Topsy-turvy

Been really busy but not much to show... for now. But I did get a chance to visit the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center recently and had a look-see. It was really cool to visit out there and very peaceful except for the gunshots coming from the nearby San Antonio Police Academy. It was a weird mix of seeing beautiful flying creatures drifting in the sky and the water and then hearing BLAM! POW! POW! BLAM! I guess the birds there are used to it but disconcerting to me. So the image above sort of shows how felt about it all.

25,600 ISO

Without much ado, I present you an image taken with a new Canon 5D MkII shot at 25,600 ISO. I was lit by the screen of my LCD television. That's it. The light behind me was from a CFL bulb equivalent of a 40-watt tungsten bulb. The exposure was f2.8 @ 250th/sec. Pretty freakin' amazing.

Full disclosure: Even with this incredible technology there is noise at this extreme ISO range so I applied Noise Ninja to the image. But no other adjustments to exposure like using levels or curves.

I'm just a little kid

Another year is underway and as I wish everyone a glorious and happy 2009, I wanted to post a pic that I believe exemplified my year. The image is from my first assignment I shot when I returned to shooting stills this past August.

Like the little girl, I felt small and a little uncertain of what awaited me.

But also like the child, I looked at the world with wide open eyes again. Even though everything little thing around me seemed huge, I was just happy to be around and to see things from a fresh perspective.

This job can overwhelm sometimes. Well, a lot of the times for me. But I've learned with age and lots of mistakes that it's wise to take a step back, put yourself in the other person's shoe and appreciate the moment. Sounds hokey but I'm sticking with it.

Again, happy new year to everyone. Live, love and learn. Peace and blessings.