In February I took my friend's bridals at the State Capitol Building. I had been to the Capitol Building in the past and seen photographers at work, so it was fun to be able to go and do some work on my own. This was also one of my first times ever really giving my off-camera flash stuff a good run for the money. In retrospect, there are things I wish I would have thought of trying or things I wish I had done differently, but I was and still am really proud of the results. I really like the photo below because of the leading lines in the stairs. I just really like the composition and how she's framed in the lower corner of the frame. I had tried a few different angles to get the best results, and I think this is my favorite of them all:
Mushna and I traveled to the Philippines at the end of February - first week of March. We spent three days in Hong Kong. Admittedly, a few of my favorite photos from this year came from this trip. It was such a different, unique experience, not much in Orem - Provo Utah can really compare. This shot was taken during the Symphony of Lights show that happens nightly. These shots came out much better than I imagined they would. I didn't have a tripod with me and I was shooting at f4, 1600 ISO. It was definitely a "something is better than nothing" mentality, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I got the pictures unloaded. I've always been fond of this photo because I thought the couple in the lower left hand corner gave the buildings a very majestic feel. It also gives a good scale of how big everything is.
We printed this photo on canvas and have it hanging in our hallway.
Another one of my favorite shots from Hong Kong came from the very last night we were there. We checked out of our hotel at around eleven or something the morning we left, but our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until after midnight that night. Despite our feet killing us, I had to get out to wander around a bit to see Hong Kong at night. Again, shooting at 1600 ISO, f/4 just trying to get something because I couldn't allow myself to leave without at least trying. I'm very happy with the results.
We saw the Pleasant Grove rodeo in June. I grabbed this shot of the steer roping and converted it to B&W using the Exposure program Mushna bought me for my Birthday. I submitted this photo to a Pioneer Woman photo contest. It was selected in one of the groups, but I didn't end up winning. I still really like this shot, though.
During the summer we went to the Deer Creek "resort" with some friends. Mushna bought some bubbles. She was waving the wand around so the kids could pop the bubbles. I caught one of the bubbles as it was popping. I shot this on my 5D and was not in continuous burst mode or anything, so it was a total luck shot, but I really like it:
We attended the 4th of July parade in Provo again this year and I took this shot of a bunch of hot, bored kids.
Not long ago I photographed my sister's family photos. I enjoyed setting this up because I used two lights to emulate a sunset type of color. For those who follow this kind of stuff, I had my 580 EX II in a shoot-through umbrella, camera left. I had my 430 EX with a full(?) cut of CTO camera right, back behind them. That's what's giving them the orange rim light type of glow.
I also took some family photos for my friend Angie. I decided to try to grab some natural light photos right before the sun disappeared behind the mountain we were near. I had Mushna kick just a tad bit of light back into their faces.
I recently visited San Francisco for work. I was actually able to get out to see the city a little bit after the conference ended. I had been sitting in a room listening to very academic presentations for two days straight. While I was out wandering the night the conference got out, there was a street band performing in Union Square. I hung out and watched them play for a long while. As people wandered by, they got into the act by dancing and having a good time. This lady was dancing to the music. I just really liked this shot and shooting that night. This wasn't the sharpest photo, it was noisy as hell and far from perfect, but I just think it works.
I took this photo on Fisherman's Warf. The fog really made for a very moody scene.
I've done a few children/baby shoots this year, too. This shot was taken of my cousin Blaise for his 18 month photos. The kid doesn't sit still for more than a couple seconds at a time, but it was enough to get some good shots. I like this shot because of the light and the candid feel.
I've also been shooting our friend Toni's baby photos every month until she turns one. This fall, just before Halloween, we headed up the canyon and I was able to get some of my favorite shots of her.
I really liked how this shot turned out. The bokeh of the leaves in the background, coupled with the light and the big smile really makes it for me.
Finally, Mushna bought me a backdrop support for Christmas. I bought a black backdrop so I could do more shots at home. This is a shot I took of one of our friend's daughters the first time I set the back drop up.
Going into 2011, I'm looking forward to doing more shoots for money and hopefully growing a side business out of this. As far as gear, I'm really interested in big lights. I've been eying some Alien Bee's for a while now. That and a big softbox are on the top of my priority list.
