“Faces of Savannah” plus one.

Several years ago, when I got my first Canon digital SLR camera, I purchased it with a standard 18-55mm kit lens.  At the time one my friends suggested that I also purchase an EF 50mm F/1.8 prime lens. He thought at the time that this prime lens was one of best bang from your buck and is faster(higher aperture) than the kit lens.  I was able to find this lens for right around $100.00 and it became part of camera bag. 

Besides the auto focus being a little slow and noisy,  this lens is definitely worth the money.

Fast forwarding from those days,  I mainly use two lens now that are in the Canon professional “L” series:  the 24-70mm f/2.8L lens and the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.   Each of these lenses cost more than my current Canon digital camera.  These lenses saved me some “feet zooming”  with their wide range of zoom capability. Their build quality is excellent.

I decided to dust off my old 50mm this past weekend and play around with some wide open apertures that even my precious “L” lenses could not produce.   I think the children were caught a little off guard by this lens as it is substantial smaller than the other two canons of lens(no pun intended).   I could actually get my Savannah to sit fairly still for some shots.    I think the fact I was almost in her lap taking these pictures instead of standing across the room made a difference. 

Here are some shots that I call the “Faces of Savannah”

I love this one for a variety of reasons especially her eyes .  Notice in the lower left hand corner,  Sophia (my oldest daughter and marketing manager) has left a Triangle Photo Studio business card on their dresser ready for action. 

Here is the “Plus 1” .  I find this shot of Sophia very intriguing so I had to add it.  Can you guess what she is thinking?

I hope you enjoy these!  See you soon!!

Explore – Dance recital 2009 – sneak peek

 

The first part of this month has been a crazy one for me.  I am not complaining as being busy is a good thing. Anyway, I am finally getting a chance to go through some of the images of the recent Explore Dance recital held in Wake Forest, NC at the end of May.   I wanted to share this sneak peek of some of the images taken during the recital.

Here is a shot of one of the dancers taking a brief break from her dance duties.

 

These are a couple of shots of Haley who appears to be born to dance.  Great job Haley!!!!!

 

Here are some shots of main organizer and dance instructor extraordinaire  Stacey showing her younger counterparts how it is done.

 

 

      

I will be adding more of these photos as I continue to work through them.  Hope you like them!!

Fathers Day – Lake Lynn

I woke up Sunday morning and glanced into the bedrooms and found all my girls were still asleep.  So I snuck  downstairs and grabbed my morning energy drink and turned on the morning news.  Soon after,  I heard some scurrying upstairs coupled with some whispers. Mommy and the kids were awake. 

Next I heard heard the scampering of little feet coming down the stairs and in a flash I had two very excited young girls in my lap giving me hugs and kisses with their handmade greeting cards and gifts in hand.  Overwhelmed by their energy,  I could not help but hang on and smile as they both wanted to share their creations with their dear old dad.  Jackie stood watching with her family famous ear-to-ear proud smile as our girls in unison provided the details of their precious artwork. 

Sophia had hand painted a ceramic “#1 Dad” desk ornament and presented her handmade card.  Savannah proudly translated her card graffiti into something I could understand.  Savannah was so proud of her card that she would not allow me to take a closer look.   Fathers Day had officially begun.

Jackie is queen of making someone’s special day a memorable one.  This day was no different.  It was quite obvious that she was involved in my special morning wake up.   After opening the remaining cards, Jackie asked me what would I like to do for my fathers day.   I told her that we should dress up the girls for a photo shoot. 

What better way to commemorate fathers day than with pictures that proved your fatherhood. :)   Man, I love my girls!

So, we gathered some outfits for the girls and headed to the local Lake Lynn Park.   This place was great! We saw some ducks, turtles, geese, and even a great Blue Heron.   All of us had a blast!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my girls on fathers day.
 

     

See ya soon!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Recently, I had the honor of capturing a special birthday party of one of my favorite 2 year old little boys.  It is hard to believe that this little guy is already two years old.  Seems like yesterday when I was visiting him at the hospital when he came into the world.  Time flies when you are having fun, and kids grow like weeds flowers manly trees.

Here some of my favorite shots of featuring the  guest of honor:

Ok.. one shot has to have the “dreaded paci”..  Doesn’t he know to take it out for pictures? Better give this little guy some cake and the paci will bite the dust.

Did someone mention cake ?   What paci ? Do you see a paci ? I am ready to dig to that cake.

Nothing like cake and ice cream to free a paci from the lips of a 2 year old.

Mom, I like to have cake in my mouth, on my cheeks, and in my hair !  It is very stylish to do that !!    

Ok, big brother Jacob will help Josh with the cake while his girl friend Savannah looks on!

This icing is delicious! Would you like some? 

We Bucks know how to party.

The entire gallery can be found here.

WPS Photo Shoot - Amber

 

Recently,  my friend and extraordinary photographer Frank Myers mentioned a local wedding photographers group called the wedding photographic society(WPS).  This group was founded by some the best wedding photographers on the east coast.  

According to the  WPS website, “We're a network of professional photographers who come together to collaborate on photographic ideas, thoughts, and information in an attempts to elevate the artistic, technical, and business standards of the wedding photographic community.” 

Recently,  one of the founders of the WPS, Brian Mullins arranged an photo shoot that involved 21 photographers and 5 models with 8 wedding dresses.  Four other photographers and I were assigned to a wonderful model named Amber.  We walked the streets in downtown Raleigh sharing ideas and getting some great shots. 

Here are some of my shots, I took of Amber:

I love the mixture of the ambient light and flash in this one.

 

One of the photographers Kevin Seifert in my group scouted and setup this location. It was a curved glass block wall in front of a local  business.  I love the reflection of her face in the glass block.

 

Kevin and I each pulled out our pocket wizards and speedlites and lit up the curved glass block wall  through two side entry doors on its side. 

 

 

  Ed from Dark Lighting Imaging  scored this 50s style thunderbird by stopping  a driver that was about to leave in this gem.

 

 

If interested, you can find the rest of the gallery here.