It’s been a while since I’ve made a post here at FormerAirline.com. I, of course, had been busy preparing for the wedding. So much planning, so many details, so many things that could go wrong, so many guests, so much love and excitement. But that’s all over now, and I’ll link to images from that special day soon. The photographers I had brought in for the event did a great job.

But the honeymoon is now also over. We had a fantastic time on the Hawaiian Isle of Kauai. AKA Jurassic Park. The purpose of the honeymoon is to relax and have fun, and that’s exactly what happened. Photography was certainly not the focus, however NOT taking some photos would be missing a huge opportunity to capture images from one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Not wanting to lug around lenses and bodies, I just took my Canon s90. However I did get a 3rd party filter attachment (the polarizer did come in handy) and, more importantly, the WP-DC35 underwater housing made by Canon. Wetness and water is prevalent in Hawaii, and if you don’t have some form of water protection you’re missing a whole lot.

These photos are just a little sliver of time we can hold onto.  We had a wonderful honeymoon, and now we also have wonderful memories.

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Recently I bought a Canon s90 (well I bought it after selling off some photo equipment that was going underused). The features impressed me, as well as its compact size. I hate fiddling around with an SLR and various lenses so having a compact camera with a zoom lens has an enormous appeal to me - however their image quality is typically quite inferior to that of an SLR. While the s90 doesn’t deliver DSLR quality - it is a huge cut above normal compacts that I’ve had experience with in terms of dynamic range, and low-light performance.

With my old SD850 it just had a certain look that screamed POINT-N-SHOOT, but I don’t feel that with the results I got from my Thanksgiving trip to Arizona.

Let me state here that America’s National Parks are my most favourite thing about the country. They do a great job at providing information and access to some truly magnificent natural wonders. We only spent a brief amount of time in the Grand Canyon, and I kind of regret that. We got the bright idea that we should spend more time in Sedona which, I think, was a mistake but there wasn’t much to be done about that considering our time and hotel reservations.

Sedona does indeed have some great vistas - but you can only really see them from your car and very few mediocre scenic points if you’re not willing to dish out the dollars for a Jeep, Helicopter, or Balloon ride. The place also smacks of touristic cheesiness. It doesn’t approach the awfulness of Niagara Falls, but it’s getting there.

The first shots of this gallery are of Montezuma Castle. It was interesting to see these kinds of old Hopi settlements and I was impressed - that is until someone told me about Mesa Verde. This looks like small potatoes by comparison. Oh well, it was nice fall day and I enjoyed walking around in the park with my fiancee. The middle shots of the big canyon would be of the Grand Canyon, and the rest are basically scenes around Sedona. I included some shots from my Autocord as well.

All-in-all it was a nice trip. We did more driving than we would’ve liked, but it gave us a little taste of Arizona and I’m sure we’ll be back to the Grand Canyon one day.

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The first shots in the

This weekend I’ve barely fired a frame. We’ve been busy scouting wedding locations. The moment we think we’ve found the perfect place, there’s always a factor pointing up in another direction. However last weekend I was a regular shutterbug. Face constantly behind the camera. The main reason was that I acquired a new Olympus OM2. You may be asking why I would get a new Olympus OM SLR when I just got one last month? Well, this one is black you see. Also, I can stop up and down with the OM2 at 3rd stop intervals. So there!

The films I used this weekend were Arista Premium 400 (which is rebadged Tri-X) and Adox 25. Yes, iso 25 film. Super slow, super fine grained. I think I’ve come to the conclusion, when it comes to 35mm at least, that I’d refer using a higher speed film like Tri-X (which is a versatile film that I feel captures the essence of 35mm photography) or a super fine grained film like Adox/Efke or Ilford Pan F plus (which is suitable for big enlargements and detailed work). ISO 125 films like Plus-X just seems so mendium-grained and nothing special in this small format. I also don’t think I should bother shooting color in 35mm any more either - I’m always much more satisfied with color results in medium format.

As for the content of these test shots: Last weekend the coast of Orange County was hit by a deluge of killer waves. Life guards were extra busy and when I was there they were compelled to close the beach. That didn’t stop spectators from looking at the giant waves as you’ll see. The biggest of the waves occured at the jetty in Newport Beach called “The Wedge”. Which was a great locale for people-watching and street (or in this case beach) photography.

The second set is from a local traile called Santiago Oaks canyon where I used the Adox 25. I kept my tripod in tow when I used filters which wasn’t exactly a succesful endeavor because the camera’s meter doesn’t seem to respond to it correctly. I’ll have to compensate the exposure by a full stop next time.

And the last set was a shoot with my favorite model - my fiance. I’m such a lucky guy.

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It’s been a while since I’ve made an entry here at FormerAirline.com. I could give you some excuses but I just think I’ve been lazy.

Back at the start of the month I had the idea I should employ the services of a model to expand my skill set. I made an inquiry as to where to acquire one at my usual haunt at RangeFinderForum.com and they pointed me to ModelMayhem.com. Within a day or two of joining a model named Maile and I set a time for a shoot.

Since she was an inexperienced model, and me an inexperienced photographer when it comes to these things, I think we were well matched. Although, looking back at the work, I think I still have much to learn when it comes to photographing a model. One of the elements to that is I need more equipment. At least a decent reflector.

I haven’t made any progress since that weekend I signed up at the site. Personally I think it’s a very outdated site with all the sophistication of MySpace circa 2005.

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August 2010... The ULTIMATE Wedding!

This past weekend I proposed to my girlfriend of two years. We had talked about getting married and last Saturday we went to look at rings. Well, Kelly saw one she fell in love with that fit her pefectly. Seeing how excited she was, I realized I had to propose that night. So while she studied in the bedroom I prepared a nice meal, set up the table and the wine, and when the time was right I asked her to marry me. She nearly knocked over the table shouting YES!YES!YES! We’re planning for August of 2010. This gives me plenty of time to make ultra-romantic photos.