A Journey Captured

First Engagement Session

2009-05-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to help a fellow photographer and friend out with an engagement session on Wednesday. I was able to practice some off camera lighting as well as interact with real paying clients. I will also have the opportunity to assist shooting at their wedding next week.

Outdoor Practice

2009-04-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

I usually dislike going to the park, but since the kids love it so much, I decided to make the most of my time outdoors. I still need some work using available light (the sun) and combining it with strobes. The difficult part about trying to practice with children as your subject is that they are constantly moving. By the time I have everything set up, they're gone... or crying. Solution, place them somewhere they can't get away.

2009-04-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

As much as I love my kids and photography, the world starts to crumble when you mix the 2 together. I wanted to get some shots of them in their nice Easter dresses (home made by yours truly), but they were not having it. Here are a few out takes in my makeshift studio setup. Can't wait until I have some space to create a proper studio.

Aprille's 18th Birthday Photo Shoot

2009-04-14T07:06:00.001-07:00

It was my sister's 18th birthday this past weekend. We decided to have a little photo shoot with some of her friends in while celebrating in Denver. Here are some of my favorites.

Beautiful San Diego

2009-03-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Post Production

2009-03-11T08:49:00.001-07:00

I knew that I would need multiple lights to light 2 different rooms. My last minute solution was to buy some Home Depot shop lights. They burnt really hot and no matter how bright they seem in person, they didn't show up that bright in the camera.

Set up:

Canon 580 EXII flash in soft box on subject in the back sound booth. Triggered with gadget infinity remote.

Home Depot shop lights on subject in control room.

I didn't care for the orange tint the shop lights gave off, so I tried to remedy the color in Photoshop. This was a little difficult since the flash in the background is already cool. I didn't want to turn the entire image bluer. I had to mask off the parts that I didn't want to affect with the adjustment. In hindsight I could have just turned the entire image black and white and not bothered with matching the colors.

Final Image

Photo Essay

2009-03-10T21:46:00.001-07:00

I have been taking Digital 201 with Illuminate Photography for the past month and our final assignment was to create a photo essay. I had a couple ideas in mind, but with all the legal issues involved, I couldn't follow through with any of them. I was running out of time and stared to stress until my love for tattoos got me thinking of another concept. I called a handful of shops around town and finally found one that was willing to let me come in to take some pictures.

(Click on the images to view large)

Even after coming up with a decent set of pictures, I was still unhappy with my project (that's the perfectionist in me). My sister mentioned that she had some friends that produce music and often work in a studio down town. We asked them to do us a huge favor and I was able to do a shoot last night!

My instructor and fellow classmates loved my images and I learned so much in the process.

Edit: After uploading the images onto Blogger, the colors seem a bit muted. I'll have to find another way to post them to maintain the original quality.

Mile High DPS February Meet Up

2009-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

I tested a lot of different techniques that I have picked up over the past few months in this photo.

Set up:

Softbox with Canon 580EXII behind and right to the right of the model to fill in the shadows. Main light source was a strip box with a white lightning strobe to the left of the model. Backlight to blow out the wall was a bare white lightning strobe placed behind a makeshift wall to block it from spilling onto the subject. Unfortunately I don't remember the power settings. I did however borrow a Sekonic 308 light meter to get my exposure just right without having to tinker too much.

Post Processing:

I used Zack Arias technique of putting a colored vignette around the subject. Just noticed that the colors don't show up that well on the blog, but you get the idea.

Softbox

2009-02-19T21:16:00.000-08:00

Just received my Westcott Apollo umbrella style softbox today. Practiced with camera settings a bit trying to get the right exposure. What I really want now is a light meter. If you look closely at the girls eyes, you can see the square catchlights from the softbox.

I used my Canon 580EXII at 1/8 power fired with Gadget Infinity triggers.

Metadata:

f10 1/250 ISO 100

Metadata:

f6.3 1/160 ISO 100

Flower Power

2009-02-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

My sister received flowers for Valentine's day and she wanted a few pictures of them. I decided to practice a slow shutter speed and zooming out technique I heard about from some other photographers. Looks like a water painting. Pretty cool.

A Walk in the Park

2009-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

I took the girls to the park yesterday and used it as an opportunity to practice mixing ambient light with my flash. Why use a flash in broad daylight you ask? It's primary purpose is to fill in the shadows that the the harsh sunlight casts on a person's face. The goal is to dial down the flash strength so that it doesn't even look like you're using a flash. You could also eliminate the strong shadows by using a reflector, but that can be difficult to do if you don't have an extra pair of hands to hold it up. After seeing the results I would like to get some gels for my flash so that the light being emitted matches the warm temperature of the sun.

Colorado Strobist Newbie Meet Up

2009-02-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I attended the Colorado Strobist meet up for newbies. Overall I felt like I didn't learn much but I did enjoy meeting some other photographers and got a few more pictures to add to my portfolio.

Model: Adrienne Larrew

Butterfly Pavilion

2009-02-01T10:39:00.001-08:00

I visited the Butterfly Pavilion with my girls on Friday. I have come to the conclusion that I can not focus on my kids and my photography at the same time. We were there for over an hour and I only came up with one picture that I thought was acceptable and up to my standards.

Editing Overexposed Sky

2009-01-29T09:33:00.001-08:00

During Saturday's photo shoot we took some pictures outdoors. I'm still having a hard time metering correctly to get a proper exposure for the sky and my model. I would have tinkered with my camera settings more, but I was freezing my ass off and was ready to go back inside.

Model Chane't Elder:

I found a sky image online and tried to replace the overexposed sky in the original. I added it in as a new layer and hid it's effects to the parts of the picture I didn't want the sky to cover by making a mask for that layer. I also added a gradient to fade the sky in towards the foreground. There are still a few hot spots next to her right arm and under the tree to her left, but over all I think it looks OK.

Here is another shot of Chane't on the abandoned railroad tracks behind the studio.

Continued

2009-01-26T22:04:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from last Saturday's shoot.

Look at my sister, the model.

Jere' Hicks

Barbara La Rosa

Model/photographer Jeffery Benett

The gang.

January Mile High DPS Meet Up

2009-01-25T21:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, myself and other members of the Mile High DPS group got together for a photo shoot. We were fortunate enough to use North Denver Photography Studio all thanks to Tiffany who setup the entire event and graciously shared her studio time with all of us. I had a ball and again learned so much.

Strobist info:

Alien Bee 800 shot through 47" Octabox camera right triggered with cyber sync

Alien Bee 400 snooted for hair/feather light

Additional light to blow out background (can't remember what it was)

Special thanks to Amy and Sean for the light set up.

Meta Data:

Shutter speed 1/250

f/8.0

ISO 100

I tried to photoshop this picture and something went terribly wrong. Guess I took it too far. What do you think? Here's the result...

LOL. Thanks Sean for being such a good sport. In all seriousness, I didn't do much retouching in the first picture. Just healed a blemish and removed some stray hairs. The second, of Sean, was lit differently so I had to do my best to lighten the right side and the background in PP. Is there anything else I could do to improve these pictures?

Many more pictures to come.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

2009-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

I visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science today for my daughter's preschool field trip.

Prehistoric Journey

Space Odyssey
I had a great idea to get a picture where it looked like the T-Rex was about to step on Jocelyn. I had to get on the floor and angle the camera up to get the shot. It was hard getting a 4 year old to cooperate but I got the shot I wanted.
I attempted to do some photoshopping, but was a little unsure what to change in any of the pictures.

Practice Practice Practice

2009-01-13T11:08:00.001-08:00

My friend, Tiffany, let me borrow her light stand, umbrella, and trigger so I decided to work on my lighting last night. My sister was gracious enough to pose for me. Here's one of my favorite shots.

Strobist Info:

Canon 580EXII on 1/16 power shot through umbrella positioned directly in front and above model. I also used a homemade snoot (tubular tunnel that fits over the head of your flash to restrict the direction of where the light will go) out of black construction paper and masking tape. Don't know if it was counter productive to shoot a snooted flash into an umbrella because an umbrella's supposed to diffuse the light and the snoot's restricting it. Oh well. I was experimenting.

Metadata:

f2/8 Shutter speed 1/250 ISO 400

I took another stab at photoshop and actually think I did pretty good. It took me over an hour and a half just to edit this one picture, but I like the way it came out. I even got my signature in the photo.

Denver Srobist Meetup

2009-01-11T18:17:00.001-08:00

The Denver Stobist group got together today to practice our lighting and setups. We were lucky enough to shoot at Viola Salon. Located in downtown Denver. The expansive building with beautiful architecture gave us unlimited shooting possibilities. Model Mayhem provided the models.

I could probably say more but I am ready to pass out. I'll add more once I've had a full nights sleep.

Denver Zoo Lights

2009-01-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Our Mile High DPS group planned a trip to the Denver Zoo tonight to take pictures of the annual holiday light display. I knew that the kids would like to see the lights as well so instead of hanging with the photog gang, I walked around with the family. I didn't get any shots to write home about. Can't win 'em all. Here are a few I was able to weed out of the group of delete-able pictures.

Carousel
This one looks cool but totally unintentional

Birthday Princess

2008-12-27T12:43:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy the past week or so getting everything ready for my baby girl's first birthday. She's growing up. *sniff*

Who needs a model

2008-12-19T09:35:00.001-08:00

I was graciously invited over to my photography friend, Sheba Wheeler's, house along with a couple other photogs that I met at the Denver night shoot. The plan was to take some pictures for a newbie model that needed to beef up her portfolio. She had agreed to let us practice with her and in exchange would not have to pay for the session. For some unknown reason, she did not show up, but that didn't deter us from making the best of the situation. We posed for each other and practiced adjusting the lighting and manual settings on our cameras. We also exchanged helpful tips and information about photography in general, though I have to admit that I was largely on the receiving end of the exchange. I had a great time and this may have worked out better than having a model there.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the night. My lovely "model" is Sean Donnelly. A very friendly and upbeat guy but could mean mug a camera with the best of them.

Thanks again Sheba for having us. Can't wait to do it again.

School's in Session

2008-12-17T17:57:00.001-08:00

I just marvel at what people are able to do with Photoshop. I have been wanting to take a class, but with the holidays, funds are in short supply. I decided to try to teach myself and started reading The Adobe Photoshop CS3 book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelly. A really good read and very detailed for people need step by step instruction like me.

I'm still on the first chapter, basic essentials and importing pictures into Bridge so I decided to try my hand at some minor touch ups with out the books help. This is what I ended up with.

The following is a picture of some Lincoln Logs at my daughter's preschool. I liked the texture and the little pops of color with the red blocks. I thought the picture overall was a little dark and I wanted to crop out the plastic container the block were in.
Here is the edited image. I guess it's better.

I try to look at this lack of PS knowledge as a blessing in disguise because now I force myself to get good shots right from the camera.

Here are a few more pictures taken from my visit to Jocelyn's school. No photoshopping.

Night Sky

2008-12-14T17:41:00.001-08:00

Here are a few sky shots from Friday night's shoot.

Downtown Holiday Lights

2008-12-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I braved the cold Colorado weather and met up with other members of the Denver Digital Photography meet-up group. Our goal was to get some night shots of Denver's holiday lights. There were about 40 of us but we ended up breaking ourselves in smaller crews before scouting out the perfect spots to shoot.

A friend of mine works at the Denver Post and we were able to sweet talk the security guard into letting us up to the balcony on the 10th floor. We got some great pictures.

We later made our way right up to the front of the Civic Center.

Tips for night shooting:
Slower shutter speed
Large aperture
Tripod
Remote/or Timer

Denver Civic Center

Denver Art Museum

Random Building just right of the Civic center

Denver Capitol Building
Nativity setup and Santa in front of the Civic Center