fun with a fisheye

For our company staff photo, we rented a wide angle and a fisheye lens. They arrived today in the mail so we had plenty of time to make photo shoot decisions before Monday, and of course we started playing immediately. Here are a few shots around the office!

coyne college

This morning Coyne PR had another Coyne College session- this one on Event planning led by Deborah Sierchio. It's always tough to get the shot in that room- there are bright lights streaming in one window but otherwise the room is shrouded in darkness. Thank goodness I attended the PDN conference and listened to Gerd Ludwig's lecture on shooting digitally in low light- I have been practicing his tricks in these situations and I am learning...


To see more Coyne College pictures, please visit the Coyne Flickr page.

Halloween at Coyne

Everyone knows Coyners know how to have a good time. This is especially evident when there is something to celebrate! Last Friday was no exception when everyone showed up in full costume.
Group picture- some really creative costumes include H1N1, 101 (3) Dalmatians, Wayne from Wayne's World, Roofio from Hook, a cactus, the Anchorman crew, and Ace Freely from Kiss.

Ace leaps of the steps and does a tuck-and-roll to the shock of everyone!

Paul the Cactus flanked by Roofio and Ace.

The Anchorman Crew.

PDN Conference & Expo

New York Penn Station- I was waiting for my train and decided to see if I could hand-hold at 1/3... not too bad, eh?

On Thursday I was fortunate enough to attend the 2009 PDN PhotoPlus conference & expo at the Javitz center in New York. I spent most of the day in seminars, and my favorite by far was the lecture "Working Digitally in Low Light" by Gerd Ludwig, seasoned National Geographic photographer. Here are some highlights:

• You can get a free booklet of strobe filters if you nonchalantly walk into a photo store and say you lost yours, may you have another?
• The warmer the ambient light, the warmer the filter- you want your added light to blend in
• Don't rely on post-production- there is no PSD tool that can do what a polarizing lens filter can do
• You make a better fly on the wall and you can react faster if you don't use a tripod (you have to have good enough technology to shoot high-ISO without getting really grainy)
• The greatest photographs are the ones that make you forget about the photographer and focus on the situation
• Capture smoke with backlight

getting darker

Fall is by far my favorite season. The air is crisp, the colors are gorgeous, the funnest holiday is coming up, and I get to wear scarves all the time.
Lara, all done up for a fashion show later that day!

This is the river near my house- view from the bridge above using a 50mm/1.4f lens with a 15" shutter speed.
Aaand the lights Luke recently installed outside- they look very eerie at night!

belly dancing

Luke's mom just had her 55th (oops, I mean 21st!) birthday, and to celebrate, we went to Marakesh for dinner and belly dancing!

Dr. Hirshenson & Lara
Kayla, wearing her hip scarf as a neck scarf :)
Attempting to dance... hilarity ensues!
Omar reveres the birthday girl!
Omar, the brilliant dancer performs on Ladies' Night the first Wednesday of every month

the heartland

I recently went back to my hometown to visit the family, see some friends, go to the fair, and relax at the cabin. Even though Minnesota is known for its winters, there is a whole lot of beauty in the summer (and spring, and fall). A true Minnesotan is tough (you have to be if you're walking to school in -15º weather and you're a little afraid your eyeballs are going to freeze), lives for the State Fair (plus all the fried food on a stick they can eat), and is able to appreciate nature (especially when it is providing food- a la fish or wild game).

My family's cabin is on Silver Lake in the North Woods of Minnesota.

I had fun with my new lens in my mom's garden!

Fireworks at the State Fair- pretty cool for hand-held, right?

Cheese Curds from the Food Building- my FAVORITE treat at the fair!! Yummmmm..


1310 lbs. Supposedly my mom actually saw him standing up!

The common Loon - The Minnesota state bird.

Bald Eagle- seen from the lake, and I just happened to have my telephoto lens! :)


We went on a hike and my mom and I stopped to take pictures of practically every mushroom.

Pretty wild!

Luke caught this 7 lb. Northern Pike that easily fed the four of us (with leftovers)... definitely not a "snake"!