I'll be posting at a new blog!
http://meyephotolution.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Week 4: HELLO INSPIRATION !!!!
Is it the end already? Bugger drag!!! I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with myself after this is over. I hope we all can stay in touch. It has been an awesome experience, and I so appreciate the opportunity to get to know y'all and be part of such a positive group of photographers. A very special THANKS to Brooke. This TOTALLY AWESOME learning environment you are creating for us aspiring photographers is more than I could ask for. You're a "God Send" in my book ;)
This weeks inspirational shoot is brought to you by "Kloe's Kitchen". She whipped me and her lil brother a batch of yummy vegan oatmeal cookies from the book, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I originally bought this book for THIS particular recipe ONLY (because of the ravs is was getting- by Oprah nonetheless, and at the time I was trying to crack my addiction to sugar- lol). I had no intentions of reading the information part, and not in a million years did I think I would ever desire to be Vegan. I was practically brought up at a steak house. No joke!
One day I ran out of reading material, and thought, "Well I have this book I haven't read, I guess I'll crack it out". Every piece of information in it was NEW to me. Not once did I ever think about food this way. I had no idea protein existed in other foods other than animal meat. And to boot, I had this preconceived idea that vegetarians were unhealthy and malnourished. Needless to say, this book CHANGED me. It made me AWARE, and inspired me to flirt with Veganism.
This weeks inspirational shoot is brought to you by "Kloe's Kitchen". She whipped me and her lil brother a batch of yummy vegan oatmeal cookies from the book, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I originally bought this book for THIS particular recipe ONLY (because of the ravs is was getting- by Oprah nonetheless, and at the time I was trying to crack my addiction to sugar- lol). I had no intentions of reading the information part, and not in a million years did I think I would ever desire to be Vegan. I was practically brought up at a steak house. No joke!
One day I ran out of reading material, and thought, "Well I have this book I haven't read, I guess I'll crack it out". Every piece of information in it was NEW to me. Not once did I ever think about food this way. I had no idea protein existed in other foods other than animal meat. And to boot, I had this preconceived idea that vegetarians were unhealthy and malnourished. Needless to say, this book CHANGED me. It made me AWARE, and inspired me to flirt with Veganism.
This Weeks Theme: Keeping it Natural :)
Happy future picture taking peeps!!!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Week 3: Connecting
Building a Relationship that Yields Meaningful Images
So never in a million years did I think I would be into taking pictures of people. I'm a shy person, so I'm naturally afraid of social situations. And because of this, I personally believe the universe is pulling a practical joke on me. The thing I love to do is what I fear the most. I'm a walking oxymoron! Every time I do a photo shoot, I'm in a battle of overcoming insecurities. But I keep at it because I want to help people document their relationship with themselves and their world. It took me many years to learn that the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself/God. That is why I love individual portraiture. I love capturing the connection people have with themselves and life. I have this desire to help people see their beauty the way I'm able to see it. And establishing a trusting relationship with the subject is vital in the creation process. I LOVED this weeks lessons and I'm forever grateful for them.
The Questionnaire
Oh what a fantastic tool this is to use as a starting point to get to know the subject. This was the first time I used a formal, written interview (via email) and I'm doing things this way for now on. For this shoot, I learned that my 1 year old subject, Harlee, loves nature and flowers. So on the way to the shoot, I gathered some pretty wild flowers for her to play with. It was a hit as you will see :)
The Location Challenge and Teaching People What They Want
In the questionnaire, I ask them to think about locations that would bring out their personality, places that mean something to them, and where they would feel most comfortable. I want people to be able to choose their location so that when they look back at the pictures, they mean that much more to them. I thought people would be all over this, but I've learned they need some help. People think there is a right or wrong location. They feel a need to pick a beautiful or trendy place that has nothing to do with who they are.
In this situation, despite me listing the importance of customizing a location, the mom insisted she wanted me to pick a place. I gave her some more direction on the topic to help her choose, and told her to think it over for a few days. She ended up choosing her yard, which was PERFECT! In the end, I think she was glad she got to choose, because her daughter was so comfortable in her own surroundings and it was a pleasant experience. We explored her yard and she was able to just be her. I didn't tell her to smile once. We just had a play date at her home and the images are a result of that :)
So never in a million years did I think I would be into taking pictures of people. I'm a shy person, so I'm naturally afraid of social situations. And because of this, I personally believe the universe is pulling a practical joke on me. The thing I love to do is what I fear the most. I'm a walking oxymoron! Every time I do a photo shoot, I'm in a battle of overcoming insecurities. But I keep at it because I want to help people document their relationship with themselves and their world. It took me many years to learn that the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself/God. That is why I love individual portraiture. I love capturing the connection people have with themselves and life. I have this desire to help people see their beauty the way I'm able to see it. And establishing a trusting relationship with the subject is vital in the creation process. I LOVED this weeks lessons and I'm forever grateful for them.
The Questionnaire
Oh what a fantastic tool this is to use as a starting point to get to know the subject. This was the first time I used a formal, written interview (via email) and I'm doing things this way for now on. For this shoot, I learned that my 1 year old subject, Harlee, loves nature and flowers. So on the way to the shoot, I gathered some pretty wild flowers for her to play with. It was a hit as you will see :)
The Location Challenge and Teaching People What They Want
In the questionnaire, I ask them to think about locations that would bring out their personality, places that mean something to them, and where they would feel most comfortable. I want people to be able to choose their location so that when they look back at the pictures, they mean that much more to them. I thought people would be all over this, but I've learned they need some help. People think there is a right or wrong location. They feel a need to pick a beautiful or trendy place that has nothing to do with who they are.
In this situation, despite me listing the importance of customizing a location, the mom insisted she wanted me to pick a place. I gave her some more direction on the topic to help her choose, and told her to think it over for a few days. She ended up choosing her yard, which was PERFECT! In the end, I think she was glad she got to choose, because her daughter was so comfortable in her own surroundings and it was a pleasant experience. We explored her yard and she was able to just be her. I didn't tell her to smile once. We just had a play date at her home and the images are a result of that :)
Theme of the Week: MEANINGFUL IMAGERY
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Week 2: Posing & Perspectives
Do you ever feel like a "Poser"?
I must be honest with y'all. Posing SCARES me. It makes me uncomfortable. Telling someone else what to do takes me out of my comfort zone. I think it's because when I do give direction, I start to feel like a "poser" (a person pretending to be something they are not). And yes, I find it ironic that this is the week my insecurities start to come out.
So there I was... with this totally awesome camera, this gorgeous model, nice overcast day, and what do I do? My head goes into the forbidden zone of thinking "I'm not good enough". I had all of these gosh darn nay-saying thoughts that came from nowhere and shocked the hizzell out of me!! Thoughts like, if these pics don't turn out good, it's all your fault. All of the variables are golden. You're the only variable that has the potential to suck.
I no longer had my "sixth sense" directing me during the shoot. I scared it away with all the nay-saying crap that was going on. It was all up to me and my brain that I fired two seconds ago. I internally PANICKED. I went BLIND. I wasn't seeing things how I normally see them when I'm behind the camera. I forgot my game plan. I quickly started taking pics without looking at them to make sure everything was how I wanted it. And it became the shortest shoot I've ever done- 10 minutes! Now of course I wasn't acting like anything was wrong, but I wasn't my bubbly self interacting with her like I normally would have. My brain was too busy fighting with itself.
I'm a total believer in the power of positive thinking (or negative thinking). And in this case, I think I had sabotaged myself by going into the shoot all nervous about my insecurities of telling people what to do. I find it interesting that I'm learning all sorts of life lessons through photography. Who knew :) I would love to hear any thoughts on this about overcoming fears.
I must be honest with y'all. Posing SCARES me. It makes me uncomfortable. Telling someone else what to do takes me out of my comfort zone. I think it's because when I do give direction, I start to feel like a "poser" (a person pretending to be something they are not). And yes, I find it ironic that this is the week my insecurities start to come out.
So there I was... with this totally awesome camera, this gorgeous model, nice overcast day, and what do I do? My head goes into the forbidden zone of thinking "I'm not good enough". I had all of these gosh darn nay-saying thoughts that came from nowhere and shocked the hizzell out of me!! Thoughts like, if these pics don't turn out good, it's all your fault. All of the variables are golden. You're the only variable that has the potential to suck.
I no longer had my "sixth sense" directing me during the shoot. I scared it away with all the nay-saying crap that was going on. It was all up to me and my brain that I fired two seconds ago. I internally PANICKED. I went BLIND. I wasn't seeing things how I normally see them when I'm behind the camera. I forgot my game plan. I quickly started taking pics without looking at them to make sure everything was how I wanted it. And it became the shortest shoot I've ever done- 10 minutes! Now of course I wasn't acting like anything was wrong, but I wasn't my bubbly self interacting with her like I normally would have. My brain was too busy fighting with itself.
I'm a total believer in the power of positive thinking (or negative thinking). And in this case, I think I had sabotaged myself by going into the shoot all nervous about my insecurities of telling people what to do. I find it interesting that I'm learning all sorts of life lessons through photography. Who knew :) I would love to hear any thoughts on this about overcoming fears.
Theme of the week: Contemplation
Initial pose
Subject changing perspective
Changing my perspective
Changing my perspective and pose (smile)
This is a different pose but in the same spot. We had walked away, but I asked her to go back for one more pic that I had just thought of :)
The beautiful model is my husband's cousin, Ashlynn, who was in town for the holiday. She's not only gorgeous, but she is also a rock star in my book. LOVE HER!! Oh, and the beautiful backdrop was provided by Grandma Austin's lilac bush.
This assignment was challenging for me, but I had no idea I could get these kinds of pics in 10 minutes in one spot, just by changing my perspective and the subject's perspective!! I'm definitely going to practice practice practice doing things this way!!!!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Week 1 of Advanced Pro Course- Yee Haw!!!!
Howdy!
I'm totally excited for this class to start!! It almost makes up for the photo basics class ending- lol. So I was super happy about not having to take a week off and being able to jump right into the lesson.
Preparing to Prepare
This week is all about preparation, making shot lists, and scouting out locations before hand. I have actually been doing this already on shoots I do for other people, and I'm glad to hear it's the "professional" way of doing things. I thought I was abnormal and being obsessive compulsive or something by doing things this way. I haven't made a pose book or anything cool like that, but on my last shoot I totally made my hubby draw me stick figures on a note card of the things I wanted to remember to do. hahahahahaha. So now I'm all over putting together an awesome inspiration/pose book. So much so, that I strained my back from leaning over while cutting magazines all night. hehe.
Confidence and the Sixth Sense
For me, the major reason for preparation is building my confidence. I pretty much always write down what I want to capture, where I want to capture it, and locations/poses I want to remember. BUT I usually forget about all of that when I start shooting. I go into a "zone". When I start clicking away, I go somewhere else. I begin to see things differently than I had when I first scouted the location. A place I thought was once awesome is NOT anymore. A place I didn't even see there before, now I think is the perfect place for the shoot. I get this "sixth sense" and begin to feel only what is around me at the time (the places, people's emotions, etc.), and "I" change things accordingly. I go with the flow and stop controlling things and just let it unfold naturally.
I recently watched a video Brooke posted on her blog of Elizabeth Gilbert. She talked about back in the day artists gave credit of their work to this "being" that took over them while they were in the creation process. When I saw that, I went Ah-Hah!! I totally feel like something overcomes me and it changes everything I spent hours planning!!! But I definately don't discount the important role preparation plays!
What Can Go Wrong, Just Might Go...Right
This week's shoot I originally planned to go to a different location I never shot at before (our local Fairgrounds) to capture my mama barrel racing. But as luck has it (and I do mean luck), there is this freak equine illness going around our area and all horses are on "lock down" (so as to not infect or get whatever is going around). So I had to do the shoot at the horse's home (my mama's property), but I still did the leg work of looking for different places/perspectives to shoot.
My goal was to be efficient, keep the number of shots to a minimum (quality vs quantity) and keep it around an hour long. So of course, the opposite happens. Due to numerous circumstances (weather, lighting, events pertaining to dealing with horses & humans-lol) I ended up going 2 hours, and shooting 475 images (I'm so very embarassed of that one y'all). But I actually was efficient in my workflow (where I usually slack), so it made up for it. I started using the star system in photoshop and rated my pics: rejects for eyes closed/test shots, 3 for memory purpose pics, 4 for I like pics, and 5 for processing worthy pics. I started shooting around 6:30 PM and had them narrowed down and processed for the next morning. Total record time for me :) It was sooooo very hard to narrow down to just 3. Hope you enjoy :)
I'm totally excited for this class to start!! It almost makes up for the photo basics class ending- lol. So I was super happy about not having to take a week off and being able to jump right into the lesson.
Preparing to Prepare
This week is all about preparation, making shot lists, and scouting out locations before hand. I have actually been doing this already on shoots I do for other people, and I'm glad to hear it's the "professional" way of doing things. I thought I was abnormal and being obsessive compulsive or something by doing things this way. I haven't made a pose book or anything cool like that, but on my last shoot I totally made my hubby draw me stick figures on a note card of the things I wanted to remember to do. hahahahahaha. So now I'm all over putting together an awesome inspiration/pose book. So much so, that I strained my back from leaning over while cutting magazines all night. hehe.
Confidence and the Sixth Sense
For me, the major reason for preparation is building my confidence. I pretty much always write down what I want to capture, where I want to capture it, and locations/poses I want to remember. BUT I usually forget about all of that when I start shooting. I go into a "zone". When I start clicking away, I go somewhere else. I begin to see things differently than I had when I first scouted the location. A place I thought was once awesome is NOT anymore. A place I didn't even see there before, now I think is the perfect place for the shoot. I get this "sixth sense" and begin to feel only what is around me at the time (the places, people's emotions, etc.), and "I" change things accordingly. I go with the flow and stop controlling things and just let it unfold naturally.
I recently watched a video Brooke posted on her blog of Elizabeth Gilbert. She talked about back in the day artists gave credit of their work to this "being" that took over them while they were in the creation process. When I saw that, I went Ah-Hah!! I totally feel like something overcomes me and it changes everything I spent hours planning!!! But I definately don't discount the important role preparation plays!
What Can Go Wrong, Just Might Go...Right
This week's shoot I originally planned to go to a different location I never shot at before (our local Fairgrounds) to capture my mama barrel racing. But as luck has it (and I do mean luck), there is this freak equine illness going around our area and all horses are on "lock down" (so as to not infect or get whatever is going around). So I had to do the shoot at the horse's home (my mama's property), but I still did the leg work of looking for different places/perspectives to shoot.
My goal was to be efficient, keep the number of shots to a minimum (quality vs quantity) and keep it around an hour long. So of course, the opposite happens. Due to numerous circumstances (weather, lighting, events pertaining to dealing with horses & humans-lol) I ended up going 2 hours, and shooting 475 images (I'm so very embarassed of that one y'all). But I actually was efficient in my workflow (where I usually slack), so it made up for it. I started using the star system in photoshop and rated my pics: rejects for eyes closed/test shots, 3 for memory purpose pics, 4 for I like pics, and 5 for processing worthy pics. I started shooting around 6:30 PM and had them narrowed down and processed for the next morning. Total record time for me :) It was sooooo very hard to narrow down to just 3. Hope you enjoy :)
Theme of the week: Roots
f/4, 1/200, 100
f/6.3, 1/500, 100
f/3.2, 1/100, 100
A shout out to my mama- thanks for sharing your love of horses with me and my children :)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Week 5: Sweet Indoor Natural Lighting
OK. Can I just say I'm a tid bit sad right now because this is the last homework assignment!!! But I am WAY excited about how to use natural light properly!! This is what I'm all about: capturing natural moments in natural lighting. Double Wooooohoooooo on these last two weeks :)
So this week in general has been dedicated to my cute lil Kloe girl who turns 5 in a few days. She had all sorts of stuff going on this week, like graduating preschool and performing in 2 dance recital shows (which she totally rocked). So in celebration of her awesome self, I did my assignment around her. I did two separate shoots to choose from, but I posted both because I suck at making decisions- lol. Hope you enjoy :)
So this week in general has been dedicated to my cute lil Kloe girl who turns 5 in a few days. She had all sorts of stuff going on this week, like graduating preschool and performing in 2 dance recital shows (which she totally rocked). So in celebration of her awesome self, I did my assignment around her. I did two separate shoots to choose from, but I posted both because I suck at making decisions- lol. Hope you enjoy :)
Theme of the Week: Celebrating Kloe's Stories :)
1) Still Life
Back story: Below is Rosie, one of Kloe's horses she reads to and "styles" daily.
Behind the scenes: This is in my bedroom and there is a south and west window lighting the subject. I shot this in the afternoon. Also, I hate messing with tripods, so I rested my camera on the bed to steady it.
f/2.8, 1/60, 400
2) Portrait with catch lights
f/2.2, 1/160, 640
3) Silhouette
Behind the scenes: After I took this pic, I closed the shades to the window on the left and it made it a darker silhouette. It was cool, but I liked this one better because you can see the horses face and it totally looks like it is listening.
f/2.8, 1/200, 250
1) Still Life
Behind the scenes: this is in my kitchen with a west facing window.
f/2.8, 1/200, 400
2) Portrait with catch lights
Behind the scenes: I was laying on my stomach on the counter to get this shot- lol.
f/2/8, 1/200, 320
3) Silhouette
Behind the scenes: this was taken in my living room against an east facing window.
f/2.8, 1/2500, 320
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
I wanted to give a shout out to Brooke and each class member! The last few weeks have been amazing for me. This learning experience was one of a kind, and I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciated everybody's kind words and the awesome advice from the lovely Brooke Snow (who's one of the best teachers ever!!). I have enjoyed all of the lessons and seeing everybody's blogs/pictures. I'm so grateful to be in this group of awesome people/photographers. I hope we all stay in touch. Happy Picture Taking Peeps!!!!!!!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Week 4: Natural Light :)
Awesome-ness
This week I had an amazing experience photographing my BEAUTIFUL cousin, Allison who is graduating from an awesome special needs school that we have here in the area. I had so much fun on this shoot, partly because I approached it differently, and partly because SHE is simply awesome and I LOVE her!!!
My priority was for her to just enjoy the evening and be natural. We went to the locations, I found where the good lighting was, and I began snapping away "organic" shots of her being her awesome self. My favorite kind of photography :) Capturing natural moments that they didn't even know existed.
Gettn Technical
This week I had an amazing experience photographing my BEAUTIFUL cousin, Allison who is graduating from an awesome special needs school that we have here in the area. I had so much fun on this shoot, partly because I approached it differently, and partly because SHE is simply awesome and I LOVE her!!!
My priority was for her to just enjoy the evening and be natural. We went to the locations, I found where the good lighting was, and I began snapping away "organic" shots of her being her awesome self. My favorite kind of photography :) Capturing natural moments that they didn't even know existed.
Gettn Technical
- I decided to shoot in the lowest (widest) aperture I could because that's my style...the creative blur makes my eyes happy. I just stayed a bit further away from her, and made sure to focus on eyes.
- Because I was photographing a person, I decided to use spot metering for the entire shoot to see if that worked out better for me, and it did. I found myself not having to spend so much time metering! Yay!!
- Even though I didn't need to, I started off my shoot in ISO 400. This is because I tend to forget I can adjust my ISO (and not just shutter speed) to meter properly. And I get tunnel vision and don't realize it when I'm shooting in too slow of a shutter speed. This worked great for me. And my camera does well in high ISO's.
- ISO is going to be the death of me!! At the end of the shoot, the sun disappeared completely so I was forced to raise my ISO really high up. That was fine, but when we went to the next location for the silhouette shot, I forgot to adjust my ISO back down. Ugh.
Theme Of The Week: Organic Beauty :)
1) Side Lit
f/2.8, 1/1000, 400
2) Back Lit
I discovered this is what I shoot 90% of the time!!
f/2.8, 1/640, 400
3) Front Lit
I had harsh light the entire time I was shooting UNTIL the sun was completely down. And because I was doing more of a photojournalistic shoot and didn't want to give much direction how to stand or look, I waited it out.
f/2.8, 1/125, 400
4) Natural Reflector
I had trouble finding a natural reflector in the area we were shooting. There was a light brown wall that I tried, but it didn't do the job. It sucked in more light than it reflected. She had on a bright white dress during the evening part of the shoot, so that's what I "used". A bit of a stretch :)
f/3.2, 1/250, 1000
5) Back lit Silhouette
When it was sunset time, some clouds wandered in and made it to where my subject almost blended in with the sky. There wasn't much of a contrast to make her pop. Plus I think I accidentally metered off of the part of the sky that had the clouds instead of the really bright part? I also forgot to turn my ISO down for this shot. I still like it though :)
f/2, 1/2000, 1000
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