Month: April 2017

52 Week Personal Photo Project, Uncategorized

Photo Project Week 2: SOOC

hlopez86

This weeks challenge was to post a picture SOOC (straight out of camera) meaning just uploading it straight from the SD card with absolutely no edits.  This is a great challenge actually.  Far too often photographers rely on editing software to “fix” their images.  Obviously I edit my pictures, all photographers do anymore just to get each image to its full potential.  A good picture can become great with just a few simple edits.  I am not one who completely transforms images in Photoshop though, I do use it for some more involved editing, but I prefer images to look and feel real.  I like true emotion and color.  I do have a few editing styles that I like and tend to use them when they work but overall I like real.

The challenge this week was a good one for me since I have been working very hard on getting my images as good as possible in camera so that my editing time is cut down a lot.  Having pictures done correctly with the camera saves LOTS of time and gives better results in the end.  There is so much that goes into taking pictures with a camera, way more than just pointing and shooting.  Here is a good post about the power of SOOC and some tips to achieving it.  Every day I am learning and experimenting on what works for me to create the perfect, or as close to it as possible, image straight out of camera!

Here are two images I took while playing around with my kiddos.  I did all the adjustments in camera and just uploaded the images off my SD card.

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I’m pretty proud of these images.  Overall they look pretty good.  Color is good, crop is good, and exposure is ok, a bit bright but pretty good.  I find the biggest challenge for me to get perfect in camera is white balance.  This is the overall color of the image.  When shooting outdoors you can notice images looking a little blue, or when shooting indoors images tend to be yellow or orange. This is the white balance.  The goal is to get white to look white.  I have been breaking away from auto white balance and giving manual a try. So far so good!

Really these SOOC images are good.  I made it easy for myself by placing them in front of a white door in natural lighting from the windows.  When outside, white balance can be a challenge when moving to different locations, or turning towards different lighting sources.  Overall I am happy with my challenge this week.

I did edit the images just to show the small adjustments I would make.  Still nothing major and I could just leave the images as it since I feel they look good, but for the sake of continuing to improve I went ahead and did the edits.

Again not too different, just lowered the exposure and adjusted the temperature just slightly.  I also cropped some just for fun.

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Uncategorized

Photo prints in a digital world

hlopez86

In this digital age it is so easy to take pictures with our phones or pay for pictures that you receive digitally and just share them on social media, never getting around to printing them.  More and more it is becoming less common to have pictures printed at all.

I LOVE prints, I really really do.  Seeing the pictures in print is so much better to me.  Having pictures in print I can put them on the walls for all to see, I can put them in albums to look at for years and year, and I can give them as gifts for family to do the same.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to having pictures printed.  I love that when I look around my home I can see all the amazing pictures of my kids, traveling down memory lane everywhere I look.  As a mom of three, time goes by so fast and I love seeing baby pictures and being reminded of all the small details I no longer remember on a daily basis.

As a photographer I know how important it is to clients to offer digital images.  Everyone likes to share their pictures for friends and family to see.  The option to print where ever you want is also a plus with digital images.  The issue is actually getting them printed.  To me prints are so very important.  Here is a blog by a fellow photographer talking about the importance of prints.  The post is more of a rant but it still gets the point across.

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Not only is it important to have prints but to have good quality prints.  I print through a professional, photographer only, print lab whose prints are meant to last a lifetime.  They are super high quality and will not fade over time.  Any print bigger than an 8×10 will be mounted on a styrene board to ensure the pictures do not get bent or warp over time.  As I mentioned before, I love prints.  I spend the money to make sure my prints will last and I make sure I offer the same opportunity to all my amazing clients.

 

I will never push having your pictures printed through me.  It is not my place to do so, but I highly recommend looking at the difference between professional print labs and 1 hour labs.  As important as it is to have a picture printed, is is even more important to have it last.  Although memories are forever, sometimes we need a little visual reminder!

 

 

 

52 Week Personal Photo Project

52 Week Photo Project: Week 1

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Week 1: Rule of Thirds

Week 1 in my 52 week personal photo project is focusing on the Rule of Thirds.  This is something every photographer learns right away.  It is the one rule most, if not all, pictures are based on.  For me I use the rule of thirds without even thinking about it anymore so my pictures this week are pretty normal for me.  I did however pay better attention in order to show the rule a little better.  This rule is again a guideline for pictures but not the only way, this rule is one that can be broken and still have great composition or “balance” in a picture.  If you want to learn more about the Rule of Thirds HERE is a helpful link.

This picture is of my youngest.  I just love capturing pictures of them doing every day things, like playing with rocks.

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I followed the rule of thirds here by keeping her in 2/3 of the picture and aiming to have the center of her face (usually on eye, I’m a little off) on an intersection point of the grid.  Have you every noticed the grid that is either in your camera viewfinder or when you go to edit your pictures?  This is to help with this rule.  Below you can see how I used the rule in this picture.

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The grid is very helpful especially when cropping your pictures.  If you want to learn about photography I highly recommend reading about this rule.  Again the rule can be broken but it is a great way to obtain good composition in you pictures!

This week while using and focusing on the Rule of Thirds I also aimed to tell a story, a story about who my children are and how we spend out time.  Here are some more pictures I captured this week.  Apparently I also aimed to get all my kids in the exact same spot in my pictures, clearly I have a go-to.

Hope you enjoy following along on this project with me, I’m excited to keep growing as a photographer and help others learn with me!

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52 Week Personal Photo Project

52 Week Personal Photo Project

hlopez86

Last year I followed different blogs and tried to do a 365 day photo project for myself.  The goal was to take a picture daily, edit it and post it.  This project was to help me learn more about my camera, editing, and general picture taking to continue to improve.  I had a lot of fun doing it, got a ton of good pictures of my kids, but I stated to stress when I missed days or didn’t have the time.  With three small children, taking and editing pictures every single day for myself was hard.  I have found that it is so much easier to do things for other people than to do things for myself.

So this year, instead of 365 days, I will be doing a 52 week personal photo project.  Ideally I would have like to start at the beginning of the year but better late than never!  I will be focusing each week on a different photography skill or editing method.  I will be taking time to improve the skills I have as well as learn new ones that will help me improve for myself and my wonderful clients.  Most of the pictures will be of my adorable babies, I mean they are just the perfect models, but I will try to branch out as well.  I aim to do a couple pictures per weekly challenge and post them to my Instagram and here on my blog.  I’m so excited to partake in this project and to share in this with everyone.  I will try to post information and links to the topics I am working on that week for those interested in partaking and learning.  Follow my blog and my Instagram to keep up with this great project.

This month I made a huge camera upgrade (YAY!!) so took time to do all the necessary setting up and calibrating.  For my photos this week I just decided to take pictures of anything, getting a feel for the new camera and getting back into editing for the spring season.  Below are just a couple pictures of my beautiful girls.  Meet Avery and Rylan!!   My son was uncooperative so wasn’t able to get any pictures of him this time.

 

Child photography

Harper 2 Years Old

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Glitter for the win! Harper hung out with me for a 2 year photo shoot a couple weeks back.  She may not have been too into the whole picture taking thing but she sure did love the glitter.  Of course she didn’t need to be on board for pictures because she rocked it anyway.  I honestly like when the little ones don’t just stand and smile, I love when I can capture their true personality!  Harper is a beauty and I had a great time with her.

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