Welcome to Amacoco

It is spring break this week for our kids.  So of course that means they are bored.  As an effort to quiet the natives, Monday night we took them to the Mesa Arts Center (a favorite place to shoot portraits) to experience Amococo.

The family getting their zen on (click pic for a bigger size)

 What on earth is Amococo do you say?  Well it's hard to describe but imagine a giant inflatable maze that has been scuplted with influence of Islamic architecture, Archimedean solids and Gothic cathedrals (taken from the brochure).  In short it was way cool.

Top of one of the rooms (click pic for a bigger image)

 The lighting inside was crazy as you can see from my photos.  The whole experience is meant to be absorbed by both sound and light.  The volunteers explained at the entrance to wander around and then find a place to sit and relax.  Of course I wandered around and took pictures. I did eventually take a break and find a little cove to lean back against.  It was quite relaxing just staring up at the colors and listening to the "zen" music.  I wander if you can order these on Amazon?

A view of the many coves (click pic for a bigger size)

We finished out the night playing hide and seek.  Which mainly consisting of me hiding and the kids tracking me down. For those here in Phoenix I definitely recommend going to this if you have the time.  Admission is only $5 per person. 

A ghost is chasing us (click pic for a bigger size)

For those here in Phoenix interested in seeing this, here is the Mesa Arts Center link. And a liitle more info (and more cool pictures) on Amococo can be found here.

Until next time...

Vee Dub

This shot was taken on our Phoenix photo walk back in February. I'm pretty sure there were several of us that snapped this bug. The color on it was amazing. 

Fellow photog Mike Olbinski has a shot on his Flickr page that is a must see. He mentioned how special these cars are to him. I have to admit to that as well. 

My first car was a bright canary yellow '71 VW Bug. It had a 4 speed manual mated to 1.5L engine and was a beast to drive. I remember hitting 90mph one day going down a big hill back in Illinois. One of many "total lack of judgment" decisions from my youth. It is a wonder that little ol car didn't fly apart.

It was a forgiving car when it came to learning how to drive a stick. The clutch was generous and made for easy shifting. 

I paid a whopping $500 for it and drove for it about a year. I ended up selling it to a friend for that same $500. Not a bad deal. 

Seeing this one took me back to my crazy youth. Slug Bug!

Baby Charlotte

Switching gears this week.  I'd like to introduce you to a cutie named Charlotte.  She is the newest pride and joy of friends of ours.  As you can see the camera already loves her.

I love to mix up my photography subjects.  For one it keeps it interesting and two there is always something new to be learned.  Going from the rugged landscape of the Arizona desert to something as precious as this covers the rainbow in technique and fun.
Shooting landscapes here in AZ you are working with natural light.  Granted it is nice and golden but nonetheless you are in a partnership with Mother Nature.  You get what she gives you.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Shrewd she is.

Going into the studio there are no partnerships.  You are the master.  The studio strobes are there to serve the photographer.  It is their job to light the subject in the most flattering way. In some cases it is very easy, like Baby Charlotte.  And in some cases where you are going for a particular "mood" it can be challenging.  But therein lies the fun.  Forcing the light to your will.

For this shot of "Charlie" I was able to get away with one strobe and a reflector.  The strobe was set to camera left and the reflector off to camera right.  I believe Charlie's mother was right above the camera with words of encouragement for her young model.  As you see she took mom's advice to heart and struck a pose.

I can't say enough how fun shoots like these turn out.  You can not beat seeing that smile that comes across something as small and wonderful and capturing it for all time.  Very nice job Miss Charlotte.

Until next time.

Get the Shot

Last weekend started off with gray skies and a good chance of rain in the forecast.  Not exactly what I was hoping for as I had two outdoor portrait sessions slated.  The rain came as forecasted so the portrait sessions were rescheduled.  Of course this doesn't mean that picture taking is off limits, on the contrary it can deliver some awesome shots.  It just depends on what you are looking to capture.

For me I was amped up for outdoor portraits, not gray dull, and raining.  Normally I would just refocus and head out in search for a rainy day shot.  You can almost always get a good black & white shot on rainy days.  However, I was not feeling it so I decided this weekend would pass without a photo outing.  Parish the thought!

Sunday came with the hope of clearing skies. Around mid day the sky was beginning to tease me with hints of blue sky.  I was hoping by sunset I would get my wish of a blue sky packed with puffy clouds.  At 5pm those wishes came true.  I set off for Lost Dutchman State Park. Woohoo!

Upon arrival another fellow photo pulled into the parking lot.  Chikku is an amazing photographer and has the awards to back it up.  He's an avid landscape photographer so it was no surprise running into him.  Together we set out to get some brackets.   See Chikku's work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24884086@N05/

I quickly set up for my shot of the Superstition Mountains as I liked what I saw right away.  This was the first of about 30 images I took during the sunset hours.  Out of all 30 images the first one was my favorite hands down.  This is such a rarity for me as normally I tend to get more in the groove as the shoot goes on.  It is that feeling that makes you think each shot will be better than the next.  Sometimes that is true sometimes it is not.

Being an engineer by trade I tend to over analyze at times and miss the obvious.  In this case, the obvious was right in front me when I arrived.  The light was perfect, the clouds were there.  What more does one need? Get the shot! 

It proved to be a great reminder of the saying "seize the day".  In most shooting situations as this I would have normally taken some time to scout the area, figure where to setup, etc.  Had I done that, well I wouldn't be writing this. :)  Even Chikku made a comment about getting this shot early while he was busy setting up.

I count myself fortunate for getting this shot.  I also chalk some of it up to "success is where preparation meets opportunity".  Something I will be reminded of from here on out.

Until next time...

Our Dog

Meet Tootsie, our ugly dog.  I know what you are thinking, how can you say that?  Well, lets just call it like we see it.  One could argue she falls into the category of "she's so ugly she's cute".  But what does that really mean?  It means she is an ugly dog.

Of course as we all know, looks aren't everything.  Personality counts too.  Especially with this one.  She was a rescue dog, meaning that she was rescued the day she was supposed to be put down.  Maybe she should of been named Lucky.

Tootsie is a mix of two breeds, Afgan pincher and Border Terrier.  When it comes to energy she's 100% pure breed.  We can take her out on a 5 mile run and within an hour of that she is rested and ready to go again.  Which is a good thing since our kids never leave her alone.

Its been a few years since we have had a dog. When we lost our last one (had her for almost 17 years) we like to came unglued.  At the time I could not imagine getting another one and going through that all over again.  However as child growing up I always had a dog.   What fun times those were.  So feeling guilty about denying my kids those same moments, I reluctantly gave in and we got Tootsie back in December.

So here we are with our ugly dog.  Let the memories begin.

Until next time...

Tracks

This week we are back to shooting with the Canon.  I actually made it out of the house early one morning last week and headed for one of my favorite spots, Tempe Town Lake.  Of course there is some bias as it is close to work so I can either stop by on my way in or way home.  It does offer a variety of subjects to shoot...bridges, water, trains, light rails, people, boats, birds, you get the idea.

A few weeks back I posted some shots taken at dusk of the Mill Avenue Bridge.  I was quite pleased with those so I figured why not come back during the morning and see what could be captured.  My goal was to be here before sunrise but that didn't pan out.  I blame my alarm for not being loud enough.

With the sun up I knew I didn't have long with the golden light.  I snapped several of the train bridge from a low vantage point hoping the blue sky would provide nice contrast.  Those weren't bad but nothing to get excited about.  With no one around I decided to climb up on the train track and see what kind of perspective that would yield.  Using the "No Tres.." sign to pull myself up I made my way down the tracks.  I snapped a few brackets at various angles tilting the camera each time. Again those were ok, nothing great.

Finally, I noticed how smooth the track was and how I could see the bridge reflection on it.  Hmm.  I placed the camera right on the track and set the aperture wide open for a shallow depth of field.  Happy with that shot I made my back down to the truck. 

 

I will have to say this is probably #2 on my list of shots where I was a little nervous.  The first one being the fog shot in http://chrisfrailey.blogspot.com/2010/08/you-just-never-know.html.  The light rail track is near this one so every time the light rail approached I kept looking over my shoulder.  I didn't want to be that photographer you hear about on the news who got hit while standing in the middle of the track.

Until next time...

That Camera in Your Pocket

So lately I've been using my iPhone more and more for photography.  In the past I have always dismissed it as a viable source since you couldn't change lenses, play with the shutter or aperture.  However with all the recent applications (apps) that have come out, things have changed.  Creativity and minor adjustments can now be made within the phone to yield some pretty good results.  

Most of the photogs have heard the expression "the best camera is the one that's with you" as stated by the well known Seattle based photographer Chase Jarvis (www.chasejarvis.com).  I couldn't agree more.  The past few months I've been able to capture some decent shots with my iPhone that would of been missed entirely simply because I didn't have my "good" camera with me.

One thing I've come to appreciate with the iPhone camera is its limitations.  Huh? Did I miss something?  Like most things with limitations it forces you to find another way.  In this case I have to think about composition & lighting even more to get a useful shot.  This is great practice!  By not having additional features, I'm forced to think the shot through from beginning to end.  Granted I should be doing this every time, but with certain situations you can give yourself "extra room" with a DSLR.  You simply don't get this with a fixed focus camera.    

Practice, practice, practice.  The sure fire way to get better at something.  By having my phone with me nearly all the time, I am able to get that practice.   I also make sure I only use the apps on my phone to make corrections or enhancements (no going to Photoshop or Lightroom).  I'll have to admit it is actually fun using a few of the apps and isn't that what it is all about!  They don't have the power of Photoshop but they do offer some unique filters and such that allow you a great deal of creativity.

I encourage anyone with a newer smartphone to start using its camera if you are not.  And certainly try out some of the apps available (iTunes or the Android store).  One of my favorites for the iPhone is Camera+.  It offers quite a bit of options and is pretty affordable at $1.99. (Note, this is by no means a paid endorsement only a personal recommendation).

Until next time...

Sunsets & Bridges

This past weekend didn't leave a lot of time for making pics.  Sigh.  I really need to win a lottery so I can focus more on photography and less on the day job.

I did manage to slip down to Tempe Town Lake on Saturday evening for a few brackets.  It is sort of a default location to shoot if you are pressed for time.  There is always something new to shoot there or a different angle.  I happened to make it down there around sunset hoping for a fire lit sky.  I didn't quite get what I wanted but what I did get wasn't too bad. 

Granted sunsets are very cliche in the photography world, but I never get tired of the ones we have here in the valley of the sun.  Not sure what it is about them, but they are spectacular.

After the sun had vanished I turned my camera towards the Mill Avenue Bridge.  There are actually two bridges to accommodate inbound and outbound traffic to/from Tempe.  I've always loved the way they are lit at night with the string of lights running down the sides.  The reflections on Tempe Town Lake never fail to delight. 

 

 With night shots I think one thing people overlook is getting the shot before dark.  In general you want shots like this to be taken at dusk so the contrast of the blue sky adds to the image.  A pitch black sky would of added no value to this shot.  Something to consider the next time you set up for that night time capture.  

My last shots of the night were up on top of the bridge.  I staked out a spot on the sidewalk and set up for long exposure shots of the traffic.  Again I didn't quite get what I wanted, mainly due to the lack of traffic.  Some things are beyond your control. :)  I do plan to go back and get a better shot.  Just need to figure out when the high traffic times are for the inbound bridge.

These images along with the rest can be seen in full resolution at: 

My website

-or-

My Flickr site

Until next time...

Balloons

This past weekend we decided to drive up to Cave Creek AZ for their annual hot air balloon festival.  They advertised tethered balloon rides, inflatable rides/bounce house, obstacle course, and night time inflating of the hot air balloons.  Of course I played this off as a treat for our kids, but truth be known I wanted to go for the photo op.  I'm sure my wife had no clue. :)

Upon arriving the first priority was parking.  Naturally there was nothing close so we had to park out in the north 40.  I'm willing to guess we walked about half mile from our parking spot to the entrance.  First lesson learned, arrive early.

After paying our entrance fee we began to walk around and look at the balloons in various stages of inflation.  The first thing I noticed was how close people were able to get to the balloons.  No taped off areas or ropes.  Not what I expected.

My wife was kind enough to take the kids over to the play area for awhile so I could grab some shots.  As the sun was going down, I secured my spot on photog row and began hitting the shutter.  Being satisfied with those shots, I packed up and made my way to the balloons.  Figured I would take the opportunity to get up close and personal.  By this time my hands were fairly numb.  Second lesson learned, bring gloves next time.  I finished up grabbing a few close shots and met up with the family.

Next stop the hot chocolate line.  Twenty five minutes later we had our hot chocolate/hand warmers.  There was a night time skydiving jump scheduled which would of been fun to see.  However the kids were shaking from the cold so we bailed.  Third lesson learned,  make sure kids bring heavier coats and gloves next time.

Seeing the ballons light up at night was a real treat.  If all goes well I'm hoping to plan a trip to Albuquerque NM this October for their balloon festival (the granddaddy of them all).  See info here if interested: http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

Until next time...

www.ChrisFrailey.com

Choo Choo

I'll have to admit this now before we get much further along.  This blog will most likely be slanted towards pictures of my kids.  It is not my intention for that to happen but I'm just say'in.

Cole getting ready for a ride

Anyway, we loaded the family up and took a little trip over to the Desert Breeze Train Park in Chandler AZ.  It is a great place to take the kids as they have a little of everything.  You can find a train of course, monster playground, a carousel, ducks, swings, a lake, and acres of grass to run wild in.  Oh and in the summer they have water fountains for the kids to soak themselves.  Like I said great place to take the kids and let them burn out energy.

Kaeden & Montana

Our youngest received some overalls for Xmas complete with matching hat.  These just happened to be pin striped (train conductor style).  What better place for a photo op than Desert Breeze.  Our oldest had her best friend and partner in crime Montana over, so she went too.

Conductor Cole ready to go

I was able to grab a few good shots during the afternoon.  Of course my subjects grew quickly tired of having a camera pointed towards them which meant bribery was to be employed.  The youngest got his ride on the train and the two girls got a game of tag from yours truly.  Good times.

Kaeden stopping for a pose

I do my best to cherish these times as I know there are only finite number of them.  Tag you're it!

Cole in a rare moment of not moving

Until next time...

The Year 2010 in Review

Wow, here we are December 31st 2010.  Hard to believe we are a full decade into the '00s.  It doesn't seem that long ago we were all worried about Y2K.  Somehow someway we survived and are staring at 2011.  Crazy.

This past year has been a big step for me in the photography world.  I made a small step from it being a hobby to taking on clients.  To say that it has been exciting would be an understatement.  For me this is the beginning of a dream come true. 

It is only fitting that the year started out by meeting new photog friends.  First up was Lamont & Maki Hardy.  I was introduced to them at a friends new year's eve party last year.  Lamont is an avid photog who I have had the pleasure shooting with on several occasions.  You can find his work at www.flickr.com/photos/lamonthardy. 

Along with meeting Lamont I was introduced to Jackie Sutherland.  Jackie is so much fun to shoot with because she is always in a learning mode.  Perhaps its the engineer in her or just the desire to be a better photographer.  What ever the reason she makes us all better because we have to think.  You can find Jackie's work at www.flickr.com/photos/jackiesutherland.

Next up is Holly Baumann.  I was introduced to Holly by my wife.  Holly is an experienced photographer who does outstanding work.  Her blog (hollybaumannphotography.blogspot.com) is well written and I encourage all photographers to give it a read.  For her fantastic photography visit:  www.hollybaumannphotography.com. Holly was gracious enough to allow me to 2nd shoot at the Children's Action Alliance benefit.  The experience from that outing allowed me to land my own event client, AZ Society of Association Executives. 

And as fitting as the year began it ends with me meeting one more photographer.  Through the power of social media (Twitter in this case) I met Mike Olbinski.  Mike specializes in weather and HDR photography.  I was able to meet up with Mike and a few of his photog friends this past week for a photo walk in downtown Phoenix.  It was great getting out and seeing Phoenix on foot with a camera in hand.  I've done a little urban photography but have never really gotten into it.  This past outing has sparked an interest into doing more of it.  When you get a chance stop by Mike's website (www.mikeolbinski.com) and prepare to be amazed by the AZ weather.

To everyone else who has helped me along the way let me say "Thank You".  Most of all I would like to give the biggest "Thanx" to my wonderful wife Carol.  Your never ending patience with me while camera in hand goes beyond what should be expected.  I don't recall "patience with photog husband" being in our vows, but somehow you've honored that and then some.  I'll try to be better but make no promises. :)

Below you will find a few of my favorite pictures from this past year.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I had in making them.  To see more of my work, visit me at www.ChrisFrailey.com.

  

A Rare Treat in AZ

Typically the weather in AZ has two descriptions, hot or nice.  And by hot I mean 115 in August.  And by nice I mean 75 on December 18th.  Occasionally we have rain but it never lasts more than a day.  So you can imagine the surprise and delight when we had fog!  Real genuine hard to drive in fog. 

Granted most of the country would curse at this occurrence.  However I have only seen fog about 3 times in the past 12 years I've lived here.  So this was a treat.  Cool pictures were sure to happen.

Of course as luck would have it, my wife had a presentation to do in northern AZ.  She was out the door at 6:30am which left me with kid duty and taxi service.   Grrr, precious picture taking would have to wait.  Not what I wanted to hear.

After rattling the cages of our two monkeys I prepared the fastest breakfast a dad can, milk & cereal.  With breakfast eaten time to get our 3 year old dressed.  This is always a crap shoot as sometimes he goes with the first pick and sometimes not.  Luck was on my side as my first attempt was met with approval.  The 8 year old was dressed and brushing her teeth. 

Last up was preparing lunches.  I could just envision the sun coming out now and burning off the fog as I spread peanut butter.  Grrr.  Loaded for the day we hit the garage and popped the door open.  Sweet! The sun was buried behind a massive layer of clouds so the fog was able to hang around.  I still had a chance for a few good brackets. 

On the way to my daughter's school we drove past a park that was blanketed with fog.  I could see the shot right there in front of me.  A choice had to be made.  Should I stop for a quick shot or two and risk my daughter being late or continue on and pray there would be enough time to get back.  Priorities. I decided to go on and drop her off on time and then drop my son off as well at his school.  This would allow me to shoot in peace assuming there was something still left to shoot.  

  Upon returning I saw that luck was still with me.  The fog had hung around for me.  It wanted to be photographed.  I could feel it.

Until next time...

A Model Shoot

One of the biggest benefits of belonging to a photography group is you always learn something new.  This past SmugMug meeting was no different.  Ken Robert (co-organizer of the Meetup) lead the the mini-workshop on using multiple flashes for lighting a model.





Ken started the session explaining that just because its pitch dark doesn't mean you have to crank the ISO up to 800 or more.  By using the 2nd curtain (or rear curtain) sync you can keep your ISO & shutter speed down and still walk away with properly exposed shots.

A quick sidebar for those unfamiliar with 2nd curtain sync.  When you switch to 2nd curtain sync you are causing the flash to fire at the very end of the exposure (rather than the beginning).  What this does is allow the ambient light to come into your camera first and then your flash will fire to expose your subject.  This way you get your subject exposed with the natural background light as well.  It gives you some depth and detail to the image. Without it turned on, the flash will fire at the beginning of the shot, expose your subject and end the exposure.  What you get then is your typical point and shoot flash shot, background pitch black with the subject lit up like a Christmas tree.  Back to the parking lot.

For the better part of the night, Ken used three speedlites to shoot the model.  These consisted of a key light inside a small softbox, an unmodified flash for rim lighting, and a hand held flash bounced into a reflector for fill light.  Most of these techniques I've used, but it was good to see how someone else implements them as well.

Ken's gear was Nikon based so I was unable to use his light setup.  But I was able to use my Canon speedlite to grab a few decent shots.  Would of been nice to mount my flash on a stand to get better directional light, but given the group size it was not practical. 

You can see a few of Ken's shots here: http://blog.kennethrobertphotography.com/2010/10/20/lighting-it-up/

Until next time...

Children's Action Alliance

I recently had the honor of 2nd shooting the Children's Action Alliance (CAA) with Holly Baumann Ambuehl.  The CAA is a very noble organization dedicated to serving the youth of Arizona.  Find out more about them at http://www.azchildren.org.

 The event was held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix.  I got there early to scout the rooms to get a feel for the lighting.  Holly had warned me the lighting was horrible from a photography standpoint.  Very dark with your typical spotlights in the ceiling.  This gives you hot spots at times and pretty much darkness the rest.  White balance is always tricky which is why shooting in RAW is the only way to go.

 First on the shot list was to shoot the silent auction items.  These are various gifts donated by the community as a fund raiser.  I used a 1.4 50mm to handle the low light conditions.  Having fast glass for these shots was absolutely critical.  My Canon 40D maxes out at ISO 1600 and I never like to go over 800 if I can keep from it.  Enter dreams of owning a Canon Mark 2 shooting at ISO 1600 with no issues. Sigh.  Back to reality.

Once people were seated in the ballroom I staked out a spot in the back with my tripod.  Holly would be shooting all the up close stage shots of the speakers while I shot from the back.  For these shots I was shooting on the long end of a 28-135mm.  This arrangement would allow for a nice one-two punch coverage of the event. The ballroom lighting was typical for an event such as this.  Room at near pitch black with the speaker illuminated.  One way to help with this situation is to use the spot metering function on your camera.  It uses more of the light at the center of the frame to make its calculation for the exposure.  This will give you the speaker properly exposed with the crowd pretty much in the shadows.

These kind of shoots are challenging but are extremely fun as well.  They force you into manual mode and require you think about each shot as the lighting is less than ideal. Makes for a nice change of pace from portraits or landscape shooting.

You can find the entire gallery at Holly's website: http://www.hollybaumannphotography.com/Albums/Through-the-Eyes-of-a-Child/14220800_ZWQZv#1050522566_eLBFM

A big thank you to Holly for letting me tag along.  Until next time...