Great idea Rondec. Always love these "Year in Review" Posts, and a fantastic series it's started out to be already. Great posts, all!
For me, I transitioned--rather abruptly--from travel and landscape (oh, how I miss you Europe) to portraiture and actually earning some money with my gear, something I have never done before. And I think I've upped my product photography game for you guys
Additionally, on-location lighting has been a wonderful experience, and I think I'm getting it. Next stop - lit Brenizers (haven't tried yet).
First, three landscapes (all from Scotland):
1) Jenny and I overlooking Edinburgh. Took awhile to get this image because the tourist that I asked to snap our picture kept centering us in the frame. "I'm going to run up the hill and join her - see where she is now while I'm holding the camera? Please put it the same way so we are at the top right." <Run up, wait 30 secs, run down.> "Ahem...Not to be ungrateful, but can we try that again?" I appreciate her patience as it took 4 tries, and I'm sure I was coming off as quite the snob, but oh well - it's now hanging on our wall in a massive frame over our mantle
K-3 + DA* 16-50
2) A valley between two of the many abrupt mountains in Glencoe, Scotland. It was pointed out later by a friend that in the lower left hand corner there was a small toy dog, which would obviously had to have been left there by a previous visitor. This was completely unbeknownst to me at the time of shooting.
K-3 + DA 10-17 Fisheye Zoom
3) While in Oban, Scotland, a couple overlooks the incoming storm across the bay.
K-3 + DA* 16-50
4) During my
training exercise with the Finnish Army, I snapped what I would consider the most "iconic" image of the entire trip. I love the simplicity of it, dubbed "Solitude."
K-5 IIs + DA 18-135 WR
5) A product shot from the DA 18-135 WR in-depth review here that I am extremely proud of. This specific image required 3 lights and about 3 hours of on-and-off hosing because I couldn't get the lighting right lol. The entire BTS post (20+ images) can be found
here.
K-5 IIs + DFA 100mm Macro WR
6) Another product shot, and my most proud one to date. A composite of 5 images (one for the box and one for each lens piece) showing the "explosion" midair above the box. The intent was to have the light emanating from the inside of the box. I owe a BTS post of how it was created.
K-3 + DA* 16-50
7) This was actually the very first portrait session that I did with off-camera flash while on-location. The first one. And I'm very proud of the results. This little girl was showing off her dirndl that her father sent her while he was stationed in Germany. I can't get over how she just pops out of the background.
K-3 + FA 77 Limited
8) One of the biggest focuses in photography today is sharpness. Can you see the most minute of details? I even have the habit of tossing photos if they are even slightly out of focus, something which Jenny hates when it results in a lot of our family photos being deleted (what, I'm a perfectionist). This image is from the same shoot as above, and it was entirely accidental. Normally such an out of focus shot would be immediately culled from the herd. But I couldn't help but fall in love with how ethereal it made her look, wandering off into the light. A friend made the comment how it was like little Gretel making her way to grandma's house.
K-3 + DA* 55
9) Another first for me - my very very first (and so far only) newborn shoot. I can't get over how this image turned out. I dubbed it "Curiosity."
K-3 + DA* 55 (@ f/1.4)
10) The most recent portrait session I did (again with off-camera flash), and this one was a bit more brazen. They wanted something different, so Jennifer said "Why don't we put our living room sofa in the woods and decorate the trees with Christmas ornaments?" So that's what we did
The original intent was supposed to have the trees backlit by the setting sun, but unfortunately 10 min before we started shooting rainclouds came in and ruined all the nice bokeh I was expecting (as in the shots with the little girl). Still made it work, I think
K-3 + DA* 55
I'd like to believe that I've grown substantially as a photographer, and I'm excited to see what 2015 brings
For the rest of you lurkers, let's make this grow to 1000+ images. We surely have the manpower for that here
-Heie
Edit to Add: I wanted to share this post on my
Alex Jansen Photography Facebook page, so I made the following "ad"
:
Last edited by Heie; 12-30-2014 at 08:46 AM.