love is in the air

I did an engagement session for Lizzie's deaf friends yesterday.  The purpose behind mentioning they are deaf is because I had this very cool experience of doing the entire photo shoot without talking, very unnatural. I did talk a little bit, and since Lizzie is an interpreter for the sign language impaired she was able to get us through just fine.  It was a lot fun, I had to sit back and let things happen, I like to do that anyway, but in this case it wasn't an option to direct the scene, not much anyway.  At one point during the shoot, I told Lizzie to tell them to talk to each other, you know, to get them to look at each other, get them interacting and she reminded me that they'd have to sign, sure enough we sat there for about 10 minutes with them signing, I learned Marne's favorite food and the names they have picked out for their children -- all with Lizzie's voice. Let me say that these two were so stinking cute with each other, I feel like I captured their love pretty well. To see the entire gallery go to my website, and all 87 pictures are there. Ok, on to a few pictures.   Let's start with my set up: I shoot with a Canon 40D, today I had on my 70-200 f/2.8 lens, and a 430ex flash. In this first one the bland sky ended up giving this picture that high key feel, and I loved the way it worked out.  aperture, 2.8, iso 400,  no flash, metering mode on partial.  The only adjustment I made in CS3 was to adjust the levels a tiny bit to bring in some contrast. They are actually looking away to see what Lizzie is saying here, their looking away gives it a little more of that photojournalistic feel that we love (or I love) so much.  

For this picture to work, I focused on the horizon, which left them fuzzy - intentionally. I added an antique filter, I suppose to create a little mood

This is my favorite for the day, why are sunsets so romantic? To get the silhouette to look perfect I  exposed for the sky. The lens flare to some might be distracting, I love it right where it is.  I felt plain lucky to have been at Back Bay at this moment.  

studio work

Today I went to my mentor's garage to work in her studio for the first time.  I'd been wanting to give playing with studio lights a go. I don't think I'll be doing much studio work since it feels very restrictive, and by restrictive I mean boring, even so I know it will be wonderful to set up a studio at some point to do newborns and maternity. Dee's been wonderful at offering to train me and her other trainees any time she was available.  So I asked my friend if she would be good with driving out there with me so I could use Tiana to train with, I had to have a cute model to practice with right?  What I learned is that I need to spend time with my camera's manual because there are a butt load of settings I have no idea how to adjust.  I need to read a book on metering light and then knowing how to adjust my camera to that reading....oh yea, I need to buy a bunch of stuff.  Another book, a meter, 2 stobe lights, umbrellas, softbox, a gigantic roll of white paper, couple of pocket wizards, I think you are starting to smell what I'm stepping in.  I know that as a high key pic there shouldn't be any color to the white - so in post process I will try to play with that...maybe I'll post an after.  

Megarooni

It's not hard to take pictures of a cutie like this, she didn't take a bad picture.  I think the black and white one is the most glamorous of the day.  We are at the same location as Christina, and while I had that pretty picture in my head, I believe it's all new.  A little on posing:  how she sat down up against the walkway was totally up to her.  I try not to dictate a very specific pose, rather stand here or sit here, and then i try to move around for the different appealing angles.  I did the black and white conversion in PS Lightroom.   In the picture of her sitting down, I had to brighten it up  a little with levels because she was sitting in the shade and my camera did not read the scene as such, (and i depend on the camera being smart)  I boosted the color saturation and contrast, and added a little vignette ----viola -that picture.  OK, that sounded like way more work than what if felt like.  I suppose because I run through it all very quickly it doesn't take long at all. Now this last one is straight out of the camera beautiful - did I mention I love my new lens?    I did choose to crop it a bit,  I had too much space above her head.  I would have liked for the horizon to not be cutting her face in half, but I can live with that.  I think the blues are what make this picture beautiful, (and maybe it was Megan)  The camera was set at 400 ISO, really it should have been on 100 or 200 but i got away with it, I used my f/2.8 70-200 lens, set to aperture priority.

Time for some pictures

I haven't really gotten used to having clients contact me after finding me online.  It's exciting don't get me wrong but there is this sense of diving into the unknown whenever that shoot approaches.  With Christina I was very lucky, she was so much fun to work with, very graceful and stylish, not to mention she has some of the most gorgeous eyes around. She's in the Navy and contacted me to do her portraits to send home,  these are a few pictures from that day.  

I suppose the first picture is my favorite for the day, she looks sultry dont ya think? I was struggling with the sunlight coming through the banister on the walkway, but I think with the conversion it was left unnoticeable, either that or I had her sink below the light cutting her forhead.

For the second picture I added some blur to everywhere but her gorgeous eyes, I did this hoping it would make them stand out even more.  If I remember correctly I sharpened her eyes a little in photoshop.  I finished the picture off with a soft frame.  

In this next one, I used Photoshop's Lightroom to give it an antique type of color saturation.  I also added a little vignette and that about it.  

I did these pictures locally at Dam Neck Base.  The walkway to the beach is a great spot that's easy to access, easy as long as you can get on the base.  The day was chilly but the sun was shining.  As will most of my sessions, I started this one a little after 4 in the afternoon.  

 

Let's get this started

I've been faithfully reading the blogs of other photographers from all over the country for about 6 months now.  Only recently did I realize I had something to blog about. My mind has changed  as my business has taken off and others want to know how I'm doing it.  It's flattering when people who love photography want to talk to me about my work. Seems crazy, nevertheless  I've been approached by several new photographers who ask a lot of questions.  I'm the same way with the photographers I follow (in the blogworld) I want to ask them questions.  This is where the idea for my blog came from.   

 I WANT to share what I've learned in the last year.  I've spent many many hours out on photo shoots taking endless pictures. I've spent even more hours learning Photoshop CS3 and my new MAC. It's ridiculous the amount of hours I've spent reading every photography book I could buy (Usually 2 a month)   I read them each cover to cover.   I love looking back at the pictures I took only 6 months ago and seeing where my skill level is this month.   

So this is where it gets fun. I know I'm no where close to where I want to be but I am confident that with my passion for photography and my hard work and determination I'll get there.  As I'm learning I want to share.  I'll be sharing my work, the sites I've visited, some photoshop stuff, the books I've read, the tutorials I've watched and no doubt I'll be sprinkling my posts with the rest of my life as well.   Welcome to my little blog