Having lived here for 3 years when I came back for a friend's wedding I wanted to try to see it with different eyes. Rather than taking the obligatory: take a picture of the the national monument, turn 180 degrees, take a picture of the capitol building, repeat at other locations. I wanted to capture other parts of DC. The parts you don't see on post cards. It's only been a year since we moved from DC to Portland and in that time I feel like I've matured as a photographer. I have the exact same camera I did but my eye and understanding of photography has changed. I've read everything I could get my hands on, listened to countless photography podcasts, and (most importantly) I have taken thousands more images. I also wanted to have fun while on my walk around so any time I saw someone taking a picture of someone in their party I offered to take the picture for them with everyone in the shot. I talked to a lot of nice people including a couple from Russia, a family from North Carolina, and a family from Italy.






In all I had a really fun day and was able to capture some unique perspectives of a city I used to live in. After walking around in the heat all day I ended it with my buddy at the driving range.

Labels: Photography

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend my first Portland Strobist meet up. For those of you who don’t know, Strobist.com is a website that is dedicated to teaching off the camera flash photography and using light in interesting and creative ways. I was a little nervous to go considering I haven’t experimented too much with off the camera flash photography but everybody there was very welcoming and helpful. The whole day was a complete blast and I learned so much about how to use light in creative ways. I also feel like I made some photographer friends through the process which I was hoping for.

The only downsides of the whole day were:
1- I got REALLY sunburnt. (yeah, I’m an idiot for thinking I could last 5 hours in direct sunlight and not get burned).
2- Serious mosquito bites (no less than 30 all over my legs and arms.)
3- I now want to go out and buy a lot of new equipment. (Much to Tiff’s chagrin :-)

Below are some of the pics I took from the day as well as the lighting set up for each.

Erin:


Set up:

Tara:

Set up:

Amanda:


Set up:

They have these every month and from now on I’m going to make every effort to go. Now I’m off to DC for the week for Mike Fronce’s wedding and, as always, my camera will be glued to my hand so check flickr often.

PS I had to throw this one up. We took these pics on Sauvie’s Island which is just north of Portland in the nude beach section. I didn't realize I had some nudies in my pictures until I got home and started to do some post processing. :-)

I recently did a shoot for my little brother and his family and I’m starting to see that slowly but surely I’m learning new tricks. I'm figuring out how to get children to smile (here is a hint, act as goofy as possible) and the subject to turn the right way or make a different facial expression. Months ago the shots below I would have not used due to the over exposed sky but luckily with portrait photography you are given a little more creative leeway. I was able to take that over exposed overcast sky to make the image look like something out of an American Eagle add by warming it up a bit, desaturating and adding a vignette.




Nothing says “This is Sparta!!” like the 300 look that I added to the family shot:

For some reason this bright and cheery look reminds me of Hawaii:

And finally, with the kids I’ve read that the eyes are the best place to help the photo “pop” so I added some saturation, sharpened, and lightened up their eyes in the ones below.



(I’ll admit that this last one of Jackson looks a little “cartoony” but I thought it really brought out his little personality so I went with it)

Overall the shoot went great and I was happy with the results.

Labels: Photography

I’ve recently been thinking about the cross over between my job and hobby. By trade I’m a Marriage, Child, and Family Therapist. I work at a non-profit agency doing in home therapy for some of the most intense kids in the county and another job in a clinical setting. And, as most of you know, one of my passions is photography. What I’ve been thinking about lately is the importance of understanding the science with both which enables you to be more artistic and makes it more enjoyable.

In photography, understanding how to use light and exposure, as well as some basic rules about composition, assist in creating an image that is pleasing to the eye. At first I was frustrated by having to learn the science and relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I just wanted to go out and take pictures. But the more I understand the science the better I get at the art of composing an image that I love.

In therapy, understanding the science of psychology, systems theory, and human behavior are important parts of helping people to find change in their lives. Once you have a basic understanding of the science you can be more artistic in applying the various theories and actually start having fun.

With both I find an amazing sense of accomplishment because at the end I can see that I have played a role in creating something new, whether it’s a captured moment or a way of thinking and interacting. I once heard that if you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life. I feel lucky enough to have found two things that I love and actually get paid for, as meager as that income may currently be.

At last I had the opportunity to do my first new born baby photo shoot with my twin niece and nephew who were born several weeks ago. I was a little nervous going in because this was my first experience working with small babies but I had seen first hand my amazing sister-in-law Noel shoot our son when he was brand new so I felt I knew what I was looking for. As well, when I try to shoot a new subject I attempt to imitate the composition of photos I like and then add my own twist. Noel had done such an incredible job that she seemed like a good candidate to base my photos off of, plus I actually know her and I thought she wouldn't mind. :-)

Shooting just one of them was fairly easy. It was when I got them together that added a large degree of difficulty because they had a tendency to scratch at each other. Another thing that made it a little tough was that they both were awake for the entire shoot so posing them proved to be somewhat difficult. In retrospect, the next time I think I will try to shoot the newborns when they are just a week younger and make sure that they are tired and sleeping the entire time. Overall I'm quite happy with the results and think they don't look half bad for my first time. I really want to develop my own style and look with my photography but I know that this will happen in time as I continue to learn the art and master the science behind what makes a great photograph.

Check my flickr page for more and I should be rolling my other favorites out over the next couple days.
Enjoy!

I recently recieved this email in my inbox:

"I AM SCARED.

MY NAME IS DAN BROWN. NO, I AM NOT THE AUTHOR, DAN BROWN, WHOM I ADMIRE VERY MUCH. RATHER, I AM JUST A 75 YEAR OLD RETIREE WITH LOTS OF TIME ON MY HANDS WHO LOVES THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH ALL THAT'S WITHIN ME.

I AM NOT A PATRIOT. I HAVE NEVER SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THIS GREAT NATION, TO MY SORROW, BUT DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT. I HAVE NEVER MADE A BIG MARK IN THIS WORLD.
I HOLD DEARLY TO CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES. I NORMALLY VOTE REPUBLICAN. I AM A CHRISTIAN AND AM VERY PROUD OF IT. I AM NOT A COWARD - BUT I AM PETRIFIED.

WE ARE FACING THE REAL POSSIBILITY THAT BARACK OBAMA WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THIS NATION. NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MAN EXCEPT THAT HE DOES HAVE GREAT CHARISMA. HE HAS NOT AT ANY TIME DURING THIS CAMPAIGN REVEALED WHAT HE STANDS FOR, WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, OTHER THAN OBAMA, NOR WHAT HIS PLANS ARE TO EFFECT CHANGE WHICH HE TALKS ABOUT UNCEASINGLY.

I AM NOT AN INSIDER. I HAVE NO PROOF OF WHAT I BELIEVE, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT WITH THE RESOURCES I DO NOT HAVE THAT MOST OF THE FOLLOWING COULD BE ESTABLISHED.

I BELIEVE THAT WHEN MICHELLE OBAMA MADE HER INFAMOUS STATEMENT ON TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK THAT “FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM PROUD OF MY COUNTRY, SHE PROBABLY MADE THE MOST TRUTHFUL STATEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN. SHE JUST FAILED TO NAME WHAT HER COUNTRY IS. I BELIEVE THAT IT IS OBVIOUS THAT HER COUNTRY AS WELL AS THAT OF HER HUSBAND IS NOT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HER PRIDE IN HER COUNTRY STEMS FROM HER BELIEF THAT THEY ARE ON THE VERGE OF TRANSFORMING THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TO AN ISLAMIC NATION.

WE ALL WERE ASTOUNDED WITH THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WHICH CAME INTO THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN COFFERS EARLY IN THIS YEAR, JUST WHEN IT WAS NEEDED. I BELIEVE THE SOURCE IS NOT VERY MYSTERIOUS. I BELIEVE THIS MONEY WAS DISTRIBUTED IN AMOUNTS WHICH WOULD NOT RAISE A FLAG TO A GREAT MANY POOR PEOPLE, DISHWASHERS, TAXI DRIVERS, WAITERS, ETC., TO BE DONATED TO THE CAMPAIGN, BY MIDDLE-EASTERN FORCES WHICH ARE VERY ANONYMOUS.

WE HAVE EIGHT MONTHS IN WHICH WE MUST BRING SOME OF THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. WE CANNOT ALLOW BARACK OBAMA TO BE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THIS NATION.

IF THIS ARTICLE CAN ACHIEVE THE ATTENTION THAT I HOPE THAT IT WILL, I WOULD EXPECT REPRISALS. WHAT GREATER SERVICE COULD I BE TO MY COUNTRY.

DAN BROWN February 21, 2008"

Not only is it written in all caps (yuck!) but it also is blatantly false.The only people who don't know Barack Obama are the people that haven't made any attempt to get to know him. He has written 2 books chronicling his entire life which I have read and I have every confidence in the world that he would make a great president. I feel like I know this man better than I have ever known a presidential candidate. Hate to say it but this is right wing propaganda. It's manipulative and tries to get you to relate to him as someone like you (Christian, patriotic) and then launches into a bunch of half truths and lies.

Being LDS (Mormon), I don't like it when people attack my religion with half truths/ lies and I don't like to see other peoples' ideals and beliefs attacked in the same way.

I remember back several years ago when I used to listen to right wing radio really feeling afraid if a certain "liberal" or "progressive" was put into power because that would mean the "terrorist would win". I was genuinely motivated to vote for Bush because of the question of who the terrorists would want in office: Kerry or Bush. When I stopped being afraid of labels and/or the terrorists and starting objectively looking at the behavior behind those labels I no longer wanted to be associated with the Republican party.

In my clinical work I have found that although fear motivates people temporarily, in the long term it's emotionally and psychologically crippling. Optismism and hope are what produce long term changes, among other things. Personally, I will no longer be motivated or manipulated by fear. I encourage the readers of my blog to do honest objective research before voting this fall and not to be scared into voting for someone.

Labels: Politics

Piggy backing off my last post I figure I'd give you a little more "The Bird and the Bee" and since I'm a HUGE Apple guy this video is about to close to perfection as you can get.



Can you name every application they used?

I just thought I'd pass along this amazing song. So kick back, close your eyes and listen to this ear candy.

How Deep is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

I HIGHLY recommend their latest self titled album and Inara George's previous album.

Dear flickr,

I’ve loved you since I was introduced to you 2 short years ago and since our anniversary has recently come and gone I thought I would take this opportunity to look back and reminisce about our good times, our weird times, and everything in between. After we were casually involved for a few months I felt confident that I could make the commitment to you that you wanted and I upgraded my account to “pro” for the low price of $20 a year which is nothing compared to what I get from you in return.

While our successes are many I thought I would first point out how much attention you have allowed me to have. Over the past 2 years I’ve had my photos viewed over 66,150 times, 83 of my photos have been marked as someone’s favorite, and over 351 photos that people have commented on. I don’t say this to brag only to state my appreciation. By far my most popular photo on your site has been this one with almost 10,000 views:

And I’ve had 6 photos chosen for your most coveted “explore” page:

Over the course of the past two years you have done things that have perplexed me. For instance, why this photo is one of my most popular (almost 2,000 views) when it’s one of my least favorites:

And why these photos, which are some of my favorites, are not:



But I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful. Just know that the past 2 years I’ve learned and improved my photography more than I could have hoped and I have you to thank for helping make that happen. Here’s to two more years...or until Microsoft buys you out.

Ryan

You may have noticed some serious changes here on my blog and now that I'm done getting my hands dirty in some HTML, the transformation is now complete. Because I went with a more complicated template that is not your typical Blogger layout I figure I'd do a post about navigating this strange and new world.

First- You'll notice the "pull" tab to your right. Click on it and this is where you'll find a little about me, other links to my places on the web, and the blog archive.

Second- To comment you can click on the name of the blog post or the number at the end of the date of each post. I love this comment system because you can see other peoples comments along side the article itself plus you can access the archives from any post by clicking the "pull" tab.

Third- At the very bottom are my recent twitter updates, my recently listened to music, a nice high res flickr slideshow of my photography (click on the picture or go close the the bottom or top, I dare you), and my shared items from google reader. These are all glimpses of my recent updates from other sites.

Basically I wanted to create a one stop shopping for everything I'm putting out on the internet which leads me to my last update. You'll notice that if you typed in my old blog URL (adoptedbluth.blogspot.com) you were automatically directed to www.wilcoxryan.com. Thats because I did some magic and used the domain name to my old website to direct to my blog. Blogger still hosts so I can easily update it using their interface.

So with these changes I'm also making the commitment to blog AT LEAST once a week, yes you read it right, ONCE A WEEK. So check back often and/or add me to your RSS reader. I don't want to turn this into a boring family blog but it may contain updates of my fam, thoughts on my photography, and of course as always my random thoughts.

Any feedback on the new look and lay out is welcome and ENJOY!

Voodoo Doughnut, originally uploaded by rynomft.

For better or for worse they opened up a new Voodoo Doughnut less than 5 blocks from my work. This place is known for its quirky but amazing doughnuts and will be sure to add at least 2 inches to my constantly increasing waistline.

At last I got to try the infamous bacon maple bar and yes that is real bacon. It was actually REALLY good combing sweet maple with salty bacon. This doughnut shop and all of the other weird crazy places are some of the million reasons I love where I live and I'm doing my part to keep Portland weird.

How would you like to work from home PART TIME and earn up to $100K a year? I’m totally kidding. I actually do have an announcement if you are living or will be visiting the Portland area this summer. I’m going to be opening my photography services for friends and family using the “name your own price” model. Radiohead and several other bands have adopted this model to distribute their music and I thought it would be fun to do the same with my photography. Basically, I come and take pictures of you and/or your family and you pay me what you think they are worth to you. If they are professional pay me more, if they are amateur pay me less. I’m doing this because I want to improve my portrait photography skills and build my portfolio.

Say you need some pictures of just you for your facebook/myspace profiles or have been meaning to get some couples and/or family shots. Now would be a great time to get some because I’m only going to do this for the summer and then I’ll be setting my rates. I can make them as edgy or traditional as you like. I am also open to the idea of being sent pictures you like that someone else took and doing something similar.

I’m opening this to anyone that I know or even have met at one time (I’m talking to you facebook and myspace friends).

If you are interested you can contact me at: ryan.rwilcox@gmail.com

I only have a limited number of weekends and week days available so please contact me soon if you are interested.

Here is a sample of some of my work with varying styles: