Saturday, July 3, 2010

a few more updates

There really isnt a whole lot to report. work keeps me busy. A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to re-finish our deck. It was very much in need of repair. Here are some before and after pics. As you can see we got a new porch swing and a pretty cool fire pit. thanks mom and dad.
Before After

We have been pretty lucky so far this summer. Sac reaches temps of 105 on the regular and it broke 90 for the first time 2 weeks ago. and of course went promptly to 105. Out AC isnt all the great but i installed a ceiling fan inn the front room and that has been helping.

Lets see, for chelsey Birthday we went and saw Flight of the Concords. You may not know about them, (they are a folk comedy band from New Zealand) was one of the funniest and best shows i have ever seen. You should look them up

As Chelsey might have mentioned, i have been getting into photography a lot more.I have spent quite a bit of time reading and learning. I have to do a little photoshoping and a tad bit of graphic design for work so its kinda like the next step. Staci let me borrow a lens and i have been renting and borrowing others as well. This part mostly is for Staci, so if you dont understand, read up.

So the more i read and the more pictures i take the more unhappy with the pictures i take. What i thought were great pics, i all the sudden notice all the little details that most people wont notice but, are the little things that make good pictures become spectacular. Its all together unfair what a difference the L II lens make. I understand that a someone with more skill can work wonders with lesser quality lenses, but still. I dont have 2000 dollars for the next step up.

I think that all people getting into photog. lens with a low apature, but i have found that its over rated for the majority of shooting, because you're not supposed to shot as low as the go anyways, so its kinda a wasted feature. Case in point.. I rented a Tikona 11-162.8 and i really really like the wide angle so much more then the zoom. Its great for landscapes and taking pictures in short spaces. Thats def the step im going to go in with it. But as i mentioned before, im going to got for the Canon 10-22 3.5 I feel the extra 10mm of zoom makes it some much more versatile then the slightly faster aperture, which at night its better to shoot at something like 4 or higher. Plus i finally g=figure out how to properly use the WB and the ISO so dark shots ware easier to manage that way.

on a side note, the lens you let me borrow, i picked up a Hood for and a polarized filter. I went and shot on the snow for a day and it was very very hard cause every angle changes the light and i blew out most of the pictures. The vinaigretteing the corner has gotten worse. its gotten big on the one corner and very slight in 2 more. Im going to take it to a shop to get it repaired after i stop being lazy.

So these are not the best, but here are a few pictures that i am proud of.

Whats great about this one is there was no photoshop work done on it other then me taking out a peice of gum. We are getting this one printed out. you may not be able to tell put the image size of this dont start to pixles or distort until about bigger then about 35 inches wide. Thats whats good about the SLR cameras.

Heres on of Zoe. Again i love these because they are super clear, and the fit perfect on the new 27 HD apple at work (sorry dad). jealous much?

This one was of chelsey at Disneyland last month. I just did a little touch up work on it.

This one was off our deck looking down on Sacramento

And here is one of Ari tanning.

Anyways, thats a little bit for now. I have gotten much more into skateboarding and hopefully i can have some pictures up for you guys later on. There is a huge indoor skate park next to my work, so its been helping the non-snow months go by a little easier.

Sorry for all the typos and spelling errors. im lazy and not going back to fix it.






6 comments:

scooping it up said...

AWESOME work Levi! I agree, big aperature work isn't going to help all the time because you lose so much depth of field, it has it's uses but it can kill you, too. Utilizing the ISO really helps. Of course, then you have to deal with graininess but it sure does help in lower light for sure. I love love love the shots of Zoe and Chels. Sooo good. Keep up the work. I mostly take pictures of kidsaka, portraits, since that is my life right now, so I agree that different lenses would work better for what you are doing.
Sorry about that vingetting, so annoying. Let me know how much it costs, ok? I'd be happy to split it with you if it's pricey.

Randy said...

Hi Levi, I have a new camera too. It came with s couple ok lenses ie: a 28-55 zoom and a 55-200 zoom. I bought the camera for my trip to Poland and I've taken about 500 pics so far and there are two spectacular ones and the rest are meh. But those two are going on Microsoft's website so it was worth it.

Dad

Allie Thornbrue said...

Wonderful update. I love the pic of Chelsey because of all the color. So, where exactly do you live? We will be driving through nortern CA in a few weeks.

Jarom and Melissa said...

Hey, I am SOOOO jealous that you guys saw Flight of the Concords. They are so funny. I have to say that my favs by them are "business time" and "the prettiest girl in the room"

good stuff
Jarom

Grandma Pearl said...

Enjoyed your pictures.
I don't understand all of the "know how "your learning from Staci but you've got a # 1 helper there.
Keep up the good work.
It is fun to view your blog.
Love,
Grandm Pearl

Emily said...

Ari tanning is adorable, i love the photos! You're good for sure, my cousin is a professional photographer and it BLOWS MY MIND some of the shots she gets (http://www.nicolespaller.com)

Chelsey it's good to be back and I look forward to reading you and Levi's posts! GET TO IT, kIDS!