Lens test... 90mm Tamron Macro

I'm always researching, buying and testing new toys. In this case it's the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro that I played with before my mothers book club meeting. I'm not one to buy and trust a third party lens but I find this lens unique. Though this is not a Macro shot it performs incrdibly well as a portrait and detail lens. With an f/stop of 2.8 it's a bit slow for my primary needs, but it is a bargain for the price.

Pets...

I went out last night and shot some long exposure dusk/night images in Black and White. While these are off getting scanned, I thoughtI would update the blog with a few images of my pets. Top image, is my brothers black lab Ella (now an adorable 6 month old). Following Ella, is our cat Brother Love (AKA Curtis Lowe). This image is printed nearly 6 foot tall and hung proudly in the window of 803 Productions for almost all of 2007. Dressed for a party is another animal rescued from a puppy mill. GG runs the house. Ready for Christmas is Annie Belle who was found as a kitten in Stein Mart parking lot. Thanks for taking the time to visit and share my passion of photography...

More of my favorite subject!

I've been working on my Black and White Darkroom skills. Luckily, I was able to pay a visit to my inlaws I spent some time with my two neices. With an old Hasselblad and standard 80mm Planar lens I was able to get some nice portraits. This image is the result of doctoring in Photoshop, but the fiber prints look even better.

I've been forced to rework my prices to take advantage of going totally digital for weddings. However, for portraits I have refused to switch. I'll be shooting B+W film and selling fiber based prints.

Going retro

I'm taking a step back from my newspaper work to focus on family and some personal projects. One of those projects involves shooting more film and getting back into the darkroom.

A recent purchase was a Hasselblad 500CM and 80mm Planar f/2.8 lens. The past few weeks have been a blast. I've really enjoyed souping the chems, developing the prints and the challange of square format photography.

I have shot several rolls of Black and White in 35mm over the past few weddings and just love the simplicity of the medium. Decades of proven technology is hard to beat! A it's proven long term archival process! Sadly, digital (for all its wonders) has made film an economic burden to most wedding photographers.

Panning action

Having given up my newspaper gig, I haven't had the chance to shoot any football games this year. Looking back at my 2006 work I came across this image. This is something different. I was usng a long telephoto lens, slow shutter speed, and panning with the subject.

Honestly, it was a complete fluke! I had turned my attention to the sidelines trying to grab a shot of some players on the bench. Since this stadium has probably the worst lighting in all of South Carolina sports, I slowed the shutter speed down trying to gain some extra light and forgot to set it back when I returned to the action. I think this turned out remarkably well considering the circumstances.

John Edwards in Charleston

For the first time in awhile I had a chance to cover something other than sports. I escaped Horry County for the day and drove down the coast a bit and coverered the first of what I hope to be many Presidential primary events. Sen. John Edwards came to the International Longshoreman's Association in Charleston and gave a speech to a SRO crowd of probably close to 500.

Edwards...

Senator Edwards kept a standing room only crowd waiting for almost an hour. It was a very diverse and partisan group. Finally, when he arrived the place exploded in cheers. A far cry from the more subdued Horry County GOP events I have witnessed.

Edwards...

Edwards is charismatic and polished and the event, dubbed a Town Hall Meeting, was an intimate affair perfect for his style.

Picture of the week

Who said film is dead? The Nikon F100 is a fantastic camera and the 135mm f/2 is a phenominal lens. This is an image from my second solo wedding. Thanks for the opportunity and congrats to Danielle and Kevin! The wonderful thing about weddings are the beautiful people, raw emotion, and good food!