Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts

DPS Assignment: Mid-day Portraits

I have been meeting my goal of participating in at least 2 DPS weekly Assignments- WOOT!! It can be kinda hard to find time with the craziness of now being a business owner and still working full-time at the law firm. As much as I wanted to participate in this week's assignment- LOW ANGLE- it is a technique I use alot and feel that I challenge myself on almost every photo session I do- Simply put I LOVE the low angle perspective. 


The upcoming assignment for DPS forums is Portraits, but not just any portrait- MID-DAY PORTRAITS. Why mid-day you ask? Well, the sun is brightest at midday which can make for some extremely unflattering and washed out pictures, making assignment tougher. To top it, this assignment had a few extra rules- it had to be a mid-day portrait using at least one of 3 techniques discussed in a blog post (http://digital-photography-school.com/3-tips-for-shooting-portraits-in-bright-sunshine) :

1) Find Shade- I both found shade under a tree and created shade using a large white floppy hat

2) Use a fill-flash- I used fill-flash on a few images and was pleasantly surprised- I would have never thought to use flash on a bright sunny day at 3 in the afternoon!

3) Use a reflector- I skipped this one- hey I used one more that I had too already & we were technically trespassing :)

We went up to Kneeland with my friend Buda (my pretty model) & the dog. I have been wanting to shoot in Kneeland for quite a while but never have the time or drive to make it up there. So I decided to do the portrait shoot up there thinking the scenery would be prefect & make for some awesome images- I was right!! We stopped at the schoolhouse & the adjacent field/barn for these images:

The first thing I went for @ the school- THE SWINGS!!! It has been forever since I have been on a swing & it felt great! It also felt a little dreamy, swings generally remind me of elementary school. I wanted to re-create my dreamy feeling in the image so I left the model a little blurry as if she too were dreaming. I love the way the light is hitting her, illuminating the edges & making her almost glow.


I really love this image also- I wanted to try and be more creative by keeping the subject out of focus and picking another focus area- in this case the flowers at the bottom of the frame. Practicing the whole "give your subject space to look into" thing!!



I took this image as an after-thought. I really loved the barn in front of her and the grass in the field. I processed this image quite a bit to get the right antique feel to it- I used saturation, antique effect, and highlights to make the grass stand out & look sun-kissed. 


 I was trying to vary my shots between vertical & horizontal. I post-processed this image mostly using the saturation & highlights tools. 


And last but not least- my entry for the assignment! No. 1 thing I learned about field portraits- be prepared to do some grass pullin! There was a ton of grass between her face & the camera I had to pull up to get a clear shot. I really love the play between the shadows created by the hat & the light of my fill-flash- It illuminated my model just enough without overexposing the rest of the image. I also was very happy with the lines created  toward the top of the image from the hat folds & the rolling hill in the background. 


This assignment made me sooo friggin nervous you can't believe! I can't image having someone pay me for portraits- what happens if they all turn out shitty? Even without any pressure from my model or for specific results it was still pretty crazy for me. I think I kept my mouth shut the entire time & didn't give Buda any directions on how to pose other than the occasional "sit there" or "lay here". Thank god she is such a great friend & model- it just came naturally to her! Next time I need to just get over the nerves & communicate- without such a great friend & sport this session could have turned out quite badly!! THANKS BUDA!!!

Location: Kneeland, CA by the Schoolhouse
Date/Time: 6/20/10 @ 3pm
Subject(s): Portraits
Notes: All images post-processed in IPhoto adjusting definition, highlights, saturation, and sharpness.

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DPS Assignment: Fences

I finished up my DPS Weekly assignment early this week, due in part to the subject matter: FENCES. I had taken a picture of a neat colorful, rusty metal fence near work about half a year ago and immediately thought of that image for this assignment. However, the image I took did not fall into the two week window in which the entries have to be taken. So I set out to re-create the same image, only better of course! I took a few snaps of fences around Arcata on Sat. also but ended up entering the rusty one near work as I enjoyed the colors and textures created by the decaying metal.

Assignment Forum page with my entry:
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/digital-photography-assignments/117674-assignment-fences-may-12-26-a-28.html


The old Fence image taken in December 2009

No EXIF info available for this photo

Photos Taken for Assignment, but not used:
EXIF: Speed 1/13 ; F22 ; ISO 200 ; Focal Length 105mm ; EV +0.7
First Photo taken for this assignment, fence at work, nothing awe-inspiring about this one...



EXIF: Speed 1/50 ; F25 ; ISO 200 ; Focal Length 92mm ; EV +0.7
Fence in Arcata- I really liked the curly branch/vines coming off this fence but could have gotten a better pic if I had been more patient... yes, that thing I am working on....



EXIF: Speed 1/60 ; F4.5 ; ISO 500 ; Focal Length 30mm
Fence Peephole at the Shop in Arcata- looking through to our landlords backyard... I liked the texture of the fence but there weren't any blooming flowers on the other side of the hole, so I had nothing to frame in the opening... :(






EXIF: Speed 1/13 ; F22 ; ISO 200 ; Focal Length 18mm ; EV +0.3
Fence by Los Bagels in Arcata- I really liked the lavender jutting out of the opening in this fence, but this is nothing spectacular....



































AND FINALLY..... THE IMAGE ENTERED TO THE ASSIGNMENT:
EXIF: Speed 1/50 ; F/25 ; ISO 200 ; Focal Length 92mm ; EV +2/3

Next week's Assignment: SPICE


Location: Corner of G & 6th in Eureka, CA
Date/Time: 5/21/10
Subject(s): Fences
Notes:

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DPS Assignment: Still Life

Whooh! Man I have had one looong weekend! Nevertheless, I managed to meet this week's goals of getting the shop open for Arts! Arcata (another post for another time!)  &  got a few wonderful still life photos. In fact, I have more still life photos than I thought I would have and can't choose which one to enter in the DPS contest this week!

My first round of still life's were taken at the shop right before we opened for business for the first time EVER! The cheese platter was so yummy & composed so well it was begging to be photographed:

EXIF: Shutter Speed 1/40 ; F4.8 ; ISO 800 ; Focal Length 32mm; no flash


Our hella expensive hangers (around $12 each!) were so clean & perfectly arranged that I had to snap a shot or two of them:


EXIF: Shutter Speed 1/10 ; F4.5 ; ISO 1600 ; Focal Length: 30mm ; no flash


My second round- the real thing- was taken at home. We took the dog out to Sequioia Park for a walk after work where I grabbed a few ferns, cut some Calla Lilies out of my flowerbed, poured up the wine, and plated the yummy Humboldt Fog cheese. I wanted to set the scene telling a story about relaxation, peace and a nice quiet, luxurious night in with your loved one...

I lit the candle to do double duty- in some shots I used it more romantically as a prop and in other shots I used it more as lighting, keeping it off camera. I have a white shaded adjustable lamp behind the sofa which provided light in a few shots but was turned off for others. I forgot my tripod - left it at the shop!- so I didn't really get to use any low shutter speeds.


EXIF: Shutter Speed 1/30  F3.8 ; Focal Length 20mm

This image is of the Humboldt Fog cheese- The higher ISO I think makes the flowers look almost dreamy. The stripes on the sofa add to the classy subject matter and theme, the candle is a great center feature of the image. What I don't like is the corner glass of wine in the left, as well as cutting off the calla lily bottom.. but maybe the cutoff crop adds more interest & makes the image tighter? 


EXIF: Shutter Speed 0.4 ; F5.6 ; Focal Length 36mm


This image was taken with the candlelight only... It came out way to dark for my liking, but I think I captured the candle itself pretty well...


EXIF: Shutter Speed 1/6 ; F4.5 ; Focal Length 30mm




And this last one I think is the winner.... The light looks very crisp and clean (I used the candle off camera as well as the adjustable lamp.) The focus is mainly on the flowers with the wine and cheese somewhat blurred as part of the background. The light captured the edges of the flower on the left perfectly, accentuating the still blooming and opening flower... I also liked the shadows left by the ferns on the right flower. All in all I think this image tells the story I wanted to portray, has some clean lighting with a few interesting features, and looks to me like an advertisement I would see in a magazine...




















Still Life was a really hard assignment for me to pull off.  I spent around an hour setting up and shooting- then setting up again and adjusting the light, then moving something a few inches, testing that ever important patience! This assignment taught me alot about lighting- what works and what doesn't and not to be afraid to experiment. I took around 100 images, and the three posted were the only ones I felt were decent. In the end with a little pre-planning and thought I am happy to say that I have successfully taken my first still-life photo shoot! Man, what an experience- can't wait until next weeks assignment- FENCES!


Location: My house
Date/Time: 5/16/10 @ 9pm
Subject(s): Still Life, DPS assignment
Notes: images have not been edited

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Orchids

My sweetie got me Orchids delivered to my office for my birthday. I LOVE Orchids and don't get very many chances to photograph them (I have a black thumb with the living plants), so I got my camera out during my lunch break and started snapping. I wanted an image that had one flower slightly out of focus and the other flower fully in focus. I was very happy with the results:










Location: Work
Date/Time: 4/23/10 at 12:30
Subject(s): Orchids, Plants, Focus, Aperature
Notes: minimal editing done, mostly lighting and cropping

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R&R at Trinity Lake

My 23rd birthday was this past Friday so I packed up my man and pooch and headed up to Trinity Lake, about a 3 hour drive from Eureka, for some big time R&R and of course fun! We tried to 4WD it up a few forest service roads- trying to get to Boulder Lake Trailhead and Bonanza King Lookout- but had to turn around on both roads b/c of huge snow drifts too deep for the truck. Instead we went 4WD'in on the old Lake-bed and went out for a gorgeous Sunset Kayak cruise with the pooch in tow. I was surprised at how well she did on the kayak- she almost bailed a few times but ultimately stayed on the kayak and seemed to enjoy the ride! After the ride was over we packed up the kayak and had time for a few low light post-sunset pictures....



Creative Focus- We 4WD'd it through a huge path full of these- they were taller than the truck- followed by a overflowing creek...




















Pooch Action Shots- the first photo is a little more in focus than the second photo, but I think the movement more than makes up for it!






Trinity Lake Sunset Vista


Trinity Lake Panoramic- taken from the overlook just before the Trinity Dam. We saw a pretty large wolf along the side of the road on the way to the dam, thankfully my dog didn't jump out the moving truck to go after him!


















Last but not least, we stopped on the side of the road to let a state trooper pass us and got a great photo op! I am in love with the Trinity River and while I think this is an okay photo it still does not do the Trinity or my feelings about the River proper justice. I guess that means I am still on the hunt to take that perfect, quintessential Trinity River picture!
















LOCATION: Trinity Lake, Dam, & River outside Weaverville, CA
DATE/TIME: 4/17/10 post-sunset, and 4/18/10 around noon
SUBJECT: Nature, Landscape, Water, Mountains, Doggie, 4Runner
NOTES: Only editing done on these pictures is cropping and adding the vignette finish


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Tulip Hill

Driving from Sacramento to Eureka is quite the task. I was pretty bummed that I didn't have more time, there were soo many places I wanted to stop at take pictures of. But my honey did give in to one photo stop- I prepped him by talking about for about 2 hours before we got there so he HAD to give in! :) So we stopped at Tulip Hill Wine Tasting Room outside Clearlake, CA. We had passed the place the day before on our way to Sacramento but it was crowded beyond belief. Sunday seemed to be the day to have the place to yourself, there were only two people there! So here is my best shots out of around 20, give or take, all taken in about 20 min- Can you say super-speed-photographer?!

The obligatory entrance shot... This is only the beginning of many many many yes you guessed it- TULIPS!



I really like the dark purple fading into red contrasted with the bright yellow on this tulip. It is gorgeous the way the red looks like it is painted on the yellow- see those tiny almost brush stroke looking lines where the colors meet? 





This image is my desktop at work. I had never seen a pointy tulip before, but apparently they exist! I thought it would be hard points but they were nice and soft, just like a tulip should be. I love the general composition of this image. I took a few from some different angles and positioned the flower in different places, but this was by far my favorite. I really like the softness of the colors, and the soft focus on the background which contrasts beautifully with the harsh edges of the flower. 






These shots are only a tad bit different, and I'm not sure which I like better. The left images focus is on the background tulips, while the right images focus is on the foreground flower (Snapdragons maybe?).


One of the many gorgeous vine-covered walkways among the tulips. This place would be absolutely gorgeous for a wedding if it weren't for the long drive.  



LOCATION: Tulip Hill Winery & Tasting Room- Outside Clearlake, CA 
 DATE/TIME: 3/28/10 @ 5pm 
SUBJECT: Nature, Flowers, Focus, Color
NOTES: Pictures have not been edited. 

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Dreamy Succulents

Good Morning and Happy Friday! I was browsing through some pictures on my facebook page today and came across this picture. This was one of the first few pictures I took with my new Nikon back in Jan. and I had forgotten all about it! I love these plants and I love this picture! The clear and sharp focus on the front plant is slowly blurred through the image to the top plant, which looks more soft and dreamy than the one in focus. A nice image all around, in my opinion at least!


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