Using Shadows in Your Composition

When you're out and about, the unobvious photo may not pop out at you. It might not scream, "Take me! Take me!" The sunset screams. The travel spot screams. The beautiful flower screams (but only to women and amateurs - just kidding!).

That interesting patch of light and shadow on the side of the building stays silent in comparison.

That's why you have to look for it. And sometimes that makes it sweeter to know you had to search a bit to find it. Use your eye to frame it just right. And press the shutter button just at the right moment.

I don't know exactly why I love this shot, just that I do. The frame created by the shadow on the left and the bottom and the brick on the right makes me smile. And that's why I do this, to smile.

Barrie, Ed, Maggie, Megan, Killer and Lupe - A Christmas Card Shoot, Blogged a Bit Late

Here's another shoot from last year that I never shared with you folks. (Well, ok, I did blog a couple images here and there, but I wanted to share a few more with you all, particularly because it was just so fun.)

Now Barrie and Ed have an annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party at their house, and I usually go because it's the most fun you can have without doing something illegal. So it will come as no surprise to you that their house is well stocked with Christmas decor and attire.

I'd like to also point out that Lupe (the dog) and Killer (the cat) previous to this photo were absolutely 100% against being in the same room, but they put aside their differences for the 1/150 of a second that it took to take this photo. No, photography is not always the best mirror for reality.

Notice Killer is no longer in the photo.

Then of course we needed some shots of Ed and Barrie and Lupe.

And some of Maggie and Megan. One of the bells from Megan's sweater came off.

Then a couple of the siblings.

My complicated lighting setup: windows on the left, umbrella and flash on the right.

Ok, finally done with Christmas. On to 2012!

Night Photography

If you're like me, your attempts at night photography consist of shooting an hour or two after dusk, sticking to fast lenses, and hand-holding until it just isn't possible to take a sharp photo any more.

Now, I'll admit that this technique does have its benefits. For one thing, I've gotten really good at keeping the camera steady. For another, I have developed my after-dark eye. It has often been one of my favorite times of the day to take pictures.

But I never brought out the big guns, the one item you really need to take a great night photograph: a tripod. That's right, folks. Surprisingly, it does make it a heck of a lot easier to take a good night photograph. No real surprise there. The surprise for me was how much better the photos are - it's amazing! No real noise! No blur, not even a bit! And such great detail. So let me break it all down for you - it's pretty simple, but it bears saying.

1. First, you've got to choose a location. And you've got to have some light - a full moon, streetlights, building lights, or your own lights/flashlights, but you must have some light.

2. Wear warm clothing. This is not strictly speaking a photography tip, but trust me, you'll be glad you did. For example, I will definitely bring some fingerless gloves next time, because my hands were so cold I couldn't really feel the buttons on the camera.

3. Find your subject, choose your lens, set up your tripod and frame the shot the way you want it. Make sure your tripod is shake-proof. Use your photo bag as a little extra weight on the hook at the bottom, if you've got one.

4. Think about whether you'll have anything moving in your frame, like grasses, or water, or such. It'll most likely be blurred quite a bit. Are you ok with that? If not, you might want to come back and shoot it another time.

5. Set your settings. This shot was at f/4, ISO 160 (the cleanest ISO on my camera, yours may be different), and 30 seconds. Shoot raw so you'll be able to massage the files a bit afterwards. In particular, your white balance will probably need a little work.

6. Maximize your sharpness. Use mirror lockup, and either use your self timer to take the shot, or some sort of remote or cable release. Remember that the vibration from your finger pushing the shutter button can make a big difference in the overall sharpness of the image.

7. Take a few! Look at your histogram. Make sure you're not blowing out your highlights. Check the overall exposure - too dark? Too bright?

8. Celebrate! Then compose the next shot and do it all again.

EDIT: I forgot one key step! Now if you're shooting Nikon, you auto focus whizzes, this may not apply to you. But if you're Canon like me, you must must MUST focus manually. This is the only thing I use my live view for. Use live view, zoom in, and get your manual focus just perfect. It's worth it to bring a flashlight to shine on your subject at this time to make it easier to see if the focus is good.

*Finally! A post on photography. I'm going to try to continue posting informational posts like this on Tuesdays. Any topics you'd like to see? Hit me up in the comments below.*

Why I Love Moo

I've blogged about how I love the paper products from Moo before - but this time it's really love. Or addiction. I'll let you be the judge. Please disregard the fact that I have bought almost everything they make. It's not a problem - I can stop any time I want!

First there were the mini business cards. And yep, they were pretty darn cute.

Then I graduated to their rounded corner business cards. One thing I love about Moo is their Printfinity technology - I can have a different image on each card if I want to. This makes for great conversations with people as they try to choose their favorite image.

And that goes for their stickers, also.

And I got some logo stickers, too. (That faded effect was on purpose - I wanted four different levels of strength in my logo, just for fun and to see what it would look like.)

Plus some address labels - why not?

And some of their gorgeous postcards - easily my favorite product of theirs. I love that the front and back are completely customizable. 

Those postcards sure do look good in a gold envelope with one of my stickers on them!

Or, maybe a silver envelope too - why not?

So, in short, if you have some printing in your future, I highly recommend Moo.

*Oh, and until February 10 you can get 10% off all printed products, just use the code MOOPRINTJAN.*

Christmas/Hanukkah Session

So I never shared these with you in 2011 (too much going on at the time), but my mother and her boyfriend Bruce asked me for some pictures for their annual holiday card.

Of course, I was all too happy to oblige. Evan came along as my assistant, and I honestly don't know if I'd ever use him again. That boy has a lot of sass! And he always wanted to hold the reflector in the wrong place. (Just kidding. I'd use him again. He comes at a good price. :) )

We started things off inside the house, and then we moved them outdoors.

Don't they look so sweet together?

Then we brought out the holiday decorations, and all bets were off! I'm pretty sure that's a Christmas tree skirt on Bruce's head and then later around my mom's neck. But what can I say? It looked good.

Then we brought a menorah into the mix just so no one would feel left out.

After that, we got a shot of Bruce looking a little more serious, potentially as an author shot for the next version of his book when it gets published.

Thanks guys! It was a fun shoot. I'll put you on my calendar for next year!

January Desktop Photo

New Year's Resolutions, take that! I've at least begun scratching one off the list - my monthly desktop photo. It's all yours to paste onto any computer desktop you like. Please restrict your use to personal stuff, though - I'd appreciate it. (I.e., don't sell the image as your own, fairly straightforward, but sometimes it needs to be said.)

To get the larger image, click on the photo, then right click to save the image, then follow whatever steps you normally would to make the image your desktop background.

Hope you enjoy! I personally never get tired of looking at the Bay Bridge.

(If you have any questions about how to accomplish this, put them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer helpfully. Or I'll enlist Evan to help, since he's a technology guru.)