Project 365: Week Three Done!
This week was a fun week. There was really no plan for the week, which is usually how I shoot, so the photos are not cohesive in subject or visually, but I am happy with each photo. I didn't have to try to hard to get a photo for each day. I always worry about that in the back of my mind, having good content for the day or week. One thing I always try to do is make my everyday interesting visually.
Day 15/365 It was so gloomy today, but we did get out of the house at least once
This day was a lazy Sunday until about 3pm when I decided to get out of the house and the kiddos wanted to tag along too. I hadn't picked up my camera all day so I decided to get a shot of my girl in her cute little outfit before we headed out.
I usually like a cloudy day for photographs because it gives off a diffused light source because dealing with harsh sunlight can be a pain in the butt.
I think her little hat made this photo not only because it's cute, but because it added a pop of color to a very one toned, gray image.
Day 16/365 Sometimes we pretend to be a kitten.
I took this photo right before bedtime. She loves to pretend to be animals, kittens are her favorite and that's as close to a kitten as she's going to get. We were just talking and she looked up at me and I had to have her hold that because she looked so sweet and her drawn on whiskers just made it even sweeter.
I used my wide angle lens at 15mm to get the wide angle distortion and get her environment in the frame to add to the story. I also used a speed light/flash on camera and bounced it off the ceiling to get nice soft lighting.
When I first learned how to use a speed light the first thing I learned was to bounce it off the ceiling if it's white or a wall to help spread the light to create a softer light on your subject.
Day 17/365 When you arrive early and have the whole theater to yourself this is the shot you take! It is extremely hard to focus in a dark movie theater. Yes it's grainy/noisy, I had to up my ISO, nope she's not completely in focus, I did shoot this at a super slow shutter speed, but I got the shot and I love it as is. If you're wondering we saw the Trolls movie for the zillionth time!
I always take my camera to the movies ever since I saw a photographer a couple of years ago take this gorgeous photo of her children at the movie theater. I've gotten plenty of theater shots, but most of them are the same shots. I kind of had a feeling today I would get a different, more eye catching shot. We went to a dollar theater on a Tuesday so I knew there may not be many people in the theater and we got there before they opened so I was correct. There was one person in the theater when we got in there so i took this opportunity to get a few shots of my daughter.
It was pretty hard to get this shot because I was working with the light from the screen which was unpredictable, so trying to work fast was another issue. Focusing in a dark theater is also difficult task. I had to up my ISO pretty high in order to expose correctly for her face and that added grain/noise to the photo. Even though I used a high ISO my shutter speed was still very slow which didn't help my shaky hands which added to the face not be in complete focus.
Although I had all these issues I really walked away being proud of what I did get and making it even better during the editing process.
Day 18/365 Fun dollar store find! I may or may not have made my kids wear these for my amusement. 😂😂😂 They looked so cute!
I knew I had to get a shot of my kids in these glasses and show the world. The sun was going down so it was around golden hour so there was a nice glow outside. I took the kid outside to get a quick photo and if you know my kid he doesn't sit still easily so getting a simple shot was not happening. I decided to stand on a chair to get above him to get a shot. I had a feeling that would get his attention more. This angle made for a fun composition.
Day 19/365 This is what I love, simple portraiture. I don't get to do it often enough. So today I took the time out to set up my makeshift studio and play. I couldn't choose one so you get a collage. 😀
As I said above, this is what I love, I love the simplicity of portraits. Just you and the subject, no huge elaborate props. I think one or two props are fine, but I really do not like to clutter up an image.
I used my Yongnuo 685 speed light and my smallest light modifier, a 24x24 softbox. I've found my style of photography which I describe as dark and contrasty so I wanted to make sure I am able to get as close to that using my external lighting which is not that hard to do. Using a small light source and isolating the light can create a similar look as above. I still have a small issue with spill light which is light that you see around the subject either on the background or floor. I don't think of it as a big enough issue to bother me though.
For all of the photos, but one, I placed my lighting system to the right of the camera facing the subjects left side. I raised the softbox above my subject and angled slightly down and turned a tiny bit to the left. I raised the light higher so that the catchlight in her eyes were in the top left as if to simulate window light and the catchlight gives the eyes a bit more pop. The last photo I placed the softbox directly in front of the subject to give it a spotlight effect and evenly light her face using one light source.
Day 20/365 Such a big world for this little girl to explore
Whenever I go to this location I just love that it's kind of a hidden gem, not many people frequent this trail. I really wanted to take advantage of the mood. The fog is haunting and the deserted trail is peaceful.
I really wanted to open this photo up and really convey how small she really is in this world that is so much bigger than her and I.
I always love a photo that has so much negative space as part of the story, showing the environment and leaving an impact. For this photo she is not the main subject of the photo, the location is as equally apart of the story.
A little bit about my editing process, I was able to expand the frame to exaggerate the space around her even more by using a Photoshop tool called Content Aware Scale. Here is the link where I learned about it from the Phlearn youtube page, it's easier to have a visual than me to explain it. I hope that helps.
Day 21/365 I felt pretty cool today. I got the chance to photograph a music artist. I have a feeling she will be doing some really big things this year! Here are a few of my favorites!
This session was me stepping outside of my comfort zone. I usually photograph children and families so to be able to photograph a whole different subject, stylistically was a fun opportunity for me. I was to be creative with my lighting and with location. We started off in an alley for me to warm up as well as the artist. So I started off simple with the brick wall shots and center alley shots. I set up my lighting equipment, one single speed light and 24x24 softbox, camera left for the wall shots and camera right for all of the other shots.
People ask settings or how to make the flash look natural. For me it is a combination of light placement and enhancing the visual in post processing/editing. Whenever I use my off camera flash I dial in my settings as usual to get proper exposure of my subject and then I add in my external lighting. My speed light usually stays at about 1/16th power and I'll move the light closer or farther away until I get the desired look. If I need more light that's when I increase the power if I cannot get the light closer to my subject without being in the frame.
I don't feel like I am an expert at this I just do what works for me and I'm happy to share my process. If there is a specific photo that you have a question about feel free to leave it in the comments I will definitely be happy to answer them!
Please leave comments or questions below. Have a great week!