Hunt the Light. Take a photo. Smile. Repeat.

When you have a 2 and a half month-old baby, you tend to gravitate around parks. Gardens, green patches, groves, anything with a landscape.  And this is what happens when you look around while pushing the stroller:

I can't wait for the new iPhone to come out!

Road Trippin'

What you see here is my concept for a perfect vacation combined with my favorite type of candid photography.  The only downside is that unfortunately it didn't happen to me.  During the early 70's my Mom and Dad in law went on a road trip around the United States, and they saw everything worth seeing - Seattle's Space Needle, the Grand Canyon, the desert, Mount Rushmore, and New York at the time the Twin Towers were being finished.

Man, I really need to get a Polaroid.  

Or moreover, a time machine....

P.S. My dad-in-law isn't present in any of these shots because he was the one who took them, but I found a photo of him standing at the Big Sur beach in 1966, and it is awesome:

I Heart Bokeh

I've been meaning to do this in ages, but the joys of motherhood were keeping me busy till today.  A heart-shaped bokeh attachment (or any other shape, for that matter) is very easy to make:

1. Take a sheet of heavy stock paper.

2. Take the cap off of your 50mm lens (or any other lens with a high f-stop) and put the lens on the paper, glass down.

3. Outline the front of the lens and cut it out.

4. With the help of a paper-punch (if you have one) or a utility knife, cut the desired shape out from the middle of the circle.

5. Place the circle at the front of your lens, as you make sure that no light escapes from the sides.

6. Find a tree and set your subject in front of it - tree crowns make wonderful daytime bokeh.  Christmas lights or traffic lights would do for night time shots.

7. Shoot open wide and enjoy!

The photos below are really just test shots; it is too hot today and I didn't feel like going on a long walk so I just stepped out my front door and used what's there.  My succulent and my cat provided the rest!

A Trip to Steinbeck's Country

Last weekend we took a trip to my in-laws up in Tassajara - our first big adventure with Johnny - and we stopped in Monterey on the way there. It felt great to get away from suburbia for awhile, and it led nicely to the midweek break for Independence Day.

Here are some of the shots I took while juggling between playing a tour-guide for my Mom and making sure that Johnny is comfortable in the sun and the salty ocean breeze. Being a full time mommy and a part time photographer is fun!

A few technical notes: I discovered that my telephoto lens takes pretty decent shallow DoF images at 50mm, even at f 4.5. Also, the pale pink light during sunset at Tassajara is absolutely stunning, and the way the fog crawls between the ridges is a rare treasure not only to photograph, but to experience. 

The portraits of me and Johnny were taken, as usual, by John.

Photo Journal

I have an OCD when it comes to documenting my life in images.  Some people can't live without their cars, without TV, or without connection to the Internet; I can't live without a camera.  Well, it's more like I don't want to.  Sometimes I catch myself instinctively reaching for the camera instead of simply savoring a special moment, and I still can't decide if that's good or bad...  In any case, I end up taking lots and lots of pictures, and I can reference almost any event in my life in the past, say, 5 years, with a photographic evidence.

That comes handy when you move often, or when little babies are involved.  If it isn't for the images, I wouldn't believe that I once used to live in London - and not so long ago, at that!  And at the speed Johnny grows and changes, I cherish every single iPhone snapshot of his adorable little face.

Besides, I really dig the idea of a photo-diary.  Pictures are not just captured instances, they also have the potential to tell stories.  For I like taking photos, but I love telling stories.

Here are a few Instagrams of the last couple of weeks.  

In order of appearance: sunset over Suburbia at the end of the longest day of the year; Johnny in harmony with the Great Outdoors; Shelby has a sweet tooth; summertime is easy living; John gave me farmers' market flowers for the first time since Johnny was born; Mom and I went shopping for seeds last weekend so that she can plant California flowers when she returns to Bulgaria; and my new running shoes serve me well when house hunting (pool is optional).

  

Browse This!

I just found out that my portfolio will appear much different than it is when using anything other than Google Chrome. I have long had issues with formatting while blogging, but this is something new. I guess some browsers just don't like to acknowledge the fonts I've chosen, and too bad for you guys if you still surf the web with (gasp!) Internet Explorer. Firefox behaves closest to Chrome, but Iron also totally confuses my layout. Not that there's a chance that you would both use Iron AND browse a photography blog at the same time.... Unless you are my geeky husband, that is.

The last image shows how things are supposed to look around here:

One must love a cat on its own terms.

~Paul Gray 

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that an old photo of mine has been featured in National Geographic's My Shot web page.  It was pleasant, because come on, who doesn't want to be in National Geographic, but also quite surprised that they used the shot without even notifying me.  In any case, it's a good news.  I found out through my cousin in Bulgaria, who is a big animal lover and browses regularly through different Facebook groups dedicated to the cause against animal cruelty.  She saw my image and informed me that almost 2 thousand people had "liked" it (I am not on Facebook so I had to create an account in order to leave a comment and explain that even though Bobby Pfeiffer sounds like a man's name, it actually isn't :)

The image of the strange-eyed kitten was taken in Lovech, Bulgaria in the summer of 2009.  Here's another outtake with more recent editing:

Sitting Pretty

Today I had a family portrait session for the occasion of my client's mother's 70th jubilee. It was a splendid event - the birthday lady was very photogenic, and somehow everyone knew spontaneously where to stand and how to pose, which made my job so easy. I haven't been shooting professionally since Johnny was born, and I had lots of fun.

The flare in this shot is considered a defect when it comes to client proofing, but it's artistic enough for this blog.  You know I am the queen of flare!  I also love what was happening with the light in the second image - it was so bright and white it sort of spilled from below my lens.

Behind the scenes photo courtesy of John who came along to assist me. 

Happy Father's Day!

Here are three portraits of three fathers: my Dad, my Father-in-law, and my husband John, who celebrates this day for the first time this year.

Dad in a pedal boat on the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

John Sr. in his forest kingdom of Tassajara.

John in Big Sur.

Bird's the Word

Bird watching can be a tedious business.  I loaded my camera with my 300 mm lens, put it in remote shutter mode, hung it on my tripod, and positioned it next to the big livingroom window three days ago, but ever since I am waiting and waiting to almost no avail.  Most of the time a nice bird lands on the feeder I appear to be either too far for the remote to trigger the shutter, or too close, which scares the bird away.  Or I am nursing Johnny, and can't even reach for the remote.  Or miss the birds altogether, because I am in the other room, and I only catch their gleeful chirping as they fly off.

Nevertheless, I managed a few shots, yet don't ask me what kind of birds are these.  I haven't a clue!  All I know is that they are tricky, tricky birds, and I am one sloppy wildlife photographer.

I am particularly proud of the empty bird feeder pictures, though.  I have quite many of those, in different light and angle.

Also, please enjoy a few behind the scenes shots I took trying not to get bored while I was waiting for the birds: