Light It Up!

I don’t typically blog the family pictures from weddings. I know that’s stupid, because they are very important. And this is not a very good one. We were under serious time constraints at the venue when they decided to get a group shot of everyone in attendance. The bride and groom should have been at least near the front but I let everyone gobble them up so we could knock this out and move on. The only reason for this post is because Debra took the behind the scene image and I thought it would be an opportunity to share how I handle a group shot. Churches often have mixed lighting. We had a combination yesterday of a large skylight directly overhead, and spotlights. If I would have shot without assistance of my own lights seen in Debra’s image, There would have been a combination of people in shadows, and people that were lit by the other light sources in the church. What I like to do, is set up a couple of flashes on either side shot thru a small umbrella. Its not fancy, its not creative, but it gives you a nice consistent image that I am sure the couple and their friends and family will enjoy.

Brian and the Roadster

The Megapixel Debate

Is more megapixels really important? Well it doesnt hurt. But the quality of an image doesnt come from the number of pixels, as much as the design of the sensor and the quality of the glass. But more megapixels is a good way to sell cameras and the manufacturers know this. Especially Canon, the brand of camera I use. The 2 cameras I currently use have 21 mp and 18 mp. What does this mean to a photographer? Larger files, slower processing, more memory. But it doesnt really make a lick of difference in image quality. In this image below, I am standing (for scale purposes) in front of an image of Dani Pedrosa that I took at the 2005 Moto GP race in Monterey. Im sorry about the 2 fold scores in the print, it was the only way I could fit a 48″ x 96″ print in my car. I took this image with an 8 mp camera. Today, they are slapping 8 mp sensors in camera phones. Now this print, is probably a little bit larger than most of you will print your photos, so dont worry about your megapixels. You have enough.

After the Wedding

When we first met Angelica and Mark, it was three weeks before their wedding, not enough time to shoot an engagement session for them. But we got together recently for a “Day after” session, at the Montage in Laguna Beach.  It was a dreary, overcast afternoon. The threatening rain never materialized but it was down right chilly at times.  Angelica’s radiant smile, never faded. She looked like a princess. Mark looked like the luckiest guy in the world. This fun, truly happy couple are one of the reasons I love wedding photography. Being able to be a part of life affirming moments, and sharing in the joy, never gets old. Thank you Angelica and Mark, it was a pleasure, again.

These photos were lit with 1 or 2 Blackbelt Lighting Speed light kits.

Orange County Photo Club September Meetup

Well, it wasn’t supposed to go like this. Kerry, who organizes the club was out of town for our September gathering. He asked me if I could handle things while he was gone and I thought it would be fun to do a little mini shoot with my photography friends. Debra served up her lovely daughter as a volunteer, and since she just graduated high school, we thought it would be fitting to do a “Senior Photo Session”. The only problem is when you have one model and a dozen photographers, you lose some of the nuances of a portrait session.  So this shoot quickly became more of an editorial type shoot I guess. None the less, it was great fun shooting with the group.

The Day After with Ryan and Candice

Let There Be Light!

It doesn’t happen in Southern California very often, but occasionally you get one of those days when the marine layer is so thick, you have no idea where the sun is. Shooting an outdoor wedding in these conditions are going to leave you with very flat images. You can adjust for this kind of situation and still get great images but without any light you are void of any contrast and shadows. When night falls it gets even more interesting. You can slap a flash on your camera and add a kick of light that will make the colors pop a little more. But I think even better, is to set up an off camera light source as I did here for these images. What do you think?

 

Black and White

It wasnt so long ago that photographers could only present their work in black and white. Then came color film, but it wasnt very good looking back then. But it was cutting edge I guess. Looking back at family album pictures, the black and white images are the ones that catch my eye. Black and white represents the ultimate in classic, timeless imagery. Without the distraction of colors, mono images enhance the beauty of line and shape and brings an artistic feel to any composition. Its also great for its documentary properties.

But with the ever increasing color capabilities of cameras, the amazing color reproduction in prints, the fantastic resolution available on computer monitors, it is sometimes difficult to shoot with a black and white vision. I am as guilty as anyone of only seeing in color. I dont look at a scene and see it for its black and white potential. But what I do look for in my images is contrast, and a contrasty color image quite often lends itself to a good mono image.

Sometimes the color we see through the camera can detract from other elements of the composition. Especially when what makes a composition interesting is tonal qualities, lines, shape, or textures. Photographs you consider rubbish, can sometimes be given a new lease on life when you change them to black and white. I have often said that a blurry picture or bad color rendition is called “artistic” when you convert it to grayscale. Landscapes, macros, and portraits are all excellent for black and white images.

OC Parkour / OC Photo Club

Parkour, as defined in Wikipedia, is a utilitarian discipline based upon the direct, successful, swift traversing of one’s surrounding environment via the practical application of techniques, based around the concept of self-preservation. It is a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, using only their bodies. Skills such as jumping, climbing, vaulting, rolling, swinging and wall scaling are employed. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles are preferable and it is most commonly practiced in urban areas.

Im sure someone wrote some scientific law of motion that the guys at OC Parkour would find a loophole in. These guys are fun to watch. Cameras with shutter lag need not apply. In fact, I found myself pre focusing and then waiting for the action.

Photos are really not the way to adequately describe what these guys do. Its like Karate, gymnastics, and running from the police all rolled into one! Video by Kerry Garrison is really the best way to enjoy Parkour.

 

 

Yosemite – Long Exposure Night Shot

Im sitting here looking at images taken this past weekend in Yosemite wishing we were still there. I will share images from the trip in the coming days, but I wanted to post this image taken on the balcony of our cabin. Whats cool about this image (well, I think its cool) is that it was taken in complete darkness at about 9:30 at night. If you have a tripod, a full moon puts out enough light to get you a decent exposure, if your camera has an option for leaving the shutter open for a long ass time! This shot was captured by leaving the shutter open for 8 minutes. The foreground trees actually got their warmth from the lights in the cabin.

 

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