I like to consider myself a Dr. Jeckyl and Mrs. Hyde of photography, of course I don't go by those names but you can call me Performance Pixels and Vannah Rucker. Performance Pixels is for all you motor-head speed loving enthusiasts, a brand dedicated to capturing your fast moments in your favorite machine, PerformancePixels.net. Vannah Rucker is the softer side of my work, a sub-brand of myself dedicated to taking photos of your favorite people in their favorite places or in their favorite moments in life, VannahRucker.com. Both sites are me, I am both photographers, however, one brand for both wasn't working (they were fighting) so I segregated my photo personalities! I am a motorsport fanatic, and a photo fanatic. Even though the personalities had to be separated I felt only one blog was necessary for the constantly fighting duo, vannahrucker.com/blog. This blog contains some of my favorite work, trip reports (which are absolutely hilarious and fun!), photo tips, you name it! Please check out both my sites, my one blog, and let me know if you need any work done!
VannahRucker.com
PerformancePixels.net
VannahRucker.com/Blog
8/11/13
Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby!!
Some of my best work ever, well, ever since I said that last. These two were a bucket of fun! They are super in love with their bundle and couldn't wait to meet the little muffin!!
7/25/13
6/19/13
Upcoming delight!
3 weeks since my last blog post, and besides a few birthday parties, graduations, fathers day, and other celebrations I am failing to mention I have been extraordinarily busy! Alas, I am back, writing, and photo editing, for a short while at least... Husband and I have a glorious trip in our near future, a much needed jaunt away from reality, work, and life. Trips to far away lands revitalize ones soul, provide time for reflection and time with your loved ones, and reignites the creative fire that we all have... and I cant wait! Fortunately for me Husband is the most patient and kind man I have ever known, he patiently waits for me to compose the photo just right and never rushes me through any one attraction no matter the quantity of unruly children or annoying adults invading your personal space.
The photo topic tonight aside my always interesting life? Cropping. Being a mid level photographer I find this an interesting subject, I have met photographers that despise cropping and have described it as "The Devil Himself" (not kidding). These photographers preach that "you must get it right in the camera", while I agree with getting it right in the camera I also think that getting the shot itself is important. Sometimes in life you cant ask a child to "hold that pose, right there Ace!" because lets face it, Ace is 2 and just like a child life is unexpected! Children move, people get in the way, drivers of vehicles pull right into your frame, and what do you do? Recompose the whole shot? Yes, but only after taking the initial photo and catching the original thought. I try to avoid cropping, really trying to "get it right in camera", but sometimes you just have to crop, crop, crop it! Here are a few examples of where cropping helped emphasize the subject of the photo (and I think was totally acceptable to crop!)
Now, if I hadn't snapped this shot off right at this very moment I wouldn't have caught the sweet moment between Grandma and Grandson. Sure, there is excess in the photo, but if I had zoomed in and focused the moment would have been gone. What did I do? I crop, crop, cropped it!!
Cropping the edges and removing the clutter in the photo makes the subject clearer. And, btw, I just love the orange cup!
Another great time to crop? When someone else takes your photo. Lets be honest, no one will take the time to compose your photo like you would... but to be in a photo you have to either have a tripod or use someone else to take the photo. This is the case in this photo, my wonderfully amazing brother took the photo of me, Husband, and their kiddos but didn't really get in there with the camera or the zoom. What did I do? I cropped it!!
Removing the excess "stuff" around the edges of the photo enriches the photo and all of its little amazing subject.
Like I said before, I do really try to get the photo "right" in the camera (and you should too!) but in these moments it was more about the moment and capturing its preciousness before it was gone, or before a child moved, looked away, etc... In summary, its not the end of the world if you have to crop but be mindful when you are shooting of unwanted items in your photos and try to eliminate as many as possible before taking the shot!
The photo topic tonight aside my always interesting life? Cropping. Being a mid level photographer I find this an interesting subject, I have met photographers that despise cropping and have described it as "The Devil Himself" (not kidding). These photographers preach that "you must get it right in the camera", while I agree with getting it right in the camera I also think that getting the shot itself is important. Sometimes in life you cant ask a child to "hold that pose, right there Ace!" because lets face it, Ace is 2 and just like a child life is unexpected! Children move, people get in the way, drivers of vehicles pull right into your frame, and what do you do? Recompose the whole shot? Yes, but only after taking the initial photo and catching the original thought. I try to avoid cropping, really trying to "get it right in camera", but sometimes you just have to crop, crop, crop it! Here are a few examples of where cropping helped emphasize the subject of the photo (and I think was totally acceptable to crop!)
Now, if I hadn't snapped this shot off right at this very moment I wouldn't have caught the sweet moment between Grandma and Grandson. Sure, there is excess in the photo, but if I had zoomed in and focused the moment would have been gone. What did I do? I crop, crop, cropped it!!
Cropping the edges and removing the clutter in the photo makes the subject clearer. And, btw, I just love the orange cup!
Another great time to crop? When someone else takes your photo. Lets be honest, no one will take the time to compose your photo like you would... but to be in a photo you have to either have a tripod or use someone else to take the photo. This is the case in this photo, my wonderfully amazing brother took the photo of me, Husband, and their kiddos but didn't really get in there with the camera or the zoom. What did I do? I cropped it!!
Removing the excess "stuff" around the edges of the photo enriches the photo and all of its little amazing subject.
Like I said before, I do really try to get the photo "right" in the camera (and you should too!) but in these moments it was more about the moment and capturing its preciousness before it was gone, or before a child moved, looked away, etc... In summary, its not the end of the world if you have to crop but be mindful when you are shooting of unwanted items in your photos and try to eliminate as many as possible before taking the shot!
5/28/13
Must. Shoot. Soon.
My camera is piling on the dust, though not from simply sitting around not being used but primarily because I live in a gigantic dust bowl and this time of year its gale force dust storm winds are no joke. I'm itching, no dying, to get out there and shoot something! However, I am superbly limited in my photo-op choices in this town, even considering its overly present hill-billyness with tractors and old buildings all over town. Maybe the town is interesting looking through a lens to others? But it seems I'm ever increasingly tired of this backdrop regardless of the possibly unique photo opportunities, I need to figure out how to make the every day ordinary something extraordinary and actually want to capture that thing... good luck right? Today isn't this day, this week isn't either...
Regular life in an ordinary town is boring, that's why this week I'm visiting a new site for photos and going to take along a few props I hardly shoot with... people. People make the everyday ordinary very interesting and in come cases I'd say extraordinary, these two little people make my day extraordinary for sure. Photos to come, but in the mean time here is a little tid-bit of some of my previous work.
I love this photo, I love what it means to me, the colors, the fading, the napkins with people's mini stories, and the thought that the exact spot in the world where I was standing had been visited by this many people from all over our globe. Its amazing to re-imagine that one little shop hanging this sweet reminder of how small we really are, AH-Mazing.
Regular life in an ordinary town is boring, that's why this week I'm visiting a new site for photos and going to take along a few props I hardly shoot with... people. People make the everyday ordinary very interesting and in come cases I'd say extraordinary, these two little people make my day extraordinary for sure. Photos to come, but in the mean time here is a little tid-bit of some of my previous work.
I love this photo, I love what it means to me, the colors, the fading, the napkins with people's mini stories, and the thought that the exact spot in the world where I was standing had been visited by this many people from all over our globe. Its amazing to re-imagine that one little shop hanging this sweet reminder of how small we really are, AH-Mazing.
5/22/13
Alas, Im finally back after nearly a month of neglect!
Its been nearly a month... and what a month full of debauchery and shenaniegans its been!
4/22/13
Upcoming excursions
Husband and I like, no let me reword, we love love love to off-road. There is nothing better than the free spirited play on the beaten path, but more so off it. Our motor's thunderous call of sound is created by nothing less than the adjustment of your ankle bringing about the utmost childish behavior in myself and similarly my fellow off-roaders. We continue the childish behavior at every stop with whitty banter between fellow "team mates" because lets face it, its a race every where we go and we are on team Maverick!!! We trace the trails with swiftness and precision, race through the whoops at Ricky Bobby speeds, and when we look into the face of a rocky hillside instead of feeling limited and intimidated we move forward in 4wheel low and deface that rocky pile in our quest for the top. Is it this glorious? Absolutely.
At the end of the day we all meet up at camp having left clean and pretty and arriving as filth mongers dirt stained from tip to toe with a smile! The girls begin dinner, traditionally a buffet style meal serving the masses, and the boys light the camp fire, by light of course I mean with .25 gallon of race gas and a pile of wood that would make an Alaskan jealous. The night continues with music, stories, air guitar (not kidding), great food, and amazing company. For these reasons we love off-roading and our passion for it has been seared into our little oil filled hearts.
This weekend we will be enjoying this crazy addictive sport in Barstow for the High Desert Charities Poker Run sponsored by Slash X Cafe. Between races... er... of course I mean poker runs... I will be taking a slew of photos of members of this race! I'm looking forward to meeting as many of the charity contributing members of our sport I can, and fingers crossed they bring some off-road photo business! Being in the desert I hope to luck out and get some amazing sunset photos, purples and pinks are the best and most memorable sunsets. Photos to come, but in the meantime here is one of my favorite sunsets to tide you over.
At the end of the day we all meet up at camp having left clean and pretty and arriving as filth mongers dirt stained from tip to toe with a smile! The girls begin dinner, traditionally a buffet style meal serving the masses, and the boys light the camp fire, by light of course I mean with .25 gallon of race gas and a pile of wood that would make an Alaskan jealous. The night continues with music, stories, air guitar (not kidding), great food, and amazing company. For these reasons we love off-roading and our passion for it has been seared into our little oil filled hearts.
This weekend we will be enjoying this crazy addictive sport in Barstow for the High Desert Charities Poker Run sponsored by Slash X Cafe. Between races... er... of course I mean poker runs... I will be taking a slew of photos of members of this race! I'm looking forward to meeting as many of the charity contributing members of our sport I can, and fingers crossed they bring some off-road photo business! Being in the desert I hope to luck out and get some amazing sunset photos, purples and pinks are the best and most memorable sunsets. Photos to come, but in the meantime here is one of my favorite sunsets to tide you over.
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