Eric Kraus Photography

Christmas Tree Time lapse pt I

A short little experiment with time-lapse photography. This is part 1 of 2. Enjoy!

Stella + Jolie

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph friends of ours and the newest edition to their family. I had taken pictures of Mike and Erin awhile back and when they asked me to do photos with them again, I was thrilled! The weather has been so miserable here lately, that we decided to rent a studio and have some fun inside. And that we did. Here was the first picture from the day.

And here is the newest member of the family, Jolie.

The happy family.

We even had time to venture into the studio for a bit. I think this part was as much fun for me as it was for them!

Mike, executing the ancient art of puppy wrangling.

I love this picture!

These dogs crack me up. Meet Stella Artois and Regal Beagle

No puppy shoot is complete without some tug-of-war with the photographer.

We did venture outside for a bit and found this beautiful brick wall.

These are the looks of some tired pups.

Erin and Mike – Thank you so much for allowing me to spend the afternoon with you! I had a blast.

Instant Experiment

I just got my Fujifilm Instax camera today and was dying to take it for a spin. This was the second shot I took with it. The digital picture you see (of the instant photo) was taken with my D700 and fisheye lens 5 minutes later. A little photo alignment later and voila! (there was no post-processing/Photoshop in this image besides the border and watermark).

credit to Shawn McClung for this concept and his amazing collection of “Instax Window” shots on flickr

bubblegum52

I’m kicking off a new project this week. It’s called bubblegum52. One picture, per week, for a year. All pictures will be taken with the bubblegum app for Windows Phone 7. You can download the FREE app here!

I’ll be uploading all pictures to bubblegum52 set on flickr and tweeting along the way @ekphotography.

If others want to join in the fun, please tag with #bubblegum52

Juliette

I was honored when asked to take pictures of a co-worker’s newborn last weekend. Little Juliette is only 4 weeks old, but nothing short of a sweetheart. Congrats again to the proud new parents and thanks for allow me to spend the morning with you.

What newborn shoot is complete without a few tears?

You gotta love little feet!

There’s nothing better than a hug from dad.

A crib fit for a princess!

Tyler 3 weeks

As a new parent, each day seems to blend into the next. It’s amazing how fast they grow. When we brought him home, he fit perfectly on top of this bucket. He seems to have nearly out-grown it in 22 days.

Tyler Kraus

For those who haven’t already heard, Lori and I welcomed little Tyler Kraus to the world last week on March 10. We had his first mini-photo shoot today in our living room. He’s opening his eye for about an hour at a time now after he eats . Here’s one of the photos from today’s session.

snowy beard

It’s been a snowy winter here…and we have pretty well decided that winter is Toby’s favorite season. The snow on his face is from him jumping into snow drifts and diving for tennis balls. We nearly have to carry him back into the house or he would stay out and play all day long. Hope everyone is staying warm!!

Amy and Matt Married!

A couple weekends ago, I had the honor of photographing Amy and Matt’s beautiful fall wedding. The day went as perfect as anyone could ask for. And it all began with a dress…

Gorgeous flowers provided by Blossoms and Bridal.

The wedding party…

Gifts to the groomsmen were these super cool argyle socks. The guys were definitely stylin’

Check out this fancy ride for the bride and groom’s exit.

The food and dessert were top notch.

First dance for the happy couple.

Amy and Matt - Thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your day. Your wedding was beautiful! Enjoy your new life together!

Isla Mujeres

I just got back from a relaxing weekend down in Mexico on Isla Mujeres. The island is about 5 miles long and about a 1/2 mile wide. It’s gorgeous. If you ever have a chance to go, take the ferry over from Cancun and spend a day shopping and soaking up some sun. The food is excellent, the locals are very nice and Playa Norte beach is one of the best in the world.

There’s no better way to start off an island trip than an amazing sunrise. This is the view from the front of our house.

In the front, you can see our mode of transportation while we were there.

The shoreline is shared with many native creatures on the island.

Sol (or “Sun”) is a popular beer amongst locals. You can get it here in the US too.

A typical street outside of ‘downtown’.

A typical house on the island. Many homes were destroyed during Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
Unfortunately, not many people have been able to rebuild.

A picture of the Caribbean coastline in front of the house.

The last night of the trip, I snapped up a few sunset pictures on Playa Norte.

McKenna

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted some of the pictures I’ve taken. Here’s a great post to get back into the swing. I had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with an old friend from high school and take some photos with her family. Meet Jon, Abbey and McKenna. Little McKenna is only 8 months old, but full of smiles. The changing leaves were a perfect back drop for early fall photos.

Life is so tough when you’re adorable.

Not pictured, off camera left is Rubber Ducky and Sophie the Giraffe. Who wouldn’t smile for those two?!

The happy family!

Seeds From Weeds

I know dandelions are supposed to be the dreaded weed of all weeds, but I thought I’d share this picture anyway. It was taken in my front lawn. It’s been my desktop background for a couple weeks now.

Nikon D700, 105mm Micro Lens 1/50s at f/9 ISO 200

Amy + Matt

This summer has kicked off with a great start! I recently had the pleasure of shooting a wonderful couple whose wedding I’ll be shooting this fall. Amy and Matt are as cool as they come and I had a great afternoon hanging out with them at Minnehaha Falls. Here are some of my favorites from the evening:

Amy & Matt – Thanks for letting me “tag along” on the fun afternoon. You two are great! I can’t wait for the wedding in October!

Rough Life

I’ve been playing with my 50mm a lot lately which means the dog signed up (against his will) to be my subject/model. I snapped this photo of him the other night and just had to share it. He’s totally giving me the “Ok, I’m bored with posing” look.

A little man…

It’s been way too long since I last posted, so I’m going to make up for it with THE cutest little guy in the world.

I had an opportunity to take some pictures of Emmett’s older sister, Elisa, about a year and a half ago. And I was very excited when I was asked to take some pictures of her little brother Emmett at 6 months old.

This could not have been an easier photo session. Emmett was full of fun and was non-stop smiles the entire day…

Emmett loved being snuggled into the basket. I felt so bad taking him out. Until we found the bucket….

A little sister-brother love…

“Best buds….just hanging out….”

Frosty Morning

Summer is definitely behind us and winter will shortly be upon us. On a walk with Toby this morning, I was fascinated with the colors of the leaves with the delicate frost left over from the night.

Married: Aileen+Justin!

Aileen and Justin could not have asked for better weather for a September wedding. I arrived early in the morning to set up and check out the scenery. An outdoor wedding, an intimate chateau, sunshine, and…love: the day was in the making. I have really enjoyed getting to know Aileen and Justin over the last year, and I had been looking forward to this wedding for months. So without further delay, I thought I would share a few of my favorites from their big day.

Ceremony/Reception: Chateau at Medicine Lake
DJ: First Class Dances

Aileen and Justin exchanged letters just before they met. The entire room was filled with tears as her wedding party looked on.

I really enjoy doing pictures before the ceremony because it allows the bride and groom to see each other and talk a bit before everyone arrives. I could see how happy and in love they are just by the looks in their eyes.

A beautiful ceremony comes to an end with the perfect first kiss.

Aileen and Justin: Thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your special day. May you both find happiness in each other for many years to come. Congrats!

Ben + Melody

Ben and Melody are two of our closest friends. So, for their anniversary, I wanted to take some pictures of them and their Bernese Mountain Dog, Spliff. I was lucky enough, as any photographer would tell you, that they were willing to get up at sunrise to take the pictures. We set out to a couple of their favorite spots and the lighting was perfect!

As you can see, Spliff was definitely not shy around the camera…

In fact, I had the opportunity to take a few pictures of him when he was only a few months old. What a cutie!

For a dog that was born to work and love… we did it all that morning. There was even time for a quick game of “Who wants a treat?”

After some much needed play time, we took a break for some more pictures.

A picture perfect family.

Happy Anniversary, Ben and Mel! Here’s to many more years of a happy marriage to many more as great friends.

Family Portraits + Save Lives!

Fall special! Have your family photos taken this fall -- with the backdrop of Minnesota’s beautiful changing leaves -- and support cancer research at the same time.

Get your family portraits done for only $150, and $50 will be donated in your name to help cancer research. Your $50 contribution will help save lives and is fully tax deductible! (a receipt will be provided to you showing your donation).

Your portrait session will include 1 hour of photography at the location of your choice, any necessary photo touch-ups, and a CD of your pictures. More information on cancer research can be found here: American Cancer Society

Email: eric@erickrausphotography.com to book your session today!

This fall charity offer is good through October 31.

Yummy

I came home to a rare treat this evening. Lori greeted me at the door to let me know she had a surprise dinner planned. I am usually the cook for dinner, so I was VERY excited to see what she had whipped up. On the menu for the evening: parmesan/garlic chicken, baby red potatoes, and just perfect asparagus. YUM! What a treat! Thanks babe!

Aloha!

Some of you may know that I had my own turn to say “I Do” a couple weekends ago and just recently returned from our honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii. First, you MUST check out our amazing wedding photos from our photographer, Erika McCauley.

We opened a few wedding gifts before we left. Needless to say, we had quite the laugh. Confucius says, “If you register for it…[even as a joke]…they will buy it.” Yes, we only registered for ONE box.

I was able to snap a few photos on the trip, but I tried to relax for the most part and enjoy the time away.

Miles of beaches line the west coast of Maui. This is near the Sheraton Hotel and Black Rock cliff. This is one of a few tilt-shift photos I captured from the week.

A view from our favorite hang out

Eating out over the ocean and tasting some of the best fish on the island was AMAZING. Mahi Mahi with stuffed lobster and crab. Yum.

One great thing about having a photographer along on your honeymoon is there will be no shortage of pictures.

I took a surfing lesson from a guy and he was kind enough to let me borrow his board the next day. My beautiful WIFE gets the credit for the photo here. Not meant to look like tilt-shift, but a cool effect.

Before the trip, I had read about the gorgeous sunsets in Maui, but was disappointed when the weather forecast showed overcast and rain for the week. Fortunately, the two days I brought out my camera, we had the only two sunsets. We were both speechless…

On our last night, we drove up 10,000ft to Haleakala Volcano summit for our last sunset in Hawaii. The air was thin, very cold (40 degrees) and very windy. But as promised, it was worth the drive.

We literally felt like we were on top of the world.

Lori said, “It feels like where Heaven meets Earth”

Thank you, Lori, for the most beautiful wedding and honeymoon. I look forward to sharing many sunsets, in love with you.

-[Hudson Marie]-

Mike and Kristin are good friends of mine, and I was so happy to hear that they were going to have a little girl. I was even more thrilled when they asked me to come over and take pictures of little 2-week old, Hudson.

Hudson was an angel to photograph.

she’s already trying out her “daddy eyes”.

…the happy new family!

{Aileen+Justin}

It was a gorgeous June morning when I met Aileen and Justin for their engagement pictures. They had already picked two of my favorite photo spots, so I knew the session would go off without a hitch. We started off with a stroll through the rose gardens.

We're Engaged!

It wasn’t long before we could use a break from the hot sun. This bench provided the perfect opportunity for Aileen to snuggle into her man.

Just as we were walking out of the gardens, I caught Justin planting a big one on Aileen…

This is one of my favorite pictures from the session. So simple and intimate, yet fun…something straight out of an ad for blue jeans.

The whole family, with pup: Norman.

After a long day of shooting, there’s nothing better than a cup of coffee on the street.

Aileen and Justin - Thank you so much for the opportunity to photograph your engagement session. Looking forward to the wedding in the fall. Have a great summer!

Right place, right time

People often comment on my photos, and even more often my response to a particular photograph is, “Well, it was a lot of luck”. I’m not necessarily referring to the technical side of photography, but more of what brought me to that situation. For instance, many very good photographers will tell you, one might need to spend 8 hours camping a rock beach, just to snap a 1/400 of a second shot of a bald eagle catching a fish. I can’t say that I’m that patient of a guy, but I will admit there is a certain element of luck in my photography. If you believe in luck.

I was out shooting some grass near our house this weekend, and I literally tripped over a rock and landed humorously on my face [the camera was spared] . As I looked down, there was a small frog perched on the end of a stick looking out over the lake. [ luck ] And, it just so happened that I had my macro lens on [ luck #2 ]   It was getting quite dark, and I didn’t want to risk losing the frog if I went to get my tripod, so I shot handheld.

I had no expectations that the shots would turn out. In fact, I figured they would all be throw away. Much to my surprise, there were a couple pictures that were “kept”. Here are a few that I must label, “right place, right time”

Nikon D700 105mm Macro ISO 800   f/3.3   1/50s


Nikon D700 105mm Macro ISO 1000   f/3.5   1/40s

Pics for Pets

I was recently hired by a pack of puppies to photograph their participation in the 2009 Humane Society Walk for Animals. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time. I wanted to share with you some of the highlights from the day.

It was a nice sunny day, and all the kids had smiles on their faces… What could be better than being outside with nearly 8,000 other dogs!

Some got to carry a stick… “This is my favorite thing”

Some worked on their training. High-Five!

Some really enjoyed hiking through the woods…

And, some really just enjoyed the walk… “Let’s go guys!”

Everyone had a great time during the walk. However, the big lesson learned from the afternoon, which really applies to life in general, was that even if you think you are a big dog, there will always be a bigger dog…one who will not hesitate to drool…all over your head.

A special thanks to Melody for coordinating the event for all the pups. We had a great time and it’s good to know it was for a great cause.

April Showers…

Much needed April showers leave behind water droplets that act like little magnifying glasses.

Nikon D700; Nikkor 105mm Micro; f/40 @ 1/4s ISO 500

Nature at home

A lot has been going on lately, I’ve been so busy I haven’t really had much time to get out and shoot. We just recently moved to a new home about 7 miles out of the city. We LOVE it here. Not only is the house more practical but views and nature around us are perfect. It’s a little bit of city and a little bit of nature all wrapped in one place. City life is great, but there is something to be said for listening to the birds in the morning and watching the sun rise over the water.

I finally had a chance to snap a few shots tonight. The sunset was amazing and it produced some great color on the swamps surrounding our house. The knocked down tree (tilt-shift) reminds me that the end of one thing provides many opportunities for new things to begin.

Nikon D700 70-200mm f/2.8 1/400s ISO 200

Nikon D700 50mm Tilt-Shift f/11 1/30s ISO 500

Published!

Just picked up my copy of Twin Cities Metro Magazine, April 2009 issue. They did a 5 page article on tilt-shift photography and featured one of my photos. The article can be read online here: http://www.metromag.com/0p176a2836/welcome-to-smallville/

Photo gallery shows the images throughout the article (mine is the wedding photo – second in the gallery): http://www.metromag.com/pages/popup/gallery_detail.cfm?GALLERY_ID=63

Thanks Bryan!

Nubble Lighthouse

On a recent visit to Boston, I took a side trip up Route 1 to York Beach, Maine. I had never been out to the New England area, and I thought while I was there, I would do as much sightseeing as possible. It took me about an hour and a half to reach York Beach from Boston. My main objective: photos of Nubble Lighthouse. The lighthouse is also commonly referred to as Cape Neddick Lighthouse and is claimed to be one of America’s most popular lighthouses. In 1977, NASA’s Voyager II took a picture of the lighthouse into space as the Coast Guard thought it represented “The American lighthouse”.

The picture below was taken over the course of 90 minutes of shooting. Next to the Atlantic Ocean, the winds were a constant 40mph+ with temperatures in the 20’s. I was only able to shoot for about 5 minutes at a time before I had to duck behind a car door to warm up.

Nubble Lighthouse York Beach, Maine Nikon D700; Lensbaby 50mm Composer f/4 @ 1/2000s ISO 200

More information on the Nubble Lighthouse can be found here:
http://www.nhtourguide.com/notquitenh/nubble_lighthouse_maine.htm

New Camera

I am very excited that my new camera just arrived: Nikon D700 Full Frame body. Here is a test shot from the first series of photos I took. I am blown away at the color and sharpness of the pictures. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to this blog, I know. Out of my 4 blogs, 2 Twitter accounts, seminar presentations, and book, I have definitely been the most behind on this blog. That is about to change.

Toby with droopy eyes after coming home from surgery. Also his 1yr birthday
Nikon D700 50mm f/8 1/60s ISO 200

Miniature Wedding

Another tilt-shift experiment… I love the new Lensbaby Composer. For some reason, I’m addicted. I thought this one turned out pretty cool though.

Tilt-Shift

There’s been a lot of hype lately around a photography technique called “tilt-shift”. Tilt-shift involves bending light through a special lens so that only part of the picture is in focus and the rest is blurry. The result is focus on objects that are further away and blur on objects that are closer. This yields some what of an optical illusion as the part that is in focus will then appear smaller (almost miniature).

As I mentioned, there are specific lenses that accomplish this task. One of the more popular lenses is made by LensBaby. They’re relatively inexpensive…which is good because they’re fun to play with.

However…for those of us do-it-yourselfers…or just plain cheap photographers…there’s always the “workaround”. For the tilt-shift, workarounds come in two flavors…both of which I like: Photoshop and website.

Website
I’ll start here, simply because it’s free. 1. Upload picture 2. Choose focal point 3. Create image. It couldn’t be easier. Check out http://tiltshiftmaker.com.

Photoshop
The Photoshop process yields the same result as the website, but involves a bit of patience and practice. The Photoshop process involves using a gradient mask and the lens blur filter. Step by step instructions can be found here.

Here are some photos that I have been playing around with (taken with a normal lens, faked through Photoshop/Website).

Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul, MN

DCI (Drum Corps International) Finale 2001, Buffalo, NY

If you’re interested in more tilt-shift photography, check out these sites: 41 Amazing Tilt-shift Miniature Faking Photographs and 50 Beautiful Examples of Tilt-shift Photography

Missing Summer

It’s only been a couple weeks into Winter…and I may already be missing Summer. I’m normally a BIG winter guy, but I haven’t had much time to enjoy the snow…just shovel it. I’ve been looking through lots of old photos and found this from one of my trips to Seattle. Just a little bee working away…making the flowers bloom.

Minnesota Reminder

With all of the white snow we have been seeing lately, I thought a good reminder of why we choose to live in Minnesota would help to lift our spirits.

I took this picture this past fall near our house. I was out shooting a couple-friend of ours when I stopped for a moment just to take in the scenery around me. Now it has become one of my favorite pictures...

Website Update

I’ve been debating whether to keep my blogspot [personal] blog or to combine my “professional” and personal work into one. For the sake of simplicity, I have decided to do the latter.

So that means, don’t forget to check back here often, not just for my portfolio work, but for tips, tricks, and anything else photography related…

To kick off the fun, I want to note three new things on the site:

My Favorites Links (under Links in the menu) – is a collection of my favorite photography sites, blogs, tips, tools, etc. etc. I am a member of several photography clubs and am flooded with “cool sites” and “tip of the week” emails. As I filter through them and find valuable sites, I bookmark them here.

Tag Cloud on home page – this is a tag cloud built from tags used in all of my posts. The more frequent the tag, the larger font. As I continue to blog more on this site, the tag cloud will be a useful tool to navigate through posts of interest

I’m on Twitter!! – the benefit/use of Twitter is a topic for another area (you can check Wikipedia). You can check out what I’m up to on the homepage of the site, or follow me directly @ekphotography.

House of Light

The other night, I set out with a fellow photographer to take some night pictures in St. Paul. Even though it was raining most of the evening, I was able to snap this sharp image of the cathedral near downtown.

Post processing has been done with a technique called HDR (high dynamic range). It includes: -3EV, 0EV, and +3EV exposures.

Love in October

Just last weekend, I had the opportunity to meet two members of Love in October, an indie rock band in Minneapolis. They had asked me to do a shoot with them for promo pictures and for their application to South by Southwest. The band had some great ideas for the shoot which made my job even easier. You definitely have to check out their music; I love it!

Without further delay, let me introduce: Love in October.

Nothing beats improv in the street

Always time for a quick sip of cocoa.

Love in October!

Lucy

I've been quite busy shooting and editing the past couple of weeks. I'm very excited to share the most recent of sessions. I can easily say that I am developing a passion for shooting children. The way they play and laugh is so genuine. It truly makes "work"...fun.

Hi, I'm Lucy

Smiles for mom...

"I think I'll grow up to be a model..."

Hangin' with dad is just plain...Fun!

Mike+Erin

Just recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot a couple friends of ours, Erin and Mike with their puppy, Stella. These two were naturals...and little Stella LOVES getting her picture taken!

Posing by the creek

The family...

Years later...and we still got it...

Front and center...that's the way I like it!

Abby

"F" can stand for "Fall", but I'd like to think it stands for "Fun". And that's exactly what we had last weekend... I love photographing children so much, ironically because they don't really pay much attention to me. It gives me the opportunity to capture their true spirit...and let them just 'have fun'.

Whether upside-down or right-side-up, smiles are the name of the game.

Slides are definitely meant to go down HEAD first!

Higher Dad, Higher!!!

After a long day of running around, it's good to know Mom and Dad will be there for a hug!

Happy Birthday Lori!

October brings many things... leaves changing on the trees, cooler weather, Halloween... But in our house, October brings two very important dates. One of them is today. Twenty-six years ago today a little girl entered the world who would some day become the joy of my life.

Happy Birthday, Lori!

I just wanted to share one picture from two summers ago. This has to be one of my favorites. Even after a 3 hour canoe paddle against 30 mph winds, a mile and a half portage with a 65lb pack, and several 34 degree nights... she put on the biggest smile when she pulled in this bass. What a great catch....and the fish was nice too.

"May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine." ~Frank Sinatra

Anabel

Wow...what a busy weekend. I'm very excited to share my first portrait shoot with you. Little Anabel just turned 2 years old and I was very excited for the opportunity to take pictures with her. We had quite the fun morning running in the backyard, doing summersaults, and hanging out with the rest of the family.

It didn't take long to break the ice and the smiles were starting to peek through...

Baby Alia was an angel during the entire morning. Some day these tiny feet will conquer the world...

Time for the morning flying lessons....

What a wonderful big sister...kisses for baby Alia

Say "bye bye" to the nice photographer man

Welcome!

I am extremely excited to be writing the first of many posts on my new website/blog. It has been several weeks and many late late nights in the making, but the website is finally coming together. As you look around, please provide any feedback that would make the site more valuable or easier to use. I will do my best to continue to improve based on feedback.

A little about myself: my name (as the website states) is Eric Kraus. I am not a photographer by profession, but rather an IT consultant. “I’m a PC” as some might say. This website is an example of my craft. I do most of my photography as a hobby/passion. However, photography is more than a passion, it is a way I can give back to others.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts, clients, and most importantly my view of the world through the viewfinder.

I would like to dedicate this site and all of my work to my beautiful fiancé, Lori. I love you. Your unconditional support, patience, and inspiration keeps the fire inside me alive. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I can not wait to spend the rest of my life with you.