Sunday, May 1, 2011

Week 3: Composition added to the mix!

Aperture, and ISO, and Shutter Speed, AND Composition, OH MY!!!!

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.


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Week 2: Gett'n Creative w/ Shutter Speed

HIGHlights & lowLIGHTS of my week:

I'm totally shooting in manual all the time now- wooohoooo!!! However, my subjects (kids) quickly become impatient while I'm taking FOREVER figuring out my settings. Patience does not run in the family y'all! 

My confidence of my camera skilz increases every day... until I attempted panning. Grrrr panning, I will get you one day!

Speaking of panning... I took about 500 different pictures trying to master this! I tried it on my husband (who gave up running for me by the way), I tried it numerous times with my kiddos, and then a light switch turned on in my brain. hehehe (insert evil laugh here). My problem was either over anticipating the movement or it all being blurry from me not being so steady. So I grabbed my handy dandy camera, some tape, a hanger, and my son's train set. I set everything up on my turn table, and wahlaw! I just turn the table, hold the shutter button, and see a very clear pic of Thomas The Train with a super blurry background. Only problem is, I got a good panning shot that didn't make me feel something when I looked at it. So it didn't make the cut. But I was super impressed with my MacGyver-ness!

A different issue I had that made potentially awesome pictures suck, was when I was shooting for a frozen action shot. With my shutter speed around 1/1000, my aperture was super low. I do love this because I'm a super low aperture junky (I like the blur), but if I was shooting more than one person, all of the faces weren't in focus.

I spent all week going to different places & shooting different events, but the pictures that made the cut were of my kiddos. Cuz it's Easter, and they're so cute and all :)

This weeks theme: FAMILY FUELS THE CREATIVE SOUL :)



Blurred Action

1/30, f/18, 400



Panning

1/40, f/22, 100



Frozen Action

1/1000, f/4, 100

Monday, April 18, 2011

Week 1: Aperture

What I learned this week:
  • Don't do a photo shoot while wearing sunglasses. lol. I'm still laughing at myself over that one.
  • Don't wait until the last night to view and post your pics. They just might not have turned out how you wanted them to.
  • Take the time to crack out a handy dandy tripod if your shooting in low light at a high aperture. Blurry pics will make you very angry at 1:00 in the morning.
  • When all else fails, do what ya got to do with what ya got :) 
These are my "new" set of pics I took around midnight because I learned the hard way from my many mistakes (listed above). This weeks theme: "Procrastination is the fastest way to perfection". I didn't make that up peeps, I really heard that somewhere- lol. 

Story Telling Aperture

    f/22, 2.5, 400

Above is my "landscape" picture. hehehe. I deliberately added things on the table so you could see that everything near and far was in focus. And I intentionally put the lights in the pics so you could see the rays.


f/8, 1/3, 400


f/4, 1/13, 400



Who Cares Aperture

f/8, 1/3, 400



f/4, 1/10, 400



f/22, 3.2, 400



Singular Theme

f/4, 1/15, 400



f/8, 1/4, 400



f/22, 1.6, 400