Dog on a Walk

Even after moving back in July, I’m still going through boxes.  I had unpacked my Holga 120  CFN.  This past Saturday I serenidipitously found a roll of 120 film in one of our boxes.  I loaded it into my Holga as Sam was getting Sputnik ready for a walk.  The Holga came along.

The top photo there is Sam walking Sputnik, who is happily sniffing along the rail trail near out home.  We like walking that trail, dog included!

Here are a few more from the roll.

I have a few more in my album over on Flickr.  Why not head over there and take a look at them?

 

Mascherata Photos: Editing Complete!

My Mascherata photos are edited and ready to be viewed!  They have been distributed to the models, such as Emily Jewel, up there.  I hope you enjoy them, too!

I thought I’d share a few more from the photo shoot, since I’m really pleased with how they turned out.

Again, head on over to my portfolio to view the rest.

Samantha Leigh Fern

Angelia Kauffman

Mascherata Event At Omni Lens Studios

Omni Lens Studios held one of their fantastic events on January 28, 2017 featuring Mascherata, which is Italian for masquerade. Most of the models there did masquerade type outfit, and they were all wonderful, such as Erin Lebo in the top photo here. I got a lot of great shots.  It was hard to choose, but here are some of my favorites from the day.

Samantha Leigh Fern

 

Dani Nichole Ensor

 

Ashley Stone

 

Like I said, these are only a small portion of what I got.  Look for all of my shots when I upload them to my online portfolio.  I haven’t had a chance to do that, yet, but all my editing is done.

Thank you to all the models, and Chad and Carole at Omni Lens Studios for a great event!

Testing Out my New Smartphone Camera

I recently upgraded my old smartphone to a new one, an iPhone 6s Plus.  I wanted a bigger phone, and my husband and I usually stick with Apple phones, usually a model behind the most recent one. I know, my phone has been out a while, but it’s new to me.

On January 14, 2017, Joan and I went to the Reading Fire and Ice Fest in Reading, PA, USA.  It’s the third year in a row we’ve gone, and that’s how many years the festival has been happening.

Ah, but this year I didn’t take my DSLR.  Nope.  It was drizzling outside, and I don’t like to take my good camera out in the rain, but I figured my phone would be a decent proxy if I wanted to take some photos, like I did, of the beta fish ice carving above.

The camera in the iPhone 6s Plus is decent.  You can do those live photos now.  I tend to turn them into GIFs, like this one of my dog getting his belly rubbed. 

Ok, back to the fest.  Here are two more photos from the fest that I took.

 

Huh, I just realized that all three photos that I chose to feature here are carvings of fish.  I can be so thick sometimes.

I also popped these three photos into Lightroom to see what results I could do to jazz them up.

2017

2017

2017

 

That’s basically the ice aspect of the fest.  As for the fire, here are a few that I captured on my phone.  You can see more of the fire photos over on my hooping blog.

As usual, it’s hard to capture frozen motion in low light on a smartphone camera.  At least my model of the iPhone isn’t immune to that.  I believe the iPhone 7 does better.

The iPhone 6s Plus has the usual decent iPhone camera.  It’s good in a lot of situations.  It’ll do.

Have a Great Holiday Season!

I want to wish you and yours a great holiday season!  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah!,  Wonderful Yule, and Happy New Year!

I hope to take some photos at family celebrations, so keep a look out for what I get.

My best!

Sputnik the Photogenic Pyrador

I would like to introduce everyone to a our new dog, Sputnik!  He’s a Great Pyrenees/Labrador mix, hence a “pyrador,” and is six months old.  Sputnik is going to be a BIG boy.

My husband and I got him from LaMancha Animal Rescue in Unionville, Pennsylvania, USA, not far from Coatesville.

LaMancha is a beautiful rescue facility!  They are a working farm with chickens, cows, horses, and, of course, dogs in clean kennels and cats in a special house to adopt.

Sputnik’s story is that he came from Alabama, USA, where he was a stray.  LaMancha transported him here, called him Zeus, and he was barely there a week until Sam and I snatched him up.

We were going to LaMancha to see two other dogs and didnt’ know about Sputnik until we got there.  When we arrived, we were told that the one had been adopted, and the other one we walked for a little bit, and he seemed frightened.  Not a match.  We asked about the other dogs there, and were told about Zeus.  We walked him on a trail on the farm (all the dogs get walks there), and were treated to kissed, hugs, and was known as the Pyr Lean.  Great Pyrenees will lean into you really hard you pet them.

We had our dog.

Sputnik was put into the back seat of my car, and I was treated to hugs and kisses on the way home as I was sitting back there with him.  Here’s a video of me introducing him.

I have never had a dog look so nicely at the camera for me.  I think it was the shutter clicking when I would take an exposure.  Still, I’ll take it!  He poses well for the camera!  Here are a few other shots that i took of my handsome guy.

I already have pictures of him over on Instagram.  Here are a few good ones.

That ear. #dogsofinstagram #pyrador

A photo posted by jennabee25 (@jennabee25) on Dec 11, 2016 at 5:19pm PST

I look crazy, and Sputnik looks dopey. #pyrador #dogsofinstagtam #selfie #selfiewithdog

A photo posted by jennabee25 (@jennabee25) on Dec 12, 2016 at 5:21pm PST

 

So, that’s been my photographic journey with Sputnik over the past four days he’s been with us.  Much more to come, believe me!

Surprise Cats

I absolutely love the photo of my great-grandfather Harry with his prize catch.  This photo was taken in Atlantic City.  The cat makes the photo, along with Harry’s huge smile while showing off his big fish.

I’m pretty sure Harry wasn’t expecting to compete with a cat for his dinner.

I don’t know why I decided to do a post themed “surprise cats.”  I guess, this photo reminded me of one that I took a while ago and was the first photo that I ever posted on Flickr.

See the kitten in the middle?  I didn’t notice that before.  I just shot the candid people at the time.  Then I got my film developed.  Boom! Surprise cat!

 

 

 

Dutchland Derby Rollers. Go, Blitz!

I know, long time, no update, but I do have some great stuff to share with you guys today.  On Saturday, I attended the roller derby bout fought out between the local Dutchland Blitz of the Dutchland Derby Rollers, against the Mason Dixon Roller Vixens.  I am happy to say the Blitz handily won the bout.  I was there with my photography Meetup group, and we all got some excellent shots of the event.

Like this one, I want to share a few of the photos I got during the evening.  This is Hester, the mascot of the Dutchland Derby Rollers, and she is wearing a birthday cake because this is the tenth season of roller derby in Lancaster, PA, USA!  Congrats, guys!

This volunteer was showing her Dutchland pride by donning a shirt and an eye catching unicorn horn.  People come all dressed up in all sorts of ways for roller derby bouts. I love see the creativity and variety.  I also love the name the derby girls and refs come up with for themselves.

I used my Nifty Fifty 50mm f/1.8 lens for the entire bout.  I love that lens.  This isn’t the greatest photo of my edits, but I still like the action in it.

Keep an eye out for the rest of the photos which should be popping up on my portfolio website soon.  Speaking of portfolios, I finally have posted the rest of my Outer Banks photos there.  Go check them out!

 

What’s an Intervalometer?

Yes, what IS an intervalometer?  I had never heard of one until I asked about an interesting situation I had during one gathering at the photography meetup I’m a member of.

Here’s how I learned about this funky piece of camera equipment.  I had just started hooping (which I encourage you take take a look at that blog), and wanted to take timed pictures at regular intervals for, say one minute, every fifteen second.  I had attempted to set this up with my Canon 7D, only to learn that I could take one shot per timer and had to reset every time I wanted a new exposure.  I needed a solution.

I presented my dilemma to Blake, a fellow photographer, at the photo meetup.  He suggested I purchase an intervalometer.  Eh?  I had never heard of it, and it was a mouthful to say, but I went to Amazon and did a search.  It turns out, there are quite a few on the market!

I decided to purchase the one above:  Apurture’s version of an intervalometer.  I read the specifications, it met my needs, and it would get to me quickly.  Neato!

I read the instructions that came with the intervalometer.  It acts a a remote shutter, a timer that would take photos at regular intervals (sweet), and would work great for time-lapse photos and a bunch of other stuff.  I was pleased with my purchase.

I decided to put my intervalometer to work during a trip to the woods, during which I had brought my hoops along.  I got some great shots!  Here’s my favorite I got using the regular timer interval shutter release, say I had it take photos for one minute at 15 second intervals.

I also set the intervalometer to take long exposure photos over a set amount of time that same day to take photos of me using an LED hoop.  Here’s one of the best below.

Next, I want to share a good one I took last year at French Creek State Park, Elverson, PA, USA.  When taking self portraits with an intervalometer, you have to mindful of when the shutter is going to release so you can pose yourself properly.

Lastly, my intervalometer was a boon when it came to astrophotography during the same year in that same trip to the woods I took the first photos with.  I set it my camera to manual, the intervalometer to take one photo for a 3o second timed exposure.  For my first attempt at astrophotography, it’s not too bad!

I hope I have shown you a few things you can learn from this handy piece of gear.  They usually range from $20 on up, depending on the features and compatibility you need.  Intervalometers are cool.  I’m so glad I spoke up at that meetup and asked about my dilemma.  Thanks, Blake!

 

 

 

 

Four Photos Friday

Here are four shots that I took from my recent trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA.  It’s Four Photos Friday!!!

More to come!