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just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
When it comes to flying, the different seats have different tasks. Being a Captain holds its weight in responsibility, but let's not forget that a First Officer is equal in task. As I get going on my first trip as a Captain once again, it's up to me to make sure that all the boxes are checked and that ultimately, I'm ahead of the plan. Here's one of the first pictures of me in the new uniform jacket showing off that fourth stripe!
Lately, I’ve been fortunate to stay home and am able to prepare my children breakfast. Usually it’s a batch of waffles or pancakes but lately, I’m into the eggs and no carb kick. Here’s a shot of my little one Arden enjoying her waffles which were cut up into tiny tiny pieces.
I might have mentioned before but I love carrying my camera or having it readily available to capture these moments. I did have my iPhone X in my back pocket at this moment but the Sony A7RII was also nearby and I was able to grab it within seconds and take this snap.
So, I didn’t have the time to try “hard” enough and find “Symmetry” for the Dogwood 2019 52 Week 5 Challenge and I know that we are probably in Week 7 or 8, but hey, here are a few pictures that I captured on my Sony A7RII + Sony Zeiss 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T FE ZA. Have a great week! Oh, and I think I finally narrowed it down to the Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Wide-angle Zoom Lens as my next lens which would enable me to do more video and landscape shots. Thoughts? I wanted the Batis 24 or even the new Sony Wide GM but, we’ll see. There’s only a “few” more lens that I really want apart from the Leica route.
The water fountain / reflection balls outside of Nordstrom. See if you can find the entire family.
Inside of Warby Parker while my wife and I juggle our third child while trying on and fitting new frames. You need a distraction and they rarely get this treat.
Besides making all the silly excuses about not having the time or such to post Week 4 of the Dogwood Challenge, finding “Warmth” proved to be rather difficult for me. I wanted to use a shot of our children and capture the right moment and to be honest, that didn’t happen until last night. I’ll post both pictures down below and you tell me which is “warm” but my official “entry” is the solo coffee cup. This is a from a little shop in Bankers Hill called James Coffee. Make sure to hit it up before Extraorindary Desserts opens up next door as it’ll still be easy to find parking and grab a seat. I wished that I took a better photo of the cup itself (apparently you can buy them for $64.95 a pop!) but alas, it was the latte art that proved to be more eye catching during that specific moment. I chose to edit it in the stock iPhoto App on my iPad Pro 9.7” (still no new iPad Pro or MacBook Pro) and used a Vivid Warm Filter along with some other tweaks in color and brightness.
📷: Week 4 Story Telling: Warmth // Tell a story that makes us feel warm inside.
Because my wife and I mistakenly thought it was BBQ Day at our daughter’s school, we found ourselves with an open time slot for lunch and decided to stay in the area. We called up our awesome friend on our way an amazing sushi restaurant in Bankers Hill called Hane Sushi (restaurant / yelp). After a few delectable dishes and specials, I’m sorry but I don’t have the names but here are some photos below, we strolled around and found James Coffee (restaurant / yelp). There aren’t too many days that I bring the camera along, but I’m getting use to carrying it and love it so much. Check out the awesome sushi we had and oh yea, that other warm photo.
So maybe the piano shot isn’t as “warm” but it’s still an easy favorite. Girls are indeed precious.
Going strong into the third week of the Dogwood 52 2019, well at least I’m sticking to it. For the first time since our first born graced us, my wife and I had a chance to spend a “working” weekend away from the kiddos. Any previous time away was limited to just a date night. This is uncharacteristic and a first in six years sans children and we couldn’t have done it without our wonderful mothers and my sister helping out in 24 hours shifts. Thanks so much! I will admit that there were more than a few instances where we thought of heading home early or even just having my going alone, but we did it!
For this challenge, I brought my Sony A7Rii camera with us to Reno, Nevada and Tahoe but found myself trying really hard to capture what I would think would look good in black and white. That ended up with a kind of photography’s block so I barely shot anything at all! Quite disappointing really. With so much nature and wilderness, I could only think of industrial like settings (of course I could have easily just though of the amazing Ansel Adams but hindsight is indeed 20/20) so here we have it; our Southwest plane blurred in the background with rain sprinkling on the window. For the last 14 years, my life has been about riding standby and this trip was successful thanks in part to the awesome friends at Southwest.
📷: Week 3Inspiration: Black and White // Your inspiration this week is to simply take an amazing Black and White photograph of any subject you want.
Here is the original color photo (which was just edited in Photoshop Express on my iPad Pro) and also an awesome photo of Turbo the airport companion dog. Check out those freaking paws! I really wish that I had the new Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Wife-angle Zoom Lens (SEL1635GM) with me for some awesome landscape shots, but then again, I hardly pulled out my Sony A7Rii. =(
Here is my 2nd entry for the Dogwood 52 2019 Week 2. I have to admit that while I’m off at home, I’m consummed with taking care of the children along with house chores that the few times I am able to go out and shoot, it’s not with that much thought. Granted, this was a great morning that consisted of having breakfast with my dad at the new breakfast spot in Del Mar called Ranch 45 (website/Yelp).
📷: Week 2: Composition: Rule of Thirds Motion // You already know what the rule of thirds is, now is the time to use it. Use Rule of Thirds to show motion in your picture.
While sitting outside enjoying the chorizo breakfast bowl with my father, I knew that the road nearby would instantly give me the chance to accomplish the motion in thirds. I imported this photo onto my iPad Pro and then edited in Snapseed. I’m not too happy with it, but being Sunday at 23:50, it’ll have to do. I hope to revisit this sometime but onto Week 3!
Here’s a picture of my father enjoying the journey in finding the best Steak and Eggs in San Diego along with my Joby Gorillapod that I’ve been bringing along with me on this 52 week challenge. After thinking about it a little bit more as well as watching many youtube videos and querying some amazing talented photographers on twitter, I think that I’m going with the Sony - FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Wide-angle Zoom Lens (SEL1635GM).
So here it is. My first entry into the Dogwood 52 Week Photography Challenge 2019. It's easier to post directly to my Instagram first but I'll do my best to make sure that I make it onto here as well. If anything, follow me: @elijahnicolas.
In my hotel room looking up the weather for my redeye flight to JFK prior to getting in the van to PHX Sky Harbor.
📷: Week 1 : Story Telling: Self-Portrait // Take a picture that tells us who you are, without actually showing your face.
In composing this shot, I mounted my Sony A7Rii w/ Zeiss 55 f1.8 to my Joby Gorillapod then placed it on desk in the room. Because it was already past 11pm, I decided to close the curtain and turn on all the available lights in the room. I initially took a picture with the curtains opened but I felt that closing them would create a better shot because my dark hair blended into the night sky. You tell me. I also had to swap out my Nike Apple Watch Sport Band with the MoKo Stainless Steel Band so that it “looked” more professional while in my uniform. As the assignment was, I am a commercial airline pilot but that comes after son, husband, father, and life enthusiast. I love aviation but I also love everything!
I used the Sony Play Memories iOS App to trigger the shutter with a 2-second delay while the camera was on Auto. I’m looking forward to exploring and going more manual while I’m away on my trips and at home with this 52 Week Challenge. Maybe even I can turn this into some type of monetary stream to purchase my next lens… Sony E-mount FE 24mm F1.4 GM Full Frame Wide-angle Prime Lens (SEL24F14GM).
