Reflective Tuesday: Growth

This quote is from a book I'm reading called, "The Shack." It has a quote to go along with each chapter.

Growth means change and
change involves risk, stepping
from the known to the unknown.

-Author Unknown

Flashback Friday: Beach Sunset

Here is another one taken with the Canon A80 back in 2005. It seems that everyone with a camera and a shutter finger feels the urge to photograph sunsets. Seriously, Americans alone must spend tens of thousands of clicks every clear night. Yet most of us are disappointed the first time we try. The sun is much, much, much, much, much, much, much brighter than everything surrounding it. It throws off the meter of the camera and everything else is severely underexposed. When adjustments are made, everything else may be exposed correctly, but a large, boring circle dominates and everything else loses detail. One day I realized that perhaps it's typically not in my best interest to include the sun in the frame when photographing sunsets. (As a good general rule, it's best not to include the main light source in the frame.)

This was my first photo to be published in a magazine: Milford Living.

(Click to see larger.)

Literary Thursday: Hermit the Peanut

I hesitated while trying to decide whether to include my past writings on the blog. They don't have much to do with photography directly. Yet I believe that photographs and pieces of writing share a similarity in that while they aren't typically created in order to describe something about the creator, they often do.

Let's start at the beginning and then jump around a bit. This first one I wrote back in grade school:


Hermit the Peanut

Hermit the peanut
Lived in my pocket
We were the best of friends
Then one day I sat down
CRUNCH!!!

Link-me-up Wednesday: Sand Drawing

I can't remember who sent every valuable link to me, but this week's comes from Josh, one of the best grooms of all time:

Click Here and Be Amazed

Club Night

A few quick pictures from last night. It was "club" night at my Bible study. (We have a theme night once a month.) We were encouraged to interpret "club" however we wanted, so the evening included a golfer w/ club, a book club outfit, a club sandwich, club soda, club crackers, and various other club items. I brought my camera and pretended to be in the photo club. Lindi's house's basement blue room is one of the most interestingly decorated I have seen. It was Dave's birthday, so we celebrated with a birthday donut. It was Greg's unbirthday, so he was allowed to wear the hat as well. James, our home group leader, is the one pointing in two directions at once. His talents are even greater than the picture indicates.

Reflective Tuesday: Hypocrisy

I was thinking the other day about hypocrisy. I am not trying to defend it at all, even though my realization may seem so.

Everyone who believes that good is always better than evil is hypocritical, because no one chooses good over evil every time. For example, every good parent (if "good parent" means that the parent wants to teach his/her children to choose good over evil, even in areas where the parent struggles to choose good over evil) is hypocritical to a certain extent. Yet it is the parent's responsibility to teach his/her children to do what is good. It is also the parent's responsibility to try to choose good over evil in one's life, so as to not teach hypocritically, but the failure to do so does not supersede the responsibility to teach one's children to do what is good. In other words, it is sometimes better to teach hypocritically than not to teach at all. Thoughts?

Q&A Monday: Camera

All questions will remain anonymous in Q&A section.

Q: Hey Travis, I'm looking to buy my first digital SLR camera. What should I buy?

A: There are a lot of cameras out there, aren't there? As far as brand, both Canon and Nikon are safe bets. Each makes quality cameras. Each stands behind their products. Each has a wide selection of lenses that work with its cameras. I know there are professional photographers who go with other brands and love their cameras, but there is more risk involved. Canon and Nikon are committed to be at the top of the industry for at least the next few years.

As far as individual models, don't spend $3000 on a camera if your entire photography budget is only $4000 for the next year. The great majority of enthusiasts would be best off spending under $1500 on a D-SLR. Good used D-SLRs can be had for $500 or less. For instance, Canon has two "enthusiast" lines of D-SLRs: the Rebel series and the 20/30/40/50 D series. The resulting images from these cameras (especially 20/30/40/50D series) in good lighting situations will be similar to images taken with more expensive cameras. Instead of buying a $3000 camera, it is much better to buy a $1000 camera when starting out and have an extra $2000 to spend on lenses. Lenses affect image quality more than the camera in good lighting situations. Lenses retain their value at least 3x better than cameras. The knowledge of the photographer affects image quality more than camera or lenses and it retains its value better than either. $2000 extra is a lot of money to spend on the (distant) 3rd factor of what affects image quality. Invest in the other two and there will be more return.

Flashback Friday: Hand Abstracts

This one goes waaayyyy back. I think it was my first personal project with artificial lighting. My mother gave me my first camera (a compact digital: Canon A80) for Christmas 2003. These were taken in November 2004. It was a great camera for its time. The macro mode was outstanding for a compact. For this project, I used a 90-watt lightbulb inside of a common desk lamp in an otherwise black room. I used a tripod to steady the camera, but I had to hold my hand fairly steady to capture sharp images. Quite a bit of Photoshop was used during processing.

A fingerprint is capable of distinguishing between any two people, correct? A handprint must have at least 50x the information. That would mean there are at least 5 billion to the 50th power variations of handprints, right? If 1 billion to the 50th power = a '1' with 450 zeros after it, then 5 billion to the 50th power is quite the number. Any mathematicians here who can help out???

(click images to see larger)

EXPLANATION

The other day I was thinking to myself: "Travis, why are there two-week gaps on the blog? You're a somewhat interesting person. Come up with a plan to post more regularly."

Long story short, here is the plan:

Q&A Mondays: Email me questions about anything having to do with the blog or photography in general. All question-askers will remain anonymous.
Reflective Tuesday: May be a quote from someone famous or a realization from my random thoughts.
Link-me-up Wednesday: A number of great people send me links to excellent videos, websites, etc.
Literary Thursday: Before going into photography, I wanted to be a writer. Poems, stories, essays will fall here.
Flashback Friday: A glimpse into my beginnings in photography. Will often include a picture (or multiple) to help explain.

As always, weddings, engagement sessions, and other current photography will be posted.

Comments are very welcome! Please share your thoughts. :-)

Amanda and David

Space, space, space. The Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station in Haddam certainly is a spacious reception facility. This wedding had hints of Asian and Celtic motif. We were able to go outside for a few pictures just before it turned too dark. Floating guests? Yes, it was a magical night. Congratulations Amanda and David! Best of luck!

Rebekah and Thomas

Every time I turned around at Rebekah and Tom's wedding, there was something more to photograph. I felt a little like a kid in an arcade with two fists full of quarters. (A very mature kid, I assure you.) I ended the night with about 30% more images than typical. Extra images is a good problem to have :-)

Rebekah and Tom's love for one another was evident, especially on the dance floor at the Fox Hill Inn in Brookfield. It was a joy to be able to capture their playful sub-dramas as they danced the night away.

This is the first time I've seen a flower girl bolt up the aisle! She was a little hesitant until she found Nemo in her mother's hand. (Note to self: get picture of Nemo to put above camera for formals with kids.) If you recognize her, it may be from the Grow gallery on the site. She has grown up quite a bit since-- good to see that the gallery is working properly ;-)

Melissa Vandermause helped out. She took a number of excellent pictures, as you can see.

Congratulations, Rebekah and Tom! It was an honor to photograph your big day! God bless!