Evan Valentine, Stay-at-Home Dad

A huge snowstorm like this is hardest on the dogs. At first we really can't do anything except wade through snow that is taller than the dogs in an effort to find a place for them to pee. Eventually we can walk on the street but not the sidewalks. At least having dogs forces me to go out and shovel a few paths.

By this morning we were able to take a fairly normal walk, albeit on the streets. Here are some shots from yesterday when it was really hard for the dogs.

It appears we will get 2-3x the amount of average snowfall this winter. We had a couple of small snowfalls, then 22" on December 19, 4" this past saturday, 3" last night, and we are supposed to get a large amount this upcoming weekend. Snow is nice for the first two times every winter, then the next two times it's "meh," but by now it just sucks (though I will have to admit that the 22" of snow was pretty cool). The stuff that fell last night is wet and sticky, so it piles up on even the smallest of twigs/pine needles. It looks really nice and picturesque everywhere you look.

February 03, 2010

After I walked the dogs this morning, I went back out with my 24mm lens and my new flash (it was still dark). I currently have two flashes. I have an old Minolta flash on loan from my uncle, and I have a new flash that I got for Christmas from my brother. The new flash is an E-TTL flash which communicates with the camera and automatically adjusts the exposure and flash power depending on the shot. I am still trying to figure out a way to put the flash on some sort of "manual" mode and make it flash with full power every time. The old flash that I have is not able to communicate at all with my camera, and it makes the brightest flash every time. That way I can just adjust the aperture setting to get the proper exposure. You can never have too much light!

But this morning I just took out the E-TTL (auto) flash and snapped a few shots as quickly as I could. I still haven't quite figured out how to use a direct flash, either. When I'm indoors I can point the flash at the ceiling which eliminates all shadows. But if I point my new flash at the ceiling, it doesn't realize that I'm doing that, and doesn't adjust the flash amount accordingly. Everything is too smart these days, and I wish I could just override all of that nonsense.

It is extremely rare that a Camera RAW image does not need any post-editing. It is usually a given that the white balance will be off and some exposure adjustments will need to be made in order to make it look realistic. This is one of those rare images that is perfect right out of the camera. The white shower is like a little photo studio. The flash bounces off the white ceiling and the white shower and everything seems to be just right. I have a whole series of these that my wife took. I will try not to post all of them, heh.