Faces from Today in the Past and Freedom

    As a college student I really enjoyed my history assignments.  Being a photo guy, I of course dug deeply into my pictures, maps and diagrams.  In my senior year at West Point I watched my company pass in review on parade on my first personally acquired camera.  When I printed the photos I found myself looking at a present day image, which could be from the relatively distant past if were not for some modern building in the background. 

   I was soon looking at every historical image differently.  Every image of a battle, congressional debate, city street, factory or farm had me replacing the face of yesteryear with one of ours.  We could be those past people,  if it was not for an accident of historical timing.  This made me appreciate photography even more, and my own place in history.

    The event also made me remember a quote I heard from President Ronald Reagan a few years earlier:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

(From the Quotations Page)

    While our DNA will allow us to recreate moments as actors from the past with ease, certain important lessons such as the American concept of freedom only will be passed on and lived with through deliberate efforts.  Putting myself into the shoes of soldiers, statesmen, explorers, industrialists, farmers and my forefathers getting off the boat only made this lesson easier to understand.

-ehw

Dose of Happiness

    Things going a little crazy right now?  Election got you in a funk?  Well how about a dose of happiness?  This is John Paul's version of a pick you up smile!

    Catching babies and children is a hard task, but a little flash and quick thinking help.  In this case John Paul was happy since he was on a swing, and making it go very very fast.  The flash caught the action in freeze frame where it counted most: the eyes.  The flash also put a sparkle in the eyes which gives you a sense of life in a frozen frame.  His natural smile completes the moment without the typical childhood squint and cheese.

    This is what great family portraits are all about...making art where the going is rough!  

Open to Grace: Two Fruits of Classical Catholic Education

    Today our little Catholic Hybrid School will graduate our senior class.  Through family friendships and school events, I watched two of them grow into peaceful and God Fearing young adults.  These two also became my very first senior photo clients!  

    Neil is a quiet young man of deep thought (like some of my best high school friends).  He will go out west to college, and will begin the study of media production from a Catholic perspective at John Paul the Great Catholic University.  This is a great fit for him.  

    In our school I observed how he is a quiet, humble leader of the younger students.  Many boys looked to him, literally looked directly at him, before doing almost anything to observe the example he would set.  His example became their course of action.  He respectfully fulfilled his duties to the school and family very well.  His quiet leadership leaves a void for the school population, which will be noticeable until another boy fills his vacated role.

    Mikayla is a lovely young woman, of sincere virtue.  She lets God's grace work through her life to help others.  She will enter studies at Aquinas College in Nashville this fall.  She will be more than a normal student though, as she continues her discernment of vocation with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, a teaching order of nuns.  

    Again a great fit for this woman's character.  In our school, and with her family, she is a guidon for a prayerful life. You can see it when she enters a room.  Small children hold her hand, and admire her.  Her baby sister simply adores her.  She also walks with a grace beyond her years.  When she enters chapel with her matillia, she peacefully focuses herself and those around her on the mass and prayer.  She is no wallflower though.  She demands unimproved family campsites, and can rough it with the best of them.

   I hope I captured a bit of the reflected glory of God these two bring to the world.  I enjoyed watching as my children gravitated to them at school and band over the last two years.  I knew their example would be good ones, and not misguide my children on their own path to adulthood.  I continue to learn a great deal from their parents as well, since they are good examples of parenting in a stormy world.

    Mikayla and Neil:  May God's grace continue to fall on you, and your souls never let your eyes wonder off the prize of heaven.  You've started the race for the prize well, and may the finish be even more virtuous in God's eyes as you change the world for His Glory.  Amen!

-ehw

Six Months and Going Strong

    Amidst the winter illnesses and stresses of life comes one great story...John Paul celebrated six months Friday!  He continues to excel in the growth department, weighing in around 19 pounds and long enough to DEMAND twelve month duds.  As the bib says, he is heaven sent and on a mission to be 100% cuteness (so others besides the Dad says).

    I cannot believe we are so lucky to have John Paul.  I cannot believe the love the other children show him, and the care they give him every day.  I am so blessed to watch the creation of new hearts open to life and the work required to bring it to fruition.  It is a series of observations which through pretenses of materialism into the shredder, because their work for John Paul demonstrates the power of agape love.  John Paul detracts nothing from the older kids, and in the big kids work for John Paul they glorify God.

    We still need prayers for Mom to get fully healthy, but for just a minute I want to bask in a moment of God's Glory captured in a digital form.  I hope it gives you as much hope and joy as I get when I see it.  For if our lives are to be full of toil (or so says Proverbs) seeing a moment of God's makes the work worth it to survive to see another day.

-ehw

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The magic of the 56 at 2.8

    About two weeks ago I splurged on a tool used for a job I did this past weekend: A Fujifilm 56mm F1.2 prime lens.  This is primarily a portrait lens, and it fits right into my goal for the year, to take better portraits of people.  Last year when I test drove this lens for ten days I was sad to see it go home, and I vowed to one day find it one sale.  I found this copy used without the box and lens hood...but for 30% off retail it was a good deal.

    I will be the first one to tell you, it is not the equipment which makes a photo. The photographer makes the photo using the equipment at hand.  I know people who can shoot circles around me using manual film cameras and while developing film in the darkroom.  I will also tell you it does not hurt to have a special piece of equipment or two to use from time to time.  

    So here is one of my first four shots from my short telephoto (ok purists a 56mm on an APS-C sensor is an 85mm on a 35mm camera so yes it is a short telephoto).  A really nice shot of happy boy, who is growing before my eyes this summer.

    I look forward to sharing more from this lens in the years to come.  With a little permission from my last customer maybe I can show you the work I did this weekend for some wonderful women.  Fuji made a classic lens, and I am very lucky to have one to learn more of my craft.

-ehw

Almost time to be a Big Sister

    My baby big girl will only be a baby a little longer!  I cannot believe how she grew, and how our family of six changed since we moved to Roswell, Georgia three and quarter years ago!  Any time between now and the end of the month Baby Echo will be on his own here in the house, and little big girl will be a BIG SISTER in a family of seven!  She'll always be my rascal princess.  She will be full of life and opinions until the end of her days.  She also makes a cute picture perfect cutie from time to time!

-ehw

P.S.  This is exactly why I always try to have a decent camera with me...cell phones are great...but I just cannot hold them steady.  So to me a proper camera is still a decent one.  In this case my XT-1 with a walk around 18-135 zoom.  Using the new version 4.0 firmware, the lens and camera combo are like a thoroughbred.  So instead of wanting a new camera, I become willing to purchase new (to me used to you) lenses and hold the camera a lot longer.

The Big Guy

    This boy will be looking down on me in a few years.  He probably grew two inches in the last  four months.  His feet are ripping through his shoes as well!  He is working hard to be a good boy everyday and just finished up his first job this week!  Great news for an eleven year old!

My Girls

    After dinner and having fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Playing with some light in a corner near the front door.  The hardest thing is to get the three year old to look up at the same time the bookworm is pulled out of her library book!

-ehw

The Card Game

    As promised I continue the portrait work...here you see a portrait with a story.  In this case, " How do you make sure you can beat Dad?" It is quite simple actually.  Play Go Fish with a twist.  Deal Dad a six, leave two sixes in the stack, and sit on the fourth one.  My boys are genius!  

-ehw

P.S. What I think actually happened was Son #2 dealt the card fast and flung it at his brother,  Brother missed the card and did not notice it hit the seat.  He moved once and it went under his thigh....and Dad did not see it until we cleaned up and he stood up!  Photo taken with the Fujifilm XT-1, 23mm lens and processed in Capture One...

And the world fell silent

The world fell silent on that Holy Saturday.  The Lord who lowered himself to become a mere mortal man, in death went even lower.  As he opened the gates of hell, we could not see his preaching and the legions coming to the sound of his voice and the promise of salvation.

This thought from todays Divine Office sermon in the daily Office of Readings made me think a lot differently today.  The rain here last night stopped baseball and sports in its tracks across northern metro Atlanta.  My day went from overfull to silent in outside activity.  We were able to do what my heart really no desires, focus on preparing for the big religious celebration tomorrow.

I spent time with my father collecting a few final supplies for the big Easter feast.  It was busy out in public, but the time we spent together reflectively.  The children were at home with my wife, mother and sister prepping the house and the easter cake (A two foot tall bunny cake).  When we arrived home we all decorated the eggs made with care in the morning by my mother, dad and I.  My wife was checking out the clothing for Easter Sunday, and making sure we had enough of the vitial things like dark socks cleaned and folded.  Then a final treat when my Dad took us all out for dinner...before we shuffled everyone off to bed.

Now the house is quieting down...only the two year old remains calling for anyone to get her out of the crib to play a few more hours (this kid does not sleep enough...GO GO GO).

I'm now reflecting on the incredible challenges we overcame, the love of friends helping us in deed and prayer through those challenges, and finally the growth my family went through spirituallyin the 40 days of Lent.

I am happy the world went silent today.  It gave me the time to now go to bed with a long list of thanksgiving prayers I need to say.

The first to the Lord for his suffering and final victory.  The rest to all those who followed his teachings to lift us up when we were down.

-ehw

Kids at Twilight Part 4

Kalen is always fun to photograph.  He is always trying so hard to be a good kid...and like his Dad can lose it a bit.  Sorry son for the bad trait I handed off!  He gets very serious or very silly at the tender age of 10, not much in between.  Age appropriate for sure.

In this photo I opened the lens way up to f2.  I can go up to F1.4, but I wanted both eyes in focus, just like on Julia.  So if you did blow this up, you would see those eyes are both tack sharp, but I start to get bokeh pretty quickly thereafter.  Nice lens from Fuji at 35mm for sure.  I still am drooling over the 23mm and now 57mm though to give me a 35mm and 85mm equivalent fast glass.  Only got to save up a ton of money for those two!  But dreams are what we need to have to drive us forward.

-ehw

Two years of Joy!

How fast can two years go?  For child number four, my precious Kellie Marie it is like a stroke of lightening across the sky.  Here are just a few highlights....

Thank you God for every minute I have with each of these incredible people you graced my family with, and charged me to care for.  I can only pray I am doing right by them, and get to do it for a lot longer before you call me home.

-ehw

Capturing a sunbeam

Yesterday afternoon I had a couple fun experiences with my girls.  First I got a hours of time with my big girl, we went out to lunch.  We talked, and talked and talked.  It was fun, and a good time to be a Dad.  After we arrived home, Mom had to depart for WalMart leaving me in charge of the house.  After a mere thirty minutes my little one found herself startled out of a good deep sleep.  When this happens you have two choices, let her go with a minimal nap and watch her feel ugly all night...or hold her as she tries to sleep.  Well this Dad scooped her up, and held her close.  She did what we all do when we want comfort, put her head down and listened for my heart to calm herself down.  After getting her calmed down and almost asleep, I put her in the big bed and she fell asleep on my arm.  This resulted in forcing me to get a good nap too!

Ok the point of this is that after we awoke, the sun was shining in the way only a winter afternoon sun can into out living room.  We both had energy now, and could really enjoy playing with the sunbeams.

Thankfully with my camera at hand, I was able to capture a sunbeam in the eyes of a happy little girl.

-ehw

P.S. X-E1 with 60mm Macro at F4.5, 1/150, ISO 800, -.5 EV.  Minor edits in Aperture using the RAW file.

Pretty Kitty

Here is a rarity for me...portraits of a cat.  Yes, you read right, I photographed a cat.  Yes the animal I am very allergic to.  The animal that looks at me and says, "I can take you."  The animal that is ripping up my popup trailer cover.  I photographed a cat!

This cat is called Friendly by my trusting, adoring, cat petting, and often drawing wife and children.  She is a neighborhood cat.  My kiddos go out an pet the cat, the 22 month old chases the cat with glee.  She and her buddy Shiloh own my yard and keep it free from snakes and other pests (for the most part).

How did I come across this?  Well I was playing with my camera working on a tree across the street with its fall colors and late afternoon sun.  Then Friendly waltzed up into the yard and starting being coy.  She even wanted me to to pet her!  Obviously she needs glasses and a smell test.  I look nothing like my six year old or my red headed wife.

Seeing that she wanted to play, and pose and goof off I took the opportunity to get some photographs of a new type of subject for me.

What I learned was that working in the contrasting light, on a subject with such a glossy coat is not in the easy to do category.  Next time I'll stop down up the aperture a bit as well.  I threw out a number of photos because my depth of field was too small.  The portrait up top is a good example of the eyes being perfect, and the rest good.  The others...well not so much.  The final photo was a fun one of the cat on the prowl.  Just as with any photo or portrait I found myself taking some time to touch up parts of the photo to make the cat look like a winner.

-ehw

PS: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55

Sights around Art in the Park

We had a slow. but lovely weekend at Art in the Park...so that left some time for us photographers on scene to play and make some art...and admire the work of others!

Please enjoy the photo essay that follows, and know we were working hard!

-ehw

PS  All taken with my X-E1 with a variety of lenses...

Season Finale

Today was the season closing game for Roswell Little League Fall Ball.  We had a nail biter of a game.  The Royals put on a furious rally in the bottom of the 5th, scoring five runs...but our very last available pitcher fought for the final three outs and got the save.  With the save came the division title for our Astros.  I think we ended up second in the league, but I'm not sure if that was part is official yet.

It was a great season, I can't say enough for the good coaches and families that made it so enjoyable for all the boys.

If you want to see a compilation of the year please feel free to click right here...

Roswell Astros 2013 11-12

It was a long day...so this will be brief and I'll close out with just a few more images from today.

Just a reminder that if your in the Atlanta area and would like something like these products made up for your team please let me know.  I'd love to help you out!

-ehw

PS  Two photos taken by My Pentax K-5 with the 60-250 and one from the Fujifilm X-E1.  Edited in Aperture using a Sarah France Holga Color preset.  I used the preset to make the photos across the video as consistent as possible even while taken across different days and with different cameras.  I think it worked for that purpose...let me know what you think.

In everything give thanks...even the rough times in life teach you a thing or two.  Come to think about it, the rough times probably force you to learn more out of survival needs than anything else!

I've got a healthy family, roof over our heads and a good camera or two...got to love that!

Anyone looking to hire a photographer this weekend here in the Atlanta area?  I can handle portraits, cars, events, and sports!  I would love to help you out!

-ehw

Set for Dinner

I was out on an overnight for work last night...and got the photo bug in my ear. The restaurant crew thought I was crazy, but I wanted to get the table setting. The light was just too interesting coming through the window and on to the table settings. Unfortunately I could not get the glass exactly where I wanted it in the light no matter which table I went to. So this became my next vision...a little contrast study between the light and the dark.

As with most of my travel photos I did the edits on my iPad using Snapseed and for the first time did one retouch with iPhoto for a secular highlight in the wrong spot.

-ehw X-E1 with the 35mm! Great glass when I have the time to use

Surviving Monday Morning

Ok it is Monday...we are all back to work (or I hope we are).

I had to work overnight this weekend, and it went from 9P to 4AM...yep I'm smoked and fading fast here at the desk.  I guess that does not count the chaperoning a middle school party at church Friday, helping the Blue Knights and Knights of Columbus with a Soccer Challenge, and then church and a baseball game for Kalen today.  Yes I go to work to relax a bit.  Just don't tell that to my boss would you please?

So I just wanted to share how I plan to survive my Monday morning...with large amounts of Joe!

Smiles everyone!  Good Luck this week!

-ehw

P.S.  I took this with the Fujifilm X-E1.  I've read a lot lately about this camera not being all it was claimed to be in marketing and the rest...well my advice on any camera is don't read the marketing.  Get a hold of it and shoot.  Every camera has compromises, and if you like the ones the designers chose you're in great luck!  If not find something else.  For me this camera gives some of the best B&W out of camera I've ever seen.  It has the cleanest high ISO shooting for an APS-C camera I've ever seen.  I know because I compare it to a champ of APS-C...my 16MP Sony sensor powered Pentax.  It also gives me a nice analog quality in my prints I enjoy.  I accept that it is not a fast focusing, child chasing tool.  I don't use it for that all the time.  I have Mr Pentax for that in times it matters.  I also accept that fact that the unique output from the camera, the feel of the images is a result of a complex data processing not all image processors do well.  In the long run, a new dame of a camera comes in every week...just like a movie star.  Just enjoy the one you brought, and remember it is a tool not something to worship!  Use the one you need, and enjoy the choices of others as well...if we all did the same thing and made the same choices the world would be pretty damn boring.

Time with my son

On of the benefits of "working" a show like Art in the Park is my children get to come with me.  Yesterday my eldest daughter came, and today my son.  I enjoy having them with me.  I don't to take them to my real job, so this is where they get to see me relate with people and be a professional.  It is an extra classroom for them, and a place for me to be a Dad by introducing them to the world outside of the home.  It also gives a me a few moments to catch that glimpse of my children Mom gets everyday in homeschooling.  The glimpse of the real child of mine.  What good kids they are!  They each endured several hours of slow times, but they engaged other adults with conversation.  They learned a great deal, and were very courteous and respectful to all they met.  They even did a good job talking to people about the prints we had for sale.  We also had some time to laugh and talk to each other...all in the warm golden light of early fall.

To celebrate afterwards I snapped a few images of Kalen this afternoon.  I had nothing current of him in my collection, and I really was missing that.

Got to celebrate the good times...for in just a few years they'll be out and on their own!

-ehw

PS Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 kit lens F4.5, 1/180, -1EV ISO200 @55mm.  Post in Aperture with a few simple adjustments.