Joy is allergic to cats.  But Joy and her family, especially her mother, adore anything small and furry.  (As my previous blog post should have made clear...)

So anyways, long story short, as soon as Joy moved out into our apartment, Joy's mother went and got a kitten.  It is incredibly cute!

I know it is one of the seven deadly sins that a photographer can commit, but I can't resist posting some cute, shallow-DOF-y shots of "Lilly"...  So, bear with me people!

BTW, these images were taken with a D300 and an 85mm f/1.4, wide open, with basically no post-processing applied save maybe a touch of "blacks" in Bridge.

=Matt=





(Just a few weeks old in these photos.  Very curious...)




(...And VERY prone to narcolepsy!!!)




(Now, kitty is a few months old, and is allowed outside a little.)

Today my cat Mordecai, who I've had almost my entire life, passed away.  I will miss him dearly.  He was about 95 or 100 in cat years, and he lived all nine of his lives to the absolute fullest.  He was the lion king of our backyard jungle.

Sleep well,
=Matt=




Nikon D70  -  Nikon 80-400 VR  -  360mm  -  1/80 sec.  -  f/5.6  -  ISO 500
(Image taken in October 2004)

In a few hours I'll be shooting a wedding here in Virginia.  (If anybody would like to help me pray for no rain, I'd be much obliged and so would the B&G!!!)

Yesterday I was in town for a bit of get-to-know-each-other-time, and it was awesome.  I have to say, Grace and David have beautiful taste in wedding rings!  Don't believe me?  Luckily, when I travel I bring *TWO* camera bags and thus can afford to pack my awesome Sigma 150mm macro lens...















The engagement ring is an heirloom.  Truly gorgeous, eh?  I'm a total sucker for minute details, I guess...

These shots were made using my gorillapod, attached to the lens' tripod shoe.  Nice and stable!  I had to use a timer and mirror-shutter delay to get perfect sharpness, since I was shooting 100% ambient light.  I just love the transition from cool, (5000K) window light and warm (3000K) indoor light, and I always take advantage of it wherever I can find it!  If you pick the right WB, (4000K-ish?) ...it gives you this golden light effect that I just love!

Alright take care all!  I'm going to put the "I'm working, DND" card on my hotel room door, ...and then take a nap!  (Hey, gotta be fresh and energized for the wedding!)
=Matt=