XO Mike

Easter 2011

mrstein2 — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:25:38 +0000

For the last three years my dad has dressed as the Easter Bunny and tried to surprise Reaghan. She would have none of it; she wouldn’t go near him, wouldn’t want to be in the same room and hardly even look at him. We heard her say something to the effect of, ‘I think it’s just a man dressed up.’ We thought we could make the day more enjoyable by showing off the real Easter Bunny. I wasn’t quite ready for the impromptu reveal but I managed to put together this quick video.

Honeymoon Video

mrstein2 — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:34:37 +0000

I’m not here to be an Apple fanboy but when I saw the release of the iPhone 4 with HD video and iMovie, I got excited. Almost immediately I had planned to make a movie of Elise and my honeymoon. I didn’t have a script or anything, I just took a video of something I liked or thought would be nice in the video and added to the timeline. It really was simple and I had the video finished before we boarded the plane to leave. All of the photos and videos (except the ones from the wedding, which I received on the phone by email) were taken on the phone and edited on the phone. No computer was ever used. Grab the popcorn and enjoy!

-XO Mike

Holiday Portraits

mrstein2 — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:17:38 +0000

Before Christmas my sister asked me to get a photo for their Christmas Card and to get some pictures of my new nephew William. Working with a 4-year-old, a 1 month old and an exhausted and unenthusiastic Pat made the shoot frustrating but there were some shots that I liked.

-XO Mike

I’m still alive!

mrstein2 — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:21:20 +0000

The chief prepares for his dance with fire.

I’m still alive despite not posting since mid-July. Life has been crazy preparing to and getting married, closing a business, starting a new job (and the preceding search), getting a new apartment and filling it with stuff like a bed, dressers and couch. The honeymoon was amazing and where most of these pictures came from. I’m doing a portrait session with my new nephew Will on Saturday and I’m nervous because I haven’t shot much recently and barely remember ISO and aperture (ok it’s not that bad).

Here’s a few more photos from stuff that I liked (although I can see my decline in skill). I’ve chosen to mostly just take the photo straight out of the camera so there’s minimal editing on these.

Not purposeful but kind of cool looking. I was switching from portrait to landscape while on a slow shutter.

-XO Mike

Click your IT

mrstein2 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:56:07 +0000

If you haven’t heard by now, I’m starting on site computer support business serving small businesses in the western suburbs. I registered with the county, state and US and I’m just waiting on some business cards at the moment. I spent some time today at my dad’s house using his office as a set for a couple of advertising photos. Getting two strobes situated without catching a reflection off of a glass case behind the desk was a struggle but it turned out. I also was model and camera man so the post processing was a bit more necessary than I think it would have if I were 100% operating the camera and not using a remote.

If you have any computer support needs or leads give me a call! (630) 589-9954 http://www.clickyourit.com

Click to view slideshow.

Celebrating Stateside this Year

mrstein2 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:03:06 +0000

Last year I celebrated the 4th in São Tomé. It was fun but not the same. This year I went to Na’s with Elise for the weekend. Saturday, many of us went to Ravinia to see a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. It was very nostalgic to sit out on the grass listening to a radio show and having a picnic. Reaghan accidently posed perfectly to show off a bit of Radio Flyer Americana before we went home to prepare for the 4th. At Na’s we setup a huge feast for about 20 people including burgers taller than your fist. After eating we went on her balcony where you can clearly see Oak Park and Forest Park fireworks and you can see about 3-4 other cities barely over the trees. Sparklers were in huge supply and we had a great time.

I exclusively used my 50D, 14mm and 50mm lenses this weekend because my dad was using his equipment in DC. It took a bit to get back into the swing, partly because I was used to the 5D and partly because I haven’t shot in a while. I forgot how much fun it is and I enjoyed the challenge of using just two primes on a cropped body in the dark.

Click to view slideshow.

-XO Mike

First Wedding

mrstein2 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:59:43 +0000

As mentioned in other posts, I did my first wedding shoot a few weeks ago. The day went pretty smooth aside from people showing up insanely late. I was surprised how many good shots I got and was glad to send the couple about 200 images of their wedding. I need to work on using a hotshoe flash because I used it the entire time at the reception because of the poor which I did not expect, however, my eneloop rechargeable batteries lasted longer and with more power than I expected. I’m quite pleased with that buy.

Click to view slideshow.

-XO Mike

New Technique with McFarland Memorial Bell Tower

mrstein2 — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:13:51 +0000

Inside the McFarland Memorial Bell Tower

I’m back on campus for the week finishing moving out and hanging out with Elise. While Elise was at work, I went to explore the newly opened bell tower on the south quad. It is starting to look better, but I still wish they had either expanded Altgeld’s set of chimes or made a carillon out of this tower instead of just a computer controlled set of bells. Also, the design looks really dumb with all the catwalks going across.

To get the effect for the photo above I played with the Shadow/Highlight Split Toning tool to change the colors. I read about the technique somewhere and figured I’d try it out. I would like for the building to line up down the center split but I couldn’t get it right. Another more traditional shot below.

The McFarland Memorial Bell Tower

-XO Mike

Final California Shots

mrstein2 — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:59:44 +0000

The view from a trail near Palo Alto.

Another view from a trail near Palo Alto.

The Zipper. Quite a scary ride.

I have a good amount of saturation in these images but I kind of like it as a change of pace. Not for everything but kind of fun.

-XO Mike

Puppy! (and redwoods)

mrstein2 — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:04:18 +0000

Trudy

Yup, that headline was just to lure you in. I made it up to Sacramento/Folsom yesterday and Hillary, BJ, their dog Trudy and I went over to Montgomery Woods to take a walk with the redwoods. We took some glamor shots of Trudy and had some fun hiking through the forest. Here are a bunch more shots from the trip. Beautiful landscape.

Click to view slideshow.

-XO Mike