So I'm starting to realize being a photographer equates to being a super duper multitasker!!! Eeeeeek! If only my years of being an administrative assistant could help me here! But typing and answering phones is cake compared to a photo shoot!
Usually when I do my assignments it's in a controlled environment that I'm familiar with, and where I can take my sweet little time. But this week I had an amazing opportunity to travel to SLC and take pics for an awesome graduate & family that I absolutely LOVE. So I stepped up my game!
These peeps are a photographer's dream :) Gorgeous people with gorgeous personalities to capture. Not to mention they are artsy and want to do things different! Wahoo! But oh how I was nervous! Going into an environment I haven't shot before was intimidating enough, but shooting in manual on an actual shoot for somebody else?! Yup. I was shakin in my boots. Literally.
I was so close to switching that lil dial to aperture priority mode, you have no idea!! But I didn't. I'm happy with myself over that one. But I'm not happy with how long it took me to meter, and compose a shot.
I definitely felt myself rushing when I shouldn't have, and I fell into my habit of just going everywhere taking pics QUICKLY instead of taking the time to get one really good one. I think I need somebody to tell me it's OK to slow down. That this art takes time to do. But I always make myself rush for fear of people getting bored or something.
Another reason I was shakin in my boots was because I was shooting a family instead of just an individual. And composing them is different. Also, I knew I needed a higher aperture than I usually use (to have everybody in focus), but that made my shutter speed slower. And while I was shooting, I was so nervous I had tunnel vision. I was metering right, but I didn't realize how slow my shutter speed got. Plus I was actually shaking a little bit because of the nerves (I'm a dork). And when I got home I discovered I had some blurry pics :( Another lesson learned the hard way!! I should have cranked up my ISO instead of just adjusting shutter speed, or should have used a tripod. I"m distraught over the blurry pics! My family was rockn the shoot, and I feel like I failed getting some awesome pics.
Also, I tend to miss mergers until I see the image on the computer screen. Grrrr.
A non-composition question I have is what kind of aperture do you prefere to shoot families? And how low do you let your shutter speed get before you start adjusting ISO.
This weeks theme: Do the thing that scares ya, learn the lessons, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable!!!!
Use of color and shapes.
f/7.1, 1/400, 400
Use of framing, shapes, and lines.
f/7.1, 1/125, 400
Use of framing. I also like the line the 3 trees make.
f/4, 1/160, 640
I LOVE this pic, but there's possibly a merger in it. I was wondering what you think.
Tori, these are beautiful!! You did an amazing job, I think. Will be interested to hear Brooke's take on that last one, if there is a merger. I don't see one. I think the lines, the sidelight, and the blossoms all draw your attention right to the couple. And I LOVE the one of the family posed in the window. Super fun! I need to start thinking outside the box, posing people in fun places like that! And as usual, love your monologue before your photos -- I had many of the same feelings this week!
ReplyDeleteWow...I don't see any of the issues you talk about...These all are super! (If you get a few blurry ones, but these great ones--oh well!--you can only frame so many anyway!) My eye doesn't catch a merger--it looks wonderfully framed to me.
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