Image of the Week

Spring has sprung here in the south, but I have several images I've taken during the snow storms we had this way and I wanted to get one in before moving on into spring. It's hard to believe we had several inches of snow on the ground just a few weeks ago when this shot was taken. The snow was coming down outside, so I had my camera set up near my kitchen window photographing the birds visiting the bird feeders outside. I have a few branches set up around the feeders for the birds to land on as they wait their turn at the feeder, and so I can take pictures of them in a natural setting without seeing the bird feeders just a few inches away. This is a Dark Eyed Junco, a very simple, but I think, pretty bird. We've had several of them visit this winter.

Image of the Week

I'm going to try something new.... for me....

I'm terrible at keeping this blog and my Facebook photography page updated because there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done, and writing up something for these sites always gets pushed off to the side. I've seen some other photographers post an "Image of the Week", and I like that idea, so I'm going to try to do something like that. The goal will be to work on a recent image and maybe post a little something about it, without making it a long and drawn out article - though that may happen from time to time. :) I work better with a routine, so hopefully this will help me get in the habit of posting something here.

Never know until I try, right?

365 Black & White Slideshow

I created a slideshow of some of my favorite images I made for the 365 Days of Black & White Photography project that I just finished up. I'm glad to have a break from it, but I'm kinda missing it as well. I hope you enjoy!

MacKenzie (Take 2)

Met a friend again this fall to take pictures of her daughter, MacKenzie. It's amazing how much MacKenzie has grown since I took her pictures in the spring time, but she was still just as sweet as before. She was a natural in front of the camera and even came up with several poses herself. Here are just a few from the shoot.

Favorite Lens?

I received a compliment recently about my photography and was asked what lens I couldn't do without. I guess the answer to that question would depend on what I'm photographing at the time since certain lenses are more effective for certain types of photography, but my impulse was to say my Canon 50mm lens. Though I go through phases about which my favorite lens is like the Canon 100mm macro or the Canon 70-200 zoom, today it would probably be the Canon EF 50mm 1.4 USM prime lens. I love this lens!

The 1.4 aperture makes this a very fast lens that allows me to take pictures in low light or at night, without a flash or tripod, and with the narrow depth-of-field that I love so much. The bokeh created by the narrow depth-of-field is outstanding as are the shadow details that this lens picks up. And because it's a prime lens what I do want in focus is very sharp. This lens works great for portraits and all around general photography. Here are a few images that I've taken with this lens.

MacKenzie

A friend contacted me to see if I would be interested in making some portraits of her daughter this spring. Though I enjoy creating portraits in natural light and settings I don't do it often, so I was definitely up for it.

We met at a local park a couple hours before sunset for the nice late afternoon light and I began shooting away. MacKenzie is a sweet little girl who, like most kids, was a little shy at first to have her picture taken, but she was pretty relaxed by the end of the shoot. Here are just a few of the many images I made of her.

365 Days of Black & White Square Photography

For some time I have wanted to work on black & white photography and after visiting the Ansel Adams exhibit in Columbia I decided to jump in and give it a try. Beginning January 1st and for the next 365 days the plan is to post one black & white image a day that I have processed for this project. My goal is to obtain a better understanding of the process of creating a black & white image from start to finish. We'll see how I do. Here's the first one. Only 364 to go….

You can follow my progress at my web site: http://www.shawnjenningsphotography.com/.