Monday, January 26, 2009

Armi - Nike Designer


Armi - Nike Designer, originally uploaded by blister gone.

Ladies, this is your lucky day #2.

Armi is a Nike footwear designer with a heart of gold. He is a kind, generous, loving soul that just wants to have fun. He's always there for you, through good and bad. Anytime you need him, he's there, kind of like Spiderman.

Exactly like Spiderman.

Armi kicking butt
I tried entering the frame but he wouldn't let me

Mostly, he's genuinely interested in what you have to say. He's one of the easiest people to talk to, because he's curious about you. He wants to know who you are, where you came from, and what makes you tick. Everything else is secondary, what more can you ask for?

He's also one of the neatest people I know. His place is always shinier than Mr. Clean's forehead.

Nikon D700 + 35 f/2 with Alienbee B800 camera left

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Steve


Steve 2

Hey single ladies! My friend Steve here is one of the nicest guys around, and he's still single! It's your lucky day!

Two of the best things about Steve is that he's generous and likes to cook = a killer combination. Believe me when I say his cooking rocks. His BBQ ribs, miso fish (i forgot which kind) are the bomb. I can't even recall what other awesome things he can cook - they are all amazing.

Shot with D700 + 35 f/2 @5.6. Alien bee B800 with octobox on left, speedlight in cabin, all triggered by Pocketwizards.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Audrey High Fashion! ... with a lamp.


Audrey High Fashion!, originally uploaded by blister gone.

Don't throw away your bad shots just yet! I was about to throw this shot away, but I liked the light so much I decided to give it a square crop, make it B&W and increase the contrast. Surprisingly, it is now one of my favorite shots of Audrey. Before you throw a shot away, be sure to try some different color configurations and crops first.

Shot with a D700 + 35mm f/2 and the lamp in the frame as the light source. I think this would have benefitted from a small reflector for fill on the bottom left, but I kind of like the shadows that gives that strong, contrasty look.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Don't Forget


Don't Forget, originally uploaded by blister gone.

It was a long hard week for both of us. I am still rushing to get a project done, and Audrey started the first week of her second semester, and she didn't get out of her Friday class until 7:30pm.

Being the good fiance that I am, I stayed at work until then and picked her up afterwards. We felt like we both needed a break and went to NW 23rd. At first we were going to try out Caffe Mingo that we heard so much about, but it was 8pm, we were hungry, and it was an hour wait. We wandered around a bit looking for a place to eat and walked past Paper Source. Audrey loves paper. Like seriously LOVES paper. She feels them up. Yeah.

With Valentines Day right around the corner, the store was decorated with pink and red. They also had window decals that said, "don't forget to say, 'I Love You'" which in my mind, is the perfect picture opportunity.

Thankfully, I had my camera with me this time. I misfocused just a tad, but otherwise still good.

We had Mio Sushi for dinner, and Papa Haydn for dessert. It was a good night.

D700 + 85mm 1.4 @ 1.4, ISO 800 using store window light.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Lunch Time


Lunch Time, originally uploaded by blister gone.

We went down to visit my good friend's 8 week old daughter in Corvallis over the weekend. Since it was Audrey's last weekend before school starts, it was the only time left that she was able to go.

We visited the Chinese church that I used to go to while I was in school there. As usual, after service everyone gathers around for lunch and fellowship. Before all of the chairs were set up, these poor hungry kids and their mother sat on the pew in the back. All of them sitting in a row, with the mother feeding the youngest. Very very cute. I couldn't help but snap a couple of quick shots.

D700 + 85mm 1.4 @ 1.4, natural light

Saturday, January 10, 2009

<3 Portland


Portland-0003, originally uploaded by blister gone.

This was taken a while back, when my friend Steve and I went out to the docks to take some long exposure shots. We went down and walked around, and I saw an opening of water between the boats. The light reflected off of the water beautifully.

However, when I shot the picture with natural ambient light, the boat in the foreground was darker than I had wanted it. Luckily I brought a flash along with me, and I strobed the flash manually a couple times during the 8 second exposure to bring the brightness out a bit more. Now the boat doesn't get overpowered by the bright lights from the skyscrapers in the background.

D700 + 35 f/2 @ f/5.6 ISO 200, 8 second exposure

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Dinner Time


Braeden Dinner Time, originally uploaded by blister gone.

Like all little kids, they are hilariously cute. As I understand it, a lot of kids have trouble eating. Not that they physically can't, they just don't want to. They'd rather play. Sometimes with food.

My little nephew Braeden (almost 3 years old now) loves food - but only certain types of food. If it's something he likes, he's completely ecstatic about it and will eat it until his little tummy bursts. If he doesn't like it, he won't even let it near his mouth.

He came over to be babysat because my sister and brother in law went out that night. Braeden just woke up from his nap so he wasn't very hungry. He ran around until everyone was finished with dinner. My mom didn't want to leave the food out so she tried feeding him. In an attempt to distract my mom, he points to the picture frame and starts to name everyone in it. Smart little bugger!

D700 + 35mm f/2 @ 2.8, ISO 3200 - converted to B&W in Lightroom

Missed Opportunity


Contrasty sky, originally uploaded by blister gone.

So I was at work, and I looked out my window. There was a huge dark cloud overhead, but near the edge of visibility just over the horizon, there was bright blue sky. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me. The only camera I had was a film camera loaded with B&W film. This scene needed color.

All I had was my phone.

The dynamic range is so bad on this thing, obviously not meant for landscape shots! Looking through the screen revealed that the dark cloud and the bright sky behind it was all one color: white. So I brought down the exposure as low as possible, and... you still can't really see it. It just made the whole scene muddy grey.

I'm going to start bringing my camera to work again. Ridiculous.


shot with LG env2 (VX9100)