Stuff

Single light dog portrait

2009-12-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and bought something I've been wanting to try out for a long time - a light stand, umbrella, and an adapter for my flash. It turns out you can do a lot with a single light source. In these photos I used the single flash, shot into a white translucent umbrella. I placed a silver reflector opposite the light for fill. It's amazing what you can do with a real lighting setup.

Merry Christmas! Woof!

Rawhide!

2009-06-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended a Missouri Rawhide Mounted Shooters event. That's right. A coworker of mine participates in the group and I asked if I could come and photograph them. It's a timed event where they ride a course marked with barrels, shooting balloons along the way with black powder old West-style revolvers. The horses were beautiful and the event was a lot of fun to watch. Here you go:

TBC

2009-06-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

One of my coworker friends collects 80's movie posters, and has the classic poster from The Breakfast Club hanging in an office she shares with a couple of other friends. Someone mentioned that it would be funny to reproduce the poster with people from work. They asked me if I would help them, and I said "absolutely I would". We spent a couple of weeks figuring out who would play what parts and gathering props. On a Friday at lunch I dragged in all of my gear and lighting and a canvas backdrop and we had a photo shoot. After some Photoshop-ing, here is the result. I think it came out pretty well. (I included the original poster as well, for reference)

Urban Photo Safari

2009-06-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

I participated in Urban Photo Safari on Saturday, and it was great! In this annual event, everyone gathers at a certain place to sign in and find out the geographic boundary (though this year there was no boundary). You have four hours to go out and shoot as much as you want (plus one self portrait), then return and hand over your memory card to be downloaded. You then go home, review your photos, pick your best 10, and email the file numbers to the coordinator. Once everyone's images are posted, then all participants go to the site and vote for their favorites. The winner gets mostly bragging rights. The event was a great excuse to just go out and shoot for four hours, and it was actually really nice and refreshing that I could not do any post-processing before handing over the images. In this age of the digital darkroom, I often get obsessed with tweaking and adjusting, and start to feel like it's a requirement of every image. With these, I had to just shoot and walk away. Here are my top 10 for your enjoyment. If you're really bored, you can see the larger gallery here: http://www.chriscampbellphotography.com/UrbanPhotoSafari09

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

2009-05-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

My mom and I went to the zoo for Mother's Day. (Happy Mother's Day again, Mom!) It turns out moms get in free on Mother's Day, and it was a total zoo. We eventually reached our limit and bailed, but we had a good time and I did manage to capture a few fun shots. Enjoy.

Fun with Software

2009-04-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm having some fun experimenting with HDR (high dynamic range) photography. The process involves making several different exposures of the exact same shot, from under to over exposed, and then using software to blend them together. The resulting images have amazing shadow details and really interesting light qualities. Here are a couple of examples from my recent tinkering.

More Old Stuff

2009-04-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

There isn't much I like to photograph more than old cars. During our wanderings at the salvage warehouse we stumbled on a couple of old collectibles. Not for sale.

Parts

2009-04-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

For some reason this place had various doll part and glove molds laying around. It was kinda creepy. Green doll heads in cages. Hands reaching out at you.

Cool Old Stuff

2009-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

While in Chicago we toured an architectural salvage company. I love this kind of stuff. The place was gigantic, with 3 or 4 floors of an old warehouse full of stuff. We found this old merry-go-round in their outside area among various statues and columns.

The Grosse Point Lighthouse

2009-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

This cool old lighthouse, built in 1873, helped guide ships safely on to Chicago. It's near the Northwestern University campus, north of the city in Evanston, IL. Unfortunately it was closed when we were there, so I didn't get to climb to the top.

Graffitilicious

2009-03-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

A new self-portrait

2009-03-30T17:01:00.001-07:00

As some of you know, I like finding ways to take self-portraits that aren't really photos of me. Here is my latest, from the shore of Lake Michigan near Northwestern University.

Gioia Anniversary Party

2009-01-03T16:04:00.001-08:00

I had the opportunity last weekend to shoot the Gioia family 50th anniversary party at Trezo Mare in Briarcliff. The room was warm and inviting, with a roaring fireplace, barrel vaulted ceiling, and a glass wall that looked into the wine cellar. That was all great, except for the glass wall, which created some challenges for flash photography. Everything went well, however, and I think I was able to capture the spirit of the evening. (with only a little post-processing to clean up flash spots :)) Here are a few samples:

Fun Family Shots

2008-12-23T17:41:00.001-08:00

I recently shot family portraits for some friends. They are a goofy, laughing, loving bunch, and we had a lot of fun giggling and posing. Thanks for a fun shoot!

Chocolate Party 2008

2008-12-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

For the second year I had the opportunity to shoot the annual "Champagne and Chocolates" party for Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care. The party is a fundraiser for the organization, which provides health care services for the underprivileged. The clinic provides a valuable community service, and it's a pleasure to help in this small way.

The party was held at the MLB Designs and Pearl Gallery building at 1818 McGee. There was a ridiculous amount of delicious chocolate desserts, champagne, and beautiful silver art pieces by Robyn Nichols. It was a challenging environment, with very high ceilings and lots of black backgrounds for art displays. I worked up a sweat running up and down stairs and worrying over flash settings, but it was fun as always, and with the help of my lovely and talented photo assistant Karen, I think we pulled it off. Here are some samples.

Portrait Session

2008-12-21T19:39:00.001-08:00

Tonight I decided to experiment with lighting and portraiture with my willing and loyal subject, Porter. He is such a good sport (as long as I have treats), and really fun to work with. I used a canvas backdrop, two flourescent modeling lights and an on-camera flash. I think the first one is my favorite.

But it was a dry heat

2008-09-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

We went to the Anza-Borrego desert one day while we were in California. The temperature raised something like 10 to 15 degrees during our hour or so car ride over the mountain ridge from Pauma Valley. It was 102 when we got out of the car! The desert looked, well, like a desert. It looked like we could have been on another planet. It was rocks and cactus and sand and mountains. It was beautiful, but only for a few minutes in the searing heat. We walked around on a short little trail, took pictures, and then got back in the car. Here are my favorite shots:

The cutest little thing in the world

2008-08-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

My mom and I have always loved tiny things. I'm sure I somehow inherited this from her. All through my childhood I loved tiny examples of things and used to proclaim that something was "The cutest little thing in the world!". The saying began with a tiny horse, and then, over time, became a funny saying in my family, remembering how fascinated I was. To this day she and I both still collect little things and often give them to each other as gifts.

One evening while Karen and I were in Colorado, we were sitting on the sofa watching the Olympics. Karen was working on the scarf she is knitting for me. Suddenly she gasped and said "Oh my goodness!". She pointed to the piece of paper on her lap on which the knitting pattern was printed. I looked, but didn't understand. She pointed again and told me to look closer. I squinted a little and followed the line of her finger. Oh my goodness! On her page, moving along as fast as it could, was the very smallest inch worm ever. After watching it in amazement for a few moments I ran to get my camera and macro lens to try and capture an image. The little sucker was moving quickly so the photos aren't great, but he truly was "the cutest little thing in the world". A note about the scale: the letter/number pairs on this sheet of paper are just over 1/8th of an inch across!

We did it!

2008-08-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago Maya and I went on a solo hike up Mt. Royal. On the way down a woman with a baby on her back pointed out that if you followed a different path it was also possible to climb Mt. Victoria. I took her suggestion and we climbed it as well. It was an extremely challenging hike, with 2700 feet of altitude gain in just under 2.5 miles (if you're only counting the Victoria side!). We were both wasted by the time we finished, but had had a really great experience, which was shared with Karen, Matt, and Anne Justine upon our return. This year, Karen set her sites on climbing it with me to return some of Maya's ashes to the mountain. She did it! Putting one foot in front of the other, traveling from one tree to the next, and never giving up, we made it back up. The views were amazing.

The Peaks Trail

2008-08-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite hikes near Breckenridge is the Peaks trail. We frequently use this hike as a warm-up as we're acclimating to the altitude once again. The trail runs from just above the ski area at Breckenridge down to Frisco, for a total of about 8-10 miles one way. We generally do about half of it and then turn around. The trail itself is quiet and completely under the forrest canopy. The ground is soft and the air smells of pine. Sunlight fights its way through and splashes onto the forrest floor, illuminating the mountain flowers and other undergrowth. Wooden walkways span the small mountain streams that cut through the trail.

Heavy Sigh

2008-08-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Alas, my plan to win the lottery and retire to Colorado has failed once again. As sound a plan as that is, I found myself back at work this morning after another fantastic week in the mountains. Packing up and driving back "down the hill" is always so depressing that I sometimes wonder if it overshadows the joy of packing up and driving "up the hill" in the first place. It's worth it, of course, for the fun, memories, and recharging it provides. We went a little late this year, and the weather was interesting. We had two hail storms, frosty mornings, and on our last day, snow! In between, though, there was much frolicking among the Aspens and Pines, partaking of fine beer and food, and many games of ping pong. Our first hike of the trip was overcast and dreary. Fantastic things happen to the light and mountains when the weather is strange up there. Here are a couple of examples:

Milkin' it

2008-08-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's the little things that keep you going, isn't it? Just getting thrown a bone, or a small compliment, or a little extra push to help the momentum continue... Yesterday I received a very nice email from one of the art directing staff at the publishing company that prints the Missouri tourism guide and the VisitKC magazine. She said she really liked my submissions, thought I had high quality work, and hoped to get something in the guide this year. Always nice to hear. :) Here's one of the images I sent her. It's milkin' time...

Fun with close-ups

2008-07-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Made my first craigslist purchase today - a shiny used macro lens. I've read good things about the Tamron 90mm f/2.8. One popped up on craigslist and I jumped on it. I've never had a true macro before. The crazy thing focuses right up to within an inch or so, and at 90mm things are pretty close. I'm still working on technique. It's quite difficult to control camera shake when focused that close. So far, though, the lens seems to be very sharp and has a lovely bokeh. Should be a great portrait lens as well.

Gas pumps and turbines and dairy cows, oh my!

2008-07-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we packed up stuff for a road trip, dropped Porter off at Karen's mom's for the day, and headed out for a day-long photo adventure. If you haven't gone on a spontaneous day trip, I highly recommend it. We headed first to King City where there is, of course, the world's largest gas pump, located on the grounds of a small outdoor museum of old King City and mid-Missouri relics. There were lots of old farm implements, a train car, a school house, a covered bridge, etc etc. I loved it. This is just the kind of stuff I like to photograph.

Not too far away from King City is a wind farm we discovered a few weeks ago by accident. It's beautiful. I don't know what it is, but I'm drawn to this landscape dotted with giant turbines. It turns out that you can drive right up to them (at least until they get their fencing completed :) ). When they are spinning and you're standing right underneath them you can hear this ominous slow swoosh sound as the huge blades slash through the air. It's inconceivable to me why we wouldn't be vigorously pursuing this energy source as a nation. Maybe we are and it just takes a long time. Either way, get on board.

Our final destination before heading home was the Shatto Milk farm. If you haven't tried their milk I highly recommend it. It tastes better. And they're a local operation with super nice folks that run the place. We met Barbara Shatto while we were there. The farm has been in her family for over 100 years. They give tours and let you have samples of their products, and if you're lucky, like we were, you get to pet some baby milk cows. Super cool.

We headed home, exhausted, and grabbed some dinner out and a couple of cold beers while we talked about our adventures. It was a good day. Here's proof.

Zoom Zoom

2008-07-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

A new toy! It turns out my scooter, as fun as it was, was just a gateway bike. I started experimenting with other bikes, and before I knew it, I was hooked. It's a Yamaha XT250 dual sport, meaning that it is street legal but off-road capable. Not that I think I'll do that much trail riding (but who knows...) but I kind of dig the utility and fun-ness of it. It just looks like it could go anywhere and do anything. Curbs...no problem. Potholes...no problem. Manhole covers...no problem. It's a load of fun.

And for you naysayers out there, it gets 80+ mpg (same or better than my scooter) and is a much more stable, safer ride. The combination of large wheels, soft, off-road suspension, and low seat height instill confidence and soak up unexpected problems (see pothole comment).

Also, did I mention it was a lot of fun. :) Here she is. Or he. I haven't decided on a gender or name.

Frustrated incorporated

2008-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm making progress on the new site - slooooowwwwly. I have this new plugin for Lightroom that creates beautiful galleries, but it turns out they don't link seamlessly like the old ones did. Sigh. For now I've reverted back to old galleries while I work on solving the issues. Here's an image from our adventures at Union Station last weekend. Later.

Woo hoo!

2008-06-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I know you were all on the edge of your seats, but I'm finally updating my website AND firing up the old blog again! I was so anxious to stir the pot that I decided to go ahead and publish my changes. Feel free to make suggestions. My primary goals were to add some new life to my main site, including images as links and updated galleries, and to link to my blog so I could have a playground for sharing fun stuff and experimental pics. I'll try to post images here regularly - at least as often as I post to the IODA site (Image of the Day Association) - and I'll surely bore you on occasion with my latest obsession or adventure.

Visit frequently.

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Colorado Forest Path

2006-03-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

2006-03-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

Spring Fern

2006-03-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

Self Portrait

2006-03-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

Camp

2006-03-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Brahma

2006-03-12T18:35:00.000-08:00