light
After spending some time with David Schmidt of 211 Photography, I have been trying to train my eye to be more observant to light and lighting my subjects. The perfect opportunity to try some of David’s suggestions came up this weekend when I had my niece over. I’m very happy to say that the only post processing I did on any of these images was a bit of a vignette for effect.
I must have taken a thousand images while my niece and my pup were snuggled on the couch watching Sponge Bob when it finally occurred to me that “hey, maybe I should pay attention to the natural light I have right now,” particularly because the shots with the flash were washed out and ugly. And, “oh! look at that, the kid isn’t lit, but the dog is! Maybe I should take a pic of the DOG!” Well, what do you know, I got a good picture…
The first day my niece was here, I was chasing after her with the camera and ultimately very frustrated with the images I was getting. the whole camera was set on auto everything because I wasn’t sure I could change things up fast enough to catch her in action. Somehow David’s words must have sunk in because I put the camera on A priority and showed Emileigh the front window With an “Ooh! Look how cool!” and a finger pointed outside to nothing, she got really excited and I got a really great head shot.
There’s this amazing phenomenon that happens to all that live in my humble abode. The instant a television turns on, we all turn into zombies; it doesn’t matter what’s on, we’re all instantly glued and glazed. SpongeBob was no exception. I cued up a few episodes for my niece and my husband, my dog and I, along with Emileigh, couldn’t take our eyes off my laptop… well, maybe enough for a picture. 
I love images like this one or several reasons. I’m rather drawn to the way that snaps looked when I was a kid. I love the warm white balance and candid feel to them. And I’m almost to the point of figuring out how to do them on purpose. I put the WB on daylight and followed the little one around a bit until she started getting tired. It just so happened that the sun was coming in from over the mantle window right into the camera, so I snapped to see what I’d get…lucky for me the lensbaby is a manual focus and I’m pretty slow in the moment.revisit
I’m cleaning out an old website and came across some older portraits I’ve done. Click the title for more images.
Soleiana
In the past few months I’ve said “damn, I wish I had my camera” more times than I can count. So I’ve started to carry Oly with me everywhere I go. I’m hoping to capture more of what I see every day while I improve my technique, both manual camera operation as well as post processing.
There’s a group of students that play hack in front of the school almost every day. I was invited to join once, but I kicked the sac on the roof. It took a pyramid of boys to get it back since the school doesn’t carry a good ladder for some reason and since then I’ve been self-banned from playing.
in absence of control
I took a portrait of B for her portfolio today. They were really quick and dirty since the whole family was there waiting on us and she was further under the weather than I thought…I wanted to get her home to rest as quick as I could.
I shot all of the images on complete automatic (shudder) and the sun was high and obnoxiously bright which made for some lovely blow out on her skin. So off to LR2 I went.
All things considered, its not too bad. And it made me realize that its time for me to acquire some PS skills if I want to keep up with the market and make any money off my little habit. In lieu of my little discovery, I’ve decided to take a few classes with B to get some basics instead of pfutsing around on my own here and there. I won’t always have control over my environment and I won’t always be fast enough to set my settings and lighting exactly the way I want it. I’m still a proponent of getting good shots on the first try in camera, but this is a nice back up in case I get the perfect shot with not so perfect settings.
I think the most important thing is to make it look like you haven’t been in the image with a tool brush or a filter. Obviously, I have a lot of work to do.
NDK
This is a picture of quite possibly one of my most favourite people in the universe. For all you Fallout 3 fans, you’ll recognize his jumpsuit immediately. For all others, check out this link.
And yes, that is Nuka-Cola in his utility belt.
Parts is Parts
self portrait
I got Serenity’s handlebar risers in the mail yesterday. I’m really looking forward to the install…
An Uncivil Union
Tessa
Lisa
I’ve never been surrounded by more love, admiration and respect than I was at this union. Family, dogs, friends and colleagues of all walks of life let their inner children shine with smiles and hugs.
Love and light to you both!
Sealed with a kiss!
portrait of love
I’m learning more GIMP functions. I’m not sure if I like these ones or not, but its a fairly simple set of steps to get here if I decide I do. One thing I’d really like to learn is how to get less overexposure on someone as pale as lil sis on the left in the same picture as someone not as pale as her gentleman on the right.
Belly Shots
I got to hop in and play a little bit of light tech with B’s belly shoot not too long ago. Most of my time was spent making sure her shots turned out well, but I got to fire off a few rounds on Oly.
I wouldn’t say any of these are exemplary by any stretch of the means, however, I am excited about the post processing I’ve done with my limited resources. Everything I needed to fix (blemishes, cords), I did so with free software. I can’t say that its made me anymore willing to sit in front of the computer for hours on end to get what I want. If anything, its strengthened my resolve to become a better photographer so that the only time I use GIMP is to tag an image with my name.
B rocked it, of course. She made the back drops and the frame to hold them. She had lights ready as well as poses she found online that she thought would be great for the shoot. She also inspired me not to give up on my images so quickly.
I had a really good time with both the model and B and I even got to try out a few lighting ideas (some good, some, not so much). My favourite images were the nude ones, but not everyone gets to enjoy those :)