A Solitary Existence, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

"A Solitary Existence". Edmonds Waterfront, Washington, USA
February 3rd, 2010 © 2009 Doug van Kampen, All Rights Reserved

B l a c k M a g i c

So in between me nearly getting sucked into the path of a moving locomotive and shooting macros of driftwood, this women comes waltzing past me with a surfboard in hand and goes splooshing into Puget Sound. She paddled until she was completely out of sight and ended up coming back about an hour later, right when the light was just getting to that point where you look at it and want the moment to last forever.

Please note: The only other moments I’ve really wanted to last forever are ranked as such….

1. Marrying Corrieblueeyes
2. The birth of my children; not the labor part for my wife’s sake!
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. The light in this image…

The empty one’s I have yet to fill, there is still so much to do in this life and God isn’t done with me by a long shot.

"Great glass is nice, but even with crappy glass, you can capture moments that will last generations." -Tom van Kampen
(a quote from a conversation I had in the darkroom with my pop back when I was in high school) -vK

Sounder, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

A while back I attempted to get this shot, but completely wimped out regarding how close I got to the train passing at around 40mph….
That being said, this time I had about 30 seconds to change lenses (because I was off shooting macros of driftwood near where this was [...]

Cradled, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

Achieving the proper separation with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 can be somewhat frustrating considering the sweet spot for this lens is at around f/2.8! The only other lens which has better performance is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 which is considerably less expensive!
The goal here was to provide separation while [...]

Daddy’s Little Football, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

This was a few minutes before she fell asleep…a full belly and some rocking from Mom and Dad have a tendency to do that!
Thank you to everyone who’s provided such supportive comments and feedback the last couple of days regarding my previous post. This shoot has really [...]

Eight Days Old, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

My good friend John said that this shoot would be more rewarding and fun than shooting a wedding….he was *so* right! Perhaps I just really like babies as well!
The two most difficult things about today’s shoot was 1.) Controlling the spill of light with flags, reflectors, etc. [...]

My Very Own ‘Mittens’, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

Even though I am pleased from the quality that I can achieve from a properly composed and processed HDR image, with a properly exposed photograph using filters and a minimal amount of processing in post, beautiful photographs can be made.
This shot was made by stopping down [...]

Mt. Shuksan, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

This shot was from a ski trip up to Mt. Baker last year. Epic, epic day….
I’m planning on heading out tomorrow morning to hopefully get some decent shots of this glaciated peak in the North Cascade wilderness of Washington State. Like I said earlier, if anyone [...]

Rise and Fall, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

The plains of Washington State, otherwise known as the Palouse, consist of miles upon miles of landscape that continually curves in a tapestry of lines and textures. This is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have seen on earth. From a purely photographic standpoint, [...]

Bathed In Light, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

This is baby Chloe, our Niece, who was born while my family and I were down in California during this past summer. Those of you that follow my stream remember me posting this shot of her, which, was the only shot I was able to get [...]

The Lost American in France, originally uploaded by Doug van Kampen.

Your feedback on this image is highly appreciated. I’m trying a few new processing techniques and would highly appreciate input and constructive critique. Thank You!
The above is an image shot last summer while Nathan was visiting the states from France. If I had to pick [...]