jag's photo blog

Taking a Wider View...

2011-10-09T18:12:00.002-05:00

I have been experimenting with panorama photography recently, taking multiple images while turning the camera around, and "stitching" them together in Photoshop to make one big picture. These are my first efforts. They leave a bit to be desired, as I don't have a nodal slide, and a couple of them were shot handheld....

(Blogger has cropped these images, so you need to click on them to see the full width of the pictures)
This is the Western Skies Scenic Byway between Panora and Stuart in Guthrie County.
It's a composite of twelve images.

Next up is the magnificent High Trestle Trail Bridge between Woodward and Madrid, taken from the road bridge on Highway 210. This is a "first draft" for a picture that I'm planning. I shot it handheld, as I just wanted to get a feel for the scene, and didn't bring a tripod. The light was tricky too, as I was shooting into the sun. Fifteen shots went into making this composite.

Next time you're on the Highway 210 bridge, don't forget to look to the north too. This eight-image composite shows the beautiful S-curve of the Des Moines River. Again handheld, I think I'll revisit this shot as well.

Randomness...

2011-10-07T13:11:00.001-05:00

A few more snippets from the past couple of months.

We saw the wonderful and talented Daphne Willis perform at a house concert. (I don't actually have a thing for girls with goggles - it's just coincidence that the model in my last post had gogs too)

And Dawn working her anti-Nargle force field...

I found time to do this shot for a magazine article on natural dyeing that Maggie wrote.

Autumn and harvest time is probably my favourite time of the year, certainly from a photographic point of view. Here are some pretty squashes we saw at Wills Family Orchard

This guy (probably girl) was sunbathing on the roof of a car at the Orchard.

Some random autumn shots: This is on the bike trail behind our house.

The old Raccoon River bridge at Adel,

...and Adel's beautiful Court House.

Maggie's hair is green now :)

We had a lovely Yoga photoshoot at Gray's Lake Park with Paula.

And we went to Hanging Rock Park in Redfield this morning to do some more pictures of the beautiful autumn colours.

Hypobloggia

2011-10-07T12:22:00.001-05:00

Only two posts in the last two months! It has been quite a time! To catch up, here are a few of the things that happened, with pictures :)

It all started on the 3rd of August, when my brother Colm, and my daughter Aisling showed up on our doorstep. Apparently, I was the only person on the planet who was unaware of the visit!
Here they are with Maggie:

Maggie, Laura, and Becky did a triathlon

We took our visitors to the Iowa State Fair. They got to line up to see the Butter Cow, eat incredibly unhealthy food, and admire some very expensive agricultural machinery.

We also went to the Adel Sweetcorn Festival. There wasn't much in the was of exciting machinery, but the food was better.

There was the Magic Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs.

There were two other visits of family from Ireland (these I did know about), completing what will go down in history as III11(The Irish Invasion of Iowa '11). My wonderful niece, Claire, called in on her way to Australia, and my parents came over too.

Some more random pics: The epitome of Iowa - corn and sky.

And pretty wildflowers.

Oh, and I did a fun photography workshop!

High Trestle Trail Bridge

2011-09-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

It wasn't until Labour Day that we finally got a chance to go out n to the High Trestle Trail Bridge between Madrid and Woodward. It was a beautiful evening, there were lots of people having a good time, and the bridge was truly amazing. My pictures don't really do it justice....

How About a Nice Cup of Tea?

2011-08-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Prairieland Herbs are now selling a range of herbal teas...

More Work With Fire

2011-07-14T13:25:00.000-05:00

Our good friend, Dawn Suarez put on a fabulous display of fire hooping in our backyard last night.

"pyrograph"

DNA - Dangerous Night-time Activity.

Ring of Fire.

Red, White and Blew Up!

2011-07-05T15:23:00.000-05:00

We also got to go to the Perry, Iowa city fireworks show on the 4th of July

"...The Bombs Bursting In The Air"

2011-07-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

Again this year we were treated to a fabulous fireworks display at Brian and Becky's farm in Panora, Iowa. The most excellent show was put on by Danny Moss, a licenced pyrotechnician.

Rent-A-Cow

2011-06-27T14:15:00.003-05:00

The Our Iowa Magazine "Rent-a-Cow" open house was held at Picket Fence Creamery yesterday. The event was attended by over one hundred "Renters", who came to visit their cow, not only from all over Iowa but as far afield as Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, and California! Here are some pictures of the day...

Iwo Jima, Iowa - Jeff raises the flag to start the events.

Nancy Wiebel of Our Iowa Magazine gets a kiss from Bonnie.

This is Bonnie's calf, Maxi.

One of the "renters", Michael Bloom, came from San Diego, California to visit his cow with his daughter Emily and wife Melissa Swann-Bloom.

Aspiring cowboy Quinn Whaley from Eagle Grove, IA.

The star of the show, Bonnie!

One of the more unusual visitors at the event.

Enjoying the scenery. I wonder who these people work for?

There are more pictures here on my Flickr page.

My First Magazine Cover!

2011-06-25T15:09:00.001-05:00

Last month's Radish Magazine featured an article on violet jelly, written by Maggie, and included two of my photographs - including the cover! Very pleased :)

Maggie Feeds Fred

2011-06-25T13:51:00.000-05:00

One morning after a big storm a couple of weeks ago, we found this little guy on the grass. He is an American robin, and was only a few days old. We took him in and made a nest for him in an aquarium. He did very well, and enjoyed the food we made for him, as well as worms. He has since gone to an official songbird rescuer, who had other robins. Latest reports are that he's thriving, and learning to be a robin.

Up the Creek!

2011-06-24T13:52:00.001-05:00

Here's our new amplifier - a Creek 5350 SE. I'm really liking what I'm hearing so far....

Adel Quilt Show 2011

2011-06-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

Even if you're not interested in quilts and quilting, the Adel Quilt Shop is well worth a visit, and there's no better time than during the annual quilt show. Here are a few images I took this morning...

Adel Quilt Shop and the display of quilts.

Quilts modern...

...traditional...

...pictorial...

...and abstract.

This visitor wanted to see if any of the quilts were good to eat!

"Mostly Harmless"

2011-05-25T08:40:00.002-05:00

To celebrate International Towel Day, I have spun this very special yarn. The basic yarn is a wool/alpaca blend hand dyed is shades ranging from midnight blue to intergalactic black. Included in this are various other fibres, like sari silk, angelina and angora, representing stars, nebulae, planets, and the various other features an intrepid galactic hitchhiker might encounter on his travels. the singles have been plied together with the cassette tape of the BBC recording of the Primary Phase of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and of course, a towel.

Imagine, if you will, a hat knit from this material - you would always know where your towel is and therefore be in control of your life, and enjoy all the benefits of having a towel, and there are no known reports of anyone wearing such a hat ever being bothered by Vogon poetry. You would also be popular among your friends, and have a decent chance of being stood a round or two of Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters to share and enjoy.

This will be available for sale in Maggie"s Etsy shop.

Wheel of Steel

2011-04-27T18:29:00.000-05:00

The retrolution rolls on! Here is our first step on the road from lo-fi to hi (well, mid, anyway) -fi. It's a Technics SL-1200 direct drive turntable. Hoping to go cartridge shopping after the weekend. And then there's the preamp, amp, and speakers to go :)

Hand Lamp

2011-04-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

Does anyone want a job as V.A.L. (voice-activated lightstand) in my studio?

Ghosty Toby

2011-04-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

And just to show that the Ansco doesn't shoot only corn cribs, here's a fun double exposure I made...

More from the Ansco

2011-04-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

Some corn cribs that we saw on our drive on Saturday. These were taken on the Ansco, on T-Max 100. I did a little Photoshopping on some of these images - straightening, dust spotting and cropping.

This is Donna's lovely corn crib.

Corncrib

2011-04-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

This is the first image from the 75-year old Ansco (Agfa) Shur-Shot box camera that we got at the Junk Jubilee on Friday. This is straight out of the camera - the "UFO" is a hole in the emulsion.

Shot on T-Max 100.

Des Moines Photowalk

2011-04-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

Maggie and I took our film cameras for a walk around town the other day. Here are some of our results:

Java Joe's coffee shop

Maggie shooting something on 4th Street. I wonder how her picture came out?

The Old Spaghetti Works building on Court Ave.

Old Glory and a cubie taking a break :)

Maggie and the big umbrella.

Java Joe's coffee shop.

All taken with the M6/Summicron 50 on 1998 vintage Tri-X, and developed in D-76. The only post-processing (if any) would be straightening, dust removal, and very slight cropping.

Chicago

2011-04-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

Here are some more photographs from our recent visit to Chicago.

The Chicago Theatre (and they even spell it properly!) is a really beautiful building with a fabulous marquee.

Maggie waiting for the bus.

Chicago skyline from the platform of Halstead station.

Wildflower Walk

2011-04-04T11:48:00.001-05:00

We went for a walk in the woods yesterday, and saw the first of the spring wildflowers - trillium, hepatica, and anemone.

These are trilliums. If a trillium flower is picked, the plant is so damaged that it can take years to recover. In some states it is illegal to pick these flowers.

Trillium seeds are spread by ants.

Hepatica, or liverwort, is so called because of the shape of the leaf, which was thought to resemble a human liver.

We saw them in a range of colours, from white to purplish-blue. I think it's strange that the number of petals varies - in this picture there are flowers with six, seven and eight petals.

Big thanks to Don and Danielle, who guided us on this lovely walk.

Chinatown

2011-04-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

Here are a few images from our trip to Chicago. These are of our visit to Chinatown - a truly fascinating place....

China Square

The main gate to Chinatown

Two cultures

Woks - many of the shopkeepers asked that we didn't photograph in their stores, but this is from the very wonderful "Woks 'n' Things" on South Wentworth - it's an oriental Williams Sonoma, but with very much better prices!

All these were taken with the Leica M6/50mm Summicron on twelve year old Tri-X 400.

More Glass

2011-03-27T15:29:00.001-05:00

And my Lemon Drop shot revisited. I used the same setup as in the previous post, and tilted the camera to give more movement to the image. I don't like the splash as much as the last one, but I have several ideas how to make it even better next time...

Glass

2011-03-26T16:00:00.001-05:00

A little more experimenting with dark field lighting of glass. Greatly inspired by Light, Science and Magic - one of my favourite technical photography books.

I will post a setup shot for this image on my Flickr page.

Violet Jelly

2011-03-25T16:42:00.000-05:00

I have been doing some photographs to illustrate a magazine article on violet jelly that Maggie is currently writing. I enjoy food photography, and this afternoon's session was most interesting and educational :)

The lighting for these images was a large north-facing window camera left, and a couple of reflectors camera right for fill.

Maggie

2011-03-14T19:03:00.000-05:00

I took this portrait at the fibre show on Saturday, just to finish off the roll of film :) I think it worked pretty well!

Hotpot 2

2011-03-10T13:00:00.001-06:00

[Part One]

In this installment, I'm going to show you the basic ingredients for hot pot, or at least some of the more "exotic" items that you'll have to get at your local Asian supermarket. Please feel free to download the pictures to use as a shopping list if you like.

First, the ingredients that go to make your sauce in your bowl:

Asian Barbecue Sauce. This is a fish-based mild BBQ sauce.

Black Bean Garlic Sauce. Another very mild sauce.

Ground Chili Paste. Be warned: this one is HOT!!

Soy Sauce. We got this brand because of the handy dispenser bottle, but there are better ones on the market.

Sesame Oil.

Here are some of the sauce fixin's with some ingredients that go into the broth. Eggs - the yolk goes into the sauce, the white can be cooked in the broth. Scallions (green onions), chopped up can go either in the sauce or into the broth. Napa cabbage (on the right) gets popped into the broth.

The next items are cooked in the broth:

Fish Cake. There are several kinds available.

Shrimp Balls.

Cuttlefish Balls.

Noodles. Almost any type of noodle can be used - we like to use these yam noodles, which come in little bundles, and are very easy to pick up with chopsticks.

Shabu-shabu beef. This is very thinly-sliced tender beef that cooks in under a minute. Shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ) is the name given to a Japanese version of hotpot, it translates as "swish swish", replicating the sound made by the broth in the pot.

Shrimps. The larger the better, and the more the merrier!

These are just a few of the huge range of goodies that can go into hot pot. Regional and seasonal variations, and personal preferences can all decide what makes up this wonderful dish.

Water Play

2011-03-09T15:32:00.001-06:00

I had a bit of fun this afternoon with my Stop Shot and IR gate. I need to practice a bit, but I'm fairly happy with these shots:

There's an annotated picture of my setup on Flickr, if you're interested :)

Music on Vinyl, Pictures on Film

2011-03-07T22:16:00.001-06:00

We had an analogue-fest yesterday, at the Des Moines Music Collectors' Show. We had great fun, got some nice records (including Abbey Road, The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Táin (probably my favoutitest album ever)). And I got a few nice photos with the Leica. Here are the scans, totally unretouched:

There was a huge selection of records of all genres for sale...

...though some preferred digital distractions.

Leica M6 / Leitz Summicron 50mm f/2 / Kodak Tri-X / D-76
f/2 @ 1/30 sec.

Macrochip

2011-03-05T17:07:00.002-06:00

Well, I got all the pics done that I needed to do, so I took a few minutes to play with macro, or close-up photography. The chip in this picture is less than 3mm (a good bit under 1/8") across.

If you're interested in how I got this shot, there's an annotated setup picture here on my Flickr.

And here's a shot at 1:1 magnification (on the sensor), with a U.S. quarter coin for scale:

Power Organization

2011-03-03T19:36:00.002-06:00

There's a little bit of spring cleaning going on in the studio. One of the most annoying aspects of my Strobist activities is that there's always batteries needing to be charged for cameras, flash units, and everything else. I counted seven power adaptors on my desk, for computer, phone, hard drives, plus a load of battery chargers. This was taking up way too much valuable real estate in my already cramped quarters.

My solution to this problem was to commandeer one shelf of my equipment store and make it into a "charging station". I fixed a power strip, the Maha charger's adaptor, and all unnecessary lengths of wiring under the shelf, leaving the top free for the charging units and batteries. This is what the underside of the shelf looks like:

The power strip is mounted onto a board (to keep wires from projecting too far down into the lower shelf space), the excess lengths of wiring are tucked in the plastic conduit, and the Maha power adaptor is secured with a Velcro strap. The output leads are fed through holes drilled in the shelf.
And the top looks like this:

So it is all neat and tidy. This arrangement also has the advantage that if I go on a road trip, or off on a long day's shoot, I can bring the entire shelf - everything is strapped or Velcro-ed in place.
The plastic battery boxes keep the same sets together, and contain flags of card, green on one side and red on the other, which indicate whether the batteries are charged or not. The flags also go into the Nikon battery covers, and my CF card cases to let me know whether a card is blank or not.

Now, as to the rest of the spring cleaning... I'll leave that to another day :)

Twisted Yarn

2011-03-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

Maggie's handspun art yarn is so photogenic! It has amazing shapes, colours and textures. I do my best to do it justice when making photographs for her Etsy shop. Here are a few images of one of her latest projects - enjoy!

Minerva

2011-02-28T19:59:00.001-06:00

This is one of our foster cats, Minerva. She came to us with a litter of kittens, having had apparently, a most unpleasant kittenhood. She is only now learning to play, and to do normal kitty things. She had been spayed, and is up to date on her shots and vaccinations. If you think you can give this beautiful girl the wonderful home she deserves, contact Panora P.E.T.S.

Leica M6 / Summicron 50mm f/2 (1/30 sec f/2) / Tri-X / D-76

Scanned with an Epson V500

IKONIX Workshops - Part 2

2011-02-28T12:05:00.001-06:00

I brought my Leica along to the workshop, and a couple of rolls of Tri-X. I developed and scanned them yesterday, and here are the results:

These images are of our wonderful and talented model, Kari Shannon, who did a really marvellous job.

And here are all the workshop participants having a great time!

IKONIX Workshops

2011-02-26T20:06:00.001-06:00

I got to go to two photography workshops today, hosted by IKONIX Studio, here in Des Moines. They were a great opportunity to see some phenomenal photographers in action, to work with great gear, and marvellous models.

Thanks to Tom Woolery and everyone concerned for a wonderful day. I had a blast, met some great people, and took a few photographs. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do...
...there are some more on my Flickr page

In Print!

2011-02-25T12:56:00.000-06:00

I had nearly a full page of my photographs published in the local newspaper, the Dallas County News recently :)

Well, what do you keep in YOUR fridge?

2011-02-21T20:52:00.002-06:00

It was close, but the film crisis has temporarily been averted!

Hotpot 1

2011-02-20T21:37:00.001-06:00

Hotpot. Vietnamese Fire Pot. Steamboat. Asian Fondue. These are just a few of the names by which this delightful culinary experience is known. There are countless variations of the basic formula found all over Asia. The recipe we use was given to us by a Hungarian who got it from a Chinese Cambodian, so it must be right.

Basically, it's a type of stew, cooked in a pot (we use an electric skillet) in the centre of the table. Each diner takes morsels from this pot and dips them in a sauce in his/her bowl. Everyone makes their own sauce according to their individual tastes.

I intend, over a series of Blog posts, to show you how we do it, including photos of the main ingredients, so that you can go to your local Asian supermarket and make your own. For today, however, I'll just post a couple of taster pictures - enjoy!

The table set for a hotpot meal. In the foreground are the sauce ingredients, a plate with three kinds of tofu, and eggs.

In the background is a bowl of bundled yam noodles, while in the foreground are beef (cut very thin, it cooks in less than a minute), green onions, and shrimps.

I should add that of all things that I have photographed, hotpot is one of the most difficult and challenging, firstly because of the "normal" difficulties of food photography, composition, lighting, etc.,

and also because I always have an irresistible urge to throw (well, put) down my camera and eat. And eat...

[Part Two]

First Prints from the Hasselblad

2011-02-19T19:08:00.001-06:00

Well, I couldn't wait any longer - I developed the roll of Ilford Delta 400 that I ran through the SWC yesterday. There is some fogging of the film along the left side of the prints, that is present but varies considerably from frame to frame. I'd like to try to find out what's causing this - if it were firing on all cylinders, this camera would be an absolute joy.

Here's a few pics:

Our house.

Adel's beautiful courthouse.

Adel shop fronts.

The Stars and Stripes flying in a local authority machine shed.

Our prayer flags bask in the February sunshine. And look, no snow!
Yep, this is a great camera, with an amazing lens. I'd love one of these :)

No Hassle!

2011-02-18T10:15:00.000-06:00

I got a loan of this beauty to play with - it's a Hasselblad Super Wide C, with a 38 mm f/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens. It seems to be working OK, and it's now loaded with film, so I'm going shooting. Bye!

More Art Yarn

2011-02-17T15:04:00.000-06:00

Maggie is making more beautiful art yarn for her Etsy shop. This one has vintage fabrics, rick-rack, thread, handspun wool, and buttons!

For more details, go to her store!

A Bowl of Yarn

2011-02-16T20:40:00.000-06:00

Maggie and Becky are joining forces in a fabulous online giveaway next week. At stake is this collection of goodies that includes a yarn bowl, a skein of handspun yarn, a pair of wooden knitting needles, and six handcrafted ceramic buttons. They asked me to photograph the prize - here are my images:

Look out for Facebook posts from Girl With A Sword Productions and Willow Avenue Pottery for details of how to enter the draw for this cool prize!

Maggie's New Hair

2011-02-15T12:10:00.002-06:00

Maggie's new do - powerful purple! She has done purple a few times before, but I think this is the best yet.

Thanks to Laura Hess of Roxy Seven Salon for her amazing work!

New Etsy Photos

2011-02-04T18:42:00.000-06:00

We - that is, Maggie - decided that her products might sell better on her Etsy site if we - that is, me - took more pictures. I'm now doing five photographs for each of her handspun yarn listings, most of which will have some object (coin, wine bottle, etc.) in the image as a size reference.

Here is one of the first sets:

Another First

2011-01-31T19:31:00.001-06:00

This could well be the worst photograph I have ever taken, but I'm pretty pleased with it all the same. It's just a view out through our living room window, but it is my first ever picture taken with a large-format camera.

Camera: Calumet 4x5
Lens: Caltar 150mm f5.6
Film: Polaroid 55 (No expiry date, but believed to be over 15 years old)
Exposure: 1/4 sec @ f/8

I'm not sure if the lightness of the image is due to
(a) overexposure (scene metered at 1/4 @ f/11)
(b) underdevelopment, or development at a temperature lower than the recommended 70 F
(c) the age of the film, or a combination of the above.

I learned a couple of lessons from this, including to double-check that all the camera movements are locked down properly, and be careful with the envelope (dark slide).

But oh, what fun!!!

First Projects on the Columbine

2011-01-26T20:44:00.001-06:00

Well, we finally got the Columbine up and running, much thanks to my good friend, John Fleeger. Because of the wheel's smaller diameter, it needs to be treadled a bit faster than other wheels, which is challenging for me as I have been trying hard recently to slow down. It does take a bit of getting used to, but we are becoming good friends now. Here are the first two projects I did on the wheel:

This is a bulky single (I only have one bobbin for the Columbine at the moment) made from "day's end" roving from High Prairie Fibers in eastern Iowa, it's a blend of wool, silk, mohair and angelina. The skein is 4 ounces (114 grams), 214 yards (196 metres).

This is sock yarn that I spun on the Babe, and plied on the Columbine. It's wool - we think it may be Corriedale - in natural colour. The skein is 8.65 ounces (245 grams), 1112 yards (1017 metres), and took about 24 hours to spin and four hours to ply.

UPS-i-daisy!

2011-01-21T13:22:00.001-06:00

I'm not going to name names here, but I'm very UPSet over how a certain company delivered my new spinning wheel.

Something REALLY heavy must have landed hard on the box to cause it to burst its bottom like this...

...and to bend the adjuster and frame as severely as this.

The company in question has been informed of this, and I hope we won't see any more foul-UPS like this in the future.

Daphne Willis sings...

2011-01-06T15:57:00.000-06:00

...at a private house concert last year. These are from one of the first rolls I put through the Leica, some 18-year old Kodak 3200 - a very unfair way to trial-run any camera! The negs turned out extremely thin with boulder-sized grain, and I think it's a tribute to our scanner that it was able to pull these images out of the gloom.

For those of you not in the know, Daphne is an extremely talented singer/songwriter who fairly regularly plays in the area. I strongly recommend you check out her Website or Facebook page.

More Scans

2011-01-06T08:25:00.002-06:00

The day after Christmas was really beautiful, and Maggie and I took a walk on the bike trail, with our cameras, of course. Here are a few that I got...

To see the pictures that Maggie took, go to her Blog.

More Scans...

2011-01-06T08:00:00.001-06:00

Scanned!

2011-01-05T19:50:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year! Today was quite eventful - major dental surgery, followed by the arrival of our new (reconditioned $129.00) Epson V500 scanner. Maggie and I had a lot of fun (helped by Vicodin, in my case :) ), as we scanned our recently-developed negatives. Here are a few of mine that were taken with my Leica M6 with a Summicron 50mm f2 lens, on Kodak Tri-X:

My lovely daughter Aisling, whose visit here was one of the highest points of 2010. (Come back soon, Ais!)

Another high point of last year was our visit to Chicago. This snapshot, taken from the bus, was my first clear view of Willis Tower.

Union Station has many picturesque aspects - one could easily spend a whole day there, with a camera and dozens of rolls of film...

A class at Harmony Yoga Studio in Des Moines. I shot a lot of digital images of this session for the studio's new website, but popped off a few on Tri-X too.

This is a favourite subject of mine - Prairieland Herbs' beautiful cash register, a 1914 Empire by National. Unfortunately, we are having difficulty interfacing it with Quickbooks, or finding a barcode reader for it.

It's Beginning To Smell A Lot Like Christmas...

2010-12-04T19:17:00.001-06:00

...with Prairieland Herbs' December Soap of the Month, Celebration, from Biscuit's Boutique in Des Moines. This beautiful handmade soap is scented with spruce, fir and frankincense, and is only available while stocks last.

I had great fun making this picture - there's an annotated setup shot on my Flickr page.

Meet The Family

2010-11-28T13:51:00.002-06:00

Here are my Nikon lenses:

AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8
AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8
AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D
Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 D
AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 DX

MJ's Pinup Shoot

2010-11-23T17:08:00.002-06:00

Undoubtedly my favourite shoot (so far) was MJ's pinup session, which we had on 14th November at IKONIX Studio in Des Moines. We had a really amazing team including Maggie Howe, (Wardrobe coordinator and logistics manager), Michelle White of Beautiful People Organic Salon (hair and makeup), Aisling Gibney (the best photo assistant on the planet - and she's my daughter too!), and Kristine Jorgensen (props master).

This is my design for the image CD cover.

I had a fabulous time, and learned a great deal about posing, lighting, and pinup photography in general. I'm really looking forward to doing more of this!
There are some more images from this shoot on my Flickr page

Catuccino

2010-11-13T09:50:00.002-06:00

I had an impromptu photoshoot last night for a campaign that Panora P.E.T.S. plan to run in the near future. The "models" were absolutely gorgeous, and we had good fun.

There are some more images from this set on my Flickr page.

Hipstamania

2010-11-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

I downloaded the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone only the other day, and am hooked already! I'm still experimenting with all the various effects, to see which ones I like best. Here are a few of my images so far:

Cemetery Shootout

2010-10-31T19:37:00.002-05:00

Though not quite of the scale as last year's event arranged by Ikonix Studio, Maggie and I went shooting in Adel Cemetery this evening. Most of our shots are on film, but I did a few Strobist pics with the Nikon D700.

Strobist info: Key light, SB-26 at 1/4 power in shoot-through umbrella camera right, triggered by Pocket Wizard, fill light,SB-900 at 1/8 power camera left, triggered optically; accent light, SB-26 at 1/8 power with red gel aimed at gravestone, also triggered optically.
Exposure: 2.5 seconds at f/8, ISO200.

Jordan's Senior Pictures

2010-10-30T21:09:00.001-05:00

This afternoon I shot my first senior session. The lovely Jordan Davis was my model, and hair stylist/makeup artist was Michelle White of Beautiful People Organic Salon. The weather was *almost* perfect - we could perhaps have done with a little less wind and a smidge more cloud cover. But I'm quite pleased with the results - here are a few of my favourites:

All of these shots were taken with my beautiful Nikon D700, and the utterly amazing Af-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, which must be one of the greatest lenses ever made.
Thanks to Jordan, her parents, and to Michelle for a great shoot!

Some More Leica Pics

2010-10-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Maggie and I went for a walk in Winterset City Park the other day, she shooting the Pentax K1000 and I with the Leica M6. The results are no threat to Ansel Adams, but I'm reasonably happy, and we had a lot of fun in the beautiful park.

Art on the Prairie

2010-10-18T14:29:00.004-05:00

I did a few impromptu photos for the Prairie Spinners' Group section on the Art on the Prairie website:

Howl-O-Ween

2010-10-16T22:58:00.002-05:00

At the Howl-O-Ween Pawty, a fundraiser for Panora P.E.T.S. today, I did pet portraits as well as a few shots of the event itself. This was quite a challenge, but really great fun. Here are a few of my pictures...

First Leica Images

2010-10-15T21:57:00.000-05:00

So I finally got my first films developed! These black and white pictures were taken on a roll of film that expired in June 1996, so the negs were very thin. I boosted the contrast a bit in Photoshop. I have no idea about post-processing B+W images, and to be fair to the camera, I really should test it with fresh film, but I'm not too displeased with the initial results :)

These were taken in Court Avenue, Des Moines.

10:10:10

2010-10-10T20:26:00.003-05:00

...and what a day it was! In glorious sunshine we attended the Archaeology Program and Fall Colours River Float organized by the Dallas County Conservation Board. The Archaeology Program was a presentation exploring the findings at the DeCamp Site - where a major archaeological dig took place in the 1960's. On display were many of the artifacts found at the site, which was an Great Oasis Indian burial ground dating back to about 1000 AD. It was a great privilege to see these priceless antiquities so close up.

In the trays along the centre are: flint flakes from knapping works, shells that were used as money, two bone tools for straightening green wood for arrows, sandstone abraders for forming arrow shafts, and some large arrowheads. The photographs in the lower part of the picture are from the original dig.

Small arrowheads. These would have been used for small game, such as rabbits. The intricacy of the workmanship is really amazing.

I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to take my camera on the river float - the colours were fabulous, and we saw a bald eagle perched in a tree - I floated almost directly beneath him as he watched the flotilla of canoes and kayaks pass by.

Thanks to Chris Adkins and Dallas County Conservation for putting on such an informative, interesting, and entertaining afternoon!

Donna's Garden

2010-10-10T11:23:00.000-05:00

I got to play with the new Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 yesterday. It is a truly amazing lens! I see a lot of wide-angle photography in my future!

Say "Cheese!"

2010-10-09T19:34:00.003-05:00

Lots of fun classes happen down at Prairieland Herbs, but probably the funnest of them all, and certainly one of the most popular, is the "Make Your Own Mozzarella Cheese" class, which is taught by Cathy Lafrenz of Miss Effie's Country Flowers and Garden Stuff. Nine students attended the class, and all were delighted with their experience, and looking forward to enjoying their own mozzarella!

Cathy introduces the basics of cheesemaking.

Waiting for the alchemy to happen....

Corn Harvest

2010-10-09T19:08:00.001-05:00

Our good friend and neighbour, Mike Burkhart, who farms the fields adjacent to Prairieland Herbs, harvested his corn today. I really enjoy the big machinery - it's really impressive that one of these combine harvesters costs more than a Ferrari :)

This is one of my favourite viewpoints of the combine - from inside the cab :)

I am delighted that Nikon provide such good dust-sealing on their professional cameras and lenses - my D700 was covered in a coat of dust. I'd be scared to use a lesser camera in these conditions.
Thanks, Mike for the ride on the harvester!

Maggie

2010-10-07T19:51:00.000-05:00

We had a quick photoshoot down on the farm today, to show off Maggie's new hairdo, complete with purple highlights and dreads. The "do" was done by Laura Hess of Roxy Seven Studio in Waukee.

The natural light was really hard, so I experimented with blockers and reflectors. I'm quite happy with the result.

Quilt Shop Shoot

2010-10-05T16:21:00.001-05:00

I had a lot of fun this afternoon, doing a shot of the staff of Adel Quilting for their forthcoming calendar. After the shoot, I wandered around the very lovely shop with my camera - it is a veritable cornucopia of colour, pattern and texture - a photographer's paradise! Here are just a few of the shots I made:

I used my Nikon D700 with the 50mm f/1.4.

Donna's Tree

2010-09-30T19:01:00.001-05:00

I can't resist taking photographs of this wonderful tree, which stands in Donna's garden at Prairieland Herbs. So many times I've heard it ought to be cut down, but it's just as beautiful as any living tree, and it provides homes and food for lots of birds, bugs, and interesting lichens and fungi.

Butterflies

2010-09-29T19:05:00.001-05:00

We visited Reiman Gardens in Ames today, and I took a few pictures in the butterfly wing....

These images were taken with my Nikon D300 and Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D lens.

Alchemy in Action

2010-09-28T19:44:00.001-05:00

The process of indigo dyeing is truly amazing. Known from at least as early as 700 B.C., this dye is still used today. Maggie started experimenting with this amazing substance.

The dyepot. The actual indigo dye is the clear green liquid, which you can see in the bucket.

Here are the fabrics, ready to go in to the dyepot. There's a silk scarf, and some woolen yarn.

After about three or four minutes in the dye, the fibre is taken out, and it's a bright green colour.

The excess dye is squeezed out, and the fibre is exposed to the air.

As the indigo is exposed to the oxygen in the atmosphere, it turns blue, and also "fixes" to the material. The above two photographs were taken about 65 seconds apart. It's magic!

A silk scarf changing colour as the indigo oxidizes.

Pirates Ahoy!!

2010-09-19T19:08:00.000-05:00

Great merriment was had today as it was all hands on deck for Sample Sunday! International Talk Like A Pirate Day was fun for all the crew and the lubbers who boarded us.

Aye, now there's a fine comely lassie!

American Gothic Pirate?

The Crew - Donna, Michelle, Dawn, Lynn, Melodie, Laura, Becky, me, and Maggie

Treasure ahoy!!

2010-09-17T19:16:00.002-05:00

Aye, maties, there be treasure a-goin' down on the prairie! To celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Prairieland Herbs, Picket Fence Creamery, Northern Prairie Chèvre, and Flowers by Donna Jean, will have a treasure hunt across their four businesses in Woodward this Sunday, 19th September. Visitors get a map at the first venue they visit, then have to find a hidden gold coin in each location. When the coins are turned in at the counter in each shop, the map is stamped for that location. At the last port of call, the maps are handed in, and are put into a draw for a "treasure chest" of goodies from all four businesses.

As well as the treasure hunt, there'll be food, music, massages, reiki, guest vendors, free samples, and loads of fun! Prairieland Herbs are also offering 12% off all goods in the shop! So, hoist the jolly roger and set sail for Woodward on Sunday!

What's in my bag...

2010-09-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since I posted a pic of my equipment, and there have been a few new acquisitions lately, so here's the most recent shot. There's a fully annotated pic here on my Flickr page, if you're interested in the gory details...

Soap Shoot

2010-09-15T11:02:00.000-05:00

Doing some product shots for Prairieland Herbs. Here is this month's Soap of the Month (a little late, but better than never!) - Refreshing Rosemary from Biscuit's Boutique. This has a bright, fresh scent that's just the thing to get you up and going now that the mornings are getting darker.

This shot was lit with a single LED flashlight clamped in a retort stand camera right...

...and this was a more conventional lighting setup, using three Nikon SB Strobes.

At the Bridges of Madison County

2010-09-13T20:07:00.001-05:00

Today, the last day of my parents' visit, we went and visited Winterset and a couple of the famous Bridges of Madison County. The bridges here are Hogback Bridge (the top two), and Cutler-Donahue Bridge (bottom two pics).

Not quite Clint and Meryl!

Three of my favouritest people in the world!

Leitz Camera Action

2010-09-12T21:42:00.002-05:00

I went to an antiques market in Des Moines today, and found this:

It's a Leica M6. It looks nice and clean, the battery cover and body cap are missing. The guy who sold it to me said it doesn't work, but the shutter seems to work on all speeds, and the winding mechanism seems OK too. I'll need to get the missing bits and a lens so I can test it.

Oh, yes, I paid $12 - that's twelve dollars - for it :)

Maggie's First Tri

2010-08-29T13:37:00.002-05:00

The Hickory Grove Triathlon took place today in Colo, Iowa. It's a "sprint triathlon", a 500 yard swim, a fifteen mile bike, and a 5k run (I wonder why they can't settle on a system of measurements?). Maggie, Becky and Laura entered. It was their first tri, and they all did really well. Here are a few pictures of the event:

Ready for the off.

Glad that's all over! Congratulations, Maggie, Becky and Laura - you all did a great job!

Published Again! (Again!!)

2010-08-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

Three of my photographs made it into a national magazine - Hobby Farms, in an article featuring Picket Fence Creamery. I'm delighted for Jeff and Jill that their wonderful business is getting well-deserved publicity.

Sample Sunday

2010-08-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

A few shots from Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs:

There was hula hooping,

a tie-dye station,

and lots of other interesting goodies!

Adel Sweetcorn Festival 2010

2010-08-14T19:02:00.002-05:00

Here are a few random images from my walkabout at the sweetcorn festival today:

This little lady was my photo assistant at the parade.

Oops! Who left that head there?

There was popcorn too...

Amaizeing!

Published Again!

2010-08-14T18:34:00.002-05:00

I just discovered today that for the second year, a couple of my pictures have been used in the 2010 Dallas County Tourism Guide and website! And the picture in the Picket Fence Creamery ad in the Guide is mine too :)

Big Birthday Bike

2010-08-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I celebrated my birthday by doing a 52-mile bike ride. (In fact, it was nearer 53 miles because I forgot to restart my computer after one of our rest stops, and had to ride around the block to get it to read 52 for the picture.) It was quite challenging, but having the good company of Maggie, Paula, Laura and Mark helped shorten the road - thanks guys!

Three Course Kebab Dinner

2010-08-03T11:11:00.003-05:00

I'd been wanting to do this for a while - a three course meal with kebabs for each course. It seemed like a fun idea, and as my friends who frequent the Iowa State Fair assure me - "food on a stick has no calories". I finally got round to doing it last night, when our good friend and food critic, Linda, came to dinner.

The appetizer was a selection of cheeses - I used Cheddar, Münster, Havarti, and Gouda for a nice variety of colours, textures and flavours. These were put on the skewers with grapes and tomato, and presented on a bed of lettuce garnished with slices of orange and red onion. This was served with Maggie's banana chutney, and raspberry preserve.

The main course was very traditional - cubed beef (marinaded in a blend of oils, with vinegar, onion, garlic and pepper), shrimps, green peppers, new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, baby bella and button mushrooms, red and white onion, all cooked on the barbeque and served on a bed of rice.

For dessert we had fruit salad on a stick - strawberries, kiwi fruit orange, apple, grapes, and cantaloupe. These were just drizzled with a little honey and lemon juice.

The meal was easy to do, and great fun, and we have only just started exploring the endless varieties of delicious (and calorie-free :-p ) goodness that kebabs provide. We're already looking forward to our next supper on a stick.

Willie Howe c.1995-2010

2010-07-13T10:34:00.000-05:00

Maggie's 15-ish-year old Siamese cat, Willard (Willie to his friends), passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday evening. He will be sorely missed, but his spirit and memories will live on.

Technicolor yarns

2010-07-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

Some of Maggie's handspun and handdyed yarns hanging out to dry. You'll see them soon in her Etsy store.

"...and the rockets' red glare..."

2010-07-04T13:18:00.000-05:00

I had never photographed fireworks before, and was really excited to have this opportunity. These fireworks were so big that I had to hike a quarter of a mile away to be sure I'd be able to get enough coverage, even with my 17mm (24mm full-frame equivalent) lens.

The First Part of the Party

2010-07-04T12:59:00.000-05:00

We were invited to a Fourth of July fireworks party last night. Fireworks are illegal in Iowa, but this was put on by a licensed pyrotechnician. This private show rivalled many of the displays put on by local authorities.

Here is a battery of three inch mortars being loaded and primed.

The six inch mortar tubes have to be set several feet into the ground.

Here is a six incher being loaded into the tube.

The fireworks setup.

We got to shoot some really cool guns. While waiting for dark, there was shooting, hula hooping, music, fun, food, and, I believe, some drink.

Ranines and Pteropines

2010-06-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

We had some interesting wildlife in our garden yesterday. I was mowing the grass and found this very handsome guy, we believe he's a Northern Leopard Frog.

And I saw this little chap on our driveway. Certainly not handsome in the classical sense of the word, but he's ever so cute.

When we found him, he was still clinging to his dead mom. We don't know what happened to her.

We call him "Bram". He's not much more than about an inch and a half long.

We have been feeding him kitten formula (You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find bat milk!) with an eyedropper.

Pteropine is to "bat" as feline is to "cat";

Ranine is to "frog" as canine is to "dog".

Nancee Photoshoot

2010-05-20T22:45:00.000-05:00

I had a most enjoyable shoot today with model Nancee. I'm still working on photo-editing, but here's a few of my favourites so far -

Day 133

2010-05-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

The Cognisys Stop Shot controller, which makes possible the balloon shots, and others (even better) that are yet to come :)

More Pop

2010-05-13T20:56:00.001-05:00

Playing with balloons again this evening - I only had six, but I'm reasonably satisfied with the results. This time I was able to use two Nikon SB-26 strobes at 1/64th power to give better lighting. The flashes are triggered by sound - you can see the microphone clipped to the clamp that holds the balloons.

The mic is very sensitive indeed - in this one, the flashes were triggered by the sound of the pin making contact with the balloon, before it burst. You can see the depression where the point of the pin is about to enter the balloon.

Here, it looks like I'm about to be devoured by a purple Pacman, but I actually won this round :)

Day 132

2010-05-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

Here is one of the Fantastic Four having a nap on a cap.

Day 131

2010-05-11T22:54:00.001-05:00

This is Walter, another of the "Shop Fosters".

Day 130

2010-05-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

This is Eleanor, one of the "Mustang Gang", relaxing on the cat tree.

Coin drop

2010-05-09T21:11:00.000-05:00

My first attempt at using the Stop Shot. This is probably one of the simplest setups you can do with this gear, so I hope I'll improve and be able to show you some far more dramatic shots.

You can see the infrared transmitter on the left, and the receiver on the right. The coin was dropped from about a foot above the gate, and the flash was triggered by the coin passing through the IR beam.

Day 129

2010-05-09T21:05:00.001-05:00

I have started to play with my new toy - a Stop Shot timer module and an infrared gate, which will allow me to photograph high-speed events like water splashes, balloons popping, dropped glasses breaking, and things like that. Here is the controller and the IR gate, set up for my first shot with the apparatus.

Day 128

2010-05-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

Another of the "Shop Fosters", this is Conor. He has the most endearing ear tufts - I call him Spock.

Day 127

2010-05-07T22:12:00.000-05:00

This is Darwin, one of the foster kitties that live at the shop.