Photography Blessings

I have been wanting to post for a while, but my internet connection has been unreliable and my phone seems to always mess up the post. First, I would just like to give a little thank you to my blog followers for checking in on occasion. :) I would never want someone to feel obligated to follow this blog, but it is fun to be able to share this process.

I have been blessed with some exciting photography things! I have an awesome, working tripod now and a very nice camera backpack to haul my things. Additionally, a family that I photographed recently gave me a thank you gift. That was not necessary, but, I will put it to good use. I got a pair of cargo pants- truly functional pants that should help me be able to keep track of lenses and lens covers while shooting. They are not the most flattering in a fashion sense, but legit!-- truly work worthy and I think will be very practical. I plan to use the remainder of the gift to register for an online photoshop class that begins in February- or maybe a one time, in classroom, 3 hour portrait class, also offered through the community education program.

I was outside making some phone calls the other day and these fallen leaves in my yard caught my attention and wouldn't let go! So, I grabbed my camera!! Then, I swirled the image in photoshop just for fun.

family portrait favorites

I have been wanting to post some of these family portraits shots that I took recently. I had an absolute blast photographing a few different families. I love that little pieces of knowledge are added to my belt with each session or opportunity to practice. Some lessons are hard-learned and that's why I'm thankful I am not charging anyone! :) For instance, there were some relaxed type family shots that I LOVE but were just too blurry to be of use. I was snapping away, and capturing candid expression but all that is for naught if I don't foresee light/movement problems or take a second to check the viewfinder. I'm bummed about it, but I learned.  I can critique different aspects of each photo, but I do have some favorites.  I will keep uploading to this post as I can.


In another family photo shoot, on a foggy day I got a few shots that I like---though still really struggling with getting a sharp focus. :/

Lots to Learn

Well, I first woke at 4, and now again shortly after 5. I have a photoshoot today with a family that has 4 little girls. I am so excited to get to practice some portrait work, yet so afraid I won’t be able to get a shot that meets their expectations/hopes. I still feel so, very limited and at the base of the learning curve with this thing!

Yesterday, I was able to photograph my friend’s children.  There were a few shots that I am really excited about and I can’t wait to see them on the computer rather than my LCD screen! I would like to be better at seeing potential problems as I’m shooting (like shadows, for instance.) I wish I was better by having a “bag of tricks” up my sleeve to pull people into the moment and get them to relax. I am not good at that in normal conversation!! How in the world am I going to be able to get them to do that with a camera blocking my face and rushed time constraints?!! And, there is still the whole lighting thing that is huge and I need to grow in. I need to learn how to measure light correctly and how to use a reflector. I need a reflector!  J

As a final note, for today’s text-only-entry… I went to Barnes and Noble last night with the goal of finding some “family photography” books to read.  I didn’t find much in that area but I sure enjoyed sitting on the floor at the bookstore and looking at some books of just portraits by professionals. I continue to be surprised on occasion at how some photographs affect me. It  can be powerful. My favorite from last night was a close up of a little girl (8yrs?) in India. It was zoomed in to her somber face that was resting on her father? Or grandfather’s forearm and hand. The hand was battered, weathered and scarred by age and possibly a hard life with a few new cuts. On the other side of her head was a baby’s foot, leg hanging down- obviously the man in the picture was holding a baby as well. Nobody’s face shows besides the little girl. I love how there is a story being told in that simple shot.

Torn Edges

I had fun working on this last night after reading a tutorial on how to make torn edges. I ran into a few problems since my version of Photoshop isn't the full version and I didn't know how to make appropriate substitutions on buttons or drop down menus-- but I was able to do most of it. I almost posted this when I woke up in the middle of the night just before quarter after 3!!! But, I waited until I got up for the day. :)

Bitten by creativity muse

FUN!!!

Other Thanksgiving Day Favs

If I was brave enough, I would try to sell this shot as a freelance photo to the local paper or commerce magazine. But, I'm not brave enough ;)

I was driving through downtown to pick up my dad for Thanksgiving dinner. My children were in the car with me. I was struck (haha-clock humor :)) by the beauty of this seen. About 5 blocks later I convinced myself to take the time to turn around and photograph it. I'm glad I did. Check out the vibrant color in the next one!

I also found some windmills to practice on while out scouting for a location for some family portraits tomorrow. The hard thing about the windmills is finding some interest in the shot (since there isn't much variation in their structure) while not having sooo much other interest that the windmill isn't highlighted as the subject.  I didn't squeal over any of these, but I'm happy I stopped.

Portraits

I am finding that I still feel the most trepidation about portraits. I seem to have an insurmountable amount of information to still learn on the subject, yet, I reallly want to get better in this area. It is such a challenge to think of all the photography elements while also trying to get your subjects to cooperate. In the few attempts I have had, I have found different challenges-- fast moving kids who aren't really interested in taking a good photo, to teens who feel self-conscious, to adults who are sooo ingrained in a fake smile that you cannot talk them out of it! Someday I hope to be able to have poses quickly at my mental disposal, the ability to have the camera knowledge so second nature that my mind can multi-task that area while engaging the subject in a way that helps them to relax and appear more natural. As a portrait photographer I would want to provide nice looking, original photographs but also ones that capture the idiosyncrasies of each subject and tell a little of their "story." Today, Thanksgiving Day, I caught a few portraits---some I like, and some I would change.

There's something about the color in this one that is bugging me...maybe a white balance issue? Also, I have now learned that my aperture was too wide for this shot. I think I shot at F1.8 and F2.4 should be the largest in order to keep the whole face in focus? Or in looking at it closely I wonder if I just snapped it without checking my focal point- looks like her knee might be the focal point instead of the eyes.

Red flowers

Took this shot on a friend's porch. 

more barns

I love this barn! I have to give thanks to my sweet mom who yielded to my creative spark! We were driving down Hwy 99 on Saturday. It was windy and rainy. I was looking out the passenger window just admiring sights along the way. I saw this red barn next to a vineyard and felt my heart sigh :) About 30 seconds down the road I was still thinking about it and said out loud, "I wish I could have taken a picture of that gorgeous, red barn back there." Mom said, "Do you want to?" I said, "No, no, it's ok, it was back there and there isn't anywhere to pull off safely, it is down that frontage road somewhere, etc." A few minutes later she pulls off on the next exit, we find the frontage road, and drive a few miles out of the way to find this barn! An additional bonus was the use of her moon roof in the Suburban to get the height I needed for the shot without too much foreground. It was fun and I am thankful to her for feeding my whim instead of squishing it. I hope I remember to do that with my kids as they grow and express their dreams.

Back view

Not quite a barn :) But still coool!

Barns

Today I had so much fun trying to get some shots of barns that I love in the area.  There is a photographer that I have been reading after and he always describes these adventures where he uses the top of his Land Rover to get good shots. Being vertically challenged, I thought I could follow his coolness...so I climbed on top of my Lan....well, my Ford Freestyle ;) It wasn't easy since I was in boots and a long skirt! I sure attracted some attention for the field workers nearby! But since they probably thought I was nutty, they didn't bother me at first! After a while, they got more bold and I had to cut my photography adventure short- oh well.   The first one is one that sits in a vineyard at an angle and always catches my eye. I tried these shots today, with the overcast skies in mind. I would also like to try the first barn at sunset with the rays hitting the door/vineyard. The second barn is at the house where I spent much of my growing up years. It is special just in content. I have a couple more in particular that I want to try to photograph, but here's the first 2.

More HHI favorites

This one makes me happy :)

Trees before the marsh

Pond, trees, then marsh beyond the trees

RELAXATION!!!

Technical stuff and patterns

You know what I wish? I wish that I had set my camera to AUTO for a few of those sunrise shots on Hilton Head Island---just to compare a before and after. The first morning I was out there, all my pictures were black. I kept making adjustments and it just wasn't happening. Additionally, there ended up being too much cloud cover to show much of a sunrise. In the end, it was kind of comical because about an hour AFTER sunrise, and after a couple cups of coffee I realized I was "adjusting" the wrong thing! I blame it on blurry vision and jet lag??

Ok, so maybe someday I will read all these notes and see this photos and feel a little embarrassed at my lack of skill. But in keeping with my intentions for this blog to be somewhat of a learning record and journal of what captivates my attention, I wanted to write a little about what I did to get the sunrise shots.

First of all, none of them have been altered at all in Photoshop.  I know for certain that if I had a tripod with me, I could have taken some really neat, different shots. The lighting could have been lower and I was so desperately wanting to slowww down that shutter speed to show the motion of the waves and the spray in the low light. But, it just couldn't happen without my tripod. I would have also liked to get the moonlight reflection off the water. I'm pretty sure that shutter would have had to have been open for many seconds-- 20?? or so??

In order to get enough light into the picture so that it wasn't black, but also deep enough so that the colors weren't washed out, I had to use the spot meter and read light from a moderately shadowed area. I found the shadowed sea dunes and and part of the unlit sky gave me the best balance. So, I focused the spot meter on that spot, locked in on that reading, reframed the shot and took it.  I had to try that several times to find a reading that was adjusting appropriately.  In the meantime, the light is continually changing and quickly! I was getting distracted- the fire in the sky, the reflections on the sand, the play of light in the sea grass, ooohh, back to the the cloud line and rising sun!! Fun!  So, I had to keep making adjustments. I also found that as the sky was filling with light, my eyes could see those deep hues of color on the horizon but the camera wasn't picking it up- everything looked very light and washed out in my viewfinder. I quickly adjusted the the exposure compensation- trying first to bring it down about half of a stop, but in the end, I think my favorites were around -1.7.  In review/summary- exposure compensation is the camera's ability to make balanced adjustments of the 3 components necessary for proper exposure (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO-or the light meter's sensitivity to the light.) 

I'm trying to think if there were other technical things in my mind that I was responding to while shooting those pictures... and right now I can't think of anything else. I am going to try to attach a couple shots of fun patterns that I found on the beach and wanted to capture in case I wanted to use them creatively sometime in the future.

You know, there was a better pattern of sand/silt that I was sure I had on my camera. Bummer. It must have been one of those shots that I appreciated and took only with my "eyes". :)

More Hilton Head Island

Here is another one of the waves catching sunrise light.  The contrast of colors is beautiful to me.

In this shot I was trying to capture the "fire" coming out of that low cloud line. It really looked as if the distant puffs were aflame. You can kind of see it, but not quite to my satisfaction. I wonder if a longer telephoto lens was needed? I also like the play of colors here and reflection giving appearance of texture.

I took this one, enjoying the reflection on the sand, the suds, the texture of twigs against smooth sand.

Same draw to this one, especially liking the bird  but wish I could have quickly changed my focal point as it seems the focus is set more on the waves than the bird..

Some first favorites - East Coast Beach Sunrise

This is one of the first shots I took on the morning it actually wasn't cloudy.

The wind was blowing and without a tripod in such low light---there was no way I could get this to focus. But I LOVE this shot. I am so lacking in artistic ability but THIS!!, this seems artsy to me. I would frame this or print on canvas to hang.

I wanted a shot of the surf and I was happy to get one that wasn't dead on but with some interest in a slight diagonal. What I was really trying to capture on this one was that beautiful, warm sunrise sunlight backlighting the waves. Isn't it such a picture of hope? His mercies are new every morning.

I have so many more I would love to post, but am out of time.

Hilton Head Island

Dunes, Ocean Spray

This is my favorite of the trip so far... sweet, tender, yellow flowers on the dunes  AND this butterfly!

My new niece

Rainy Day

Here's a few pictures I took during and after the rain last week. It was really, really fun. I look at the images now and it is amazing to know that light came from overcast skies!!! I love the color saturation of these photos. I did not do any photoshop enhancement/editing.