Not a very good blogger, but I still love photography!

Again, much time has passed since I posted anything. Here are some shots from the last week or two.

Wow! It has been a while....

It has been a while since I posted. I have been busy but I also have been taking pictures. I'll explain.

I am currently taking 18 credit hours, I work over 40 hours a week on average, I am married with 4 kids and I volunteer at my church. Please do not misunderstand, my intent is just to show how busy I am not how great I am. I am far from greatness. I wish I had more time to shoot with my Canon...but I don't. In the mean time I get my photography fix from my iPhone camera and posting to Instagram/Facebook.

So, I thought I would share a few things that I do to take the best pics possible using my phone. In no particular order:

1) Light. Just like in all photography the more natural diffused lighting you can get, the better. I am not the best at being creative with light but to get a good picture from your phone, make sure your subject is in good light.

2) Rule of Thirds. Again, this simple rule applies to your phone camera as well. It gives different perspective to your shot and most photo apps can super impose the grid lines on your phone screen when you take the shot. Just simply place your subject where two of those lines intersect and take the shot. Another way is to take a shot wide enough that you can crop it a little later using the grid lines.

3) Shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. When I cleaned the photos off my phone from the last month I had almost 2000 photos. Crazy right? I figure I will have at least one worth while shot. Deleting is fast, free and easy.

4) Post processing apps. Play around with some different photo taking and photo processing apps. Some of my favorites are camera+ and snapseed.

Again, just some quick ideas. Let me know what you guys use when shooting with your phone, different apps to try, etc. I am posting this from my phone so I will post some pics again in no particular order.

-Jared

December 2011 - The Zeiglers

My first day with the 50mm

For an early Christmas present (and birthday) my wonderful wife bought me a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. I have wanted this lens for quite a while and I was pretty excited. Here are just a few shots from the first day of shooting with this lens (I took several hundred). 

Right out of the box. This was shot with my iPhone and an instagram filter.

 

Then the real fun started. Parker and his baby blues. 

 

Our dog Diesel.

 

Carson saying "CHEEEESE!"

 

It has now been two week since I received the lens and I love it. I love all the light that it can bring in with the aperture wide open and I love the shallow depth of field that can be achieved. The bokeh is soft and creamy. 

I am still getting used to the fact that the focal length is fixed and I have to be a decent distance from my subject in order to get the shot. Even though it is a 50mm it acts like an 80mm on my 450D because of the 1.6 crop factor of the APS-C sensor. I can't wait for my first portrait shoot with this lens. 

 

April 2012 Senior Photo Shoot - Aaron

He's a pilot...

He's a cowboy...

He's a farm boy...

He's a senior in high school (well he was, now he's a freshman in college)...

Zack's Baptism Shoot

I did this shoot last summer for my nephew who had just turned 8 and was getting ready to be baptized.

And this bee on a flower....

The Wilkens