Year Two (111) – Nakd

Mmm… nakd photography…  this shot is all about keeping the camera settings exactly the same and just moving the light and of course nakd … so read on 🙂

Year Two (109) – Still Life

Straight out of camera shots for product photography, getting the right light in camera makes editing a doodle – well, actually it reduces the editing to about nothing… today I was reinforcing the basics:

• Set the white balance with the grey card
• Exposing the background so the whites were white but not blown
• Lighting the foreground so shadows were minimal
• Experimenting with surfaces

Year Two (104) – Wedding Details

It is also a great pleasure to photograph a wedding, but what makes a wedding special and unique to the couple in my opinion are the little details that they have created to make their day their own, and it is essential as a photographer to capture some of those movements, some of those looks and that says they are in love.

For me the most essential skills that a wedding photographer needs are:

Year Two (1oo) – Flash experiments

At the moment I have been taken pictures less and looking at light more, and experimenting with flash… I want to master better control over the light and get the light working for me… so I have been experimenting.

I started by using the grey card to set the exposure for the shot…I was shooting in manual, you can use a light meter, but I have been reading and watching on how to use a grey card instead…  grey cards can be used for setting the colour balance too – useful video here:

Year Two (94) – Studio Children

I love working with flash rather than studio lights as I think it is so much more portable… but you can create the studio high key look really well… but there are some tricks to getting the eye contact that you need to make the image work.

Having fun in the “Peek A Boo” basket and listening for the squeak!

Year Two (57) – Reptiles again…

An evening an Old Bakery taking photos of reptiles on various set ups – there were three set ups – two with studio lights and one with flash – the one with flash was my set up and involved a light box and one flash … I had brought along various props and Richard provide the animals.

I had collected a rusty piece of metal from the beach and some leaves to make one backdrop – it worked really well as great camouflage and complemented the colour of the lizard.

100mm lens – F11, 1/160 sec

It was hard

Year Two (51) – Lauren

Off to the Old Bakery last night and the theme was dancing – we had two dancers turn up, but I focused on only one of them – Lauren. I picked her up before the shoot, and discovered she had never had her photo taken as a dancer / model and she was a little nervous… I told her that the group of photographers were equally nervous… and they she was in charge…

Photography and Dance is fun – the perfect facebook splat!

L

Year Two (44) -Moments to treasure

Photography for me is about capturing moments, moments that tell a story, moments that one day become memories and moments which at the time can be everyday occurrences – that are easily forgotten as our children grew.

Often as a photographer you get to do head shots, family group shots, weddings, cake smashes, new borns – but for me I love the opportunity to do an informal on location shoot – to spend time with a family and capture moments that just happen, that are fun and are just every day occurrences …

Bounced Flash – what a cutie.

Year Two (42) – Cake Smash

I love taking photos of young children, especially capturing moments that families can look back on and remember the memories, and I wish I had the skills back when my children were small to capture the images I would have liked to have had, alternatively I wish I had had the money to pay a professional to capture those moments.

Now though – I have become that professional, but with a twist….

Behind the Scenes

I know as a new mum, with three under 18 months,