Photo Talk

I've been thinking and working on alot on my techniques and camera settings. It's real important for me to really know my camera and feel comfortable with it. I have to say that shooting in film produces more of a challenge than shooting in digital because you can't see what the picture will look like until you have developed it or you can't go back and re-take the same picture to fix a minor mistake you did on the first one. I shot Jessica and Ryan's Session and other sessions as well all in manual, and in film, and although, yes, there were a few shots that I thought could have been better due to lighting or aperture, I really liked the overall turnout :)

I've learned so much ever since I decided to take my photography to the next level. Everything I learn, I take it to heart and put it into practice.

Here's a neat exercise I learned from Carey @ Barefoot Memories. Ever wonder how photographers get those super fast looking car lights in a busy city?? Well, it's all about "Dragging the Shutter"

From Carey:

"Dragging the shutter" is a funky photo term that intimidates some newer photographers. Use a flash (I was using my 580EX) and set your shutter speed on your camera to something slow. Set it slow enough so there will be motion blur all over. Set your camera to "shutter priority mode" (on Canon, it's Tv on the dial). The camera will choose an an aperture setting for you that way, or you can shoot in full manual and choose both your shutter speed and your aperture. Use a setting like 1/10th sec or slower. 1/2 sec is good, or you can go even slower! Your first worry will probably be "I can't hold the camera still enough for that! And my subject can't be that still, either."

That's what the flash is for!

When you take the picture, the quick light burst from the flash freezes your subject as if you were taking a picture of them at a quick shutter speed. But the shutter stays open longer, letting in more and more light and motion. The results can be really fun!

Here's a "drag the shutter" shot of the famous Joe Dellasega from the Mpix team:

Hold the camera still so that the buildings wouldn't be blurry (the flash isn't powerful or long-reaching enough to freeze the top of the Empire State Building). Joe is captured by the flash, and even though he was moving around a lot, he's not too blurry. The cars wizzing by are captured in that cool motion blur because the shutter was open so long!

**END***

This will be such a fun photo exercise to try out. I'll let ya'll know how it turns out! It's so wonderful to see how other professional photophers are so giving to each other. That's why I love this industry so much! :)