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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Surfing the Sky

I found this awesome video footage most of which was shot using the new Nikon D300s camera. The scenery is incredible seeing these waves of clouds rolling in just like an awesome set on a west coast beach. The serenity of the lone hang glider surfing these waves in the sky as graceful as a bird. This was an awesome undertaking seeing the engineering that the photographer had to overcome in order to get the shots his client wanted. Makes me think of the creativity which needs to go into the shoots we do and being able to think outside of the box in order to get extraordinary results. Enjoy the video.


Saturday, October 3, 2009

Randy Moves On



My brother by another mother Randy Torres, photographer extraordinaire, decided to fly the coop and head east to the Big Apple. Randy was an integral part of the photoministry at East Lake Church where I also attend and am active in the ministry. Randy was a mentor to me and is sorely missed for his expertise, knowledge, compassion, companionship and friendship. But on the plus side I have a place to crash when I attend the next PDN Photo Expo YAY!!!

On a different note the above panorama, from Randy's going away wake, was actually taken and stitched all in my iPhone. Randy is the one in the awesome pork pie hat. I use a nice little piece of software available form the iTunes App Store called Pano ( I in no way get an compensation from Pano for this review, unless they insisted then OK). The software is very simple to use and has overlapping exposures so that you can line up all of your shots. It then gives you the option of using the shot or taking it again. After that you just sit back and let the software do the work. It dumps the final product right in your camera roll on the phone and is then available for uploading to your favorite social network or whatever. I was amazed when created my first panorama and continue to love to use it when the right moment strikes. If you use and iPhone please go check it out and give it a try I think you will be pleasantly surprised as I was.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

A Little Monkeying Around

This past Thursday I had a great opportunity to photograph the life development team at Eastlake Church in Chula Vista for there next children's series based on an Indiana Jones theme. The team did a great job with some props and their costumes were spot on for the shoot. They are a great bunch to work with always willing to follow a little artistic direction and not afraid to offer up some ideas of their own. These are the folks that work directly with the children every weekend and they do a phenomenal job keeping the children interested and plugged in to the teachings of Jesus Christ. My own children attend these classes and never complain about having to go to church.

For the technical aspects of the shoot Mr. Dan Castrellon provided his Norman strobes for the main lights and also provided the background and technical support. I provided my Hensel's to help blow out the background for a high key effect so that it would be easier to mask. I did the shooting using my Nikon D700 set to F16 at 1/125 and ISO 400. The lights were set at varying ratios with the mains being fired into silver umbrellas and the rear fills using a softbox and a beauty dish. There was also a third background light that was aimed directly at the backdrop bare bulb.

I also need to give a great big shout out to Nikki Wells of Nikki Wells Photography who is also a member of the photo team at the church. She bravely answered the call of the wild when no one else was willing to step forward and wear the super happy monkey costume. Nikki you made a fabulous monkey and I think your kids will be scarred for life after seeing there Mom's head on the monkey body when the monkey head came off.

All in all I am very pleased with the results and I know the team will do a great job in post and putting together another awesome presentation for the kids. Good job guys on continuing to do the work of the Lord glad I could help.















Thursday, September 10, 2009

Park View Little League Homecoming Pics

If you read my previous post you would know that a client of mine, Steve Eicher of It's Time Public Address Announcing, hired me to document the Park View Little League Homecoming to Chula Vista CA. I thought I would post up a few of the pics I took that day for your viewing pleasure. I love my art of photography and this style of journalistic coverage is very appealing. First in a journalistic style you have the freedom to flow with the events as they unfold. You also have to have your head on straight with eyes and ears wide open to try to anticipate events as they are coming up. This was especially true at this event as much of my information on what was coming up was gleaned from staff as they were talking and I was within earshot. I love the freedom my clients give me to be able to use my best judgement to be able to document as I want and feel. That is what this art is about to me it is about emotion, movement, light, moments all rolled into the same exact point in time when my shutter clicks. Man I love my chosen art form. So here are some photos from the event for you to enjoy and hopefully they will impart some of the emotion that was felt during the event by me and all, approximately 10,000, who attended.













Sunday, September 6, 2009

Well what's new. A client of mine, Steve Eicher of Unique Mobile Sounds, had me out to shoot the Park View Little League Homecoming and what an event it was. Being able to be on the field during the event was incredible. The stadium at Southwestern College was filled to overflowing. The estimate was that 10,000 people were there to support these great young men, their coaches, families and support staff after their win of the Little League World Series. The energy from the field was just incredible and Steve Eicher kept the crowd pumped up and did a phenomenal job as the official emcee of the event.

Several dignitaries were present at the event including the Chula Vista Mayor, her husband Ron Cox, local representative Marty Block, U.S. Representative Bob Filner, and the list goes on. It was great seeing all of these people rallying around the kids and their coaching staff and when the kids arrived on the back of a Chula Vista fire rig the place errupted with cheers and applause. I of course had to concentrate on the job at hand and began snapping off shots as fast as I could as these local heroes walked into the stadium. I also had my good friend Mike Thiem with me as my second photographer and he did a great job of capturing some awesome moments.

These kids were as humble as could be, they truly loved the crowd and were obviously just trying to take it all in. I was able to be the only photographer to gain access to the VIP area after the event and talking to these guys one on one you really realize what a class act they all are. Every one of their parents should be proud. So thanks to Steve Eicher, Cheryl Cox (Chula Vista Mayor) and all involved for a memorable event.

Below is a video showing myself and Mike at the event doing what we love to do. I am at the beginning of the video shooting as they come into the fenced area. I am wearing a black cap. Mike is in a blue button up shirt shooting them on the infield area.


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hotlanta to Hampton

Hi all,

Well here I am at 1 am posting to my blog from Hampton Va. My buddy Randy Torres of www.randorex.com are here in Hampton Va. to shoot a sweet wedding. The couple is awesome and we are both stoked to be here on my first destination wedding. Big congrats to the couple Kierston and Dominic and thanks for the hospitality.

The trip started out well enough with good intentions. But things would prove to not be so smooth in no time. We missed our 6am flight from San Diego yes that is right 6am so I was up around 4am. So we missed the flight even though we were at the airport over 1.5 hours early. The baggage check in line and security line were longer than the lines at Disneyland. So we cought the next flight after a couple of hours then ended up in Hotlanta, Georgia. Heat and hunidity go hand in hand in Georgia and Virginia for that matter. Well to get to our departing terminal in Hotlanta we had to take a train and walk for about 5 miles man that is a big airport. After all of that walking we waited for another couple of hours only to find that only one of us could get on that flight. So we both stayed to catch the next flight out but the bright side was a soldier was waiting on standby also and was able to get on the plane which was awesome.

We then had to take another train to another concourse to catch the next flight out and spent a grand total of 4+ hours in Hotlanta. With the time change from the west coast and all I was getting beat. Well we made it on the flight and finally arrived in Norfolk Virginia around 8:50pm and was glad to finally have the end of this journey straight out of a twilight zone in sight. Our bags were already waiting for us and so were the lovely bride and groom. Well got to get going must get sleep for next 18 hours straight thanks to black out curtains and air conditioning which is an absolute necessity around these here parts. Join me next time for the continuing saga of my first destination wedding. You can also click the galleries link above to visit the engagement photo page for Kierston and Dominic.

Monday, July 27, 2009

My Blogs New Look,

Hi all, well been spending some time learning all I can about customizing my blog here and it has come along nicely. Of course I am doing this in between photo edit sessions when I need a break. I am really stoked at the level of customization you can do with a blog and will continue to tinker with it from time to time as time permits. I was able to expand the header across the entire top of the block and add borders around the various sections. I changed the background color and am working on adding a background image to spruce it up a little. I also added the small slideshow player in the header. I do this all for you my readers and hope that you like it. Please leave me any feedback you like and I will respond as soon as I can. If you want help customizing your blog please check out this link to BlogBuster and I am sure you will find the site as helpful as I have. If you haven't been to my website in awhile (Shane Stiles Photography) please check it out in the near future as I will be adding some new content to the gallery from my last engagement shoot and am trying to get some sports pics from the last Holiday Bowl and Poinsettia Bowl up. Bye for now, take care and God bless.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I'm a lifer

Well I pulled the trigger today and joined up with Showit Inc. for the long haul by purchasing a lifetime membership to their excellent web site solution for photographers or anyone else who might need an awesome website. I highly recommend their solution as it lets you have total control over your site offering very advanced features especially for those of us who do not want to learn how to code because we have other things going on like taking photos. Support is great and I am loving the experience.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Proof Session

I am really excited at my upcoming proof session with Nic and Cristina. They were a great, young couple to work with at their engagement shoot in Balboa Park in San Diego. I can't wait for them to see the individual pieces of art we created together that day and pick their favorites. I am really looking forward to seeing both of them again. Man this is a great job in the way you get to connect with people on some of the most important days of their lives. See you Tuesday guys, can't wait. Here are a few of the engagement shots of this awesome couple.














Thursday, July 16, 2009

Well I finally got my blog up but now I am constantly looking for ways to change it and make it more personal. Thanks for visiting and check back as I will be adding content relevant to my experiences and invite your comments so that we can connect together. Thanks again for stopping by the door is always open friend.

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