All in Color

Although the gown was traditional white, the tux in basic black, both contributed to a very colorful day.

From the radiant smiles of family and friends, the most amazing sunset, to the flowers in this hanging pot, this wedding day was a most colorful event.

This shot was taken as the groom, Chad, was about to perform his vows.

Chad & Holly, I would just like to thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.

Holly & Chad

Today, we shot a wedding at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC. This was perhaps one of the most beautiful places I have visited and certainly one of the more popular venues for a wedding.

Holly & Chad could not have asked for better weather. It was in the mid 60's and although it seemed to have rained in the morning, it was not on the agenda for the wedding.

This shot was taken soon after the ceremony. One challenge with this was that we were losing light, fast.

Funny is, everyone knew it and it was great hearing everyone start yelling ,"come one people, we are losing light here" , every time we were loosing precious seconds trying to round certain people up for the shot.

Nonetheless, everyone had a great time. I sure know I did.

Picture-a-Day 10/26/2007

I have spent the last 3 days in Boston. As I usually do, I packed my camera along with 3 days of business attire, casual wear to change into as I spent 2 night hanging in a sports bar to watch the ever so amazing Red Sox. All this, and of course my laptop bag, made for a lot of gear.

One would think that since I am so religious about taking my camera on my trip, I would actually make sure I used it.

So why is it, no matter how strong my intentions are to take lots and lots of pictures, I end up with taking like, 6 in total?

This trip was even worse, I took 3, all of which were taken while driving my rental at 45mph and my arm extended attempting to catch a sunrise over a local lake.

So here it is, the single shot that was not totally lame. Thankfully, when ever the subject is this good, it really does not matter who the photographer is. :)

Picture of the Day - 10/23/2007

OK, I will admit it, the original idea of posting a Picture-a-Day was two fold:

• First, keep the site fresh
• Second, to post a shot taken on the same date the in which it is designated "Picture Of the Day"
  
  Well as things go, I don't actually use my camera every day. I could only wish.
  
  So, here is another shot from my weekend on the coast. Funny thing is, had I gotten to there even 30 minutes later, I would have completely missed this sunset and thus had nothing at all to upload.

Now that would have been a darn shame. :)

By the way, I have noticed that I get a fair amount of visitors to this site (got to love stat counters), which quite frankly surprises me.

You certainly do not have to, but feel free to leave a comment or three if you would like. :)

Picture of the Day- 10/22/2007

This past weekend I decided to take a roadtrip to make a long overdue visit on my cousins Juli & Joe who live along the cost of North Carolina.

Within minutes of getting to Juli's house, we drove to Joe's. He had been looking forward to taking us out on the beach in his Jeep so we could see the sunset, something is says is very special on Atlantic Beach.

Well you know, he was right. Every minute or two while he was swirving left and right, I was sticking my head out the window to grab shots like this. Now this is NOT a perfect shot, in fact, there is a lot wrong with it. But the fact that I could grab it while moving in sand surprised me, so I just had to make this my Picture of the Day.

Camera Equipment

It is no big secret that Digital Photography is an expensive "hobby". When I purchased my first SLR camera in 1991 it cost me $249.00 and it was a mid range Canon 630 EOS, a very nice camera.

Now, compare that with the fact that my first digital Canon 10D DSLR, purchased in August of 2003 cost 1499.00 That is HUGE gap.

The thing is, the cost difference does not end there! Remember, digital is new. That means that those first buying in are funding the research to improve the technology. So, the Canon 10D, which was 6megapixels and not the fastest camera in the world, especially at start up, was soon after replaced by the Canon 20d. Guess what?, I own one of those too. That was a purchase I made in February 2005.

You may have figured out that it was just about 18 months from my first digital DLSR to my second. Compare that to the fact that very trusty Canon EOS 630 was in solid use from 1991 up till I purchased my Canon 10D. That is 12 years of use.

My point?

Digital is expensive. And that is just the beginning.

The days of just dropping the film in a mailer and sending off to the lab and waiting a week for the prints is over. Now, those that really take it serious, hand process each picture and do some retouching to get a near perfect result image by image.

What does it take to do that?

Well to start, oodles of software. Photoshop, Lightroom, specialty plug-ins for Photoshop, printing software and finally, lots and lots of time.

All this adds to the cost of digital.

So, am I complaining. Absolutely not. The control over things has opened a door to creativity that even not very creative people can now explore.

Now if you made it this far, you may be wondering whats up with this entry? Basically it is to congratulate myself on the fact that I was able to wait 2 1/2 years before adding my newest camera to the mix, the Canon 5D.

I have yet to completely dive in the using this camera as I am VERY conservative with changing over as I really want to have a good feel for it before I use it for shots that I may not be able to take again, but all indications are that this will vastly improve the results of my photography.

It should, it is nearly 13 megapixels and is claimed to have the some of the best quality results of any camera in its class.

So why 3 cameras? It is simple. If you are going to shot an event, of any type, you can not just rely on one camera. That, coupled with the fact that having a wide angle lens on one and a telephoto on the other, is very very useful. No lost opportunities while switching lens.

Rest of the Gear
In addition to the cameras, here is some of the other gear I use and why.

• Canon 70-200mm L lens - used for most of my portraits.
• Canon 17-40mm L lens- A wide angle that I love to use for group shots as well as interior
• Canon 60mm Macro- no where near as expensive as the above lens, but it is my most "fun" lens. I have gotten some great insect, butterfly and flower shots. Highly recommended for anyone with a DSLR
  
• (4) Canon 550 flashes (with wireless)- This is used to set up remote flash firing so as to illuminate the entire venue.
• 13 Gigs of Compact Flash Cards-To store to shots
  
• A complete portable studio lighting set up with umbrellas and softbox. - I have not really used this with the exception of a couple of portrait shots. I prefer the use of natural light when possible with the aid of a reflector

Picture of the day 10/13/2007

This weekend was just perfect, at least as far as the weather. One thing about North Carolina, is in the fall, there is so much to see related to blooming flowers, even this late into the year.

Both on Saturday & Sunday I spent time at a couple of different local botanical gardens. On Saturday it was the North Carolina Botanical Gardens located just down the street from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

On this particular day there was a big football game going on, so the area was just filled with people. But as they are such big college sports fans in this area, that just meant the gardens were empty.

This shot I took was one of a few of my favorites. Being that I never really spent much time photographing nature as my focus has always been people, I still have a lot to learn. So taking a picture of this most beautiful sculpture seemed appropriate. The detail in her face was just amazing.

She is placed in the area overlooking the herbs section of garden and just seem so life-like in the gaze of her eyes.

A wonderful place for lunch after touring these gardens is almost any place on Franklin St in Chapel Hill.

Picture of the Day- 10/8/2007

Meet my new "friend", we'll just call him Spike. How did we meet? I noticed Spike sitting on the car the other night while I chatted with my mom on the phone.

What was interesting was that while chatting with Mom, Spike was pacing back and forth on the hood of the car, almost like he was looking for something.

Now picture this; it just so happens I had the phone in one hand but in the other, my Canon 20D with 60mm macro attached.

Since you know how those calls with your mom can go, where she is doing all the talking and you are looking for something to do, but not seem disinterested, i figured i would try to take a shot of Spike; as soon as he stops pacing and stands still for a second.

As I hunched down and put the camera to my face, amazingly, Spike stopped in his tracks. And as I am looking in the viewfinder I begin to notice that Spike is looking at me just about as curiously as I am was looking at him. For a second, he even seemed to cock his head to the side, like he was trying to figure out what the hell I was doing.

Well all of a sudden, Spike must have decided to get a closer look. Using those little legs of his, he LUNGED forward and hit me in the forehead; this while the phone was to my ear and the camera was against my face. In a split second, my shutter fired, the phone drops to the ground and my 20D nearly followed it.

After recovering my composure I look down at the car and am in shock, Spike is in the same spot he LUNGED from giving me that stupid look with all his eyes..

For the first time I thought I was the exhibit.....

This shot was taken AFTER he hit me in the head, just to prove that "I am the man" and he is the beast.. :)

Picture of the Day- 10/6/2007

Like most photographers, taking pictures is more than just photo session or event. We actually LIKE, no LOVE, using our camera's and have something new to share.

Sometimes it is hard to set time aside for doing what we enjoy and shooting the things around us, at least that is the case for me.

So I am going to try and keep the blog fresh by adding a picture a day (PAD). Of course I may not be able to do it every day, but I will try my hardest.

This was Saturdays..

To see more of my photos that are not on Candid Captures, head on over to my flickr account.

After Here, you must go Here

We had so much fun putting up Candid Captures, Maribel just had to have one of her own. So head on over to Bel Studios and check out her awesome website!

Congrats Bel!!

All Systems are a Go--LAUNCH

Well yesterday was the day, the day of Go-Live of the all new website. Yes, there were a few little things to iron out, but all in all, the process was seamless.

So, here is a plug; if you or someone you know needs a web presences you have to check out Bludomain . They have awesome templates that very well could be just the right fit for you. Bludomain targets photographers and other graphic pros, but I feel that their templates just might be useful for a lot more folks.

Hello

From your partner in crime. Good morning.