Ray of Light

Yesterday I attended my very first photography workshop sponsored by Professional Photographers of Hawaii (PPH) at Foster Botanical Garden. At this workshop, I met the amazing longtime Master Photographer Claude Ayakawa. He has an undeniable talent of finding any available natural light and using it to capture a superbly lit photograph. What he does is amazing! At this workshop, all Claude brought with him was a Nikon D90 camera and a Tamron lens...no fancy equipment. When I asked him why he didn't use a Nikon lens, he told me this lens is just as good as a name brand one and cheaper. I guess when you have really mastered something, it doesn't really matter what kind of equipment you use. He's a prime example of the photographer, not the equipment, that creates a masterpiece.

Here are some of the photos I took from the workshop.

ISO 200, f/4.8, shutter 1/60

ISO 400, f/5.3, shutter 1/80

ISO 800, f/4.5, shutter 1/100

ISO 400, f/4, shutter 1/125

Long As I Can See the Light

The other night, I wanted to do something that I thought would be fun for kids. So we got out some glow stick necklaces and a red LED key light and drew pictures in the dark. The kids were in awe at the first photo I showed them. "How did you do that?!?!?!" they asked me.  I was tempted to say "It's magic", but I ended up telling them that the camera was picking up the light in the dark and "remembering" it...sorta like recording a video. I hope that easy explanation made sense to them.  

The first picture was actually taken by one of the kids. I had the camera set to bulb and told the 9-year old when to start and stop "filming". She was pretty stoked about actually being the photographer. When I did the eyes, I held the LED light on for a little longer to get the those "eyelashes". 

The second picture was something the 9-year old wanted to draw. I thought the spacing between words was pretty good.

The third photo was drawn by a 5-year old. The window from the house in the back actually took the place of one of the happy face's eyes.  It was totally unintentional, but ended up to be perfect placement.  LOL!