For Photographers

It's been a while since I put up a tutorial. I will try to get back to that after the holidays. But speaking of holidays... I wanted to mention something that might be a nice gift for you aspiring photographers. One of the best pieces of equipment for getting great portraits and crazy bokeh is a lens with low aperture capability. What is bokeh you say? That beautiful creamy soft background that makes your photos stand out in the crowd. And you can usually pick up a fixed lens for less than $200 for any make of camera. I own the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens and it does a fine job. That's cheap! (in photography terms) for a great lens to help you get more creative with your shots. Happy Holidays!

Little Miss A

It's winter, and the colors are a bit dull, but we managed to get a few nice shots of super cute Little Miss A here.

Christmas Card Ideas

I love using pictures to make my Christmas cards. Shutterfly and Snapfish have some great low cost, personalized cards to send to your friends and family. So all you need is the perfect picture! I am looking for some different ideas for this years picture. Post your idea in the comments section and you will get a $20 print credit when you book a holiday session. (See my post from Nov. 1 for further details on holiday session.)

Crazy Boy

My nephew is too funny. He has so much energy, it's hard to keep up. But I got him at rest a time or two. This feat requires snacks.

Bedtime Routine

I really love everyday life with young children. I like stories, and bath-time, and tucking them in at night. It's relaxing for everyone after long (and sometimes hectic) days. These reminders of the simple things go so much farther than just documenting growth through pictures.

Holiday Special

It's that time of year again. The time to start thinking about Christmas. It's a great time to get family pictures, in plenty of time to order personalized cards! So I am offering a specialized package for just this purpose. The session fee will be $50 for up to five family members. Sessions will be less than an hour and you will receive up to 5 low resolution pictures (suitable for designing your own cards on shutterfly, snapfish or your preferred photo printer.) Additional prints from your session will be available for purchase at my regular print prices. Schedule your session by December 10th for this package.

Halloween Festival

The Festival was lots of fun! (Minus the haunted house which Dad attemped to take our little ones through. They both came back in tears.) But there were lots of cute costumes and treats. Thanks to all who came. Here's a look at a couple of the cuties.

WEMS Halloween Carnival

Williams Elementary Halloween Carnival is Thursday October 28th from 5-7:30. I will have a booth set up to take pictures of your "little monsters." $5 for a 4x6 or $8 for a 5x7.

Shutter Speed

I have briefly mentioned aperture (and let Pioneer Woman's blog do the heavy explanation) so I will follow that outline in a brief discussion about shutter speed. And it just so happens I have the perfect examples from a trip to the ocean this last weekend. I didn't have my tripod available which I highly recommend for slower shutter speeds. More on that in a minute. If you are serious about taking your photography to the next level, it's very important to understand how your camera works. All cameras have a few things in common, but when you really learn your own make and model you will be more able to quickly change settings to get the look you are trying for. And understanding aperture and shutter speed and how they work together is key. There are lots of other settings to learn, but take your time on these, and experiment often, so when an opportunity presents itself to get a picture, you know how to change your settings quickly and get the shot.

So, shutter speed is pretty much what it sounds like. There are "shutters" that expose your sensor (on a digital camera) to light to make the "exposure" or picture. Fast shutter speeds freeze action. They capture droplets of water as they fly through the air.

Slow shutter speeds give a sense of motion. Motion blur, and this effect is especially interesting when the subject is water. As I mentioned, the shutter will be open for longer. Up to a full second if necessary so using a tripod will vastly improve these images, making the stationary objects sharp, while the water takes on a silky, smooth appearance. I did not have a tripod available when I took this shot so it is still possible to get this look while hand holding your camera, but the image may or may not look good when enlarged. (This one doesn't, but as a 5x7 it would look fine.)

Most camera's have aperture priority (A mode) and shutter priority (S mode) as options, and these will help you explore these concepts without having to figure out manual setting (M mode) for now. And to further explain here is another link: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/10/exposure-illustrated/

Background for a Portrait

I am going to post something easy and straightforward today. When taking a portrait, look for simple backgrounds. Somewhere with very little going on. You want the focus to be on your subject. Find a blank space of wall, a fence, foliage that is fairly uniform or hang something to hide distractions in the background. A brightly colored sheet will work for children. A soft blanket will work well with a baby. Even out and about, if you simply look around for the least cluttered spot, you can place your subject in front and snap away. You may not have the blurring capability that the high end cameras and lenses have, but see what you can do with your own camera. Even a little blur looks nicer than everything in focus, which is common with auto settings. Read your camera's manual and figure out how to set it at the lowest aperture. This will help blur the background. Here are a few links to expand on todays topics, from a photographer who inspires me. More about backgrounds: (beware, this photographer has a lens with mega blurring capability) http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/10/backgrounds/

More about aperture: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/05/what-the-heck-is-an-aperture-part-one/

She has about four different parts to the aperture info, check them out if this stuff interests you.

Fall Wedding Slideshow

Light

I am a little uneasy about getting into lighting as a "simple" tutorial. But there are definitely a few tips that you can try (with any camera) that will yield nice results. You have probably taken a picture before that just looked great, and you weren't sure why you couldn't duplicate it. Well, photography is all about light. And most folks take pictures because something is going on that is cute or funny or of people they haven't seen, but they don't consider the effect of light on the subject. But when you consider the light, you will see vastly better results. The simplest of "tricks" is to place your subject in open shade. To achieve what I am talking about here, you will need to find an outdoor space without direct light. Say on the shady side of your house, under a tree (as long as the shade is constant, no dappled light) or anywhere on an overcast day! Make sure you turn off your flash because flash can ruin this light. Then as discussed previously, find the best angle. Take pictures from lots of viewpoints. The background of your photo is also important. If you are under the shade of a tree, the brightly lit background can cause you grief. If you are including lots of background, your camera will expose for the overall scene and will underexpose the shaded subject. The shady side of a house is good, because your whole scene will be in the same light, meaning the exposure will be right on for anything in the picture (assuming you are using the shaded wall as a background.) I feel as though I am getting farther in than I wanted to. Does any of this make sense? I will explore this subject of light further, but for now try this and let me know what you think of the results. Happy experimenting! (One further note: My camera equipment is very costly, and gives me the ability to shoot in much lower light with sharper results than the average point and shoot camera. Don't get discouraged because your pictures don't look like my average post. I also spend lots of time post processing my pictures to further enhance them. But practicing these tips will help, and you can take great photos with any camera when you take the time to practice what you have learned. Good luck and enjoy your progress. Have you already noticed an improvement? I would love to hear about it.)

Senior Pictures

Here's a little sneak peak for Amber and her family. I enjoyed our session and hope you are as pleased with the results as I am. Lots more are in the works!

Composition II

I wanted to mention a few more things about composition, so here is your next installment. I have a "secret." I don't whip out my camera and take one great looking photo. I take lots of photos and pick the best one (or ones) to present. The more you take, and the more you objectively study your pictures, the more you will notice what "works" and what doesn't. I like to work a subject by taking lots of pictures from lots of angles and close up, far away, the whole gamut. As you do this, you gain experience in what "works" and you get faster at knowing which ones will turn out. For example, getting down to a child's level almost always works better than standing and looking down at them. Today I had the chance to take a lot of angles of a subject that usually moves too much to make this point.

These angles all work for me, although in this group my favorite is the one on the far right. His arm creates a diagonal line that leads the eye straight to his adorable, sleeping, little face.

These are a few I wasn't as fond of. The bird's eye view is not all that dynamic, but I like that you can see his whole body, and the weird position he fell asleep in. The other one makes his arm and hand look shrunken and kind of scary.

And here are a couple more that I liked, just to show how many I actually take. (By the way the actual number I took for this little experiment was 36, but you get the idea, I ended with far less to show.) I read lots of different blogs and here is another simple little article on the same subject: http://cameradojo.com/2010/08/08/another-take-on-perspective/ While you are over there, he has one more titled : Use a simple angle to make a shot more dramatic. Enjoy.

Composition

I want to try something a little different today. Lots of you are trying to take better pictures, and are interested in photography (since you are reading this.) So I am going to do a few tutorial style posts to give you an idea of some of the things that go through my mind when I click the shutter. With any kind of camera (including your phone camera!) you can take better pictures by choosing your composition. What do I mean by this? Well, what is it that you are taking a picture of? In my case it's often a kid. If it's only a kid I will get in close and fill the frame with them. It might be the expression on their face. If I want a picture of what they are doing, I will include some of the background, but beware, very little of the background is needed to provide context. Next, how am I going to position them within the frame? Oftentimes dead center does not provide for the most interesting picture. Off center and specifically, using the rule of thirds, often works well. What is the rule of thirds? Imagine your rectangle frame and cut it into thirds. (Please excuse my extremely primitive "drawing" here.)

In the example the subject is centered and although an ok picture, it is not as dynamic as the next picture which puts the subject approximately one third of the way into the frame. Especially her eyes (the most important part of the face) are positioned one third of the way from the top of the frame.

I will include a few more comparison's for you and then I want you to try and the rule of thirds for yourself. If you are taking a close up, the eyes naturally fall in approximately the top third of the face, convenient eh?

Knight in Shining Armor

This is kind of random. But my friends' son loves dressing up in whatever he can find to be a superhero. He has been Indiana Jones, Wolverine and Edward Cullen. And on our last visit he was a Knight (in shining football armor.) It's great that he is so willing to be one of our subjects while dressed out for battle. I had fun playing with these pictures to get a sort of antique look.

Bath time

My best friend is also my mentor. She is the one who started me on my journey into photography. This shot is so much like one of hers, it's hard to believe I took it. So I just want to tell her, thanks so much for everything you do for me. You are my inspiration.

Suprise!

In order to update this more often I have set the goal to post at least one picture per week. My standards are kind of low, but I am hoping that such a small feat will make me more likely to stay committed. I'm on another short vacation at my BFFs and I usually take lots of pictures, so here is one from today that makes me smile. This is his "What?" face.

Favorite Boots

My youngest son loves these boots. He forgot them though on his latest camping trip with Dad. I love how the mid-morning sun was falling on them sitting all lonely in the bathroom.

Family of Boys

For me two boys is a lot. But my friend is a Super Mom. She deserves a lot of credit for raising such a great bunch. I love spending time with all of them. Thanks again for having us over, we had a great time!

Country Girls

It was a beautiful afternoon for photos; add two gorgeous little girls and here's what I got. Enjoy.