Kristina
A backlit, window light portrait can be challenging to meter, but the photographic possibilities are definitely worth it.
How to Do a Window Light Glamour Portrait
Category Archives: Photographs
POTD: Backyard Portrait on a Sunny Day
Backyard Portrait
Sunlight is usually too harsh for portraits so I try to avoid full sun on the face when shooting outside. My usual choices are to shoot in the shade or put the sun behind my subject (as in the case of this photo).
How to Photograph Fireworks
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.
OSU’s Photography Workshop: “Capturing the Wonder of the Outdoors”
Nature photography by Jim Doty, Jr.
OSU’s Prestigious Stone Lab is hosting the workshop “Capturing the Wonder of the Outdoors” This is your chance to take your nature, landscape, and wildlife photography to the next level. This is an intensive weekend that combines class sessions with hands-on field trips. Join us August 9-11 on Ohio State University’s scenic Gibraltar Island near Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
POTD: Window Light Portrait
Window Light Portrait
One of my grandsons was sitting next to me in my office looking intently at photos on my computer monitor. The moment was too good to miss so I grabbed a camera.
May Photo Contest Winner at Midwest Photo Exchange
California Poppies
I have never entered a photo contest before, but I responded to a request to enter the May photo contest at Midwest Photo Exchange (MPEX). The theme was “Spring” so I submitted an early April photo of California Poppies. Photographers from all across the United States entered photos. Winners were announced June 3 and I won the “People’s Choice” award for the photo that was voted for the most by other photographers and visitors to the site. This is a first for me and I am thrilled!
Using Reflected Light Meters, Part Two
Bull Elk Bugling, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.
What do you meter when your subject has multiple tones? You could let your camera meter the whole scene and hope that gives you a good exposure, but that isn’t very precise and it won’t always give you the best exposure. It certainly wouldn’t give you a good exposure for this photo of a very dark bull elk at sunset.
Speaking Your Camera’s Exposure Language
Canon 50mm lens set to an aperture of f/2.
If you want to speak your camera’s language and make it do it’s tricks for you, you need to understand the language of exposure.
Why Is Exposure So Important?
Bryce Canyon at Sunrise
Why is exposure so important? Because taking control of the technical side of exposure is essential to empowering your creative vision. In the words of National Geographic photographer, Dewitt Jones, “Regardless of where you are in your photography; beginner, advanced amateur, or professional; vision without technique is blind. No matter how beautiful the conception, a good image will not manifest without good technique.”
“Shoot What God is Giving You”
Fireweed, Brainard Lake, Colorado
Sometimes you head out with one photographic plan in mind and need to switch to another. As Dewitt Jones often puts it: Â “If you go out to shoot waterfalls and Nature (God) is giving you clouds that day, shoot clouds!”
The “One Sunrise Per Day” Limit
Sunrise at Dead Horse Point
For landscape photographers, the “one sunrise per day” limit can be a real challenge, especially when you have several excellent locations to choose from. The same goes for the “one sunset per day” limit. Sunrise and sunset usually have the best light of the day. Photography would be so much easier if we had a couple of sunrises and sunsets per day.
Wedding Photography Advice For the Non-Professional
Wedding photography mixes several of the challenges of portrait photography, street photography, news photography, and event photography, all in a fast moving, anything can happen, “no second chances to get it right” environment. It is one of the most challenging kinds of photography I know of.
Q&A: Wedding Photography
I recently had the following online conversation with a friend who is an experienced photographer (which explains why I didn’t answer some of these questions in more detail).
POTD: Petrified Dunes, Zion National Park
Petrified Dunes, Zion National Park.
Zion National Park is well know for its towering sandstone cliffs, but it has other treasures for the photographer willing to look, like these petrified dunes.
Five Southern Utah “Parks” in One Day
One Day in Utah
When I left home headed for Northern California I had no intentions of being in Southern Utah. By the time I reached Denver, snow in the forecast for N. Utah, Nevada, and the mountain passes in N. California made a detour much more appealing than fighting snow on I-80, especially since I have never been to the spectacular parks and monuments in Southern Utah.
Make Big Prints!
20×30 inch Cougar Print
I admit it, I am hooked on big prints. You are looking at a 20×30 inch print (or technically, you are looking at a digital photograph of a 20×30 print). Big prints look great hanging on a wall (or held by one of your favorite models).
POTD: Park Avenue at Twilight, Arches National Park
Park Avenue at Twilight, Arches National Park, Utah.
Don’t put your camera away after sunset. There are lots of photographic possibilities as the sky deepens into evening twilight.
Weddings: Candid Moments
The bride helps the ring bearer with his boutonniere.
Half the fun of photographing a wedding is capturing candid moments. This is the bride helping the ring bearer with his buttone . . . . his boutonai . . . . his flower!
POTD: Piano Reflection Portrait
Piano Reflection Portrait
This portrait is from a spontaneous photo shoot. I had three great subjects (sisters), perfect light, and a baby grand piano to work with, and I almost always have a camera and one or more lenses with me.
The Big Switch from Canon to Nikon
Magpie Meets Canon 100-400mm Lens
Update April 2: Yesterday was April Fool’s Day. I’m not selling my Canon gear (blame the idea on Art Morris, the world class bird photographer). My apologies to the people who wrote and wanted to buy my Canon gear. The Canon history in between the first and last paragraphs is accurate and I really did buy my first autofocus lens long before I bought my first autofocus body.
I have been so impressed with the latest Nikon cameras (which have edged out Canon in the technology race) that I’ve decided to switch to Nikon gear. It was a hard decision.
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Bride’s Portrait: Solving Mixed Lighting Challenges with ACR
Before and After
Mixed lighting (lighting with different color temperatures) can be a real color nightmare, especially if you are shooting JPEG files. Shooting RAW files and processing them with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is one of the best solutions to the problem. ACR comes with recent versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop.
Groom’s Portrait: Great Color Balance Right Out of the Camera
Sometimes getting the right color balance is easy with the right camera settings. When I opened this image in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) I didn’t need to change a thing. After the bride’s portrait, this was a relief.
POTD: The Moment of Birth!
Moment of Birth
There are very few moments on earth that match the birth of a baby. Such wonder, awe, and love. It was a privileged to be asked by the parents to be there and photograph the big event.
POTD: The Baby is On the Way!
POTD: Baby’s First Footprint
Footprint
Baby’s first footprint. The story behind this delivery room photo shoot (lighting, metering, color temperature issues, RAW file conversion) is here.
POTD: A Few Minutes Old
Baby Boy, A Few Minutes Old.
I had the happy privilege of being asked to photograph the birth of a baby boy. The mother found some of my photos on the internet, she was impressed with my work, and sent me an email asking if I was interested in photographing the delivery of her son. Of course I was!
National Geographic Would Disqualify This Photo
Sunstar Over Turnagain Arm, Alaska
If I had submitted this photo to the 2012 National Geographic photo contest it would have been disqualified. Why? It hasn’t been digitally altered in any way. And the “sunstar” isn’t the problem.
How To Do A Business Headshot
Kristina – Business Headshot
A business headshot requires pretty even lighting.This portrait was created with three studio lights against a black backdrop, a main light, a fill light, and a hair light.
Never Underestimate Your iPhone Camera
Christmas Tree Impressions (iPhone 4S)
I never thought I would sell prints from my iPhone. I was wrong.
How To Photograph City Lights at Night From a Commercial Jet
The Las Vegas “Strip” from the Air at Night
There are serious challenges to photographing city lights at night from a commercial jet. Here are some suggestions that will help.