Light experiment

I tried another photography experiment trying natural vs "regular" light. By regular light, I mean whatever light happens to be turned on at the time. I have to say this isn't one of my better experiments. For one thing, nearly all of the pictures had motion blur. I later discovered a feature on my camera that helped with that. So here are some pictures that turned out decent.

"Regular light" made the subjects a little too dark, the colors were not as bright

Natural Light

I love this pose, except I didn't realize at the time that the background was falling apart.

I was probably too far away from the light, because its made the sheet look like 2 different colors

I really hope that my next experiment looks better!

Individual Portraits

These are pictures I took back in high school. I think it was for a photography class, I can't really remember. But it was a lot of fun! I think the whole point of individual portraits is to capture the personality, and in that way I think I failed. My "wild" friend really is sweet as these pictures show. I didn't really show her playful side as much as I should have.

Now this particular one, I'm not sure what to make of it. Initially I had really liked the busyness of it, but now it kind of gives me a headache. Perhaps simplicity is generally best.

Wedding pictures

These were taken in 2006 at one of my best friend's wedding receptions. I took a ton of pictures then too, and I was probably annoying everyone after a while with my camera constantly flashing. I should probably remember to avoid that.

My friend's photography took a lot of pictures too, but then bowed out early so my friend and families could enjoy themselves. That might be a good idea. I also like the idea of the pictures being on display from the wedding, but that would seem to be a lot of pressure since receptions are usually the same day as the wedding. Often pictures look their best after being edited and tweaked. Would it inspire confidence in future customers to see such "raw" images? For any photographers reading this, please feel free to share your insight and experience in this particular instance.

So here is my wedding montage with additional commentary:

This would technically be included in the Baby Portrait post, but it was from the wedding. I also wanted to illustrate the small, fun things that can be captured at a reception. Not just family members, but the table settings, napkins, picture displays, things the bride and groom either overlook at the time or forget later on.

These two pictures also illustrate the beauty of small details

Baby Protraits

Nearly all of these pictures are of my son. This is a collection of pictures taken over time from 2006 to 2009. I've come to learn that taking pictures of kids is pretty hard, especially when they move around. I'm sure if I had a better camera, I wouldn't have so much motion blur. But even when they look goofy, somehow the picture looks enchanting after all. So here is my baby montage with some commentary.

I love the playfulness of this one, but its a shame its so dark

I think this type of shot would be really fun to continue, son wearing his dad's mission tag

I love this close up! Sometimes it the little details that make it special.

I think this is one of those times when the weird angle looks fantastic

While I love this one, it does serve as a reminder of how little details can also ruin a shot. When I look at this, I can't help but be bothered by the pine cone just behind him but appears to be right next to his head. I'll have to remember to be aware of the background as well.

Family Portait

These pictures were taken August 2009. Some friends of mine were gracious enough to model for me. We had a ton of fun and took about a hundred pictures. From this experience I learned that I'll need to temper my enthusiasm for weird angle shots. While some of them were simply amazing, it started to give me a headache when viewing them as a whole.






Also I feel that I'll need to learn more about lighting since it threw off some of my pictures. It either bleached or darkened them, often times in the same picture. Example:


It also helped to take multiple shots of the same thing. It felt tedious at the time, but it turned out that out of 10 shots, only 1 or 2 turned out well. That was especially the case with the baby toss picture.

Over all, I have say I am quite proud with this particular shoot. I had identified my weaknesses but also impressed myself with how well I'm doing already. I still have a long way to go before I get professional, but it is a good start.