New York Institute of Photography

I am currently enrolled in the correspondence photography course at New York Institute of Photography.  I took this course, so that I could take part in Operation Love.  Operation love is a program for families with an active duty member that is being deployed.  Professional photographers offer a free photo session and a 4x6 album for the deployed family member to take with them overseas.   I have not gotten around to contacting them to throw my name into the hat for this great project.  You have to be a professional, and have a portfolio of sorts on line (so I still have a little work to do before they will let me play along).    That is my goal, and eventually, I will take part in it.
I have found the  NYIP course to be very useful and interesting.  While I have enjoyed photography for over a decade and almost two decades...I now have a better grasp on the technical side of the camera and it's many functions.  I am proud to say that I now know in depth about aperture and shutter speeds, and how I can use them to make my photos better.   I am deep in the middle of the course, and into the photo projects that must be submitted to finish the course.  I enjoy the lessons, and the books that I got with my paid tuition.  I also got a few free gifts with my enrollment, the photo umbrella, and reflectors are great.  I have not used the monopod as of yet, but I am sure it will be useful in the future.  All in all, I really like the course, and all its insight.
Though you don't need to take a course to be a good photographer, but it certainly was eye opening to all the different kinds of photography that you could focus on.

AirShow at Eglin Air Force Base

I went to the show yesterday, while this was nothing like the Air Show in Chicago that we went to, it was crowded.  Unfortunately, we were not on the distinguished guest list so we did not get a great view.  Most of the bleachers for such guests were unoccupied which I found sad.  So I stood behind the bleachers and the mass of people and tried to snap a few photos.  It was a whopping FAILURE.  Here are a few from the show.  Really these are the best of the ones I got, and that is not saying much.

The lesson learned is get on the list.  It is the only way to see the show and get great photos.  Maybe next time.  Happy 75th Birthday Eglin Air Force Base.

The remote

This Christmas I got an awesome present. It was a remote for my Sony alpha a-100. This little device makes self portraits much easier. Among the features is that it does the auto focus from across the room! Now that is handy. I finally had some time to try out this little gem, and it works like a champ! Here is a picture that I took this morning. I definitely recommend this tool for anyone with an SLR. I can see it will come in handy in many situations. It will reduce the amount of hand shake when set on the tripod, and for those long exposures it will keep the camera absolutely still.

The Self Portrait

It is not as easy as point and click when you need to frame the shot, and then run to be in the shot. I got it in my head that I would take some maternity pictures in my makeshift studio set up. I had some ideas and I wanted to try them out. So I placed a small stuffed animal where I would be in the final picture, I focused the shots, and click, and 10 seconds later the shutter clicked. Needless to say many of the pictures did not come out as I wanted. However, there were a few that turned out just like I wanted, and one that I thought was a lost cause is now my favorite.
Here are a few of the ones that I was able to take that were in focus and turned out just as I wanted.



My advice for anyone doing self portraits is to have your ideas ready, your batteries charged, and don't try this on an empty stomach. In my case there was a lot of up and down to get the right pose, compounded by the fact that I am 39 weeks pregnant was not helping my case. I think the pictures will be ones that I will treasure for years to come, so it was worth the effort.

LensBaby Composer

I bought the LensBaby Composer the other day. It is an amazing lens for my Sony A-100. I got it the other day and have finally had a few minutes to take it out and experiment. I was having trouble getting it to work with my camera, but I just changed the settings to shutter to fire even when lens is not attached. (Go to menu second screen under shutter) The alpha was just not recognizing that a lens was attached. The Lensbaby is a fully manual selective focus lens. It is so fun to play around and get different effects.
I took a few shots of some planes at the museum, I really like what I got. I can't wait to take some portraits with it to see what sort of fun effects will emerge. As with anything new, it takes time to learn the tricks. This is no exact science. It is great to get out and just try something new. The lighting seems a little tricky to me, but I am sure with some practice I will be able to get it right.




If any of you photographers out there have any tips to share about the LensBaby Composer, I would love to hear them. I also love to browse the LensBaby photos on Flickr. If you have some to share leave me a comment!