Working with lighting

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to rent out the Studio at school and  work a little on getting my wedding portion of my portfolio worked on. We have also had an extra lighting class added to our schedules until further notice so I think the two just kind of collided together for me. The class, with Ross, helped me to start to think about how light translates in an image and how we can interpret and read what lighting was used to create and photograph a subject. I was also inspired to try props and see what adding props does to the whole lighting set-up. It was fun to have a concept of how you would like to create an image using light, and to find out how to go about actually finding the right studio light set-up to get what you wanted in the first place. I had a lot of help from Craig, Ross and Cory with set-up advice and I was pretty pleased with the results. I first went for "Drama" then my model Heidi and I went for a high key kind of look. Heidi was GREAT!!!!-S-o-o-o-o patient! Big thank-you's go out to all who helped!

Wedding First

                                  forgotten flowers

This past Thursday was the BIG event day at school, yes, that of the mock wedding of Scott and Tiffany. I think it was a great idea to recreate a wedding to photograph and it was definitely an eye opener into the world of wedding photography. We experienced photographing the fast paced wedding ceremony in I'm sure, the darkest church Craig could find, and then zoomed off to the Legislative building to do the formal portraits all within a couple of hours. Scott and Tiffany were great sports, dressing in a wedding dress and suit for the occasion!  It couldn't have been easy for them trying to pose for at least 25 of us. It was invaluable to spend time with Craig, Ross and Dustin Leader to get different photography experience on the afternoon. It was a little bit of formal, casual and photojournalism all thrown into one. It was all happening so fast I wasn't sure if I was actually getting anything at all for photo's.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found a few. Tiffany and Scott are both so photogenic- they made it easy! Here are a few...

 






                                   Relaxing during the shoot!

Photoshop Feelings

Photoshop feelings


I have a little story to tell. Warning-it is not a short one, but it is packed with emotion, Fairy Godmothers, Dragons and yes, even a "little moral to the story" in the end. The story begins me, cast as the heroine(Okay- maybe that's not the right word- heroine usually is some beautiful young thing with long flowing locks.... I see myself more as the opinionated, wiser, more sassy mature character- Protagonist, Yah! that's what I'll call myself!) The setting is the computer room last Monday -Digital Techniques. 

Before I go on with the tale, you have to understand a little bit about the background of our main character (That's me)... I come from a land of Record players, 8 track tapes, and VHS. Computers are something only "rich" people had and keyboards were black and white and used to create music. Oh yah, and e-mails were only used when all other possible avenues of reaching someone (Phone and going to a person's house) where exhausted. And even then I had to find someone to show me how to do that! While everyone else was growing up with computer's I was lost somewhere at home amidst a pile of diaper's and children's activities.

Let's bring the story back to the future, Monday, April 6, 2009. I'm sitting in the computer room and in walks Cory, who announces he will be teaching us for the next 6 weeks the finer points of Photoshop. The lesson that day was to be able to "cut" an item out of a photo and place it else where- a different background. He proceeds to teach us the "tools" over the next couple of hours and then says he has an in class assignment for us to complete in the next 45 min.. Not just any assignment- the hardest. We had 3 pictures of bikes-spokes, wheels, seats, etc. that we need to cut around and place on a white background. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Well, he might of asked me to go to the moon-I mean I think that might have been easier!

Yes, shamelessly, I tried to pull the " I think I'm having a heart attack" card, holding my hands over my heart in a convincing gesture (really, I'm sure my blood pressure was spiking and I defiantly was having serious heart palpitations!) Cory just looked at me and said,

"After your done at the hospital-you'd still have to come back and finish the assignment!"

(I really was trying to envision him as casting him as "White Knight" but at that point the image of cruel Stepfather or Dragon kept popping into my mind.) And then, just to "stick the dagger" a little further in, he gives us an assignment where we need to photograph ourselves 5 times and put our images into one scene.  

As everyone in the class "whipped" out their "magnetic Lasso's" and "magic wands"(tools of photoshop) I put up my hand to ask:

How do I zoom in and out???(Command + or- , as I found out)

 Yes, I didn't even know the basics and I was to accomplish this assignment??? I resolved at that point that I would not leave the computer room until this feat had been accomplished- It probably come down more to the fact if I would have left, I might not have had the courage to come back to the task.

This is where the story turns, as in every fairy-tale, the emotionally charged evil plot begins to turn as "good " arrives in the plot and and the stage of hope is set. The turning point in this story hinges on the role of the Fairy God Mother played by our teacher's assistant Amanda O.(Fairy God Mother with the really good hair cut, I might add) Amanda was filling in as administrative assistant for Lauralee and came to my rescue with her helpful Photoshop tips, keeping me going in my quest to complete the assignment. I might add that Paolo was helpful in helping me "shoot " my assignment in the computer room as well. And yes, 4 1/2 hours later, so close to completion, Cory turned into that "White Knight", rode out of his office, leaving his studio job, to come help me complete my assignment. YES! I knew it, GOOD had prevailed!

 (This is the part where it get's "sappy" - Get the Kleenex!- that's what I love about the school- They push you to be the best you can be, even out of comfort zones, but they are there for you when you need them!)

But that's not where the story ends.

 The next day I picked up this completed photo from Labworks and showed my family at home what I had accomplished. The looks of Awe and Amazement was more than all the verbal praise in the world! My oldest son said-

" Mom, I'm running for a committee at school, do you think you could cut out me in some pictures and put me in others to make posters for the campaign?

I felt the corners of my lips go up, sure.. tomorrow is another day!

From "This to That"

 I started out with "This"

Wow! I feel like I'm having to go into overdrive in the next couple weeks at school! I guess it's all part of getting close to the end. Let me see... a Creative Imaging assignment worth 20% of the school year( Lots of shooting digital there) a Creative Imaging project on post processing , an Analog Techniques assignment( at least 4 rolls of Black and white film on a subject) and it's suppose to be on any thing you love to take pictures of. Great thing to suggest to a photoholic- I love to take pictures of just about everything- especially if there is colour involved! Oh yah, it's Black and white! Not everything translates well into black and white and I guess that's a little bit of a concern for me. What to do, what to do..... 

I was inspired this week by Linda's blog from early March about tulip therapy, I was feeling a need for some serious colour this weekend and made a splurge on the grocery bill and bought myself some flowers(Gasp! I know- a whole $6.00!) It was so worth the cash- It was a great source of photo amusement for at least a good 2 hours!  (Cheaper then a movie!) and if you add in the photo editing I would move that up to be at least 3 hours! ( I really got to get out more often).

Anyways here are some results- I really tried to think outside the box on this one and wanted to create an abstract painting feel to the next two images. I shot with a bit of a zoom technique and then edited it in lightroom - enjoy!

(Below)and what I got is "That"

Okay, It's all my fault!

                       Above a shot of my garden- I'm not seeing any tulips!

                                    The Lattice on my deck - "cool" pattern!

                                                Bunn's Creek shot of the thawing water.

I knew it! I should just come clean- it's all my fault! Yes, I didn't take down the Christmas Village and now it's snowing yet again!!! I sat on the couch last night watching the HUMUNGOUS snowflakes drift down to the ground and wondered -what date is this? Should we not be seeing just a little hint of green yet? I took solace in baking up a batch of comfort food- Peanut butter cookies. As my son, husband and myself sat there in the dark, munching away on the salty sweetness, we watched the epic whiteness come down with a sense of hopelessness on our faces. I thought It would be over by morning but-NO- it just keeps coming down! 

I must admit however, the photographer in me came out and after I shoveled the driveway at 8:00 a.m. (That took about an hour!) I found myself being tempted to look at the beauty of the snow stuck on the branches of the trees and the pristine whiteness all around. Yep - my photoholic tendencies just took over!  I actually spent the afternoon as well wandering down Bunn's Creek taking shots in the snow and enjoying the fact that there was snow but that the temps seemed quite warm! Maybe the snow's not all that bad? HUSH NOW- forget I even asked that!

                                              Bunns Creek shots 

Anyone else feeling "the love" for the white stuff?