30 Minutes in the Life: June 2014

30 Minutes in the Life is a group of women who post a blog on what 30 minutes looks like in their life.

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought.  Thirty, minutes, the length of a child's ballet class, a quick sauce's simmer; a commute, is long enough to witness change and short enough to be over before you know it.  We offer you here our monthly results of thirty minutes of watching and waiting and recording, of rendering permanent those fractions of a second that slip past in the time it takes to watch a television show.  
                                      
                                      Thirty minutes in the life ~ Sara Kelly

Here is my 30 minutes in the Life for the month of June.  I have not taken much in the  line of "people photo's"  If you go through my blogs most of my photos are of nature.  However, I would love to try something other than nature, and so one of my work colleagues volunteered to be my model.  Jeanne is a stunning young lady, with a beautiful personality, which is reflected in these photo's.  

We started out with a plan, but as the saying goes "the best laid schemes of mice and men". Our plan was an early dinner, and a photo shoot in the twilight hours of the day.  So much for that. 3pm rolled around and the heavens opened and all hell broke loose.  Jeanne was a real trooper.  I volunteered to cancel.  She said she had no plans.  So we decided to do dinner, and wait the weather out. During dinner the rain stopped but the skies were not pretty.  We decided to "make hay while there was a gap in the clouds".  So off to the beach we went. The first photo was just a test of the light but I did like the blown out effect.  Some of the photo's were of me trying to master the 50mm 1.8 prime lens (first time use).  I easily slipped back into the comfort zone of my 55mm - 250mm lens.  

I learned a few things from this experience.  You cannot control the weather. The lighting on the day was challenging.  Posing certainly takes practice.  Watch out for the crazy white light behind your models head.  And finally, there is more to the 50mm 1.8 prime lens than I knew.  I have since done a crash course and am going to spend a fair bit of time practicing with it, especially in low light.  

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies,

And all that's best of dark and bright,

Meet her aspect and her eyes.

~ George Gordon Byron

I am very grateful for Jeanne's willingness to put herself out there for me and hopefully you will get to see more of this beautiful young lady.  

Don't forget to follow the link and take a look at what image421 photography by Cindy Cavanagh / Sydney Lifestyle Photograher  has posted for her blog this month.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page.