The Munchkin's Notebook

I have to be perfectly honest with you; I was a little lazy doing this week’s challenge.  The laziness was not because I do not enjoy landscapes, I do, but is winter and the scenery in DC is not that great right now. It might be better if we had some snow but we do not so it just looks dead.  In addition, I did not get up early to catch the sunrise, and the sunset I had just did not work out due to all the clouds.  I know these things sound like excuses, and they probably are, but sometimes I think you are allowed to be lazy at least during the winter. Now onto the photo. I took this shot on a hill behind where I live that is actually a tiny park marking a historical site.  Historical sites are everywhere in DC.  I shot this around 5:00PM, facing towards DC with heavy cloud cover.  This is the direction the sun rises but the direction of sun set has no points of interest and the sky in that direction was shrouded in heavy clouds so there was no color i...

I have decided to do the Dogwood 52 week photo challenge , which gives you a new photo assignment each week alternating between a portrait, landscape, and artistic photo types.  The goal of the challenge is to increase your creativity and improve your photos in each of the three areas.   I will be blogging each weeks assignment, which will show the original out of camera and the final edited image.  I will also note which setting I used and some of the edits I made. This is week one which was to take a self-portrait.  For these images, I set up a gray backdrop (very wrinkly) behind my couch, placed a 18-55mm lens on my camera with a beauty dish on a 450EX II Speedlight on camera. I used my cell phone as a remote trigger.  The settings on the camera were ISO 200, at F4.0, with a 1/15s shutter at a focal length of 18mm.  The first image I cropped the image to focus on my face. I then adjusted the lighting to brighten my face, then adjusted the ...

This year was good year for photography for me even if Iceland was disappointing from a photography perspective.  So, at years end, I reviewed my photo statistics and found that I edited 2,871 images (that is the number of edited images sitting in LightRoom not the number of photos I took); my most used focal length is 28 mm, with a shutter speed of 1/125s at an f8 aperture, and ISO 400. I also looked back at the photos I posted this year and determined my three favorite photos in Cosplay, Travel/Landscape, and Animals.  Then looked at my website and determined which photo was the most viewed. The photo really was not a surprise because overall, the cosplay was great and the photo turned out well.  It was Maleficent from Katsucon, it had over 1300 views.    Cosplay Travel/Landscape Animals Most Viewed Photo That is my wrap up for the year. I am looking forward to a great 2016, working with awesome people, and traveling...

On December 6, I participated in Star Wars Cosplay Photo Shoot hosted by the DC Cosplay Group at the National Building Museum , which is a great location to shoot in, due to its grandeur.  The meet up consisted of several cosplayers and photographers.  The rules for the shoot were simple no blasters inside the museum, but light sabers were ok, and photographers could not use light stands or umbrellas.  Thus, this meet up was perfect for photographers practicing for Katsucon. At the shoot, I used a Cannon 70D with an 18 - 200mm lens and an external 600EX-RT on a stick held by my assistant, who is also my husband.  Using an off camera flash, was good because it allowed me to get different angles of light.   I took over 200 photos, however only kept 136 photos mostly because several were repeats poses.  My camera was set ISO 400 with an f/8 aperture, which is the sweet spot form my lens.  My shutter speed varied between 1/20s to 1/200s, with ...

The Holiday season has officially kicked off.  As we leave Thanksgiving behind and make that mad dash to prepare for Christmas, by decking the halls, making cookies, shopping for gifts, and wrapping presents.  We make lists, check them twice, and stress out about all the little things.    I took a moment today to think, because someone asked me what I want for Christmas. I thought, “What do I really want for Christmas?”  Sure, I could ask for world peace like a stereotypical pageant queen or something selfish like million dollars or a heated back massager. (Cannot lie all those would be nice.) But, honestly what I would like is a phone call from friends and family to just catch up and discuss things going on in the world. (If you are wondering why, I do not call; it is because I feel like I am interrupting when I call. If you are wondering, why I do not text instead, it is because I hate conversation by text message.) Alternatively, I would love people to ...

I am considering this AnimeUSA 2015 a success.  I had ten photo shoots scheduled but only did eight due to cancellations.  Overall, I thought most of the shoots went well, however the construction going on at the venue limited some photo opportunities outside in the garden area.  I found that early Sunday morning is the best time to shoot in the “fancy” area of the venue including the long brick hallway.   Because the area was empty, I was able to get some nice reflection shots using the mirrored walls in that area of the venue.  Also the other area that I enjoyed shooting in was in the upper levels of the venue near the elevator bays, were they have a sitting area with curved couches. Aurora by Cassimonee Cosplay Daiya by Lina Lin Cosplay Now every year I have some lessons learned, and this year is no exception.  Again, pre-shoot questionnaire really helped with the shoots, allowing me to plan the...

We got a Pixelstick about three weeks ago, thought it would be a fun thing to add to the gear collection and possibly use at anime conventions.  The pixelstick is a narrow 6-foot strip of colored LEDs that will go off in a pattern, and as you walk with the stick, it will form a light trail or picture based on the loaded program.  Most people use it to create abstract light art or do light painting ; however, it can also be used to create a background for a photo or add effects like fireballs and ghosts. Last night I did a few test shots with the stick.  I did some light painting first.  Which is interesting, but I think I need to have a specific pattern in my head or be working around interesting objects and/or people.  I also determined we might need to get the attachment for the stick, which bends and smooths the light to form better curves.   Overall, the light painting turned out okay. However, I need to work on my timing for the moon. But th...