Deep Thoughts...

Today I visited my friend Lee who lives in New York City. We agreed we'd do indoor portraits today and I had a blast practicing with him.

Since I don't have studio lighting I brought 2 hardware store style clamp lights with 60 watt flourescent bulbs in them. I also had the Gary Fong Lightsphere on my SB800 flash with the opaque cover over it. I used my black muslin fabric backdrop and we rigged it up on a wall.

The tone of the photoshoot was on a more serious note and it took on a "deep thoughts" feel so that's why I titled the photo session that.

I did a lot of close-up compositions during the photo shoot and a lot of the shots involved hands. I've only worked on a few edits so far tonight so these are some that I'd like to share....



A different B&W Conversion showing some shadows:





Another conversion of the one above with the Platino Action:



And more more:



I'll be editing more of the many shots I took at this photo shoot so be on the look out for more!!

Baby Eric!

Today was baby Eric's photoshoot and it went very well. Between cries I think we got some really great holiday themed photos.

The fabric worked out really well once we found a way to rig up. We used a very large armoir that holds the TV in the family room. We shut the doors and hung the material on top of the TV stand with heavy free weights.

I need to get some kind of stand evenutally if I am to keep doing this kind of thing. We put a folded blanket under the muslin that came down across the floor so the baby would be lying on it. Then we used his boppy for the ones where we didn't have something to prop under his arms (like the stocking, etc).

I had to lay on my stomach in front of him to take the photos straight on. So, the only thing I might try next time is putting him on a table and hanging the backdrop behind him so I can sit on a chair in front of him to shoot the shots. I got tired getting up and down from a laying down position every time I wanted to adjust something but you live and learn!

Next time I do back at the end of December we are going to try different things so it will all be practice.

The only thing I noticed about the muslin is that it atracts every pieces of lint but then again what material doesn't? At least I heard it's easy to wash...but I guess everytime I wash it I have to IRON IT!!! By the way...I had to iron it! It took quite a while but I was worried the creases would show. Now I'm not so sure the creases would have even shown with the way I only lit the scene with a couple overhead recessed lights and the flash with the Gary Fong Lightsphere (with the white cap over it).

I think I should have bumped up the dimmer on the over head lights because I'm finding the unedit versions very dark and I need to boost the brightness on them.

I'm uploading the unedited originals and when they load my friend is going to pick out the ones she likes most so I can edit those first (that way she can order her Holiday Cards).

Then I will slowy work on my favorites of the day doing the usual assortments of treatments, etc.

My favorite are the ones where he is lying on the towels over the laundry basket - they are soooo cute! Julie thought this was the cutest picture and I must say I agree - it's one of my other favorites of the day:

Article I Read

Just wanted to share an article I just read on Understanding Light. To read it click HERE.

Giving Thanks

Today was Thanksgiving and we were blessed with beautiful weather (66 degrees).

We got together at my mother's house for Turkey dinner. I decided to take my camera (of course) and I also brought along my tripod and new Gary Fong Lightsphere.

I thought it would be nice (especially with the nice weather) to take some portraits of my family (including myself). Everyone was up for the idea so we took them right when I arrived at my mom's.

We found a nice spot outside her house and I set up the tripod, etc and joined the group for photos. The thing that made it very easy was the remote control shutter release. I could get everyone set up through the view finder and then join them with ease and snap the photo.

I made sure I tried to find a little shade but we were limited where we could take the photos where my mom lives. I used the flash (with the lightsphere) like everyone suggested and it worked really well.

We got some great shots and some fun ones too! My sister and her husband didn't arrive until it was dark so they weren't able to join in the pics but I got some nice ones of my grandfather, my aunt, my, my husband and my mom.

Check out a few below:







This was tonemapped in Photomatrix. I wanted to make it look "funky":

Finished!

I stayed up late last night just to get the portraits finished!





I'm relieved but I learned a lot from the editing experience. I learned that I need to decide, based on the mood or feel of the photo, what filters I want to apply to the photos rather than applying the same few filters to every photo. I also learned that I don't need to do filters on every photo. It will save me so much time if I can get this all straight.





I also learned that I need find shady areas for portraits and use my flash outdoors as well. I just learned about the Gary Fong Lightsphere and I just purchased one for myself at B&H photo. Gary Fong sasy the "Lightsphere is the only diffuser that lights up the entire room, softening your images tremendously."



I also learned that I should invest in reflectors and I chose to buy a 5-in-1 reflector. I chose to go with the Norman Collapsible Reflector 5-in-1 - 32" Circular - Gold, Silver, Black, White and Translucent



Next project I need to complete are the photos I did last month ...I started the editing but I needed to put that project aside to work on the portrait session I was commisioned for by my co-worker.

In other news...


Check out my friend's new website. She's an aspiring portrait photographer in the Terre Haute/Indianapolis, Indiana area. If you're looking for a portrait photographer here is her site:

http://www.julielawsonphotography.smugmug.com/