Man, why does it have to be Monday already?

If you’re anything like me, and I’m sure you are, then the weekend can never last long enough. Since that’s the case I figured I’d be nice and share the rest of the photos from last weekend.

I can’t believe how nice the weather has been here these past two weekends. Too bad it won’t last much longer, though.

Anyway, enjoy the photos. Hopefully they’ll help break up the monotony of your day.

Gallery: DOWN BY THE RIVER PT. 2

It’s that time of the year. The leaves are beginning to change and it couldn’t have been a better time for a trip to the river.

My friend and I decided it would be a good idea to get together to hang out and it ended up being a really great shoot. She even brought her old school Polaroid with her. Who knew they even made film for those any more. Talk about bringing back memories.

Here is the first Batch of photos from last weekend. I’ll be sure to put the second batch up as soon as I can.

Until then, enjoy your Friday.

Gallery: DOWN BY THE RIVER

On Monday I began to scratch the surface on the topic of indirect lighting. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t anywhere near the best writing I’ve ever done thanks to the time change and getting over a cold. Don’t worry, though, I’ll make it up to you today. That’s right, good ol’ eye candy.

The first photo (ABOVE) is one from a hike I went on last year…

I decided it would be a good idea to lug my camera and flash with me as a few friends and I celebrated the last couple of days that my brother would be a single man. When we got to a clearing, which I used as an excuse to take another breather, I pulled out the camera and flash and snapped this shot.

As you can see, the added light isn’t what’s so bad since it was rather dreary out. It’s the fact that it makes my brother look so flat. It doesn’t add any depth to the photo other than the areas where the harsh shadow is seen. In fact, it seems to reduce the depth of the image.

This next image is from after we got back and were hanging out. The flash is still mounted directly on top of my camera.

However, I was able to use my surroundings to make quite a difference in the way I lit the scene. This time, instead of firing the flash straight at my brother, I pointed it up and “bounced” it off the ceiling.

By doing so, I was able to redirect where the light was coming from before it hit the subject. In essence, I used the flash to cieling indirect lighting.

Isn’t it amazing what a difference just changing the angle of the flash can make.

Now let’s take it one step further and talk about off-camera indirect lighting. Like I said before, this can be done in a very simple fashion. So simple that all you need to do is go outside.

For light that’s a little more controlled you can create your own. This last photo was made by tormenting my housemate’s cat. Well, it was actually done by placing one of my flashes on a stand and triggering it with a radio transmitter. If you get the opportunity, I highly recommend taking the time to play around with one of these setups.

I created this photo by simply bouncing the light from the flash off the wall to make some nice, soft lighting. In doing so, I was able to take a fast enough exposure so that all the little details of the hair and whiskers were kept in tact. All it really took was waiting for Binky to stop moving around so I could aim the flash in a way that would illuminate her. Then it was a matter of playing around with different power levels on the flash until I got the kind of levels I wanted.

As usual, now is the part of the post where I encourage you to go out and try this for yourself. Do try it at home. Do try it outside. Don’t nuke your photos with direct lighting, but instead…

Move the Light!

Light. It’s how we see and it’s what illuminates the sensors (or film) in our cameras.

However, as many of you have most likely found out, creating light for your photos can be a bit tricky. Unless, of course, you’re going for that washed out, skin the color of the moon, deer in the headlights look from your on camera flash.

Using your flash can be a pain, especially when it’s stuck to your camera…

When this is the case, try to use your flash as just an extra light to “help” the ambient light (or light that is already coming from your surroundings). This “help” from your camera’s flash is called Fill Flash, because it helps fill the darker shadows on your subject. It also helps bring out the subject if you’re dealing with dim light.

The trick with direct lighting is to have it blend in with the rest of the photo. Make sure you don’t have it over power the ambient light.

There’s another type of lighting, however, which is what I really wanted to talk about.

Indirect lighting.

What is indirect lighting you ask? Well, if the flash that’s stuck to your camera is direct lighting, then for light to be indirect… Bingo! It has to be off of your camera.

Indirect lighting is a wonderful way to create more dynamic photos. It adds texture. It adds depth. And it can be used to create fun effects.  The nice thing is that you can create indirect lighting from things as simple as key chain lights, flash lights, street lights, and even the sun. I mean, you can’t get much more simple than that.

So that’s your challenge for this week. Take some photos using indirect lighting. Be bold and go with harsh lighting. Be discreet and go with soft lighting.

Just go out and push yourselves. After all, how are you going to grow if you don’t stretch your boundaries.

(p.s. examples of indirect lighting to come)

Hey guys and gals, I hope your week has been going well so far.

As usual, (Or at least for the past couple of weeks) here are some more photos to help you get through that last final day.

Since I weeded out so many photos from two of my albums I have decided to post them both. Click the links below to check them out.

Enjoy!

Memorial Day Parade

A day at the Museum

Who here likes boring photos? Really? No one? Oh wait… nevermind, I thought I heard someone speak up.

Well, if you’re like me, you like finding new ways to make your photos more interesting. One thing I’ve learned, that’s extremely simple to do in order to make your photos more interesting, is to add depth to them.

Technically, this might seem like a bit of an oxymoron since photos are two dimensional (Unless you happen to know how to creat those eye mazes from the mid-90’s with your camera). However, it’s actually pretty straight forward.

Basically, all it takes is for you to create a foreground, mid-ground and background. The fun part comes from mixing it up and deciding where the subject should be put in the midst of everything.

Here are some examples:

The focus in this shot is on the player in the background, but all the action is out of focus in the foreground

While this second shot has the foreground in focus, it puts the focus squarely on the grandstands in the background.

Another thing to note is that “framing” an image with an archway, or a couple of trees, is a great way to fill empty space and force people to look exactly where you want them to.

Finally for the middle ground:

I think this photo does a great job showing that you can also use the different dimensions of the photo to frame the subject. Here, my friend Rachel is being framed by the new bride and the other people in the background.

Like I said before, it’s not difficult to do at all, but it can make a big difference in the amount of “pull” your photos can have.

And with that said, go out. Play around. Add depth to your photos. Try something new. And most importantly, HAVE FUN!

One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that  you can’t improve at anything if you stop learning, especially photography.

That can either come from spending time with someone who has more experience than you, reading a photography magazine, or looking at other peoples’ work.

This weekend in Northern VA had some weather that was a little bit less than great. To say the least. Since that was the case I used it as an excuse to stay inside and not take any photos.

With that said, I came across a post from the for RSS  Digital Photography School about photos is rainy weather (“13 Fabulous Photos of a Rainy Day“)

Man, just when you think you can be lazy and take a day off you find a reason telling you exactly why you shouldn’t have. But like I said, you can always learn, not to mention be inspired, by looking at other people’s work. So we’ll use that as the productive thing I did this weekend…

Out of the 13 photos there were three or four that really caught my eye. I’ll go ahead and walk you through three of the photos. Letting you know why I think they’re good photos and what I pulled away from looking at them.

(p.s. I didn’t take any of these photos. I’m simply reviewing them as a bit of a mental exercise)

The first one is: “Rain Stroll“

• First, the light coming right through the middle of the photo breaks of all the rest of the darkness in it
• Second, it makes for a great outline of the child walking through the rain. Third, the action of the child walking through the puddle is emphasized by the photographer cropping the child’s head out of the photo, which forces you to look at what he (I’m guessing it’s a he) is doing as opposed to just looking at the child itself.
• Finally, the last main thing that caught my eye were the ripples from the raindrops. The strong contrast between light and dark (due to the low exposure) caused their outlines to stand out and become very visible.

Number 2: “Cold Rain“

• I really like this shot because of a couple of reasons. Reason #1: The night scene automatically draws your focus to the traffic lights in the background.
• Reason #2: even though you’re naturally drawn to the colorful lights, you realize that they’re not actually the main focus of the photo, but are there to add interest and break up what would have been an otherwise dull and dark background.
• Reason #3: the fact that the simple raindrops on the glass are the focus of the photo. Once you are done figuring out what the colors are in the background you realize that the foreground is comprised by the rain on the glass window. Not only does this cause the photo to have greater depth to it, but the lights in the background help the water on the window stand out even more.

Numero Tres: “Let the Rain Kiss You“

• First is the fact that the photographer changed the perspective in that it is a shot looking down at the subject.
• Second, the shot is mainly just a lot of open/empty space, which would have made for a boring shot if the person with the umbrella hadn’t been in it to break things up. The photo is nicely ordered with the stones creating structure and lines across the image, but then that person has to go and take it from boring to interesting by being the one, lone, subject in a large, empty scene. On top of that, the umbrella person is off to the side, which causes the image to be asymmetrical.
• Finally, the fact that it is raining causes the stone floor to go from bland and grey to having a nice reflective sheen. It caused the person to actually have a reflection instead of just a shadow. That also allows you to almost look up at the person’s reflection to try and find other details about them. All of which cause a seemingly simple photo to not be so simple afterall.

After all of that, I hope you’ve also been able to glean some information from these photos. Not only that, but maybe now you’ll look through other photographers images and try to break them down to see what makes them so interesting.

Now go GLEAN!!

I’ll leave this post short. Here are some photos from a few weeks ago when I helped shoot a wedding for some friends of the family. Good times were had by all.

Click on the link below to see the photos.

Chad & Alicia Wedding Photo Gallery

Man are those words hitting me hard tonight. It’s not that I feel that I don’t have any sense of direction in life, (because I do, at least in the broad scheme of things), it’s that I was having the hardest time thinking of something to write about.

It’s kind of funny when something you’re having trouble with ends up becoming the solution.

That’s when this topic came to mind. I’ve noticed that it’s always easier to do a photo shoot, write a post, or do just about anything, when there’s a game plan involved.

When you plan ahead you’re able to come up with an idea of what you want to do. This can be a rough idea brought about simply by writing down notes on a piece of paper. Or it can be a very organized idea though planning out a detailed list of every single thing of what you want to accomplish.

That way, when the time comes, you won’t be grasping at straws, but will actually have something to go off of. If you do this consistently, not only will it allow you to refine your process, but it will allow for a more polished end product.

Now I’m not trying to say that spontaneity is a bad thing, because it’s not. Lot’s of great things come out of being spontaneous. However, to do that consistently you would still need a game plan.

Even if that game plan is to only take photos spontaneously. Because, then, you would end up with a wonderful gallery of random photos. You would be able to develop a distinct style, and even possible a large following.

All because you decided beforehand to do something, stuck to it, and worked hard.

You know it’s true. Your closest friends are the ones that you spend the most time with. The car that runs the best is the one that’s taken care of the most. The house with the least dust is the one that is cleaned the most.

And it’s the same way with your camera.

I can’t begin to tell you all the new things I’ve learned about my cameras over the years simply from toying around with them. I’ve also learned even more from going out and taking photos with them as often as I can.

Also, just like trying to learn more about the other person in a relationship will get you plenty of brownie points, reading through the manual will absolutely result in a better understanding of  your camera.

And when you understand your camera and other equipment better, you will be able to take better photos.

And who doesn’t like better photos?

So take some time this week and play with your camera. Take it with you to work so you can shoot some photos during lunch. Make sure to try the different settings when you do. (Try even reading the manual for once)

That way you can build your relationship.