Time with family... without my Camera!

Geesh,

I find myself doing a lot more things with photography than taking photo's lately.  Isn't photography about taking photo's?  I used to think so.  There is so much to do with post production in programs like Photoshop etc, that one could spend more time behind the computer rather than behind the lens.  I am trying to find the balance but have definitely weighed more towards the computer and Internet side of things.  There are other pro photographers out there that are incredible and I love looking at their blogs and work they put out regularly.  People like Joe McNalley and Chase Jarvis have been real inspiration for me in the past while.  At least I have something to "shoot" for ;)

I am out of town right now visiting some family and thought to myself while packing... I won't need my camera so I won't bring it.  Well, let me tell you, that is not the way things should roll when you want to be pro.  Your camera should be with you as much as possible.  You never know when you will find a great opportunity to shoot something great for yourself, stock, or even a corporate project you may be in the middle of working on.  It would even be nice to invest in a good quality point and shoot like the Canon G10 or something.  I hear they are fairly large mega-pix and shoot in RAW.  At least it will fit in your pocket so I wouldn't have an excuse not to take in anywhere.  If you are looking for a great point and shoot I would recommend it.  I plan to get one in the future for a backup backup.

Today, I had to chance to visit with my niece and show her how to skip rope.  I am not that great by any means but thought I could teach a child.  Long story short, I wish I had my camera to practice some mid-day portrait lighting outside.  I just had the urge and no camera.  So I settled with my mother-in-laws Sony Cybershot point and shoot.  It didn't take away my craving but was better than nothing.  

Know for next time..

Kurt " wants to double under" Stenberg

TECH INFO / TIP: portrait (at beginning of post) taken with Sony point and shoot camera.  "point and shoot" means a camera without an interchangeable lens.  I set the camera to P mode which is similar to AUTO but still lets you control things like flash among other things.  I set the flash to "forced ON" as it would not normally turn on in such strong daylight.  The small burst of flash is used to fill shadow's in her face.  Without flash, staring into the sun, she would have had deep shadows in her eye sockets.  This is once circumstance where you can improve your photos with a plain P-A-S camera with its on-camera flash.  Start using flash in the daytime!  It is almost more useful than using it in low light to improve your overall photos.