Let me first explain what I mean by “pseudo.” Or rather, I will explain what it is not. To me, pseudo is not someone at any level (beginner, hobbyist, amateur, or intermediate) who truly has a love for taking photographs and couldn’t imagine life not doing so in one way or another. They may want to do this professionally one day, or keep it as a fun activity, but the passion is there all the same. I associate pseudo with the following: An individual who doesn’t take the time to learn how to improve An individual with a lot of extra money to spend on gear An individual who doesn’t understand the hard work it takes yet craves notoriety An individual who doesn’t take advice/criticism from other photographers 1 – “I’ll just rock it on auto mode and hope for the best!” This is a trait I see in many beginners. They have a fear of failure, so they let the camera decide what’s best. The problem with this is that they aren’t allowing themselves any creative freedom. They aren’t using light to their advantage, heck, they don’t even know how the camera is using light because […]
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This month I decided to combine two challenges from Lindsay’s book again. First I chose “1 color” which I knew I would use my favorite color red. I set about grabbing as much red stuff I had to wear (trust me, there’s a bunch) and found that I really wanted to feature my red bowler hat which brings me to the next challenge… “Recreate a famous Artwork in your own way.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of Bowler hats & artwork, I instantly think of Rene Magritte. I always enjoyed his paintings and considering I specialize in thematic portraits, surrealism is straight up my alley. Son of Man was my main inspiration: My background was red, and along with the red bowler hat, I wore a red blazer and had a floating red apple complete it all. Let’s just say this challenge was incredibly fun. So this time, I had the opportunity to play, which is sometimes lost when shooting for other people. May the light be with you. Follow
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Flash* seems to be the most difficult & most avoided type of lighting for beginners. Though I am not an expert in regards to this type of lighting, I have learned some ways to use it to my advantage over the years. I hope I can help ease any worries and reveal that it’s actually not scary at all and a very useful tool to use. So let’s look at some pros & cons of using flash and then specific tips. *Note I am referring to external flashes, not the popup flash on many cameras. PROS Affordable I’ve seen flash heads for as low as $20 on Amazon, so depending on your budget, you’re more than likely to find one to pick up. Portable Since they run on battery, you won’t have any cords or bulbs to worry about. Just bring extra batteries just in case and you’re set! Because they’re so small, they fit easily in camera bags and can be set up fairly quickly at the shoot. Versatile You can attach them to your camera body (pointing the light up or sideways), you can put them on light stands and spread them […]
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There comes a time in many artists’ lives when they must buckle up and prepare themselves to be professional. Long gone are the days of free shoots or word-of-mouth promises. Once you reach a certain point & realize that you want to make your photography a business, there are a few important things you must have. One is a contract. The business side of the arts was not discussed much while I was in school, so most of what I have learned has been through online research and just experience. So hopefully I can add to the pile of resources available on the vast World Wide Web. Why do you need a contract? Aside from the professionalism mentioned above, having a contract ensures that both you and the client know exactly what is expected from the shoot. You have everything laid out, the price is determined, & a timeline is established. This is a physical piece of your agreement. I don’t care if you trust your client with your life, sometimes people can be shady and try to not pay their full amount or complain about what was already agreed upon. By both having a […]
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Niche has a few different definitions, but in regards to work as an artist, it is closely related to genre. This is sometimes difficult to pinpoint, especially for newcomers. Years ago, I remember saying I couldn’t possibly limit myself because I loved to shoot everything! Well that love may be true for many of us, but typically there are a couple types of photography we find ourselves gravitate towards. For me, it’s people. I love anything involving people; portraits, fashion, street, etc. There’s something so fascinating about the human face, body, and overall interaction with the world. Because of this love, the majority of what I shoot involves people. My niche is specific in that I focus primarily on portraits & headshots. Advantages for having a specific niche: You have a focus. By honing in on a very specific aspect in your field, you will always have an idea of what your next project will be. Your passion really shines through. Because you aren’t trying to shoot every single thing in the world (which could amount to so-so results) you are able to put in 100% each time you do a shoot. […]
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This month my challenge was to tell a story. A friend of mine, her fiancé, and their dog (who I call Honey Fluff) were able to help me out with this. Ironically, the story turned out to reflect their love for one another, which is so fitting what with Valentine’s Day still on so many people’s minds. We recently had some incredibly nice weather for this time of year, so we decided to take a walk in the park. I didn’t feel the immediate urge to “GET THE SHOT” like I’ve often felt before. I really felt calm and enjoyed catching up with them and realized I’d get the shot eventually, so I didn’t need to stress about it. After about an hour or so, we wound up in a small grove out of the way of other people. I sat them down on a log and Honey Fluff sat in between. It’s always a little difficult when shooting pets, but my friend brought treats along, and we were able to distract her with them to get some great images. This month I didn’t so much learn a technique, but I did gain an even […]
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In continuation of my shooting series, this week I’d like to give a couple tips in regards to shooting motion. At some point, you may find yourself wanting to freeze or intentionally blur an action. Both tips will be dependent on setting your shutter speed properly, but are very easy to achieve once you get into the habit. So without further ado, let’s get in! Tip 1: Freezing Motion In order to freeze motion, you will need your shutter speed to be set very fast. But you can’t set it so high that not enough light will get in. So you have two options here: you can either put your camera in shutter priority mode and let the camera figure things out, or you can keep fiddling in manual mode until (with practice) you know what your best settings will be. The speed at which your subject is moving also plays a large role. For instance, you will need a faster shutter speed for someone who is running vs someone who is walking. (Think 1/1000th vs 1/100th.) Tip 2: Blurring Motion In order to blur motion, you will need your shutter speed to be set very […]
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Let me preface this by saying yes I fell for the hype. I had been using my trusty 40mm pancake lens for years now but I kept seeing this “nifty fifty” everywhere. Seeing how inexpensive it was, I thought heck, why not give it a try? I was not as amazed as many online voices seemed to be. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great little lens (that’s far better than the 18-55mm zoom that comes with most entry level rebels) but it didn’t give me the WOW factor that I had expected. In hindsight, I think I should have just waited and saved up a bit more to get the 50mm 1.4, but I’ll just plan on upgrading later once I have another camera body. I should also note that these are my experiences with my T3i. Things may be different on a newer cropped sensor or full frame body. So with that back story out of the way, I’ll list pros & cons of this lens and share my final thoughts. PROS -The focal length causes no distortion -The ability to have a shallower depth of field and congruently creamier looking […]
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In the same way I took a topsy-turvy path to find my love for photography, I also stumbled upon my overall “style”. I tell you it was difficult. At first I was just snapping away enjoying the life with no real rhyme or reason. I even did minimal editing because I wanted to keep that candid look. Pff, that sort of candid looked like anyone with a camera and an idea shot it. And there were still remnants of yellow… blech. I continued to shoot my editorials, but there wasn’t a particular editing style bringing them together. Once I made the decision that photography was more than an additional skill I possessed, I decided to look outwards for advice. I read countless articles on how to find your style and many of them had more or less vague suggestions to “just keep shooting and it will come to you.” These were not the words I was looking for. But I went with it, since that’s all I really could do. I still had my beloved Pinterest board to inspire me as well, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I knew what types […]
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This month’s challenge was to use two concepts from Lindsay’s book: have your subject in the frame multiple times & shoot through crystal. I wanted to continue along with my Holy series, so with those specific techniques in mind, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to tackle my ‘Trinity” shoot. As the name suggests, I wanted to capture the The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit all in frame. Now this could be easily achieved in post by cloning my model two more times, but that would take away the challenge of trying something new. So I brought a few different materials that might give me my desired effect. Here are a few images and what I learned from each iteration. I found that although the crystal did split up his image, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted (I think the crystal was too small.) So I experimented further with other materials like a metal mesh-like candle holder. This gave an awesome texture that framed him, but it wasn’t glass, so he wasn’t multiplied. I tried by having my model move his head while I had a slow shutter speed. Though […]
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