Having said that, I think I got some decent shots of my friends’ wedding.
I shot a combination of strobe (flash-illuminated) and natural light shots. There are a lot of ways I could have gone about the shoot, many of which I probably don’t even know yet. I used a relatively slow lens that didn’t let in a lot of light. I’ve got faster lenses that bring in more light, but they have fixed focal lengths that would have forced me to stand much farther away from the action.
Until I spend a lot of money on a new camera or on new lenses, I think learning how to use my flash properly is the best way to improve the quality of my shots.
Technical critique aside, the wedding was really cool. It was a very small affair, very intimate, and the bride and groom were both radiating happy. I feel honored that they asked me to be a part of it.
Oh yeah - all told, there were four men in kilts at the wedding. It was very fashion-forward.
I had planned to have a post-birthday dinner tonight with some friends, when the reality of my schedule today reared its ugly head and I had to cancel it.
I’m still working Saturdays, so I’m typing this from work (don’t tell my boss). And my calendar helpfully alerted me a few days ago that I’m supposed to shoot my friend Coby’s wedding after work this evening, which means getting out of here a little early and heading out to Helotes, just northwest of San Antonio.
My first wedding gig - I plan to start getting nervous around 3:00.
I have survived yet another lap around the sun. And in commemoration of that feat, I got the following presents today.
Last night my mother and my stepfather presented me with a piece of pottery that I had asked for. Several months ago, I baked a big batch of cookies to share with my co-workers. I took those cookies in to work in a box that previously housed a six-pack of Anchor Steam beer. It was workable enough, but the people I work with deserve better.
So I got a cookie jar.
Then today when I got home, I found two packages waiting for me on my doorstep. One was a gift from my dear friend Amanda, who knows me all too well.
(If you’re not a Firefly fan, those may not make a lot of sense.)
I also got a present from Jess of the Bugs a while ago while we were doing a little stash-swap. She’s a creative and whimsical woman, which I really appreciate.
I’m legal. Watch out - you never know what I might have under my kilt now.
And finally, my order from Briar Rose came in! I’m counting this as Rhinebeck yarn, since I fell in love with this colorway there, but she didn’t have enough of it in stock for me to get as much as I’d need for a sweater.
I’m designing a sweater especially for this yarn. If there’s enough left over I’ll make a matching pair of kilt hose. I’m becoming an awfully selfish knitter, making all this stuff for myself. But it’s my birthday, so I’m not going to stress over it too much.
So, it was by no means perfect, but I think everyone who participated felt it was worthwhile. I had eight attendees, all with different types of cameras, and we spent most of the class going through the menus trying to figure out how to set the white balance. I knew that was going to be the hardest part - I probably need to start downloading camera manuals to my laptop so that I’ve got a reference for how to use the menu systems. But we eventually found the settings for pretty much everyone, and I brought two tripods with me for them to use and everyone got some nice photos. I brought my laptop with me so that we could display the pictures on a bigger screen.
Seven of the people who showed up had point-and-shoot cameras, which is what I was expecting, but one girl from Fort Worth had a Nikon D200, which is the same semi-pro camera that I use for my roller derby photography. When I saw her pull it out I asked if she’d like to take over the class. But it turns out I was actually able to teach her a couple of things about using it. It was a very gratifying experience.
By the end of it all, I kind of felt like an alien that fed on knowledge had latched onto my face and sucked out a few years of experience - which I know is an odd way of describing the experience, but I really enjoyed it. I think everyone who attended left with a better understanding of how to use their gear. With a little time and some feedback, I could turn this into a class that I could teach at other events.
And I finally got to meet KatKen in person! Turns out she was in my neck of the woods and she came down to Boerne from Austin to check out Kid ‘n Ewe. I love it when I get to meet knitbloggers in the real world. Hi Kat! I’m waving.
I have my first class in Photography for Fiber Artists this evening at Kid ‘n Ewe after I get off work. I think I’ve got everything ready to go, but I’m nervous.
Checklist:
1. camera - check.
2. spare batteries - check.
3. laptop - check.
4. white balance card - check.
5. something to photograph - check. I’m wearing my Aran today.
6. students - check. Ditter called me earlier this week and told me I’ve got two sign-ups.
7. brain - let me get back to you on this one.
8. tripods - check. I’ve got three of various cost and quality in my trunk.
The essentials that I’m going to try to teach are focus, exposure, and white balance. Point-and-shoot cameras pretty much take care of the first two for you, so most of the time in the class is probably going to be spent going through the menus of the cameras that the attendees bring with them to figure out how to set the white balance settings. Then we’ll set up the cameras on the tripods, set the timers, and hopefully get some very pretty photos that I can post here next time I’m plugged in.
I managed to get a little bit of knitting done this week while I’ve been fighting my cold.
Unfortunately, the rash of fertility at work is proceeding faster than I can keep up. My friend Sydney delivered her baby a week early, and this set of booties is not for her little girl. So, she’s up next in my planned bootie-knitting frenzy.
This last Saturday, roller derby teams from across Texas gathered in San Antonio for a series of fast 20-minute bouts and a final 30-minute bout to show which team was the baddest in the land. Being so short, the bouts were a lot more dynamic and fast than anything I’d seen before. It was hard to do justice to the action that was going on.
The ultimate victors were Austin’s own Hotrod Honeys, led by Cat Tastrophe, veteran rollergirl.
