I wish to apologize for the additional post. But the previous post did not have the link to view Rosa's Journey slide show. The link below will take you to Youtube.
Thank you
Vignetting Photography
Friday, November 25, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
I am thankful for...
Thanksgiving is officially here and about over. I have to admit it is one
of my favorite holidays. It is really the only holiday where you can eat all
day and do absolutely nothing. The days agenda usually follows as: sit, eat, sleep
and repeat. If they ever want to make another movie similar to Groundhogs Day,
then Turkey day would be it.
The true meaning of Thanksgiving is having family and
friends close. But also being thankful for those within our lives. I love
witnessing my kids laugh and smile throughout the day. Today, they decided to
do yoga in the livingroom doing impossible positions together. While, my wife and I
were in the kitchen cooking up the food for the day. Thanksgiving is a time to
reflect on the important things in our life.
However, life can sometimes throw a curve ball that would
jolt the system. Many years ago, when I was a student at Kelly School in
Holyoke Massachusetts. I remember this skinny little girl with hair so bushy
that it would be difficult to run a comb through it. She was a girly girl
with a touch of a tomboy attitude. This little girl and I became friends.
Throughout the years we would periodically run into each other and our
friendship would continue. We went to different High Schools but yet we still
knew each other. No matter the situation, over the years, we would see each
other and instantly remember the bond that we had. Our bond was similar to a
brother and sister type relationship.
With the creation of social media, our friendship
continued. Throughout our friendship, we both witness each other's ups and
downs. Periodically sending comments of support and/or praise to each
other. In September, I had noticed her posting items of hope and prayers for her future. Not knowing the true nature of the situation, I would send words of
encouragement. In October she had revealed that she had cancer. It wasn’t until
about the third week of October that I got a message that read, "hey I
need a favor"
What followed was a discussion of how she was starting a
new journey in her life and she wanted the world to see it. She wasn't doing
this to gain publicity or gain recognition, but to honestly help others. After graduating from high school, she had gone to college and got a degree in nursing. After graduating she became an extremely successful
nurse with the core belief in helping others. No matter the situation, she is always willing to help others.
Our initial conversation was about her vision. That cancer is such a destructive sickness that she wants to buck the
system. She had witnessed how cancer takes control of her patients and how some
patients do well and others do not. The goal was to not allow cancer control
her. She also stated that most people don't realize they have cancer until it
is sometimes too late. Because of this little fact, she feels that she can help others by showing her
story.
The mission is to have people witness her ups and downs
while she travels down this new path in her life. The overall goal is to spread
the word about cancer. Her goal is to make everyone aware and to not ignore a
pain, bump, and/or mark. She wants you to go out and demand that mammogram or
examination. This is not only a message for women, but for men as well. This
message is the essence of what we believe in, Photography Focusing on Family,
Love and God's Grace.
The photos presented were taken on
November 5, 2016 during her Hair-cutting event. It was an honor for Vignetting Photography to be part of her event. Please enjoy and spread the word of Rosa’s Journey.
Her battle cry is "Nurse the Boobies" or #nursetheboobies
Below you will find a slide show within YouTube that shows more photos from Rosa's Haircut event. I am thankful for Family, Love and God's Grace...
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Lighting in Sunlight...
Fall in New England can be a beautiful
time of the year. The foliage begins to change color and the temperatures
become less oppressive. The vibrant colors of orange, yellow and red can be
seen everywhere. Over the last couple of years, it felt like fall has only
stuck around one weekend in October and winter instantly shows up. This year,
with the rain being non-existent this summer, it would appear that Fall has
come a little early.
One of the beauties of fall is how the colors
beam through the trees when the sun rays hit them just right. Every year around
this time, families, newly engaged couples, and high school seniors get dressed
up and head out for portraits. Vignetting Photography was certainly not alone
when we visited several sites this fall. I witness many photographers with
their clients running around snapping up photos on the days we went out.
Light, it is what makes us photographers go
out and take photos, at least for this photographer. Light can make or break
your photos. Too much light and everything in the photo can be a washout with
little chance of recovery. Too little light and your photo are potentially too
dark and possibly too noisy after you try to modify them. I have learned over
the years that taking photos in front of the sun can be fun and daunting within
the same breath. The basic rule that I try to follow is to not have a client
squint in their picture. I have made this mistake from time to time, but knowing
to avoid the squinting can help position your clients appropriately.
If you haven’t yet realized it, I want to
talk about lighting. But first the small print: The suggestion that I’m about
to present are not a catch-all for every situation. Each situation that you may
experience may be completely different and you may need to make instant adjustments
to make things work for your vision. Some of what I’m going to talk about can
help, but remember they are only suggestions and not guaranteed to work for
every situation.
With the legal stuff out of the way, we
can talk more about lighting. Shooting in harsh sunlight can be the biggest
issue for any photographer. With the sun right in front of the photographer,
the light meter on the camera would fluctuate off the charts. I see the major
concerns of shooting in sunlight include time of day, equipment, and client
position.
Time
of Day
Positions of the clients are important in
harsh light. But also important is the position of the sun. High noon is possibly
a good time for an old western gunfight, but I like to have clients photo shoot
around 2 to 4 pm. My portrait sessions are usually an hour long, thus lighting
after 5 pm can get dark. It can be a little harder if you are in the deep woods
trying to get the ray of light through the trees.
Equipment
Helpful equipment to shoot in harsh
lighting also includes a reflector and/or flash. Reflector helps bounce the sunlight
in the direction you want to influence. Personally, I have a 43-inch reflector
that has 5 different colors. I was able to purchase this reflector from Amazon
for about 15 dollars. But you can also use a light color blanket as a
reflector. Basically, let the clients lay on the blanket and let the reflecting
of the sun do the rest. For the reflector, I usually position about the same
position as the flash in the picture below.
Client
Position
I like to have the sunlight behind the
client. This allows them to have natural backlighting. This would give a nice
highlight around the subject. Sometimes the wind or not enough sunlight is
projecting on the clients back, and the reflector is not working, so I would
include a flash. When I use the flash, I would position the flash in front of
the subject usually off to the left or right of the subject. This allows a nice
fill light over the client.
Camera
Settings
Warning – Camera Technical discussion ahead.
I shoot in Manuel mode, thus this allows me to adjust the Shutter Speed,
Aperture, and ISO all at the same time. Because I’m not a big fan of noise in
my photos, I like to shoot at the lowest ISO when I can. The Aperture is
usually set from F/1.8 to F/6 depending on the situation and lens. This allows
me to get that nice blur action behind the subject, also known as Bokeh. But this would also mean that I would have to
adjust the Shutter speed to compensate for aperture size.
On location, I tend to use a flash with an
umbrella as a modifier. The approach allows me to walk around without being
tied to my flash, I use a transmitter on my camera and a receiver on my flash.
By using the transmitter/receiver, I am able to walk around to different angles
and locations to take photos. Plus, the transmitter/receiver are Hi-Sync so
that I can have shutter speeds above 1/250 a second, ideal for harsh sunlight
situation (sometimes). This is the end of technical stuff.
This is the basic sunlight/flash/reflecting
situation that I like to use when doing outside shooting. The key is to not
have your clients in harsh sunlight and squinting. Also, you want to minimize
the amount of shadows on your clients. Shooting outside in harsh light can be
fun and enjoyable. I know there was a lot of information here, but The best way
to understand lighting is to practice.
Until next time – have a beautiful day…
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