12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 11

Is all about our daily environment. This week is all about documenting those places, people, and things we're around day in and day out, and paying special attention to what might be neglected or missing in our photography because it's such a part of our routine that we take it for granted. I'm super excited about this challenge because this is the very reason I wanted to learn to take better photos. I want to capture the everyday moments in a beautiful and creative way. I want to document the ordinary. Like the saying goes..."Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things." I hope to record the little things with my photography along with my scrapbooking (click her to visit my scrapbooking blog).

I encourage you to be observant as you go about your day. Carry your camera with you: take it to work, take it out to eat, take it to the grocery store. I almost always have a camera in my purse. Now that I have a larger DSLR it is more tricky to keep it on me at all times but I make do.
A trip to the store...

These were taken with my old camera back in September, back when my baby girl still had hair for cute pig tails!

A fun way to record your daily environment is to create a visual diary of your day -for one entire day take photos of your normal routine.
For example, consider photographing your typical morning:
your alarm clock, bathroom, toothbrush, bedhead, bathrobe, slippers, workout,
your home, vehicles, school bus, sidewalk, mailbox, morning paper or morning walk, your commute to work, office, cubicle, studio, scrapbooking spot, retail space, favorite chair, cereal bowl, box of doughnuts...whatever you see, touch, or use every morning.
If a whole day feels overwhelming to you, start with an hour or 30 minutes of your day, or even just one snippet of your day. Last year I took this picture of our kitchen table and scrapbooked about it, documenting our morning routine at the time.

It is amazing how quickly some of your routines change while others may continue for years to come. Our routine has completely changed since then. Now all the kids have breakfast at home in the morning...if we aren't running too late.

According to wikipedia documentary photography is a type of photojournalism where "the photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people. The pictures usually depict a certain perspective of the photographer."
Be a photojournalist-use photos to document your lives.

I enjoy technically perfect photos, of course, that is what taking this photography course is all about, but emotionally perfect photos speak to the heart. I am a mom with a camera and a scrapbooker who truly feels like one of the most important things that I do for my family is to document our lives through photography (and scrapbooking :wink:). My favorite photos to capture and scrapbook are those little, everyday moments that will mean so much when you look back...a typical morning around our house, the kids playing in an empty cardboard box, the smiles, the laughs, the connections...because, to me, it’s all those little moments, those moments we sometimes miss in the hustle and bustle of it all, that really make us who we are. As much as I enjoy capturing the technically perfect picture, there is something missing...a story, a memory, a connection. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be able to capture technically and emotionally perfect photos all in one (which is my ultimate goal) but if I had to choose just one...emotionally perfect is the one for me.

So here's an overload of recent pictures straight off of the camera that simply make my heart happy...













The Challenge

Embrace your daily life!
1. Capture a small snippet of your life that usually goes unnoticed
2. Create a visual record of your day

Check out 2 Peas in a Bucket if you want more info on this course. This was the last real challenge, next week is all about lenses.

Enjoy capturing the little things!

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 10

Landscapes:
Since we will be shooting outside we should choose a lower ISO for more clarity in our picture. We also want an f/stop around f/22 so our beautiful landscape will be in focus. I've learned that using a lower shutter speed helps catch better sun flare.
Use the available light to your advantage outdoors. Shadows and light can help create stark, rich landscape shots filled with depth and emotion. Pay attention to the location of the light and where the light creates the most impact and use it to your advantage.
Also important is your Composition. Landscapes are nice, but it’s always good to have something in the image to grab your attention. Pay special attention to the horizon -- its position in your shot can give your photos a dramatic sense of isolation or openness. Remember the rule of thirds and placing the horizon on the top or bottom third of the photo for a nice composition. The most important thing to keep in mind when framing your landscape shots is to compose with the whole scene in mind.
The Challenge:
Share with us your view of the wide, wide world. Just remember to select an f/stop around f/22, compose your photo with the entire scene in mind, and apply any of the following 10 tips:
1. Use a wide angle lens (if you have one)
2. Find a bird's eye view
3. Locate a focal point
4. Consider composition
5. Pay attention to the time of day
6. Play with shadows, silhouettes, and reflections
7. Use lines to lead the eye
8. Consider a city scene
9. Take a panoramic photo
10. Capture a nighttime scene

With my crazy schedule right now I really haven't had time to scope out a nice place for a landscape shot. I have a few ideas but no time to get away. So the best I could do this week was from my back door. I was too cold to actually go outside, lol.

The world from my back door...


Here's a few I took back in October...

Twilight


The lines of the path lead your eye through the photo to the bench.


Reflection


This one I took looking up through the trees. Thought it was a fun point of view.


I'm also so excited about my new lens. It was on backorder for a while. I'm so glad to actually have it in my hands finally! It's a 50mm f/1.4! I haven't had much time to play but I'm loving it so far.

Here's a couple of fun shots I've taken so far.




I have a million shots of us just sitting around and the kids doing nothing particular. I've just been snapping away like a crazy lady.

Only 2 more course classes to go! This week's challenge is documenting your everyday. I'm so excited about this since that is why I want to learn to take better photos...to document the little things in our life in a beautiful way.

Until next time...

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 8

On The Go!
This week the 2 Peas photography course lesson was all about capturing action of our kids, pets, sports, indoors and out. Click here to read this weeks lesson.
Mostly, capturing action is about the shutter speed. Remember week 2? We learned how to "freeze" water. Using a high shutter speed is your best bet around kids and other fast moving subjects. We learned in week 2 that using a high shutter speed we need more light. Outdoors that works but indoors can get tricky. A few things that can help when shooting photos in our homes are: a lens with a low f/stop to compensate for your faster shutter speed (I ordered a 50mm f/1.4 but it is on back order so I won't get it for about a month. I'm excited!), a tripod to combat the blur of a very low f/stop, and a diffused flash to "stop" the action (like bouncing the flash off of the ceiling or wall.)
Indoors we sometimes have to just embrace the blur. Blur can show movement in a photo but it is best if part of the photo is still in focus. Try keeping the face of your subject in focus.
Panning is another fun way to use blur to our advantage and can create pretty cool photos. The basic idea behind panning as a technique is that you pan your camera along in time with the moving subject and end up getting a relatively sharp subject but a blurred background. This gives the shot a feeling of movement and speed. Click here to read more about panning.
This is my favorite panning shot! It took many, MANY tries to get it just right. It can be difficult to get the subject in focus while moving your camera.

This one was tough since the swing was not only going side to side but spinning in circles as well, but I managed to get their faces in focus...somewhat.


The other catagories, sports and pets, doesn't really apply to me but if you want to read about improving your photos for sports and pets - click here.

The Challenge...
Consider using shutter priority or the sports setting for this challenge if you're not comfortable in manual mode.
Choose any of the following options for this week's challenge:
1. Use a fast shutter speed outdoors to photograph your moving subject
2. Experiment with panning
3. Embrace a little blur indoors
3. Take action - practice your skills at a sporting event
4. Take a portrait of your pet-in-motion

Here are my practice photos using fast shutter speed outdoors...




Thanks for stopping by and following along on my learning journey to better photography.
Happy Shooting!

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 7

This week was focused on taking photos outdoors. Taking pictures outdoors is my favorite. I'm in love with natural light photography. When we're outdoors we will almost always have an abundance of light.
Focus on the intensity and direction of the light. Often times we'll find ourselves in situations with far too much light, which can be difficult to shoot because if it's an extremely sunny day, the light will generally be very harsh, causing areas that are much too bright and shadows that are much too dark.
Pay attention to the direction of the sun. Try to arrange your subject so that the lighting comes from a side angle rather than directly in front of or behind the subject. You don't want to blind your subjects, not to mention make them squint, by having them face the sun. You also don't want to point your camera so that the sun is directly in your lens as this creates difficult exposures as well as lens flares (though flare can certainly be used effectively in specific situations.) If you do find yourself in a situation where you have backlighting (where the light source is behind your subject) you have two options that we've already explored through our challenges in previous weeks: expose correctly for your subject and have the background overexposed, or use fill flash to expose your subject while the camera exposes your background.

In this picture the sun is too harsh and causes really dark shadows and the skin and white shirt are too bright.


In this photo she is squinting and there dark shadows.


With this one the sun really highlights the hair so you can really see how much it really sticks up. If I had taken the time, I could have used fill flash and her face would be better exposed but I didn't think of it at the time...still learning and trying to remember to put to use all the info from the course. That's why I practice. :)


For these we simply moved into the shade. (These are SOOC and I'd love some CC on what you think would make these even better. All taken using a 75-300mm lens. Thanks!)

ss: 160, f/4.5, ISO: 400


ss: 160, f/4.5, ISO: 400


SS: 125, f/4.5, ISO: 200

This week's challenge was using macro outdoors.
Macrophotography, according to the online Oxford American Dictionary, is defined as photography that produces photographs of small items larger than life size. Since some of themost wonderful things to shoot outdoors are very small (such as flowers, insects, and water droplets) it's very helpful to use the macro mode on your camera or a lens with a macro option.
Usually indicated by a flower icon on the dial of your camera, selecting the macro mode indicates to your camera that you want to get a close-up. However, here's the catch: while the macro mode works effectively on point & shoot cameras, on SLR & dSLR cameras the same setting merely sets the stage for using a lens with a macro. Basically, the main job of macro mode on your point & shoot camera is to effectively reduce the minimum focal distance -- the distance between the camera and the subject. What this means is that when you are using macro mode you should be able to hold your camera closer to your subject than when you're not using the mode. Macro mode on an SLR camera without a macro lens will still provide you with a pleasing, shallow depth of field, but using it does not have the same effect that using a macro lens would give you in order to highlight your small treasure.

The challenge...
1. With your point & shoot camera -- We want to see the difference between macro mode & another mode, so simply take a picture of an object after selecting macro mode on your camera. Move as close to the object as your camera will allow. Then take the picture again in a different mode.
2. With your SLR/ dSLR camera -- If you have a lens with macro, use it! (Use a tripod for more control and ease of use.) Unfortunately, if you don't have a lens with macro, the macro mode setting will just give you a shallow depth of field for your photos. You can still take a photo using this mode, but it's not the same as having a lens with a macro. To compensate, you could try "imitating" a macro shot by taking a photo and then cropping it very closely in a photo editing program.

When I first bought a macro lens I quickly became addicted!
Being the middle of winter I had to hunt for something better than dead leaves and grass to photograph outside in my yard. I finally found one single yellow dandelion on the edge of my driveway. It's a good thing macro photography can make just about anything look cool.



A few steps away I found this little guy. I do love dandelion puffs.


To view more of my macro photos click here.

The info I shared was found in the 2 Peas photography course. Click here to read more.

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 6

Making the Most of Natural Light
1. Find it
To make the most of natural light, it's very important to be aware of where the natural light is in your home as well as when it's available.

2. Indirect light vs. Direct light
Perhaps the BEST aspect of natural light indoors occurs when the sun isn't shining directly in the windows, but is instead providing indirect natural light. Indirect natural light provides you with a well-lit area that doesn't have the strong shadows, or contrast, of direct light. (You can use lightweight or sheer curtains or blinds to help filter direct light to achieve the same effect.)

3. Use Natural Light Sources to your Advantage
Windows and doors (storm doors or French doors, for instance) are great sources of natural light. Your position and the placement of your subjects in relation to the natural light source makes a big difference as well.

If the subject is facing the window or door while the photographer is with his/her back to the window you will create catchlights in the subject's eyes.
Catchlights are highlights in the eyes of a subject, and in this case the catchlights will look like the light source (window or door) because that is what the eyes are reflecting.

The challenge: take advantage of your windows this week!
You can use any type of camera this week, but please try to take
these photos without a flash.
Choose one or all of the following options for taking your photos:
1. Position your subject in direct light and then reposition your subject in
indirect, or filtered, light.
2. Capture catchlights - have your subject face the window while you're sitting or standing with your back to the window.
3. Position your subject so that he/she/it is parallel to the window, while you are perpendicular to the window.
4. For those with SLRs or digiSLRs: If you can adjust the exposure meter on your camera, try metering on the background light vs. metering on your subject and
setting the exposure for your subject. Also note that you could use a wall in the room or the floor to set your exposure meter.

I didn't get a chance to take as many photos as I wanted this week. Here's a few with pretty good catchlights. My daughter was facing our window in the late afternoon. As you can see, she wasn't really in the mood to help me out and be my practice subject. :) But you get the idea, right?







To learn more about taking photos indoors and taking advantage of natural light click here and scroll down to lesson 6.

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 5

Composition

Composition was probably the first thing I tried to improve on with my photography. In my opinion, composition is the fun part. Climbing ladders, balancing on the arm of a couch, and laying on the ground are just some of the crazy things I've been known to do to get a better composition. Yep, fun stuff!

This week in the lesson from 2 Peas they shared 6 different rules for better composition, but just like the pirate code, they are more of a guidline, but they are good guidlines to follow.

1. Keep it simple - eliminate distractions...watch the background/foreground for distractions, you don't want a branch growing out of the side of someone's head.
You can remove distracting elements from your photos by physically moving them out of the scene, repositioning your subjects in a better location, taking a few steps forward for a close-up shot, or decreasing your depth of field.

2. Apply the rule of thirds - Mentally divide your scene into 3rds as you're looking through your viewfinder or at the LCD screen. To follow the rule you'll want to compose your photo so that your subject(s) or action is located at one of the intersecting points rather than in the middle, or dead center, of the image.

3. Keep an eye on the horizon...the rule of thirds applys to photographing the horizon as well.
Place the horizon about 2/3 of the way up on the photo to keep the focus on what is below it
(such as land or water) OR position the horizon about 1/3 of the way up on the photo if you want the focus to be on what is above it (the sky.)

4. Frame your subject...
Use elements in the foreground of your photo to frame the center of interest. Architectural elements (such as arches or fences) as well as those found in nature work well for this.

5. Fill the frame...
Allow your subject to dominate the photo (fill the frame) to give it more prominence. Keep in mind that cropping your photos in an editing program is a simple fix. It's also important to distinguish that empty space in a photo is not necessarily considered wasted space when used effectively.

6. Try a new perspective...or different point of veiw.
Make sure to examine your subject from different angles - a new view can change the perspective of the whole photo.

The challenge: play around, try them all, or combine different rules together!

Here are a few from this weekend.

I liked this perspective because it portrays a comfy feeling. This would have a totally different feel if I had taken the photo standing infront of them with them looking at the camera straight on.


In this one I kept it simple and filled the frame.


My daughter created a frame around her face with her arms and I thought this was a fun point of veiw.

Week 4: Flash

Flash. I've always hated using flash. It made everyone's faces too white and created really harsh shadows. Learning aperture, shutter speed, and ISO helped get a better photo but in low light situations using the flash is the best option. There are two main types of flash - internal and external. Internal being the one on your camera. External is a flash that can be removed from your camera.

Indoors is where we are most often stuck with bad lighting conditions and we are forced to use flash. Here are some tips from the Two Peas lesson info on how to get better photos indoors while using on camera flash.
Consider distance -
move your subjects as far away from walls as possible
keep your subjects 5-6 feet in front of you
your subject usually needs to be no further than about 10 feet
Consider glare -
pay attention to the surfaces infront of you...glass, shiny, or mirrored surfaces will reflect
for eyeglasses, have the person tilt them down slightly


Flash can also help with photos outdoors.
Even when you're outdoors you can run into situations where your subject's eyes are completely shadowed because the light source is too high or your subject is slightly in the shade while the rest of the scene is well-lit. This is where your flash will come in handy.


So here's the challenge this week:
What can you do to eliminate shadows in outdoor photos?
You can use almost any shooting mode (such as AV or portrait) to accomplish parts 1 & 2, as long as the mode allows you to turn on your flash.
1. Use fill flash to "pop" colors on a gray day.
This one should work well with winter! Take a photo of your subject outdoors without the flash. Then manually turn on the flash for your camera so that it fires when you're taking a photo. (It helps to have a colorful subject or setting for this part of the challenge.)
2. Use fill flash to eliminate dark shadows on the face on a bright day.
Take a picture of a human subject outdoors in the sunshine without the flash. Then manually turn on your flash. (Your camera is going to think you're crazy since it knows that it already has enough light on a sunny day, so double check to make sure that your flash is going off before taking the second photo of your subject.)
3. Use fill flash to combat backlighting on a shadowed subject.
This challenge works best if your subject is in a shadow, or not as brightly lit as the background and surroundings. You will get the best results if you do this option in manual mode. The best thing to do is to manually turn on your flash on the camera, then meter on the brightest area of the photo you wish to take. Set your exposure meter for the bright area. Then recompose to focus on your subject and press the shutter. Ideally, your flash will fire, giving light to your subject while the camera takes care of the background. Your camera will expose the brighter area of the photo correctly and your flash will fire enough to expose your shadowed subject correctly. Now turn off your flash and take the photo again without the fill flash.

This is an example of using flash on a cloudy day. On the left with no flash. On the right with flash.

I'm still learning about using flash and how flash can be my friend. I just recently purchased an external flash and I'm so excited to learn to use it, especially for indoors! I've been playing around with it today and was so happy with the results. Practice, practice, practice.

Most of the info I shared in this post was from the Two Peas course 12 Weeks to Better Photos.

Happy shooting!

Holiday Photos...

With the business and craziness of the holiday it's difficult to remember all the moments we may want to capture during this time of year so here's a quick list of holiday photos you don't want to miss and a few tips on how to capture them.

Document traditions.
From baking Christmas cookies, to drinking hot cocoa, to decorating your Christmas Tree, make sure to document those traditions and celebrations that are meaningful to you this time of year. Don't forget to take close ups of the mug of cocoa or the decorated cookies. When taking close ups turn on the macro setting (the little flower.)


Santa hats are perfect props!
I take photos of my kids in Santa hats every year. We send out a photo Christmas card every year, so I printed the photos we've used for the past few years for our cards and plan to create a mini album to display every year during the holidays, adding a new photo each year. You could use them as ornaments or other decorations each year.


Take pictures of your favorite decorations.
We all have those special decorations, whether it was handed down from your granparents or it is the sweet ornaments your children made, take a picture and preserve them forever. The snowman belonged to my grandmother and is one of my most cherished decorations.


Photograph the gift-wrapping process, you could take pictures of your gifts piled up with your rolls of wrapping paper and ribbon to document this task.

Capture the glow of the Christmas tree or the candle-lit menorah.
Use your tripod (or place your camera on something steady) and turn off the flash, too! I've found when shooting indoors, with little light (mostly dark), setting my ISO to 400, shutter speed to 8, and aperture to 8 I get the pretty star glow from the Christmas lights. (If you're trying to take a photograph with your children and the tree make sure they stand very still or you will get a blurry mess.)


Everyone's together...get group photos.
Usually, for group shots you need to set your aperture around f/5.6 or f/8 so everyone is in focus. Take group shots at the begining of the day before everyone gets busy or tired out from all the fun and excitement, tired little ones make for difficult photo shoots.

Take photos that show the mood.
I love looking over at the tree with the presents set out underneath. Take the time to photograph this quiet moment before the gifts are opened and the chaos begins. Capture the excitement in your children or grandchildren's faces as they look over the presents. Take a picture of dinner and table settings/ decorations laid out on the table before everyone gathers to eat.

Remember to use a higher shutter speed during gift opening time, there will be lots of action in those photos.
With slower shutter speeds you will need more light so set your ISO higher as well.
When using camera flash have the subjects step a few feet away from the wall behind them to help cut out those harsh shadows flash can create and you should step back a few feet and zoom in so the light the flash creates doesn't white out the subjects.
Also, see if you can set your own white balance, it can really make a difference, especially indoors.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed holiday!

12 Weeks To Better Photos...Week 2

So this week we practiced using shutter speed and ISO.

What is ISO?
ISO is a setting that determines how fast an image will be captured by the digital sensor. The higher the ISO, the quicker the image will be captured and the less light that is required. The lower the ISO, the longer it takes for the image to be captured and the more light you will need.
How do we know what ISO setting to use?
ISO depends mostly on the amount of light available. Remember back when we used film -- do you remember looking on the back of the film box for the handy reference guide that suggested what film speed should be used when? It’s still a good rule of thumb for digital cameras.

100-200 outdoors with bright light
400 outdoors in the shade or overcast/indoors with a lot of light
800-1600 indoors with low light condition/ sports and action

On to Shutter Speed...
After you’ve decided on which ISO setting to use, it’s time to set the shutter speed.
Shutter speed is how quickly the shutter, or the little door that opens in front of the image sensor, operates. It can range from several seconds (or minutes on some cameras) to 1/1600 of a second or faster. It helps to think of the shutter on the camera as an actual door, with the shutter speed controlling how fast or how slow the door opens and closes.
A faster shutter speed freezes action and a slower shutter speed creates a blurred effect when photographing movement. When setting your shutter speed on your camera, you’ll see numbers like 60, 120, 250, 1000 and so on. These actually represent 1/60th of a second, 1/120th of a second and so on. So the higher the bottom number on the fraction, the faster the shutter speed. The smaller the number, the slower the shutter speed. You will also see shutter speeds for seconds, indicated by inch marks ("). For example, if the display says 1"5, that indicates a shutter speed of 1½ seconds. If the display says 30", the shutter will be open for 30 seconds.

Tips:
Use your tripod (or a flat, stable surface) for shutter speeds slower than 1/50th
of a second -- so any shutter speed reading 50 or below, and anything with inch marks.

Use a slow shutter speed to portray a blurred subject or surroundings.

If you are hand-holding your camera, set your shutter speed at a
minimum of 1/60th of a second (indicated by the number 60) or faster.

Hold your breath while taking the photo to help keep yourself steady.

If you are wiggly or have wiggly subjects, increase your shutter speed.

Fast-moving objects will need a faster shutter speed, around 1/1000 of a second or higher, in order to freeze the subject in action.

Here's the challenge:

This is called the kitchen sink test. If you don’t have a window by your kitchen sink, try a bathroom sink. If you don’t have enough light inside your house, a water hose, a babbling brook, or a rain puddle will do.

First of all, set your camera to the Shutter Priority mode (often indicated with an "S" or "Tv" on your camera dial. Don’t worry about aperture as the camera will take care of that for you. If you are inside go ahead and bump up your ISO between 1000 and 1600 unless you have lots of natural light from a window.
If you need extra help figuring out your settings? These sites may help...Canon help...Nikon Help.)

Find something that will interrupt the flow of water, causing the water to splash around it ...similar to what a child’s boots do when tromping through a rain puddle... it could be a glass cup, vase, upside down bowl, anything that will allow the water to splash.
Set your shutter speed to 1/80th of a second (indicated by the number 80.) You can try lower if you would like. Turn on the water and take the picture.
Next, set your shutter really high (around 1/1000 of a second or higher) and take the photo again. (Remember lighting will get darker with higher shutter speed, sometimes I can't set my shutter speed this high indoors or the picture blacks out.)
Don’t worry if the two pictures aren't the same composition , we just want visual indication that the action has been "frozen" by using a high shutter speed.

Point & Shoot Tip:
Set your camera on action mode (usually a running man) to use a higher shutter speed. Take a photo in action mode and then again in a different mode, such as landscape, and compare the difference. For really slow shutter speed set your camera to night mode (usually a moon) and see what effect that gives you.

Here are my examples...
Since it has been dark and gloomy and rainy for over a week now I went with the jumping in the puddles suggestion.

My 3 yo was more than happy to help me out. It's not everyday mom asks if you want to go jumping in the puddles!

With it being so dark a.l.l. d.a.y. l.o.n.g it was difficult to have good light at my higheset shutter speed.

shutter speed 1/15, f/6.4, ISO 200

You can see the action is blurred. My daughter and the splashed water is not "frozen."

shutter speed 1/1000, f/3.5, ISO 400

In this photo you can see the water "frozen" in mid splash. I love the droplets coming off of the big splash!

My sister and I decided to take the challenge further and also take a picture using the panning technique which has a lot to do with shutter speed and getting a blurred picture on purpose, lol, but I have run out of time and didn't get one, so I'll share an older picture using the panning technique.

Notice the leaf is in focus but the background is blurred, showing the motion of the falling leaf.

Most of what I shared was from the Two Peas Class info, if you want to read even more of what they "taught" about ISO and shutter speed: click here.

If you are playing along with me let me know in my comments and include a link to your blog so we can all encourage and learn from each other!

Next we will be learning about light.

Happy Shooting...