I finally have some pictures to post of someone other than my kids. This past weekend the family and I went to the Dallas Arboretum to take engagement photos of Jacyln & Gerald. It was my first attempt at doing a live shoot and I’m glad they gave me the opportunity to photography them. After 10 years of being married, it’s fun to look at the pictures my wife and I took, so I didn’t take the task they charged me with lightly.
My wife was a great assistant and helped a lot, but my son who refused to take a nap earlier, decided 30 minutes into the shoot that now was a good time. But she was prepared for that and handled the situation while I kept going.
As always, I like to share what I learned, so here goes:
Pay attention to the details. The arboretum was really busy that way, so I had to pay attention to what (or who) was in the background. I was constantly having to stop or reposition myself because of people walking by. There’s a lot you have to consider when taking outdoor photos, but I think I managed it well.
It helps to have an assistant. My wife was able to catch things I missed. She made sure they were looking right, which allowed me to focus on composition and finding good spots to shoot.
You really do need a flash outdoors. I used to wonder why photographers had flashes outdoors. The pictures where I didn’t use one had a lot of shadows and came out dark. I learned I need a lesson on flash photography and lighting.
When outdoors, bring water and something for sweat. Because of the kids, we had drinks, but I wouldn’t have had one if I were on my own. It was hot that day and there was no cloud cover at all.
Have a couple of planned out posed shots to start off. It was slow in the beginning, but things got easier as we went on. There was a lot of potential for some really good pictures, but the time went by fast. Guess I have to save them for later.
Having a photogenic couple helps. When I was looking through the full set of photos, their smiles and expression were so natural. But that’s the way it is when you’re in love. They made my job a lot easier.
It was a great first time experience for me and we’ll see if there are more to come. Here are just a couple of the ones I took. I’d like comments on the photos. Any advice or tips are welcome. Enjoy!
Since I don’t get be in a lot of the photos I take, I’ve started a little tradition where I do a self-portrait each year on my birthday. Self-portraits can be difficult and time consuming, but I like the challenge and try to use some of the techniques I’ve learned throughout the year.
The pose I chose was due to the fact that I’ve spent a lot of time this past year in front of a computer. While this isn’t too uncommon of me, the projects I’ve been on have kept me in front of a PC more than usual. Fortunately, I enjoy what I do, so it doesn’t always seem like work. And as for the couch, I’ve spent many late nights in that exact spot, so I felt the need to include it in the shot.
On Thursday (Feb 11th) it started snowing in North Texas. It’s rare, so I made sure to enjoy it with the boys. For the first time we were actually able to build a real snowman and have snowball fights with the neighbors. I was able to get some nice photos over the last couple of days.
The biggest thing I had to remember was to decrease the aperture because my first set of pictures came out all white. I thought my camera was on the fritz, but realized I had it set to 2.8 for some indoor shots I was taking earlier. I lowered it to 8 and everything was all good. I also threw in some black and white shots.
Round can simple described as a “Circle”. Circles are simple closed curves which divide the plane into two regions, an interior and an exterior.
OK…that’s the technical jargon. We all know what Round is and can identify objects that are round in shape. Your challenge couldn’t be much easier. Locate something that is “Round” and turn it into a creative photograph. We must clearly be able to determine which object you’ve chosen as your round subject.
Yeah, yeah this is pretty basic, but time has not been on my side the past couple of months. I wanted to make the challenge and it was cold outside, so I decided to look for round objects around the house. This was the most obvious.
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
Focal Length: 17.3 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash
Since most people still have their Christmas decorations up, I guess I’m not too late with the pictures. I thought I’d share a couple of pictures I took over my Christmas vacation. I just recently got a used Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens at a really good price and wanted to test it out in some low light situations. I would have like to have gotten the Nikon equivalent, but I really couldn’t justify the cost. All in all, I’d have to say it’s a good lens. I’ve been wanting a decent zoom lens for a while and this one definitely lives up to its reviews.
All of these pictures were hand held because I knew the camera would do well with a tripod. The first set of pictures are in Downtown Dallas. I hadn’t been there in a while and didn’t know they completed the park, so I decided to stop and get a couple of shots. They had so many other nighttime shots I wanted to get, but finding a place to park for a few minutes was tough.
The second set of photos were taken in San Antonio. I’ve finally started taking the white balance off Auto and think I may start doing it more often. The camera does a good job of choosing the best setting, but sometimes manual is the way to go.
The third set of photos were taken New Year’s Eve. My wife and I got a chance to go out without the kids for dinner and a movie. After having dinner in Plano, we took a little stroll around the Shops at Legacy. I had my camera and decided to get some shots of the area. It was cold, but nice that night.
For those photo enthusiasts, if you click the view on flickr link, you’ll be able to see the camera settings I used.
