burn.

tree.

wind.

It's come to this...

Just kidding. I didn't even drink it -- I'm way too tired.

Flyer

In honor of my hometown Philadelphia Flyers moving on to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I chose the image above as one of my top pics today. Again, was having trouble deciding, especially since they're all a bit different from each other. Enjoy...

Flying

Today's pics were fun to make. I had the kids jumping off a chair onto our yogibo's (fancy word for bean bags). The idea originated with HJ, but she didn't last long -- about 5 takes. SJ was the most patient and that earned him more shots in the runner's up section, but OJ had the best smile/laugh combined with the heat miser hair and just beat SJ by a hair for the top spot in the POTD. Enjoy!

2011 04 24 Sunday

2011 04 23 "Easter" Saturday

2011 04 22 Good Friday

2011 04 21 Thursday

Diner and "Vegetarian Enclave" stop for dinner on the way from Beantown to Philly.

I *DID* Shoot Today and Yesterday

I *DID* Shoot Today and Yesterday. With driving from Beantown to Philly, and visiting with family and friends, and tying up some loose ends, I just haven't had a chance to post the pics yet. Hopefully tomorrow. Happy Easter!

~kj
-----------------------------------
Typos? iPhone.

Almost raining.

It was almost raining, so of course she needed the umbrella. I'm glad though, because we had one of our best friends visit tonight for dinner from Philly and except for this brief shoot with the umbrella the camera didn't get a lot of attention today. Enjoy!

The Very Well-timed Caterpillar

I had no idea what I was going to shoot today. Today was a full day with art camp for OJ and errands to get ready for Easter and our trip back home to PA. Even as dinner approached I wasn't sure what I would do about that meal -- lunch today was snacks on the run and gelato at Whole Foods -- much less what I was going to offer up for your visual appetites. But then, as I'm throwing together a little weeknight chili, in crawls The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The caterpillar wanted to help me make dinner as well as clean up some dishes. So, while the ground turkey may have gotten a little more browned that I would like it, after grabbing my remote flash and my camera, I finally got my shot. She is too funny. Enjoy!

Done and done.

Taxes are finally done -- thank you, D.C. for the extra 3 days! -- but not without me spending the entire morning on the last loose ends. With the three kids all home from school, today has been quite interesting. I'm stressed out dealing with the taxes, they're bouncing off the walls. Fun. In the midst of the craziness, or perhaps as a result of it, my plan for shooting got totally fubar. I was going to write a whole speil, but forget it. Done. Enjoy the image. Or don't. It's been a day.

Sunday's Pic

I picked this shot over several other lax shots that were similar to the one I posted last weekend. The others were comparable in quality and may even show more athletic lacrosse moves. But, and there are two buts, 1. this one just speaks to me because it's a little funny, and 2. I don't want to become a one trick pony. I like the clarity and cropping of this shot. I like the rubber chips that are still in the air. And perhaps most importantly, I like the light.

More lax here, as well as the rest of my runners-up.

Saturday's Pic

Date night!

Tonight was our first date night in our new town. So while I *DID* shoot today -- and then snuck in a little kiteboarding of my own -- I didn't get to download and edit down today's images. Double feature tomorrow will be one image taken saturday, one image taken Sunday.

BONUS Post: Wishful thinking...

Wishful thinking...

Since I promised I'd only post pics on the day shot, I can't hold this 'til tomorrow.

Patagucci ad?

Patagonia folks, want to buy my pic? Please? Mostly kidding. I probably need to have a stern chat with my make-up artist (MUA). Merde, that's me! Oh well. Enjoy!

Almost ready...

Some good friends have begun to push me out of my perpetual state of being "almost ready". The optimism and near inevitability of this budding flower spoke to me today.

Runner's up here.

So close, and yet...

The way I've been feeling lately. Sometimes the distance from here to that chair is like the distance from here to Denver, or Jackson, or Kathmandu, or... Don't mind me. It'll pass.

Gray Day

Taxes...ugh

Spent the better part of the day dealing with taxes. After years of paying someone else a ridiculous fee to do them for us, I've decided to tackle this multi-headed monster -- and suddenly the ridiculous fee doesn't seem so ridiculous. What a crazy tax code we have! Anyway, that's a rant for another time. Did taxes 'til SJ and OJ got off the bus, then threw the lax ball with them, tried to figure out how to turn the hose bibs back on -- what a gorgeous day! -- and finally played hopscotch. Today's image is from the girls' "Perfect Hopscotch" court.

Enjoy Hope's outfit! Although I wish I had the camera out this morning as that we even better. Same ballet uni/tutu but with knee high pink socks, cowgirl boots, and her heavy winter coat. OJ says to me on the way to the bus, "Her outfit is weird." I told her, "When you're four it's cute, when you're 18 it's weird."

Attack!

Made this great capture of this kid turning the corner in today's game. Some other good stop action, much of it though plagued by chaotic backgrounds. I might have to start bringing a ladder or wearing a pair of these. My son might be uber-embarrassed, but I'll likely get better, cleaner shots.

Still a sucker for the pan blur/motion blur, some of today's runner's-up feature a little bit of that. Not wanting to be a one trick pony, I almost automatically disqualified from being THE hero shot, but they'll be just fine in their supporting role.

Waiting for a table

Snuck some decent shots of the beasties while waiting for a table tonight at one of the local brew pubs. Shot a little at SJ's soccer game this morning. More than a little disappointed with the outcome. Still thinking about why, and how to improve. Again, kids' sports is hard, but no excuse. Gotta keep moving forward. Gotta learn more. Gotta get better.

Artist in Action

I love that the kids are getting into this journey with me. Someone commented recently how awesome it must be/will be for the kids to see me go through this process and to fulfill this commitment I've made to myself. How it will model stick-to-it-ive-ness. How it will teach delayed gratification. I also think it will show how important it is to nurture and embrace our creativity. I love that as I embark on this mission the kids seem to have gotten that much more jazzed about creating art themselves. Today, I shot OJ and HJ drawing, coloring, painting. OJ must have created 5 or 6 really great pieces. It's awesome!

As before, -- I think I'll just make this a regular thing -- if interested check out the runner's up on my flickr page. IMG_6304 almost won out, but I'm a sucker for my kids' faces. Mon's favorite is 6327. Enjoy! Thanks!

Jump!

Would love to work more with this. It's a fun start. But one of my models is sick, and subject model ran out of juice. Stinks too, because as I write this the sunset over the lake is killer and I can't rally any help. Maybe you'll see more takes on this theme again later. Also, if interested, check out the runner's up on my flickr site. Two amazing things happened at the same time, great light and SJ was *totally* engrossed in a book on the stairs. Was working to study and capture the quality and cast of the "sweet light". Enjoy!

Beach Portrait

Had some trouble deciding tonight. Made over 200 images. Light was low, not really an excuse, just more of a learning opportunity. Especially as I work to hone my craft, I need to bracket things more and/or bust out the hoodman and look more closely at the image in the viewfinder. Some images that look perfect while "chimping", turned out to be not so perfect. I'm always hesitant to use the higher ISO's on my camera (*really* wish I had the D3S -- no, no, that's right it's not about the equipment, it's about the photographer), but on this evening, particularly closer to dusk, I would have gladly traded some hand-held soft focus for a little bit of high ISO noise.

Some of today's runner's-up will make my flickr page: thekjstudio

Busy Day

Crazy busy day! Couldn't shoot until well after the beasties were home, even tthen we had to do an unexpected errand. Shot Olivia while and in between making dinner and checking homework. Is this how all you pro's work?

Model turns Athlete/Model

Might have to double his rate. Rainy day limited shooting options, but not a bad result.

Kids sports are tough

From SJ's lax game today. Had some good stop action stuff, but the backgrounds suck. Played with slow shutter to try to catch the action, motion, stick checking which are all such a huge part of lacrosse. Cropped slightly, no other post-processing. 1/40 at f/16. Kinda wishing this was a hair faster -- maybe 1/50.

Next year it'll be editing skills

Couldn't decide tonight from the 180+ images I took today, so you get three:

Water drops

1/20 @ f/8.0

Cooperative Model

Found a great, new, and very cooperative model. Price is right, too. Although when I add up all the incidentals (ski gear, lacrosse gear, etc.), maybe it's not such a great deal.