September 2008

September was a very nice month. At the beginning we had 30 degrees Celsius after a rainy August but then summer was gone within a day and the weathergod desided to skip autumn altogether leaving us shivering in cold an wet November-like days. I hope we will see some Indian summer in October. So no autumn leaves so far but a lot of portraits.

On Sunday ( election day in Austria ) Harald and his family visited us. We had a walk on a sunny afternoon and I took a lot of images of their kids. The once I finally have chosen were taken inside in our kitchen. The first was taken with the 4/70-200IS. This is truly a great lens. It´s so light and small and still it is very well built. Optically it is superb also giving me the same sharpness as my 70-200VR at f4.

In the first shot I used it wide open at the long end and the result was a tack sharp image. The image was taken before our walk and that´s why the lens was on the camera. After I got the 135L I used the 70-200IS less often but this is because I shot mostly indoors and because the 135L is the best portrait lens I have ever used. The 70-200IS is more versatile and the perfect lens for travel, landscape and portraiture.

The image shows 6 months old Lisa held by her mother Helena. I took a lot of images of Lisa till the point where her sister Nadja became "jealous" and jumped into the picture. The last shot shows Lisa again. She took a piercing glance at me. Sometimes I wonder what these little kids are thinking.

A couple of years ago I was only taken images of the babies and the kids of our friends. Why? Because nobody else liked to be photographed by me. That has changed. They still don´t love to be photographed but they want to have a good portrait of themself. My portfolio has become better giving me a better reputation and them confidence. It´s easier for me now to take images of my friends. I will be able to update my portrait folder soon.

I started with travel photography. Then came close up, later nature and bird photography and finally I ended up shooting portraits. Wondering what will be next.

setting main shot: A-Mode, 4/70-200IS@200mm, 1/200s@f4, 200ASA

settings second image: A-Mode, 1/200s@f2.2, 800ASA

settings third image: A-Mode, 1/400s@2.5, 400ASA