Continuing on with the shooting series, this week I want to discuss my favorite subject matter: portraits. Some may wonder why people are my favorite subject to shoot. Perhaps it’s because of their familiarity. Or it could be because they are so diverse (yet universally similar.) Whatever the reason, I love having them as subjects and want to share a couple tips with you! First you should identify what type of portrait you are going to take. Some different types are headshots, couples or groups, seniors, children, newborns, and the list goes on. I personally cater towards adults either looking for professional headshots, promotional images, or creative shoots. If you want tips on babies, children, or weddings, this may not be the article for you since those niches have specific challenges. Hopefully, I can share some universal tips with you that you may take with whatever your subject matter may be. Planning First you need to have a person in mind. Whether this is a paid shoot or not, planning some things ahead of time will make the whole shoot go smoother. Have your day, time, & location set ahead of time. If you are photographing a […]
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After years of saving, I have finally upgraded to a full frame DSLR: the Canon 5d MarkIV. I’ve had about a month to play with it and want to share my thoughts on it below. A couple years back, I was actually set on the MarkIII as it has such a great reputation and had friends who told me about how well it performed. But it was coming up on being 5 years old at that point & I suspected that Canon would be releasing its successor soon, so I waited and saved. The release was finally announced fall last year and I was so pumped to see the features it had so I scoured the internet for weeks reading & watching reviews. There have been a large amount of positive reviews on image quality though many videographers were upset with the way it uses jpg frames when recording 4K video. The thing is though; I was looking for primarily a still camera with excellent quality, so these particular comments didn’t faze me. (Once I jump back into video again, I’d want a dedicated video camera anyway.) The other reason why I decided to pick up […]
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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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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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