On Saturday I went on my first real portrait shoot. Some friends agreed to help me practice my technique by letting me do some family portraits of them. Juliette and Jason came along as well, since we figured we could get in our Christmas card shots in at the same time.

Leading up to the shoot I was a nervous wreck, even though I was working with friends in a very low-pressure situation. Once we actually got there, though, and started shooting, it was actually kind of fun. I think I learned a lot, too. For example, the next time I do a beach shoot, I'll either do it in the morning or bring a fill light. I also won't try to cram in two shoots into the same session.

Anyway, the kids had fun, as you can see. And hopefully my friends will find a few keepers out of the set.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/4000, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: yellow filter BW preset; curve for contrast; burned the highlights in both kids' faces; added edge sharpening.

Thoughts for improvement: A fill light on the left would have been a good idea, although the shadows in the current version do look kind of dramatic. I also wish I had framed the shot just a little bit lower, to add a sliver more space below Jason's foot.

One of the things I'm enjoying most about photography is how easy it's become for me to find beauty in the ordinary. Just walking down the street, seeing the sunlight, plants, even the sound of traffic, it makes me happy to be alive and able to experience it. You wouldn't think that the bathroom of an AM/PM would be a very apt place to be looking for beauty. Maybe it's not; maybe I'm just strange. This photo makes me happy, though.

Technical info: Shot with an iPhone 3G. Post-processing in Photoshop CS5: automatic lens correction; curve for tone and contrast; burned over the highlight on the top right of the dispenser; increased red and yellow saturation.

Thoughts for improvement: The lines on the wall aren't very straight, which is partially due to them actually not being straight and partially due to the fact that I was holding the camera slightly askew from the plane of the wall. It's very difficult to gauge that when you're hand-holding the camera, though, especially with one as flat as an iPhone.

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent some time this weekend working on an idea for a dpchallenge.com contest. Afterwards, having cleaned up my lighting setup and put the dining table back in order, I decided to play around a bit with the cranes I had made. This is one of the results.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/30 sec, ISO 400. Post-processing in Aperture 3: tungsten WB preset; curve for contrast and tone; decreased overall color saturation.

Thoughts for improvement: This was a pretty off-the-cuff shot, so clearly it's not perfect. The main thing is that there is too much in the frame. The table surface is kind of pleasant, but it doesn't really add to the shot, and the runner on the table and the wall you can see in the background also detract. I'd like to see what it would look like if I took the persimmons and cranes and put them against a flat white background.

I did this one for the "Complementary Colors V" contest at dpchallenge.com—as you might imagine, the theme for that contest was to use two complementary colors. Unfortunately, I missed the submission deadline by about fifteen minutes.

I feel like every time I set out to make a pre-planned, studio-type shot, I end up frustrated. I'm used to heading out the door with a location and a vague concept, and just seeing what I can find. I like opening myself up to possibilities and seeing what I can find. But when I start with a clear vision for an image and actually move the furniture in my kitchen around to make some studio space, things just never work out the way I planned. Moreover, I'm just never all that happy with the end result. This shot isn't bad, I don't think, but there's something about the textures and the lighting that just feel amateurish to me.

Still, I guess the only way to improve is to keep at it.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Nikon SB-400 flash. Manual exposure mode and manual flash mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/500 sec, ISO 400. Flash is set to (I think) 1/64 power, and positioned at camera left, just below the level of the table. Post-processing in Aperture 3: Hold Highlights preset; curve to increase contrast; added edge sharpening.

Thoughts for improvement: I don't really know what this shot needs. Something different with the lighting, but I don't know what. Maybe multiple lights, with a hard key and some diffuse fill, maybe a snooted light to make a really hard shadow. Anyone with suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

With both our Christmas card shoot and a family trip coming soon, Juliette and I decided it was time to get Jason's hair cut. Last month I took him to the stylist on my own and he ended up with such a slight trim that you couldn't even tell he got it cut. This month, Juliette was there and so he got a real haircut. I think it makes him look older. I swear, sometimes I can hardly believe that less than two years ago he couldn't even stand up.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/800, ISO 400. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curve for highlight recovery; separate curve for slight contrast increase; dodged over the shadowy side of his face and a bit down his left sleeve; burned over the bright side of his face; burned the background.

Thoughts for improvement: The tree trunk to the left and behind him is a little distracting; ideally, it wouldn't be there. A 4x5 crop might also look good, excluding much of the space above his head. Not sure about that one—on my laptop monitor the leaves add some nice texture, but on my desktop monitor they're just a dark smear and could be excluded. I think some fill light on the left side (his left) of his face would also be good, though it's hard to get a two-year-old to sit still while you get a reflector in place.

Yesterday the family accompanied me on a jaunt around San Diego's coastal areas as I did some location scouting for our family holiday photo shoot next weekend. We stopped in La Jolla for a short walk by the cove, and I grabbed a few pictures of the sea lions. Jason particularly liked their barking—all the way back to the car he shouted "Ar! Ar! I'm a sea lion!"

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 55-200mm VR DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Focal length 200mm, aperture f/5.6, shutter 1/250 sec, ISO 400. Post-processing in Aperture 3: orange filter BW preset; curve for highlight recovery and black point; second curve for tone and contrast; slight dodge in the lower right corner; burned over the highlights in the rock and sea lion; intensify contrast adjustment brushed in over the water.

Thoughts for improvement: I would have liked to see this one at f/8-1/125-400 or maybe f/11-1/125-800. I had a fair amount of trouble nailing the focus and in any case I'd prefer more depth of field. As far as timing, I'm a bit torn. I really like the texture of the water above the spray, but it might have been a bit more dramatic if I could have waited for a bigger wave.

Are you eyeballing him? Believe me, this is one hombre you do not want to mess with.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/60 sec, ISO 1600. Post-processing in Aperture 3: auto WB, picked from the white on his vest; curve to bring up exposure, dodged over his face; burned the background; desaturated yellows; added heavy vignetting.

Thoughts for improvement: I tried to get rid of the heavy shadow that runs across his nose and cheek, but couldn't do it in a way that looked natural. That's one thing I'd change. I ultimately opted to keep this one in color, but there were a few B&W versions I tried that weren't bad, so that is another option. And, of course, I wish the picture had a bit less digital noise—I kind of like the texture, but would prefer a bit less.

After we finished trick-or-treating, Jason got his first taste of Halloween candy. I'm not quite sure, but I think he liked it.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens, and Nikon SB-400 flash, in manual exposure mode, automatic (eTTL) flash mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/250 sec, ISO 400, flash tilt 90 degrees, flash exposure compensation -1 EV. Post-processing in Aperture 3: auto WB, picked from the white of his vest; cropped to vertical; cloned out some spots on his face; curve to increase brightness and contrast; burned background; applied light skin smoothing over his cheeks and forehead.

Thoughts for improvement: Really, this isn't a very good photo, artistically speaking. The composition is boring, the background is cluttered and the framing is pretty poor. There should be a little more room above his head and his arms really shouldn't be cut off. It's pretty much just a snapshot, albeit a relatively well-lit snapshot. The expression is priceless, though.

We took Jason trick-or-treating for the first time this year, with some friends and their kids. Neither of us were sure how it would go, whether he'd have fun or whether he'd fall apart quickly. The previous times we'd put him in his costume, he started taking it off again within minutes, so we didn't expect much. Turns out, he loved it. After the first couple of houses he was pulling us along down the street, running up to each door and shouting "Trick or treat!" before he even got up the driveway. By the time we were halfway around the block his pumpkin bucket was too heavy for him to carry, but he still kept going. What's more, he kept his costume on the whole time. It was a lot of fun.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125, ISO 1600. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped and rotated; daylight WB preset; curve for contrast, tone, and highlight recovery; burned the background.

Thoughts for improvement: I'd be interested to see what this would look like on a camera with better high-ISO performance and a higher resolution. (Though, if I'd taken a step forward I could have saved some pixels and not had to crop.) I'd also like to see what it would look like with sharper focus. Still, the grainy look from the high-ISO noise and the softness give it a kind of retro look, which I tried to enhance with the white balance and tone. I think it works relatively well. The only thing that kind of bugs me is the way that the bucket is out of focus, which is due to the wide-open aperture. If I had a camera with better low-light performance, I might have been able to get this at f/2.8 or maybe even f/4, which would have kept the whole subject in focus.

Jason, like most kids his age, goes nuts for stickers. What I'm not sure is quite as common is the fact that as soon as he gets his hands on some, he starts sticking them all over his body. As you can see, he particularly likes to put them on his belly. And then show them to everybody.

Technical information: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in aperture priority exposure mode (matrix metering). Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/250 (+0 EV), ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: a little bit of straightening and a curve to bring up exposure and contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: I honestly can't think of anything. I love this shot.