Friday, February 27, 2009

Practice makes broken...

So far I have only used my camera flash when it was too dark to see my subject...which almost never happens.   Over the last couple of weeks I challenged myself to start using my flash as a means to enhance a subject.  

I started practicing by taking some portraits of my wife (she is a great sport) using my SB-600 and SB-R200 speedlights.  While the pics turned out okay it was clear I needed more practice to get the right light levels and positioning.    I turned my attention to more inanimate objects like the four martini glasses in the shot below...

I was crusing right along taking my pictures when I inadvertently tipped over the small tripod on to the martini glasses.....CRASH!  

The good news was only one of the four glasses broke.  One might think my next action was to grab a broom to clean up the glass...well not exactly...my next move was to take more pictures!



So practice might make perfect eventually, but for now it means practice makes broken.




Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The photo bug bites...

I am not exactly sure when the photo bug got a hold of me but it did.  I went looking back at the best of almost a terabyte of photos to see if one or two of these photos triggered my adventure in photography.  Here are a few of the pictures that stand out to me from over the years.  







This pic was taken on a walk at the Boulders Resort near Scottsdale AZ.  I look at it and think that maybe I should crop it or tweak the color a tad...but actually, I like it just the way it is!


The next photo is of Richard Elliot's zebra sax...


The final picture is from our favorite sport...BASEBALL!










Monday, February 16, 2009

Whoa!

Here are two recent photos of a wine cork from a very nice winery in Napa.  I chose these photos for two reasons.  The first is to let you know that wine is by far my beverage of choice.  

Second, is taking pictures of subjects we like provide us a chance to practice the fundamentals like lighting, exposure, and composition.  

Over the past several weeks wine corks have been one of my consistent subjects.  I am hoping to put a collage together with the theme.  

Take a few minutes to check out my site...

Bob



Saturday, February 14, 2009

A photo is not a photo until it's printed, ah, maybe...


My wonderful wife gave me a very special gift today.  First a bit of context...

As with many people of our generation there is a strong belief Add Imagethat a digital photo does not exist until it is printed on some type of paper substance.   I hold the the view that a photo is a photo is a photo - digital or paper.  

Back to the gift...to my surprise over the past several weeks, Debbie was hard at work taking the less-than-real digitized photos of us over the years and put them into a 'real and tangible - touch and feel photo album.  She gave me the album this morning and you know something...photos are more real once they are printed.  

I guess she loves me!

Bob

Here are a couple of the photos of us. 

Friday, February 13, 2009

Welcome to Bob Ochoa Photography


Hello people!  I am taking my first step into the world of blogging to share with you a bit of me and my photos.   My first photo is from a recent car show in Tubac, Arizona.

Check out my photo site

Enjoy....

Bob