September 5, 2009 - Beaming ring bearer

1/80

f4.5

ISO 800

35mm

RAW

Weddings can be a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun, too! I had the pleasure of getting this shot of a very personable ring bearer today. The wedding was severely delayed (by an hour and a half) while they were waiting for the bridal group to show up, but he kept a great attitude going.

I got this shot as they were just about to start the ceremony, while they were preparing in a back room. He was concentrating on what he had to do in a few minutes, and when I snapped his photo he didn't look happy. I joked with him about it, and teased that it wasn't against the law to smile at a wedding. He perked right up and let me get a second shot.

I purposefully got down to his level to help make him appear more natural, like a real person instead of a little child. I had a dedicated flash attached to the camera, with the flash head pointing straight up to the ceiling.

This flash technique helps create a brighter and larger source of light directly overhead. Because it is larger (turning the whole ceiling into a source of light), it is also a softer light, meaning it has no harsh shadows. To help bounce a little light straight from the camera to the subject, I attached a little white card to the back of the flash head.

I shot with a wider aperture (f4.5) to help get the maid of honor out of focus in the background. I purposefully wanted to include the maid of honor to help tell the story of the photo, so I put the ring bearer on one side and her on the other.

As for what I wish I could have changed, I don't really like the stand of religious pamphlets in the background, nor do I like the pair of hands sticking into into the left side of the photo. But this was taken at the spur of the moment, and I didn't want to take more than a few seconds to compose the shot because the announcement to line up could have been coming at any time.

The one thing I could've changed (and now wish I had) is to have him turn his pillow around so the tag isn't showing. But some people will argue that the tag adds to the overall photo by reinforcing this is just a little kid and despite his utmost concentration he will still miss some of the fine details (like having the tag sticking out). What do you think?

An apology

Just a quick note as an apology. I know, I know — I'm missing a few days. We had a family reunion over the Labor Day weekend and we hosted it (with the help of my wonderful sister-in-law and her husband).

So with all of the preparations and the actual reunion, I have fallen behind on making my posts. I promise I have been taking photos every day, so in the next couple of days I hope to get caught up!

September 4, 2009 – Getting my cameras cleaned

1/50

f2.2

ISO 400

50mm

RAW

Ugh. Hopefully you'll never have to do this, but if you have a DSLR then chances are pretty good you will.

I had to get both of my cameras cleaned today because of dust buildup on the image sensors. Whenever I would take a photo at an aperture like f11 or smaller, I could see dark spots in my photos from the dust collecting on the sensor.

If you have a point and shoot, then you can skip today's tip because it will never happen to you. The inside of your camera is always sealed, whereas with a DSLR the benefit of having interchangeable lenses means you are always opening up your camera's guts and exposing it to the elements.

I am fortunate enough to have a fantastic pro camera shop (Photo Barn) close by, and one of the services they offer is cleaning. While Jim was working on my first camera, I took this shot with my old Canon D60. He is in the midst of using a specially sized cotton swab to wipe the dust off of my sensor.

If you find yourself in my position of seeing spots on your photos where there shouldn't be ones (especially if they are appearing in shots like landscapes where there should only be clear blue skies), I would suggest calling around to your local camera shops to see if any offer a cleaning service. If they don't, find a place that sells the special cleaning supplies and then read your camera's manual on how to do it yourself. If your manual doesn't explain it, then this website may help.

As for this shot, I used my 50mm f1.8 lens so I could shoot at a wide aperture and not use a flash. The combination of f2.2 and ISO 400 allowed me to get a 1/50 shutter speed, which was fast enough to hand-hold without a blurry photo.

September 3, 2009 – Buckhead sidewalk during lunch

1/640

f5.6

ISO 200

70mm

RAW

Today was packed with stuff that was demanding my time, and I really had one easy chance to get some photos &mdash walking to and from the Chick-Fil-A during my shortened lunch. I used my 70-200mm f2.8L lens to compress the angle of view. I liked how the longer lens compressed the view down to just the sidewalk, the trees that lined it, and the building in the background. This angle really helps convey how much greenery there is on this block of Peachtree Road where my building is, and the tress on the right provide a kind of leading line into the center of the photo.

I stayed a few minutes to get a few shots with a varying amount of pedestrians walking along. Now that I have looked at the results, I decided it looked a lot better with more people in the shot, so I went with this one. And the lighting was wonderful, too. When I took this photo, the sun had gone behind a thin cloud, giving a soft, diffused light. This eliminated the harsh shadows that full sunlight can create. Not sure what I mean? Just pay attention to the shadows of the closest pedestrians. They are soft and fuzzy. If the sun was shining fully, they would have been dark with sharp outlines.

Sometimes a photo is about what you leave out as much as it is what you leave in. One big thing I left out of this shot was a giant for sale sign. Technically, I guess you can say it's still in the photo, but it is behind the shubbery and flowers in the lower left corner of the photo. I definitely liked the angle, but the sign was obnoxious and immensely distracting. So instead of giving up on the photo, I found a way to get rid of the sign! I just backed up about 20 feet and moved a little to my left, and presto! The sign was gone.

As for what I would change, I wish I had more time to get some variety (specifically, a few more women walking around). I also don't like the do not enter sign and the red hand beside it. I could use Photoshop to get rid of those, but I am a huge fan of getting photos right in the camera and not relying on tools like Photoshop to fix them.