C Wagner Photography

present..

7:00 AM


I'm trying to be more present, more aware and less focused on yesterday or tomorrow. less lazy in my ways and thinking. do more now than saving for later.

 im usually a home body and i can become lazy and latch on to an idea of - "but it's just easier to stay home and do nothing." which then turns into some sort of complaining. anyway, charlie just signed up to be part of his school/work's softball league and tonight (last night) was their first practice. earlier in the day, i had the brilliant idea to have all of us go and watch him practice and also play at the park but the sooner it got to the end of my day at my desk job, all i wanted to do was go home and not do anything. not think, not move, nuthin. you see? lazy. while i knew it would be fun for all, all i could think of was the worse case scenarios - like: it will be too late, i won't be able to handle the kids by myself at the playground, i will be bored, i will get hungry, the kids will have a melt down..anyway, you catch my drift - total debbie downer.

 but i pushed myself to not think about it and just go. we had dinner (charlie made some  salmon burgers w/ pineapple, salad with homemade garlic parm dressing - YUM!) then got the kids ready to go and brought my camera too, even though i wasnt all gung ho about bringing it (i know, what is wrong with me?!). 

 and let me tell you, i am SO glad i pushed my unease and went along. because not only did i get some pretty good photos of seemingly ordinary things, the park that the practice was at is the park that raima's former daycare provider used to take her to AND on the way there - guess who texts me?! yep, raima's former daycare provider! so it was serendipitous - we all got to play and raima and cande got to see each other. it was really special.

 this weekend I have a full schedule - on saturday, i have a family session in the morning, then a going away party (for Jax's bff at his daycare) immediately after and also a newborn session in the afternoon all the way in vacaville (it's about 50 mins away! - did i mention i hate driving?). THEN on sunday, (shit, i just realized i forgot to make a gift!) we have a birthday party out in pleasanton DURING their regularly scheduled naptimes. we're going to suck it up, so we shall see...ok. i should get to bed before the kids wake up...oh and so day 3 is going well -I even was the one to put Raima down in her bed, in their room!! what what! :)

 Happy weekend everyone...enjoy the present!! it is a gift - (trombone sound...wah wah..)

Friday Perspective

Friday Perspective - Want vs. Need - Photography Gear

7:00 AM

Will you look at that, it's Friday already, finally! after work today - I'm on vacation!

I wanted to write a little bit about my photo adventures ever since purchasing a DSLR this year. While I am fairly new to the Digital aspect of the SLR cameras (unless you count the many years of digital point & shoot cameras), I have had a good amount of years working and collecting film cameras, as well as medium format and fun vintage Polaroid cameras (between my husband and I we have at least 8 in our collection). The best part with film was working in a darkroom and developing the photos. I'm really glad I went thru it all, even though my parents didn't think much of it. But, I wish I had stuck with it more.

Photography has always been one of my creative outlets. These days, I use my iPhone to take daily snapshots. It's quicker and much more compact. This has changed since owning my own "entry-level" DSLR (Nikon D3100), I have found many more situations where I take it out and actually use it. That is, if I remember to bring it.

Side note: Remember those craft projects I was supposed to do? Yeah, well they never happened (yet!) and one of those projects was also to make my own camera bag. Because the ones I really want - come with crazy price tags (like this brand and this brand), which yes, I'm sure they're worth it. because they sure are lovely to look at.

Anyway, I have two lenses right now and haven't invested in more glass, as they (photog peeps?) call them, because I wasn't sure yet whether I was going to stay in the DX framework. I'm not going to go into the whole DX vs. FX here, but I'm sure if you google it you'll find a plethora on the subject matter. But the half of it is, a DX camera and an FX camera have different sized sensors, DX being cropped and FX being full which has all sorts of different advantages and disadvantages. From the naked eye the frames have clearly different bodies. Full frame cameras are bigger and usually heftier (not so much with the Nikon D600 though - it's a DX type body but with an FX sensor & capabilities) and not to mention the price tag - $2000+ for the body only (although the newly discontinued D700 is going for less than $1800). Also with a heftier price tag is the prime FX lenses. One nice thing is, you can still use an FX lens on the DX body and vice versa, but doing so would defeat the purpose of the full frame.

For a few weeks now, I've been getting antsy and wanting to upgrade. Heck, even a few hours ago as I replied back to one of the comments from yesterday's post, and said I wanted an upgrade. I was having major upgrade-itis. It wasn't until three things - One, I thought about what I had always known and admired about photographers and artists - its not always about the fancy gear. You'd be surprised what people can do with what they have. Just take a look at this (one guy uses a Nikon D40! And the other guy uses a D3100 too & D7000 (and a D700)- check him out too) Better more expensive equipment doesn't make for automatically better images or make a better photographer. And two, I asked myself to really figure out if it is a need vs. a want (in a photography sense) thing and have I really maxed out the potential in my little entry DSLR? And three, I got this flash diffuser - and oh my gosh it does wonders! I am not a flash person, I love using natural light whenever I can and also feel a sense of accomplishment when I can get good pictures under low light conditions without ever firing a flash. But when I strapped this thing on - there were such clear differences that I found myself opening another aspect of this little camera (and myself) that I haven't thought of using before. So..

Anyway, I will probably still upgrade one day but still remain in the DX format for a few more years and just use my SLR cameras to get the full frame (ha, I am used to the whole instant gratification with the DSLR's that that maybe difficult!)

So what was my point again? Oh right, I'm trying to convince myself to listen to my gut and keep on the path I know and love and not look at other's people's work and actually most importantly their gear and get all green with envy. I am pretty happy with the images I get and the quality of the images is certainly there (at least for me). It's hard when you doubt yourself. I guess part of it is also - if I ever do get a chance to get paid to photograph other families (which I would love to do!) - will they have a bias in their perspective of what a professional photographer's gear looks like? Probably, but you know - I should just let the pictures do the talking ;) Don't get me wrong - probably for a wedding - my camera would be a little dinky in comparison - but I would probably still be able to get some nice candid shots - why not? Hey, it's not like I would charge an arm and a leg..not that I want to be shooting weddings anyway. I like kids & family portraits - that's sort of my focus, oh and pets too.

blah blah blah...anyway.

Here is my gear for now (with affiliate links):

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR FX Lens - so if I ever did upgrade to a FX, I'll at least have this nifty guy

Post Editing gear:
2005 iMac running only OSX 10.6.8 (this needs an upgrade!)
PC (yep, I use a PC!)
Photoshop CS6 (I have adobe creative cloud, one of my go to tools is curves)
Lightroom
PicMonkey (yep, I so use this and love it! Simple to make watermarks if that's all you need to do or create something quick and easy)

If you like Photoshop and want to look at quick actions/effects and edits, I suggest taking a look at Totally Rad! - I don't use it, but I would- it's on my wish list.

If you don't have the money to shell out for Photoshop, Photoshop Essentials is pretty good, it was recently on sale for $59 (while regular Photoshop is at $399+) or you can do the Creative Cloud membership (I got in with an intro offer of $19.99/mo) OR you can use Picmonkey - it's still free but now they have the "royale" edits which is $5/month I think. Oh and Pixlr too.

Here are some test shots without a flash, with a flash, and using the lightscoop (unedited & unaltered images, well except for the watermark):

F/1.8, Shutter Speed:1/50s, +0.7EV, ISO 1600 (overhead incandescent light)

Shutter Speed: 1/80s (overhead incandescent light)
 F/16, at 1/200s, +0.7EV, Spot metering, ISO 200 Built in flash (overhead incandescent light)

F/1.8, 1/100s, ISO 800 Built in flash w/ lightscoop

F/4. 1/60s, +0.7EV, ISO 800 Built in flash w/ lightscoop

{* This post is not sponsored by any company or individual! However, some of the links provided are affiliate links, some are not.}

Here are a couple of online resources, I just found a few weeks ago:

Moms Who Click (not to be confused with Clickin Moms, which is a paid forum)

So what about you? What's your gear? Do you get gear envy? Do you have a DSLR? I hear it far too often, having a nice DSLR and never bothering to bring it out. Even if you think you don't know how to use it - you just have to press a button and start somewhere. So if you have a DSLR hiding somewhere, bring it out and use it! Just go out there, have fun and keep on shooting! What? That photo too dark? Stop, adjust and start shooting again. That didn't come out how you wanted it? Adjust and shoot it again! It's not like you're going to ruin a bunch of film or anything, right? So what's stopping you?

*Update: I bit the bullet and upgraded my gear and I couldn't be happier! I'm also licensed & insured now, and am constantly refining my craft, learning every day! Thank you for following my journey :)

Friday Perspective

{You've Been Mugged} A Mug Swap - a very late post!

10:42 AM


Last month Heidi over at Mustache Mama and Ashley Marie over at Chevron Stitches hosted the {You've Been Mugged} Mug Swap. I quickly signed up and was so excited to scour stores and find a mug for my swap partner - Lillies & Silk. But then life happened (or rather the opposite of that). So, I was unable to link up on Dec. 5th nor was I able to send the mug & gifts to my mug partner until last week, I think. I know, I am lame. Life can be lame sometimes, but you just have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and keep on going...

By the time I had received it and what with all that was going on in my personal life, I had forgotten all about the mug swap and when we were supposed to send (and receive) them. So, it was a lovely and wonderful surprise when I received a box at work. I was really racking my brain, like - what? I didn't order anything. Or did I, and just totally had mom brain? So when I opened the box up and all the careful wrapping and what not..the anticipation was killing me and then voila! Here is what Carissa of Lillies & Silk sent:







It really brightened up my day. I'm sort of glad that I received it first because, after all the life mess stuff I was enduring, all I could think of sending was a mug..and Carissa had sent not just a lovely mug but some treats as well along with her blog cards and note cards made by river & bridge. So, when I was finally able to get to sending out her mug, it was a much better package than I had originally intended. Except I wish I had gotten her the hazelnut flavored biscottis, but the store I went to was out of them - or well they had one left but it was all messed up and yeah, not gift worthy. Anyway, I hope she liked it (she said she did - yay!)

My original post today was too depressing or too full of itself - a little bit of both. We have a lot planned this weekend, but I really do hope to clean and purge and make some donations. I've gathered some unopened toys and would like to donate those to families. They're not fancy or the sought after trendy toys but hey, it's something. I wish people would forget all the consumerism stuff and just focus on the merriment and family togetherness part of the holidays..ok, see - there I go again with the depressing and too full of itself crap.

Anyway...there are lots of things to look forward to..I just need to remind myself of this, as we struggle in the day to day.

Also since it is Friday - it is Photo Friday (click on link to find out more)! This week's challenge is: Men.

Happy Friday! What are you all up to this weekend?

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