Noelle's Bonfire, General Updates

These were taken at Noelle's bonfire on Wednesday. I learned a lot about lighting as most of these are lit by a single incandescent bulb outside and flash-filled. It gives a cool effect and if I try to replicate it in the future, I know that I would use other flash units on the lower-left sides of peoples' faces to lose some of the shadows from the shed's light. Still, I think the pictures turned out well and I learned a lot from a photographic end. Additionally, people were having fun with the pictures and weren't being shy, which made it fun for me.

Alright, so this week has been a bit chaotic. School started--most of you know this--and I worked 34 hours. That's right. I've been waking up at 5 AM to be at work by 6. There hasn't been much time to shoot save for Wednesday night at the bonfire (see below).

As I mentioned above, I'm learning. I'm getting better, and it's terribly exciting for me. I love new hobbies. Guitar, web design, programming, and now photography. I'm good at none of these but I do enjoy them all very much. One of the things that I enjoy most lately, however, is reading the blogs of professional photographers. They tend to put up the shots that they enjoy--not necessarily the ones that are the popular ones, but the ones that they're proud of. For example, the author of I've Got Friends has an old Polaroid camera and shoots a lot on various kinds of film (often expired by many, many years) and he gets great shots that only appeal to a niche audience.

To me, it's relieving. I'm shooting for my own enjoyment, not personal vanity (the desire to get pats on the back). I really love learning the stuff and I love sharing what I've learned with people. That's kind of why I love shooting my friends: they get to have a part in the process and they get to share in doing what I enjoy. It kind of makes me think of kids cooking with their mom--they get to participate a little bit and have a share in the pride of a successful shoot/batch-of-cookies, depending on which side of the analogy you're following. For me as the 'photographer', it's fun to see them excited about the process.

Here are some of my great friends, most of whom I've been close with for 4 years now:
First photo: Sarah and Sally
Second photo: Sally
Third: Sarah and I
Fourth & fifth: Sarah and Sally again, Noelle and Sarah, respectively
Sixth: Sally and I
Seventh: Preston (notice his t-shirt--the irony was unintentional: I didn't even read his shirt 'til post-processing)
Eight: Noelle

Clicking any of these photos should take you to the Picasa album where you can see the pictures individually in greater resolution. Leave a comment if you have problems viewing--Picasa is very useful software but it's pretty badly broken when it comes to handling links. But that's a rant for another night. Peace out.

Edit: Check this out: http://open-eye-photography.blogspot.com/2010/02/great-star-wars-lego-scenes.html
http://open-eye-photography.blogspot.com/2010/08/churches-photography-by-dirk-wiedlein.html