I am a Sucker for…
My sister Lindsay did this, and called me out to do my own list as well! I think it’s a splendid idea, so here, for you, is my list of things that I’m an absolute sucker for. Ever want to bring me joy or cheer me up? These things will do the trick.
1. Letterpress Items
Weather it’s invitations, business cards, product tags… if it’s letterpress I’m doomed to love it.
2. Banjo or Fiddle Reels
Played in a happy bluegrass reel, either one of these instruments bring me to another level of happy.
3. Campfires Under The Stars
There really isn’t any other place where I feel so at peace with the world. The smell, the sound, every single thing about being by a campfire warms me inside and out.
4. Musical Theatre
Both the spontaneous dancing and the fabulous musical numbers… going to a musical will leave me feeling on cloud 9 every single time! Spamalot was a particular favorite… which included another thing that I’m a sucker for… Monty Python.
5. Songs with Pedal/Vamp/Drone
Okay, this one takes a bit of explaining. Years ago I started compiling a playlist of all the songs that made my skin tingle the most. I called it my “Life Soundtrack.” You know the types of songs… the ones that give you that feeling like you’re floating, your arms become covered in goosebumps. That musical ecstasy feeling. My list of songs is an odd mix of artists, but each song made me feel that same tingling feeling.
One day Steve was perusing my list and told me that every single song had one thing in common: Pedal Tones. The term comes from classical music, when an organ player would hold one note on the foot pedal throughout the entire song. In modern music, it’s sometimes done as a one-note drone, but the same effect can also be achieved with a Vamp. Basically it’s an underlying repeating phrase or drone in the music that lies beneath the melody, and doesn’t change, even as the chords change around it. (Think bagpipes, which I also love.) It can be quite prevalent or very subtle. It gives songs such an etherial magical feel. It’s easier to hear it than describe it, so here are some of the songs on my list that are good examples of Pedal Tones:
6. Anything Apple or Nikon
This is where the geek in my comes in full force. New Apple products? I’ll want ‘em. Nikon cameras and even more… Nikon LENSES? Drooool….
7. Fondue
Melted cheese? Melted chocolate? I mean, COME ON. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be Fondue. Oh, with Wine, of course.
8. Faces on Inanimate Objects
You’re sure to get a gleeful giggle out of me if you put eyes onto a stapler. Or washing machine. Or pop can. Or tissue box. Or scissors. Or [insert any object here].
Perfect example of this:
9. Chick Flicks
What? This shouldn’t surprise you. I want a love story, some comedy, and a happy ending. Is that too much to ask?
10. Gymnastics
It’s a sport that consumed hours and hours my life from age 5 to age 16. Still to this day, I yearn to be in the gym, to swing around the bars, flip across the floor, throw myself at the vault, and curse at the balance beam. It’s something I’ll miss forever, and I’ll watch live or on TV every single chance I get!
So how about you? What are you a total sucker for? Make your own list, and post a link!
I Have A New Friend
There’s something about fast apertures that gets me hot. I know, I know, what kind of person opens a post with that kind of sentence?!
A photography nerd. That’s who. I open that way so you know immediately what’s in store for you in this post. Lots of photo nerdery.
I’ve been looking for the right lens for a while now to achieve a certain type of photo technique I’ve been admiring in other pro photographers portfolios… one that will allow me to take photos way zoomed into telephoto territory, but with a very shallow depth of field. It sounds simple, but it takes a very specific type of lens to achieve the look successfully. On most lenses (at least the ones that are under $500), the maximum aperture changes when you zoom in… for example, my Nikon 55-200 and my Nikon 18-55 lens. At the closer end, they get their maximum aperture (usually 3.5 or 4 on most lenses). But when you zoom in to telephoto range (55-200 and up) the maximum aperture gets smaller (usually f5.6 or so). That means, when taking photos of things far away, it’s not always possible to get that “shallow depth of field” look that requires a very wide aperature, where the background is so bokeh (blurred) and creamy that the subject really POPS. You can achieve it to an extent, but not unless you’re quite close to the subject.
I want to achieve a very shallow depth of field while zoomed at 200mm, with my subject plenty far away from me. It truly makes portraiture stand out above the crowd. But it comes with a price.
To get that look, you need to get a telephoto lens with a fixed maximum aperture that stays wide open at every level you zoom into. Also, it’s got to be quite a bit bigger than just 3.5. An aperture of f2.8 is ideal. (Still reading? If you’re not a nerd I’ve probably lost you. I’m sorry. I know how you feel… I feel that way every time Steve talks about his Bass or Guitars, or NBA Basketball.) Anyway, I’ve been researching a way to get a lens like this for less than three mortgage payments, and I finally found the perfect lens!
After reading about a hundred reviews and thinking about it until I couldn’t think straight anymore, I finally decided on the lens. And today, my new friend came: a Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG Macro HSM Lens.
This thing is a MONSTER. It’s massive. When you carry this thing around attached to your camera people get out of your way. It is the Sigma version of Nikons $2300 version of the same lens, but costs a fraction as much. The reviews all raved, and so far, I’ve been VERY pleased with it’s performance! It’s sharp, fast, the color and image quality is marvelous, and boy does it give good bokeh.
I think we’re going to be very happy together.
When it arrived via UPS today, I absolutely couldn’t wait to get out and try it out. Today in Utah the weather was overcast, and being February everything is still brown and dead and monochrome and ugly… but I found a little park and forced asked Steve to be my model and we took some test shots despite the murky conditions. I was amazed with how great they turned out! Here are a few…
A branch high up on a tree suddenly becomes interesting.
Zoomed way in! Shallow depth of field! Success!
Another benefit of the super wide aperture? You can turn the shutter speed way up. Great for action shots. (Now I want to take it to a concert or sports game!)
And really, even a quick snapshot with this lens makes a beautiful portrait. And Steve wasn’t even being cranky about it!
I can’t wait to use this in my next session. Anyone want to come be my model? I think I used up Steve’s patience.
The Sooki Results Are In
You may have read the whole debacle about Sooki and her little teeth. We recently went through massive amounts of stress and cash to clean her teeth and test her for Stomatisis, which we suspected she had due to her highly red and inflamed gums.
Well, we finally got the results of her gum biopsy and….
she doesn’t have Stomatisis!
This is fabulous news! No medication or intervention will be needed! We just need to keep her teeth extra clean. *whew!* Now she can just go back to being cute and a total stinker.
