We spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend in Blanco at a fabulous house with our friends Michael, Amy, Tyree, Stephanie and Matt. I got a chance to work with some really nice light for some great portraits.
Just some fun pics from a biker-karaoke-dive-bar which makes a great burger. If you live in Austin, be sure to check out The Water Tank on McNeil at 183. Steak night is on Wednesday and its excellent!
Michael and I went to the AMODA (Austin Museum of Digital Art) Digital Showcase #43 Laptop DJ Battle which was hosted during the South by Southwest Music Festival at Club Deville. All of these shots were made without flash at ISO3200 with a 100mm f2.0 prime on the Canon 40D.
As a portrait photographer who shoots a lot of children, clients often ask me for tips on taking better pictures of their kids. I have looked at many books, but have found How to Photograph Your Baby by Nick Kelsh to be one of the best. The book is spiral bound, simple, task-based, and has many excellent tricks. Highly recommended!
Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographswas possibly the book which most significantly changed the way that I think about light and the manner in which I shoot. Now in its 2nd edition, I consider this to be required reading.
Although out of print for more than 15 years, Tom Schroeppel's Bare Bones Camera Course is an inexpensive, concise and no-nonsense introduction to the camera and lenses. Written on a typewriter with hand-drawn line drawings, it is truly bare bones but absolutely useful. If you can find it, get a copy.
Recommended Gear
Many folks ask me what camera they should purchase. My experience is that small point-and-shoot cameras and more frustrating and slow than they are useful. I recomend a basic SLR-style camera for almost all users. Currently, my favorites are:
If you absolutely cannot handle the size or cost of a SLR camera, then buy a compact camera knowing that it will focus slowly, shoot slowly with a long lag, and take pictures which are significantly more noisy than those taken by an SLR.
I do not currently recommend any compact cameras.
Currently, I am using and recommend the following gear:
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