Senior High School Pictures

Well, it's soon going to be that time of the year again. Congratulations to all of this year's graduates. We wish you well in your adventures.

High School Senior

I had so much fun with this High School Senior, for I have done pictures before in the Bryan Arts and Education Center, but never a High School Senior picture. Well, that is what we did with this shoot. We started with what she likes, and that is music. With that said, we did some formal pictures. My photography is a little different than others; I like drama and make it look natural.

We started you got it on the stage. I did not like what I saw, so I did what I liked. Make a studio anywhere. This is where I use only flash to get what I want. I get rid of all of the ambient light. This setup for me, I can do just about anywhere. Aquilina is a teenager, and like any teenager, it was time for some fun.

This time I took advantage of the art center. I did somewhat I call normal pictures, but you got it, I wanted flash again and this time using some gels to spice things up a little. We then walked around the inside of the building and found another area that I thought would work

Who would thought you could get a picture like this on bleachers. One thing working with Aquilina, she could be a natural model. She would do different things with her poses, and I would shoot what I liked. Again, I like doing natural. I will give a little coaching and then let them do it. I feel it makes the picture connect more.

Today I notice that there are fewer Senior Pictures but more photographers. With all of the photographers out there, I wanted to be different. Yes, I enjoy the outdoor pictures, and I love the natural light, but I also really enjoy the ones you don't see every day. Now that things are getting back to somewhat normal, I am looking forward to the class of 2023. If you are interested, go to www.pjzphotography.com for information.

I look forward to working with you.

Creativity

I always felt that I lacked being creative in my photography. I love the technical side of photography, and my brain moves that way. For the past year, I have studied others' work and why I like it or am not too fond of it. I have joined Facebook groups to help, Instagram to get ideas, and so on. The best I found is doing compositing and understanding art. All those things that I was taught in High School are now making sense to me today. One person who is helping with the fundamental of art is Rikard Rodin. Richard makes compositing fun, and his teaching process has been great for me. Not only am I learning the basics of art but cool tricks in Photoshop.

The Woods

I watched a session on silhouettes. After watching, I went to stock photos and downloaded a wood scene. Now to make a silhouette. With the help of brushes, I came up with the idea. Now to make it look natural. That is where art and photography help. We know to get a silhouette, you need light. Light needs to be the backlight. Ok, it is done. Next was the shadow and shadow color. To make it real, you need to see what the scene gives you. Last, I wanted to add something to make it memorable: a bird, fog, and shadow of the horse. Yep all fake but fun art. How does this help my photography? First of all, it helps improve my creativity; second, understand what you are looking for. Last, it helps with your photoshop skills and knowledge and why you are making changes.

Life of a Pelican

Vacation time for a photographer means time to shoot different things. While down in Sanibel, I decided to spend time videoing Pelicans and put the story together. After about 8-10 hours every day for 5 days, watching out and learning from these birds. I had the info I wanted for this documentary. Here is my story of the Pelican. I like to do something with Dolphins. Saw them, but only the fin. Maybe next vacation.

Video

It looks like things are getting back to somewhat normal versus last year. Covid gave me time to study. I love photography and wanted to take it further. Videography sounds like fun. While they are similar when it comes to light and using the best of light. Composition to make it interesting similar. But the is for me where the similarity ends. Learning to use constant light, learning new things like frame rate and why. (like raw and jpg) then when you learned something about video. How can I put it together? I learned how to use not only Premiere by Adobe but also After Effects. Trust me, I am still learning and having fun learning. Next was practice, and then do some more practice. After all, while I have not advertised myself as a videographer, I got my first job doing a quick 2-minute video every week. Setup with 2 constant lights, I set up 3 cameras but only used 2 for the video. Below is a sample of that take. Enjoy and don’t be afraid of learning.