Photography by Steven Cox

It’s been a while (sorry Mom), here are some new kid photos.

Having fun in the hammock outside.

Milkshake Mustache (and a tiny devilish smile)

Rough Night.

Warm summer night.

An actual smile… not that posed, fake one.  I like this one so much better!

Curiosity at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Outside of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After reviewing the latest 2 rolls of film, it is clear my biggest learning is focus and shutter speed.  With the size of the Hasselblad camera, I need to either use a tripod more or a faster shutter speed than I would typically use on my DSLR.  The Hasselblad requires a different way to hold the camera than I am used to, so that could be it as well.  Still having a blast with it!

Weston Beach, Big Sur, CA

Play time

Grandpa and William

Alli Swinging

William Swinging

Alli is going through a great stage where she is asking us to take pictures.  It is a nice change from a few months ago where she would run away from the camera.

William has become quite the speed demon!

And, don’t forget about the sound effects to go with that speed!

This was the first time I said “William, say cheese!” and he did! Love the shot and moment.

Interestingly, I shot all of these with my 70-200mm lens, which I had given up on.  There are cases when the quality from this lens just plain sucks.  It was so bad, I sent back to Nikon for repair.  They checked it out and said everything was fine.  I am extremely happy with these results… guess I better give it another chance!

Oh, and a bonus picture of Alli clowning around!

Maybe I’ve gone crazy, but I recently purchased a well loved Hasselblad v-System medium format camera on eBay.  I can see why Hasselblad’s have their amazing reputation.  This camera is a beautiful machine.

I also picked up the cult followed Holga.  The first two rolls of *gasp* film have been developed.  Here are my favorites from the first 24 shots:

Alli Sleeping… shot with the Hasselblad and the flash I use with my digital SLR (Nikon SB-900).

Shot with the Holga and the SB-900 flash.

View from our recent stay at the Hotel Nikko… 24th floor!   This is probably one of the best still-life photos I’ve taken.

Cheese!

Yummy… yogert!  William does really well using utensils.  In fact, he really doesn’t like to eat without him.  He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty (unless he is eating pancakes!)

The first ice cream cone William ate all by himself.  Slow and messy, but he sure enjoyed it!

What’s cooking? Cookies.

Typical Alli!

First day of preschool.

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Cheers!  Sharing ice cream cones.

Going back a year ago to the initial mission of this project, it is time to reflect and see how I progressed.  You can go back to the first post if you are curious what I set out to do.

Wins:

•  The goal of this project is to push myself photographically, but most importantly, pick up the camera every single day.
• My hope is that by the end of the year, my ability to visualize and compose photographs will dramatically improve.
• Most importantly, photography will become far more than just an occasional hobby.

FAIL:

• Every day should try something new, different subjects, composition, lighting, etc.

After completing 366 days, one photo every day, I am thrilled.  There were so many points when I was ready to quit.  But, this project was very rewarding in that, I have never 100% completed a project of this scale.  There have been projects that I have done personally and professionally that always had open items to finish.  Not this time!

Originally I set out to do something new every day.  With the demands of work and family, that is just not possible.  Over 30% of the photos were of the kids, which for the most part are all using the same exact camera settings and lighting.  Although I did plenty of experimenting, it was not at the level I wanted.  In many cases, I just took a photo for the day so I could check off that day of the year.  Those days I cheated myself.

There are two things that I want everyone who has been following along to take away:

1. The more photos you take, review, and self-critique, you will develop skills in composition, lighting, and camera settings.  You will notice that taking great photos will get easier over time.  Practice is the key!
2. Once you develop the above, you will realize there are beautiful things to photograph all around you.  In looking back, about 80% of the photos taken were within 10 miles of our house!

With that, I picked my current favorite 10 photos from the year.  Continue reading ‘2008 Photo a Day Reflection’

All Done!

Photo Details

DSLR, 24-70mm @ 62mm, f3.2@1/25sec, ISO6400,  No flash

Helping Daddy!

Photo Details

DSLR, 24-70mm @ 70mm, f2.8@1/60sec, ISO400,  Bounce flash with diffuser

Sedona Panoramic.  Taken from the Chapel Of The Holy Cross.

Photo Details

DSLR, 24-70mm @ 24mm, f8@1/500sec, ISO400,  No flash

9 Shots taken vertically, stitched together in PhotoShop CS4.