Kristin, stairs
A different look from the last photo. Different mood, different expression, different pose, less contrast, color instead of black & white.
Photo Data: Canon 5D Mark III. Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at 70 mm. 1/60 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400.
Union Soldier, Civil War Reenactment
Photographing a Civil War reenactment involves capturing the action of the battle but it also means looking for individual faces.
Autumn Leaf
I found this leaf while walking my dog yesterday afternoon. This feels really early to me, at least for central Ohio. (iPhone photo.)
Kristin in a Stairwell
Kristin wanted to do some photos that didn’t look “senior picturey”.
Photography Field Trip, Twilight, Gibraltar Island
The first evening of our photography workshop for OSU on Gibraltar Island, after some intensive classroom explorations we went out to north point to shoot at sunset and on into twilight. I captured this image of several photographers silhouetted against the evening sky.
Photography Workshop, Gibraltar Island
This is one of my favorite photos from the nature photography weekend at OSU’s Stone Lab on Gibraltar Island.
Kristin in the shade with some fill flash.
Cloudy bright days are great for portrait photography. No harsh shadows. Soft even, flattering light. So what do you do in the harsh light (at least for most portrait photography) of a bright, sunny day?
Old Wooden Fence
You can blame this (sort of) on Dewitt Jones (I have written about Dewitt before). I pass this fence almost every day as my dog and I walk to the park, but I pay it almost no attention.
Kristina
This is good news. Kristina wrote this afternoon to tell me her modeling agency wants to use this image as her main commercial shot for their website. Modeling agencies are very particular about the type and quality of images they use, so this made my day!
Kristin, Piano Reflection.
Ansel Adams, a classically trained concert pianist who became a world class landscape photographer, often said “The negative is similar to a musician’s score, and the print to the performance of that score”. Adams was right. Today we might say the digital camera file is the score and the work in the digital darkroom is the performance. The click of the shutter is an important step in the photographic process but not the end of the process.
Kristin with a backdrop and backdrop stand.
Sometimes I haul a lot of equipment to a portrait shoot. I have worked with a lot of models and I’ve noticed that only about 1 out of 10 offers to help carry my photo gear. So an offer to help with my gear usually takes me by surprise and I take note of the thoughtfulness. This young woman is one of the 10%.
Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company
If you are looking for bright, colorful subjects to photograph, head for the nearest festival. If you live in one of the nation’s big cities, there are probably several major festivals to choose from. If you don’t, do a little research. Google is your friend.
Images of Colorado. Photo information below. Click to see a larger version.
I am very excited about my upcoming nature photography workshop in Estes Park Colorado and field trips in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Saturday Workshop and Evening Field Trip – Sep 27
The Saturday workshop is a fast paced, fun filled, action packed day, combining intensive classroom explorations with several “go out and shoot” moments to practice the techniques you are learning. The Saturday workshop includes an evening field trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Saturday workshop and field trip are limited to 12 participants to allow for plenty of interaction.
Spider with pea in a kitchen sink
I found this common house spider in our kitchen sink, hanging on to this pea which was suspended from an overnight web. The spider wasn’t moving at all so I touched it gently with the tip of a pen to see if it was alive. It quickly ran up a strand of its web. I left it alone and it eventually came back to the object of it’s interest, the pea. It was time to take some pictures.
Portrait in the Park
This photo is pretty close to a “to do” list for portrait photography. Focus on the eyes. Shoot in soft light. Have the face at a slight angle. Use a short telephoto focal length. Have the camera lens just above eye level. Use a non-obtrusive background. Give the subject something to do. Move in close for extra impact. Portrait rules to be followed and broken. So when do you follow the rules and when do you break them?
Red Winged Blackbird, composite image
When you just can’t get the right pose out of a wildlife subject, compositing two images together may be just the right ticket to the image you want.
Sisters.
The best way to insure excellent color in a portrait is to begin by setting a custom white balance on the camera, but that isn’t always practical. That’s when Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) comes to the rescue.
Sarah
A Moment of Discovery
When you are photographing very active children around 2 1/2 years of age, it is often best to just follow them around and let them do their thing, rather than try to “pose” them. I followed my grandson around my backyard for almost an hour, taking pictures and hoping to get just the right image. To get the best point of view I needed to be on my knees. Spending that much time on your knees is hard on the knees, but what else can you do? When you photograph children you need to be down on their level.
U.S. Flag, Parade
If you are going to photograph a parade, sometimes the best point of view is from the middle of the street and close to the ground. It also helps if you spent several years doing photography for a newspaper. Equipment is important too.
The Strip, Las Vegas with Fireworks
You can point your camera at the sky in auto exposure and autofocus modes and fire away whenever you see a burst of fireworks, but for the best quality photos, it helps to know a few tricks of the trade. It’s easy when you know what to do.
17 Year Cicada Closeup
It was my good fortune to be in Iowa for the peak of the 17 Year Cicada “emergence”. It was amazing. It was also unbelievably noisy. If you stood under a cicada filled tree (they prefer some trees to others), you could barely hear well enough to have a conversation with a friend standing two feet away.
Photo Field Trip
Update, June 20, 2014: Complete information on the October 18 workshop.
This photo was taken during a field trip at my recent workshop at OSU Mansfield. Photographers show up with everyting from point and shoot cameras to professional level equipment.
Dandelion photo with an iPhone and an olloclip closeup lens.
I was out testing an olloclip iPhone accessory and using the closeup lens. I am quite pleased with the capabilities of this little accessory.
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
Kristina Jimenez, model, actor, and spokesperson.
I have worked with this model/actress/spokesperson several times and she is a dream to work with. This photo is now on her comp card and she sent me this note:
“Thank you so much for this shot Jim! This photo is now on my comp card for acting/hosting/commercial work! For anyone needing headshots, Jim Doty Photography is a GREAT photographer to work with! Thank you again!!”
Portrait in the Park
After some park bench portraits (see the prior post) we headed for the little stream that flows through the park.
Portrait in the Park
Update July 24: I decided to take a second look at this portrait and I turned it into an article on Simple Steps to Better Portraits.
It all started Saturday when this young lady said to her mother “We have great portrait light today. Is Jim available?” It is interesting to note that she knew from past photo shoots that cloudy bright days made for beautiful portrait light.
Dandelion Puffball
I was walking my dog in a dandelion filled park this week and I saw a few puffballs. My mind jumped immediately to a scene in a movie featuring Dewitt Jones, so I grabbed my iPhone and went to work creating the above image. Who is Dewitt Jones? I am glad you asked.
Landscape, Nature, and Wildlife Images
Now is the time to order one of my fine art landscape and nature prints and get free shipping on your order. Just head on over to my Zenfolio site, choose the image and size you want, and go through the check out process to order your print. The free shipping is automatic, now through Wednesday April 23.