I had a VERY busy weekend. Especially Saturday. Saturday I had to get up at 6:40AM, drive to Raleigh, purchase my own Christmas present (makeup from Bare Escentuals - my mom is paying me back) and then attend a lighting workshop at http://www.jenniferweinberg.com/. The workshop was great. Two hours worth of all kinds of lighting info. Yes, my bottom was sore when I left, but it was worth it!!!
The workshop gave me grand ideas for my toddler session I had booked Saturday afternoon. I was all prepared with some shop lights from Lowes and 60 watt bulbs as well as some computer paper (because placing the paper over the lights will give them less intensity). I had an aspiration to be able to diffuse my on camera flash with a piece of the paper as well.
My aspirations crumbled into a heap right after the session began....
Let me back up. I got the the session a few minutes early (it was in a home with a fireplace), set up my lights and took some test shots. The test shots looked very nice. The light was warm, golden and flattering. So I was excited!!! Then, the clients arrived and we began the session. The first few shots I got were nice and the lighting was like I wanted. But then, something happened and I honestly do not know what it was. I had set my white balance but suddenly, every photo I was taking was harsh white, not the warm colors before. I was thrown for a loop. I continued taking pictures and while the toddler was running around doing something else, I would frantically take test shots while changing my Shutter and Aperature in Manual Mode. Nothing worked.
Finally, in desperation, I put my camera into Auto Mode (I felt like a fake).
Then, the clients suggested we take some outdoor photos (a blessing for me because I do much better in outdoor light than indoor) and we went outside. After taking a few test shots out there, I turned my white balance to cloudy so that the colors were warmer.
We shot 20 minutes outside and I got much better photos (sigh of relief). I was more comfortable outdoors and the lighting was much better.
When I got home and downloaded the photos, I had a whopping 300! Guess how many are on there now, after I completed my very harsh elimination process? 30, at the most. So, I'm happy that the session went better than I initially expected but I am very disappointed that I shot 300 images only to have 10% of them come out decent. Does anyone have a solution/suggestion for this? I'd love to hear them!
Sara
Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Just A Girl [Who Loves Photography and is still Learning]
It's me, Sara. I decided to start this blog as an offshoot of my photography website, mainly because I wanted to begin blogging about my learning experiences as a photographer and it's kind of weird to tell about your learning experiences and mistakes on your photo site (where you're supposed to come across as a professional who has it all figured out). So, here I am!
Last night I was able to photograph a friend's two children. Her boy, J, is 6 weeks old and her daughter, A, is 16 months.
J was very fussy so I was only able to get a few pictures of him. The best ones were with him on his tummy. I got in close so that the background was out of focus. The one thing I wish I would have thought of was I should have posed him so that the background was the Christmas tree and lights (what nice bokah that would have been!) but I didn't think of that until I was driving home =(. Oh well, that will be something I remember next time.
Earlier in the day I had gone to Lowe's to purchase some lights since my friend said that their lighting wasn't that great. I am so glad that I did. I purchased two shop lights with clamps and two sets of 150 watt and 60 watt bulbs. The lights worked beautifully but I did find out that 60 watt is really very bright when shooting kids in small rooms so I should have gone down on the wattage. Another learning experience for me.
Photos of A were good. I was able to use several different props with her and towards the end of the session she began relaxing, laughing and being silly. I got several of her teeth in this big, goofy grin!! =)
I am excited to begin editing the photos. Any suggestions on edits for photos with Christmas trees in the background?
Sara
Last night I was able to photograph a friend's two children. Her boy, J, is 6 weeks old and her daughter, A, is 16 months.
J was very fussy so I was only able to get a few pictures of him. The best ones were with him on his tummy. I got in close so that the background was out of focus. The one thing I wish I would have thought of was I should have posed him so that the background was the Christmas tree and lights (what nice bokah that would have been!) but I didn't think of that until I was driving home =(. Oh well, that will be something I remember next time.
Earlier in the day I had gone to Lowe's to purchase some lights since my friend said that their lighting wasn't that great. I am so glad that I did. I purchased two shop lights with clamps and two sets of 150 watt and 60 watt bulbs. The lights worked beautifully but I did find out that 60 watt is really very bright when shooting kids in small rooms so I should have gone down on the wattage. Another learning experience for me.
Photos of A were good. I was able to use several different props with her and towards the end of the session she began relaxing, laughing and being silly. I got several of her teeth in this big, goofy grin!! =)
I am excited to begin editing the photos. Any suggestions on edits for photos with Christmas trees in the background?
Sara
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