Visiting OSU

i guess i'm kind of unknown around these parts, so by way of introduction, my name is sam beer, i'm currently stuck at OU, but went to OSU last year where i occasionally shot things with Philip.

i haven't been shooting very much lately as a result of living in Norman (i'll try not to take too many shots at my new home, but i can't promise anything...), but i did visit Stillwater last weekend, and i felt decent about a few of the pictures that i took there.



This was taken as things were just getting started at the BYX bonfire/cookout. A group of guys had gathered near a pavilion at Lake Carl Blackwell and were casually chatting. While possibly not the most technically flawless picture ever, i thought that it presented the informal mood of the moment, and i enjoy the framing with the hands. ISO 200 at f/3.5 and 1/100.



i don't know what it is, but i'm kind of feeling the motion-blurred/out of focus pictures tonight. i'm currently not working for a newspaper... or really anything besides myself right now, so i can afford to be frivolous like that, i guess. This one was from a little bit later in the BYX bonfire/cookout. i wanted to get a shot of somebody catching the frisbee that was being thrown, but the throwing was... not quite confidence inspiring. As a result, i found myself diving at a flat-out sprint to try to get close enough for a wide-angle shot. i've been told that i looked absolutely ridiculous, and i believe every word of it. This was taken during one of those dives. Diving or not diving, this was taken at 18mm, ISO 200, f/3.5, and 1/320... and i feel like it really should be in better focus... but at the same time, neither the slight motion blur nor the poor focus bother me too much.



Finally, i decided to go three for three on blurred shots with this one. It was pretty straightforward... there was a guy jumping over the fire, i found a decent POV, put on my 50mm f/1.8, as it is my fastest lens, tried to manually focus on the fire, as it was too dark for the AF to be effective, framed the shot, waited for him to jump, and tried to time the shot decently. This is the result, taken at ISO 800, f/1.8, and 1/250.

Perchance in the coming weeks i'll actually take a few pictures in Norman, and perhaps one of them will be in focus without motion blur.

But that may just be wishful thinking.

Following my own instructions

My own two pictures:


I had about 7-10 minutes to get a portrait of this guy at the local pizza place where he works. He was very nice but obviously short on time, as his boss had mentioned that he needed to be behind the counter. I shot some inside but they were terrible. So, I went outside and enlisted the sun as a second light. I like the end result, although the blow out bar on the window (a reflection for the setting sun/sky) bugs me.

(Stephen Fogg/The Battalion) Junior independent musician Colin Bates plays Friday night at a "House Show" hosted by his friend, junior Natalie Wells. Bates and others spent the eveing entertaining a crowd with both original and cover material.

I love this picture, it's probably my favorite I've shot in a long time. The atmosphere of the whole thing was extremely interesting. It was basically a mic and speakers set up on the back porch of a house with the audiance in couches and blankets in the yard. The light was terrible, just that one lamp and about 1/30th or so at 2.8 and 3200 on the musicians faces, but it made for a great setting. The color looked bad, but I think black and white suited it well.

-Stephen Fogg

The f/stops here.

...to reuse an old saying, once used by Ansel Adams himself.  Or so they say.

In any case, I've got the two requisite images.  

My best this week, I'd say.  This one I took on Tuesday for a feature about Aspen Coffee.  The photo didn't run, sadly, but I think I got some OK images out of it.  One 430EX flash on the counter below the camera and under a ledge, triggered wirelessly at 1/32 power with the diffuser.  ISO 200 at f/4.5 and 1/200.  I particularly enjoy the framing in this photo.

The future Hamilton family.  Probably my favorite photo I've taken this semester... it's probably a bit over-saturated, but I say every image can use a little saturation.  As with the above image, there was a flash triggered wirelessly below me, and this time a bit to the right.  Shot at an ISO and shutter speed of 200, with an aperture of f/5.  It was my first attempt to utilize off-camera flash for more than just the sake of making things interesting or different... instead, I brought out the sunset.  I kinda wished I would have shot it wide and got the sun more in focus, but meh.

Hopefully this blog will be useful to all who use it.  Especially those who are still learning things like off-camera flash (see: me).

-Flip Jones

Big Bend National Park backpacking

First of all, I think this blog is a great idea. Props to Fogg for putting it together.

Second, Big Bend is a photography paradise (if you are willing to work for it). I backpacked a total of 24 miles (9 *up* a mountain) for these shots and it was worth every extra pound of camera gear (somewhere in the 35lb range).

The photo of the campsite was ISO 1000, f/5, 20s. It was a 3/4 moon out at Pine Canyon. The 2nd photo is the South Rim at sunset last friday night. Sitting on the ledge of the South Rim is awe inspiring... the photos don't do it justice. And lastly, that is my self-portrait on the South Rim (strobist info: 580 camera left, +0 ettl, white stofen; 580 camera right, -2/3 ettl, warming filter; ST-e2 wireless transmitter).

Welcome to the blog. Have fun with it. Happy shooting.

Spencer

Starting Off...

Toward the beginning of this semester I thought about starting a photoblog to display what I shot. Nothing fancy, but someplace where I could put up things for my family and friends to see. As I debated the merit of such a blog in my head, it dawned on me that I wished everybody would do this; I have lots of friends who are excellent photogs but I actually see very little of their work, aside from that which they deem to email me or is published in The Battalion. Likewise I know that they have many friends who also shoot and produce excellent work. So, I submit to you this blog, cheesily called “A Shared Vision”.* The idea is for photographers to be able to share their work and see and learn from that of others.

I want anyone who is a member to try to upload pictures at least once a week. I’m reasonably sure that, at least initially, everyone here will be some type of college student and therefore will be laden with all accompanying workload and stress and whatnot but this thing will shrivel and die without anyone contributing to it. If you work for a newspaper or yearbook and can include captions, please do. Also, if you can use an outside source for hosting (personal site, smugmug, flickr, whatever) please do so as well.

The thing that I am really excited about in all of this is getting to see things from guys/girls who I don’t even know (at least at the start) who will be posting on here because they know Philip or Preston or Spencer or Wade or me or somebody. As far as I can tell there will be some sort of strong Texas A&M/Oklahoma State bonding going on here, for which I am definitely game.

To start things off lets do the following: post a picture you’ve shot within the last week that you like and your favorite picture from this semester thus far. Or “one of your favorites” if you can’t narrow it down. Also your name and if you shoot for anything/anyone (publication, athletic department, etc). You will need an account with Blogger. Email me when you get one and I will add you to the list.

I am still figuring how to work this all myself so bear with me (us).

-Stephen Fogg

* The name comes from the idea that we show each other our pictures, thus sharing our “view” on things. That and “Shared Vision” was already taken, thus saddling us with the inferior indefinite article laden title.