Hello again everyone! I know, it has once again been quite a bit of time between entries. There is no excuse so that being said we are just going to get on with what has been happening... add some photos and business as usual...voila!

{Once again, I, Rob Weitzel, will add a note or two here in these funny little bracket things. Most of what needs to be said is summed up by saying "Sorry we have not published more blogs and more podcasts and to those of you who submitted images for the podcast, we are even more sorry. Fact is, we really like doing this stuff but unfortunately it all takes time to produce and that time is time away from things that generate revenue to help pay for gigantic lens.. see below. We will try to do better. Fact is, I may actually have time to find a photo to publish next time around - RW}

So, what has been happening? Well, not as much outdoor shooting as we would like unfortunately due to the fact that suddenly we have been inundated with massive amounts of rainfall. How massive you ask? Well, they said on the radio the other day that Regina received the most rain EVER for the month of May. Personally it just makes me happy that one day I can sit around a nice cozy fire and tell my grandkids that I was actually around to witness said event... yeah right!

Okay, enough jabbering... let's get to some pictures:

About a month ago Brooke and I headed out to our friends acreage and rode around on the quads and motorbikes. Rob bugs me because he says that this photo shows my white knuckles... yes, it has been a long time since I had been on a bike but we had a blast


My daughter Brooke quadding with Trey... she had too much fun!

Now onto some photos from our PeopleScapes field trip, the last photo field trip that we held. Originally it was scheduled for one date but it sold out in a few hours so an extra date was added and two were hosted back to back. The weekend was perfect weather-wise which has been extremely rare and from the feedback we have received it sounds like everyone had a great time and learned a lot. At some point in the future an image gallery will be added to the website with a selection of images from each field trip.

Shooting the shooters Also keeping an eye on our models and really hoping that the tree branch didn't break and plunge them into the lake! 

Rob "using his hands" to help show the participants what to look for when making images of two people together.

Shutter Speed - 1/1250th sec, F 5.6, ISO - 640, Focal Length - 85mm in aperture priority mode. Note that this image also has some pretty obvious edge burning done in photoshop. Obvious so you can see the effect. Usually a little more subtle.

Here is a shot of Tina that I took as the sun was starting to go down.

Some more pics of the field trippers.

One model and a million different perspectives as you can see from the shooting positions of those with cameras.

Oh wait, can it be??? Yes, another picture of Rob with his arms raised in the air now there's a surprise  

Giving a little bit of feedback. See, I do actually work on the field trips!

Shutter Speed - 1/80th sec, F 6.3, ISO 160, Focal Length - 38mm. Here is a picture that of Bill taking a picture. Take note that the focal point of the photo is in fact Bill's back and the combination of focal point and aperture used render the model in the distance to be soft.

The next two images were given to us by Larry Burkowsky who was one of the participants in the workshop.

Great composition and exposure!

He also shot this one of Rob. Something just seems wrong about a guy in a Tilley hat throwing a football... hmmm.

The perfect end to a perfect day... beautiful colours in the sky

We did have one opportunity to actually go out and take about 10 shots in between the rain and wind a little while ago. Here is the fruit of that labour...okay, truth be told it was nowhere near labour...been there, done that lol...

Rob taking some pics out of the back of his truck. Seriously, i think he needs a much bigger lens lol...

Getting all artsy fartsy with my photos and yes, the one above did go through Photoshop.

This one is titled "I'm a Ford"... yep, original Shutter Speed - 1/6400th sec, F 4.0, ISO - 400, Focal Length - 200mm.

Shutter Speed - 1/5000th sec, F 4.0, ISO - 400, Focal Length - 70mm

The above photo is a great example of getting a silhouette when your subject is backlit. Also, it shows how the 70-200mm lens can be used for close ups as well as distant objects.

Well everyone, that's all for now but if you can believe it, we have already started working on images for the next blog. With luck it will even get published in a timely manner...wohooo!  In the next blog will be some of our adventures from a photo shoot this past weekend out at SIR race track as well as some mountain biking adventures. They keep telling me that your butt eventually just gets used to that 4" wide seat that they put on most mountain bikes but after riding up and down hills this afternoon it will take a lot more convincing... as well as icepacks

Until next time...keep shooting and have fun! (For those of you who know who Hal Johnson and Joanne Mcleod of all the "keep fit and have fun" commercials on tv over the past 20 years, I just actually recited that in my head as I was typing the keep shooting and have fun bit lol).

Devona & Rob

Hello Again Everyone 

I hope that you are all getting out there and enjoying this beautiful weather that we are having without the worry of stepping outside and getting soaked to the bone!  

Our photo workshops are starting to wind down for the summer as we held our final Nikon workshop this past Monday and then we will be holding our final Canon workshop this coming Monday.  We will be taking a brief hiatus over the summer and then will be starting them up again in the Fall so if any of you were interested in attending but didn't get a chance to attend yet then just let us know and we will give you a shout as soon as we have our fall workshop schedule completed.

Rob held the first of many photo shoots for the Saskatchewan Soccer Association in Saskatoon this past weekend which I assisted with as I was in the city for my cousins bridal shower.  It went extremely smoothly and was also a lot of fun.  Rob will be running his butt off this summer all over the province covering all of the Provincial soccer events and I will be helping him out where I can. 

Rob is also covering the Riders this year for the Keystone Press so between that and soccer it will be awfully difficult for me to be taking my ever popular "making fun of Rob photos" that you have all grown to love but I promise that I will try my best so that I don't disappoint any of you as well as Rob whom I know is extremely fond of them as well even though he may not admit it 

Without further adieu I will move onto some photos taken over the past week...

ISO - 100, f 8.0, 1/100 sec, focal length - 22.0 mm

 

I saw this spider and thought that the positioning was perfect as he (or she as I really wouldn't know) was sitting right on the barb on this fence.

 

 

Once again it is a total mystery to me why Rob is constantly complaining about his sore back and neck... hmmm...

 

 

 

This calf came right up to me as I was standing by the fence when all the others ran away.  He must have sensed that I am a "cow whisperer".  I just realized that that doesn't actually sound like that may be something I should be overly proud of :)

 

 

 ISO - 800, f 2.8, 1/160th sec, focal length - 47.0 mm

 

Not much I can say about this but that this proves beyond a doubt that I have the ability to make fun of myself.  I was walking by Rob's car today and couldn't help but notice how absolutely hilarious my reflection looked so of course I told Rob to come and stand beside me and we took some pictures.  There are only a couple that I have that are actually somewhat in focus due to the fact that we couldn't stop laughing!  Now let's just hope that Rob has the same sense of humor regarding this shot that I do!

 

 ISO - 100, f 4.5, 1/200th sec, focal length - 15mm

 

Old house that Rob and I came across on our trip down south today.

 

 

Rob proving that there is indeed a big kid in all of us as as we checked out the park just outside of Avonlea, Sask.

 

 

And showing everyone that mini golf courses are for way more than golfing although I'm not entirely sure what he was doing here... taking a nap I think.

 

 

 Shot of Rob Writing - ISO - 100, f 22, 0.4 sec, focal length - 23mm

 

For those of you who know Rob well he always has a pen...or pencil behind his ear as he works.... then he proceeded to write his name with it which apparently was quite difficult as this thing weighed a ton!

 

 

 

 

 ISO - 100, f 6.3, 1/250th sec, focal length - 22.0mm

 

A barn that we found just outside of Avonlea.

 

 

This is Rob proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is indeed a rebel.  Here we are in Ogema, Sask. and as you can clearly see there is a sign right in the middle...or end of main street as I do believe that they are one in the same showing that it is clearly illegal to do perform a U Turn and what does he do... that's right... blatantly disregards the law!  Let me tell you after this risky maneuver we got the Hell out of Dodge!!!  Okay... actually we stopped for a drink... went to the grocery store and then got the Hell out of Dodge to be perfectly honest 

 

 

We stopped in Weyburn briefly on our way back to town and took a few pictures at Signal Hill.

 

Well... that's it for now as I awoke this morning just before 4:00 A.M and all of the words that I am typing are starting to blend into one! I will most likely be adding more picks to this entry or we will be doing another one as I have not received any photos from Rob yet from our excursion.

 

Try to get out there with your cameras when you can and have a fantastic week!  On a bit of an up note ... NO WOOD-TICKS TODAY!!!!!  I'm not going to go as far as to say that wood-tick season is officially over but ...yipee!!

 

 

Okay... I found a couple more photos and apparently am still not a blog master as I can't quite get them to go where I want them to so I will add them here:

 

Wow.... okay...I was going to quit typing but I'm a bit flabbergasted right now and just had to share why with all of you.  I just happened to catch on the news that a lady in the States is suing Victoria Secret over the fact that she injured herself while trying on one of their thongs...no...I'm not even joking.  And on that note I'm not exactly sure what I can say about that so instead I'm going to say nothing at all... yep...what next??