Monday, December 7, 2009

Honolulu City Lights with CQ and Family

Aren't Christmas lights just magical? Trying to capture that feeling is very challenging, so when CQ mentioned that her family was gonna check out the Honolulu City Lights I said, "I'm down, I'm in, I'm dope." Ain't I soooo kewl, hah?


I arrived early 'cause I wanted to look around before CQ them got there. Takes me long to figure out my settings and stuff, dat's why. I was in awe . . . sooooo beautiful . . . but how to capture . . . especially hand held? The Christmas tree lighting is amaaaazing. It has so many different looks.
So neat yeah!
CQ, Jacob, Kaori and Connor arrived just a little after me.
Getting them plus the background lights in the same shot was a bit tricky. After fiddling around and fiddling around, my settings kinda ended up at 3200 ISO, 1/125 f3.5. Depending on the distance, my flash compensation varied a lot.
For this picture, I got down real low to get the whole tree in. I had to take several shots . . . thanks for your patience guys.

'kay, the above picture was taken with my 35mm lens. Without CQ them moving, I switched to my 85mm lens, backed up a bit and got this shot. Totally different look, yeah!

Thanks CQ!! I had a great time! I like go back again.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

I like the 85mm shot the best. The background looks better. Except, I wish you could photo shop me to look like Angelina Jolie...Oh, and put a huuuge smile on Kaori's face!Then the pic would be perfect. lol.

K and S said...

beautiful! I also like how you captured the lights :)

jalna said...

CQ, I think you look waaaaay better than Ms. Jolie. Look at Kaori's HUGE smile in the last pic! I musta got her by surprise.

Thanks Kat!

mmiissee said...

All the picture's came out great...Good job, Jalna!

jalna said...

Thanks mmiissee. I think I like try some more.

Betty Townsend said...

Wow, fantastic photos!! CQ's little guy is growing! The Christmas tree is gorgeous!!

Dd said...

Soo....what's that building with the Ornamental things in front of them ??

Randism said...

nice shots, esp challenging cuz u wanna try to get the background and the subjects' faces without washing it out with too much flash; also, i presume there wasn't much to bounce a flash off and no one to hold reflector screens!

jalna said...

Thanks Betty!! Isn't it neat watching Connor growing up in my blog?!

Didi, I think that was in front of Honolulu Hale.

Rand, I did just buy a reflector, and I hardly use it. Next time you gotta come and hold for me. . . but wait . . . do we bounce the flash off the reflector? Hmmmm . . .

Randism said...

p.s. please spill da beans about your avatar! what's the story behind da pick-cha?!?

jalna said...

Rand, what's a avatar? Is it the pikcha of me and the cake? It was my birthday and coworker Lorna asked her mom to make me a butter mochi "birthday cake". I like it 'cause I look skinnier than I actually am (secret okay).

Erick said...

I love the 85mm shot the best too. No wonder so many pros use it for portraits. Get jobs!

jalna said...

Erick, it is my favorite portrait lens.

Randism said...

by da way, u might wanna consider entering the photo challenges at http://www.dpreview.com/challenges/

i'm not too familiar with fredM but i've been using dpreview.com for years now and it's got a wealth of info; anyway, entering the challenges doesn't cost you anything and you can really learn a lot; just looking at the entries is an education!

jalna said...

I used to spend hours and hours on dpreview, but not so much anymore. I'll start checking it out again!

SW said...

NICE SHOTS!! WOW .. great shot of the giant tree all hand held??!! I've tried taking family photos and they've never come out...yours came out so great!! ISO 3200? love the tilted shot and the 85mm shot...guess that's the next lens on my wish list.. hmm.. wonder if santa can bring it for me?!! ha! ha!

jalna said...

Yeah Shun Wah . . . 3200 ISO . . . isn't that nuts!? I figured I needed all the ambient light I could get. I agree the 85mm should be the next on your wish list. I loooove mine.

Les said...

Soooo, should I bring Mick and Mattie and we can try again?? hahaha!

nice shots! And I told you quit bragging about the settings that I can't get on my camera!

jalna said...

OMG, give me more time to develop my dog whisperer skills.