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.

Food Photography

While I find my photography within me, I continue to lean toward commercials. I would include food photography also in my portfolio. I have taken an interest and continue to learn this segment. The below picture I took while at an event in Ohio. I wanted to tell the whole story of that evening, and that also included the appetizers that were offered that evening. Using natural light and having it backlight, I began taking a few pictures from different angles, and in this case, I liked the above shot. Next was to find the right crop, and this is what I picked for cropping. I enjoy doing macro photography and enjoying shooting food.

In contrast, I am not a food preparation or artist. I am learning from others what is important and not. You can always learn if you care and then take what you learn and practice. Not once, but multiple times.

Food at the Winds in Montpelier,Ohio. ISO 800 F8 180

The Tall Sails

Wow, it's been some time since I have done a blog. I have been one busy photographer. Wedding, Commercial work, and having my kids from Wisconsin have kept me a little busy. I know, no excuse.

Last week, I was in Cleveland, Ohio, to see these great Sailboats for the first time. I have always seen them on TV but never live. We were advised to arrive early because parking for this event is very hard. I showed up 2 hours before the ships were to show up and barely found a spot.

The weather was great, and you could finally see these great ships in the distance. I was going to use a tripod, but because it was a very sunny day, I could hand hold my 400mm with a 2.0 extender and keep the speed at 1500. ISO was 200. The challenge I had was not holding the lens, but all boats were blocking our view. Most of these boats felt they needed to be right on their side and follow them for 10 min. But with some patients and help with Photoshop, I could eliminate them. I waited for an opening and then took the pictures. It is defiantly a challenge and very disappointing.

It was great seeing these ships and the work they have to do to improve our look of the past. Here are a few pictures that I came up with that day. I enjoyed looking at the past. Now off to Bermuda this weekend for a week.

Fort Wayne Airshow 2022

What a day and my first airshow of the year for me. It certainly was not disappointing. This was my first time attending this show and will not be my last. Very impressed with the Pilots that participated in this show. Of course, the highlight was the Thunder Birds.

The Thunder Birds in Fort Wayne Indiana

A 10 War Hog Fort Wayne Airport

Being my first show, I had some rust in the beginning. Of course, when I say rust, I am talking about Panning with the planes. But, as the day went on, I was getting in my groove and got this shot of the P-51 Mustang. I love these oldies and am glad we have them still flying.

P-51 Mustang Fort Wayne Air Show 2022

The Sky Writing Fort Wayne Airshow 2022

Now that panning was in control; it was time to have fun and enjoy what these pilots would give me. Here are some more pictures of the 2022 Fort Wayne Airport; more will be coming. I just got back and downloaded them to my computer and grabbed a few of my favorites today.

The first one is down, and more to come. I can’t wait for the big one in Oshkosh.

Taking away things you don't like

I hope everyone had a great time during the Holidays. For Lisa and I, we sure did. We got to spend some family time. As with any event, you always want pictures. In this case, it was no different. We went to a restaurant in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, and after we were done, we wanted a quick picture. So you got it, the waiter took it with my iPhone. The picture is great for us. It did what we wanted. A memory.

We got back home, and I looked at the picture, and I thought. I wonder what this would look like if I got rid of the distractions. This will be an excellent picture to practice on. With that said, I opened photoshop and started to get rid of what I call the easy distractions. The easy thing I used is what is called the patch tool. Easy items would be like the glasses in front, the silverware in front. For me, it starts looking good. Next was let’s finish it with some of the hard things. Like Lisa with the napkin. Notice her hand is blocked. With that, I needed to make fingers that looked like they belonged. Out came the clone stamp. I had other tuff things and used a combination of clone stamp and brush tool. I got what I think is a better picture.

Final Image

Practice makes perfect, the old saying goes. I m always practicing something. One to keep up with the new things out there, and second, to be good at anything, you need to practice and, yes, practice some more. That's what this exercise was all about. You see, the first picture will be fine; after all, it's not going to any magazine, but my thought was, what if a client wanted something removed? Can you do it?