Photography By Jef Blog

Making Your Photography Better by Going Back to Basics

2011-12-24T07:19:00.013-06:00

The last few weeks have been murder on me. I had to send my camera body back to the shop. I can't stand it. I feel like a crack junkie looking for his next score in an Amish community. But it has given me a lot of time to think about the essentials of photography and why it is so important to occasionally go back to the basics.

A few months ago, someone approached me about how to get bette

r as a photographer. I was flattered and after the initial shock of wondering why they were asking me, I thought about how I

had started with a basic point and shoot camera. I handed her a $10 compact point and shoot 1 MP key chain camera from Walgreens. I said, "Here, work on your composition and get to know the camera." I think that went over like a lead balloon.

The point I was trying to make was that it is not about the settings I could show you on her camera, rather, it was about getting to know how a camera functions and then seeing how to frame your subject. I keep going back to these two points over and over in my own work. I constantly am asking my self, "How did you frame that, did you get the depth of field and focus you wanted, what IS the subject of this photo?"

Let's start with composition, because you don't even have to have a camera to compose a photo, just a subject and something to record the image. For some odd reason our eyes are drawn to certain areas of a work of art. Usually, the upper right 3rd of anything. That's the rule of thirds.

There is something spiritual about it. And I don't say that all hippie-ish. God is made up of the holy trinity (3 pieces), 3 is a number of balance, etc. The rule of thirds splits an image into 3 sections vertically and horizontally with the intersections being the "sweet spots" of an image. It's a big tic-tac-toe board. The intersection in the upper right is the most pleasing. I've rarely gone wrong placing the closest eye of my subject in that intersection. Sometimes it is not possible, but when it is, it looks great.

This also has to do with pe

rspective, or the angle you take a picture. Children should have their image taken at their height. It looks better. Perspective adds drama. It gives a sense of falling or looking up or the expanse of the sky.

So far, we haven't even talked about technical settings for a camera. We've talked about composition. From a technical perspective, a camera takes light through a lens or opening and focuses it on a plane for recording.

A lot of people like to talk about depth of field or DOF. DOF is the blur you get in a background and a good portion of it is controlled by the aperture of your camera. What a lot of people don't understand is that's only half the story. You can get good depth of field with a larger aperture. What, how is that possible?

Here's the other half they aren't telling you. The closer you get to a subject and focus the more blurry the background will become. Take any point and shoot or snapshot camera and get really close to your subject. Click. What happens to the background? Blurred ... huh, how did that happen. Optics. Point and shoot cameras are about one step up from a pinhole camera. They don't have an aperture per se. But when you understand that the closer you get to a subject, the blurrier the background will get, it opens up a huge door.

I took this this morning with my very limited point and shoot camera. My cat allowed me to get close and the tree blurred. One or two steps back and the tree would have been in focus. My cat was kind enough to let me get about a foot from her.

My camera's lens is 36mm-108mm and f2.8-4.8. Not stellar by any stretch. Rather common. But using the settings that it comes with gives me options.

Using what you have is also essential. As I stated, the point and shoot doesn't offer me the ability to change lenses. Or does it?

We got to go to Galveston this summer. Usually, it's a trip my wife, mother in law and nieces and daughter take. I was pressed into service. I wasn't going to take an expensive camera to the beach. I took an old point and shoot.

I had been reading about being able to take a door peep hole and hold it in front of the camera and get a fish-eye effect. I bought a $5 peephole at Home Depot and instantly doubled my choice of lenses. I figured I needed a good polarizing filter as well, so I found an old pair of plastic sunglasses from Marshall for $6 and I had a polarizing filter.

It turned out what I was doing was using my resources to get an effect you have to pay high dollar for in camera shops. For less than $15 I had 2 lenses (peephole and the built in lens) and a filter. It wasn't so much that I was a super genius as it was knowing how a camera functions and what makes a good picture.

Enjoy the holidays.

For the New Photographer

2011-08-21T05:58:00.001-05:00

I found these on Digital Photography School and thought I would re-post.

What you see is not what you get.
To get what you see you need to understand light. That takes a lot time, effort and patience.
The best asset a photographer needs is anticipation and readiness to capture a moment.
There is time and place for all gear.
Some of the best photographs you see are not accidental. They are the end result of careful thinking and planning.
Overcoming the inertia of using a DSLR is not enough. Always remember to keep learning and try for improvement.
Possessing a DSLR doesn’t warrant you to be in manual mode always. Importance should be given to capturing the moment. Explore your creativity only if the situation permits.
Even if you don’t realize it, most of the photographs you see online are post processed. Take time to master some techniques. It will pay off in the long run.
Be gracious about your success rate. Only a few among the many photographs you have clicked will be useful.
Costly gear does not necessarily equate to better photographs. Know your existing gear like the back of your hand.

Adding water to images using Photoshop

2011-07-20T13:34:00.001-05:00

Up and Coming

2011-05-24T07:14:00.002-05:00

I've really been working hard to do a couple of things lately. First, building my portfolio of bridal portraits and second, getting ready to start teaching.

Bridal portraits are fun for me. And I really don't want to do the typical bridal stuff. One of the reasons my step-daughter "hired" me to do her senior pics was because I was different than the typical senior photographer. And I really appreciated that compliment. I told her I wasn't going to charge her because of that!

I think what makes any portrait great is that it's not typical. But that's also the hardest thing to do. I think Olan Mills revolutionized family portraiture, but at the same time, they really got us used to the mass produced-church-directory-photographer-in-the-box portraits. You just get tired of "sit on the stool, dad over here, mom right there holding junior." But again, that's the hardest thing to do is be creative, ESPECIALLY for someone like me who isn't an artist, isn't in tune with the artistic side, isn't at ALL interested in going to Starbucks drinking coffee then hanging out at the G3ni0us B@r at the @pple St0re.

So what kind of bridals am I looking at in the future? Goth! Yep, I had no idea that there are some people who don't want to wear a white wedding dress and would rather wear something like a vampiress getup to get married in. WONDERFUL! Love it!

And I'm also getting ready to start teaching photography. I'm excited and a little terrified. My wife is the teacher. She's phenomenal! Read her amazingly awesome blog. But I need to get out and start sharing. I truly believe in sharing in education. I also believe that as we get more advanced we should teach. I've been paired with some AMAZING photographers to develop a certification program in photography through extended education. What and honor. Scary! Surprising! I'm excited to teach my first class.

So what's on the horizon.

CHARITY! PRO BONO!

I've really been moved to do portraits for segments of the population who do not ever get to have a picture.

I'm a believer in Help Portrait a project to provide free portraits to the disadvantage. Always in December. I want to do something similar to this during the year. I have a special package for those who fit one of these characteristics.

On WIC
orphaned
on free and reduced lunch/breakfast
single mom with multiple (2+ kids)
I waive my sitting fee ($100) and they get a free CD with re-touched photos.

See you next time.

Editing Mistakes

2011-04-13T11:45:00.001-05:00

Photography Essentials Part 02

2011-04-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Photography Essentials

2011-04-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

Workflows and Actions

2010-12-15T10:02:00.003-06:00

I've been asked how I get my images to look the way I do. Most of it is in taking the image. It's easier to take an image correctly than it is to try to correct it. Get your white balance, ISO and exposure correct first. Get things the way you want and take the image.

Digital images if not simple snapshots look better processed. They often have a "haze" to them and the colors may not be rich. Processing or "workflow" is what you do to an image to clean it a little. It involves cropping, color correction, skin or item correction (think removing blemishes or leaves or anything distracting) and then any artistic additions.

Here is a video I did for the process.

The Advanced Rule of Thirds or The Fibonacci Ratio

2010-12-03T08:45:00.009-06:00

We've spoken a little about the Rule of Thirds and how to use it to make your pictures look better. The rule of thirds, to re-state, says if you divide your image into thirds both horizontally and vertically, you will get 9 equal squares on your image. Placing a subject at the intersection of those lines is pleasing, specifically, the upper right zone is the most pleasing.

There is another rule or ratio that is pleasing to the eye. It's the "God Ratio" or Fibonacci Ratio/Spiral. Whether you are familiar with it or not, you have seen this spiral. The sea shell is an example of this spiral.

It's a spiral of specific proportion. Most people don't like math, so I won't get into it, but that spiral, when applied to a photograph is very pleasing.

Let's take this picture for example. It typifies both the rule of thirds and the Fibonacci Ratio.

When we overlay the Fibonacci Spiral as well as the Rule of thirds, we get the intersections at the subject's face.

What does this have to do with pictures?

When editing an image, try to do a couple of things. First, when shooting try to place the subject in an area of the frame that will accentuate one of the two rules.

Second, when editing, overlay the image with one of these two rules and try to place the subject at the critical points either in the grid or in the spiral. This creates a very pleasing image to your client as well as your art.

I found these images with a simple Google search.

Rule of Thirds
Fibonacci Spiral

Lots Going On

2010-09-13T14:12:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I posted. PBJ has moved into the Event photography and fund raising service.

It works out to be a really good deal for everyone. I take pictures and donate a portion of the proceeds to your organization. All you have to do is let me in to the venue and encourage people to buy digital downloads. Very simple.

Here is a composite photo I shot a few weeks ago for a senior portrait. I really enjoy doing these although the concept is sometimes really hard to get across.

New Location and Price Page

2010-06-16T08:06:00.010-05:00

We've updated our prices to make it easier and more affordable for you. We've crunched the numbers ( read - we used Excel and asked the family accountant ) and come up with the best quality for the best prices.

Our packages are still only $100, $150 and $200, but ... here's the good part ... we've increased the number of prints you get per session.

General Session

$100 + location fees

2 8x10's
2 5x7's

Extended Session

$150 + location fees

2 8 x 10's
3 5 x 7's

Premier Session

$200 + location fees

3 8 x 10's
6 5 x 7's

Prints

5x7's - $10
8x10's - $15
1 Sheet Wallets (24) - $15
Collage of Images (8x10) - $20
11x14 - $30
16x20 - $45
16x24 - $60
20x24 - $75

CD's

CD's - $20 each
or
2 CD's - $25 (CD comes with one letter of copyright)
CD comes with all approved shots from session
Replacement CD - $35 (replacements come with a replacement letter of copyright)

Locations

We've also added some pictures in our locations page with examples of some of the beautiful places we shoot. We get asked a lot about good places to shoot. Can't decide? We've also included pictures of actual customers at the locations. We still go other places, but these are some of the more popular venues.

Dallas Baptist University

Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens

Ft. Worth Stockyards
Gaylord Texan Resort ( Grapevine, Texas )

Kimbell Art Museum ( Ft. Worth, Texas )

River Legacy Park ( Arlington, Texas )

Texas Christian University ( Ft. Worth, Texas )

West End ( Dallas, Texas )

How Much Of What You See In Photography Is Real

2010-05-28T09:38:00.005-05:00

I've been a PhotoShop expert ( and I use that term loosely ) longer than I have been a photographer ( and I REALLY use that term loosely).

I had an excellent teacher in one Conway Norwood. He introduced me to the wonders of PhotoShop and passed on some sage advice. His words were to the effect, "I can send you to PhotoShop class, but it will take you years to learn it all." He was absolutely correct. Eleven years later and I feel like I am scratching the surface of this tool.

After marrying my photography with PhotoShop, because, let's face it, I made a lot of mistakes and still do in photography, I learned PhotoShop is a handy tool for mopping up messes. I did make a commitment to not make any major changes to any client unless requested. I will remove zits and scars, whiten teeth and eyes and enhance, but not change, eye color. At the client's request I can remove tattoos or anything else, within reason, they wish, except ex-husbands or boyfriends.

The ethical dilemma comes to weight. When should I make someone a tad thinner? When do I need to modify the body so that the image is more appealing? I think the answer is to take the 10 pounds off the camera adds.

Take for example this photo. Is this the original?

The answer is yes and no. The client needed a picture of her daughter to turn in later in the year for another purpose. However, the original photo, is not this one. It's this one.

The ethical dilemma is not something as simple as a family portrait. No, the dilemma is what newspapers and magazines show you. Modifying the news is a heinous crime and some agencies have been caught doing it. Film was difficult to manipulate. Cropping was about the most you could effectively get away with. Digital opens new doors that may need to stay shut.

Outside of that, I did a good bit of PS work, if I do say so myself.

Some Myths About Photography

2010-02-21T17:47:00.003-06:00

I'm finding there are people who believe a few myths about photography.

1. The best light can only be found during the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset.

Although the light at this time can be amazing, it's no reason to totally rule out shooting any time of day. Shoot, just shoot! With the right training and a few tricks you can turn the day to night and the night to day. Simply knowing that Shutter speed controls ambient (read, daylight if outside) and the aperture controls the light from your flash, you can adjust the settings on your camera to get some amazing results.

2. There's no good place to shoot besides indoors in the winter.

Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. So the trees aren't green, big deal. Move to a more urban setting/ Bricks don't ever fall off buildings. Well, they do, but don't shoot where they do.

Urban settings are great for winter photography. Shooting at night is also an option. I'm lucky enough to get some fairly decent days even in the dead of winter. It's cold in other parts of the country, but that shouldn't stop you.

I believe if you are good, and I'm working on it, you can really control the light in an image just by knowing and controlling your camera.

Sometimes It Works Out Better Than Expected

2010-01-01T06:07:00.007-06:00

I was scheduled to shoot a session indoors on December 30th, 2009. However, a few minutes before I got to the location house, I got a text that basically was a profuse apology. My subject was apologizing for some unwelcome guests in her house that would have interfered with the shoot. So, as time was running out, we decided to just cancel what we had planned and do a shoot outdoors about a mile from her house at a local lake.

I don't generally like this location because it's a half finished lake. What?!?!?! Yes, when this lake was being built., there was a rather large rain storm that came and lasted for days as I am told. It rained so much there are still bulldozers at the bottom of the lake. So you can't water ski or really fish effectively. No scenery. It's really just a lake that people go to to hang out and build houses around.

But, I got some of the most amazing shots I have ever captured because we went with what we had. The light and my subject were AMAZING. I'm looking forward to doing other shoots with her.

Enjoy.

Group Picture Fun

2009-12-11T17:28:00.001-06:00

I got the opportunity to shoot my company’s Christmas party Santa pictures. It' helps to have a great Santa and great subjects.

This is the only shot that needs an explanation. There was a choir at the luncheon so I asked this nice young lady to point at the camera. I had a wider angle lens; I wanted to distort the perspective.

Fun with clients - Amanda

2009-12-05T03:54:00.001-06:00

I got to spend a very chili hour with a wonderful subject - Amanda.
We did a shoot at Joe Pool Lake outside The Oasis restaurant. Amanda was great, at 30 degrees she went shoe and coatless.

Five Mistakes People Make Taking Pictures

2009-09-02T14:31:00.013-05:00

I know this is terribly earth shattering, but there are no perfect pictures. As a matter of fact the more you take pictures the more they seem to look imperfect. What's really happening is that your attention to detail is sharpening. I don't have a knack for detail in my life. I'm a bottom line kind of guy, which is not good if you do detail work. To increase my attention to detail I picked up photography. Among other reasons of course.

Today I wanted to share with you 5 common mistakes to try and avoid when taking pictures. There could be hundreds, but I'll focus on 5.

1. Avoid harsh light or mixed light if possible. In the picture below I shot this with a point and shoot digital camera. I didn't have my DSLR available. I made the error of shooting in partial sun and partial shade. Nary the two shall meet.

If shooting in this situation, try to shoot in all shade if possible. If you can't, move indoors or use something to shade the scene.

Bad shot

Better Shot

2. Shoot the subject. Almost goes without saying, but try to focus as much of what's in the frame on the subject. I see this less and less now that digital is all the rave. Old point and shoot cameras were hard to tell if you had the subject in frame so you backed up to get everything. Unfortunately, you got more living room wall than subject.

Correct this by getting close. If you are going to clip someone's face, clip the top of their head and not their chin. Fill THE FRAME!

Bad shot

Better Shot

3. Shoot from up high if possible. People look better when they don't look down. It has to do with their chin and neck. Most Americans have some weight. Avoid this problem if possible by having them look up. It stretches the neck up.

Bad shot

Better Shot

4. Get in line with the subject. Too many people shoot their children from their perspective. It loses something. Shoot children at their level. It actually helps you experience the picture as the child sees things and adds a level of interest.

Bad shot

Better shot

5. Straight on shots can get boring. Shooting the image in the same direction over and over bores the viewer. Change the angle at which you shoot. You can do this a number of way. My favorite is tilting the camera about 45 degrees.

Bad shot

Better Shot

How to spice up your pictures

2009-08-20T14:43:00.001-05:00

Lots of us take good shots. We do, we just don't know it. What I'd like to tell you is what a number of photographers do to make the pictures they take of you look better. And the better the picture the more sales they get. Right?

I'm going to take you through a sample picture process. That process is referred to as "workflow" in the "bid-ness". Workflow is taking an image and correcting pieces, parts or the whole to get a better finished product. It's what used to be known as "re-touching". Re-touching was difficult in that it dealt with a piece of paper and different airbrushing techniques or very inaccurate methods to correct or hide flaws.

I can't show you everything, but I'll show you a few things I do to make a good picture look better. Keep in mind that if you expose the picture properly and set the subject as the subject and are aware of what's going on in the frame, you usually don't have to do much to the picture. You really try to do as little as possible to the picture. The general rule of thumb is to remove problems BEFORE you shoot. We'll take one image and follow it through 3 things I do to give an image a better look. I'll be using Photoshop to do my corrections.

You can use just about any image editing tool. If you can't get your hands on Photoshop, tools like Paint.Net, The Gimp and Photoshop Elements have these basic features. In all of our examples, we will use the photo below. If you would like to download it and try the corrections I demonstrate, you can find it here.

Not a bad picture. The model is nice, the setting is not distracting, but it needs a little work. Let’s do 3 corrections on this image.

Color Correction
Dodge/Burn
Vignette

Color Correction

Let's face it, sometimes the lights or the fates or whatever work against you. Sometimes it can be the color of the subject's skin that can clash with the surroundings. Color correction is a way to get a good balance of rich colors. The first thing I'm going to do is try to correct the colors in this image. They look pretty good, but I want to take some of the yellow out of the model’s skin and balance the purple from the background.

First you open your image editing software and the image and immediately make a copy of the background layer. We always want to be able to go back to the original.

Now that we have a copy of the image ready to work with on a new layer, our first stop is going to be to go to edit the levels. In Photoshop and choose Images –> Adjustments - >Auto Levels. This will balance out the darks and light areas of the image. If you don’t like it choose CTRL + Z or on the Mac Command Z.

Now that our dark and light balance is good, let’s work on colors. I like to start with the Color Balance tool ( CTRL+B or Command+B on a Mac ). Color Balance works colors against each other. In our photo we want to reduce the yellow tone in the model’s skin.

For each setting at the bottom ( Midtone, Shadow and Highlight ) I’m going to bump up the blue just a tad. You;ll notice the wall changes too. If you don’t want to change the color of the wall you would use the Hue/Saturation tool. ( CTRL+U ) We could go on for days like this, but for now I’m going to stick with the Color Balance.

Here’s what we have so far. Our model’s skin is less yellow and the wall is a little more purple as it was in real life. We’re already seeing an improvement.

Dodge/Burn

Now let’s tackle making the image more attractive to the viewer. What we are going to do is use an OLD technique that lightens or darkens small areas of the image. When you want an area lighter it’s called “dodging”. When you want an area to be darker it’s called “burning”. What we want to do is make the eyes and teeth brighter. Especially the eyes without making them look plastic. All I’m going to do is dodge around the eyes and once over the teeth. Our model has nice teeth and we don’t have to do much to correct there.

Select the dodge tool,

At the top use the following settings as an example.

Now, with one pass, click and drag over the darker parts of the eyes:

Before

After

It’s not much of a difference but it will make the eyes lighter and focus attention on the eyes.

Vignette

A vignette is a way to isolate the subject in a way that mimics a camera darkening the edges of an image. Old images get darker toward the corners. New digital cameras don’t do that. We’ll use the mask tool. I’m not going to explain it too much but give you the steps.

1. Click “enter mask mode” on the tool bar

2. Choose the Gradient tool on the toolbar

3. Draw from each corner about halfway to the middle of the image.
A red gradient will appear – this is normal. Continue with each corner.

4. Click the exit mask mode

5. Press CTRL+SHIFT+i ( this inverts the selection )

6. Press CTRL + M
This gives you the curves options. Click about 1/3 of the way toward the top of the curve and drag up until you see some dark areas in the image. It will probably will look something like this.
Before

After

Click CTRL+D to deselect the areas. You should have something like this.

Let’s take a look at the before and after.

Before

After

Better colors, more focus on the subject.

Rule of Thirds

2009-07-23T12:32:00.012-05:00

I believe in sharing information about photography to my customers and those friends who read. Last time we looked at Depth of Field and how it relates to better pictures. This time, I want to focus on something that will make your pictures look much more artistic - the rule of thirds.

I have no clue why it's called a "rule" but it seems that we like a certain balance or imbalance in our images. We'll start by looking at a couple of images shot the way a good majority of people shoot images. ( thanks to my assistant and co-worker Lynn for helping me with these shots. )

You'll notice in this first shot that Lynn is centered in the image and fills the frame. Not bad. It's your typical, "Hey, let me take you picture for my scrapbook shot."

At this wider angle we see Lynn again centered in the frame. Not bad if you want to get the wall. ( We'll cover shooting the subject in another lesson.)

This is what a bazillion of your images look like in your photo albums I bet. Nothing wrong with them, but it's always the same shot with the subject in the middle.

The rule of thirds says ( from Wikipedia )

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography anddesign.^[1] The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.^[2] Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.

This tension ads interest although I probably wouldn't call it tension. I'd rather call it interest from unbalance. Take a look at the shots below and see if you can notice a difference in interest.

Granted these aren't the most intersting portraits in the world, but they are more visually appealing.

How does this work?

What we are trying to do first is divide the potential image up into 9 equal size boxes like in the image above. Then we try to place the subject - our subject is WHY we're taking the picture - on those lines. We can frame the image portrait or landscape.

When we line up a shot, we mentally have been programmed to put the subject in the middle of the shot. Our thought is, "Get the subject at all cost."

However, if you look at a good many portraits you will notice many of them the subject is on this rule of thirds. Below are some images from the internet with the lines in them to give you an idea of where the subject falls in the rule of thirds.

Depth of Field Tutorial

2009-07-08T09:26:00.005-05:00

I'm not only hoping that you will look at this blog and gain a greater appreciation for my work, but that I'll also be able to share some secrets of the trade with you. On the surface that may seem counter productive. Giving trade secrets away, but I'm not giving you ALL my secrets.

For starters, we'll do a short series on making your everyday pictures better.

Ever wonder why a paid photographer's pictures look .... uhhh good? It's because they have a grasp on a lot of simple concepts and they put them together.

One of those techniqus is depth of field.

Last night I got the chance to shoot two images of the same person at the same time. The only difference between the two pictures was that I changed the depth of field (DOF) or "F-Stop", on my camera. Well, that and my subject is 6 and she moved between shots!

In this first image, you will notice that this picture looks a lot like many of the pictures you take at home. It was shot at an f-stop of 22, which means the little diaphragm in the camera was about the size of a pin hole. It let in very little light, BUT, it captured tons of detail BEHIND my subject. The DOF ( of view ) is very deep.

As a result my subject is competing with the objects behind her - the curb, the shrubs, the flag poles and buildings behind her.

Now, take a look at this image. It was shot with an f-stop of f4. A much lower f-stop, which means the little diaphragm thingy is wide open letting in as much light as it can on this camera with this lens. As a result, my subject is sharp, but my background is blurry. I've effectively isolated my subject, but given you an idea of where she is, but they are not competing for attention.

The result is an image focused on the subject and not the surrounding.

The trade offs ...

If I was wanting to shoot a landscape I would not want a shallow DOF. Also, if I have multiple subjects at differing distances from each other I would not want a shallow DOF. Also, because we are letting so much light in with the f-stop thingy, we have to let the shutter open on our camera a longer amount of time. If we leave the shutter open longer we are more prone to what I call "shake" which is nothing more than a blurry image.

This makes sports at night REALLY hard to shoot because you want to get the football player ( stop his action ) catching the pass 20 yards from the sideline ( deeper DOF ), BUT you don't want to have the visiting fans in focus ( shallow DOF ). Plus it's dark and you have to slow the shutter speed down to let in light, AND they are moving ... I'm getting a headache. But those guys are good at what they do.

So how do I get a shallow DOF with my little point and shoot?

A typical point and shoot camera will have something called a "portrait" mode and on the little selection wheel you will probably see something like a lady with a hat. That seems to be the universal symbol for portrait.

To set a shot up with a simple digital camera, set to portrait

Give yourself as much room behind the subject as possible ( if there is a wall behind the subject it will be in focus, things farther away will be blurry).
Get your subjects as close together as possible and fill the view finder with the subject.
Try to shoot with light that is not too harsh, but not too dark that it fires your flash. If possible shoot in the shade if its the middle of the day. A flash requires the camera fire at certain parameters which could change your DOF.

See? Easy

Why Don't I Do Bowls Of Fruit?

2009-06-26T07:26:00.007-05:00

I really like taking portraits. I have photographer friends who LOVE to take nature and bird images. I can't do that. I love taking pictures of people. They are all unique and fun in their own way.

This is a session I did with a family friend. They were wonderful. The setting was pretty and the time of year was great, but the family made it awesome.

Fun with senior pics

2009-06-19T14:41:00.004-05:00

I had a blast Tuesday night shooting a family friend's son and his girlfriend. I needed some work in seniors and couples so I asked if they woudn't mind me borrowing their kid and his "squeeze" for an hour.

One hour later and 500 mosquito bites and a little heat stroke and we have some good images.

This wasn't the best image of the bunch, but it was my favorite memory. I was trying to get her to wink at me kind of cheesy-like. Turns out that tickled her to no end, so I just snaped when she laughed. There was some blur unfortunately, but with some Photoshop, we got a great result.