Another Storm, Another Long Power Outage

It’s been a while since I posted on my blog.  Needless to say, I have been busy, but one thing that really put a damper on blog posts was the storm that started on Saturday, 10/29.  The snow started falling sometime around noon or so that day and carried on into the night.  It was very wet and heavy snow and easily clung to the tree branches and bushes.  Unfortunately, not all the leaves had fallen from the trees yet so there was even more surface area for the snow to stick to.  By about 4pm, the power had gone out.  I had a feeling we were in for a long haul with the outage since this was no ordinary winter storm.  In fact, it’s not even winter yet, technically speaking.  During the late night and early morning, we had trouble sleeping, because we kept hearing cracking and popping outside as numerous branches broke and fell on the the ground and power lines.  We were really worried about large branches or, even worse, a whole tree falling onto the house or deck.  We even saw what appeared to be lightning during the night, although it was sort of multi-colored due to the snow filled sky.  That was pretty freaky.  Fortunately for us, we only lost a few decent size branches and nothing actually hit the house.

Our crabapple tree laden with heavy snow.

By morning, we took a look outside and could see our power and at&t lines sagging precariously low to the ground because of the weight of snow on the branches of the tree that the wires ran through.  The sun was out and already starting to melt some of the snow, thankfully, and it wasn’t long before some of the trees and bushes were not as weighed down and began to spring back up to normal.  Unfortunately, this caused our at&t line to finally snap off from the house.

Our neighbors' tree hanging on our power line.

Snapped off at&t wire on right. Power lines still attached.

I could tell the power outage was extensive because even my iPhone had no signal.  Clearly the nearby towers didn’t have power either.  I decided to take a drive out and get some gas in the car, charge up my phone and find a signal somewhere to check messages and let my parents know we were okay.  The main road in Vernon had no power either which was bad.  During Hurricane Irene, the power had not gone out in the center of town.  I managed to find a BP station in Manchester that had just opened and filled up with gas.  I got fairly lucky with that because there were very few gas stations open and the Shell across the street already had a huge line that had formed.

After Irene, we had planned to get a generator, but we hadn’t gotten around to it yet.  I don’t think anyone expected another storm so soon that would cripple the power grid again.  I believe there were something like 875,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers without power after the storm.  That’s just crazy.  Fortunately, it wasn’t too cold outside at this point in the year, although it wasn’t exactly warm.  Our house got down to about 50 degrees after the first couple of days.  We didn’t have things too bad though because we have city water, a gas water heater and a large room on the back of the house that has a gas heater built onto the wall. So, while the power was off, we camped out in the back room to stay warm and we were able to take hot showers and even use the gas stove in the kitchen to cook.

This tree pretty much split in half and was laying in the road.

Other folks weren’t so lucky.  Quite a few people have well water that requires an electric pump and oil fired furnaces with integrated hot water heaters.  Those people couldn’t even flush their toilets after the first flush and had no way to take showers.  Temporary shelters opened up to allow people to stay somewhere warm and take showers.  At the office in Hartford, we never lost power, so people were bringing their kids with them to work as many of the schools were closed as well.

Our power finally came back on Friday evening (11/4) and we were practically jumping for joy when it did.  We had actually gone out to eat after being tired of trying to cook simple meals in the dark.  When we came home it was on.  It definitely sucks not having power.  I already have a call into an electrician about getting a transfer switch installed on the house for a generator hookup.  Of course, he’s swamped for the near future, but I’m hoping to get him over here in a few weeks to get it done.  I’m actually considering getting an automatic standby generator.  They are more expensive, but they run with natural gas and come on automatically when they detect that the grid power has gone off.  It would be great even if the power goes off for only a few hours.  The problem with power outages is that you never know how long they will last.  Could be 10 minutes or 10 days.

For the week that the power was off, it’s almost like our lives were on pause.  We didn’t really get anything accomplished because we were just focused on doing what we could to eat and keep warm and still make it to work each day.  As much heat as CL&P has taken as a result of their repair efforts, I do have to give credit to all the men and women that sacrificed their time and came to Connecticut to help restore our power.  The guys that restored power to our neighborhood were from Maine and I saw repair crews from many other states as well.  These people worked day and night to get things back to normal as soon as possible.  Thank you to all who helped!

We had to drive under this tree for about a week until the power company finally removed it.

Lots of cable and telephone wires were broken.

Kyra looking very excited about the prospect of no power for days.

Foto Friday #11

As a kid, I was always thought earth moving equipment like bulldozers, front loaders, backhoes, etc were cool.  I can remember when houses were being constructed down the street from my house and my friends and I would ride our bikes down and walk around the construction site.  We would explore the half constructed houses, looking for scrap wood that we could take to use for building our forts. Of course, I’m sure there was some law or code we were breaking by doing that, but we didn’t know any better.  There would always be some kind of equipment parked there just begging for us to climb up on it and pretend we were operating it.  I think one time, we even found the keys for one machine and started it up.  We were too scared to move any of the controls though and turned it off right away.  I guess there is something about the dirty, rugged earth moving machinery that appeals to boys.

I was out at the Colchester Rec Park a couple of weeks ago and sure enough there was a big ole’ front loader just sitting there along with a huge pile of dirt.  I’m not sure what the dirt was being used for, because they sure didn’t fix up the nearby baseball fields with it.  Of course, I had my trusty little Nikon D60 with me and grabbed these shots.  I ended up applying a preset in Lightroom to really emphasize the grittiness of the machinery.  It’s a little over the top, but it’s fun to push things a bit.

I hope you have a great Friday!  I know I will since my new iPhone 4S is showing up today.  :-)

Nikon D60 AF-S 18-55mm VR @ f5.6 ISO 800 1/100 - 1/320

A Walk In The Park

The weather was just beautiful on Monday.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day to spend together.  With the craziness of everyday life caring for kids, working, etc, it’s always nice to take a break and just focus on each other for a change.  After dropping off the kids at her mom’s, Laggie and I went to have a nice lunch at Bricco Trattoria in Glastonbury.  It was the first time we had been there and we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food.  We had brought our cameras with us with the idea that we would go for a walk after lunch and just take some photographs and enjoy the weather.  Laggie came up with the idea of going over to Wickham Park in Manchester, so we drove over and just walked around the various gardens.  We really enjoyed our time together there and it was definitely great to reconnect for a while and just be together.  Days like this are what I live for.

These are some of the photos we made while we were at the park:

A structure from the Oriental Garden - photo by Laggie

Me trying to get a decent shot in the Oriental Garden - photo by Laggie

The white bridge in the Oriental Garden

Tea House in the Oriental Garden

Another structure in the Oriental Garden - I liked the reflection on the water

Lion's head fountain in the English Garden

Me - photo by Laggie, obviously...

Laggie working the shot of a little cherub statue in the English Garden

Cherub statuettes in the English Garden - photos by Laggie

A small pagoda fountain and beautiful reflection in the Lotus Garden - left photo by Laggie, right photo by me

Laggie in the Lotus Garden. We found some really nice light there.

I think this is some kind of lantern. This was in the Lotus Garden. Love the green in this image.

Foto Friday #10

For today’s photo, I went back to an older catalog of photos. This is an image from a shoot I did with Kevin more than a year ago. The location was actually Kevin’s idea. It was an old run-down mill in Manchester. This place was a great location for photography. Lots of spots throughout the place that provided a gritty look. Perfect for a rugged guy like Kevin.
This shot was made using just a Canon 580EX II flash firing through a white umbrella to camera right. I triggered the flash using Radio Popper JrX’s. I don’t remember the exact power level used on the flash but it was probably about 1/8th to 1/16th.
Happy Friday!

Flash Composite

I had been meaning to try out a flash composite portrait shot ever since I attended a workshop by Ryan Brenizer and he demonstrated the technique. It’s a neat way to create a unique looking portrait using only one light source. This shot is really just my first attempt at this and was only meant as a test. My family was just hanging out in the living room and became somewhat willing subjects of this experiment

The first requirement for creating a photo like this is to use a tripod. I suppose one could handhold the camera, but it would be difficult to keep the camera position identical for each shot. The tripod will allow you to take multiple shots that will line up correctly when layered together in Photoshop.

Obviously, a flash is also a requirement. In my case, I used a Canon 580EX II flash and I attached a Lumiquest Softbox III to it to diffuse the light. The flash was in “slave” mode and was triggered using another 580EX II on the camera, which was configured to be the “master” and not actually fire itself. I had to make a couple of test shots to get the exposure correct. Once that was dialed in, I had my daughter go to each person and hold the flash a few feet away while I took the shot. I had to hold the flash myself for the shot of my daughter and set the timer on the camera.
Here are the six shots I used to make the composite. The first image is a base shot with no flash so I could have a photo without anyone standing in the frame with a flash.

Once I had the base shot and images of each subject lit by the flash, I selected all of the photos in Lightroom, right clicked and chose Edit as Layers in Photoshop. This function opens Photoshop and adds each image as a layer in the same file. I then added a layer mask to each layer. The black layer mask hides whatever is in that layer and by painting on it with white, it reveals whatever is under that particular area. Below is a screenshot of the final image in Photoshop and you can see the layers panel on the lower right. Notice the black layer masks and the area of white on each of them. The white area corresponds to the area of that image where the subject was lit by the flash. I also did a little burning and then sharpened the image a bit.

I think the resulting shot is pretty cool.  Not the greatest, but I could definitely see using this technique now and then to create some unique looks in my photography.

Foto Friday #9

I’m not sure if the anxiety involved in shooting a wedding will go away as I shoot more of them and maybe that’s a good thing. I think that it’s what keeps me on my toes, thinking about where I need to be and what shots I need to be getting. There is certainly pressure to perform and not miss the moments, but that is also where the excitement comes from.
I have learned a lot after shooting a couple of weddings. Something I realized right away was that I needed to just do it. By that I mean you have to put aside the nervousness and anxiety and just step into the photographer role and focus. You need to have confidence in your ability to get the shots. Even if you are struggling a bit, you need to maintain your confidence so the client isn’t wondering if something is up. Keep smiling and push through.
One of the main things that will help your confidence is knowing your gear inside and out and how to get good exposures. This is really photography at it’s core. If operating the camera is second nature, you can concentrate on capturing the moments, not what shutter speed you are using. I practice all the time with the camera even if I’m just shooting random photos of nothing in particular. So, keep shooting.
Having an assistant and/or second shooter is also a great help. I’m sure I could shoot a wedding by myself, but having someone on your team really does make a difference. They can keep your confidence up, help you see things you missed and be in two places at the same time. My wife was the second shooter on this past wedding and it was a huge advantage. She was able to get some shots that I couldn’t have gotten myself because of the timing.
Today’s image is by my wife. She made this shot of me walking down the aisle just before the ceremony. For some reason I just liked how this shot seems to tell the story of the wedding shoot, like I’m on my way to do the job.

Happy Friday!

Canon 40D EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS @ 55mm f2.8 1/320 ISO 800

Paul and Lori’s Wedding

I was honored to photograph the wedding of my good friend Paul and his wonderful new wife, Lori. I have been friends with Paul since fifth grade and I have never seen him as happy as he was on his wedding day. He’s an easy going guy and Lori complements him very well. I truly wish them the best in their marriage.

The wedding was held at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Here is a selection of photos from the day.

Lastolite EzyBox Softbox

For the longest time, I wanted to get a Lastolite EzyBox softbox.  The EzyBox is a portable softbox that is designed to work with a hotshoe flash.  It folds down very quickly into a compact size that is easy to take with you.  I finally decided to get one and I am glad I waited until now.  Recently, Joe McNally, one of my favorite photographers, teamed up with Lastolite to produce a signature line of their products.  His version of the EzyBox uses a white interior, rather than the standard silver.  The white produces a “creamier” look to the diffusion, which is what I was looking for.

In case you don’t know, a softbox is a light modifier that is often used in photography for portraits.  The box itself is typically constructed of lightweight black fabric with a silver reflective or white interior.  White translucent fabric panels are used to diffuse the light as it passes through to soften the light before reaching the subject.  Softboxes come in many different sizes and shapes, providing many options for photographers to create different looks with lighting.

The EzyBox I bought is the medium-sized model which is 24″ X 24″.  To me this is a great size for a typical waist up portrait or head shot.  If one were trying to shoot full body shots, a large softbox would probably be preferable.  Here are a few shots of the EzyBox shown with a hotshoe flash attached to the included bracket:

Side view of the EzyBox with a Canon 580 EXII flash and Radio Popper JrX wireless receiver

Front view of the EzyBox showing the white outer diffusion panel

Rear view of the EzyBox showing the flash bracket and speed ring

I finally got a chance to use the EzyBox this past Saturday.  Laggie wanted a new portrait that she could use for Facebook since the one she had showed her with the baby belly.   Thomas is about three months old at this point, so it was time to change out that photo.  :-)  She went to Joann Fabrics during the week and found a cool piece of fabric that we could use as a backdrop and sewed up one end so we could hang it from the background support rod.  I got everything setup on Saturday afternoon and used the kids as stand-in models to test the lighting setup.  In addition to using the Canon 580 EX II flash in the EzyBox, I used my LumoPro LP120 with a 1/4″ Honl Speed Grid to light the backdrop.

Here is a behind the scenes setup shot for the lighting.  Notice how my studio looks a lot like a living room and dining room?

Canon 580 EXII in EzyBox high and a little to the right, LP120 to the left and aimed at background

Here are a couple of test shots I made while getting the lighting dialed in:

Carla posing for a quick test portrait. Canon 40D EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS @ 50mm f5.0 1/160 ISO 100

Kyra being silly while wearing my glasses. Canon 40D EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS @ 50mm f5.0 1/160 ISO 100

After taking these test shots, Laggie was ready to get into the frame.  Here is one of my favorites from the shoot:

Canon 40D EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS @ 55mm f4.5 1/160 ISO 100 - Lighting info: Canon 580 EX II @ 1/4 power in Lastolite EzyBox, high and just to camera right, LumoPro LP120 @ 1/32 power with 1/4" Honl Speed Grid aimed at the background, Lastolite Tri-grip Sunfire reflector below.

As you can see, the quality of light from the EzyBox is quite nice.  It has a nice soft look while still creating nice shadows to give it a more dramatic look.  I’m really looking forward to using this light modifier more in the future.  I definitely want to use it on a location photoshoot soon to create some really cool lighting.

Foto Friday #8

Well, it’s been a while since I blogged anything. I’ve definitely been busy. I’m currently in the process of editing wedding photos from the last wedding I shot. It’s certainly tough to get time when you are trying to balance working full time, taking care of young children and attempting to build a photography business on the side. Anyway, doing the best I can to keep up here.

The photo for today is one I shot at my church this past Sunday. I happened to have a camera with me because we had several special guests coming to speak and I wanted to grab a few shots of them during the service that day. I was up on the stage with the praise band in the morning getting ready for our sound check when I snapped this shot of Eduardo, our guitarist. (I play bass in the band.) He’s playing his Paul Reed Smith Custom guitar here. I ended up converting the image to black and white using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2. I like this one a lot because of the candid nature of it.

Eduardo is leaving the band in the next few weeks to pursue his passion for music. He’s heading down to Full Sail University in Florida to study sound engineering. We will definitely miss his presence in the band while he is away. As for me, I am stepping up to play electric guitar in the band, so there will be a bit more pressure on me to learn the leads for the songs we play.

Happy Friday!

Canon 5D EF 24-70mm f2.8L @ 43mm f2.8 1/60 ISO 1/1250

Foto Friday #7

Last Saturday as Hurricane Irene was inching it’s way toward Connecticut, we went to my friend Garry’s wedding. Garry married the beautiful Lindsay, his long time love. It was held at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills in Middletown, CT. Due to the rain, the wedding ceremony was held inside. I didn’t want to bother bringing my large camera, so I just brought the Nikon D60. Let me just say that I hate using the pop up flash because I can’t stand how photos look when using it. I don’t have a hotshoe flash for this camera, so I did my best to just use a high ISO and hold the camera steady with the slow shutter speeds I was getting. I was only able to get a few decent shots throughout the event, but I wasn’t there to shoot the wedding anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. I was really trying to enjoy the time with my wife and celebrate my friend’s marriage. The lighting in the barn was very nice and set a great mood for the event. I wanted to capture some of that mood, so I took a moment and went up on the balcony overlooking the hall and made this shot. I am sure that Garry and Lindsay are enjoying their honeymoon in Aruba right now and that they aren’t missing any of this hurricane stuff.

Happy Friday!

Nikon D60 AF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm f3.5 1/30 ISO 1600