Yesterday was my son's elementary school's carnival day. It was windy, cloudy, and rainy. Still, we managed to have a lot of fun, while keep the camera relatively dry.
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We did some remodeling at the work office, so I went back to dig out some old photos of coworkers to make some prints to put on the wall. Yesterday, I spotted some 8x10 size frames on sale in Ikea with silver frames, perfect for some BW prints. Here are the three shots I decided to print.
Following our trip to Taiwan, my son and I have been waking up at 4 in the morning. By the time I get him to brush his teeth, change his clothes, eat breakfast, there are still hours to kill before he needs to leave for school. So, I let him play a little bit of video games. The force is strong with this one :)
I would title the above image with "Waiting to take off...", which is the way I'm feeling towards 2015. Looking back, I feel I picked up the camera less in 2014 than in 2013. I'm looking forward to the resurgence of my photographic activities. Some people talk of their one-camera-one-lens goal, or a-picture-a-day goal for the new year... Me? Not so ambitious. I want to take more pictures of my family, and more pictures with people in them in general. I just returned from a rejuvenating vacation trip to Taiwan to visit families and friends and I'm still suffering the jet lag which prompted this post. It brought full on nostalgia visiting the island that I grew up on, but have parted for almost 30 years now. As I reacquaint myself to the city streets and country sides, I found that I was looking for a reconnection... to this land, to the people there. When we go out to places, I often find myself trying to capture the scenery... waiting for people to get out of the way, or find a vantage point void of people. However, looking back at the photos taken, I find that it's the ones with people in them that make them more interesting. The scenery doesn't change much and one shot isn't so different than another, but it's the people, their facial expressions or the way they're organized within the frame, that makes that capture unique. Perhaps that's what makes street photography interesting... and it's something I've just began to grasp myself. As for families... I want to capture them unposed. I want to capture them as I will remember them, not a smile for the camera, but with real emotions. It's a little easier to do this with family and friends than with strangers. I can blend in better with the camera so they won't be so conscious of me taking pictures. The three shots above are of my older brother, Roy, whom I rarely see once or twice a year. I love these shots because I snapped them just as I normally look at him, with no purpose in mind than just trying to capture his essence. Emotionally, these shots speak volumes to me.
So there it is... a bunch of rambling thoughts on a jet lagged morning. If you want to see all of my vacation photos from Taiwan, click [HERE]. Halloween is a big deal if you have kids. The M9, however, is next to useless if you want to capture some shots of kids going trick or treat. Doesn't stop me from trying, though. Here are a few shots from today... The elementary school had a parade this morning for the kids to show off their costumes, which I thought was a nice idea.
A few shots from my nephew's football game from last week. I think it was the first time I've gone to a high school football game. I brought the 90'MEM but didn't use it because I figured that f/4 wasn't enough light. So I shot it all with the 50'Lux. I wasn't really trying to cover the game or anything... it was just something to do to pass the time since Cerritos High School was getting killed... the final score was something like 56 to 7 :-(
Alice invited us to a party at her house in Rancho Cucamonga... It's always fun to see friends whom you have not meet for a while. It was a day of fun in the pool for the kids, and free flowing alcohol for the adults :D
Yesterday was Darren's high school graduation, the entire family/clan couldn't be more proud of him. It was a rather cool summer evening with good light and a joyous mood. It was awesome to find that Mr. Ziolkowski, one of my favorite teacher back in high school, was there to give a touching speech.
I started with the 90MEM to cover the walk-in, speeches, and the handing out of diplomas. Then I switched to the 50'Lux with a ND-filter to handle all the portraits. I did not dare to use f/1.4 too much because I needed to make sure everyone's faces are in focus, so I mostly stay around f/2.8, unless I see some opportunities to go wide-open. Here are just some select shots, you can see the full set [HERE]. Had a fun-filled day yesterday... We drove to San Diego for a birthday party (see [HERE]), then had to rush back to LA for a wedding reception (see [HERE]). Also, in the morning, took some portraits of my sister-in-law because she like the B&W conversion I did of her from a few days before. The trusty 50'Lux handled all of that. In the bright sun, I attached a 3-stop ND-filter so I can still shoot wide open, and in the evening, I bump the ISO up to 800 and hoped I have steady hands.
Here's a variety of shots from yesterday: I love taking pictures of babies. It's what got me into photography in the first place... to take better pictures of my son. Went to a friend's son's birthday party this past weekend and there were cute babies everywhere. Most people like to call the baby's attention to make them look at the camera, but just like normal portraits, I prefer to have my subject not look directly at the camera. With babies, I often prefer to catch them "in the act" of doing something... I think it somehow shows more of their characters.
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AuthorDavid Young Archives
May 2023
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My Journey into Leica...
A path not to be taken lightly, not without reservations, and not without dedication, but the results can be sweet, OH SO SWEET! This is a documentation of my trials and tribulations into the world of Leica Rangefinder Photography, and I hope you'll enjoy coming along with me.