Schrockinator

Schrockinator Has Moved!!!

2010-02-12T17:07:00.032-05:00

We're moving up!!! I'm excited to announce that my Photo Blog has moved and will be renamed to "OJ Photography." The new site will be located at http://ojphoto.blogspot.com/

If you have set your Reader to follow this blog or if you subscribe to the RSS feeds, please be sure to update your settings to my new blog's feed ( http://ojphoto.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default ) so you don't miss any new posts!

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Johnathan's First Birthday Cake

2010-02-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

We just celebrated our son's first Birthday with his very own cake! Need I say more? You can only imagine how wired he was about an hour and a half afterward! He thoroughly enjoyed himself, to say the least!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNATHAN!!!

I Heart Kisses

2010-02-08T08:19:00.000-05:00

This week at "i ♥ faces" the theme is "kisses." These are a couple of Sisters I had recently and I thought this turned out so well!

Join in and see other photos at the "i heart faces" website!

Flickr Friday - Top Children's Portraits

2010-02-05T22:10:00.007-05:00

   There are many photo-sharing websites and each one has its particular benefits and shortcomings. I've been using Flickr and really enjoy it. The great thing about Flickr is the Photographic community and the interaction between photographers. It is very easy to mark other's photos as favorites or add them to personal galleries. You can also add your photos to similar interest photo groups. The only problem with Flickr is that any one can upload photos of any quality. That is why I like to browse high-quality photo groups like "Top 20 Children's Portraits."

   Top 20 Children's Portraits is a sort of Child Portraiture competition that is open to everyone. This group is unique in that there can only be 20 photos in the group at one time. The point to this group is that when you add your own photo you delete one other photo from the group (the portrait of the lowest quality). The newer photos are at the top of the list and the older photos are at the bottom. Therefore, only the photos that everyone agrees are the best make it to the bottom (winning) position. The winning photos can then be placed in the discussion thread for the winning photos of that month. It is so much fun to browse the winning photos to get ideas and inspiration for future photo shoots!

Here are a few of my favorite winners!

   Note that although Flickr has a content filter, strong discretion is advised. By no means to I endorse all the content on Flickr or any of its groups.

peek-a- boo, originally uploaded by sarah in pisces water.

Portrait 1, originally uploaded by Melgo2K.

point, originally uploaded by Sinong Tatay Mo?.

.. through the eyes of a child .. #EXPLORE, originally uploaded by bravekn1ght.

Who Needs A Smile......, originally uploaded by espressoDOM.

Noor Eats Paper.., originally uploaded by Ronald de Bie2009.

my wish for you, originally uploaded by Sinong Tatay Mo?.

, originally uploaded by Drea001.

All photos copyright to their respective owners.

New Baby!

2010-02-04T00:30:00.002-05:00

   I just got a new Baby! Actually, I adopted it from a fine lady in Kansas City, Mo! I came across this lens on Craigslist and I found this seller to be reasonable enough in her asking price. I'm excited to get this new (to me) Nikon Mount, 200mm, f2.8, Prime Lens made by Japanese Soligor.

   I'm often asked why I like prime lenses. These lenses have no zoom feature, you cannot zoom in or out. The only zoom it has is very manual - to zoom in you simply take a few steps closer; zoom out by taking a few steps away! (Although, even this can be an advantage as it helps your creativity and keeps you from becoming a lazy photographer.) So why would I be so excited about this new lens even though I already have a 70-300mm Nikkor lens?
Despite the "disadvantages," there are some very useful benefits to prime lenses.

1. Faster Shutter speed
   Because Prime lenses generally have a larger aperture (lower f-stop number) they let more light in at a time. More light coming in at one time means that the shutter does not have to be open as long to let that same amount of light in for proper exposure. This means that in low-light situations, I can set the aperture wide open and then set the shutter speed much faster. This results in fewer blurry images.

2. Bokeh
   Bokeh comes from the Japanese word for "blur." Basically, it refers to the aesthetically pleasing quality of the out-of-focus blur in the background/foreground of photos. The design of prime lenses, naturally results in better bokeh.

3. Depth of Field
   This refers to the range of photo that is in focus. The large aperture of a prime results in very small depth of field. This means that in portrait photography, I can focus on the subjects face and everything in front and behind the subject will be out-of-focus. This effectively eliminates distracting backgrounds and properly isolates the subject from the rest of the scene.

These two photos were taken in the exact same place with the same settings except for the focusing point. It is obvious how the small depth-of-field emphasizes the green branches of the the evergreen bush.

4. Optical Quality
   Because the glass elements in prime lenses are not designed to constantly move back and forth for various zoom levels, the prime is permanently set to optimal quality for that one focal length. This eliminates most vignetting, barrel distortions, chromatic aberrations, and other optical problems often found in zoom lenses.

If you do not have a prime lens, you really should open up a whole new world of photography. The 50mm f1.8 was my first prime and is a great place to start.

Black -n- White Portraits

2010-01-31T16:32:00.002-05:00

Here are a few of my recent B/W conversions.

I Heart Faces - Texture

2010-01-26T11:08:00.002-05:00

This week at "i heart faces" the theme is "texture." I love adding texture to my photos and this photo is one of my favorites! I know the frame is not filled with the little girl's face, but with the eye lashes so perfectly sharp, I feel the face is the center of the photo.

Texture is Paul Grand's, "Inverted Scratches."

Join the fun and see other photos at the "i heart faces" website!

Fix it Friday - On the Swing

2010-01-23T01:55:00.001-05:00

This is "Fix-it Friday" over at "i heart faces" This is the time when they offer a photo for anyone to edit and see what they come up with. I had several different takes on this.

Here is the Original:

Fix-It Friday #41, originally uploaded by I Heart Faces.

And then my first edit which consisted of: Crop, Attic Vintage action by Rita at CoffeeShop Photography, Inverted Scratches Texture by Pareeerica.

Then I went for a motion effect with a Crop, a slight S-curve, and a rendered zoom blur:

Next I did a grunge, textured look with a crop, S-curve, SkeletalMess's Tone Texture 9, Wall Texture by Bartis, and slight Desaturation:

Finally, I did a high contrast with a crop, BW Gradient Map, Warm Grey Color Overlay, the original set over the top in "color" mode set to 55% opacity, and finally a slight overlay vignette:

Be sure and check out other people's works on the "i heart faces" website!

Sisters

2010-01-22T13:50:00.002-05:00

Johnathan's Sweater

2010-01-22T13:47:00.002-05:00

From the Archives

2010-01-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just get the urge to go back and rescue some of my older photos. Here is one I took about four years ago and just recently dusted it off with Johnna's Memories of Sunshine Action from Rita.

I Heart Family! - Three Generations

2010-01-18T23:29:00.003-05:00

This is "We are Family" week over at "i ♥ faces." There are three generations here from a wonderful family!

Check out more photos at their website!

Best Face!

2010-01-11T11:05:00.004-05:00

This week at i heart faces the theme is "Best Faces" within the past month.

This was Johnathan's first snow and I'm not sure he knew what to think about it!

Texture by Jerry at ShadowHouse Creations

Check out more great faces at the "i heart faces" webpage!

Flickr Friday - Black and White

2010-01-08T19:27:00.004-05:00

I love good Black and White photos but there is so much more to a truly great B/W portrait than just hitting the "Desaturate" button! Beyond the obvious subject matter, orientation, and general composition, a good B/W has great contrasts, range, and lighting along with a host of other complexities.

Here are a few of my favorite Black and White from other artists on Flickr; each one exemplifying excellent artistic quality.

Pout. - Day 7, originally uploaded by Eileen Bruce.

An Ancient Mariner, originally uploaded by Franco Ferri Mala.

by RuthieMae Photography

Freckle boy, originally uploaded by gunnisal.

Schoolgirl, originally uploaded by gunnisal.

Will You Play Ball with Me?, originally uploaded by dphock.

Please note that I do not necessarily endorse these photographers or their other photos. I have found these portraits alone to be of highest quality and so have posted them here.

Fix-It Friday - Birthday Photo

2010-01-08T11:13:00.037-05:00

This is "Fix-it Friday" over at "i ♥ faces." This is the time when they upload a photo and allow others to make their edits to the original. I decided to go with a somewhat vintage look with a slight texture. Rollover my photo to see the original.

Fix-It Friday #40, originally uploaded by I ♥ Faces.

For this edit I cloned out a few bright areas and camera flare spots.
I then applied CoffeeShop's "Attic Vintage" Action and adjusted layer opacity etc...
   This includes
   A bright yellow to dark purple gradient map layer in color blend mode.
   A dark blue and brown rendered cloud layer in exclusion mode at 25% opacity.
   A copy of the image with the edges burned in for a vignette effect.
   Also added, Pareeerica's "Scratched Caramel" Texture.
Flattened the image and saved as jpg!

For other edits of this photo please visit "i ♥ faces"!

New Beginnings

2010-01-06T22:17:00.004-05:00

With the New Year comes thoughts of new beginnings; such as this little four-week-old that I had the opportunity to photograph.

---------------

Somewhere on this globe, every ten seconds, there is a woman giving birth to a child. She must be found and stopped."

- Sam Levenson

I Heart Faces

2010-01-04T14:12:00.002-05:00

We are coming up on the first anniversary of a great photo blog "i ♥ faces" and so I put together a couple photos for them!

Check out more great portraits on their blog!

I am submitting these photos into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.

Photo Review of 2009

2009-12-31T14:13:00.002-05:00

A Photographic Review of our family in 2009.

Johnathan's First Snow!

2009-12-30T15:27:00.002-05:00

I don't know what possessed me to leave North Carolina to go to Omaha,NE in December! Although I've really enjoyed our time with my in-laws, the weather has been so cold! They had about six inches when we got here, and then have had an additional 12-18 inches, plus snow drifts! Johnathan really enjoyed it though, as this was his first encounter with the cold white stuff!
I'm also posting these pictures to prove to my sister in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada that we get snow here too!

Hillarious Portrait Session

2009-12-29T10:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when you schedule a portrait session for a family with kids you have no idea what you are getting into. I've had this little girl on a number of occasions and she never disappoints me - you can always count on getting some great expressions!
This week is "Hilarious Outtakes" week over at I ♥ Faces and I had to think about these great "poses."

She really is so much fun!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:48:00.001-05:00

I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas, and don't forget that Christmas really is the celebration of our Creator becoming our Savior!

Johnathan thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas!

May you have a Merry Christmas!

Fog in the Cemetery

2009-12-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a couple days of dense fog and so my sister-in-law and I got out and took some shots around town. I am not a morbid type of person, but I've always enjoyed the quiet and peacefulness of a nice cemetery. Here are a few photos in the fog.

In the first two I used textures from Jerry at ShadowHouse Creations as well as Haze by Pareeerica

In the Last I used CoffeeShop's PSE Action Honey Retro

Favorite Children's Faces

2009-12-15T00:33:00.001-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite children's portraits. Each one has a story and each one was so much fun to photograph!

1. Lady Bug 2, 2. Siblings, 3. Just Try Me!, 4. Bib Overalls and Bare feet, 5. Happiest Girl, 6. Siblings, 7. Her Many Faces, 8. Girl's Joy, 9. Ellie at park, 10. Jonathan, 11. L Girls 4 b/w, 12. Little Friend, 13. Joy and Envy, 14. Three E's, 15. Emma, 16. Ellie n Flower, 17. Ellie, 18. Baby S with Hat, 19. Jonathan, 20. Stanley, 21. Adel, 22. Eyeing The Fun, 23. Fun on a Swing, 24. Looking at You, 25. Happy Brazilian

Little Girl

2009-12-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my recent photos of one of the little girls from our church. I always have so much fun taking photos of her and her siblings.

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Sweet Dreams

2009-12-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

This week at i ♥ faces, the theme is “Sweet Dreams.”

I liked this photo of Johnathan as he fell asleep with one of his favorite toys.

Archived Photos

2009-12-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple photos that I found collecting "digital dust" on my hard drive. Thought I'd revive them and give them another chance!

The Power of Textures

2009-12-04T15:12:00.000-05:00

I have recently come to appreciate using texture overlays on my photos. Rollover the following photo to see the before and after version of the following photo.

Thanks to ShadowHouse Creation's Texture "ToneTexture - 9"
and to lepiaf.geo's texture "Texture, Hammered Metal Heart" "Texture, Hammered Metal Heart"

I just placed both textures over the photo and changed the blending mode to "Soft Light" then adjusted opacity to taste. I also use layer masks to mask out the texture in select areas.

Siblings

2009-12-02T17:23:00.000-05:00

Soft Portrait

2009-12-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

Three Generations

2009-12-01T18:42:00.001-05:00

Gerber Daisy Portrait

2009-12-01T18:39:00.000-05:00

Baby J Session

2009-12-01T18:35:00.000-05:00

Try Me!

2009-12-01T18:17:00.000-05:00

A Girl and Her LadyBug

2009-12-01T18:08:00.000-05:00

Silhouette

2009-12-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

Contact Me

2009-12-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

Thank You

2009-12-01T12:04:00.000-05:00

Your e-mail has been sent.

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Sample MP3 Player

2009-04-14T19:16:00.018-04:00

Amish Preaching:

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

The BTR Skit: