Modeling-Bridals: On Location & Studio Portraits

Hello, hope you are all well. I am excited to be done with my Project KickOff!! Big thank you goes to my Model: Lynnette England for putting so many hours under some extreme conditions to be in front of my lens. It was well worth it! We had the best time creating ideas and were able to go to many places.

 Another Thank you goes to Merri Beth Falkner for loaning us these wonderful wedding dresses. Merri Beth and I became friends instantly upon our first meeting! I love when I get to know my brides and we are able to create lasting friendships.

Here are a few from the Modeling III Bridal Collection.

 Want to see more? All Modeling Portraits and other On Location Shoots...CLICK HERE.http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1958699062190.84169.1684187489&type=1&l=41bfb4b586

Noccalula Falls, Gadsden Alabama

The Legend of Noccalula came from the early times.  Originally known as the Black Creek Falls, the legend as written by Mathilde Bilbro says that "long ago, on a mountain summit within sight and sound of a rushing waterfall, lived a great Indian Chief whose young daughter, Noccalula, was famed far and wide for her beauty and lovliness of character."  Many gallant braves sought the old chief for the hand of Noccalula, but only one was favored by the girl's father, a rich chief of a powerful neighboring tribe, who had much to offer in exchange: wampum, horses,  and blankets.  Vainly Noccalula pleaded that her heart was already given to a young brave of her own tribe. 

But this young warrior, though noted for his skill and valor, possessed little in wordly goods.

The old chief refused to listen and ordered his daughter to make ready for the marriage he had arranged.  What was a maiden's silly fancy against many horses, much wampum and union with another strong tribe?  The girl's lover was driven from the tribe, and a marrige agreement was made with the neighboring chief.

The wedding day came and a great feast was prepared.  In silence Noccalula allowed herself to be arrayed in festive wedding robes.  It was incredible!...To be sold to a stranger by the father she loved!  Her chosen lover forever banished!  Overcome with grief, she quietly slipped away from the merrymakers during the festivities..the soft rhythmical rush of waters called her...a moment she stood poised upon the brink of the yawning chasm.  One leap - and her troubles were over.

Heartbroken, the remorseful father gave the great cataract his daughter's name.  Since that day the waterfall has been called Noccalula.

Modeling Portrait Session II

Hello to All.
Hope everyone is well. I wanted to share a few photos from the last modeling portrait session that was done at the Alabama Theatre.
 Keep trying, learning,,, Thanks for reading.

Here is my model Lynnette on one of the staircases.

On Stage.

Hall of Mirrors

A Beautiful Woman

Favorite Moments II

I love it when Brides become friends. It gives me the opportunity to really get to know them and their personalities. They talk to me and you can hear excitement in their voice and see it spread all over their face when they describe the details of their weddings. I take into consideration if they are a little shy or reserved. In knowing them , I'm able to get reactions in front of my lens, even if I get help from others to do it.
In this photo, I had asked the Groom to whisper that one phrase that gets her laughing. I have no idea what he whispered but I enjoyed capturing her reaction. It was a great moment between them.

Lens Flare. It either works or it doesn't. I wanted so bad to get this angle of them walking up the stairs, I was trying to control my background as there were numerous things I didn't want in the photograph. The sun came into my lens and I just went with it.



This little cutie was bored but being real patient.

This Bride was located out of town while planning her destination wedding. She had sent me many examples of the things she liked in photographs. It was cloudy and had been raining up until the time I took them outside. I love the softness of this entire exposure and of course the KISS!

Sunrise and Sunset Photography- Civil Twilight

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well. I had the opportunity to photography a sunset, in which I felt that all elements were just right, the light, the colors, the Awe I felt when looking at the sky. It just happened that yesterday it was getting grey and very cloudy, I thought, would be nice if the clouds would break, catch that sun moving into the horizon.. I stepped out a few times, thinking... This will never happen, then on the  last trip, I was in shock at the wonderful colors. I took a few shots chaning settings to get dramatic effects, then I ran in my car to the walking track to catch the view I see so many times when Im excercising.

How to photography sunrises and sunsets:
The light most photographers capture sunrise and sunsets is what we call Civil Twilight.
Twilight is:  the time between dawn and sunrise or between sunset and dusk, during which sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere, and the surface of the earth is neither completely lit nor completely dark.

Sunrise and sunet are two of the most photographically dramatic times of the day. It is beneficial as a photographer and especially if you love to take landscape shots to KNOW official sunrise and set times for the time of the day for the area you located.
Why?
1. Knowing time will get your mind and camera ready instead of being taken surprised and running for your camera and in the process of chaos, forgetting things such as shutter/aperture.
2. It allows us to identify patterns , durations and peek times of twilight color.

Sunrise: The time of morning when the upper edge of the disk of the sun is touching the horizon.
Sunset: The time of day when the upper edge of the disk is touching the horizon, this is how we get that dramatic twilight colors.
* If the sun's lower edge is touching the horizon you still have the same sky,, this is your time to get ready and wait for the upper edge to hit the horizon, its the reflection against the clouds that gives us that pop.

My personal preference to sunrise or sunset photos is to have an object back lit for dramatic purposes. How many times have you or someone you know taken photos of clouds with just the clouds in the shot? Pretty boring, I think.

Here are the images below. Please comment. Thank you for reading!

1/40 f4 ISO 100

1/40 f6.3 ISO 100

1/40 f3.5 ISO 100

1/40 f5.6 ISO 100

1/60 f4 ISO 100

8 Sec f 3.5 ISO 100

1/3 f3.5 ISO 100

* To see the other shots taken please view the Entire Album on Facebook, Settings also listed. Facebook Sunset Album

Flower Photography- Shutter,Aperture and Polarizing Filters

Hello my friends. I hope you are all staying cool. The heat is outrageous! I found out exactly how much shade helps when I was in the Birmingham Botanical 's Rose Garden Saturday. I was inspired by my new polarizer (B&W) to learn and push its limits to get more familiar.
I decided to take this time to show you how much a polarizer helps when doing outdoor photography in extreme light. The most common polarization happens with a circular polarizing filter for photography  allows the light to be filtered lineraly. It's best effect is to reduce glare from non metallic reflecting surfaces, such as glass and water. It also helps to darken blue skies and contrast the clouds in them.
In these photos you will see the difference in polarization. I was able to polarize certain exposures and add a reflecting light source to illuminate the subject. It was a great day for me to go and photograph surrounded by such a beautiful landscaped garden.

You can see the clouds and sky in this polarized shot is darker and not over exposed if I didnt have the polarizer, It also cut out the water's glare on the columns.

1/20 f.16 ISO 200 with out Polarization, you can see the clouds reflecting in the water,

 1/13 f.16 ISO 200 with Polarizing Filter. You can see how the reflections from the clouds seems less harsh and the water becomes darker.

              1/10 f.16 ISO 100 with Polarizing Filter and Gold Reflector using Tripod

                           1/10 f.16 ISO 100 with Polarizer and Silver Reflector to show you how color temperature does make a difference in colors.

                                         

1/30 f.16 ISO 100 No polarization

         1/30 f.16 ISO 100 with Polarization. You see the clouds' relfection dissipate with the ability to see into the water.

1/30 f.16 ISO 100 With Polarization and to light the left side of the photo, I applied the Gold Reflector , also making the lilly pads color change.

                                                                 

1/8 f.16 ISO 100 With Out Polarization

     1/8 f.16 ISO 100 with Polarization                                                                        

1/125 f.16 ISO 100 with Polarization and Gold Reflector, see the color on the leaves change?

     1/1000 f.16 ISO 100 Polarizer with Gold reflector, Changing the shutter speed to control light.  

Radial Blur! Just for fun. 6 sec shutter f.32 ISO 100 Polarization with Gold Reflector to light the shadows on the ground and around the leaves. During exposure and on tripod set up, I zoomed my lens out during the open shutter, while dropping my Aperture to control the light.

1/6 f 32 ISO 100 Polarization with gold relfector to show you that the first exposure was not a mistake. Radial Blur is a preference and there are many who think if the photo isnt crystal clear its a mistake. Some blur is intential like in the exposure above.

Thank you all for your continued support. Thanks for reading!

Aperture II

Hello, Hope everyone is doing well. I have new equipment so Ive been playing more than posting.
I was wanting to go over Aperture again as it seems to be one of the many questions I get when people are learning. The concept that the higher the  number  (f/18) the smaller the opening boggles some people. I think that this is due primarily that most do not understand the mechanism in the lens itself.
Aperture in a lens works like the iris of an eye, when the eye is exposed to a great deal of light you can see the iris close making the pupil smaller to not overwhelm you with light. This is the same concept. The only difference is that we can control it, unless you are in a Auto Mode or another Creative Zone Mode that selects the aperture for you.

By definition of mathematics/geometry aperture is the inclination of lines that meet at a point. In Photography it is the hole inside the optic (glass) that telescopes the light, tubes it into the eye

The diaphragm that makes up the slats (stops) in a lens is the aperture. Take a look at the diagram on wikipidia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture#In_photography
This diagram shows you the actual mechanics of an aperture.

 I took my camera outside in the heat but knowing I had to wait for the sun to begin it's horizon's decent, so I grabbed my reflector, tripod and remote shutter to show you how Aperture effects your exposure. A sunny 16 rule in photography dictates that it is safer bet to use an aperture of f/16 so that you will not get over exposed shots. This is like all creative art is not set in stone. Its simply a guide. I did NOT use f/16 on my shots of the Pink Crepe Myrtles as I was loosing direct light but had available light to do these.

These are my new Crepe Myrtles in the yard.  Enjoy and please comment or contact me. I would love to hear for you all.

ISO 100 f/13

ISO 100 f/13

                         ISO 100 f/7.1 (gold reflector)

                          ISO 100 f/10 (Gold reflector)

                        ISO 100 f/18 (Gold reflector)

                         ISO 100 f7.1 (Silver Reflector

Free CDs!!

Free CD of Images Any Package, Any Event. Offer Expires 8/01/2011. Save $200!!

Yes, even if your package comes with a CD , you get another CD for FREE!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to you and your family! I hope you all enjoyed some good BBQ and a firework show or two!

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