Throwing rocks...

This is Diane's new family, taken just after their wedding. I know, I skipped their wedding photos but there is going to be a lot of them & I wanted to show this 1 first. Back to the story...Ahem, Introducing her new husband Rob, his son Gavin (youngest on the left), Diane, & Diane's two son's, Nathan & Noah. We decided to go to the Sundial Bridge, where the kids could throw rocks in the river, as all kids like to do. It helps to encourage them to loosen up, creating more natural photos. NOTE: Even if this isn't the first time I've seen the kids, they can still revert back to the old habits of standing & smiling. Really they're screaming out on the inside, not to pose too much, to just have fun & that's what I encourage. Happy kids make for the best photo.

Of course, when you first get around kids, they want to stop & smile, it tends to happen a lot. An example is the photo of Noah above. I often happily take 1 or 2 photos of them doing what they think I want them to do, then I put my camera down for a bit & only pick it up when they're not paying attention to me. I immediately begin encouraging them to continue what they were doing if they notice me pointing it at them again. I often get rewarded with photos like the following...

I believe there is just nothing better to a child, than to be tickled til your stomach hurts.

This next one was a total fluke. I wasn't planning them to start running, little lone line up while they were running but when I seen it, I couldn't resist the shot. The path forming an "S" curve, the red color of Noah's shirt being off center, them being almost the same distance from each other, all doing the same thing, etc. I was pretty happy with what I captured. I could have used PS to clone out the pole but I didn't think it ruined the overall photo, so I kept it untouched as much as possible.

Gavin enjoyed throwing rocks in the river, you can even see the water splashing in the air.

Time to go.

In the next couple photos, I was trying my best to get Gavin to turn around & look back but he was having nothing of it & put his foot down...again & again as he ignored me walking away. LOL, no prob. It turned out to be the best thing, getting this look from Noah instead. Someone told me they thought he was looking back at a good friend & I thought the same thing when I first seen it. What a cute smile & all because I kept calm, let them keep walking away while I continued to reposition myself for the next opportunity. I am not disappointed at all. In the color photo below, it's just as cool, cause Noah was the only one wearing red, he totally stood out, off center, then add him turning around, that cute smile...

AAAAAHH...I have never been happier to not get what I wanted.

These were taken with my 28-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, I didn't have my 85 mm f/1.8 yet but I still liked how they came out. Pretty happy with how I'm doing & what I'm capturing. The wedding photos are next, I promise. It will take me a few days to load those. It literally takes me all day to load the photos to each post (I'm not kidding in any way). That's the amazing speed of dial up ladies & gentlemen (but I shouldn't complain, it works). I'm trying to be patient but if you know me, you know that's a lot to ask of myself. Besides I do have a life outside of computers & it includes some photo sessions coming up.

This playground is "CLOSED"

...That's what the sign said when we pulled up to the playground to play for a few hours. Closed for maintenance. AAAHHHH MAN!!! I think we all made a face. Oh well, we'll play hide & seek, not much to hide behind but I've know kids to play all day with a piece of cardboard.

This is Nathan (photo above) & Noah (photo below), Diane's 2 boys.

The photo below shows Noahs cute eyes starring directly into the lens. He was having fun playing peek-a-boo behind my clipboard. He didn't think I could take a picture quicker than he could cover his face. I think I won. Whatever it takes to get the smile, look at those eyes.

This is Noah counting...in a praying kinda way.

Marissa & Matt went with me so the kids would feel more comfortable while I starting shooting some pictures. It's so much easier meeting the kids prior to the event you're photographing & even better if you take your own kids to break the ice. That way, they get used to loosening up & to just have fun. There is little directing but they don't notice it a bit.

After their rare public appearance, they were off. UP, UP & AWAY! Let me know when you fly back into town & we'll check to see if the playground is open

GO PADRES!!!! Part 2

These photos were taken with my 85mm f/1.8 lens. This first photo is the worst one out of the bunch for showing so much fence in the foreground. Check them out & you'll see why I love my new lens.

In the photo below, you can actually see the dust coming off Joe's mitt.

This was the last game of the season. Next season, I want to get a game schedule.

GO PADRES!!!! Part 1

This is Joe, a classmate of my son's & his baseball team, the Padres.

In the photo below, do you see how close the ball is to the catchers mit? SAFE!!!!

In the photo above, the fence is blurred more due to the direction I'm aiming the camera. As I turned left to shoot at home plate (photo below), the sun was shining differently on the fence & you can see what caused the blurred lines on the photos.

These photos were taken using my 28-135mm, f/3.5-5.6 lens that came in the Canon 50d kit. As I view them, they are pretty good photos, not bad...Until I used my new 85mm, f/1.8 lens. The fence blur is almost gone & I totally notice a clarity I wasn't getting with this lens. I also have the 50mm, f/1.8 lens & it works pretty good in different situations, I would up against the fence while taking these photos to get any details & it just doesn't work. If I had a choice out of these 2 lenses, I would totally go with the 85mm hands down. I can go without the little extra zoom to have better clarity.