It's Been a Zoo Around Here

I hope everyone had an great Memorial Weekend. Please visit the Big Picture blog for some great photos to help you remember why we have a Memorial Day.

What have I been up to? Well, it has been a bit of a zoo around here...












More fun stuff to come, thanks for stopping by.

Happy Shooting,

Don J.

Looking for Light

One of my new favorite reads is Stu Maschwitz's Prolost blog. Here he breaks photos into three parts: Fact, Moment and Light. It is an easy to grasp description of what makes good photography good. Better yet, it is really neat to apply this three-layered thought process to shooting, and making better photos.

Go read that post. Then read it again. There is a lot to it, so I will probably refer back to it in several upcoming posts. Today, it is all about light.

Now turn off the flash on your camera. This post is going to be about finding light, not making it.

At the end of the last post, I suggested looking at people with the intent of seeing the light on their faces. From harsh midday sun to candlelight, every situation creates a different feel. Seeing it, and being able to intentionally capture it is a powerful photographic tool.

Most of the time, we are looking for nice, soft, pleasing light that gives enough shadow for depth, but not enough to make harsh lines or deep black shadows on faces. Obviously this means get out of the direct sun... So, I am discovering some of my favorite places to make nice on-the go portraits are..

Beside Windows
Wedding and portrait photographers have always done this, and master painters before them. Indirect light through big windows is often beautiful light. Add to this that the rest of the room (with artificial lights turned off) is usually darker than your subject area, making a nice background.



With different posing, you can do all kinds of things with the shadows as well. Find a willing model and have fun playing with different angles and poses. You will see that it is hard to get a bad photo by a big window.



In the Shade

On bright sunny days, take your subject into the shade. The sky will act like a big, soft light. Once you find some nice shade, you can play with angles to see what works for background or shadows. When there is no good background, just move in close.



In case you are wondering if it was a bright sunny day here... you can see the blue sky with light clouds in her eye reflections. The bright catchlight in her eye is the sun shining on the chimney of my house.



Big Lights Indoors

When there are no big windows around, or when it is dark outside, find a light fixture that has multiple bulbs, like a chandelier. Get your model close to the light, and it will act similar to one big light source.



When there is only bad light?

There is no such thing as bad light. You just have to realize what the light is doing, then get creative. If all you have is harsh light, play with your subjects until you have something you like, and make the most of the conditions.




Harsh shadows can be fun too... if that is what you want. The key is being aware of how the light is shaping your photo, especially your subjects' faces, so that you can make the photo you want.

Ok, now go find light and have fun with it.

Happy Shooting,

don j

Mother's Day Neglect

Well, I will not win any "son of the year" awards... My mother's day was spent taking pictures of and for other moms! Of course, I did take my own mom out to dinner on Saturday night. Thanks for the flexibility, Mom.

Sunday morning I was able to do portraits as part of my church's Mother's Day festivities.


While we were not doing that, there was time to play with camera flashes. To prove that it is better to bounce the flash off of something instead of pointing it directly at the subject...

Direct Flash ...


Bounced off of a wall. (Not even a white wall, mind you)



In the evening, it was time for a senior portrait shoot. I could not ask for a more agreeable model, and an overall classy young man.






It isn't really a photo shoot until you have some goats, right?









Here is a tip for the week... When you are looking at someone, study how the light is falling on his or her face. Are the shadows harsh or soft? How would that look in a picture? Just try to pay attention to light as you observe. When it comes time to take a picture, you can then focus on the qualities of light on your subject, and work that into the best look for the light you have to work with.


Happy Shooting,

don j

Fun Photo Stuff May '09 Style

May is here... are you having fun yet?

Want to shoot really high-resolution panoramic images? The Gigapan maybe the tool for you. This thing works with point-and-shoot cameras, so no excuses!

How about time-lapse of your garden plants growing (or in my case, dying!)

And some other really creative time-lapse using tilt/shift lenses..

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

I have been accused of "lens-envy," but is this too much?

And to show that snapshots can be fun too... a quick snap of a gentleman that looks very familiar, I just could not bring myself to go ask to take a proper portrait while he enjoyed a day with the family.



Happy Shooting,

don j