Static Charge
My daughter laughing as static electricity spikes her hair.
My daughter laughing as static electricity spikes her hair.
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Nov, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in a small neighborhood park right next to our house. My daughter and I frequent this park on almost a daily basis. We have a small backyard so we use this park as our own backyard in essence. I grew up playing in this park and now have the pleasure of watching my daughter play in it as well.Time
It was shot at 11:30 AM in the morning. It was in the fall, the weather in the fall in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, where we live, is one of the best times of year.Lighting
This was shot outdoors on an overcast day. Which makes great conditions for portraits. Luckily in the part of Oregon where we live, there are many overcast days. I love using natural lighting. I very rarely use anything other than that. My indoor portraits are taken next to a large picture window and I will sometimes have to use small fill lights to balance the lighting. Most of the time I enjoy shooting outside, I use the available light and play with it. Shooting with natural light almost exclusively keeps you on your toes and really makes you think.Equipment
This was shot on a Nikon D800 with my Nikon 28-300mm VR ED lens. I had just upgraded to this equipment a couple weeks before taking this photo... I actually traded my motorcycle (streetbike) for camera gear to upgrade from my D3000.Inspiration
I was really just trying to get use to my new camera. I took it with me on our trip to the park to get accustomed and build my muscle memory for the buttons and settings. It is quite a magnificent upgrade from a D3000. When my daughter went down the large slide, her hair was charged with static electricity, she thought it was the funnest thing. I looked over at her laughing when she came down the slide and snapped this shot of her.Editing
Yes, I only shoot in RAW. I try to get all the exposure and white balance correct in the camera as I shoot. But I will open the photo in Photoshop and use the raw editor to adjust for things that I can not control while taking shots like this. When I shoot portraits I will often use reflectors as fill light, but for instances like this, I obviously cant, so I will generally bring the fill light up. Then I will play with the blacks, contrast, and clarity, as well as vibrance and curves. Lately I have been changing how I am working in post and will run though some more settings... For my black and white work, I will always use Silver Efex Pro 2 for editing black and white. It is such a powerful program and one of my favorites. For my digital color work, I will actually go through the same process. I will treat all my photos like black and white, edit them in black and white to get the lights, darks, and mid-tones correct as well as details and textures how I like them. Then I will edit the photo again with Color Efex Pro, only focusing on the colors tones. Then I will merge the two in photoshop, using a system of masks and blending options. Finally I will burn and doge using curve adjustment layers and masks.In my camera bag
I carry my D800 and my 28-300mm lens as my primary camera. I have an old 50mm F1.8 E Series Nikon lens, full manual, that I absolutely love. I love that old glass you just cant beat it. I will switch between the two about 50/50. I also shoot film and will normally have my Hasselblad 500cm with my 85mm Carl Zeiss t* lens with me as well. I had only been shooting black and white film with this camera and developing it at home in my darkroom and had been using my Nikon for all my color work. But recently I have been shooting Kodak Portra 160 and work with a wonderful lab to have them develop my color film. And if I want to have lots of fun, I also shoot with my 4x5 View camera. I only shoot black and white film with this camera and will do all the developing and printing at home in my darkroom. That is one of my favorite cameras. There is something truly magical shooting large format on an old view camera and it is something I want to use much more than I do currently. I think my next adventure in photography will be learning the wet plate process.Feedback
My advice is shoot shoot shoot. Dont be worried what people around you think. I see some photographers ridgedly standing upright for all their photos, when sometime the most amazing shot will be from laying on the ground or standing on something. Push yourself, if you arnt pushing yourself to make that next photo better than your last then you will never advance or learn or develop your style. Another great tip is, find the photographers that you love. When you cant be out there shooting or editing, then be studying. Never stop learning. Study the photos and photographers that inspire you, learn about them, and talk with them if you can. I have made some amazing contacts and am forming some friendships with some amazing people who share my love for photography. These people are amazing artists. Learn from them. And finally, Print your work!! Find a good lab, a professional lab, one that will work with you to get your prints just right. Form a friendship with them, and get your work printed. There are so many photographers out there today, and it doesn't seem like many even print or have prints.
