Foto Friday - eerie

Taken with Nikon D40 near Alcatraz, California on January 26, 2008. Aperture Exposure Mode, 30mm, 1/125 sec f/4.5, ISO 200, Nikon Raw Format. Edited in Lightroom 2.0.

I'm pulling another photo from our trip to Alcatraz today.  There was just so much material to shoot, so many emotions, and so much history that everything became totally fascinating. As we cruised in on the "double decker" boat most of the visitors congregated on the upper deck (open air) while Julie and I stayed on the lower deck.  The upper deck was extremely packed which really hinders the photographic process; the lower deck however, was almost empty (good start), and best of all, some of the windows could be opened!  So I camped out at an island-side window and prepared to shoot.

We first passed the west side of the island which didn't look to disarming in the nice and warm light of sunset.  We circled the island and came back to the port on the south east side.  The east side (shrouded in shadow) is where the eerie and scary feel of the island really jumps out at you.

As we passed by I made this exposure of the the old chapel and sally port (GPS Lat 37.827, Long -122.422).  To be honest, I didn't realize what I had until I got this photo into Lightroom and started playing with it.  I increased the contrast and mid-tone sharpening to bring out the texture, blew out the light clouds in the sky using the adjustments brush, did some split-toning to slightly bring out the yellows and greens (split-toning adds a color cast to the shadows and/or highlights), and gave a slight blur (in Photoshop) and vignette to the edges of the shot.

These changes help share the eerie feeling that I had as we cruised past this part of the island. It was a great experience that you all should take if you are even in San Francisco. Remember to take the night tour and bring a fast lens. Anyway, that all for this week.  Enjoy yourself behind the lens and happy shooting!

Photowalk Dream

Last night I dreamt that everyone met at our house to go on our RJSnowPhotography Photowalk. I came up with a fantastic route and an equally fantastic place to eat afterwards. As everyone gathers, he tells me that I can't go. I have to stay home and watch the kids!! He also decided that the walk was going to last all day and into the evening so he was just going to stay at The Hotel Monaco overnight. I was so mad!! To smooth things over with me, he had some homeless man deliver me candy...M&Ms and Triscuit crackers.

To Rob: Yeah, well I AM coming and you can't stop me! (By-the-way, the M&M/Triscuit combo wasn't bad. I may have to try that someday.)

RJSnowPhotography Photowalk - Downtown SLC

Julie and I are hosting our first semi-annual RJSnowPhotography Photowalk in downtown Salt Lake City around 8 or 9 am (subject to change to get us the best light) on October 25th. Save That Date!!  The downtown area is overflowing with interesting things to photograph.  Check out a set of photographs that Julie took with a "point and shoot" camera a couple of years ago while waiting to meet some girls for dessert at the Melting Pot. 

So what is a photowalk anyway?  A photowalk is an opportunity for a group of photographers to work together, have a great time, and improve their skills through collaboration!  After the photowalk, we'll assemble at a local eatery for some food and to view (I figure that we can come up with enough laptops) and discuss each others photographs.  For some weeks after that we can continue to share and discuss our photographs after post-processing.  I'll probably set up a flickr group to create a common area for us to share our photos. Details of the photowalk route and lunch location will be forthcoming but please save the date and contact either Julie or myself if you would like to attend.

Update:  Attendance to this exclusive event will be limited to 20 people so get on the list soon!

Foto Friday - Wallpaper

For those of you who get our posts via email, you may not visit our actual webpage very often. Well if you do, there's a new incentive to do so.
Free wallpapers! There is a link at the top of the site.

Once again, I took these at Temple Square a few years ago. I didn't do much editing, just a little white balance and contrast. No biggie.

This was Rob's idea and I think it's great. This picture is an example and every so often we'll add new wallpapers here. So check back!

Rob & Julie Before the 10-Year

 

On August 15th of this year we attended my (Rob) 10-Year Reunion - you can always count on a reunion to help you feel old. We had a fairly good time at the reunion.  I got to see a bunch of friends (Dee, Mel, Erica, and Wyatt and Lacey) which was really nice.  We sat next to Wyatt and Lacey and we had a really good time hanging out with them. 

I graduated from West Jordan High School TEN freaking years ago! It is sort of weird to be this old but I can't complain one bit about how my life has turned out.  I have an amazing wife, great kids, a challenging calling at church, a stimulating career (most of you probably don't consider dirt and earthquakes to be stimulating...but I do), photography, travel, and UTA.

Since we were all dressed up and going to a nice place for the reunion (Gardner Village in West Jordan), Julie and I decided to try our hand at taking some self portraits.  With a lot of teamwork, about 20 minutes, and of course our sexy subjects, we took a bunch of really good pictures.  See the complete set here (or slideshow).  I had such a good time with Julie on this photoshoot.  We have great chemistry and it is just so rewarding to share a fun hobby. Enjoy the photos!

Foto Friday - Lime

Taken with Nikon Coolpix L6 at Punta de Mita, Nayarit, Mexico on March 17, 2007. Automatic Exposure Mode, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec f/3.2, ISO 50, JPEG. Edited in Picasa 2.6.

The beach at Punta de Mita differed a lot from the beach near our condo in Bucerias.  A few more people, more rocks, birds, and boats.  As we walked onto the beach we came across these awesome tables and umbrellas!  I love the natural construction of the umbrellas, the sand, and blues in the water and sky against the vibrant lime green of the tables!  Outstanding!   I also really like the little kids playing in the background.  Very fun and free.  Thanks for that amazing vacation Julie!!!!

To continue Julie's theme from last week I chose this photo that I took with our little "point and shoot" L6 (of course it is a Nikon) and only slightly modified the exposure in Picasa 2.6.  That's all for this week.  Remember that it is more about the photographer than the camera or software. Enjoy yourself behind the lens and happy shooting!

When The Hubby's Away....

Rob's in Glenwood Springs, Colorado again for work. This is how he describes what he's doing this time. "Driving around all day looking at cliffs. Then spending a few hours writing about cliffs." Hmmmm. Pop Quiz....what is Rob's profession??? Anyone? Anyone? I'll even give bonus points if you get the exact term. Even people who have heard him explain what he is never really remembers except that it has to do with dirt. Give up? He's a Geotechnical Engineer. Whenever he tells people this, they all nod their head and pretend they know what that is. Don't be embarrassed if you're one of those people. Those people are EVERYONE. But he loves it and that's all that matters.

So anyway....

Once again I came down with the travel bug and Rob had to continually remind me that I did NOT want to go with him. Remember this post?

Not 30 minutes after he left I had two emergencies. My MSN Messenger wasn't working (I love IM-ing! I'm actually chatting with Rob right this minute!) and there was a huge spider! Okay, medium spider. But it got away!!! And isn't it weird that the house always seems darker when the man is gone?

Well, I hope you have fun with your cliffs. I love you, honey!

Someday...

Someday I hope to...

• Sleep in until 11am on Saturdays like I used to before kiddies.
• Get Lasik. I'm blind as a newborn.
• Go all over Asia and on a European river cruise.
• Have my bangs do a perfect side swoop. Two cowlicks makes this nearly impossible.
• Have a spotless kitchen for a whole day.
• Go to a ball, just so I have a reason to wear a gown and look like a princess (I know, I'm like a 4-year-old).
• See all my children married in the temple.
• Stop thinking about my to-do list.
• Have rippling calf muscles.
• Have a fenced-in backyard for Nate to play in.
• Follow promptings 100% of the time. I'm good at it unless it involves talking to or interacting with other people. My shyness kicks in.
• Buy a shirt that's not on the clearance rack. Old habits are hard to break.
• Be published.
• Have a real-looking fake tan.
• Go to bed at a normal time. After years of staying up until 12:30 doing homework, It's been hard to get to bed any earlier.
• Paint my living room. We've lived here for over two years and it still isn't done.
• Spend an entire day at an expensive spa getting the works done.
• Consistently edit and post pictures within a week of taking them.

Wow. That's a lot of "somedays". Maybe someday I need to focus more on the present.

Foto Friday - Aspiring Heavenward

I took this picture 4 years ago. I worked at the Church Office Building at the time and decided to walk around Temple Square one day after work. It was springtime, which meant all the beautiful tulips were out and the trees were bright white with blossoms. It was gorgeous! I was a little worried since it was overcast, but I think the clouds in the background ended up working really well.

To get the shot to look this way, in Lightroom I turned down the exposure and upped the fill light in order to get the detail in the clouds. Then I played with the contrast and clarity so that the Gothic architecture of the temple would stand out. I then bumped up the yellow and orange luminance so the plaque and Angel Moroni would pop.

One reason I wanted to show this photo is because I took it with our very first small digital Nikon Coolpix camera. See! No fancy SLR required! All you need is a good eye and some photo editing software (a couple of FREE ones are: Picasa and Photoshop Express).

Experiment with your camera and software and get great photographs!

Madeleine at 5 Months

 

Julie and I have been trying to take a portrait of Madeleine for the last couple of weeks.  She is a very happy baby and is just so cute.  The first two attempts were foiled due to spit-up (she does this constantly) and Nate jumping into the frame and climbing over her! On our 3rd try we had complete success!  She is the cutest little girl in the whole world.  She is just a sweet little ray of sunshine and I love her dearly.