Ideas for the Summer - A Reminder to Myself

I have been looking at many different styles of photography lately and I am getting more into portraits that I have been in the past. I think it was sparked by the series of self-portraits that I did over the summer, but now I really want to get more involved with others as well. One specific style of portrait photography I would love to get into is Underwater Portraits." It is very unique and there is almost no way to get the same shot more than once. Now the title of this post might make sense, I will have to wait for the summer time in order to try this out.

The biggest problem in doing this is the cost of one of a water housing. They start at $1,200 and that might not even be one you can trust! I guess it is something to think about over the next six months as I enjoy the lack of colors that is a winter in Houston, Texas.

Day 207 - Shoot from the Hip

You remember how I said my 40D was broken? Well, to help me ease the pain I rented a Canon 7D and an 18-35mm f/2.8 L from rentglass.com. The 7D is by far the best camera I have ever used and really have not been able to put it down since I received it earlier today. I will be sure to post some of the shots I have taken with it so far.

The 7D is so far superior to my 40D it is not even funny. Not only does it have an ISO that goes up to 6400, shoots up to 8 frames per second, 18 mega pixels, and it even has a level built into the camera! Oh, did I mention it shoots HD VIDEO!?!?! I know I have always said that video on a DSLR was something that never matters to me, but to be honest, it is pretty sweet to have on this camera. I might just have to get one for real...

I have also started to get really good with my 430EX II flash. It has really made me want to go out and start taking more and more portraits of anybody that will let me. So if your in the mood for a cheap photo shoot let me know and I will be more than happy to come shoot it.

Camera: Canon 30D | 17-85mm f/4 | 53mm @ f/5.6 | ISO 100 | 1/60 sec

Strobist Info: Canon 430EX II @ full power | mounted on camera | 3ft from subject

Day 207 - Shoot from the Hip, originally uploaded by griffithgreg.

Day 119 - May I Present To You

Today, I got a very special treat in the mail, my brand new Holga 120N! YaY! If you have not heard of Holga cameras, there is a really good reason. The quality on these cameras is very poor and that is exactly why I bought one. For the most part, they are known for lomography, which is a unique style of photographs that can be achieved through cheap cameras that allow light in when it is not supposed to.

Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but as soon as I finish taking these first two rolls of film (yes its a film camera) I will be sure to post those on here as well. Then you will see what kind of shots this kind of camera is able to produce.

Day 119 - May I Present To You, originally uploaded by griffithgreg.

What eye do you photograph with?

I was browsing around my favorite photo blogs when an article caught my eye. What eye do you use to look through your view finder in order to take a photograph? Well according to Digital Photography School, a majority of their readers use their right eye apposed to using their left. They surveyed over 13,000 of their readers (one of which was me!) and a whopping 57% said that they use their right eye to photograph, while only 37% used their left eye, and 7% were prone to using both.

Now for myself, I actually use my left eye a good 99.9% of the time when I am photographing. Once I really got to thinking about it, I thought in my head that it would be my right. I am right handed at just about everything I do, the few times I shot a gun it was aimed using my right eye, but with photography my left seems to have taken over.

Now with sports, especially fast paced ones such as football, I will actually keep both eyes open. My left will be going through the viewfinder, while my right is looking around to make sure I am not about to get ran over.

What do you think about all this? Are you with the majority and photograph with your right eye or are you in the minority and use just the left? Let me know I am very curious to see what other people think of this.

Link to the actual article: More People Use Their Right Eye than Left When Taking Photos