My own family photojournalism

I haven't forgotten the inspiration I got from The Family Photojournalist -- here are a few frames I took at my in-laws' house over Easter. This is our nephew...

...at dinner:
...on his way to take a bath:
...post-bath time:
...and playing before bed:
I realize I broke a few "rules" by not including a ton of background in these (some are actually even cropped). Hopefully I'll have a lot more opportunities to try my hand at this kind of style.

Other things on my mind lately: How do I really feel about learning flash/lighting techniques? For some reason I'm reluctant to learn. I know I can't always get the best photo with natural light, but I can try, right?

Something to research: Find a few photographers who work exclusively with natural light.

P.S. All the photos in this post were taken with natural light (or just the lights on in the room).

Birthday post! (& storytelling)

I turned 25 on Friday. It was a fun weekend with friends and food and lots of cake and outside time!

Here is an attempt at a birthday photo series, in practicing for future photojournalism projects that I hope to have time to try this summer.




The end!

I don't think I chose a good focus point on the letter candles in the first one. I believe I focused on the "Y" in "Happy," which doesn't make a lot of sense now that I think about it.

Anyway, I have several photo projects in mind that I'd like to try soon. Unfortunately, they all require travel. They're not all travel projects, but two would have to be done in different cities (my grandmother's house, my father-in-law's).

I want to start developing a style and a focus in my photography. I like stories, which is why I'm interested in photojournalism and photo series. I'm sure there a lot of stories hovering around me all of the time -- it's drawing them out that I need to work on.

I do find it a bit intimidating asking people if I can tell their story through photos -- even friends and family members. I feel like I'd be intruding. I wonder how "professional" photojournalists approach their projects. I always assumed it was easier for them because they received assignments from magazines or places that they worked for, and they usually traveled to get their stories, and for some reason that seemed easier to me. But I guess everybody has to start somewhere, and whether you travel or not, part of "getting the story" is becoming engaged in it.

I'm sure PJs don't get the whole story in one day. I would love to hear more about that process. I have found one or two PJ blogs, but I think I should look for some more.

As they say, though, learning is doing. I should give one of my own ideas a shot.

Experiment: Lens flare

This is my first real attempt at a photo with some artistic, hopefully appealing, lens flare. Here we go. With my 85mm, f/2.5, and a shutter speed of 1/400. ISO 100:

I found that if I pointed the camera down at his legs (a darker area), and found a general shutter speed to start at that way (in M), I could fine-tune it once I pointed the camera up and took a few frames. That way the front of him wouldn't be underexposed or in shadow.

I'm sure there is a better way to do this (something with metering?), but I haven't really learned about it yet.

Something that I did have a little trouble with -- and am not sure I got quite right -- was the post processing of this kind of image. To this one, I added a decent amount of contrast, I desaturated it a tad (like, -5) because I thought it fit the mood, and I may have upped the saturation of the orange colors a tiny bit. I just wasn't quite sure how "clear" I should try to make it.

I also realize that this photo is not a super-awesome example of artistic lens flare, but I think that has a little bit to do with my scowling subject! I am grateful that he lets me take so many photos of him in the first place without complaining; I don't dare try to pose him too often :) I am picturing a much better scene on the beach or in an open field, with a laughing girl or woman, something a little more carefree and happy to go along with this lighthearted look. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for an appropriate model, haha.

A couple more in 16:9 aspect ratio for fun (I'm still giving 16:9 a chance) (and desaturation! A two-for-one deal!):

The Family Photojournalist

In my endless web wanderings, I came across another photo site that I added to my list of favorites. It's called The Family Photojournalist, and it's pretty great. It's written by two guys, Chuck Anerino and Daniel Shaw, and on the blog, they post photos of their families and talk about how they took them. They write about wanting to tell a story with their family photos, not just take technically good, but out-of-context snapshots at birthdays and graduations.

Their style is simple, and lots of images are converted to black and white (which I actually think works well for this genre). The guys also talk about using mostly wide angles, which forces them to get close and remain a part of the scene, even as they're documenting it. We don't have kids yet, but I'm sure we will some day, and these are the types of photos I'd like to take of them.

It was also interesting to read this blog as a female photographer. One of their first few posts was a birth documentary by Daniel. How would I document that if I'm the one giving birth?! My husband knows his way around my cameras, and I have no doubt that he would be able to take some amazing photos of an experience like that. However, I will be our children's mother. There's no denying that I'll have a hand in most of what they'll do, growing up. I'm not saying this to be sexist, or to comment at all on the roles of mothers and fathers in raising children, but how many moments will I miss capturing on camera because my son or daughter "wants mommy" to put him or her to bed? I think it's worth thinking about. Our family's journey will no doubt be a unique one, and the different roles that my husband and I play will shape it.

The blog is young -- they started in January -- and I'll be interested to see how it evolves and read more about what these guys have to say.

Here's a shot by Chuck:

Manual focus with the 5D

The sun was shining today, and temperatures were in the 60s. It was glorious! I'd like to say that spring is officially here, but I'm terrified I'll jinx it all!

Anyway, when I got home from work [thanks to daylight savings time, there was a lot of sunlight left], I ran outside with the 5D and snapped a few frames. I tried manual focusing with the 85mm, and here are the results (I freaking love this shot).

This is at ISO100, f/2, manual focus:

...and here is a 100%(-ish) crop of where I focused (manually. haha. I'm so proud):

So! Putting aside the bit of CA that you can see in this close crop, I think it's not bad! I was quite proud of the results.

But the regular-size image... I think it's just lovely. I think the bokeh is great; the colors are nice. I might use it as my desktop image -- I need to update it anyway. Currently it's a snow photo! We're obviously way past that :)

Here's one more of some flowers right in front of our building. At ISO100, f/2:

The weather has put me in a fabulous mood. My birthday is coming up... it's next weekend. I hope these temperatures stick around :)

5D's maiden voyage

It rained all weekend. In fact, it's still raining. So to satisfy my urge to try out the beautiful new 5D, We had a mini-photo shoot in the house and in the stairwell of our condo building. I'll edit to post the settings when I get home -- forgot to get them out of Lightroom.



These were all taken with natural light (perhaps that's obvious), and I'll admit that the first one isn't oriented as well as it could be. But it was really the only option in our small living area (& with all our furniture!). That's why we decided to move to the hallway, with its big window. The second photo here is my favorite.

The camera works great. It is amazing how much it dwarfs my 350D, though. It's bigger and heavier, but not too big, or too heavy. It will take a little getting used to, though. I could practically stuff the 350D + 50mm in my purse and go, but the 5D will take a little more planning.

But I think it will be worth it. I'm enjoying how wide my 50mm is with the full-frame sensor. I'd still like a wider angle prime, though. Now I'm wondering if 35mm would be wide enough; before, I was convinced I wanted the 24mm. I think the 35L is cheaper than the 24LII ($1400 vs. $1700), so I guess it's something to consider... several months from now when I'm prepared to make another purchase :)

I'm very satisfied now. Can't wait for more chances to use the 5D.

The new kid in town

Well, I guess the third time's a charm after all. Or maybe I was just being indecisive, but at any rate, I bought a used 5D this morning. It was the third used one I'd found on craigslist and gone to check out. It was also in the best condition out of the three I've seen. And if the shutter count is as low as the seller says it is, I think it was an excellent deal.

Here she is, in all her glory (photos courtesy of her little sister, the 350D):



So there you have it. The newest member of my camera family.

And though I obviously haven't shot much with it yet, I don't regret not waiting until I had the money for the Mark II -- life's too short to sit around waiting for what you really want. Plus, if I never aspire to make money from photography, I would have a really (really!) difficult time justifying the price of that camera. As badly as I would love to have it, I think it just costs too much for me. So I'm incredibly pleased that second-hand 5Ds are going for such a reasonable price -- I've finally gone full frame, and it didn't break the bank!

It's funny though, like they say, when you buy better and better gear, you can no longer blame your photos' shortcomings on it -- if I take crappy photos, it's likely my fault. :) (Not that that wasn't true before.)

I'm also hoping to shake the upgrade bug now. I have an excellent cam and two excellent prime lenses. If I can't make some magic with all of that, then I guess I'm not a magician :)

In fact, I'm running outside now to take some photos of my husband.