{6} More Lightbox!

I pulled out my smaller lightbox and did some product images for my Etsy store. I purchased some fabric for the backgrounds of the lightbox and I only used them on two photos that were not for my store. Though, I intend on taking a lot more once I get my camera back. It is just a matter of weeks now, so there is that.

Here are the photos:

With a camera that had a better focus I think these photos would be far better. However, working with what  have for the time being, I think they turned out alright. I just can't wait to get my camera back!

I really like the lightbox technology. I love how simple it is, and how it isolates the light on the objects. It makes the photos need little touching up. That is really good because then the photo looks better, more crisp if you don't have to touch it up so much.

Anyhow, I intend on doing another feature later this week. Until next time.

{5} Shoot Themes

I have always wanted to do a complete themed shoot. So far I have one that was somewhat themed. Themed in the sense that we turned my living room into a hookah lounge and took pictures while smoking entirely too much hookah. Here are my best shots from that day;

The models in these photos are my brother and sister. Truth be told we didn't start the day out planning a photo shoot. We just were smoking some home made shisha a few days after my dad died and decided to turn it into a shoot.

There are so many good themes and ideas that have already been done that replicating would be incredibly fun. I want to try to do an Alice in Wonderland shoot because that is my second favorite kids movie. I want to try a few other cos-play ideas. Like Nightmare Before Christmas, Inuyasha, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, there are so many others to choose from. That doesn't even go into the steam-punk, cyber-punk, general nerd, and other such themes.

To find good shoot theme ideas you could check out Pinterest, Tumblr, of DeviantART. They have tons of shoots people have already done. When I get a group together and the apropriate props I intend on doing quite a few themed shoots. I'm sure that I will post them on here. So stay tuned, until next time. Hope you all have a wonderful night.

{4} Pose Ideas and Guides

This entry is mostly a link entry. I have not been able to get my good camera back yet, so I decided to do a little studying for when I do. The area I need the most work in is directing a photo shoot. I have troubles expressing what it is I see in my head for the models to follow. It doesn't help that I tend to not research before a shoot and I just rush into it. This is also an area in which I am working.

First thing that is important is to know how to shoot for your model's body type. Sometimes photos come out completely unflattering to the model, and for the best quality photo you want the model to look their best too. Not to mention, it can be a pretty big blow to their self esteem if they see the photos you took and feel they didn't look too good. 

Digitial Photography School has a lot of great tutorials for all things photography. In fact that site is where I learned most of the things I know about photography. I found this one helpful, 6 Tips For Photographing Large People. There is also a posing guide for women. On a different site I found 17 Posing Tips and In-camera Slimming Tricks For Shooting Curvy Models. If these don't work you can always bing or google it.

6 Tips for Photographing Large People

6 Tips for Photographing Large People

6 Tips for Photographing Large People

 

 

Due to its rising popularity Pinterest is a great place for photo pose examples. Tumblr has tons of examples since it is mainly a photo sharing network. Pinterest is great because you can make a pin board and save the ideas so that later you have a reference. Tumblr you can share the photos or save them, though they don't have any cataloging for photos you see.

I hope this was helpful! Until next time friends.

{3} Working with Models

Working with models can either go great or it can go terribly wrong. The trick is to let go and be comfortable, and make them feel comfortable. If you are stressing the whole time the model is more likely to stress with you. The the shoot before the last I did I ended up getting really stressed, mainly because I was photographing my sister so when I got frustrated I expressed it to her.

I have started to find some easy tricks to eliminating stress when working with models. Make sure to take a breath and think about how what you say is going to affect them. Give clear directions so that there isn't a lot of confusion. Make sure that the area you are shooting in is prepared before you start shooting.

Prepare your pose index prior to starting the shoot, know what you want out of it. If you are doing a shoot for the people in it, make sure to know what they want from it before you begin. When working with families, understand that children won't always do exactly what you want them to do. You have to work with the child and the family, do things their way. The best advice I was ever given when photographing children is to get on their level. See what they are doing and get interested because they will cooperate much better if you do this. 

Here are some examples of my photos that include people:

This is from the frustrating shoot. It was the best shot of the day!

This one is really old from 2011.

This one makes me laugh, reminds me of Marcia Brady!

I have tons of other people shoots though I think this pretty much sums it up. I intend on having a ton more people shoots as soon as I get my DSLR back. Once that happens, there will be many, many more examples of my portrait photography.

{2} Small Lightbox

I constructed a lightbox to help improve my photos, and possibly sell some of them as stock on such websites as iStock, and Shutterstock. I have looked at a lot of the stock websites, and I know I could make stock that would sell if I worked out a few of my flaws. 

The lighbox was easy to make and when I make a bigger one I will be able to do a lot more with it. I was using my point and shoot because I am unable to use my DSLR at the moment. The results were mixed, here are some of my best shots:

At first the only object close to me was my phone so I just snapped a shot.

Part of the reason for making a lightbox was to photograph my merchandise for my Etsy store in addition to furthering my skill.

All in all I think it was a success. I just need to find a few different sized boxes, though since my brother works at Taco Bell, I intend on asking him to take a box from there for me. I kept finding things out about my point and shoot that I haven't known in the whole 6 years I've owned it. I learned about how things might seem like they will fit in the box, but because of the box borders on the inside they wouldn't. I am working on making some background patterns. Until next time.

{1) Introduction

I started this blog because I have been working on my photography skills since 2005. I have taken breaks here and there in between. Though this is to chronicle my amateur-professional photography career.

The first thing I started doing this time is I constructed a lightbox. I used this tutorial, though I used different materials. It totally pays to get a few different sized boxes, I started with one and it was rather small. I intend to create an entire post based on the lightbox.

I have dabbled in object photography as well as portrait, and model work. Most of my work up until now has been disorganized and a little under composed. However the creation of this blog was inspired by trying to refine my skills to the point where I can sell my photos online.

I have done a few paid photoshoots, had some mixed results with them. Once I figured out my camera it all was so much easier and went smoother. I have found that I am a terrible director, I need to work on that. I also need to build my pose index.