A taste of the valley

I'm still full.  It's been a couple of hours now since we left the event at the Middle School...and I'm still full.

Tonight was the annual "Taste of Tuscarawas Valley" to benefit the Tusky Valley local schools band boosters.  And since Molly is in the band program and volunteered to work, we attended as well.  The night was filled with local food vendors, (restaurants,  caterers and local small businesses), providing samples of their dishes.  My personal favorite was the sausage sampler from Canal Tavern of Zoar.  Especially the "beer cheese" sauce to dip in.  While we were waiting for the doors to open for the event we were looking over the list of vendors and reading the rules that each vendor gives you a sample and they check off your list as you go.  We were wondering why a good number of the people going into the event had Tupperware containers with them.  We understand why now.  Even though they are just "samples", you still walk away with a fair amount of food and deserts.  And while you enjoy the tasty treats, the middle school band as well as the high school's jazz band play selections of music. 
A really good night with a lot of money raised for the music program.  Actually, it was a complete sell out for them this year!

 

Yet another new lens

Since I've decided to start building my photographic empire, I've decided that I have to start getting some better equipment to go along with it.  For the longest time I've felt pretty comfortable that the 18-55mm lens that came with my Canon was enough for wide angle shots.  That was until I used it for a shot back in December where I found that 18mm is not wide angle enough.  So enter my new Sigma 10-20mm.  Not the fastest lens out there, but seems like a pretty sturdy lens.  What amazes me is just how wide angle it can get.  

Here's an example of my 18-55mm shot at 18mm.

Picture taken within a foot of the camera.  Pretty decent coverage close up. Now, let's see how it looks at approximately the same distance and at 10mm on the Sigma lens.

There is a whole lot more there.  But I also am noticing that the image, shot at the same ISO setting, has a lot more noise in it.  When I get some time this week, I'll take it for a walk after work and see what I get out in the world with natural lighting. 

But for now, I have to get back to some website building.

Evolution

There's been a slight change to this site made today.  For the past couple of years, TuscPics.com has been my primary site for displaying and sharing my photography.  But as I am now in the process of trying to decide how I want to continue with things, I made a change to the site name.  Before the site was simply called, "Andy Donaldson Photography - TuscPics.com".  Now I'm adding "The weblog of" to the front of that.  

Why am I doing it, you might ask?  Well, I'm thinking it's about time I make things official and start my own small business as a photographer.  Huzzah!  With that being the case, I want to have a presence on the web that will be for "business" side of things, looking all professional and what-not. But at the same time I do not want to give up having this site and domain to be used for sharing my adventures in f-stops.  Especially since so many of those showcase the community I live in and all the cool and wonderful things that there are to take pictures of around here.  Hence the name TuscPics.com.  Tusc meaning Tuscarawas County.  

So, stay tuned.  Only the "title" of this site has changed.  Once I have a plan layed out and in place, I will advertise it here as well as my Facebook page, (be sure to like me there!).  I'm not in a rush, mind you.  I really enjoy the pace of things as they are and will continue along. But at the same time, this is an exciting time for me and I hope you'll come along for the ride.  Onward!

Surrounded by genius - My weekend at Warther Museum

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to be asked to help a story that is truly American.  It's the story of a hard working man that took his passion and made it his lifes work.   Ernest “Mooney” Warther was a man that was able to take a piece of wood or ivory and turn it into an exquisite and detailed piece of artwork.  His passion for carving was trains and at the Warther Museum there are many to see.  The family, now his great grand children, continue to show his work and had contacted me to capture images of them with my camera.  With the help of my wife, we spent last Friday and Saturday at the museum capturing in detail the beauty of these items.  Being able to look at the pieces with the zoom lens really gives you an appreciation for just how much detail this man put into his work.  If you are ever in the Dover, OH area, I strongly suggest you stop by the Warther Museum yourself and check it out. 

On Sunday of last week, we went back down and took the official tour and learned much more about many of the items there.  I've added a few images from Sunday's visit, (since the other ones are for my client ;-) )  Remember, everything you see in the museum is carved from either wood, ivory, (from deceased Elephants) or bone.  Very cool stuff.  Also at the museum is a collection of thousands of buttons all arranged in different patterns.  For Mooney's wife, that was her passion and those too are something to see.

On a photographic note, there was one thing I did last week that was pretty funny.  On one of the items we were shooting, we wanted to do it in the dark to highlight the interior of the train car.  While that worked ok, I still wanted to get some detail of the outside of the train car.  That's when I remembered the flashlight app on my iPhone.  I turned it on and basically moved the iPhone around the train car much like I was dodging and burning in the darkroom.  Okay, it was funny to me and I guess you had to have been there.

Taking my pancake for a walk

Was very happy to come home this evening to find that my new Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM "pancake" lens had arrived.  Ever since I had dove back into photography, I've found that sometimes it's hard to have the one lens do exactly what I've wanted it to do compared to the old days of shooting full frame film cameras.  So, in my quest to find that control/balance, I purchased a 50mm Canon EF lens last year.  While it is a very sharp lens and takes great pictures, I've found it to be too much of a telephoto lens and not a good all purpose lens.  So when I read about the new 40mm, I was excited about what it may do for me.  For the bit I've used it tonight, I'm amazed at it versatile nature and ability to be a great all-purpose lens.  Tomorrow will be a true test of the lens as I head to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park for a little dander.  But as of right now my thought it, "I wonder how much I can get if I sell the 50mm?"

All images below are taken with the 40mm.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Adams.

On this day in 1902, Ansel Adams was born in San Fransisco.  If you had gone to or listened to my Spark Ideas talk, you would know that he had a big influence on my photography.  Like I stated in my speech, in my early days with a camera, I wanted to be the next Ansel Adams.  But as time went on and maturity grew, I grew into my own photographic style.  Not one that was just imitating.  But there are still times where his influence is still felt in my gut and in my eye.  

Happy Birthday, Mr. Adams.  Thank you for creating the images that you had and for the inspiration you have given me all these years.

 

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