Offbeat Photography

Portraits of Oliver-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Family portrait. Just needs a hair light or background light to separate the foreground from the background. Luckily I just ordered an Alien Bees AB800 kit to do just that! Yay!

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Portraits of Oliver-2-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Another portrait from the Garage.

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Portraits of Oliver-2-3, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Amy and Oliver stand outside the house smiling for the camera as I take their photo using my new, sparkly, Zeiss 16-80mm lens, and also one of the two Brinkmann Dual Xenon flashlights I bought through Amazon.

The lens is spectacular. The flashlights provide just enough light at the right color to fill in those shadows. I'll definitely need some practice using them, but I think the results will be worth the small amount of effort.

If you click on the photo, you will be transported to my flickr page where you can see an additional photo of Oliver "playing" in the leaves. I think the sunlight was just a tiny bit to bright because he didn't want to open his eyes and play, though he was wide awake.

Posted by Benjamin at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Portraits of Oliver-1-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Testing one of the two new Lenses, the Sony 70-300mm G SSM. Actually, more like playing with the lens. ISO 3200.

Posted by Benjamin at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was listening to the podcast by Gavin Seim, and had to pick these Brinkmann Dual Xenon flashlights up.  I looked around town at the local hardware stores, but ended up purchasing them through Amazon when I couldn't find them locally. 

Today, I just recieved both of these lights in the mail and I'm excited to try them out this weekend with my next senior photography session.  Amy is going to assist me by holding the lights.  I hope to use them as accent lights and as fills during some of the outdoor shots.

You can read about another Wedding Photographer's technique using these lights by following this link, How I Use A Video Light, by Michael McNett, if you're not able to listen to the podcast at Pro Photo Show.

Posted by Benjamin at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Portraits of Oliver-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Oliver is accepting of bath-time. He particularly enjoys getting his hair washed; I think he just likes his head to be massaged.

This photo was taken using a high ISO, 3200, and some creative settings for the Sony A700 that I found on a forum at DPReview.com. It seems to work well at limiting the common chromatic and luminance noise that plagues most high ISO photos.

Posted by Benjamin at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amy at the Shack, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

I took this photo at the Shack today while testing out some new settings on the a700 (v4 software). I used one of the creative style shots, set it to black and white, boosted the contrast and the brightness to +3 and set the DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer) to +3. In the diner I set the ISO to 800 so I could get some usable shutter speeds. I was pleased the noise looked somewhat like film grain.

I used a 1.7 50mm prime that I've owned for several years but always forget about. The aperture was set to f4, I'm not sure what the shutter speed ended up at. Between the sharpness in the eyes, the point of focus, and the softness of the background, I think I've found a setting for black and white that is worth keeping.

Tomorrow I plan on taking these settings out to test on some landscape shots at Comlara Park, near Bloomington IL.

Posted by Benjamin at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Andre Easter's photography of plants, especially his cactus photos, are simply amazing.

Posted by Benjamin at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amy and Oliver, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Amy holding Oliver, now 3 weeks old. He grew two inches and 5 ounces.

Posted by Benjamin at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around the Kitchen-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

1. Rice
2. Sour Cream
3. Miller Lite
4. Yogurt
5. Whipped Cream
6. Orange Juice
7. Large Eggs
8. Mountain Dew
9. 2% Milk
10. Fat Free Milk

Posted by Benjamin at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around the Kitchen-1, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

In the kitchen sink:

1. Tomato
2. Hand Soap
3. Baby Soap
4. Plates
5. Bowl

Posted by Benjamin at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WOW, just WOW!

Posted by Benjamin at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found this site today while doing some basic searches on photography and individualizing your business. Sarah has some very unique ideas for senior photography. In particular, the portraits in the Laundromat are an exception example of thinking outside the camera.

Posted by Benjamin at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beautiful photography

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If you have time, visit Peter Kearns Blog. The photography he shares is good; the experiences he shares are great.

Posted by Benjamin at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Online Photographer: October 2007

The blog, The Online Photographer, actually has excellent articles, unlike the one you're visiting right where you're reading this post.

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Oliver Reed-3, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Today, Oliver is one week old. I have posted 7 new photos of him online. Click on the photo to follow it to the rest of them on Flickr!

Posted by Benjamin at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oliver Reed (1 of 8), originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Oliver looking through the window of his crib in the hospital.

More photos of Oliver can be seen at my flickr page. Just click on the photo to go their.

Posted by Benjamin at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 
Oliver Reed, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

This was Oliver's first bath just a few hours after he was born. As you can see he is expressing his displeasure in being unwrapped from the cozy swaddling.

Posted by Benjamin at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sean Obermeyer (1 of 1)-2, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

A friend of Amy's asked me to photograph her baby today. I've uploaded one of the completed photos. What do you think?

Posted by Benjamin at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Children at Weldon Springs (1 of 3) Edited, originally uploaded by Offbeat Photography.

Skyler enjoys fishing off a bridge at Weldon Springs, near Clinton IL. Our wonderful Governor, Rod Blagojevich, and his odd relationship with our Democratic House and Senate, as created quite a stir in Illinois. Weldon Springs is one of the casualties of that relationship between the Illinois executive branch and the Illinois legislators. It will be closed later this year, around November, because of a cut in funding to state parks across Illinois.

Posted by Benjamin at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)