THE State Swim Meet!

ISO 1000, aperture 3.5, and a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second

This was my first time to take a picture of a swim meet, so I was pretty excited. I was a little rushed to take pictures and make to I kept my body loose for my upcoming events! The state meet had more breaks than a usual swim meet though, that's why I got to take some pictures. The University of Texas at Austin had the best lighting for the pictures. I wish I would of taken my pictures at an aperture of 2.8 since I as using the bigma. This image was the best one that I got, and it's not very good. Hopefully next year I'll be able to go back and have a chance to take some better pictures. Matt Cox isn't really in focus in this photo. :(

Texas High vs. Pleasant Grove soccer

ISO 1000, aperture 2.8, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

My assignment was to capture an action shot of the Texas High varsity soccer boys for the yearbook. I used a 70-200:2.8mm lens when I took this image. I really like this picture because he's jumping in the air and it looks really neat. Thank goodness I got him in focus! 

LE vs. Texas High soccer boys

 ISO 250, aperture 4.0, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

 ISO 400, aperture 3.5, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

This was the first soccer game that I got to use the big-ma. The boys varsity game was a little earlier than usual, and right around the time that the sun started to go down. So, since the lightening was constantly changing, it was a little difficult to keep my settings correct. I really like these pictures, even though there isn't a ton of action.  

4th Six Weeks Projects: Orbs!!!

 ISO 1600, aperture 4.0, bulb

This orb is my least favorite out of the three orbs, but I still like it. I used a 17-50mm lens and a tripod. This photo was my very first attempt, so I was pretty satisfied with it. The light came from my dad's car lights, the timing of him driving down the driveway was perfect. I really like the shape and the color of this orb. 

 ISO 200, aperture 4.0, bulb

Taking this picture was the scariest thing I have ever done at night. When I took this picture I was pulled off at the side on the interstate right outside of town and was standing in the middle, grassy area in between I-30. To get this image took a while because of the cars going by, sometimes you couldn't see the orb I created. A lot of people were busy the night that I took this orb, so I made John David come with me to hold the button for me. I really like the colored lines located on the sides of the orb created by the car lights that were driving by. This orb is my absolute favorite, I had fun taking this photograph. I used a 17-50mm lens.

ISO 100, aperture 4.0, bulb

I really like this orb as well, the lighting in this one is really neat. This picture was taken after the STUCO meeting, so it was pretty late. This orb was probably the simpler one because by the time I took this one, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I held the shutter open for 61 seconds, thankfully it worked amazingly well. This picture was taken in the field outside of Texas Middle School. I used a 17-50mm lens, and Hannah Patterson held down the button for me.

While taking pictures of orbs I learned that glow sticks aren't very bright and down work very well, but battery powered glow sticks from Wal-Mart work extremely well! This project was by far the one I had the most fun doing. I learned a lot more about getting lighting right when using the "bulb" setting on my camera. I LOVE ORBS! They are so cool. :))

Last Minute Assignment

ISO 1600, aperture 3.5, and a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second

Today has been extremely stressful for the yearbook staff. There were a lot of photo assignments that had to get done today because of the deadline for the actual yearbook. The assignment for this photo was to take a picture of a student watching a historical video in a classroom. At first, I used a 28-75mm lens which didn't work because I needed a wider angle in order to get Evan and the movie in the frame with Evan in focus. I ended up using a 10-24mm lens, which had a wider frame. I used a 430 flash, 2 pocket wizards, a light stand, and a snoot in order to get the lighting. Getting the lighting the way I wanted it was the most difficult part of taking this photograph.

cool idea, but such a fail...

 ISO 100, aperture 4.0, bulb

The idea of this image was to get a picture of the old Catholic church down town and have an orb in front of the door. I didn't have a tripod when I took this picture, but I compromised with a cardboard cylinder and class square on top. The idea didn't work because the lights on the church were way too bight. You can still see the orb created in front of the church doors, but barely. I used a 17-50mm lens.

ISO 100, aperture 4.0, bulb

This idea was really creepy. John David and I were on our way down State Line on the way to the old Catholic when we spotted the creepy grave yard. We were both really creeped out, but I hated walking across the graveyard the most. This picture is in focus, but dark. I should of told John David to hold the button down for a longer to capture more light since it was so dark outside. We were already late to the STUCO meeting when we took this picture, so we had to hurry. It is kind of cool though. I used a 17-50mm lens.

Feburary 9th: I was on my way to Regionals for swim... absent from photography

Swimmer Head Shaving

 ISO 1250, aperture 2.8, and a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second

ISO 1250, aperture 2.8, and a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second

This assignment was last minute. I was on the way to my car when John David called me to tell me that if I had my camera with me, to go and take pictures of the traditional head shaving. Once I got to the hair solon where all of the swimmer boys were, I realized that I didn't have a flash and the lighting in there was terrible. I had to boost up my ISO more than usual and slow down my shutter speed to get enough light. The second image is my favorite because of his facial expression, and I enjoy the first image because you can see the team hovering over the team captain shaving a freshman's head. This assignment was entertaining and a lot of fun. I used a 17-50m lens. 

Sadie Hawkins...blehh.

ALL of my pictures taken that I took during Sadie were terrible. I didn't realize that they were THAT bad until I began to process them in lightroom. This image of Cari Cunningham was the best one that I got. I'm glad that I got her in focus and captured the emotion of happiness, but other than that, this picture is bad. Shooting dances at Texas High aren't fun because there's all sorts of nastiness within the different Sadie groups, so I just point and shoot (didn't work). I used a 580 flash and a 17-50mm lens. My ISO was 1250, aperture 4.0, and shutter speed was set at 1/80th of a second.

Lady Tigersharks Inspiration for upcoming regionals

 ISO 200, aperture 5.6, and a shutter speed of 1/1600 of a second

ISO 200, aperture 8.0, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second

Both of these photos were taken for a possible swim story for the yearbook. The lady tigersharks didn't do as well as we should of at district, and some of the lower classmen were discouraged about regionals that the team would be attending on February 11th. The upper classmen decided to try and "pump up" the girls team about regionals by writing on our cars inspirational words. I used a 17-50m lens. Taking the pictures of the girls' cars was harder than I had expected because of all the shadows and reflections coming from the cars. It would of been nice if there would of been some clouds covering up the sun while taking these images.