June 30, 2015

Waterfowl Park

Today, I went for a drive with Ma Tante Lorraine and Ma Wife Linda; to the Sackville Waterfowl Park in Southern New Brunswick. What a disappointment that was.

First of all, the park was under repair due to a recent rain storm.  Normally I would accept this as a fact of nature. However, I was certain to check their web site the day before and there was no mention of any damage or construction.

Also, we didn't see any waterfowl at all the whole time we were there.

My wife said she saw one duck... and although I believe her. I couldn't spot it.

What a waste of a trip. And on top of that the staff that was manning the office while we were there, didn't seem to give a shit one way or the other. Except the one man that was there among a group of women.

I grabbed a few photos of the only non-dandelion flowers that I saw.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
While it is possible that they were just having a "bad day"... I don't plan to return any time soon, nor do I recommend that anyone else wastes  an afternoon this way.

In my opinion, it was a very disappointing afternoon.

--- Mark ---

June 27, 2015

Itchy Trigger Finger

I was in the mood to take a few pictures tonight.... So I decided to take a few shots of one of the floweras my wife has planted in the yard.

It's a stubborn plant... I think due to the cold nights we've been having this year. But, it finally bloomed...  So, I thought I'd grab a photo of it.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
I an limited to a maximum aperture of 5.6 with the lens I have. Although I am fairly happy with the results, I wish I had a lens that could provide me with a shallower depth of field.

I do have a 50mm 1.8... But. that is too wide for my needs... Especially in this case.

Oh well... Worl with what you have right? This was taken at 85mm and cropped a bit in post processing to give it a square aspect ratio.

--- Mark ---

June 15, 2015

Flower

I am not sure what this flower is called

I was restless and decided to take a photo of my wife's bush (pun intended)...

It was a bit windy and the sun was pretty bright. Since I am fond of contrast and shadows... I decided to shoot into the sun (backlit).

I focused on the middle flower. But I might redo it using a different focus point... We'll see.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
My camera was set on ISO 100, Shutter Speed was 1/400th. and aperture was 5.6 I believe....

--- Mark ---

June 6, 2015

FIFA

The ladies FIFA world cup is being held in Moncton this summer. Tonight, the city of Moncton provided some entertainment and a fireworks display to help kick off the tournament.

My wife, my godmother, and I went to see the shows... I managed to grab a few photos and wanted to share.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton





And a few shots of some of the musical talent that was there...

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
The musicians involved were: On violin - Dominique Dupuis, on bass - RĂ©mi Arsenault, on electric guitar - Mike Bourgeois, on acoustic guitar and banjo - Stephen LeBlanc, and on drums - Danny Bourgeois.

If you enjoy Celtic music, I highly recommend seeing these musicians. They are very good.

--- Mark ---

May 30, 2015

Aundrea is going to be a mom...

And I'm sure she will be a great mom...

 I had an outdoor maternity shoot with local model Aundrea Melanson today.

I have been fortunate enough to work with Aundrea on a few occasions in the past.

However, as soon as I heard she was going to have a baby; I contacted her and asked if I could get a few photos of her when she was a bit closer to her due date.

Today, we had an opportunity to meet up so I could get a few photos.

She is rapidly approaching her due date. So, I am quite happy that we had the opportunity to get together and capture a few memories of her pregnancy.

Here are a few of my favorites from the session...

Aundrea Melanson - Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Aundrea Melanson - Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Aundrea Melanson - Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
Aundrea Melanson - Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton
I had an issue with my camera... It appears that whenever I attach my new eTTL Speedlight (YoungNuo) it automatically resets my ISO setting to ISO 3200 (I always keep my ISO set to 100).

This is the second time that my camera automatically reset to 3200 ISO and I didn't notice until I got hone and started post processing the images. . And, it only seems to happen when I use my flash. So, logic dictates that the flash is the cause of the problem. It may be unrelated, but it's an awful coincidence...

From now on though, I'll try to be more observant of my ISO setting before I start shooting.

--- Mark ---