Bond, James Bond

This weekend was so much fun!
I went to a shootout hosted by Studio One Pensacola.  These are wonderful for all skill levels, from beginner to professional.  If you are in the area and enjoy photography, you should join the group at http://www.meetup.com/Emerald-Coast-Photography/ I am so glad I did and in fact everything I've learned has been because of this group and the wonderful people.

The shootouts involve a few hours of training time, in studio lighting and set up.  Then models join us for the shooting.  This past Sunday's Theme was Jame Bond.  Two female models and two male models were with us.

A few things I've learned from this shootout:
1.  Step out of your comfort zone.  I asked a model for some one on one time over by the natural light window.  I believe this was on of my best shots for the day.  If I would not have asked, I would not have gotten the shot.
2.  Quality, not quantity.  In the past I've filled up my memory card, most was trash.  This time, I carefully selected my shots and I believe I got more usable images this time then both previous times together.
3.  Ask questions.  Most people like to share.  Don't be scared to ask them, hey what do you mean by that.  I'm new. So while I might understand somethings, even basic vocabulary sometimes needs to be defined for me, and guess what, when I asked what do you mean? no one laughed, they were glad to share.

BIRTHDAY!

Today the kids and I went to a beautiful little girl's FIRST birthday party!
Despite the rain, everyone had a great time.  The kids jumped in the bounce house (setup in the garage), slip and slided (is that a word???) in the rain, and took a bat to a pinata.
I could not have asked for a better way to spend a rainy Saturday!

August 26 2010~Tamara and Family!

So I'm going out of order here a little bit, just to catch myself up!
Today I was able to meet with the cutest family of 3! The mother is just gorgeous! This was a maternity/family/child shoot all rolled into one! We had a great time! It was HOT and there were gnats, we were sweaty, but it all seemed to work out in the end!

Things I learned from this session

1. The child directs the shoot. No sense in trying to control that.
2. Would like to work on angles and positions that are flattering to the body, sitting on one hip, for example to decrease attention to the backside :)
3. Love shines through in the eyes. Catch the love in the eyes and you've got your shot!

Family Photos! Take One!

Before I begin, I need to go back.  Remember how I said I learned the importance of shooting in RAW with my first engagement couple?  Well that realization actually came from this session.  We started out meeting in the park, this family was so cute and well put together.  I was so excited to have the opportunity to photograph them.  **click, look at viewfinder, hum, looks blurry, click again, look at viewfinder again, still blurry**  grrrrrrrr what is wrong?

First mistake, I had a polarizing filter on from the day before when I was testing it out on something else.  Ok not really a big deal, but why are they so blurry?  hum, I don't know.  So I continue to snap away, taking the quick shot here or there, but every picture of this cute little boy is just a blur.  Check my shutter speed, no, it should be fast enough to freeze action. Gosh, I don't know.

So we finish up, I go home, look at the pictures and they are what I would call sub par, even for the beginner I am.  I take my camera out and the reason about smacks me in the face.  Somehow the tab for focus was pushed over to manual!   Wow talk about a learning experience!  Oh and from the night before, I had turned my ISO up to 800 and I forgot to change it back.  I was so upset.

I did happen to get a few pictures which I hope the family enjoyed! Here is where the RAW comes into play because they were so over exposed, if I had not shot in RAW the photos would be in the trash can and deleted by now. The family has since moved from Pensacola and so I do not have the opportunity to reshoot them.

Things I learned from this session:
1. ALWAYS check camera settings!  and then double check them again.  Once you've done that, check them again to make sure they are correct.
2. Sometimes @%! happens, you just got to roll with it.
3. Need to bring a bag of goodies to keep little boys still for more then 1/200000th of a second! :)

and we're off.............

For my very first nonfriend, nonfamily session I was lucky to shoot this GREAT couple.  They wanted engagement photos for their wedding in October!  This was so much fun!  My perfect FIRST experience!  I could not have asked for it to get better!  We got some great shots and I learned so much.
Here is a couple things I learned.
1.  Try NO FLASH first
2.  Assert myself when suggesting an idea
3.  If at first you don't succeed, try different settings!

Here area  few from the session!