Anastacia K Photography

Picture quality

2009-10-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just began to notice a quality loss in pictures I was posting here. I did a google search and apparently other people are noticing the same thing. I am highly aggravated about this as this blog is a place for me to show my work..not this blurry grainy junk they are doing to my pictures. Ug.

Cassie: Senior 2010

2009-10-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Cassie is our favorite-est babysitter in the world. We love her to pieces and are so happy she has been a part of our lives. I was excited to shoot her senior pictures a few weeks ago, and here are a few.

Claire: Senior 2010

2009-10-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of Claire's senior pictures I took a few weeks ago. I still haven't mastered the optimal size and dpi to upload for the best picture here. They do look a little grainy. If you know the secret, please let me know :-)

Venus in Flames Fire Troupe

2009-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

A fellow photographer and friend received a request to photograph some fire dancers recently. As it was something new to both of us, she asked if I wanted to come along and do it together. Here are a few of my shots from the night. This is the Venus in Flames Fire Troupe, St. Louis MO.

Christine and Mark's sneak peek. :-)

2009-10-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

I first met Christine over 10 years ago. She is the little sister of an old friend of mine. A tid bit of history...the night I met my husband, we had exchanged looks and maybe even a few words, but that was about all that happened when everyone in my group decided they wanted to leave the place we were at. I really wanted to get to know my husband more, but I felt I had no choice but to leave till I saw Christine walk by me. I told her what was going on and without hesitation she agreed to drive me home later (which was a HAUL for her then), and as a result my husband asked for my number and here were are happily married 9 years later. THANK YOU Christine!!

I'm not sure exactly when Christine met Mark, but through the years we've seen them at barbecues, other get togethers, and occasionally out and about. They have such an amazing amount of love for one another, and a strong friendship that you can just see by watching them together. I was so excited when I heard they had gotten engaged, because they are just one of those couples that you know are meant to be from the very beginning. It was truly an honor to be included in their special day. Here are just a few pics from their wedding and reception.

Lindsey and Craig: Engaged!!!

2009-08-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

I've known Lindsey through my Sister-in-law for a while, and she has always told me she wanted me to shoot her wedding some day. Earlier this Summer Lindsey and Craig got engaged, and even though their wedding isn't till NEXT OCTOBER, we decided to get the engagement shots done now. I'm glad we did because it gave me a chance to get to know Craig better and get to know them as a couple. They have been together for a long time, high school sweethearts actually, and they just couldn't be cuter together.

Carrie and Nathan

2009-07-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I accompanied my friend on an engagement shoot for her brother. While she was the main photographer this day, I will be shooting this couples reception in May (they are having a destination wedding in April). We were joined by another St. Louis photographer (I will provide links once the other girls get their pictures up.) so Carrie and Nathan had quite the entourage for the day! We visited the Soulard area and also a beautiful South City park.

Here are a few favorites from the day.

Canon Focus and Metering..I finally get it! Sorta.

2009-07-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

I know nobody reads this blog yet, but I just had a huge moment in understanding my camera, and someday, maybe this will help another Canon user.
A bit of history...I have been a Nikon user for 10 years. I understand them and I love them, but Canon images are in my opinion simply better. So I made the switch a few months back. I have really been struggling with the transition because everything is opposite..everything turns in the opposite direction and every function on the body is different. What frustrates me most is how I focus and meter for light. I always used spot/center focus and spot metering. I felt Nikon's other metering modes were less reliable (for me anyway).
Nikon...I can press the exposure lock button down to lock exposure and then press shutter half way which locks in focus and recompose the shot. This even worked on moving subjects. Perfect shot every time.
Canon...I just couldn't figure it out. Even with the camera in One Shot mode (and spot metering and center focus), pressing the shutter half way and recomposing would change the exposure. I tried using the exposure lock on the back but I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. I'd have to press it for every picture until the camera "went to sleep" and then it would go off. So I started just using the joystick to change the focus point. This is something totally new to me as I never had to do it on my Nikon. It's a hard adjustment but I'm getting it. I still didn't have the exposure lock thing down and was using the wheel to adjust the exposure accordingly.

Then tonight I read on a forum that a Canon rep told someone that the camera meters for the focus point being used. BS...or so I thought. Then I thought about it some more and tried the camera in Evaluative metering (something I wasn't a fan of with Nikon, or even with the canon originally) and sure enough, it meters on the focus point I am using. Or sort of anyway. It gives that point more consideration, yet still takes into account the rest of the picture to an extent. Cool! And wow what a difference it makes!

So now I am just struggling with Auto Focus with fast moving subjects. Canon doesn't come close to Nikon's AF capabilities. Period. Even so, being new to Canon, I'm hoping over the next few days I will figure that out as well.

New Blog/Site

2009-07-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been blogging on a personal blog now for almost a year, but did not have a blog for my photography alone, so here we go! I am new to blogger however, so it might take me a little while to get this all fine tuned. Hang in there with me, and please check back often for updates.
Thanks for visiting!