MuddCasa Blog

Where did everybody go?

2008-12-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

We got kicked out!

The party got too rowdy for this place and we had to go. So we moved to a larger house with a nice sized living room to sit down, relax and hang out.

But don't worry we left plenty of bread crumbs to show you the way...you can't miss us.

We can't wait to see you!

http://www.coolcakephotography.com/blog

The Go-To Place For Makeup

2008-11-12T12:06:00.001-08:00

Hi,
I want to let you know about my friend Tess that specializes in bridal and event makeup and does an incredible job. She is so gifted that you can find her work in magazines such as San Diego Style Weddings. I always align myself with the best in the industry so check out her excellent website...Like NOW!

Kevin

Change is in the Air...Uh, I Mean Studio

2008-11-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

On the topic of change. I am changing the studio name and brand.
Change is good, right?
Why the change you ask?

(Marketing Manager speak) Wehhhhllll...Uhhhh... I feel that I can come up with a brand that best supports my work ....aaand projects an overall pleasurable experience.

............TRANSLATION
FUN!!! ......and More Fun.

I want more FUN in my life and I bet you do too.
So that's why the change. Very soon, things will get fun around here...or else ;)
What will not change though is the fundamental, vision based principles of the studio such as:
Pricing on my services through 2009
High level customer service
Individual attention to my clients
The humor and understanding I bring to each session.
The same high value products that I seem to throw in for FREE to my clients.
So go to the old studio site and say your goodbyes before it's too late.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The details are a secret for now but check back because I will be dropping "yummy" hints as we close out a fantastic year.
2009 is starting to book up so contact me for available dates and packages.

With that.....I leave you this:

A Photographers Secret Weapon

2008-10-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

In the past I've posted some photos, wrote a little blurb and have enjoyed a great response from past clients and friends and fellow photographers.
Today though, I would like to change the format and talk about something near and dear to my heart...photography. Specifically the 50mm f1.8 lens. This is an awesome lens and probably the best valued lens out there. Seriously, If you have a digital SLR camera (the one where you can change lenses-aka DSLR) then this needs to be in your camera bag. If you are thinking about buying a DSLR than this lens should be your second purchase.
Lets look under the hood of this baby and see what it can do.
I recently did a shoot for my still in law-school friend with her gorgeous daughter. Check it out!

The 50mm is a "prime" lens. Which means NO Zoom capability. It stays at the same magnification level the whole time. Which means moving around a lot.

In this picture, I simulated a telephoto lens by moving in close...real close. By the look in Maddie's eye maybe too close.
----------------------------------------------------------------

This is more of a wider shot accomplished by backing up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This lens can be opened up very wide to allow a very large amount of light to enter. This opening or aperture is how photographers can get a nice fuzzy (tech term) background. We refer this as "Shallow" depth of field.

In this picture the blurry background as well the converging lines put the focus (pun? yes.) on the subject. Also look how easy she makes climbing those bars look. I remember when I could do that.
Here is another example.

Notice how the background is nothing but a wash of color. This is what makes Ryan stand out.

--------------------------------------------------------------
The remarkable thing about this lens is that it's under appreciated by a lot of photographers. This is good news because one can go to EBay and pick up this beauty for under $100.

Here are more shots from that day.

Simultaneous silly faces.

"Imagine your asleep and the next day it's Christmas..."

" It's now morning and you wake up"

Next to some of it's contemporary lenses the 50mm or "Normal" lens looks wimpy. My Nikkor version is made of plastic, is short in stature and makes sounds when it focuses. But it's performance IMHO, rivals any Pro lens out there and makes beautiful pictures.

I hope you enjoyed my demonstration of how to maximize the 50mm f1.8 lens. If you love photography as much as I do and you want to colaborate or if you have a question, feel free to contact me and we can discuss it.

Kevin

Announcing Debbie and Dan- Engaged!

2008-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

What a thrill it was to hang out with these guys. Something just clicked between them and the camera and I was there to capture it. My wife Beth worked with me on this one and I am eternally grateful to her because without her, I wouldn't be able to do any off camera lighting. If I have to use a flash at all, I try not to have it on my camera.

Anyway, after the engagement shoot we all met some friends and went to dinner.

I love this job!

Thank you Debbie and Dan for letting me be there and I so look forward to photographing your wedding in April 2009.

BOYS!

2008-08-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Lets face it... little boys are authentic. Have you ever noticed that boys don't care much for hygien. They play rough and tumble around and never miss an opportunity to jump in the puddle of mud. I try to keep up with camera in hand and capture the next adventure. I had the opportunity to do portraits of these cousins while in Zion.

Yuri and Viktoriya

2008-08-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Introducing Yuri and Viktoriya.
They are as sweet as they are beautiful. I have to say that working with this couple was very pleasurable for Mike and I. From the first moment we met at Poway Park, we all became chummy and comfortable. Which yeilded the great results that you see here. If you like these shots than Click Here and see the slide show under "feature events".

This is Zion

2008-08-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Been back a few weeks now and I am trying to catch up on my blog. Back to back weddings and engagement sessions have sapped a lot of time.

Ok so here it is. Of the 1000 plus shots, these are some of my favorites. I did take some pictures of people too. Those will come later.
I hope you can sense some of the majesty of Zion that I did when we stayed.
Thanks for looking,

Kevin

A New Flash Technique -

2008-07-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

My wife's family is in town and we are heading to Zion National Park this next week. Guess what...I'll be bringing my camera (surprise surprise!).

Anyway, I have been using my TTL cord to try different lighting ideas to "pump up" (technical term) the visual impact so to speak.

One of the goals of my blog is to chronical my improvement as a photographer so look forward to more interesting photo ideas...good or bad.

Hopefully I'll be able to post to the blog while I am in Zion so stay tuned...if not, see ya when I get back

Boys in the Backyard

2008-06-22T08:32:00.001-07:00

Hello,
I am still trying to catch up with my blog. By the way....Thanks for visiting!
Here are some shots of the Dynamic Duo playing together.

enjoy,

until next time....
K

2008-06-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

I've been behind in getting my posts out so I am going to try to catch up.
We went to Dysney Land with friends and of course I had to bring my camera.

Joslyn

2008-05-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

We were visiting my folks and my brother and wife were there with their cute daughter Joslyn. It occured to me that I haven't posted any pictures of her or my other niece Harlyn. So here are pictures of Joslyn and the boys. I'll be sure to get some updated pictures of queen Harlyn when she visits us next.

Introducing Ryan and Liz

2008-05-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

Be prepared to fall in love with this awesome couple. We hung-out at Old Poway park on a beautiful Spring afternoon and just had a blast. I asked Ryan and Liz to pretend I wasn't there and be themselves. Well, it's obvious because these moments captured themselves. I am honored and excited that I have the opportunity to be the photographer their wedding in June.
Good job guys!

To see a slideshow of this beautiful couple, Click Here.

2008-04-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everybody.

We're Back!

2008-04-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I updated MuddCasa. But that is usually because the family is busy doing fun stuff. Recently we celebrated a birthday with a cousin and have gone to a local animal attraction.

More Pictures of Ryans GQ Hair Cut

2008-02-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

Ryan Got a Hair Cut

2008-02-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

It's been close to 2 months since we got Ryan's hair cut so this time around I brought the camera...Big surprise for some of you ;) Diana at Sports Clips did a great job and as you can see Ryry is quite handsome.

Happy New Year….in February

2008-02-07T05:33:00.001-08:00

Part of being in the blogosphere is that you get to make up the rules. I am trying to get consistent so that updating my blog is a habit. So here is my latest blog contribution…pictures!!

Where I live…my beloved Carlsbad.

MMMMM……Cotton candy

Until next time... hopefully sooner than later.

2007-12-28T07:20:00.001-08:00

A way to catch up.

2007-12-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 years I have tried to keep up the Muddcasa.com site and found it to be "not what I want" in 2 ways.
1. It only showed pictures, and gave no way to communicate to our family what has been happening in our lives
2. it was time consuming in the maintenance and construction.
So today, I am introducing the MuddCasa web-log or Blog for short.
I hope you find it enjoyable.

Every year we get together with some very special friends of ours for breakfast and a photoshoot. We have done this for 4 years now and use these photos for our Chrismas cards that year. This year we chose Balboa Park and I have to say these are my favorite pics to date. I forget what wonderful places we have locally here in sunny SD.

Anyway below are some of the pics we did,

enjoy....k