family. The call them them endearing names like: “grandma”, “grandpa”, “aunt”, “uncle”, “mommy” and sometimes even “daddy” (Can you believe that?).

Hey, I understand that is difficult to determine from these pictures that the individual models applied their own makeup and made their own fashion selections. Well, at the Ennismore this is the normal procedure. There are no makeup artists or  fashion designers that provide these models assistance in anyway.  What you see below is the creation and vision of the models themselves. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

See ya soon!

Snow day , Birthday, Obama Day – January 20th, 2009

It was an interesting day yesterday in Raleigh, NC, my family, and in the United States in general.

Snow arrives in Raleigh

Originally, I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin.   After finishing my  sophomore year in high at J.I Case High School in 1981, we moved to Rocky Mount, NC. I transformed into a southern man as I now have lived longer in the south than in Wisconsin.  One of the advantages of living in North Carolina versus Wisconsin is the more moderate weather.  We do not see much snow in the winter here. So when it comes it is an event. 

Over Christmas, my brother who lives in the Chicago area, sent me an email with titled “For those wishing for a white Christmas”.   In this email, he attached a cell phone photo of the front of his home just after they received over 2 feet of snow.  At the time at least for a minute,  I missed the snow related activities and was reminded of my childhood snow fort building , snow ball fights, and  snow sledding.  I did not of course think about the snow shoveling and snow blowing which would have ruined the moment.  

When snow arrives in Raleigh, the town definitely slows down.   It is generally best not to be “out and about” driving in the snow as inexperienced drivers head for the ditches and possible your car.  The snow began to fall on Monday night and we woke up to approximately 3 inches of snow on the ground Tuesday morning.  

The schools were closed and my wife and I decided to work from home.  With snow on the ground, it can not be all work. We needed to get out there and let our children enjoy a little of white stuff.  All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy  - not to mention the kids a little restless.

Here are a shots of the family in the snow:

 

 

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, my dad turned 71 years old Tuesday also.  I am so blessed to have a father like him in my life.  He has definitely taught me well and has been a role model on what it is to be a great father.   Happy birthday Dad!!!!! You are my coach, my mentor, my friend, and my ideal father.   You are one in a million! That is for sure.

Obama becomes President

It is now official. Barack Obama is now the 44th president of the United States.  After watching the festivities, I have a positive sense of unity and hope for our country that I have not felt much since the tragedy of 911.   I think Barak has inspired many Americans and people all over the world.  I hope this feeling continues as we face some of our most difficult issues as a nation.  Do you think there is any coincidence that he is the 44th president and I turn 44 in February ?  Hopefully that is a good sign of things to come for all of us this year.

Take care !!! See ya soon!!

TrianglePhotoPrints.com Paper , mounting, finish options – Addicted to Metallic Paper

 

The Print experiment

Recently, I ordered a few samples from my lab that creates the prints for my www.trianglephotoprints.com web site.  The goal of the exercise was to compare the standard E-Surface paper vs. the Metallic paper that are offered as paper options for the all the prints on the web site.  I was also interested in viewing the Single/Double weight backboard in the flesh. 

As the self-proclaimed “birds and babies”, I decide to use this print of my now “family famous” spoonbill.  

I ordered two copies of this print with the following options:

• E-Surface paper with Lustre coating and  Single/Double weight backboard.
• Metallic paper with the Single/Double weight backboard.

These options can be set on any of your prints, once they are added to the shopping cart.

Paper/Print Options

This screen shot is from the www.trianglephotoprints.com  shopping cart for my chosen print. 
I highlighted the link to set your paper/print options.

  If you click the “E-Surface Color Paper”, you are presented with the following paper options: 

Here you can select your paper finish, Color Correction option (I suggest leaving as the default so a lab technician personally examines the print) and any color Conversion.  

Here is the description of the two paper options I  ordered from the web site.

E-Surface Paper

“Kodak Professional Portra Endura paper (aka Traditional E-Surface paper) is the most popular choice. This paper has slightly textured Matte finish. Accurate color, realistic saturation, excellent neutral skin-tone reproduction, and brighter colors are just a few of the attributes that describe it.  The standard print life is 100 years in home display, and 200 years in dark storage.

NOTE: B&W images will still print in black and white on this paper.”

Metallic Paper

“If you have never seen a Metallic print, you owe it to yourself to try this paper.

Endura Metallic paper offers natural looking skin-tones, sharp details and beautifully saturated colors. It is strong and resistant to tearing or curling without any additional lamination. This paper uses a patented combination of film and laminate layers that results in striking three-dimensional images on an ultra-bright background. This paper is truly impressive.

NOTE: B&W images will still print in black and white on this paper.”

 

Mounting, Framing,  Lamination and Coating Options

For the mounting options, you would click the “Frames, mounting, etc..” that is highlighted here.

This brings up the following options:

The Lustre Coating option is only available on the E-Surface paper. This is set in Lamination & Coating section of the above dialog.
The Mounting and Frame dropdown allows you to select your mounting and framing options.  Since I am planning to frame these pictures myself, I selected the Single Weight Backboard Option.  This is the least expensive mounting option; however, that foam core mount looks very interesting to me.

Here is the description of these options that I ordered from the web site:

Lustre Coating

Lustre coating is an environmentally friendly, non-flammable coating which protects against UV light, finger prints, and dust. With the coverage and appearance similar to lacquer, the Lustre Coating gives your prints a rich, glossy sheen.
NOTE: One extra day is required for processing. Available for all print sizes. Not available on Metallic paper.

Single Weight Backboard

Mounting your print on a backboard not only gives the print extra support, but it also helps preserve the value of the print over time. Single-weight backboard is 1/16" thick. These are rigid, lightweight art boards added to the back of the print with a smooth white surface and a white foam center. NOTE: One extra day is required for processing.

 

Result

Though, I like both prints for different reasons.  I really like the metallic paper for the “3D look” it gives the prints. It really makes the colors of this particular print  pop out.   I encourage you to try this metallic paper and see if it “wows” you like it did me.  I can see value of the E-Surface when you want a soft look to the photo. 

Have you ever framed a print and over time, it ends up being “wavy” in the frame where you look at the picture on the you notice bad reflections because the print is not flat in the frame.  The backboard will definitely solve this problem at a reasonable cost.

Good night Philip

Well, it was an interesting weekend in the NFL playoffs.  The outcomes of the games remind us of the parity in the NFL.  With the exception of the San Diego-Pittsburgh game, the visitors took it to the home teams.  So much for “home field” advantage in the modern day NFL playoffs.

The Arizona Cardinals will be in their first NFC championship game after beating the heavily favored Carolina Panthers .  Up until this season, the Cardinal franchise has only won one playoff game in 61 years.  As I watched the game,  I came to realize why  Larry Fitzgerald gets the press he does. He is amazing with his hands. He was catching everything that came his way.  The Arizona Cardinals defense (with a little help from the Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme) showed that they really exist.  Guys like Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner do their talking on the field and leave their egos at the house.  

Shut Phillip Rivers!

The San Diego Chargers squeaked into the playoffs with a late regular season run. After beating the Indianapolis Colts, they were touted as a team that could go all the way.  All the NFL analysts have stated that the San Diego Chargers are Phillip River’s team and not LaDamian Tomlinson’s team anymore.  If only Philip could play as well as he as his ego. 

I was glad to see the Chargers go down just because I am so tired of hearing about Phillip Rivers.  I understand that he went to college at NC state in my current home town.   Even as a Carolina Tarheel graduate, I enjoyed watching him as a player at NC state.  When he turned pro, the money and his head got the best of him.  I prefer a player that quietly does his talking on the field and does the talking with class off the field.  Maybe Phillip can learn a few things from LT.  I think it sends the right message to our children that idolize these players when they present themselves with class.  

Well, the Steelers did the job and we do not have to hear his mouth anymore this season.  Good night Phillip !!  Hopefully,  next year you will lead your team to better than a barely-over .500 record and keep your mouth shut and play with class.

James “Jason” Lee Photography

Over the summer,  I attended a wedding of one of my wife’s best friends in Charlotte, NC.   My wife was one of the bridesmaids.  I found I had some time to kill while some of the “bridesmaid/wedding party only” activities took place.  

Since I am always looking for reasons to shoot, I did bring my camera for the festivities.  

Since I was not the hired photographer for the wedding, I took pictures during the reception and during  bridesmaid  “getting ready” session before the wedding.   The last thing I wanted to do was to step on the wedding photographers toes.  Covering the “getting ready” session was not part of his arrangement. 

 

As I was standing outside in a 6 feet concrete fenced in area in the back of the hotel when part of the reception was going to take place,  I met this easy going person decided to ask him what he did for the living.    He said his name was Jason(James “Jason” Lee) and he was a photographer.  He told me he had to get used to not glancing over concrete wells looking for snipers.  He was a photo journalistic photographer that was embedded with the American troops in Iraq.  

I explained that I had recently started my own  photography business and was always interested in other photographer’s input to help improve my craft.  Jason was more than willingly to discuss all aspects of photography.  He even corrected the way I used my camera strap to prevent me for looking  like a tourist and more like a photographer.

He showed me this technique where  I set the camera a very slow shutter speed like 1/8 or 1/4 with a high ISO to allow as much ambient light in the image as possible for a dark scene.   Also, we  set just a “wink” of flash to freeze the main subject  but not over power the ambient light.  These settings allowed the sparklers to show their “trails” and  the flash froze the couple keeping them relatively in focus.  

Interesting enough as I was trying this technique during the “sparkler” bride-groom departure , Jason was standing in the background of the picture.   I love this image not only for the couple(guests at the wedding)  sharing a kiss  but also for the fact the “mentor” was in the frame.

 

Be sure to check out Jason’s photography for truly eye-opening experience. Every picture tells a story.  He is truly a unique talent.

Plesha’s Pick 2: Understanding Exposure

I remember a time when I was starting out in digital photography where I was trying to understand what photographers meant when they said the word “exposure.”  The today’s digital cameras make things a bit easier for photographers than the film cameras.  They allow us to experiment with photography without adding the substantial cost of developing film. 

Even though there have been many advances in today digital cameras, a camera still is basically a “box with a hole, a shutter mechanism,  and some sort of sensor that allows us to capture an image.” 

You will hear the term “stop” in referring to exposure.  I typically use this term as relative term.  Moving up or down a stop in a particular setting means that the setting will allow 2 times the amount of light or 1/2 amount of light for the exposure respectively.

Some people may call the following three parts of the camera the holy trinity of photography:

• Aperture(“hole”) -  This reflects the size of the hole of the lens that determines the amount of light allowed into the camera and affects the depth of field(“focus”) in the image.   Aperture is measured in F-stops.  The higher the F-stop number the smaller the hole and greater the depth of field.  For example,  F-5.6 aperture setting allows  2 times the amount of light into the camera than the one stop higher F-8.0 aperture setting  and has a lesser depth of field.  By the same token, F-8.0 aperture setting allows 1/2 the amount of  light into the camera than f-5.6 aperture setting but has a greater depth of field.  In essence, opening up the lens one stop of light(lower F-Stop number) allows twice as much light into the camera and decreases the depth of field.  Closing the lens one stop of light(higher F-Stop)  reduces the amount of light into the camera by  one-half and increase the depth of field.
  
• Shutter speed -   This determines how fast the shutter opens and closes to allow the light from the hole(Aperture) to hit the sensor that creates the image.  This setting can affect whether you freeze the action in an image  to allow some or all of the image to be blurry.  Doubling the shutter speed reduces the amount of light hitting the sensor by 1/2 the amount of light.  Slowing the shutter speed by one half increases the amount of light hitting the sensor  by 2 times.  For example, changing the shutter speed from 1/125 to 1/250 reduces the amount of light to the sensor by 1/2(1 stop).  Changing the shutter speed from 1/125 to 1/60 will allow twice the amount of the light to the sensor(1 stop).
  
• Sensor(ISO) setting  -  This determines how sensitive the sensor is to the light hitting it.  For example,   a  ISO 200 setting is 2 times(1 stop)  as sensitive to the incoming light as a ISO 100 setting.  a  ISO 400 setting is 2 times as sensitive to the incoming light as a ISO 200 setting and  4 times as sensitive(2 stops) as an ISO 100 setting.   Higher ISO settings allow us to work in lower light situation where minimal light is hitting the sensor. This can come with the price of high noise in the digital image.  

Exposure is combination of all the above.  Adjusting one of the settings does affect at least one of the other settings in a typical situation.  The following are just examples to show the relationships of the above three items.  They also assume that the camera’s built light meter is metering the scene correctly.

Fixed ISO example:

Let’s assume for example that we set the camera to the ISO 100(really could be any ISO setting).  Our plan is not to change this setting.  We frame a portrait of something and use  digital camera’s program exposure setting.  The camera’s  built-in light meter will help us determine the proper aperture and shutter speed settings.  In this case, the program mode set camera’s aperture to  F-8.0 with a shutter speed of  1/250.  We take the picture.

The overall image look good and it is not too dark(under exposed) or too light(over exposed).  We decide that we would like the background of the photo to be more blurry(out of the focus).  So we want a lesser depth of field for the image than the camera has suggested for us.  We also want to ensure that we keep the same over all exposure of the image(light hitting the sensor).   After switching the camera to manual exposure mode, we can increase the aperture by one stop by changing the F-stop from F-8.0 to F-5.6.   This change will allow twice as much light into the camera and reduce the depth of field to give us a more blurred background.  

Since we increased the amount of light hitting the sensor with this change, we run the risk of over exposing the image. We need to adjust the shutter speed to offset the increase in light.  So we would then increase the shutter speed from 1/250 to 1/500 which would allow 1/2 the amount of light hitting the sensor.  

So in this example,   the F-8.0/ 1/250 and 5.6/ 1/500 settings allow the same amount of light to the sensor which produces the final exposure.  If we wanted to have more depth of field than the original image, we could have also have chosen to change the F-stop to F-11..o (close down a stop from f-8.0- 1/2 the amount of light) and decreased the shutter speed to 1/125(twice the amount of light from 1/250)  .  The amount of light hitting the sensor would be the same in all three cases. There is a relationship between the shutter speed and the aperture as far the amount of light that hits the sensor.   We could continue to play with various aperture/shutter speed combinations like F16.c/ 1/160 and f-4.0/1/1000 etc.. 

Fixed Aperture example:

Let’s assume we had a similar scenario as above in a lower light situation.  We set the ISO to 100 and the program setting  set the camera’s  aperture to F-5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/30.  We are taking a family portrait in this case and are concerned that any movement of the family members will result in a blurred image.  Looking at the suggested shutter speed, this definitely could be the case. 

We take our first photo. We definitely like the depth of field and the overall exposure of the image but noticed some blurring around the children’s arm were they moved when the photo was taken.  Since we can not keep the subjects from moving, we need to have a faster shutter speed to “freeze” the action.  We like everything else about the image.  

So, let’s change the shutter speed to 1/125 in an attempt to freeze any slight movement in our portrait.  We could  go to manual mode and set the camera to the following: aperture f 5.6 , shutter 1/125, and ISO 100.  The change in shutter speed reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor by two stops( 1/30 to 1/60 – 1 stop and 1/60 to 1/125 additional stop) . 

Since we like the depth of field, we do not want to adjust the aperture in this case.  We could then change the ISO setting from  ISO 100 to ISO 400( ISO 100 to ISO 200 increase 1 stop of light sensitivity and ISO 200 to ISO 400 another stop of light sensitivity)  to offset the reduction in light caused by the increase in the shutter speed.   So  ISO 100/ aperture 5.6 / shutter 1/30  equals ISO 400/ aperture 5.6 / shutter 1/125 as far as the exposure goes.

 

Fixed Shutter speed example:

Assume we are taking pictures of a neighbor basketball game.  We again set the ISO to 400 on the camera. We decide that we will start by using our shutter priority mode of the camera and set the shutter speed to 1/500 to freeze  the action on the court. The camera sets the aperture to F-11.0.  This aperture provides us with a fairly deep depth of field where all the players are coming into focus.  We take the picture and find that we did freeze the action and are happy with the overall exposure of the image.   We would like to focus on a particular player on the court and make the other players less in focus. 

In order to accomplish this, we decide to change the aperture  from F-11.0 to F-5.6 (opening up two stops – 4 times as much light to sensor).  Now. we need to offset this increase in light to the sensor to keep our nice original exposure.  Since we do not want to change the shutter speed that is effectively freezing the action, we decide to adjust the ISO speed to ISO 100. This reduces the sensor sensitivity 2 stops(4 times less sensitive).  So ISO 400/aperture f-11.0/ shutter 1/500 equals  ISO 100/aperture f-5.6/ shutter 1/500  as far as exposure goes.

The main points to remember is that these settings are all interrelated when making an image(exposure).  It is up to us as photographers to creatively choose these settings to produce the desired results we want in our images.

One of the most valuable resources, that assisted me to kick starting my understanding of exposure is the Understanding Exposure book by Bryan Peterson.   I strongly recommend it to those that are trying to take their photography to the next level  beyond the automatic exposure modes of their camera.   He thoroughly explains these settings and also provides a guide  on when to use certain values to achieve the results that you are looking for.

Plesha’s Pick 1: Sweet Life Photo and Pixel Dust Blog

It is the new year and time for my first Plesha Pick. 

Over time  I have come to realize that running a photography business forces me to wear several different hats in order to build  my success:

• “Business man” hat – pricing, cost-benefit analysis, marketing, customer service
• “Creative/Artistic” hat
• “Technical” hat  - equipment, software, web site

These hats represent a different point of view of the same thing which is my photography business model and mission.   Since these perspectives are not entirely autonomous, it is important to consider all of them as  I  progress my business.   They are not stagnant but rather they evolve over time as I continue to grow.   When making decisions regarding Triangle Photo Studio ,  I need to make sure that I put on each of these hats to ensure that the particular decision is a good one.

For example, recently I have been interested in getting the new Canon EOS 5d Mark II for my business.

First, I put on my  “technical hat”: 

Man, this thing is cool.  It has a 21.1 megapixel Full frame sensor. It can generate 1080P HD video. It has the latest technology for high ISO noise reduction and would allow me to use ISO settings up to 25,600 for low light situations. This could reduce the amount/use of gear needed for my on location shoots like speedlights in low light situations.  My current Canon 40D has a cropped sensor, can shoot up 10.1 megapixels, and has ISO speeds up to 3200.

Second, I put on my “creative hat”: 

The full frame sensor will allow me to take full advantage of Canon L lenses for wide angled shots like group shots. The video capabilities will allow me to do some creative things with video for my clients.

Third, I put on my “business man” hat: 

The camera costs $2699.  I could stand further back from my portrait subject to offset at least some of the advantage of a full size sensor vs. the cropped sensor that I currently own.    Alternatively, I could buy a wider angled lens at substantial less investment than $2699.  Currently,  my wife does all the video in the family and can not get me to even consider using the video camera.  Is this really a feature that I will use?  How long will it take for me to re-coup the $2699 in the business?   I already have invested in lighting equipment so is the high ISO capability more of a “want” than a “need” ?

As you can tell,  one simple potential decision can lead to many questions for consideration.   This is just one example. This analysis and re-analysis occurs over and over with many issues in my business.

Overall the last couple of years, Frank Myers from Sweet Life Photo has been helpful in helping me as a sounding board as consider various things in starting my business.   I truly value him as a mentor and friend. 

Although I have not met his wife Elizabeth in person yet,  I feel I know a little about her by following the Sweet Life Photo blog  on a regular basis.  I find their web site and “Pixel Dust” blog truly inspirational and good models for photographers.    Elizabeth has a talent for making you feel emotional attached to the images that are presented through the blog.  Can you imagine what it is like for the client that she is photographing?

Check out this recent Pixel Dust Blog post (Some of) My favorite un-blogged images from 2008 for some truly inspirational 2008 sweet life photo wedding  images.   As a father, I really enjoyed the one that Frank took of  “Andrea and her father.” Someday, that could be me in the picture when one of my daughters gets married.  Perfect example of capturing the emotion in a photograph.  This is just one of many that caught my eye in this collection. Enjoy!