Month: December 2007

10,000 Clicks

Last week, unbeknownst to me, my camera surpassed the 10,000 pictures taken mark. This is a milestone – and a lot of clicks. The shutter is supposed to be good for 100,000 or so clicks before it needs service, so I’m good for a while. However, this milestone answers the ongoing question for me – what will the in-camera file numbering system actually do? I know what it’s supposed to – it’s supposed to go from 100-9999 [folder 100, image 9999] to 101-0001. I have been anxious to see if it would actually work the way it’s supposed to since I’ve seen some discussion around this not working as advertised.

Now, the question has been answered. I started my numbering at 200- so, my images went from 200-9999 to 201-0001 – just like it’s supposed to. Nice, eh?

Long Time No Blog

I’ve been a bit busy, what with my new project [which is way fun, by the way] and the increased commute time needed to drive all the way from here to the other side of DC. That leaves me with less free time than before, so between that and the extra work generated by the wedding we have not had time for much else – not even blogging!

That being said, we’ve just last night delivered the proof prints to the clients and so the first [most dificult] part is finished, and we should have some more free time in the upcoming weeks. Laura might have more work to do, though, with the creation of a photo album.

And speaking of Laura, we were not very impressed with how her camera performed under a few conditions at the wedding. She was using the Rebel XTi, which in most circumstances has been a wonderful camera. But, with special flash conditions, it didn’t do what we wanted it to. So, we sold it. We got $499 cash for it, which I used to trade her up for an early birthday present – a brand new Canon EOS 40D. It’s quite nice and has some features that make me a bit jealous… 😦 But, she deserves the best – and even if this does not have as many megapixels as mine, it is certainly as good as or even better in many respects. It’s a little heavier than the XTi, but still lighter than my 5D, which is good for her. I’m also releived that the menuing system works almost like mine and will be easier to translate between the two models when we try to set them up the same. The performance of the 40D at high ISO is also just as good as the 5D – which is quite impressive.

Of course, we have yet to test it under the same conditions that made the XTi underexpose horribly. So, I made her open her present early – so that when our friends come over tomorrow [Christmas Eve] she can experiment with it on the kids.

Fong Is The Man

On our way to the wedding rehearsal yesterday, we stopped in to the camera store and bought the Light Sphere II by Gary Fong. Skeptical at first, we only bought one. We tried it out for a few shots last night and decided to try it for the wedding.

I have to say that it totally rocks. It really brought out some nice soft light for portraits and group shots when the available light wasn’t good. I used the “fong” up until the reception when the low, white ceiling provided a good bounce light.

After many hours of shooting, though, we are done for the evening. We’re presently downloading the many hundreds of pictures to the server for processing. That’s the tedious part.

Wedding Day

After much preparation and stress, today we will embark on the begining of our true professional career in the photographic world. We will be photographing a wedding, having planned from the beginning and today we execute the shoot. This is the fun part, as well as seeing what we took and finding some great pictures in the pile.

The few weddings we’ve done so far have been pro bono, or as sub-contractors. This time, though, it’s us from start to finish. It’s a little stressful, knowing that our clients’ memories are in our hands. We hope and expect to capture the best we can.

We were concerned about the weather at first [since it has been unseasonally cold and snow and ice are still on the ground], but it seems that we have been given a small break. It’s now sunny outside and more mild than yesterday. It’s above freezing, so we are seeing some melting, too.

All told, even with the stress building up to the event, I think today will go wonderfully.

First Snow

It’s snowing today – the first snow of the season. I dedcided to work from home today to complete a document that I’ve been assigned. Does that sound like I’m here because I have to be? No way! I’m home because I’m chicken. I don’t want to ride my motorcycle in 28 degrees with falling snow. It was cold enough for me yesterday in the low 30s, and yes – even a few degrees makes a difference when riding. BRRR!

Besides: it’s supposed to snow all day long, and I could end up stranded in DC – not a fun proposition, if you ask me!