Environmental Shooting

For those of you who follow my Facebook page, I said there would be more, and here is the more.

To keep up with your photography skills, it always helps to go to workshops to learn and practice. Plus, I love working with professional models. This was no different. With the help of @Robertsphoto in Indianpolis,In and our model Afton, the class was on an environmental shoot. This class was terrific, for we took pictures in a 10-yard diameter and made the best using lighting. In the above photo, when I was going through the shooting, I could not help thinking this was a teacher escaping her class for a bit of downtime. So I told her to pretend that she was holding a wine glass, for I added this in photoshop to get the image my mind was thinking. The above picture was a 3 light shoot.

If you saw where these pictures were taken, you would say how? It’s a simple look at the background and asks whether it will benefit. If it helps, if it does not, don’t show it. As you know, I love flash photography and have a lot of fun using it. In this case, we used from one light all the way to 3 lights and again in a very small area. That is one way to help with the background. Another is the angles of the picture; another is putting the background in focus or not. (you thought it was just pint and click :) ) I bet we had about 10 shots, and all we needed to do was look.

I can’t say enough about working with a model. For me, it allows me to use my creativity and wait for the moment before clicking. I am a big believer in education and learning. No matter how much you know, you can always learn more. I love workshops for two reasons. First, I get to see things live, and last, I get a chance to see other photographers and learn from them. Photographers are like campers. We love what we do and love to talk.

Learning is Fun

As my business continues to change, so does my learning. This time I wanted to learn more about being better with macro photography. I use this a lot for product and food shooting. I recently attended a workshop put on by Roberts Camera in Indianapolis, In. If you never went to a workshop and you are a photographer who wants to take it to the next level, you should. Not only the learning but other photographers that you will be interacting with. At this workshop, we had a 2-hour talk about idea settings and sharpness.

Next, we got a chance to work for 6 hours in about 20 different setups to practice what we learned. We learned about stack focusing, stack focusing software, using a tripod, which is a must for sharpness.

I took a lot of pictures this day, practicing what we learned. I filled up two cards of photos. I took pictures and retook pictures of a different composition of the subject. It was a day of fun. Oh yes, being a Midwestern, of course, I talked with other photographers that were there that day—so much fun to see and talk about once again. I am a big fan of education. Even when you think you know it, you can always learn. Who knows, you may make a new friend that does what you love.