The first few months of 2019

I was hoping to be a little more consistent in 2019 with getting blog posts up and have not found a good grove as of yet but it is something I am working on. So what has been happening you ask? Lots of fun and a little relaxing all while still capturing the beautiful city of Washington D.C.

January I made a few trips out to the National Mall for sunrises, photo walks, and just spending some time enjoying the time behind the lens.

—— Sony A7RIII —- 6:32am — Sigma 20mm - 30sec, F/9, ISO 100, Tripod.

---- Sony A7RIII --- 5:27am -- Sigma 20mm - 4sec, F/4, ISO 100, Tripod.

—— Sony A7RIII —- 5:41am — Sony 24-105/69mm - 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod.

—— Sony A7RIII —- 6:10am — Sigma 20mm - 10sec, F/3.2, ISO 100, Tripod.

As we rolled into February we joined a few friends on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans and while it was good to catch up with friends and enjoy some time relaxing it was not our favorite cruise. I will probably put together a little bit on that as I get some of the images edited for the web. The following image is from Cozumel, the boat we were on was the one in the back.

—— Sony A7RIII —- Sony 24mm — 9:35am - 1/3200, F/4, ISO 100, Handheld.

I have a few other ideas on the list to complete in 2019 and a road trip later in the year to try and catch the fall colors in the North East (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire). I also still plan on completing a 30 second time-lapse of each monument for sunrise in 2019 but am a bit behind.

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

Great start to 2019

I am a little behind getting posts out so far this year but going to work on trying to be more consistent and get a post out every Sunday with a recap of the week, random tech review, or just a throwback to something I have been working on.

2019 started off with an incredible sunrise at the U.S. Capitol building reflecting pool with one of my fellow photographers Virginia. She looked back through her series of images and we had epic light for just over 8 minutes but boy was it a way to start off the year.

2019 Photography Goals

• Taking a shot from the same location every month for the entire year to show the difference how weather, light, and seasons all affect how a scene looks. +- 5 days of each other the best I can.

• Complete a hyperlapse/timelapse of each monument

• Look for locations outside of the National Mall, Tidal Basin, Great Falls, Shenandoah to shoot sunrise.

—— Sony A7RIII —- 7:10am — Sony 24-105/31mm - 6sec, F/16, ISO 100, Tripod

I have spent a few mornings down at the monuments throughout the first 2 weeks of January so here are a few of the images that stand out.

—— Sony A7RIII —- 5:41am — Sony 24-105/51mm - 8sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

—— Sony A7RIII —- 7:41am — Sony 24-105/24mm - 1/40, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

—— Sony A7RIII —- 8:23am — Sony 24-105/24mm - 1/80, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

—— Sony A7RIII —- 6:49am — Sony 100-400/279mm - 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

The best of 2018

It’s that time of year when creatives look back at their year and share some of the best work of the year.

I have had a great year in my photography work and have met some amazing other photographers in the DC area and online from all over the world via instagram.

Here are some fun stats from this year.

• Cameras Used - 12 - Phone cameras, Sony Cameras, GoPro Cameras - Some owned some rented

  • Most Used Camera - Sony A7RIII

• Lenses Used - 10 - Sony and Minolta

  • Most Used Lens - Sony 24-105 F/4 G OSS

• Number of images captured - 18923 (a large portion due to shooting 3 image brackets)

• Most used Focal Length - 24mm (2421 frames)

• Number of trips to the National Mall/Capitol/Tidal Basin - 33 trips

• Travel - Canada, New Jersey, Texas

Here are my top images of 2018 from different feedback areas and a few I just really liked. (Top 10)

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

December Photo A Day

As I was getting ready to wrap up my November photo challenge with posting an image a day shot with the 55mm Prime lens I wanted to find a challenge for December. One of the Vloggers that we enjoy watching Zoe Sugg posted her Photo A Day challenge for December and I thought it was a great Idea so I modified the thought a bit to include both festive and photography related topics for the month.

I will post another Blog post as a wrap up but for now, think about joining in on the fun and tagging your shots with #IrishTexanPhotoADay for December!

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

A photo a day in November

One of my personal challenges in November was to get out and shoot with a fixed focal length lens or prime lens, yes they are the same just different descriptive words. After a poll on Instagram the chose for the month was the Sony 55mm F/1.8 lens and so now I had to determine how I wanted to challenge myself as I knew I would fail if I said I had to take a picture a day so I decided on I had to post an image a day but had to have been taken in the month of November.

So far I have been pretty solid about the 1 post per day with an image that was captured with the 55mm lens. This started the hashtag of #IrishTexanPrimeOnly on Instagram and with a few extra posts on a few days I am at 28 posts in 26 days so think that is pretty excellent. Looking back through the overall numbers so far in November with 4 days remaining in the month, 10 photo outings, 2 states, 1153 images with the 55mm (I usually shoot bracketed so higher numbers as each shot is usually 3 images but not all used), Rain, Sleet and Snow. It was a fun month and a fun challenge.

Here are some of the highlights from the month (Top 5 with the most likes on Instagram).

---- Sony A7RIII --- 6:23am -- Sony 55mm - 1/10, F/1.8, ISO 100, Tripod.

---- Sony A7RIII --- 8:04am -- Sony 55mm - 1/1600, F/3.2, ISO 100, Handheld.

---- Sony A7RIII --- 6:22am -- Sony 55mm - 15sec, F/4.5, ISO 100, Tripod.

---- Sony A7RIII --- 6:52am -- Sony 24-105/24mm - 1/5, F/11, ISO 100, tripod.

---- Sony A7RIII --- 6:03am -- Sony 55mm - 1sec, F/4, ISO 100, Tripod.

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

My first Calendar

After talking with some friends and my amazing wife I decided to go ahead and put together a 2019 D.C. Monuments calendar and have to say I really like the quality from the company I went with and the photos are pretty good I guess.

You can pick up a copy from the following Link

Also if you are looking for a no fuss website to create your own calendar, photo books, or even a few little odds and end gifts with some family photos you should check out createphotocalendars.com as it was super quick to design and order a few to check out.

Here is a preview of a few of the photos from the calendar and I will be looking to expand the calendars for 2020 with a few other offers outside of just D.C. images. I have had a few requests for flowers, Banff/Jasper in Alberta, 4 seasons of D.C. to list a few that I will be working on.

Prints are always available or if your looking for something specific for some wall art let me know and if I don’t have something I have a solid group of talented artists that I am blessed to know that could have something.

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

Capitol reflections

With everything going on currently in the political climate around here and everything around the capitol building it is still one of the amazing places to shoot on the National Mall. There are a ton of variations based on angles and light (Sunrise, sunset, midday) and no matter how many times I shoot it there seems to be some element that is new that helps the image stand out.

With fall colors coming its all about finding new angles and areas on the national mall and surrounding area to help drive more DC imaging for myself to share with others.

Sony A7R3 --- 6:31am -- Sony 24-105/105mm - 1/5sec, F/10, ISO 100, Tripod.

Sony A7R3 —- 6:02am — Sony 24-105/24mm - 30sec, f/11, ISO 100, Tripod.

Sony A7R3 --- 5:01am -- Sony 24-105/24mm - 2.5sec, F/4, ISO 100, Tripod.

Sony A7R3 --- 4:36am -- Rokinon 14mm - 30sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod.

Sony A7R3 —- 4:03am — Sony 24-105/34mm - 30sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod.

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

Fun Personal Project - The Long Exposure Selfie

One of the Youtubers that I watch regularly is travel photographer Brendan van Son and I always find it fascinating some of the selfies that he get's while on his travels.  He has explained it a few times and it does add some elements to a scene to give it scale, human touch and just another variable in getting an image to match your vision that will draw people in. 

Over the past week I started doing some experimenting with getting my typical monument shots but with a twist in that I am working to add myself into them so I can have a long exposure selfie at each of the monuments I shoot regularly.  I have learned that it is not quite as simple as just set the camera on timer and stand really still, thought that is a part of it, but more so that you have to think of where you fit in the scene, where light is falling, how you will stand out in the scene, and of course all of the normal thoughts of exposure, dof, etc. 

So here are a few examples of my shots and I am still working on refining what I want to get out of them but it's still pretty fun. 

First attempt at the WWI Memorial - Needed to work on my framing - 30 second exposure

I took a few variations by the Jefferson Memorial as there are a few good areas to really capture them. - 30 sec exposure - Base of the stairs

Attempted to frame the entrance and get me standing in front of Jefferson but my black shirt blended a bit. - 30 sec exposure

One of my most liked versions that I have dropped to Instagram so far and seems to be multiple elements and an epic sky lands you a few more likes - 30 sec exposure

This shot I needed to do some more refining and getting me better framed as well as some lighting but what you don't see is the 4 security guards outside the left side of the frame that I think were watching me laughing because you have this tubby guy running back and forth or they were trying to figure out wtf I was doing. lol - 30 sec exposure

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

My National Mall Morning Photography Circuit

Most people ask me where I park and my path I take when I am shooting the National Mall for sunrise so figured why not share my path as well as some of the images from those areas on most mornings.  Keep in mind I don't always make the 100% loop and have marked the sections I walk 50% of the time in a dashed line vs the full line.

• Where I park - During my early morning cycles with the exception of Cherry Blossom season and when they have events blocking off the lot, I park in the Tidal Basin Paddle Boat lot close to Independence ave and the Floral Library.

• From there I walk across Independence Ave and head towards the World War II Memorial and shoot from the front of the memorial towards Lincoln or across 17th st towards the Washington Monument (I will put some examples below)

• I then walk along the Lincoln Memorial towards the Lincoln Memorial, stopping along the way if the reflections or something catches my eye. I also sometimes walk along the walking path just up from the Reflecting pool as you can get some nice shots of runners or walkers under the lights with a little early morning glow or fog in some cases.

• Once at the Lincoln Memorial there are 100s of angles of the memorial and the reflecting pool

• I then proceed towards the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or wait at Lincoln for the sunrise light then proceed depending on which I want to try and catch first light on.

• Walk around Constitution gardens stopping again if anything catches my eye and back towards the WWII memorial.

• Another opportunity to shoot with first light or if the sky is cooperating to get some different light and angles

• Then I walk back across Independence Ave towards the Tidal Basin and MLK Jr. Memorial

• If the light is still good I will walk around the Tidal Basin towards the Jefferson Memorial stopping along the way to capture images at the Tidal Basin and FDR Memorial

• Then at Jefferson much like Lincoln, tons of options to shoot

• Then it's continue around the Tidal Basin back towards the Paddle Boat parking lot

• Estimated Miles if you do the full Circuit is around 3 Miles and can be 2-3 hours depending on how often you stop and shoot at each location. I am usually 4am till around 7-7:30am

• Jump in the Jeep and play in traffic on my way home to start culling images.

From the edge of the Tidal Basin by the Paddle Board parking lot just after 4am

Walking across Independence Ave around 4:20am

From the World War II Memorial between 4-4:30am

From the Reflecting pool side of the World War II Memorial around 5:20am

Walking towards the Lincoln Memorial from the World War II Memorial around 4:30am

Lincoln Memorial around 4:30am

Constitution Gardens around 6:30am

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.

Sony A7RIII vs Sony A7III

Had a chance to get out this morning and do a little testing with the Sony A7RIII and the Sony A7III with my style of shooting.  This is in no way a scientific approach to testing these two cameras but it's my thoughts on how I think they performed based on my shooting style. 

First a few key differences between these two cameras

• Price - Sony A7RIII ($3200) is around $1200 dollars more then the A7III ($2000)

• Effective Pixels - Sony A7RIII (42mp) vs A7III (24mp)

• Focus Points - Sony A7RIII (399) vs A7III (693)

• Viewfinder Resolution - Sony A7RIII (3.7millon) vs A7III (2.4millon)

• LCD Resolution - Sony A7RIII (1.44m) vs A7III (922k)

• 4k Video - In 24/25fps Sony A7RIII (5k down to 4k) vs A7III (6k down to 4k)

• Buffer - Based on MP the A7III can buffer a little over twice the amount of JPG and around 13 more raw files - Both shoot max of 10FPS

• Weight - Sony A7RIII 657g vs A7III 650g

• Sharpness - Sony A7RIII has no low pass filter so is slightly sharper vs A7III which uses the filter to reduce moire patterns

Both have very similar size and weight and though slightly different was not really noticeable to me, Both of them use the new Z type batteries which are amazing and I am getting the equivalent of between 2 and 3 original FW battery times out of the camera, and both have dual card slots. 

A few examples of before and after with each camera.  Setup was tripod with the 24-105, same settings, focus, WB, etc.  They are not perfect by any stretch but close enough.

I will also upload the higher resolution images to the following location to check out. 

https://irishtexan.smugmug.com/Personal/Education/Sony-Comparisons/n-TqCSR8/

Straight out of Camera - Sony A7RIII --- Sony 24-105/38mm -- 15sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Edit - Sony A7RIII --- Sony 24-105/38mm -- 15sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Straight out of Camera - Sony A7III --- Sony 24-105/32mm -- 15sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Edit - Sony A7III --- Sony 24-105/32mm -- 15sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Straight out of camera - Sony A7RIII --- Sony 24-105/24mm -- 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Edit - Sony A7RIII --- Sony 24-105/24mm -- 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Straight out of camera - Sony A7III --- Sony 24-105/24mm -- 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Edit - Sony A7III --- Sony 24-105/24mm -- 5sec, F/8, ISO 100, Tripod

Wake Up Early. Drink Coffee. Never stop chasing the light and always get out there and shoot.