Here's one more from Katie and Brian's wedding - this time from the reception dance. The reception was on the 22nd floor of the Crowne Plaza in St. Paul, MN, and, as you can see, the view was spectacular.
For those interested in technicalities, I was able to get a proper exposure of both the foreground and the background using flash by setting the camera to "aperture priority." On most cameras, that's Av. The camera then sets the shutter speed to expose the whole photo, including the background. Check out the exposure information below and you'll see that the shutter speed is very slow - but the flash freezes the action. Pretty cool. It still takes a steady hand or a tripod to keep the background lights sharp. In this case, I'm standing on a chair using a steady hand and a lens with image stabilization, which is also cool.
Canon 5DII 1/10s f/4.0 ISO800 17mm
These "stars" were four of the six bride's maids at Katie and Brian's wedding. This photo wasn't my idea and I was skeptical about getting a good shot. The sanctuary was fairly dark and I thought it would be hard to get details in the faces without washing out the beautiful colors in the stained glass and the flowers and dresses. But I was wrong. This photo was very rushed and I wish now that we had found the other bride's maids.
It is the day after the Big Event and I am tired but happy. We enjoyed every thing about the day, including Brian and Katie's first dance in their life as a married couple.
I think I've mentioned that I enjoy taking candid photos in art museums. This photo was taken in Tacoma, Washington, at The Museum of Glass. This art lover seems exhausted by the experience of seeing all that glass. He's sitting on a glass, leather and chrome bench.
How are Deb and I celebrating? I'm in Minnesota at the PGA tournament with my son Brian and Deb's in Sioux Falls. How's that for romance? But she is special and I am lucky. And we will no doubt celebrate our anniversary on Friday. Will I give her an opal, which is the gift you give on your 34th? I doubt it.
One of the highlights of our trip to Japan in 2004 was a visit to the Japanese pre-school my son Brian worked at. The children we saw that morning behaved much as you'd expect children to behave anywhere, though I saw one big difference - these kids didn't appear to be as fearful or suspicious of strangers as our kids seem to be.
Here's another one with high sentimental value. I was asked by my recently-engaged son, Brian, to take engagement photos of him and his fiancée, Katie. Of course I said, "Yes." But I was nervous - partly because I hadn't done any studio portraiture in months and partly because I had never done any real formal portraiture of my own family. But both subjects were relaxed and easy to work with. And they were photogenic. (How could a father and future father-in-law say anything else?!)
