BBQ & Beer

5 AM Sunday morning I woke up all excited to take pictures.  I had done an early AM trip a few times in the past and they had resulted in some of my best shots.  Not necessarily because of the early morning "golden hour" light, but because I was completely focused on photography.  I got into "the zone" and found my photos much more creative than usual.

  Pleasing result of an early morning photo walk

I often try to tap into my artistic side, but usually am not pleased with the results.  Today was going to be different.  I had charged everything the night before so I was ready.  I woke up without an alarm, which is usually only reserved for days I'm playing golf.  Golf is another of my passions, and I get very excited since I play so little these days.  Got dressed opened the door and it was POURING.  Checking the weather the night before was something I always did when playing golf.  Hell, I checked it on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if I had a tee time on Saturday.  Never thought to do it for photography.  I got in the car, sat for a few minutes and went back inside to bed feeling uninspired.

We were having friends over for dinner and I was making pulled pork.  Its takes 6 hours to smoke and cook on the grill low and slow.  It's probably the best thing I cook.  I only make it once or twice a summer because even though the payoff is great, being chained to a grill for 6 hours is not really my idea of fun.  My goal was to take photos of the entire grilling process, but the rain put out my fire yet again. Took a few from inside the house looking out.  Blah...

Rainy Day BBQ

Dinner was great!  We had the smoked North Carolina style pulled pork, apple vinegar cole slaw, red bliss potato salad, grilled in the husk corn on the cob, and a refreshing lemon/dill/toasted pine nut salad.  Kevin also brought over Newcastle Summer Ale and it was perfect with the pulled pork.  I had been meaning to try it, but always thought about it too late.  The summer ale lived up to the hype.  It'll be in the brown bag the next time I hit the liquor store, unless they have Sam Adams Octoberfest on the shelves already.  The BBQ tasted much better than it looked, so no pictures. However, the beer was quite photogenic.
 

Thirsty?

Enza, my wife, made her world famous magic bars for dessert to top off a pretty damn delicious meal and a good day regardless of the weather.  The kids had chicken nuggets, if they only knew what they missed.  More for us.

Manual Focus

I have a love hate relationship with my f/1.8 50mm lens.  Because I have an entry level Nikon DSLR,  I have to manually focus the lens.  I use Live Mode a lot when using this lens because it makes the image larger.  In Live Mode instead of using the viewfinder to frame the shot you use the rear LCD the same way you do on a digital point and shoot camera.  I have trouble using the viewfinder because its so small.  Things look in focus when shooting and then when reviewing later they are not.  My father always says "its not the arrow, its the indian", so it can't be the camera's fault.  Maybe its my eyes?  I was at the opthalmologist a few weeks ago for an issue with some blurred vision.  I knew I was going to be walking out with a new pair of glasses.  Up to this point my eyes had never let me down.  I was the guy that could read the sign 200 yards away other people could barely read at 100 yards.  I was proud of the fact I didn't need contacts or glasses.  I'm a very visual person, so I depend on my eyes to notice things most people miss.  My perfect vision days were over.  The exam was over and I waited for the news......  "I see nothing wrong with your eyes," the doctor told me.  HORRAY!  She asked me to explain the blurred vision I experienced the day before.  My initial response was "well, it was blurry".  Words ain't really my thing.  Fortunately, she didn't settle for that answer and asked me to be a bit more descriptive.  I thought about and proceeded to tell her there was a blurry swirl in the center of my sight. "That's what I was looking for", she said.  The Dr. went on to tell me that I was having an ocular migraine.  Turns out my eyes are perfect, but my mind is on the fritz! BOOO!

Back to the focusing.  Using the Live Focus isn't a problem when I have time to set up the shot and take my time.  Shooting with wide apertures and shallow depth of field is the beauty of the f/1.8 lens.  I can take shots like these from tonight's dinner without too much trouble.

  Grilled zucchini from my father-in law's garden.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

the final product tossed with some penne and Parmesan

Dinner was great.  Darius, my son, had 2 bowls.  He hasn't been eating much lately, so I was very pleased that he was enjoying my cooking so much.  I went to take a picture of him shoveling in dinner, but I still had the 50 mm lens on the camera.  Usually, I would switch to one of my other lenses that auto focuses.  That would have meant getting up from the table and possibly missing him doing something worth capturing.  I could shoot at a smaller aperture and increase the depth of field, but then I would risk a slow shutter speed and might get a blurry shot because he moves so fast.  I decided to go with it the way it was.  Figured if I took enough pictures while focusing manually, I could catch one just right.  All the books and web sites I've read say that the critical focus needs to be on the eyes when photographing people.  The eyes are the window to the soul, a cliche photographers live by because its true.  Pictures don't look right if the eyes aren't in focus.  Out of the 6 shots I took, I got one that was decent.        



Darius and Penne

This lens is great.  I love the ability to shoot with a shallow depth of field which gives me nice blurred backgrounds.  It gives the photos depth that I couldn't get with a point and shoot.  To me, the ability to change the depth of field is the main benefit to having a DSLR.  When I get the focus right, the photos are better with this lens than any others I have.  The only problem is getting it right.  1 out of 6 is not very good and is extremely frustrating.  Sometimes I don't even get the 1.  His right hand is more in focus than his eyes are.  Did you notice?

My First Digital Camera

"What do you need all that for?"  I asked my friend about his new flip phone.  This thing could do everything.  He could download games, surf the internet, change ringtones, shoot videos, text and take pictures.  Clearly I had a severe case of phone envy.  I needed that phone and I needed it now.  I was the first one of my friends with a cell phone, but an unfortunate golf cart accident caused me to go without for quite some time.  I was at the Sprint store the very next day filling the void. 

This may have been my second phone, but it was my first digital camera.  Before the camera phone I remember wishing I had a camera all the time.  Concerts, games, parties, family gatherings, sunsets, and trips always left me longing for a camera.   If I thought about pictures ahead of time, I'd buy a disposable camera. Thing is, that rarely happened.  I'll never admit it, but according to my wife, I procrastinate and don't plan anything.  I plan on working on that when I get around to it.  I always had a camera with me now.  I took more pictures than calls with that phone.  Problem solved.  No planning needed.  Just reach in my pocket, flip it open and click!