Studio Altius Workshop, Week 2 Assignment

I started a six week Beginners Digital Photography series at the beginning of March. Each week, we have a set of assignments to exercise what we have learned. Here are some of my first week’s shots. Hopefully by week six we’ll see marked improvement! I leave for vacation the very next day and hope to really get some great shots while I’m out of the country!

Week 2 Assignment gave us a variety of requirements to practice various aspects of manual photography. I'm a fan of a low depth of field, which would be the first couple of shots.

Of course, grapes are very close to my heart, they make my favorite thing. Wine.

The pitiful look is due to the peice of chicken on top of my lens, and partially because she isn't allowed to have it until I say "OK". This explains why she gets so excited anytime I touch my camera...

Downtown St. Louis in a place Alex wouldn't let me go alone!

Can you name this guard rail?

Probably only if you read ahead. ;)

Random assignment requiring variety of angles of a single item.
I liked the reflection of this one.

Kelly Manno Workshop

So this spring, before some travelling I decided to get some education on photography. Lucky me, right after this decision, alot of interesting local things popped up. I was thinking I'd have to spend big bucks and vacation time to travel.

Sunday launched the spring training with a workshop from Kelly Manno. It was great! I'd tell you about it, but I wrote Kelly a letter and she posted it, so you can read it on her site. :)

http://kellymanno.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

During the workshop we got to do a shoot. Most of my pictures turned out horribly as I wasn't so great at not tripping over other photographers and generally to short to run around the back... especially with my 50mm lens! So, here are a few of the best!

Waiting for Baby Beatrice

Nearly missed the opportunity to shoot my friend Amy and her daughter while she was still pregnant. That darn three week flu overtook me and arrived on the day we were planning to get together. Lucky enough we planned a girls brunch a few days before she arrived, and I was able to spend some time before brunch with Amy and her daughter Camille.

This has probably been my most challenging self-assignment so far. Between Camille, Amy, the cat Euclid, and the family dog, it was a bit of a juggle to get good shots. Definately a skill I need to work on. I was so distracted with that, and trying out a new lens on my camera that I didn't realize until later that I had shot the whole dern thing in auto. So much for practicing my skills!
I've signed up for a 6 week class starting next month, so I'm hoping for clearer sharper more creative shots in the future! Here are some of the better shots from our "waiting for baby Beatrice" session. Perhaps we'll have the opportunity to do a Baby Beatrice shoot soon!

Puerto Rico, yo nunca dejare de amarte!

A quick follow up from our New Year's trip from Puerto Rico, and a few of the best shots. Still have a ton of editing to do whenever I get the chance. We stayed in a great place right on the beach with only 9 rooms, but spent most of our time in search of deserted beaches. The city was packed with visitors for the new year, so we steered away from the crowds.


We found a bike path along the ocean and wore ourselves out for 3 hours, finding this shot before we turned around.

These next two were in the city near our small hotel in the Condado area of San Juan


We ultimately found 3 or four secluded beaches, no buildings, no people. this was the first, midpoint in the sweaty windy bike ride. We washed down the ride with a bottle of water and kept going to the end of the trail, only to return for a sunset dinner and extremely cold beer! Experimenting with self portraits, very interesting.....especially with no remote!

McClellan Morley sneak peak

A good friend from way back, Carol MClellan (now Morley) is just about to move to Oz (Austrailia that is). She'll finally get to live in the same country as her new husband! Before she leaves, Carol wanted to collect some photos to keep with her when she's missing her family. The group was interested in some casual photos over lunch at Mi Ranchito in U City. Here is a sneak peak, McClellan-Morley family! Carol, I should have the final versions in mid January. Happy Holidays and buen viaje!

Engagement Photos: Heather and Dave

My friends Heather and Dave are engaged, so we all spent and afternoon at the City Museum working on some photos for them. Honestly, they made my job really easy as their stated photo anxiety channeled itself into spontaneous silliness - which made for some very fun shots. City Museum as well provided tons of variety and interesting props.

Heather, a graphic artist, took my raw files and did her own re-touching to get the exactly look she wanted. Wow, have I learned alot about where my skills in Photoshop need to grow! Here are some samples of our day below. The rest can be found here http://lynnehart.zenfolio.com/p435228734

New Family Addition!

The holidays, and a new addition to our family have had me a little distracted, but I'm back on the saddle. Meet Tonta, and if you speak spanish, yes, the name suits her well. Most unusual cat.

Tonta is also the best toy we have ever gifted to loba. This shot, as loving as it may look, was a little more like the standoff before a shootdown.

Here's where all day play sessions pay off for humans. I call this one 'wolves in sheeps clothing'.

More updates soon. Plenty of upcoming holiday festivities that I should be shooting, as well, a trip to Puerto Rico over New Years which should make great background for some couples self portrait work for Alex and I.