RIP – Kevin ‘Kdubb’ Webber
On January 30th, 2009, Kevin ‘Kdubb’ Webber passed away in Austin TX.
Kevin was a friend to more people than I can put a number on, and he was an exceptional husband to his wife Nicole. Anyone who knew him will tell you that he was not only a great & fun guy to be around, but he was also an extremely loyal friend who was always there for his people, no matter the circumstance. He lived life like a rockstar, and always made sure his friends came along for the ride. When he passed, he left behind an an amazing wife, a family that loved him dearly, and an enormous amount of friends that were devastated to see him go.
His memorial was Saturday January 9th in Rockwall, TX, and the turnout was amazing, and awing. Everyone came to remember him, and show the great amount of respect they have for him. Some people drove in from Austin (myself included), Houston, and someone even flew in from Nebraska. Most of us knew each other already, and in some cases hadn’t spoken in years. Others were new to some of us, which brought about the opportunity to make new friends. I know that Kevin would have been SO happy and taken aback to know how he brought us all together, reconnected old relationships, and created new friendships. Truly amazing.
The majority of us stayed at the Hilton in Rockwall, which looks over Lake Ray Hubbard, and makes for a great place to hang out with friends. We spent almost the whole time there, at the bar. Kevin loved many things, one of which was Makers Mark Whisky. Since we were there for Kevin, and didn’t have to drive anywhere, there ended up being a lot of drinking in his honor, and more toasts to him than I can count. Both Friday and Saturday, we opened the bar a 3pm, and closed it at 12am. By the end of the weekend, we had gone through 5 large bottles of Makers Mark, a few other types of liquor, and literally all of the Hilton’s Dos Equis (my drink of choice), Miller Lite, and FireFly. Collective tabs came in upwards of $1,000 – $1,400, per night. A great time was had by all, minus the serious parts, and nothing really got out of hand. Just a good weekend with good people, respectfully honoring a fallen friend.
A good friend of mine, Ben Sassani, shot Kevin and Nicole’s wedding in Mexico, and I think it would be great if all of you would go check out those pictures. They are amazing, and really give a good glimpse into not only the relationship that they shared, but also the kind of person Kevin was. Please go HERE.
Below are a few of the pics that I snapped this weekend. In hindsight, I would not have used he kit lens with a wide adapter quite as much, and would have gone with the 85mm. This wide adapter really kills the quality and clarity of the shots, which I didn’t realize would happen ahead of time. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, and as my lovely wife has taught me, when the pictures are for memories, they don’t have to be perfect.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them…
An Underrated Lens: Canon 18-55/non-IS…
So recently, after some trades and whatnot, I found myself with just 2 lenses. One was a killer all manual Pentax Super Takumar 50/1.4 , which I love. The other was the Canon 85/1.8, which by all respects should have a red ring and be labeled as an “L”. It is easily my favorite lens… ever.
Since I use a ‘crop’ body (1.6 sensor), the 50mm shoots at about 80mm, and the 85mm shoots at about 136mm. This is WAY too long for a lot of what I like to shoot, so I needed to go wider. My options were a cheap wide angle, or trade the 85/1.8 for something like a Tamron 17-50/2.8. I was very close to the latter, but I just love the 85 too much to let her go, so Monday I picked up and 18-55 Kit Lens. This lens is thought by many to be sub-par, but after have 6-7 of them in the past, I know from experience that they are very underrated. They are very sharp when used properly, and you can get some GREAT images with them.
When I bought it (SUPER cheap, thank you Sarah-the-Seller), I also got a wide angle converter that attaches to the end of the lens to stretch the 18mm out a bit. Between the converter and the lens is a ring that steps up/down in size, and is usually JUST a metal ring. When I took this one off after I got home Monday, I realized that this ring has glass in the middle, and says “macro”. Too my surprise, it actually does make a solid attempt at macro’s.
Let me be very clear in saying, Macro’s are NOT my thing. I think they are fun to play with, and can have great effects, but it isn’t something I will use very often at all…
With the macro ring on the lens, there is absolutely NO focus, auto or otherwise, further than about 6-7 inches from the focus point, and the DOF is EXTREMELY narrow. This makes it VERY hard to use, and if I even sway a 1/2 inch, the focus is lost. However, I really like the effect I get with this, and the result is more than worth the trouble (in my opinion).
I thought I would share a few pics I took last night. I think it’s obvious which ones are with the wide adapter and which are with the macro ring. These were just playing around, and not really prepared at all. I just threw a hot-light on the stand, asked my amazing wife to stand still, and did my thing.
Canon 40D (gripped) – 18-55/non-IS Kit Lens – One Hot-Light set up high and model-left…
New Years Eve 2009/2010
While most people went out on the town for New Year’s Eve, my wife and I stayed at home with the kids. I know what you’re thinking, “Like, OMG Becky, how could anyone have fun at HOME with KIDS!?!” Well, I assure you that it was awesome. We had a great time hanging out with them, and even let my 7-yo son stay up to see the ball drop at midnight. Good times were had by all, and multiple toasts were made to a number of different situations. Happy New Year!
Below are a few pics I took that night. I didn’t keep the camera out long, which is not typical of me, but I got a few quality shots (I like them at least). These were all taken with the 40D + 85/1.8, handheld, and natural/ambient lighting (no flash). I hope you all like them… And yes, I realize that the progression of the pics is pretty funny… lol
