Shoda Photography

This blog is dead.

2010-02-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

You can now find me here. Hope you like!

This blog will soon die.

2010-02-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Because I have a much better one in the works. Will have the address up as soon as I work out the kinks.

Shooting for Haiti pt. 1

2010-02-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

As you may know, I offered to volunteer my time and shoot anyone willing to donate to the relief efforts in Haiti. The first family to take part in this was the Griffards and we couldn't have asked for better conditions.

It was a perfect spring like day at the UW campus thanks to El Nino, and there were hardly any people around. The boys spent most of the time running around so I got to test my AF system's 3-d tracking capability (which was pretty good). We made our way through the quad down to Drumheller fountain hitting some good spots along the way. All in all, it was a great shoot and I want to thank them for donating to a good cause.

Part two will be coming up in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!

Simplicity

2010-02-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Warning: this post is purely gear related and might bore anyone who doesn't usually wield a camera around.

When I started getting into flash photography, I was in need of a bag that could hold up to 4 flashes, a body, and a few lenses. I also needed a bag I could fit a couple lightstands in as well as a 28" softbox and a couple of umbrellas. Of course, there wasn't one bag that did all of this so I purchased a Tamrac Pro 12 and a Giottos tripod bag to address my needs, or at least what I thought they were. The Tamrac comfortably fit all my camera gear down to the lens cleaning pen and spare batteries. It even had room for a 14" laptop if I chose to bring it along. The tripod bag fit 3 lightstands, 3 umbrellas and has a nice velcro'd enclosure in the middle that holds my Westcott Apollo softbox.

After the purchase of my second body, I found myself needing a bit more space and bought a Tamrac Expedition 7 backpack camera bag off of Craigslist. That bag held a gripped D700, the D90 body, the 70-200 & 28-75 lenses, 3 primes, an SB600 and two Vivitar 285 flashes, which is a ton of stuff crammed comfortably into an already bulky backpack. So what does this have to do with anything?

When I'm out shooting, I'm often dealing with families who have small children with small attention spans and I'm ALWAYS over packing. The fully packed Tamrac Pro killed my shoulder since it only had a shoulder strap, and was hard to manage two shoulder bags with a camera around my neck. The backpack was more comfortable but not easy to access when I needed to swap lenses quickly and I found myself leaving it open on the ground so I could change equipment fast. Not an issue until we needed to change locations, which required me to repack everything so I could zip it up and toss it back on.

I was finding out the hard way that even though these bags held all of my gear, they were not working for me. Not only that, but the amount of gear I was bringing was unnecessary. I almost never busted out 3 lights after finding out how easily I could lose someone's attention trying to work out a multiple light setup. Watching Zack Arias' One Light DVD made me realize that one flash used properly could get you extremely good results. So I made a goal to pack less and shoot more, but that left me back at my original dilemna: What kind of bag will work for me? I knew I wanted a basic shoulder bag similar to a messenger pack but only to hold my lenses while I was out shooting. The Shootsac was an option but I didn't want to shell out that much cash for yet another bag. After some internet research, I found what I thought to be the one. It was a $30 Lowepro bag, extremely simple in design and looked to suit my needs. I ran down to Kenmore camera, found the last one in black and picked it up intending to use the next day for a family session.

After figuring out what gear I was gonna pack, I tried the bag on and was surprised at how easy it was to access my gear and how much my shoulder and back were going to appreciate it. I fit my 70-200, the 3 primes and the SB600 in it with plenty of spare space. I did have to add an extra insert not included with the bag to separate some of the lenses, but no biggie, I had a few laying around from the other bags.

As a bonus, I also found a Black Rapid strap for a very good price and immediately purchased it. Prior to this, I was using a nicer Lowepro neoprene strap with plastic clasps but the BR design is so intuitive it's silly.

Moving around the shoot the following day was a breeze since I was packing light and the bag was so small. I could swap lenses quickly, lie on the ground to get different angles, and the only hinderance was my coat (50+degrees and sunny so it was my fault for bringing it).

I don't know how other working photographer's operate but I assume they follow the KISS model (keep it simple stupid). It's just like me to spend a ton of money on stuff only to find a $30 solution, but I'm just glad I've found it. If you're finding that hauling your gear is keeping you from shooting, look into simplifying your setup. Only one shoot in and I know I'm changing the way I work for good.

How Can I Help You?

2010-02-06T22:48:00.001-08:00

I have really been thinking about what makes good content for a blog and particularly what makes me stay current on a person's blog. Obviously photographic content is great, but I find myself drawn to those with diverse content. Most of the photographers I really stay up on not only show beautiful images, but they also can tell compelling stories, show a behind the scenes look at their workflow, and really strive to connect with their readers. I have to admit that I haven't really taken blogging seriously until lately and previously had just used it as an outlet to shove more of my work out on to the web with no intention of reaching out to people beyond my circle of friends.

So now I'm really trying to make this something more personable and hopefully valuable for any of you who read it. In doing so, I'd really like to know what it is that you might like to see/read from me. Pretty much all of my photography knowledge/inspiration has come from the internet and I feel it would be appropriate for me to try and give back to anyone interested in learning the medium. I would be happy to share anything that I know, and it would be a nice challenge for me to encounter things I don't know to keep me on my feet and progressing with this. I am planning on continuing with more post processing tutorials and would even like to do some shooting tutorials if anyone is interested. Anyways, just drop me a comment and let me know what I could put up that would help you grow as an artist and I'll do my best to provide.

I hate not being there...

2010-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

There is a problem I'm constantly plagued with as a creative individual. It never starts when I start with a new medium or idea, but rather attacks me after I've put in the work and have started to build my self confidence. It's not exactly "writer's block" but the result is usually the same: A halt to my creativity, a severe loss of confidence, and a complete abandonment of the medium. I'll explain.

I grew up drawing and through school figured I'd somehow make a career out of it. I spent a ton of time drawing and sketching, to the point my grades suffered and I had to spend my senior year making up credits while my friends were kicking back. I felt I had the talent to make it in a sea full of mediocre artists but I soon found out that there were people out there doing it far better than I, and often at my age or younger. The deeper I looked, the more I found there were artists out there who I'd just been finding out about that were amazing and far beyond where I was at the time. Not only that, but these people were pretty much unknown too (most being street/urban artists). It wasn't necessarily that I didn't expect that, but it stung since I was at a point where I was taking it seriously and simultaneously finding out the bar was much higher than I thought. I began to emulate the styles of those I admired, as most people do, finally reaching a point of just giving up because not only was I unoriginal, but I couldn't even copy my influences well. Nowadays, I almost never pick up a pencil or a pen to draw. When I do, I usually start with the same lines I always use, screw something up, then write a note to myself saying "you suck".

This is a little self destructive, yes I know. The sad thing is that this same problem has plagued me with almost everything I do. Art, skateboarding, snowboarding, music, etc. There is a reason I'm 28 and still lack a solid direction at what I'm doing in life. I haven't changed from my architecture major because for some reason I think since I don't care about it, I might avoid this cycle of creative self destruction. I won't care that there are thousands of other gifted architects doing it better than me and so I might actually be able to do my job for longer than a few years. That's why working retail for 7+ years was so easy.

But here I am, trying to pursue something I'm completely in love with, and finding my withering confidence starting to eat my dream alive again. Everyday, I'm finding new photographers who shoot the most amazing photos, and some don't even do it as a profession. I see some of the work on their sites, and then revisit my own site with the thought to pull it down. Truth is, if I hadn't spent the money on it, I probably would have already. Even flickr has a plethora of talented photographers who have thousands of views with hundreds of comments per photo. It seems like the more time I spend looking at other peoples' work, the more I start to despise my own. I'm desperately trying to ride the line of appreciating my own talent while understanding I always will have room to grow. Everyone started somewhere and I'm just a little late to the party.

My confidence comes in knowing that I've found this low point, and that I'm not going to be content with mediocrity. I'm not going to be one of those disillusioned photographers who go about thinking they're way better than they really are. I have a long year ahead of me as I try to develop into a professional level shooter and I know the obstacles will always be there. I'm going to try and maintain my focus, keep shooting, and make every shot better than the last. Patience is not naturally within me so if I work hard, hopefully I'll be where I want to be sooner than later. Of course, I just hate not being there yet.

I'm sure many of you can relate, even if it's not in photography. Here is one of my favorite photographers sharing his thoughts on the matter. This video will always serve as a motivator for me and I greatly appreciate him sharing himself in this way. Hopefully it might help you too if you're in the same funk.

I'm a Mac

2010-01-19T19:27:00.001-08:00

I'm a Mac, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

As some of you might know we recently purchased an Apple computer after many, many years of owning PC's. It's funny that as technology has gotten better, it seems our computers have gotten worse and less useful with less time. The HP laptop we purchased just over a year ago now runs terribly (which replaced another similar HP) and I do all the regular maintenance stuff with defrag/error check, etc. I even upgraded to Windows 7 in hopes it would improve it's performance but to no avail. For the work that I do on computers, I need a laptop I can count on for performance and display. The HP was never even close to color correct so I couldn't edit photos being away from the desktop setup without looking like vomit. Shopping the PC market right now is basically the same as it was a year ago when we purchased this and even though the prices are low, I didn't want to spend anything on a computer I'd be replacing in a year.

So I looked into Apple as I have many times, only holding back because of the high price tag. Luckily being a student gets me a discount and so I ventured into the Apple store while we were in Oregon and almost bought one. My initial thought was to buy either the higher end 13" Pro or the lowest end 15" Pro. The cost was still up there and I could get some sweet lenses or a bigger light rig to use with that dough. I decided on our last day in OR to stop in again and take another look. I was sold on the 15", I knew that much since I would be using it for portable editing, but the guy who I was talking with was a graphic design major and sold me on the 2.8ghz model since the graphics card wasn't integrated into the core and running Adobe stuff really hogs the memory. I got a sweet discount, a free printer (which I didn't need and still have), and saved some money on sales tax. Not a bad deal, but that's not to say I had some buyer's remorse. Well, not for long.

The whole platform is phenomenal. Out of the box, the setup only consisted of registering the computer which took less than 10 min. No stupid bloatware preinstalled, hardly anything to do to get it the way I wanted it. I was amazed. After owning PC's, you get used to spending a day just to install the OS. Then you have all these dumb programs running that don't need to be, on top of the already clumsy operating system. The display is beautiful, the build is rock solid yet compact and everything makes sense. The trackpad is awesome, especially in contrast to our completely akward chrome trackpad on the HP. Who approved that? The thing takes less than 20 sec to boot up from being off and is on instantly from sleeping. Oh yeah, the battery on this lasts forever. Seriously. Running it with the lowest brightness on power saver mode gets me through a whole day at school and then some (6+ hours). The HP's battery was lucky to get 2 hours of use and after one year, it is already in need of replacing.

Needless to say, I'm an Apple fanboy now, but I still had one hurdle to overcome: Getting Bethany sold on it. She hates Apple. Not because the quality of their products (namely the recent ipod she put through the wash), but because they represent this elitist group of people who she deems as hipsters. Of course, we all know who hipsters are and I certainly don't think I have the mustache or glasses to become one, but owning the same computer as somebody who purposefully rides a bike that doesn't change gears does scare me. Well, about as much as communism.

After 3 weeks of having the Mac in our house, she has not touched the old laptop until recently when she discovered how much better the Mac really is. I think I've finally found a computer that should stay with me for a few years and hopefully will find one to replace our desktop setup too (my main workstation). If you own a PC and are not familiar with Apple's computers, seriously look into them. They might cost a little more (the newest MacBook comes pretty well equipped for about $1k), but you will be so relieved when you see how efficient they are. The whole experience is like spending years searching for someone who speaks your language, and finally finding them. Now I'm off to buy some tight jeans and neon green Ray Bans.

Shooting for Haiti

2010-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

With the influx of news reports coming in on the recent earthquake in Haiti, it is hard not to reflect on how blessed I am to live in this country at this time. It's especially difficult to stomach the fact that this event has just ruined the lives of many and I'm sitting comfortably in my apartment watching it happen on TV in between peppy car insurance commercials. Given my current student status following the holidays, I don't have much to give in the way of donations, so I want to help out by using my camera and shooting some 1 hour sessions for free (well almost). All I would ask is that you donate to the relief efforts going on in Haiti. The sessions would be within the next two months when the weather lets up a little, and I'm opening this up to everyone (singles, couples, families).

Here's what you do:
1. Make a donation to any of the organizations doing relief work in Haiti.
2. Shoot me an email at jeramie[at]shodaphotography.com with something showing that you have made a donation (doesn't have to show an amount but please give what you can).
3. Let me know the best weekend to get together.

Like I said, this is open to everyone, whether friend or stranger. Spread the word, I'll probably only be doing 4-6 of these so contact me as soon as possible if you're interested.

Let's do some good together and keep those in need in our prayers.

6 Months!

2010-01-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

Somebody is turning 1/2 a year tomorrow! To celebrate, she got to try out eating rice cereal from a spoon. Did it like a boss!
]

Snowboarding

2010-01-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Most of what I've been doing lately has been client related and I haven't really set aside any time for me to just do my own thing, so I decided last night to set up some lights to see if I still know how to do this photography stuff. I had a grand idea in mind based on a lighting setup I saw a sports photographer do a while ago and wanted to replicate it. Unfortunately, my D700 doesn't have a remote and the self timer is a pain in the butt since it wants to autofocus when you push the shutter, not before it snaps the shot, so I had to get Bethany's help to finish the shot. She was cold, I was hot in my snowboard gear and we spent about a half an hour taking photos in front of the apartment. Here is the end result, not quite Sports Illustrated material but I'm still rusty.

2009: My Year in Review

2010-01-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

My year through the photos I've taken (all chronological).

The camera I started with.

My first DSLR.

Our 2nd trip to Hawaii.

Evey's first trip to Hawaii (in the womb).

The love I lost.

What I gained in return.

My first good lens (50mm f1.8).

My first good result using a flash.

Where I got into school.

My first broken flash.

Of of many trips to Portland.

Our first time seeing Mt. St. Helens.

My 28th Birthday and the first time skating in 3 years.

50 days into my 365.

Bethany getting closer to the due date.

And even closer.

4th of July

Evey's arrival.

And her taking in her surroundings.

Overcame my fear of royal blue.

My first 35mm.

Evey with her grandparents.

Port Townsend in the summer.

Evey with her other Grandma.

Trip to the coast.

Good friends in Portland.

Our local breakfast gem.

Trip to the Zoo (yeah, I shot flowers at the zoo).

My big boy camera and lens.

New friends.

Our first wedding.
a
Our attempt at humor.

Our own backyard.

My name in a web address.

Xmas in the city.

Us.

It's been a fantastic year with a few minor setbacks but we're really looking forward to the possibilities of 2010.

Goodwin Family Photos

2009-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

One thing that I feel makes me unique in the field of portrait photography is that I love to use off camera lighting on location (flashes set up off the camera). By using small flashes and portable light modifiers, I'm able to carry a studio's worth of lighting in a couple manageable bags. This allows me to have more control of my lighting and also allows me to shoot in areas where it would be next to impossible to get a clean shot using the ambient lighting. The hard part is, that it takes a few minutes to set up, which really isn't a lot, but when we're on location we're constantly moving, creating new poses and often have kids who grow impatient with the process. This makes me have to resort to using the ambient only in many cases just because of the convenience but I have to work with what's given. Needless to say, Seattle on an overcast winter afternoon doesn't give much light to work with and half of our location at Gasworks park is covered. I knew that coming into it, so I intended to take this shoot a little slower, create my own light, and deliver some shots that the average person would think were professional caliber.

Our shoot started in covered area of the park, where shooting ambient only would be like shooting in a house with the lights off and the curtains drawn. We set up a light with an umbrella which Bethany moved around for me, and used a second flash bare where we needed some extra fill light. It's a relatively easy setup to move around so we shot at a few different spots before Tobin (the Goodwin's little boy) grew bored of our surroundings and wanted to go outside to see the boats. Here are a few of the shots:

Once we had moved outside the light had dropped a LOT and we were doing everything we could to manage using just the ambient, but most of the shots were not sharp and underexposed from trying to use a shutter speed that wouldn't result in camera shake. To compensate for the noise at the high ISO, I add a film grain look in post production which I think is the lesser of two evils.

I knew I wanted to finish with a shot of downtown Seattle in the background all lit up from the city lights, and so we setup a flash and umbrella, and got to work. The ambient was getting darker so I got a lot of light from the small flash, but getting the background lights in the shot meant I had to shoot with a slow shutter speed, and ISO 800. Not the optimum ISO for the cleanest file but the D700 shoots ISO 800 like most cameras shoot ISO 400, and getting the shot balanced was more important to me than a small bit of noise. Here are the results:

Anyways, a lot of technical talk in this post but hopefully the information is useful to learning off camera flash. It was a really fun shoot with a beautiful family and I'm glad we took this approach because I think the results are quite unique.

Christmas Time in the City

2009-12-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots from our trip downtown on Christmas Eve. Was a beautiful day and really fun to be in the big city environment during this time of year. More to come soon...

Merry Christmas from the Shodas!

2009-12-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday today! I just wanted to say that Bethany and I are so grateful for everyone we've had a chance to work with this year and everyone who has stood behind this new venture. Your words of encouragement give us strength and confidence, and I know with a lot of perseverance and dedication, Shoda Photography will grow into something great. This year has taught us a lot, introduced us to many new people, and has helped us find a way to exercise our creativity through the lens of a camera. We hope to build on our accomplishments and learn from our mistakes. 2009 was a great year and we're extremely excited for the possibilities in 2010.

Othello Pt. III

2009-12-23T19:44:00.000-08:00

The last of our Othello family extravaganza. This is the second Villarreal family of the day who got the best time to have their shots done. B and I didn't know of anywhere to shoot and they hadn't decided on any places beforehand so we went searching for a pond on a golf course to start at. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the pond was dried out and there was just an ugly scene which we quickly left in pursuit of the apple orchards we shot at previously. The light by this time had started to turn nice and golden and on the way to the orchards, we stopped by this huge haystack to get some shots.

We took advantage of there being next to no traffic on the roads to do these shots. Wouldn't imagine many places to do that here.

We got to the apple orchards and did a bunch of shooting until it started getting cold. This is Diego acting like his tough guy dad.

And this is Aaron busting some dance moves.

And whatever it is he's doing here.

We then headed to a spot I thought would be cool for shots but didn't result in much. Luckily for us the light had dropped a lot, and there was this really nice open lot with a bunch of knee high weeds we drove past. We setup a light, snapped about ten and walked away with some good ones. I wasn't confident about the shoot until we got these.

Lesson learned from this experience: creativity is always in motion and standing still to find it never helps. I had to shoot a lot of bad shots to inspire a few good ones, but I always kept moving forward pushing the creative side of my brain to the brink of exhaustion. I really loved the whole experience though, and it has helped us make some great friends and hopefully return customers. Not only that but the scenery in central Washington is amazing and I'd be happy to drive out there and shoot again anytime.

Happy B-Day Bethany!

2009-12-20T21:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, obviously a late post for this but I just wanted to put it out there how much I love this woman. She spent her birthday at a company lunch, followed by a family portrait shoot all while worrying about a lost wallet (which was later recovered). I rewarded her by taking her to Trophy cupcakes and watching some Madmen with her. She does so much for me and Evey and I hope she always knows how grateful we are.

Othello Pt. II

2009-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

The Jones family is next in our Othello extravaganza.
Some interesting facts about this shoot:
1. They chose this location (awesome!)
2. Mya (middle daughter) fell victim to a patch of mud and a nail through the shoe within about 20 min.
3. Matt (oldest son) destroyed his elbow shortly following the shoot at wrestling practice. He has photos of it and they're nasty.
4. The Jones family were amazingly hospitable toward us. They let us stay in their beautiful home, cooked us some very good food, and Renae watched Evey while we were out shooting the other families and also slept on the couch so we could use her room. We're really grateful for their kindness and extremely flattered by their enthusiasm for our work.

The session was during the brightest time of the day so we had to work around squinty eyes and harsh shadows, but the family made it work. Here are some of the shots; the rest can be found at www.shodaphotography.com in the Featured Gallery.

One of my favorites of the day.

Another favorite, off the cute scale for sure.

The kids all did a nice face and then let loose with their own version of awesomeness.

Stay tuned, Othello Pt. III coming soon...

5 Months ago...

2009-12-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

Bethany and I were bringing our baby girl home from the hospital. She weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces, had some mini cheeks, grey/blue/green eyes, and the start to a head of hair.

Now we've got ourselves a 16+ pound baby with superb cheeks and even less hair. Eyes still green as ever with no signs of changing. She's learning to sit up on her own but she loves to stand up more and hates tummy time. She screams, smiles, laughs and makes all kinds of noises that are pushing the decibel levels of our house. She loves bath time, sucking on her whole hand, and spitting up on my shoulders. She has to be the easiest baby ever, rarely throwing fits even when she had an ear infection. She is the best thing to happen to us and I am so grateful for the last 5 months we've spent together. We love you Evey!

Othello Pt. I

2009-12-13T21:21:00.000-08:00

A little over a month ago we were asked by our friend Laurel (who you'd recognize from the Criddle photo shoot) to travel to central Washington to do some family photos during the Thanksgiving break. We were a bit hesitant since we had never visited this so called "Othello", but we knew it was in the middle of nowhere. It did give us an opportunity to visit Bethany's family in Spokane so we agreed to make the trip and do the family photo extravaganza in one day. Our expectations: weather was going to suck, we had no idea of locations if there were any, and we only personally knew the Criddles so we had no idea how we'd be received. Totally wrong. The day turned out absolutely beautiful, Othello has a lot of very cool locations not at all typical of where we usually shoot, and the families were extremely receptive to us being there. The Jones family opened their doors to us, letting us stay the night and feeding us some awesome food. Everyone showed so much gratitude for us being there, it actually felt like we were celebrities (or just cool). Not only were they nice, these are some very good looking people with some good genes running through the family. Anyways, I'm still finishing up the last family but I wanted to put the first up. Everyone meet Shalayne, Danny and baby Ada!

We're so grateful to have been able to make it out and have such a great time with all the families we worked with. We'd drive out there to shoot again in a heartbeat and I'm sure Othello will become a new stop on our trips to Spokane even if it is just for the conversation and tamales.

The Power of the Image

2009-12-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

Through the last couple of weeks, I've had some really enlightening moments about how important it is to capture life through a lens. During our visit to Spokane, Bethany gave her father an 8mm projector to watch some of their family's old home movies. We had it set up in their family room downstairs using a white sheet as our screen. Most of them ranged from 3-5 minutes long with the only sound coming from the noise of the projector and the family laughing or trying to guess what year it was. Our faces hurt from smiling after watching the 50th or so film, but those family films really had an impact on me and I wasn't even in them. I realized that life is just a series of moments that fade away faster than we'd like them to, but we have the power to go back in time and relive these moments.

Last night, Bethany and I watched the finale of Madmen Season 1. If you haven't seen the show, I'll fill you in on the scene I've linked to here . Don Draper is an ad man pitching a new campaign for the Kodak Carousel. What he said during this presentation was extremely powerful and motivating to me. I'm not going to try to write it in my own words, but I will say that if you own a camera, use it often. If you have a video camera use it often. Take pictures everyday whether you're capturing the most boring or monumental moments. The technology we have access to now makes it so easy and inexpensive that there is no excuse to not to be taking pictures or videos of your life. They don't have to be works of art or even technically sound. You don't need a fancy camera, in fact, you may even have the technology available on your cell phone. Don't let the imagery of your life be restricted to your memory bank. Pick up the camera and start telling your story. Begin building your time machine now because if you're like me, you're probably already a bit behind.

Behind the Scenes

2009-12-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

I would normally never show a raw/unedited image to the public, but I'm making an exception for the sake of showing a bit of what I do for post work. This is a shot of Grady from the Lee's shoot recently straight off the camera:

I shoot with the calibration set to vivid in-camera, but Lightroom discards that information during import. So what I begin with is a very flat, dull image. The first thing I do is set the calibration back to vivid in Lightroom (usually as a preset for an import action). I then adjust the white balance and correct any exposure issues. If needed, I remove any unnecessary elements I couldn't prevent when shooting. In this case, that would include the small hole in the wall to the upper left. I then send the image to Photoshop, push the sharpness up with unsharp mask, push the contrast using a curves adjustment layer, burn or dodge any areas that need it, push saturation on the eyes and add some light, smooth skin with a light blur, and finally adjust the crop to better fit the photo. Here is the final product:

The end result is entirely different than what came off the camera (without the calibration). I show you this because a lot of people think "my camera just doesn't take good pictures". While there are advantages to having a better camera, almost any photo often needs a little bit of post production work done to it. Even a photo like this has drastic improvements just from adding a bit of contrast and saturation. There are purists out there who would argue that this isn't the true image, but the reality is that photographers like Adams and Avedon were doing a lot of post work on their shots, but in the darkroom rather than Photoshop. Of course, that's not to say that Photoshop is going to make a bad photo good. It all starts in camera and the editing should just be adding strength to the shot. Really though, no matter what route you take the end result is all that matters.

New Commitment to Excellence

2009-12-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, so a very cheesy title, but I'm sincere in saying I'm working to improve the content of my blog. I've been reading a great book called Vision Mongers by David DuChemin, which is geared towards photographers who are trying to make photography a career. It has been an extremely enlightening read, but I've been so caught up in school, shooting, and editing that I've really neglected my blog. Not only that, but I've been treating it as another medium to showcase photos when I really should be using it to do the talking that the photos can't do. So from now on I'll post images, tell more about how we got them, more about the editing process and just random stuff to occupy your time since you'll probably be reading this at work.

First up is the Lee family. This shoot was both very exciting and very intimidating to me. Exciting because I love the Lee's, the parents look great and the kids closely take after them. But it was also intimidating because Kelly and Rob are both very photo savvy and I had to make it happen, for real. It was super cold, boring for the kids, but they still cooperated and help me turn out some shots. Here are a few of my favorites:

Ending with one of my favorite all time shots (from me at least):

Evey and Auntie Emily

2009-11-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

Just a few quick snaps of Evey and Emily together this afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we all took a nice walk through the park, well nice until Evey blew the diaper out. Typical baby. Anyways, if you haven't heard of her new endeavor, you can check it out here.

It's Thanksgiving!

2009-11-23T20:23:00.001-08:00

Droolin', originally uploaded by J Shoda.

And we are very thankful for this little bundle of drool. We'll be headed out to the east side of the state for the holiday but will return with many photos to post.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Marion Family Photos

2009-11-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to work something out with the Marions so we could get their photos taken in time for a holiday card, but the weather has not been cooperative. This last weekend finally let up on the rain and we decided to go forward on a cold, windy day at Gasworks Park. This was my second shoot of the day, and my lightweight rain shell was not doing anything to help keep me warm. My hands were shaking even with my gloves on, but luckily the shots don't show it. It was a nice trip around the park and the girls did extremely well given the cold. They have a great looking family and I hope the photos do them justice.

Here are some of my favorites:

Our First Wedding

2009-11-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

We were pretty nervous on our way up to Lake Stevens to shoot Alex & Melissa's wedding, considering it was our first and you don't get to reshoot any of the key moments just because you don't have your settings right. And wrangling an entire wedding party into two different locations in an hour and a half is a art in itself! We came through it tired and hungry, but happy to have been a part of their moments. Check out the photos below to see how we fared.

What's better: thinking you bombed the photo shoot and in reality coming away with some good shots, or thinking you did great and it turns out they all were terrible (the answer is the former).

Congratulations Alex & Melissa! Here's to many happy years...

Graff Wall

2009-11-07T20:04:00.001-08:00

Graff Wall, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

We did a family portrait session today down at Pike's Place market which happened to be an awesome location despite the large crowd. We were counting on a huge downpour of rain to accompany our shoot.but we got extremely lucky and things cleared up just as we started. Following the photoshoot with our clients, we hit up the graffiti wall across from the infamous gum wall for some portraits of our own. This was my favorite shot.

Golden Hour

2009-11-01T21:34:00.001-08:00

Golden Hour, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

New Look

2009-10-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

I think we've found a new style that may give us a competitive edge on the market. The future is here...

Evey and B

2009-10-22T20:06:00.001-07:00

Evey and B, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

This was an attempt at patty cake. Evey only does fists.

B&E

2009-10-19T17:15:00.001-07:00

B&E, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Bethany now officially has my last name and we are officially an eternal family (including the little babe). Lots of stuff going on right now keeping me from shooting more but hopefully will have some good family shoots coming in the near future!

Criddle Family Photos!

2009-10-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Bethany and I had the huge pleasure of photographing this family on Saturday. At first the weather didn't seem like it was going to cooperate, but it ultimately gave in and we had some beautiful light to work with. Mix that with a great looking family and this is what you get.

PS. This was B's first time shooting with me and so some of what you see is the result of her good eye. Nice job babe!

Bath Time!

2009-10-06T20:39:00.001-07:00

Bath Time!, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot the other day. She loves it more than pooping her pants!

2009-10-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm in dire need to shoot more but with the schedules we have now, it's becoming a hard thing to do. Last night I did take the camera out for a short trip and caught some of the beautiful colors we have here on a clear evening.

Flared Out

2009-10-05T15:42:00.001-07:00

Flared Out, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

So the blog has a new look and a new title. I had wanted to use 1330 as my photo business name but I neglected to do a google search for any existing photo businesses with that name. Unfortunately, there is a 1330 photo studio already around, so I figured I'd just stick with my last name. No biggie, I like my last name and have been branding my photos with it for some time now. I've developed a website built off of a free template, but I'm looking into something a little more professional so that may be changing in the near future as well. Now I just need to do as much as I can to build my portfolio and hopefully attract some business soon. Anyways, stay posted, more to come shortly...

Headshot

2009-10-03T16:19:00.001-07:00

Headshot, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

One of my trusty Vivitar 285hv's. These things are tanks, and I really like them except for the missing 1/8 power option. Both of them have been modified to fit a Cactus V4 receiver on top rather than mounted to the hotshoe which is very unstable. Not much more analog than this though.

The Window

2009-10-02T15:41:00.001-07:00

The Window, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

In my place, this is where the action is at. The cats use this as a passageway to the open wilderness of our apartment complex's landscaping, and it also serves as a spot for us to put our stuff if we're too lazy to put it back where it belongs.

Simplicity

2009-09-30T22:12:00.001-07:00

Simplicity, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I've started the seemingly most difficult quarter of college so far, and right now I just need to work on making things simple and manageable. Today's shot reflects that attitude and hopefully I'll maintain it for the duration of the quarter.

Hat Day

2009-09-30T07:10:00.001-07:00

Hat Day, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Day 3 of my project. Here is another shot of Evey, but this time with her awesome hat. She really is too cute for her own good.

An evening in my kitchen

2009-09-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

An evening in my kitchen, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Day two of the 50-50 project. Not much time to shoot today and the weather has taken a turn for the worst, but I did get these couple of shots.

Evey

2009-09-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

She's getting so big and cute that it's hard not to always be taking photos of her. Here are a few for the start of a new project I'm doing called fifty-fifty. I'll be taking shots for fifty days with a fifty millimeter lens and while it will be similar to the 365 I abandoned, it should have a feel of its own. Anyways, enjoy the shots of the little chubster and stay tuned for the progress of the project.

Ceb Senior Shots

2009-09-22T00:01:00.001-07:00

Ceb Senior Shots, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

A couple shots from a senior portrait session on Saturday, which was the only day it rained between all of the beautiful weather we'd been having.

Anniversary

2009-09-18T09:14:00.001-07:00

Anniversary, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

New work

2009-09-18T08:46:00.001-07:00

Got to shoot our friends Emily, Jordan and Johnny a few weeks ago. The day's conditions were less than desirable but the shots turned out nice with some more mood to them than usual.

I need a favor...

2009-09-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

So I know I primarily use this blog as a medium to showcase my photography work, and I also know that my readers/viewers probably don't extend much further than my wife and her family, but I'm going to change that. I ended my 365 project so I can try to focus on doing higher quality work, only problem is, I don't have the subjects to photograph. My goal with photography right now is to reach out to people who probably wouldn't hire a professional to do their portraits. I'm not saying that I'm a professional, but I will tell you that I put a lot more into my work than a department store portrait studio does, and I do my best to make sure my work exceeds the quality you would expect from them. So with that being said, if you know somebody who may be interested, please refer them to this blog, my flickr page, or my newly created website. My pricing is fair and I am opening to shooting anywhere in the area. Anyways, thanks to everyone who follows my work and encourages me to progress with this, and especially thanks to those who can help find me people to shoot (in the good way)!

Vacation Photo Extravaganza

2009-09-14T17:53:00.001-07:00

Photos from our recent trip down the coast.

Vacation Photos

2009-09-07T22:54:00.001-07:00

Sun Bathing, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I'm too lazy to post the first day's photos here to the blog, but you can find them at my flickr page. This is just one of the gems :)

Flickr Meetup

2009-09-01T09:51:00.001-07:00

Flickr Meetup, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot from a lighting meetup last night.

Johnny

2009-08-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

Johnny, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

This kid is gonna be fighting off the girls, for real.

Taken during a photoshoot with some friends.

Port Townsend

2009-08-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

Old Building, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Here are some shots of our recent day trip to Port Townsend.

Mom

2009-08-26T12:03:00.001-07:00

Evey's Grandma was in town last week so we did a little portrait session. These are some of the best.

I'm still here...

2009-08-23T14:16:00.001-07:00

Isabel, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I haven't posted anything in a while since ending my 365, but I've still been actively shooting. Here are a few shots from a recent shoot with my flickr photo group. There were at least 50 photographers and a ton of models, luckily I got a very good one. More shots can be seen on my flickr page (found by clicking the photos).

Morning Family Get Together

2009-08-12T21:07:00.001-07:00

Morning Family Get Together, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot by B.

Family Portrait Time!

2009-08-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

While the Creagh's were still here, we decided to get some family portraits done. After many shots, laughs, smiles, frowns and tears, this is what we ended up with.

Throwing in the Towel

2009-08-05T23:32:00.001-07:00

Throwing in the Towel, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I'm officially ending my 365 so I can try to focus on producing some stronger work for my portfolio without the added pressure of getting daily shots done. I have learned a ton over the last 100 days, but a lot of my shots were just fulfilling the obligation to shoot everyday and not really representative of the work I want to do as a photographer. The reality is that I will probably still shoot everyday but I won't have to post up crappy shots anymore, thus making my work look more consistent. Hopefully you all will see an increase in the quality with only a slight decrease in the quantity.

Day 99

2009-08-04T22:49:00.001-07:00

Ipod-4, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Day 98

2009-08-03T22:29:00.001-07:00

Self Portrait # 496, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Taken while visiting with a good friend from out of town. Beautiful evening with some good laughs and stinky diapers.

2009-08-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Another shot of my precious daughter. She better get those eyes acclimated to having a strobe and umbrella in her face on a regular basis

Day 96

2009-08-01T12:40:00.001-07:00

Morning time, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

This is what a break in between feedings looks like.

Day 95

2009-07-31T22:31:00.001-07:00

Workspace-6, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

What my desk currently looks like.

Day 94

2009-07-30T23:12:00.001-07:00

B's Coat, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

One of the hottest days of the year and B buys a new winter coat. ??? It does look fabulous on her though (hot mama, literally).

Day 93

2009-07-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

Blue Suede Shoes, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

OMG. Seriously this heatwave is ridiculous. We made a trip to the mall to enjoy their AC and I got myself a new pair of kicks. Unfortunately they are too small and my house is still freaking hot.

Day 92

2009-07-28T22:50:00.001-07:00

Shades, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

My new Ray Ban knockoffs from the local drug store. $5 never looked so good.

Sweating to the Oldies

2009-07-27T22:59:00.001-07:00

Sweating to the Oldies, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I grew up in AZ with 120 degree summers that could melt my skateboard wheels to the pavement, and now I find that a 90+ degree Seattle summer is killing me. Main difference is that everyone in the south has air conditioning or swimming pools, I have neither. The worst part is sleeping in this heat which I'm now off to do...

Day 90

2009-07-26T21:58:00.001-07:00

Headbanger's Ball, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot with the wife tonight before bed. It's extremely hot today so we used the fan as a prop to get this effect.

Day 89

2009-07-25T22:31:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Evey's first lighting session. She handled herself well for about 2 minutes then broke down and pooped her pants.

Signing

2009-07-24T23:38:00.001-07:00

Signing, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Untitled

2009-07-23T21:22:00.001-07:00

Untitled, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Ok, I took a photo yesterday on my phone (1.3 megapixels!) but don't have any idea how to get it off of the phone. So since I didn't take any other shots, I'll leave it open. Anyways, this is just a random shot from a walk this evening with some heavy post processing just for practice.

Day 84

2009-07-22T15:26:00.001-07:00

I Love Mom, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Got to make our first family excursion outside today. It was only to a local park but B has been trapped inside with Evey so it was a nice change of scenery for them both.

Day 83

2009-07-20T21:43:00.001-07:00

My Girls, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

My wife has done such an amazing job at handling her new responsibilities as a mom. It's been a couple rough nights for us as Evey has got more energy and hunger when the lights go out. But even on the 1 hour feeding frenzy she's been on, B has kept herself very composed and I love her for that. She is a great mother.

Day 82

2009-07-19T16:22:00.001-07:00

Bright Eyes, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Evey is becoming more well adjusted to life in our family and house. This was taken during one of her awake periods when she wasn't throwing a fit. :)

Here are a few more shots from today as well.

Day 81

2009-07-18T22:18:00.001-07:00

Outside Again, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Today B and Evey got to get a bit of sun (only 10 min worth) to help with E's light case of jaundice. So B and I took a walk to the mailbox and I snapped a shot with the new lens. It's wide, don't know if I'll use it too much but it'll be fun for now.

Day 80

2009-07-18T22:17:00.003-07:00

Hello, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Taken at our garden plot, which is doing awesome. Picked up another 2 zucchini tonight and some good red romaine lettuce.

Day 79

2009-07-18T22:17:00.001-07:00

Farewell, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Okay, not really a shot from today but I had to go back to work and then B and Evey got to come home from the hospital so needless to say, I was busy. In the midst of all of this chaos, I did manage to sell this lens (55-200mm) since I almost never used it. Makes me think twice about wanting the 70-200mm f2.8...

Anyways, the family is good and Evey is the most precious thing ever.

Evey

2009-07-15T20:23:00.001-07:00

Evey, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

One more shot of my girl. B will be sending out the details later tonight.

Day 78

2009-07-15T11:48:00.003-07:00

Evey's Formal Introduction, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

The new love in my life. Welcome to the world baby.

Evangeline Shoda
Stats: 8 lbs 5 oz, 20 1/2 inches long.

Day 77

2009-07-15T11:48:00.001-07:00

Evangeline, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

One of the hardest, yet most rewarding days of my life.

Day 76

2009-07-13T20:47:00.001-07:00

Beard-Papa-28, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

After enjoying a delicious bowl of Pho and some Gyoza, B and I hit up the Beard Papa store in H-Mart (Lynnwood by Alderwood). We saw this place in Honolulu and wanted to try them but never got around to it, but luckily they're right in our back yard now. Needless to say, the creampuffs were awesome and if you're in the area, they are certainly worth checking out.

Day 77

2009-07-12T16:24:00.001-07:00

Hairstylin', originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Doing these shots early in case a baby decides to join us later. I wanted to capture the amazing hair I have going on right now so I did a little series and this one was probably my favorite.

Day 76

2009-07-12T16:23:00.001-07:00

Lighting Meetup 1, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot at today's flickr lighting meetup down at Occidental Park. I was a bit weary of the location (it really wasn't that great IMO) but we had a good turnout and nobody's gear got jacked. Anyways, I came into this meetup with some concepts of shots I wanted to take but instead I went with a basic setup and wasn't really thinking through my composition when I was shooting. But luckily I can do enough post processing to make up for my lack of attention to detail.

Day 75

2009-07-10T23:36:00.001-07:00

Zucchini, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Some very large vegetables we harvested from our garden plot tonight (sorry for nothing to indicate scale). I wanted to do something more creative or better lit, but I just couldn't make it happen. This 365 is getting draining right now as I feel I'm just throwing crap at the wall. Stuff like this isn't really indicative of the work I want to do but I guess it makes good practice. Oh well, there's always tomorrow (or is the cliche "tomorrow may never come"?).

Day 74

2009-07-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

Summer's-Eve-3, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

B and I headed out to get some shots tonight, but had no idea where we were going. We first stopped at DQ to get a cool treat and then headed north towards Mukilteo. The original intention was to go to this little lake we found, but there was only one spot with public access and it was about 10 feet wide with three people fishing. So we headed further to the Boeing field area with the intention of shooting some planes. That didn't work out and I lost a $50 bet on which plane was the dreamliner (stupid dream"lifter"). Last spot was Mukilteo beach which was very nicely lit by the evening sun. I was taking shots of the water and people would stop when they wanted to cross my path but I'd let them pass and take a shot of them when they did. This shot really grabbed me because one day I'll be able to share an evening like this with my child and hopefully somebody will be there to capture the moment, even if it's not me. More from the evening can be found on my flickr page.

Day 73

2009-07-08T19:20:00.001-07:00

Kool-Kat, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

This is the result of walking around my apartment building with a camera in one hand, and a flash/umbrella in the other. I just happened to catch my cat doing something I thought was funny so this is today's shot (regardless of its similarities to my boombox shot the other night). When I have more time and energy, I'll get out for some proper shots.

Day 72

2009-07-07T22:51:00.001-07:00

Polaroid Land Film 220, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Got this for father's day last month and have been meaning to take a photo of it. Unfortunately I can't find film for it anywhere so it will just serve as a display of photography's past.

Day 71

2009-07-06T22:01:00.001-07:00

I Love Music, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

I love music. It's true. Top 5 songs I'm listening to lately:
1. Wilco- You and I
2. Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks
3. Prefuse 73- Relief Choir
4. Moody Blues- Tuesday Afternoon
5. DNTEL- Anywhere Anyone

Photography-wise, I'm really digging cropped heads lately if you can't tell. I'm also really loving this softbox as the light is just amazing. Best money I've spent on lighting equipment for sure. Also, I'm doing my best to keep my photostream varied with shooting styles, lighting, etc, but I keep finding these common things between a couple shots here and there so sorry for the 2 days of centered compositions.

Day 70

2009-07-06T05:22:00.001-07:00

Ridin' Dirty, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Ridin' Dirty.

Day 69

2009-07-05T00:48:00.001-07:00

Fourth of July, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Happy Independence Day! I shot some fireworks this evening but they were the typical fireworks shots so I opted for something else still representative of the holiday. This is a great country to live in and I often take that for granted. Luckily as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate it more and more and am proud to bear a symbol such as our flag.

On a completely unrelated note, I told B the other day that it was my goal to make it to the flickr "Interestingness" page, which is a daily selection of 500 photos that are randomly displayed on the flickr homepage. My goal was to have a shot up there by the end of the year, but it turns out the portrait I did of B last week got put up there and I've had a ton of hits on it with many very nice comments. Exposure is good, and hopefully the work I keep doing will continue to capture the attention of others.

Day 68

2009-07-03T23:27:00.001-07:00

Flow, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

It was a hot day today and we had the fans running on full blast. I didn't know what to do for today's shot but luckily B jokingly recommended tying some ribbon to a fan. It was a brilliant idea and we had many to choose from but it all came down to this one.

Day 67

2009-07-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

OMG!, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

This is how I felt when I realized I had buried my Iphone under a ton of construction debris (literally). Lessons learned: I don't do well with fancy phones (I went swimming with my last one), and avoid the cell phone belt holster from Lowes.

Day 66

2009-07-01T22:21:00.001-07:00

5AM, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Taken during the other golden hour with my new lens. Getting up this early is hard, especially when I know work is going to kick my butt.

Day 65

2009-06-30T22:55:00.001-07:00

28mm f2.8, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

A new friend. May not stay long but we'll see if he's nice.

Day 64

2009-06-29T22:44:00.001-07:00

B Sunset Maternity, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Yes, somehow I ended up doing two maternity shoots in two days. This time it was her idea of taking the shot and after frantically chasing the beautiful sunset we were having, we found this little spot in Edmonds overlooking the sound. She is so beautiful and I'm glad I can capture that every now and then with my camera. This is probably one of the best shots I've taken so far and I'm glad she dragged me out to take it.

Day 63

2009-06-29T05:49:00.001-07:00

Ma & Pa, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Any day now...

Day 62

2009-06-27T23:26:00.001-07:00

Falling, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Shot this at Greenlake today after a nice picnic with the wife. Seattle in the summertime is probably one of the best places in the world to be, and if it were a bit warmer, I'd probably be swimming too.

Day 61

2009-06-26T23:37:00.001-07:00

Boots, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Aaahhhh.... Time to relax after a very hard week's work.

Day 60

2009-06-25T22:52:00.001-07:00

MJ Tribute 1, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Once I heard the news today, I knew I wanted to do a tribute to the king of Pop. He was a big part of my childhood although I grew out of liking him as many did in the 90's, but looking back, the dude was musically awesome. I even remember having a tee shirt when I was 5 or younger that said "I'm Bad" and had him in the end with his signature red leather coat striking a pose. He made me want to moonwalk and I can't say how much time I spent trying to do that leaning move he did in Moonwalker the movie, but it was a lot.

In listening to the radio on the way home from work, people kept saying they were glad he was dead, and that's just so low for somebody to say that regardless of what his actions may/may not have been. He was a perfect example of how fame can make somebody lose touch with reality and I don't know why many choose to pursue that. The world didn't understand him and I'm sure that was extremely hard for him to deal with. Hopefully he's happier now.

Day 59

2009-06-24T21:30:00.001-07:00

Selling My Soul, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Day 59: Got my SB600 back from Nikon, and as much as I love my Vivitar flashes, it's so nice to have more control over the flash's output. The Vivitars for some reason skip 1/8 power but the Nikon has that plus 1/32 and 1/64, plus 1/3 stop intervals. I didn't think I missed it that much but I'm glad to have it back.

Anyways, the shot itself is just supposed to portray the struggle of doing it for the money, or doing it for the love, which is a huge struggle I've faced in the last few years in making up my mind on a major. Hopefully I can find a balance but I don't see the answer coming to me anytime soon, so for now I'll just chew on my hard earned money to taste the value of my work.

Day 58

2009-06-23T21:35:00.003-07:00

Hammertime, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

What I'll be spending the next few weeks wearing. My hands are sore already and it's only the first day of doing any work.

Day 57

2009-06-23T21:35:00.001-07:00

Skyline, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

The only shot I got to take today (1st day back at work).

Day 56

2009-06-21T22:05:00.001-07:00

B at Carkeek, originally uploaded by J Shoda.

Took a walk at Carkeek park today with the wifey. We wanted some maternity shots that weren't the typical ones we've been taking so this was our favorite of the bunch