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Beginning to End

Everything has a beginning, and everything will have an end. Nature has away with this. I bought my wife back in December a Poinsettia Plant. The plant is doing great today, but leaves are starting to fall off and thus the end. I looked at the light shining on this leaf that fell and thought, “I wonder what this would look like as a closeup.” The light shining on the backside showed me the life of this leaf. I know, crazy, but sometimes I think this way.

I made a choice to make it black and white because the color did not help or add to the picture. I wanted to show the life of this leaf at one time. Using a macro lens, I set up using window light and then took the picture. It's incredible how we walk past this beauty, or in some cases, it's a dead leaf, throw it away to a photographer, and its documentation ends with a memory.

High School Seniors

You can tell when fall is coming. Yes, the locus is one way, but I am talking High School Senior picture time. Last week I got the chance to do part 1 of Katie’s pictures. It was hot and humid. The mosquitos were out. But with all that, we manage through.

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We arrived about 40 minutes before what photographers call prime time with the light or what is known as Golden Hour. For me, it does not matter because I can make golden hour just about anytime by using flash. This is what I did with the above picture. I used the sun as a backlight and a flash with a 1/4 CTO gel.

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Finally, the magic hour came, and time to switch out for flash to a reflector. Again taking advantage of the sun as a backlight, but now I need to light up the face to bring out those beautiful eyes.

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Just about the time, we were ready to leave, and it was getting dark outside, time for a quick picture with flash, and for the softness that I like, I shot it through a diffusion sheet. (Wind and a quick setup) That was a wrap for this session.

I am looking forward to the next where we will be doing more formal type studio shots.

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