Monday, December 31, 2012

Dad on New Year's Eve

I wanted to get a few pictures of my Mom and Dad while they were in town during their California Christmas visit. They were standing in our front lawn when my uncle (my mom's older brother) stopped by to see them. My mom went over to talk to him and, as they chatted at camera right, my dad watched.

I was taking some test shots of my dad. I didn't want him posing or anything like that: I told him I was going to test to make sure my off-camera flash and Pocket Wizards were working together.

This is the first test shot:

Dad on New Year's Eve 

I really shouldn't have bothered with fill-flash: the picture was really, really bad, and I had to do some post-processing to get a halfway decent picture. Sometimes I think my D600 has an overexposure problem in some situations, but I'm betting it's more operator error than anything else.

And on that note: Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe out there, and have fun. And thanks for stopping by and following my blog over the past year. 

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 50mm f/1.8 lens; shutter-priority mode, with shutter set to 1/160 second; camera chose f/3.5 at ISO 200; auto white balance; -2.0 flash compensation; normal JPG.) 

10 comments:

  1. To you All
    Happy New Year.
    May 2013 be a good one for you and your loved ones.
    Best Wishes Molly

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    1. hey, thanks, molly. i hope your 2013 turns out to be a good year for you.

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  2. Happy 2013 to you! I think the picture you ended up with is pretty darned good!

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    1. thanks, carrie. it'll be a while before i learn the d600's nuances and how to adjust for them. the picture turned out better than i had hoped.

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  3. Happy New Year, Steve. For Christmas, I gave Henry the picture you took of him with Freedom, Casper & Nikki. He loved it. It's heading to his office so everyone can see our "babies." I love the picture of your dad. So natural and beautiful.

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    1. thanks, lori. i'm glad he liked it.

      my dad's 82 and a survivor. flew 18 missions at the end of the korean war on night interdiction missions. graduated to jets but lost both legs at age 24 ferrying a jet bomber from maryland to georgia when i was just a month old. his shoulders and hips are shot, and he gets phantom pains from his legs. but he never really complains about it.

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  4. Happy New Year! Looking forward to seeing all the pictures you take this year.

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    1. as i will be checking out your pics, too. and i'm jealous of your new house's yard. sadie and katie would have a blast running around in it.

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  5. Happy New Year! I don't know how much post processing you did but that's a great natural portrait!

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    1. i'm trying not to be so rigid and use a little imagination. it's hard for me.

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