As I mentioned earlier, catching the sunrise is a difficult thing in Destin. The final morning I drove around town, trying to find the sun rising over the water. I ended up on the north side of Destin facing Choctowatchee Bay. These are some pictures from that morning:
You can see more photos of our family beach vacation by going here. I will be adding more in the days ahead.
Speaking of photos, June was a busy month. I shot two weddings, a conference, church (for website/promotional), family vacation, and engagement party – a total of 3,600 photos. During the month of July, I will be working through many of these and posting some on my Flickr page. Not only did I take a bunch of photos, but I drove a ton of miles as well – 2,400 just in the past week. During the 36 hours in the car, I was able to listen to some messages on my iPod that I haven’t been able to enjoy due to lack of time. Next week is a big week for my wife and me. We will be finding out if our baby is a boy or girl. We are pumped, and I have a hunch that we are having a boy. 😉 I guess if June could be summed up, it was meeting a lot of people, some for the first time and others I haven’t seen in ten years. It was somewhat nostalgic because 1) I visited my hometown and where I grew up, 2) I was the wedding photographer of guys and girls who were my students when I was a student minister, 3) saw high school classmates for the first time since graduation day, 4) developed new friendships with people from various places, not the least of which was the National Founders Conference and visiting First Baptist Muscle Shoals again.
On another random note, I know that it has been a while since I posted a “Friday Fotog,” but I have some in the works. I want to post more on techniques, gear, and possibly have a few guest photographers to write as well. If you are a photographer or simply enjoy taking pictures, let me know something you have a question about or would like to discuss, and I will see if I can post something on that topic.
Lastly, I have noticed that over the past month, there have been many who have visited P&P for the first time (readership doubled from April-June). If you are still around, let me say “welcome” and “thanks” for reading my blog. Usually on Friday I post a “Picture of the Week” (POTW) and use the commentary to talk about things going on in my life (nothing really exciting, but it’s good to talk about everyday life sometimes). One of the joys I have is meeting many of you in person. I’ll try to keep the beard off, lest you think I am Ahmedinejad’s lost cousin.
To view more Friday photos, visit the Friday Foto Flickr Group. Have a blessed Friday!
Timmy Brister
Timmy,
I enjoy your blog. I’ve been wanting to get into photography for a while now. I’m continuing to study the art of pictures. I not only want to make it a hobby, but hope to make some money as well. I don’t have a camera right now but may buy one this week actually. Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
Paul,
Thanks for the comment. What I would do is buy the camera body separate from the lens (that is, if you are buying a D-SLR). The lens that usually accompanies the body is pretty cheap. It is like having a Corvette running on a four-cylinder. The cameras are made to do much more than what the stock, bottom-line lenses are capable of doing. Plus, you will want to upgrade your lens anyway in the near future.
Do you have a particular camera you are looking at right now?
I was studying up on Canon SLR’s, particularly the 30D. Thanks for the tip on the lens. That seems to be the opinion of a lot of professionals. I think you’re right about the lens. I’ve been talking with a guy who used to work for Kodak and he’s been telling me to really invest in a great lens. We’ll see.
I have a Mac and their new Apeture software looks great for photo-finishing.
The 30D is the upgrade from the 20D which I use. It would be a great camera for you. When I first started, I could not afford a telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens, so I tried to get the best of both worlds. The lens I chose was the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM (runs around $400). It has decent wide-angle and telephoto, and a nice bonus is that it is also macro and has IS (image stabilization). If you are going to do portraiture, you will want to invest in a prime lens, such as the 85mm f/1.8 USM or the 50mm f/1.4mm USM. They provide great depth-of-field, and the focusing as well as lens quality will be a little bit better than the zoom lenses.
Whatever lens you get, you may want to look into getting a UV filter which primarily is to protect the lens from scratches, dust, and other outside elements.
I haven’t looked at the Apple Aperture, but I am hearing that it is rivaling Photoshop. You can pretty much bet that whatever Apple makes these days is going to be great.
Timmy,
You were very busy last month! It was good to meet you at the Founders conference. I will be excited to hear if you are having a girl or boy. We had boy 14 weeks ago, and being a dad is great. –Dirk
Dirk,
Indeed, it was a very busy month. I enjoyed meeting you as well (and learning of your blog). Yeah, I can’t wait to be a dad. Thanks for commenting!