Beginning Digital Photography Lesson

I am not posting a lesson this week as I am still putting it together I do not want to put up a so-so lesson.  So keep studying the first 3 lessons and lesson 4 In A Flash: Using Flash in Your Photos will go up next Mon.
I didn't want to skip a week but, this weekend was super busy for me and for this first class I am still putting the lessons together as I go so be patient with me and return next Mon for lesson 4 In A Flash.

Have a Happy Week

Beginning Digital Photography Lesson 3 Framing it Up

Learning about composition.
One of the decisions that the photographer needs to make is where to stand and which way to point the camera.  Some guides that are used in helping the photographer determine this are as follows.
*Rule of Thirds
*Using Diagonals
*Circles
*Frames Within Frames
*Influencing a Composition

*Rule of Thirds:
A simple device for getting the balance of a composition right is to use the rule of thirds.  This breaks the frame up into a grid of 9 equal rectangles.  Key points of the shot are placed at one or more of the intersections, while key horizontal or vertical lines relate to the grid lines.

 

*Using Diagonals:

Diagonal lines generally work well to draw the eye of an image's viewer through the photograph.  They create points of interest as they intersect with other lines and often give images depth by suggesting perspective.  They can also add a sense of action to an image and add a dynamic look and feel.

Taken by Basic and Beyond Photography

*Circles:

Triangles and diagonal lines are known for their ability to create drama and tension within the frame.  Circles and curved lines tend to do the opposite, often creating harmony within a picture.  If you incorporate a dominant round shape within a photo, you will find not only that it attracts immediate attention but also that it is hard for the eye to draw away from it.

 Taken by Basic and Beyond Photography

*Frames Within Frames:

The most popular way of achieving this is to use a natural frame that is present in the scene, and shoot through this.  Archways, columns, trees, door frames, and window frames are commonly used in this way, providing an artistic means of limiting the useful image area of the shot.  Once you have started looking, you will find that these natural frames occur everywhere.

Frames within frames also serve other purposes.  For instance, the technique can be a way of hiding distracting details in the foreground.  It is also a way to help create a feeling of depth in photos, because frames add another layer to the image.

From scrapjazz.com

*Influencing Composition:

Great photos are often made rather than found.  Instead of photographing a scene as it is, the photographer usually moves around to find the best angle, often encouraging subjects to move to a good composition.  Inanimate objects can be moved or moved around until the desired composition is reached.  Just remember to be flexible.  As you arrange your shots you may need to adapt to your subject and/or your surroundings.  Incorporating props and taking suggestions and ideas from your subject/s.

Taken by Basic and Beyond Photography

Assignment:

Choose one of the 5 composition guides, using its description capture a photo that represents it best.

Please label the photo with the guide that you have chosen to use.

Assignment due Sun Oct. 17 6pm central.

Til next time happy shooting.

Another Day in the Life Oct 8 2010

So lets update from yesterday, today the contractor we'll call him Mr. M comes out to the house checks out the outlets hanging out of their boxes and the light switches in my dead bathroom.  Everything looks to be in tip top shape so he crawls under the house to check out the junction box under the bathroom.  Still everything looking to be in tip top shape.  But wait I remember we put this bathroom on its own circuit and we had to pull that from the breaker box in the basement did you check that one.  WTH do I look like a psychic I never in a million years would have guessed that the bathroom would have been wired into the basement box.  SO head to the basement well what do you know there is a tripped breaker.  Flip the switch we should be in business now lug my hobbling butt back up the stairs, REALLY still the GFCI outlet is tripped.  Get the little red box out to make sure there is juice to the bathroom yup sure is.  OK so now WTH start taking outlets apart til Mr. M says you know I think this outlet goes to an outside outlet.  Head outside sure enough that outlet feeds and outside outlet that is obviously no longer functioning properly.  So Mr. M says do you want the outside outlet still working or do you want me to bypass it for now.  Ok by this time I have been up and down the stairs too many times, I have had to use one of the other bathrooms in my house for 2 days, and I just want the power back to my bathroom.  Just bypass the damn thing and please give me my bathroom back.  So after 2 very long be it interesting hours and a very important discovery I now have back the use of my bathroom.  All the switches work, the outlets have juice, my lights and exhaust fan are working properly, and I am a happy momma.  Thank you Mr. M for fixing my electrical malfunction and not breaking my bank in the process.  Now I can't wait til it gets cold to find out what it is like to have an extra built in heater in the bathroom to keep it nice and toasty.
Remember Monday brings  lesson 3 of The Beginning Digital Photography Class and it will be all about composition. Have a great weekend.

Another Day in the Life Oct 7 2010

So yesterday was both a good day and a bad day.  Let me take you back to around 8:30 am mind you at this time I was still in a cast hobbling around the house on my wheeley walker.  So I take the tedious measures that it takes to get myself into the shower.  Finally get done with my shower still a good day I get my cast off.  Now I am onto the other tedious task of blow drying and flat ironing my hair this is when my day took a dramatic turn.  As I am blow drying my hair my head hung upside down for better lift it happens.  The whole bathroom goes dark the blow dryer is stopped and here I am head upside down hair not dry and I have no power in my bathroom.  Ok no biggie I will just go flip the breaker and be back in business. Ha ha ha I find that this is not my problem.  So back to the bathroom to reset the GFCI outlet WTF it won't reset and my bathroom is in total darkness.  OK so I gotta finish getting ready blow dryer still too hot won't come back on so I proceed to go ahead and flat iron my hair. WTF again the outlet in the boys bathroom not working either really is this karma trying to tell me something.  So just outside the boys bathroom I finally find an outlet that is working properly but now I have to use only the corner of the mirror while using flat iron.  So by this time I am sweaty my hair is still frizzy and now I have to try to put my make up on over my sweat and try to get the rest of the frizz out of my hair so I can get out of the house by 9:50 to make my appt to get my cast removed.  So I finish and proceed with the rest of my day.
Skip forward to 4:00pm hubby calls to ask if I need anything on the way home and I tell him no but proceed to tell him about my tragedy with the bathroom.  Ok he says in his I can't believe this is happening I don't want to deal with this tonight voice.  I tell him I already got a new outlet all he has to do is come home and change it should be good to go right??????????? Yeah right.......  Outlet changed breaker flipped back on and nothing not a single glimmer of hope that a light or outlet is working in the bathroom.  So he proceed to take the covers and remove each and every outlet in our bathroom and still no sign of a reason why we have no power in our bathroom no shorted wires no evidence what so ever.  So I call contractor who did the remodel on the bathroom no answer left message and went to league so could do my secretary thing.  (still no bowling for me for another 2 weeks) Contractor calls back today says should not take him too long to locate the problem but cannot get out here til tomorrow morning so have to use one of the other bathrooms while ours is Out Of Service.  This would not otherwise be so bad but my boys are disgusting little creatures and their bathroom smells like a boys locker room.  UGH Good thing there is option number 2 available cause man o man you need a clothes pin to go in the other one. 
So what have I learned in the past 36 hours that simply blow drying your hair can sometimes be anything but simple. 

Beginning Digital Photography Lesson 2 Learning about Light

Copyright Basic and Beyond Photography 2010

Today we will learn about light and what that means to a photographer. 
Light is the primary working tool of the photographer.  Light is the visible portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum.  The spectrum starts from red, the weakest of rays, all the way to violet which is the strongest of rays.
Light rays from the sun are considered white and they contain all the colors of the spectrum.  Black is the absence of any color.  When we place a prism in front of a white ray, the prism will diffract (separate) that light into all the colors of the spectrum.

About Light Rays
We have different labels for describing the rays we see.  Here are a few basic ones:
Transmitted Rays
 When you look at a stop light the top light is red, the middle is yellow, and the bottom light is green.  That light is transmitted by putting a light source behind a colored film
Direct Rays
When you look directly into the sun, a camera's flash unit, or a flashlight you are looking at direct light. The light you see is coming directly from the source.
Reflected Rays
When you look at anything, you can see that object because direct light is shining on it and being reflected back into your eyes.
Ambient Light 
Think of ambient light as stray light- light rays that are being bounced around from all sorts of sources.  If direct or reflected light on the subject is stronger your subject will appear clearer and less hazy.
Available Light
Available light simply means whatever light is present when not using a flash or other sources of light.

Now that you have learned the more technical side of light let's look at how it impacts you as a photographer and how you can use it to your advantage.
There are 2 types of light:

Natural/Available- This only comes from one source the sun.  Now this can be bounced, reflected, direct, transmitted, or ambient.  But, it still comes from only one place.  The SUN.

Artificial- This comes from any source other than the sun.  This can come from pop-up flash, speedlight, studio lights (strobes), street lights, or lights around your home (exp. lamps, Christmas lights, candles, flashlights, etc.)

Today's focus will be on using Natural/Available light.  This can be both the easiest and the toughest things a photographer has to do.  The reason being is you cannot control natural light you are at it's mercy.  You cannot move it or make it dimmer so you have to know how to use it to your advantage and find ways to harness it when there is not enough of it.  Let's talk about one of the most important settings on a camera.

ISO- International Standards Organization; A number rating indicating the relative sensitivity to light of an image sensor or photographic film.  Faster film (higher ISO) is more sensitive to light and requires less exposure than slower film. 
But as the number goes higher so does your risk for noise (misinterpreted pixels in an image) in the photo.  What you have to do is find the ISO that fits your needs without losing the quality of the photo.

So how do you harness and use available light to your advantage.  Well the easiest thing to do is to simply go outside.  All the light you could ever need is at your finger tips but wait, now the light is way to bright what to do now.  Find some trees shade is the best spot on a sunny day to take photos.  Oh no not enough light in the shade this is where you need an accessory and this accessory does not have to be expensive either.  You need a reflector so you can reflect some of that available light back up into your subject.  What is a reflector?  A reflector can be anything you want to use that will reflect light.  The cheapest and best example would be a white poster board it makes one of the best reflector and costs less than a dollar for a nice sized sheet. 
Working outside on a cloudy day is another great way to take advantage of available light you don't have the sun causing nasty shadows or bright spots in your photos and your subject can relax and have fun.  Want to take some photos indoors this is a bit trickier but can be done.  This is where you might have to start playing with some of those manual settings on your camera if you have them but even if you don't turn your flash off and force that camera to take the photo.  This may cause your camera to use a slower shutter speed in this case you would need a tripod so you don't have camera shake and end up with a blurry photo.  If you know that light comes pouring into that room at a certain time everyday that is the time of day you want to take photos indoors in that room it will provide you with the best results. Also remember your new friend the reflector you will get more light into the scene if you use it.

Now that we have talked about how to use available light let's talk about the direction of the light.  Why would you need to know what direction the light is coming from?  Well so you can use it even better to your advantage.  If the light is in your subjects face they are going to squint and distort their face and not look good.  Hence a bad photo.  If the light is behind the subject you probably just shot a very nice silhouette instead of a detailed photo.  If the sun is harsh to one side or the other of your subject you are likely to lose half of the face in a shadow.  These are very important things and all relate to what direction the light is coming from.

So what is the best time to take photos outside then?????????

The Golden Hour of course.
The Golden hour is a term that refers to the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset.  These have been deemed the best times to shoot photos outdoors. You still have enough light to net you great photos but you don't have the sun casting harsh shadows and distorting your subject. 

Now I like any other photographer will tell you rules are there for guidelines and in the world of photography where artistic interpretation is key rules are made to be broken.  Get out there and experiment use the rules and tips that you have received as guides on your journey.  Find what works for you and never stop learning.

This weeks assignment:
Photos using available light
Turn in 2 photos taken this week that you have used only available light in.
1 outside
1 indoors
If your out side shot has a person in it try to make sure you are mindful of shadows and hot spots on your subjects face.
The indoor photo should be in focus and well lit.
Assignment Due Sun Oct 10 at 6:00 pm central

Still not too late

Still not too late to start taking the online beginning digital photography class here you can begin any time.  I would like some feedback if you would like to leave it on whether you would like all the lessons up to go at your own pace or would you like them put up one week at a time over 10 weeks.  I am trying to make this class the best for the students and would love feedback or if it is even worth me doing it.  I would love the feedback of my readers.  Don't want to leave a comment on here email it to me I will get it too. Well I will leave you for now and for now I will leave the lessons going up one week at a time until I get some feedback.

Beginning Digital Photography Lesson 1 History and Definitions

The History of Photography

The History

The early cave paintings attest to the fact that man has always wanted to record himself, his activities and the environment around him. This art, until very recently, has been reserved for the talented individuals, not the everyday, ordinary person. Painters of great renown abound throughout the centuries and have left remarkable pictorial histories of our journey through time. While the camera was not invented until the 19th century, the two basic elements of a camera had been well known for hundreds of years.
The first element of a working camera known by the ancients is the effect of a lighted area separated from a dark area with only a pin hole opening between them. An inverted (upside down) image of the lighted area will be produced on a flat surface in the dark area. As early as the 1400's it was documented that inserting a lens in the hole would produce a crisper, clearer image. This technology, called "camera obscura" was often used by artists to sketch objects more quickly and ease the difficulties of depth perception. The image was allowed to be projected on a piece of paper inside a dark box and the artist would trace outlines of the projected image.
The second known element of a working camera was the existence of materials capable of permanent change when exposed to light. These light sensitive chemicals were experimented with for centuries but were not used to coat a flat surface until very recently.
Putting these two pieces of knowledge together proved difficult. Early in the 1800's, the first experiments took place attempting to make images on paper surfaces that had been coated with light sensitive material. The process worked, but a lot of logistical problems needed to be solved. The first major problem was making the captured image on the chemical coated surface permanent. This problem was finally solved with the Daguerrotype image and made a huge impact on the world when it was announced in 1839. However other difficulties remained to be solved.
The Daguerrotype image would appear and the exposure process arrested, but the image was easily lost as the surface chemicals could be damaged. Additionally, the exposure time was longer than practical for common portraiture, which was much in demand. As with all new ideas promising great fortunes, minds work furiously on the glitches preventing practical use.
Photography took many twists and turns as people experimented with chemicals to make the image capturing more practical. As the rage for Daguerrotype reigned, the discovery was being made that latent images in reverse color were revealed to be present after only short exposures. These paper negatives could then be washed, chemically treated and used to make positive paper prints.
This was a major turning point in the development of the photography processes. No longer did people have to make do with the results of a one time process which took up to a minute of sitting absolutely still. Now, the implications were plain to those excited few who realized the possibilities. Exposure time was cut down dramatically and multiple copies of any image could be produced as easily as the first. If multiple copies of a Daguerrotype were desired, then multiple sittings were required.
When this process was perfected enough for common use, for the first time ever, portrait studios popped up all over the place. For a very small cost, people could get their portrait made. Finally we begin to see photographs of poor and working class people who could now afford a family portrait once in a while.
The well known stereotype of the photographer buried in his portable dark tent had its start around the time of the Civil War, or mid-1800's. This tent not only consisted of the camera equipment, but a portable dark room as well. The photographers had to process their photos right on the spot. The portable dark rooms, with the chemicals and equipment, were easily collapsed into moderately large suitcases. While this allowed the propagation of professional photography, the amateur still had to wait for further improvements.
By the 1870's, the wet developing process gave way to a new innovation called the gelatin dry plate. No longer needed were the chemicals on site in the now famous photographers tent. Treated plates could be taken out to the field, exposed, and brought back to a dark room for later processing.
The camera mechanisms themselves were also going through a revolution. It was becoming possible to have the exposures take less time. The shutter releases were mechanically rigged instead of manually opened.
It was during this time of dry processing that Muybridge perfected processing of action images and mechanically rigged cameras to take his pictures. He could not have put his rows of cameras into action if each had to individually be processed on the spot.
The final revolution of the 1800's took place when a man named George Eastman developed the idea of converting the preprocessed plate into rolls of sheets that were mounted on a roll holder inside of the camera. After each exposure, the roll would be forwarded by a special key, and after the roll was fully exposed, the whole camera was mailed or brought back to his plants for development. This camera was called the "Kodak Camera." Now every man, woman and child could become an amateur photographer!
The innovations which have evolved from this point on have made picture taking easier, improved the ability of professionals to specialize, and of course, include the introduction of color photography. Every man, woman and child can now take pictures with confidence, knowing that good quality cameras do as much of the work as we want them to, and developing labs can do the processing for us. We all have the option, however, to do the processing ourselves. Many dark room kits are available for beginners at moderate cost, and make great gifts for those intrigued enough to follow in the footsteps of the men and women who labored to make photography what it is today.

There are literally hundreds of glossary definitions for photography terms but I have slimmed the list to what I feel is the most important and pertinent for a beginner to know.  Terms that will lead to better technical knowledge of photography. Here are what are deemed the top ten and then I have added a few at the end just for good measure.

Photography
From the Greek the means "painting or writing with light."

Rule of Thirds
A way of breaking the the viewing plane into a grid into which you would place your subject in this grid in a manner that would give depth and interest to your photo. 

Digital Imaging
The new evolution of the art of photography where images are scanned into an electronic format

Shutter Speed
How fast the camera's shutters open. Determines how long the film is exposed for. 

Focal Length
The distance from the optical center of a lens to the image plane when the lens is focused to infinity

SLR
Single Lens Reflex; a camera with one lens (as opposed to Twin Lens Reflex like the Rolleiflex) that involves a mirror and prism that the viewer looks through (as opposed to a point and shoot or rangefinder where the viewer looks through a separate viewfinder.

Golden Rectangle
An image ratio (width vs the height) that makes the most pleasing, balanced impression on the viewer. Panoramics are long and skinny; square negatives often make it hard for the viewer to recognize the central focus of a composition. A 35mm format is pretty close to a golden rectangle.

Aperture
The variable opening produced by the iris-diaphragm through which light passes to the film plane. Measured in f/stops.

Depth of Field
The range of acceptably sharp focus in front of and behind the distance the lens is focused on.

Sunny-16 Rule
A guideline that states that you can expose a normal scene, lit by bright sunlight, at an aperture of f16 and a shutter speed equivalent to the film speed (ISO or ASA) being used

ISO
International Standards Organization; the number represents the film's sensitivity to light. A higher ISO number indicates the film is more sensitive and requires less light for a proper exposure.

 Resolution
A word with many meanings. In digital imaging, it most often refers to the number of pixels per inch in an image file. It can also refer to printer resolution, digital camera CCD resolution, etc. In traditional photography, if refers to the ability of a lens or photographic material to reproduce small details and is measured in lines per millimeter

Flare
Image degradation caused by stray light which passes through the lens but is not focused to form the primary image. Often caused by light bouncing off internal air-to-glass surfaces.

Fill-Flash
Exposure consisting of a combination of flash and "available light" balanced to produce a pleasing mix of the two.



Assignment:
This assignment is a 2 part assignment.
Part one is easy search your personal photo archives and show off the photo that you feel is the best photo you have ever taken and explain why.
Part two out of the definitions above pick the one that you knew little or nothing about and explain how you feel it will best help you in your journey in learning to take better photos.
Assignment Due Sun Oct 3rd by 6:00 pm Central 

You can email all assignments to basicandbeyondphotography@gmail.com if you would like to make your photos available for the entire class you may set up either a flickr account or a photobucket account and provide your user name in the lesson comment area so the entire class can see how each others growing.  I know this is a lot of work for the class and I apologize it is my first but I really just want to teach others about photography and this is the most cost effective way to do it.  If it comes that this is popular enough I will set up a more effective way and more user friendly way to do this.      

   

Sept 24 post #2 Beginning Digital Photography Class information

Hey all I have had some interest in the details of the class so I thought I would go ahead and get some information up.  Since right now I have so much time on my hands.
I plan for this being a 10 week class I have 10 lessons lined up with assignments due 1 week from assigned day. Only people that request a grade will see one other than that you will get constructive criticism. I would like to take 2 field trips if there is enough interest in taking them.  Proposed field trips are for the Portrait lesson and the Landscape lesson.  For the Portrait lesson I can have models available or you can bring your own.  For the Landscape we will be hitting the country in search of great landscapes.
The syllabus for the class is as follows:
Lesson 1: History and Definition
Lesson 2: Light Using it to Your Advantage
Lesson 3: Composure the Technical side of Great Photos
Lesson 4: Learning How to use Your Flash
Lesson 5: Portrait Photography
Lesson 6: Still Life-Telling a Story
Lesson 7: Close-ups
Lesson 8: Landscapes
Lesson 9: Sports
Lesson 10: Bringing it all together.  When is a Hobby more than a Hobby.

This class is geared to those who shoot with point and shoot camera's or mid level camera's.  This will not make you a professional but hopefully by the end you will be taking better photos, be happier with more of them, and deleting less.

Sept 24 The days seem to get Crazier

So for the last 3 weeks I have been hobbling my way through life on a cam walker good enough it helps with the pain and I can still go to work.  Well my Dr. not happy with the fact that after 3 weeks I am not getting better she sends me to a ortho foot specialist and bad goes to worse in 30 minutes flat.  I now get to be laid up for 2 weeks trapped in country hell with only my dogs and the silence to comfort my pitiful butt.  I have learned some valuable lessons with this experience that I feel compelled to share with everyone.  1. Crutches were invented by the devil himself. You simply cannot do anything while walking on them including walking.  2. To get around you must reduce yourself to implements that are otherwise reserved for those of age. (AKA The wheeley walker pictured.) 3. Sleeping in a cast is the most horrible thing you can experience due to the I will wake you every hour itching that happens in the middle of the night. 4. Showers are no longer something quick they are an expedition you must prep for in advance with all necessary supplies at hand cause no one is around when you need help. 5.  When you take an otherwise active person and force them to be inactive it is NEVER a good thing.

So in light of my ailment I figured I would take the time to keep my blog up to date for 2 weeks sharing my new trials along the way.  All I can say is at least my toe nails are pretty and match my cast.  I will be researching new learning material and posting new tid bits on here as I find them I will also be handing out assignments and ways to post them to share with others I only wish teaching photog could have been what I chose to do to begin with as I love to help others take great photos.  Each assignment will last 1-2 weeks depending of the difficulty of it.  If you would like to be graded let me know otherwise I will only give constructive critisism not any grading.  No one fails my class if you try that is worth it's weight in gold.  Your assignment in the meantime is to set up either a flickr account (free) or a photobucket account (free) if you plan on participating in class assignments please send me the link to your account and any guest password that I would need to look at your assignment photos.  Send your links and/or passwords to basicandbeyondphotography@gmail.com

Today's photo tip: Artistic Intent  Borrowed from website Best Photo Lessons Online

Why do you want to take pictures? You may want to share with others how you see the world around you, you may want to document your life and that of the people you love, you may have a desire to create images that blow other people away. There are so many excellent reasons to get into photography and why you do so is up to you.

I've put this section first because when I learned photography - it was technique first and art second. That is a time honored way of learning photography. But now that I've done it for 30 years I think it was a backwards way of learning photography.

Photography is an art and you are the artist. If you're thinking you could never be an artist I have good news for you - you already are. Even just taking the time to read this page you've shown you have the desire make images that give you pleasure and can affect others - that is art.

Now comes the fun part - think about why you want to take pictures. Write down a list of:

1 - Things you like about photography. Do you love the moment of seeing the images in prints or on your screen? Is it the challenge of making the photo? Is it the sharing the images with your friends? Is it the memories you get when you look at your photos later? Whatever it is you like about taking pictures, write it down.

2 - What you want to achieve with photography. Do you want to remember what your kids are like at each stage of their growing up? Do you like flowers or architecture or mountains and want to document them? Do you want to show the human condition? Do you want to pursue a career in photography? Write down what you want your photography to do.

3 - What subjects you want to shoot. Flowers, dogs, kids, models, food, people's feet, whatever. Write down those things you find catch your eye or make you wish you had your camera when you see it.

4 - How you feel about those subjects. Do you love it, hate it, feel afraid of it, laugh at it, wish it was yours? This is actually the most important section of the lesson. When you understand what you feel towards something, you'll find your photography of it improves automatically.

Now grab your pen and start writing. Once you're done, put it on the wall, throw it into your camera bag or put it somewhere you can easily review it. Add or change it as you grow as a photographer. But once you have the list, you have a great tool to make your photography better.

You may have noticed the link in top right corner for the book "Drawing on the artist within" by Betty Edwards. I highly recommend this book for learning about bringing out your inner artist - it is a very, very good book which taught me a lot.

Sept 10 2010 Reflections of crazy days in the life of a photographer.

So with the anniversary of one of the biggest tragedies to happen in the US coming tomorrow I thought I would reflect on blessings.  Blessed that I have a family that loves me, that I have a roof over my head, that I have food in my cupboards, and that we have brave people willing to put their lives in danger to keep us safe at night.  One of my favorite sayings from all the conflict is "If you cannot stand behind our armed forces feel free to stand in front of them"  sacrifice is what they do and we should be honored that there are still those out there willing to do it for all of us.  So in light of the anniversary tomorrow if you know someone in the military, police department, security of any type, fire department, or emergency services give them a big thank you and think of them when you lay your head on your pillow at night.  As these represent those helping in New York the day the towers fell many of which lost their lives in the line of duty.  Leaving behind children, spouses, and grieving loved ones.  Just remember Freedom is Never Free someone pays for it even if it does not impact you it filters out to you. 

9-11 We will Never Forget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's photo tip:Since a lot of people I know have just had or are having babies this is for you.

Newborn Photography Tips for Beginners

by Natalie Johnson

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1. It can be exciting photographing a newborn so compose a list of shots you want to take before you pick up the camera. Grab these ‘safe shots’ first and once you have this selection in the bag, start to get creative with new angles and ideas.
2. The best lens to use when photographing any type of portrait is a fast 50/85mm prime lens. Operating at wide apertures (small f number) will allow you to work in darker environments and capture stills with the focus on your subject and a blurred backdrop to remove distraction.
3. If you’re uncomfortable operating in manual mode then plump for Aperture Priority and opt for a wide aperture of f4 or f5.6. Focus on your subject’s face and include a section of the backdrop into the frame. This is where an interesting or colourful background can make the scene more dynamic. Alternatively position yourself at the end of the child and focus on the feet – throwing the rest of his/her frame into a creatively blur.
4. Attach a zoom lens to vary the composition of your shots; catering for up close cute pictures of feet, hands, nose or ears for example and then span out wide to grab contextual portraits or ones that reveal the entire length of the child.
5. As with any portrait pictures you’ll want to use even light. Avoid flash at all costs – not only is this disruptive to the calm atmosphere you want to create but it can rob the image of texture and tone. Position the cot or child near a window (using a white sheet or curtain to diffuse if it is a particularly bright day. Remember to exposure for the face.
6. Declutter the scene of distracting items such as nappies or bottles and incorporate soft blankets for interesting colours and texture. Consider placing props such as a loved toy or teddy to emphasis size.
7. Black and white images can carry more emotion that their colourful counterparts so experiment when photographing or editing images post shoot. Some cameras offer this as a menu choice but so you don’t restrict yourself it is advisable to shoot in colour and desaturate or select a B&W option in an editing program later. Play around with curves in Photoshop or the Presets in Lightroom to control contrast and brightness of the shadows, midtones and highlights.
8. As newborns grow at such a daunting pace, many proud parents choose to photograph their tots at periodical intervals to chart the change. A collection of these images printed in a photobook can make a wonderful gift for a family member.
9. To emphasis the petite proportions of your newborn try taking images with the parent. For example – baby’s hand on mum and dad’s hand, or the baby’s feet in between the fathers. Use a wide aperture and ramp up ISO if shooting in low light environments.
10. The best time to shoot an infant is arguably after he/she has had a feed and has been put down for a nap. The noise of the shutter shouldn’t disturb them and means you can move their little hands and feet delicately without resistance or movement.

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/newborn-photography-tips-for-beginners#ixzz0z9IQSz2H

Sept 1 2010 Crazy Days in the Life of a Photographer

 All images are property of Basic and Beyond Photography.  Un-authorized reproduction of photos contained in this blog is punishable by law.

So I started a Photo 365 project about a month ago and let me tell you I suck at it. I get so involved with my life I forget to take a photo everyday or am just too busy to sneak it in.  I can manage to everything else done but that one simple thing. What is even worse is I cannot manage to update my blog more frequently than once a month or once every other month.  When will the insanity that is my life slow down?  I have on the flip side been delving back into the world of art which seems to be very good for my sanity.  Creating is something I have always had a knack of doing if only I could get paid to do that full time I would be in Heaven. 

I want to share a little conversation my young one and I had a while back really I think under all that video game playing the cheeky little chap is quit bright if only life were a video game he would be the #1 high score.  So he says to me "Mom why are you always taking pictures?" to which I reply "So I can remember things that we have done and help others remember too" after a few moments to ponder my reply he says, "Isn't that what we got brains for."  Needless to say I was speechless I guess my roll of film is out on my photographic memory.  Will have to remember to pick up another roll.  You just gotta love a kids honesty.

Well I will move on to the part of my blog I have been told people look forward to the most.  Today's photo tip.

Today's photo tip: See Better or as I call it Seeing through the Lens

See Better

Written by: Digital Photography

Seeing with Better Eyes

The psychology of seeing and how it affects composition
Your eye (and lens) sees something, but your eye is connected to your brain …. which interprets what you see….. it adjusts color
balance, ignores un-important things, tries to “edit out” those things you don’t want to see. You now must re-program your mind so that you really do see everything.


Here’s a simple case in point:
The Classic cars are in town and you see one you like and take a snapshot. You see the yellow car…. but not the meter on the left, the power lines above, or even the yellow on the bottom right…… your mind ignores those distractions for you.

Here’s what you must learn to do: Eliminate unwanted distractions …. either by cropping them out during printing (like I just did) or move in closer and crop them out with the camera and lens.

Or…… you could think about what you really want to show …. walk around, crouch down, look at it harder …. and then shoot.
The point is, you must concentrate and think harder about what it is you want to show… and force yourself to see how to eliminate those things you don’t want to show.
This should become habit…. you should practice doing this with everything that “catches your eye”. Your eye WILL begin to see better … and you will begin to think about the lighting, the angle, the “feel” of those things as you look around.
Sometimes you might feel weird or cursed because of the way you “stare at” – study – things, but it is essential that you develop this habit if you really want to get better. To become a true, serious amateur or top-notch professional you need to be constantly studying subject matter, light, composition, etc. AND figuring out how you want that shot to look in print.
One of the reasons I was considered a first-rate riot photographer was that, even in the middle of a riot – with all that noise and hate and physical violence and constant threats to myself – I forced myself to concentrate on:
HOW THIS PIC WOULD LOOK ON THE PAGE.

Another Day in the Life? July 11

All photos represented in this blog are owned by blog owner and are covered by copyright laws. Any unauthorized reproduction is punishable by these copyright laws.

So it has been many months since my last blog entry. Mostly due to the big move and getting a routine with life and my work schedule and for this I am sorry.  To both my readers and myself you grow when you share knowledge and personal growth got put on the back burner.  So I have returned and I am not making any promises but will make a better effort of keeping the blog updated.  

So we have successfully moved to the country and life is good the tranquility of country life is bliss.  Yeah there is more work and there is a lot of it but the end result is so worth the sacrifice now.  So in honor of our big move today's featured photo was taken at our new place and represents the beauty of country life.  I am hoping that my next few installments can include more photos representing the beauty and tranquility of the new adventure in my families life. Cause believe me this has been an adventure.

I am on a mission after reading a few lesson's on my most favorite webs and have vowed to do a photo 365 but instead of lugging out my fancy DSLR I am gonna take a step back to my Kodak DX7590 which is a high end point and shoot and do my photo 365 with it.  I get tons of comments about my photos some of which are made about photos taken prior to getting my DSLR and this will prove that the camera and all the bells and whistles albeit very nice to have are not necessary to achieve beautiful photos.  I am also with the exception of watermarking purposes will not use photoshop on any of these photos they will be SOC.

Crossing my fingers it is not a photo 150 and I can actually take one photo a day for 365.

So let's get back to sharing knowledge and get on to today's lesson/tip.

Today's photo tip:  It's all about Light

It’s About Light

by Darren Rowse

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A Guest post by Lin Junjiefrom Phocus Academy.
When I first started out in photography many years ago, I didn’t quite appreciate how important light is to photography.
In fact the young and ambitious me often fought against light.
I refused to be restricted by something as fickle as the weather and light. After all, a good photographer should be able to make anything look good—whether it’s noon, sunrise or dusk, right?
The result of my foolhardiness was that I often end up with photos with highlights that are too bright and shadows that are too dark for my camera to handle because I shot them at 12 noon. Or worse—I end up making my human subjects look like racoons because of the high overhead noon light.
Due to the poor lighting I shot the photos under, I wasn’t comfortable showing others the photos that I’ve just taken on my camera because they didn’t look good without extensive post-processing.
Truth as I learnt is that even the most mundane things on a simple handphone camera can look good in great light, and they can look really good right away without needing any or much post-processing at all.
As a photographer who understands how light can make or break a photo, I now only choose to photograph my day shots at two timings of the day known as the magic hours (or golden hours). In practical terms, they’re basically an hour or two after sunrise, and an hour or two before sunset. The exact timing will depend on where you are and which part of the year you are in.
Here in Singapore where we’re situated close to the equator, and the magic hours are almost always from 7-8.30am and 5-6.30pm. At these hours, light is most interesting because of three reasons:

1. light is directional and that provides interesting side lighting that can emphasize shape and texture, in addition to casting long, interesting shadows of your subjects,
2. light has a more warmer and more attractive colour than midday sun (thus the name ‘golden hour’), and
3. light quality is softer and produces highlights and shadows that your camera can deal with more easily than the extremely contrasty light produced by the high midday sun.

To illustrate, I was photographing the temple ruins at Ayutthaya in Thailand sometime late last year. Although I had chosen to shoot in the evening magic hours, the strong cloud cover that day would constantly block and diffuse the warm evening sun.
However I knew I would get a dramatically different—and better—shot once the sun breaks through the clouds and lit the scene in front of me.
Sure enough, patience paid off and I got myself the shot I was looking for. The shots were taken less than 2 minutes apart but made a world of a difference.
Ayutthaya, mundane everyday sights in my neighbourhood can look gorgeous in the right light.

On one occasion on my way back home, I saw how the evening light was casting beautiful shadows of the trees on the apartment blocks nearby. I quickly returned home, grabbed my camera and took two a few shots of the scenes around me.
Within a span of 18 seconds, I had two completely different photos of the same scene.
So while choosing to shoot at the magic hours dramatically increases your chances of getting a good photo, you’re still very much subjected to the weather and cloud cover. But if you choose to fight against light and photograph at the less ideal timings, chances of you getting a good photo are probably terribly slim.
In the world of photography today where people obsess themselves over expensive gear and equipment, light is probably the most understated part of photography.
I often tell my students that learning to appreciate and exploit great light is probably the single, biggest improvement you can do to your photography, even more so than spurlging their paycheque on the expensive lens they’re eyeing after.
Lin Junjie is a professional photographer and photography instructor based in Singapore. He conducts photography workshops and courses in Singapore at Phocus Academy.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/it%e2%80%99s-about-light#ixzz0tREvaqmZ

April 29 Another week in the life

So it will be another fun filled weekend working my let's feed the children and pay the bills job.  I am so eager to finally get out of the rat race of normalcy. I have my eyes on the big prize and though it is not what I really want to do I do have the reassurance that I am in the best job that I have ever had.  I like the work and my co workers you can't ask for more than that.  So I have been really thinking lately that once the move has been made and the craziness of moving settles down making strong investments is advertising to really get a boost going with my business.  It has been put off long enough and I cannot put it off anymore even so-so photographers make good money because they advertise.  So my next goal for this year is advertising of some sort and then taking some of what I make from the initial advertising and putting it back in to advertise on a larger scale.  I am seriously thinking of getting with another co. to get back into the final Fri. in downtown.  I have done it before and had very positive feedback on the quality of my B&W gallery prints.  I also would like to get back into it to get my name and my business name out there and more in the public view. So enough of my long winded explanations of my future ventures lets get back to some good old fashion photography tips so with no further ado.

Todays photo tip: Negative Space from www.bestphotolessons.com
One way of making sure your composition is strong is to pay attention to the positive and negative spaces.

The primary subject of your photo, a person, building, toy car, whatever, is the "positive space."

Negative space is everything else. Something you see in a lot of photography is things sticking out of heads, wires across the scene you didn't see when taking the picture, and so on. This is just from paying so much attention to the subject that photographers forget what is in the background or surrounding the subject.

Exercise: take pictures of three different subjects outside. Doesn't matter what they are, a person, a car, a building. While taking the picture, don't worry about the subject, just pay attention to what is around and behind the subject.

Use the background to compose the shot - for this exercise, the actual subject is not important. If the background is not working for you, move around until it is - zoom in or zoom out to change perspective, get low, or go higher. Whatever makes the background a pleasing photo.

Have a Great Weekend will return to blog again next week.

April 16 A wonderful week

So the senior sessions have been shot and the taxes have been paid what else could be better.  Oh I know some more great sessions!!!!!!!!  This week was wonderful I got just a taste of what it will be like when I get to doing what I love FT.  I have to admit I am addicted the deadlines the artistic opps.  I could go on and on but no one wants to read my daydreams so I will leave this entry short and sweet.  I hope you enjoy the photos today as I am exceptionally proud of them I believe these 2 are my absolute best to date.  I can hardly believe I took them what a thrill to be able to create such beauty.

April 12 Seniors, Seniors, Seniors

A trifecta of senior pic sessions.  I mean wow sessions 3 days in a row I am in heaven. Today I will be posting a sample of the session from yesterday.  This session was very close to my heart as I am a country girl myself so getting to shoot around horses and a cowboy was right up my alley.  With the new emergence of business has also sparked me to get out and do some spring photos as well and man are the flowers starting to bloom gorgeous.  I hope spring is finding my readers well and I look forward to sharing photos from my other 2 sessions in the following days.

March 29 A busy day in the Life

For those of you who have lived in your house for 5+ years and believe that you will never move. Hopefully you never do unless you downsize every year it is a mess.  I have 10 yrs of accumulative junk most of which I have not looked at in the last 3 yrs.  Now I have to downsize and pack in the next month and a half I have been a busy girl I finally got a bed taken down so I can store boxes in that room and get them out of the living part of the house but still have 70% of our house left to pack and downsize.  Lord help me that I can actually get it done in the as my son reminded me last night next 7 weeks.  Really it sounded so much better when it was put as a month and a half.  Between work, activities, and business I can't really believe there is much time left for packing. Anyone have any idea how to get it all done?????????
Praying for a miracle.

March 21 Another Day in the Life

So the last few nights have been crazy busy at work and between the kids off for spring break and a sick kiddo I have gotten very little sleep each day.  Now I am tired and cranky and just want one night where all is relatively calm in the old ER.  Now I have to say in the last few days I have neither seen or done anything interesting but,  I have a very good friend who has the most honest kids.  Some of the stuff they say just makes you laugh so hard so in light of my rather boring last few days I will share a couple tid bits of my friends kiddos that say the funniest things.  So first one is they were driving in the car and a bunny goes hopping across the road the daughter says "Oh look daddy did you see the bunny?" about that time your hear thump, thump and she yells at him "DADDY" and he replies to her "what it must have commited suicide."  The next they were driving near target that had signs out "Kid Zone Sale" the son says "Dad look that sign said Kid Zone Sale can we trade my sister in and get another boy?"  Then the daughter says "Can we trade my brother in and get another girl?" to which my friend promptly replies "NO!"  So there is a little chuckle for you on this wonderful Sunday.  Keep smiling and never forget to stop and smell the roses. 


Today's Photo Tip:  In our digital age there is never any excuse not to take a ton of pictures so today's tip is short and sweet.  Take tons of pictures these are great memories and you never know when you will need them to remember those you don't have anymore.

In Loving Memory of Regan Wheeler may god bless her family that is hurting so very bad and missing her so very much.

March 18 Another day in the Life

I have been browsing other bloggers out there that actually keep up with theirs and find it inspiring what people choose to share and how addicting it can become just to follow through a blog of someone elses life.  I found all sorts of things from A travel pictorial through Marrakesh, what exactly corned beef is, to how silly some people think it is to decorate a tree in honor of Easter.  What inspired me, well most all of these blogs were short just a paragraph every day or so and followers that read and comment on them daily.  Wow who would have ever thought through a blog that I would find out what corned beef really was and why it is called that.  I never pondered it just smiled and made it happily for my family.  So I find myself reasoning to whether or not I could really find something to share every day.  Funny sightings that I saw without my camera.  The call I got from my husband that there was a beautiful double rainbow and I chose to roll over and go back to sleep over getting in my car and taking a photo of it.  How much time do I waste being lazy and generally stuck in a rut for lack of better words.  When I could be taking advantage of all the opportunities life hands me daily.  Would I be happier and have more zest for life??????  It really makes one wonder what all could happen if people would just stop and think about what they were doing yesterday or the day before that was standing in the way of a goal, a dream, or a necessary chore.  Now again I find myself inspired to reach for daily, weekly, and monthly goals.  Hold myself accountable for what needs to be done and no making excuses I just was too tired to do it.  That is bunk the body only requires 6-8 hours sleep to be fully functional and in some cases less than that.  So my very late New Years resolution................ Sit down and write up three degree of goals; daily, weekly, and monthly.  Not much of March left so will not be that hard to do for the current month but will start post haste as anything less would be feeding to the growing monster.  My daily goal would be to start writing in my blog at least a paragraph on whatever I might be pondering.  My day in the life of a crazy photographer.  Sounds delightful to me hope everyone has their seatbelts tightened as this could turn out to be a funny and crazy ride.  But I will start with the small fish cause baby I got some big ones on the burners ready to be done.  I will attempt to still include a photo tip everyday as this is still a photographers blog.  You might get a what not to do lesson learned by me take my advice don't make my mistake kinda tip but hey would you expect any less from me.  I will also start taking questions in my comments and answer them to the best of my ability so ask away if you dare. 

So I will start right now.  My subject for today squirrels.............. Yes I said squirrels we live in a community that actually feeds the little critters now to the point where they will let you get nearly close enough to pet them. Like I would ever care too......... But, they are going nuts right now.  Driving people and animals crazy.  My point is they run up and down my privacy fence baiting my dogs to chase them up and down the fence line.  And I swear those critters tease the dogs by throwing nut shells and small tree limbs at them.  If you have never heard the mass chaos of two dogs chasing a stinking squirrel up and down a fence line consider yourself lucky it is horrible.  If only I could ever get it on video what a sight to see and hear. Anyone want to go squirrel hunting????????

Today's photo tip: I have covered some basics like shutter speed and f stop.  I will later cover the rule of thirds.  But I want to share something that I learned long ago.  Rules are made to be broken I have taken some of my best photos when I have tossed the rule book, been in the wrong lighting, and pretty much should have never gotten the outcome I did.  Photography is drawing with light, so in essence it is art and as with all art it is very open for interpretation some will like it some will not.  So when you are trying to get that perfect shot and you can't seem to get it with the rules as they have been presented break them.  You might find you have a better handle on taking photographs than you thought. 

Feb 27 Another day in the Life

So here finds me in another day in the life of a photographer.  Last minute sessions and weddings prove to be most chaotic to the brain.  Did you have the light right is the photo in focus or will you get home and curse yourself for the out of focus photo.  Oh just another day of worry.  But, If just If you did all you have studied and the turn out is anywhere close to your standards of perfection Oh the feeling of joy you have in the pit of your stomach and the pride rises up to put a cheeky smile on your face.  I have done that a few times.  As of late in my days that I do not have work or any kind of event or session I have went back to shooting B&W worthy photos.  Something that I go through spurts in doing but enjoy to the fullest then every once in a while I take a photo most generally by accident that appears to my eyes that is best portrayed as an older more vintage representation and I bring back a sepia version.  Like the photo above for some reason it struck my eye as a perfect sepia photo.  I don't really ever know when I take a photo whether or not I will leave it color, make it B&W, selective color, or any other of the many filters and enhancements that I can do.  So you may ask why if I see a photo in B&W why do I shoot everything in color well I have found times where parts are best in B&W then you want a certain part of that photo in color well fabricating color just is not my style I want the original color and that can only be done if the photo was taken in color.  Then on the flip side of that maybe that photo just does not look any good in B&W and it is far better to be left as it was taken.  Either way even if you are the most novice of photographers you always want to shoot all your photos in color if you messed up that photo you can always convert to B&W later. Most all of your cameras have a photo software even most basic camera software has some kind of B&W conversion factor to it.  A lot of these cameras have even more than just a B&W conversion some have color correction, red eye removal, and cropping tools.  These can prove to be very helpful when you are a novice and not sure what every setting on your camera. These functions have come in handy in my own journey of photographic skill that and a lot of studying, and many countless hours of trial and error.  No I did not go to a brick and mortar school like people would like me to have.  No I have done everything to get to where I am at by my own determination and learning everything I have by my own accords.  I have talked to many photographers that have gone to school and about 90% of them have told me that if they had known what they know now before they spent the time and money of a formal education they would not have done it and put that time and money into their own business and they would be a lot further along in the process.  So to end my blog for today my advice is that if you have a love of photography and you forsee wanting to make it a serious hobby or even going on to the level of pro research what schools have to offer and compare expense and time to the expense and time it would take to learn on your own and make and educated decision.  You may just save some money and time.

Today's Photo Tip:  As if I didn't share a tip enough in my blog I will give you an actual tip on photography.

Give Your Subject Space to Look Into

by Darren Rowse

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In my last last post I wrote about the rule of thirds and placing your subject to one side of the image in an attempt to create balance.
The question that one reader sent me in response to this tip was:

‘When taking pictures of people which side is it best to put them on, the right or the left?’

I’ve got a long answer and a short answer.
The Short Answer: It doesn’t matter.
The Long Answer: Having said that it doesn’t matter let me make one qualification.
As a rule (and we all know that they are made to be broken) if the person (and it works with animals too) you are photographing is looking in one direction or even if their head is pointing in that direction it is best to place them on the opposite side of the frame.
You’ll see it best illustrated in the images on this page – in each case the person is not being photographed head on but have their head pointing either to the left or the right. As a result the photographer has given them some space on the side that they are pointing/looking.

The reason for this is that when a person views an image with a person looking in one direction or the other their eyes also are drawn in that direction. In a sense you’re giving the subject of your image some space to look into and in doing so create a natural way for the photos viewer to flow into the photo also.

Even just a slight turn of the head can be effectively framed using this technique.

Breaking the Rule

Of course breaking this rule produces interesting shots (in some cases more so). They might not be as aesthetically pleasing on some levels and could leave those viewing your images feeling a little on edge but this type of reaction to photos can be quite powerful also.