Bathroom Photoshoot

Recently in the news there has been some big hubub over Facebook buying out Instagram for $1 billion. The app allows you to put filters over your photos to give it a vintage feel. Simple but apparently worth the investment according to Facebook. Seeing that social networking sites are gearing up more for phone photo sharing I thought I would give it a whirl.

For this blog I tried out what Google+ had to offer. Before logging in, I went into my bathroom and took two simple headshots of myself using my smartphone with no special lighting or equipment. Once done I logged into G+ begin my post production . After you find the photo you enlarge it by clicking on the magnifying glass then click on the "creative kit" to begin editing. You will then see several task bars in the upper left hand corner that break down as follows:

• Basic Edits This the starting screen whenever your activate the creative kit. The options including crop, rotate, exposure, color, sharpen and resize. These comes with most free photo editing so there is nothing new or innovative here.
•  Effects This is where we start to see Google break away from the pack. Effects allows you to choose different filters from different cameras as well as apply very basic touchup brushes to your photo. This is probrably where I spent most of my time with my editing. You can layer effects over each other and choose how strong they appear with easily moved sliders. With over 20 effects to choose from the variety of photos you could come up with is impressive.
• Decorate In this tab you can add objects like masks, hearts, text bubbles, beards, face paint and etc. These and some silly fun elements that I see my mom getting a kick out of. They are simple but add a new element to photo uploading.
• Text The final tab in photo editing which allows you to add text onto the photos to give it that finishing touch. I definitely like this option because this puts a new spin on captions. There are a fairly large amount of fonts to choose from so you can add your own style to what you post.

With post production being one of my favorite parts to photography I was fairly impressed and entertained by what G+ had to offer. Below are the before & after shots of what I came up with. Enjoy!

 

Oh Snap, Adobe Lightroom 4!

Its official, Adobe Lightroom 4 is out of beta testing and now on retail shelves. The program has gotten some major upgrades to compete with Apple's Appeture 3. The best part of all is that adobe has cut the price from $299 to $149, which I believe is in response to Apples pricing of Appeture 3 on the Mac Apps Store for $79.99. I am glad that their is finally some competition out their for photography programs because it just means better offers to us as consumers. With this type of competition it has lowered the cost for amateur photographers to begin entry into the post editing world. Hip Hip, Hooray!

Some of the improvements in 4 include improved RAW processing which allows the maximum detail in shadow and highlight areas. You can also adjust color, tone, and contrast. This can easily make beautiful black-and-white conversions which I am a big fan of. Another new option that I have become addicted to is clarirty. 

Clarity is a slider that allows you to go from a extra gritty edge to the soft billowy edge used alot for portraits. I can't get enough!

Adobe has also added some features that copy directly from Appeture 3. There is a new map interface that allows you to tag all of photos with GPS data. They have also integrated Lightroom to directly connect to your Facebook and Flickr accounts for easy uploading and photo managing. Last but not least, Adobe has included a new Book creation module. This modules utilizes a variety or templates that allow you to either save you book as a pdf or upload directly to Blurb for printing.

I have to say I am really impressed with Lightroom 4 and am officially hooked. Way to go, Adobe!

Vimeo FTW!

Oh Vimeo, why did I not find you sooner. 


Over spring break I recently discovered a new website and I cant stop watching. For those of you who don't know, Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they create. Think of it as the artsy version of Youtube. You wont find internet classics like Chocolate Rain or Nyan Cat but instead films that you would probably see at a film festival, technology convention or college. For me it was somewhat of a fresh breathe of air to see a new social video website that offers something more. 


Now I know what you are asking, why are you posting this on your blog meant for photography? Well prepare to be fed baby birds. Vimeo offers "How to" and "DIY" videos for photography as well as unveilings for new camera equipment/accessories. Photography is a very hands-on medium so what better way to learn new tricks of the trade than to watch professionals perform their tricks in the field. I have definitely found some interesting new ideas that I want implement on future photo shoots.


Well DoF didn't have any major photo shoots this past weekend due to a big tornado scare so I leave you with this cool shot of one of my lenses that I took a few days ago. Enjoy!

Self Portraits Tips

Self Portraits can be a tough obstacle to overcome especially since photographers aren't used to being on the other end of a lens. Here are some pointers of how to handle yourself and the tools you may need in this new position.

• Timer  Almost every camera has a timer for shooting nowadays. What better way to use it. With the timer it allows you to get prepared while the camera waits to take the shot. Timers are great for action shots or to get into a crazy pose.
• Tripod  If you can afford one, try to invest in a tripod. With this you can adjust the frame before you take your shot and it also allows your to be hand free to pose more comfortably in the shot. Adios Myspace photos circa 2002!
• Props  Don't be afraid to use something to express yourself in a photo. Self portraits don't have to be photos of just you face like an ID card. You could easily not include you face at all but instead your hands holding your favorite tool, your feet in some silly socks, etc. The idea is to be creative with the photo so it can express your inner self.
• Lighting  This is one thing I harp on for any photo including self portraits. Lighting effects everything in a photo. Be aware of where you are shooting so if you need lights don't be afraid to find some. My husband can testify to my crazy light schemes in the house while trying to get the perfect shot. If you don't want to invest in an expensive light kit, Home Depot has construction lights that do the job for cheap.
• Perspective  Change the way the picture is portrayed by taking pictures at new angles. Get up high or down low and tease the camera with your eyes. Try some photos where you don't make eye contact so it moves the viewer to a different direction or space.
• Emotion  Play the part people! You are not a runway model so no need to be so serious. Let your true character shine and don't be afraid about looking dumb. The nice thing about self portraits is that you have full control over the shooting. You will be the decision maker on what final photos are shown so just experiment until you get what you want.

If you need some ideas or inspiration you should check out Flickr. They have whole groups dedicated to taking SP photographs for 365 days a year. I leave you with with 2 photos of myself that I took this morning. Nothing too crazy but I like them none the less. Enjoy!

Newborn Photography

Hello once again. My sister had her baby last week so I got to test out the waters on newborn photography. In recent years, taking pictures of newborns have been a growing trend. Perhaps with the availability of digital cameras nowadays it has become easier for new parents to go shutter crazy with their bundle of joy. Either way it doesn't look like its going anywhere anytime soon so lets have fun with it.When photographing my nephew I learned that my macro lens with the AV (appeture priority) setting were going to be my best friend. The lens is shallow which gives a billowy soft edge to the baby's surroundings. Some may prefer a less shallow depth of field but for me it sets the perfect mood. As for lighting I stuck to using natural light. Newborns cant be around flash photography so I took the majority of the photos next to an opened windows. Once I got everything set a ready for shooting I came across the hardest obstacle to maneuver around, timing. After trial and error I found that the best time to take my photos was right after the baby was fed.
I think the end result came out pretty good and I have learned a lot for next time. Practice makes perfect. Let me know what you think of this weeks photos.

Lights, Camera, Food!

 This week we attempted to dabble in a little bit of Food Photography. There are two things you need to focus on when making pictures of food.

• Lighting  This is probably the most important thing to focus on when dealing with food. Food needs  bright warming colors to attract the viewer. If your photos are out dark or the colors seem under saturated you may want to focus on getting some better lighting. You may notice that whenever you go into a restaurant they typically use warm bright color to entice your hunger. The same concept applies to your photos. Click here to check out a website that talk more about how food and colors work together.
• Placement Where you line up your shot can make or break a photo. You want your food to seem life-like and appetizing. For this shoot we stuck to using a macro lens to pick up all the ingredients and details. Ingredients are everything and the viewers love to see them. How else do they know what they are ordering in a restaurant or if they are following directions correctly from a recipe book.

Well we had a ton of fun with this practice shoot and learned so much. The best advise I can always give is to practice, practice practice. You may not get the shots you envision the first time around so just take notes and what worked and didnt. Have fun with it and best of all you get to enjoy your tasty treat when you finish. What more can you ask for, YUM!

Kid Portraits

This week we had the opportunity to take some portraits. Now the first step to taking a portrait is picking a location. The client may want a studio picture or an offsite location. This time around our client wanted it offsite and luckily for us San Antonio has a wide range of locations to choose from. If you plan on doing offsite locations its always good to visit the site before you meet the client for the shoot. This way you can scope out the place for ideas for what you may need for the day of the shoot. I also find it helpful to take pictures of the locations to show clients in case they dont have a specific place in mind.

For this shoot the client wanted to do more of a county western feel so we found an old abandoned rustic building in the outskirts of Helotes, TX. At first the pictures had more of a posed feel to them but once the client started to relax we let her just roam the grounds and took more candid in the moment type of shots. Eventually when the sun started to set we let her go into the field and enjoy the crickets. I feel letting kids doing their own thing helps them get more relaxed and let their true character show. Kids have a harder time hiding their emotions so people can tell if they are uncomfortable in a photo so its best just to go with the flow. Overall we had tons of fun with this shoot and came up with some great photos to choose from. Take a look at some of our favorites and let us know what you think.