For over a year now, there are some multi-colored poppies by the roundabout near my house that catch my eye each time I drive by. Yesterday, I grabbed my camera as I headed out to Costco, thinking I would finally try to grab a shot of them with some decent pre sunset light. I was wrong. It was so windy and without my noticing, sunset has gotten an hour later! Have you noticed? I looked up at the sun and it was still so high! I took a few shots but I'm not satisfied, and plan to go back. But, this was all just a side note for this post! :)
I have a new idea brewing that I want to write down before I forget. I have some ideas forming around hymns, as I have been listening to a lot of hymns CDs this past week with certain, rich lyrical lines standing out. How fun would it be to find images and photograph them that seem to resonate in my heart with the assurance of those lyrics? And then, perhaps to use that series to produce a package of cards for a gift of encouragement, either individually or as a set?? Fun! I hope I follow through!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
First "1 year" photo shoot
Today I had the pleasure of photographing this little guy and trying to put into practice some things I learned from my class. I used fully Manual Mode and I am loving that. I love this learning process and can't wait to have so many tools in my belt that I can move on from one thing to the next, knowing how to do the mechanics naturally so that the rest of the time can be spent connecting with the subject and not ruining what could have been a good shot. Compared to the last photo shoot I did, I can see improvement. I guess that's all I can ask for. :)
I found this old milk can thing around my mom's house and thought it would be perfect for this shoot. I love it!
I'm having difficulty with my own computer reading files tonight so I couldn't open or adjust all of these in photoshop. Everything is straight off camera. If I could edit, I would crop this in a little closer and bump up the contrast a little.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Portrait Class
Wow! I have so much to tell about! First, I have been learning so much through my book exercises for Photoshop Elements. I still am not devoting as much time to it as I had hoped, but I am learning something. So far, still working on the Organizer portion but I can really see how that portion is going to be a huge time saver with using and retrieving photos.
Onto the class...it was so good. It was fun to get to be in a room full of people who also enjoy this type of thing. The instructor was cute- you know, stylish/trendy, laid-back, fun and knowledgeable. I like her style all around. It was fun to hear her say she started out in Graphic Design- which is what I was accepted into Fresno and San Jose State for and what I used to want to do!! ( or at least I thought I did, in high school planning) For the past 5 years she has been doing the photography side and learning to do it right with the camera instead of fixing everything up in photoshop. All of this was encouraging to me. She seems to have a similar vision/interest as I do. She taught herself and has landed herself a business. The focus on the class was using natural light. I love natural light. And, as I have said before, I thought I should master that technique to be able to perhaps begin to make some money to invest in studio equipment. She does have nice equipment, but I was so excited to hear her practically talk about what she actually DOESN'T use- and even though she has a studio- she mostly shoots outdoors or if indoors, with 1 LIGHT to give a similar feel of dimension that would come from a window or outdoors. All that makes me think- if I keep going down this road, this just might be doable for more than just a hobby. For now, sounds like I can go on amazon and get a diffuser/reflector for about $20 and be pretty set.
Ok, so where was I? The class was 3 hours and I probably learned an hour's worth of new material. But, I'm actually not discouraged about that. It was affirming that I knew so much of what was being taught and what others in the class didn't know--affirming in that I felt like my progression in self-teaching is coming along. It is inspiring to hear another person, someone who is in the field and doing well, describe things in ways I can relate to. She talked about different scenes she admired dropping off her kids that morning and the visions she got of using those venues for portraits. I could totally envision what she was describing and I could relate to almost running off the road on occasion due to distraction by photographing potential scenes. It was fun to connect like that, with vision and purpose, approach.
Practically: I am taking away some great websites and blog references. I was able to ask some very specific "gear/equipment/settings" questions and have them answered. Toward the end of the class we went through a slideshow of some of her work and identified the type of lighting that was used and we were able to ask questions. I loved that I could analyze it and ask things like, "Where were you during this shot? Did you use a reflector? Has that been enhanced?" etc. I got tons of ideas for working with people of different ages and pose ideas. I also got a little boost of confidence I think-- in typical fashion, I think I was over-analyzing this thingy. At some point I was asking her, through all my built up exasperation, "BUT HOW DO YOU CALCULATE FOR EXPOSURE?? I CANNOT WRAP MY MIND AROUND THOSE EQUATIONS!" She looked at me like I was nuts. ;) She just kind of shrugged and said she just sets the aperture where she wants it, makes an educated guess on the ISO, and adjusts the shutter speed until she gets it right. Wow. I needed that little glass of ice water in my face to feel brave enough to shoot in full manual instead of aperture priority or shutter priority where the camera will fill in the rest of the equation for you.
** can I just make a side note about ISO? So, I don't know about you, but if I was reading this aloud I would say ISO like, "I-sew" But, you know how people in New Orleans don't say, "I'm from Neeww Oorrleeens" but instead they are like, "I'm from N'awlins" and you think to yourself, 'Wow, they sound so cool! So informed and legit?' Well. I think-- it might be the same things with ISO. From now on I'm going to say it "I-S-O"
Ok, back on track here. One very insightful thing I learned was about shade. I had learned previously about the necessity (almost) in having shade to get a good portrait. Full sun is just ugly and causes all kinds of problems. But I thought all shade was created equal and apparently-it's not. There is a certain density to shade and a really dense shade will have more cool tones and less light (obviously). Before, I would have grabbed someone and shoved them 5 ft back under an overhang to get "shade" to take their picture. Now, I have learned to try to bring them forward, just to the edge where light and shade meet for the best tones. So cool!! That was just one example of shade differences but also differences in direction of the light and if it's shade between 2 buildings or just 1, etc. Same concept, though.
Well, there's probably more I will add later. But for now, in summary-- class was a success in my book.
Onto the class...it was so good. It was fun to get to be in a room full of people who also enjoy this type of thing. The instructor was cute- you know, stylish/trendy, laid-back, fun and knowledgeable. I like her style all around. It was fun to hear her say she started out in Graphic Design- which is what I was accepted into Fresno and San Jose State for and what I used to want to do!! ( or at least I thought I did, in high school planning) For the past 5 years she has been doing the photography side and learning to do it right with the camera instead of fixing everything up in photoshop. All of this was encouraging to me. She seems to have a similar vision/interest as I do. She taught herself and has landed herself a business. The focus on the class was using natural light. I love natural light. And, as I have said before, I thought I should master that technique to be able to perhaps begin to make some money to invest in studio equipment. She does have nice equipment, but I was so excited to hear her practically talk about what she actually DOESN'T use- and even though she has a studio- she mostly shoots outdoors or if indoors, with 1 LIGHT to give a similar feel of dimension that would come from a window or outdoors. All that makes me think- if I keep going down this road, this just might be doable for more than just a hobby. For now, sounds like I can go on amazon and get a diffuser/reflector for about $20 and be pretty set.
Ok, so where was I? The class was 3 hours and I probably learned an hour's worth of new material. But, I'm actually not discouraged about that. It was affirming that I knew so much of what was being taught and what others in the class didn't know--affirming in that I felt like my progression in self-teaching is coming along. It is inspiring to hear another person, someone who is in the field and doing well, describe things in ways I can relate to. She talked about different scenes she admired dropping off her kids that morning and the visions she got of using those venues for portraits. I could totally envision what she was describing and I could relate to almost running off the road on occasion due to distraction by photographing potential scenes. It was fun to connect like that, with vision and purpose, approach.
Practically: I am taking away some great websites and blog references. I was able to ask some very specific "gear/equipment/settings" questions and have them answered. Toward the end of the class we went through a slideshow of some of her work and identified the type of lighting that was used and we were able to ask questions. I loved that I could analyze it and ask things like, "Where were you during this shot? Did you use a reflector? Has that been enhanced?" etc. I got tons of ideas for working with people of different ages and pose ideas. I also got a little boost of confidence I think-- in typical fashion, I think I was over-analyzing this thingy. At some point I was asking her, through all my built up exasperation, "BUT HOW DO YOU CALCULATE FOR EXPOSURE?? I CANNOT WRAP MY MIND AROUND THOSE EQUATIONS!" She looked at me like I was nuts. ;) She just kind of shrugged and said she just sets the aperture where she wants it, makes an educated guess on the ISO, and adjusts the shutter speed until she gets it right. Wow. I needed that little glass of ice water in my face to feel brave enough to shoot in full manual instead of aperture priority or shutter priority where the camera will fill in the rest of the equation for you.
** can I just make a side note about ISO? So, I don't know about you, but if I was reading this aloud I would say ISO like, "I-sew" But, you know how people in New Orleans don't say, "I'm from Neeww Oorrleeens" but instead they are like, "I'm from N'awlins" and you think to yourself, 'Wow, they sound so cool! So informed and legit?' Well. I think-- it might be the same things with ISO. From now on I'm going to say it "I-S-O"
Ok, back on track here. One very insightful thing I learned was about shade. I had learned previously about the necessity (almost) in having shade to get a good portrait. Full sun is just ugly and causes all kinds of problems. But I thought all shade was created equal and apparently-it's not. There is a certain density to shade and a really dense shade will have more cool tones and less light (obviously). Before, I would have grabbed someone and shoved them 5 ft back under an overhang to get "shade" to take their picture. Now, I have learned to try to bring them forward, just to the edge where light and shade meet for the best tones. So cool!! That was just one example of shade differences but also differences in direction of the light and if it's shade between 2 buildings or just 1, etc. Same concept, though.
Well, there's probably more I will add later. But for now, in summary-- class was a success in my book.
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