Slowly back shooting again!

Another wrist update

There's still a ton of things I can't do one handed. Slowly I have more flexibility but the two things I can't do is twist my arm and to some extent, push. Pulling hurts less. That's partly because of a frozen shoulder that I must have injured at the same time without knowing it.

You don't think about things like putting on your seatbelt in the car (you have to push the thing in: but more disconcerting, you have to push the red button to release it! Can't do either). Fortunately I have a note from the doctor in case I get pulled over. As an aside, I've worn a seatbelt driving my car for at least 48 years (I remember a crash on February 13, 1966 where my seatbelt saved my life. Some dates stick in your mind). So I'm really uncomfortable without it.

Today my cousin Steve dropped in and helped me put the fitted sheet on my bed. You can't do that with a broken wrist! Don't get me started on shoelaces! I have been playing my keyboard a bit, some of the chords are tough but I think it's good to stretch a bit. 10 more days until the cast comes off. Oh, and thankfully, it's not that itchy!

Camera Club News

A couple of weeks ago I told you about an image I was entering in the Richmond Hill Camera Club "Geometric" competition. I was expecting a low score because I figured more than one of the judges wouldn't "get" it. Hmmm. I got a mediocre score from all three. I still think it's my best image of 2013 but that's just me. As I said, I've stopped making images for others, now I'm making them for me. At least important art images. I still shoot pictures of opportunity as you'll see in a minute.

But I'm incredibly impressed with the quality of images from RHCC. Take a minute to go to their webpage: the top of the page is a slideshow of pictures from the last competition (geometric, plus general pictorial images). Some phenomenal vision there.

The new Haliburton Highlands Camera Club (HHCC) is just getting rolling. I'll post a link to some images next week – they were out shooting the Pond Hockey Tournament the last two weekends. I shot a few images there myself:

I think this captures what it was like to be there. This is how hockey is supposed to be played, outdoors in the cold and the snow! 

Here's an action image painted with Topaz Simplify 

There were some really interesting people there, including Santa Claus relaxing after his December busy time! 

Also the "Bees Knees" hockey team. I took their pictures last year as well. Can't resist a pretty blonde! 

The D800 is an awesome camera!

Here's a couple of images I shot a couple of days ago. My friend Styles is running for public office and asked me to shoot a couple of images for him. Here's what I got:

A "serious candidate" image.  

Styles and his wife Niki 

My favourite shot. Styles has a real connection with his little Yorkie and let his hair down (figuratively speaking!) when he joined us in the photo session!
 

Some photo notes for these pictures. Lighting was primarily from an off-camera speedlight with a Gary Fong Diffuser , high at 45° camera left and a reflector low at the same angle camera right. There was also some window light from the left, and I dragged the shutter to incorporate the warm light from the lamp in the first shot. The radial filter in Lightroom helps a lot to isolate the subject.

The D800 resolution is so high that I had to spend some time getting rid of normally invisible blemishes and detail. And the 70-200 Nikkor lens helped too! The quality of these images reminds me of medium format Hasselblad days. I'm suitably impressed!

More to come!

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