The B sisters

This is a session from last night.  I came home so deflated thinking it had gone miserably.  I solely used my 85mm and am having so much trouble adjusting to having so much distance between me & the subject.  With the 35, I am up close & personal and I feel as if I'm having trouble connecting with the 85.  I also stopped down my aperature so that I could work on getting good focus on 2 subjects.  I paid the price with little bokeh, but getting 2 kids in focus is tough and I need to work at this aperature before I can shoot wide open with better results. With fresh eyes this morning, I looked again and decided they weren't so bad and actually quite like a few.  Here are some that I've edited....

Little Miss K

I'm finally catching up on editing my practice sessions....here is one from a few weeks ago with the absolutely adorable K.  I think she is just stunning and has the most exquisite features.  I had a few exposure problems during this session and parts of her dress kept blowing out.  I think I've gotten better with exposure since then and now that I'm shooting RAW, instead of JPEG, exposure is much easier to edit.  As you'll see, I couldn't really do much about it in these images.  Regardless, I feel that it was a good session and was so happy to work with her, and her lovey, "Tiny".

H&J

Here are two from last weekend.  I'm working on the editing and currently awaiting CC from my forum.  It was a hard session because the kids weren't that into it, but I still think a got some nice ones.  They are gorgeous kids, so no matter what, they look fantastic!

More from 365's face week

365 project

There's a 365 project on my photography forum that encourages you to get out and shoot every day.  The theme changes every week and you're supposed to post each day, though it's not required.  I've decided to try it out since I mainly do formal portrait sessions on the weekend, but know that I can grow and improve faster if I practice more.  I especially love that there is no pressure to edit them (though you can, which I do so I can practice PP too) or have the perfect composition or all the requirements of a proper portrait.  Many of the themes are encourage you to think outside the box and the best part is that you don't have to rely on your kids to get an image.  You can take a picture of anything and your peers will critque it!  This week's theme was an easy one to start with, "faces".  The photo below is from yesterday's post, and here is today's submission: (I call it, "Has anyone seen my lens cap?")

My sweet Juliet

Playing around with my new 85mm 1.8 (see the yummy bokeh in the background?!--this lens is amazing at achieving that!) and my new editing software.

The O sisters

Here's a sneak peek as I play around with my new editing software....

A few little updates....

I haven't posted in awhile, but hope to get some more up soon.  I've had a few more practice sessions (1-2 a week), but need to work on editing.  Plus, I've been trying out my new camera & lens!  I got the Nikon D300s(!!!!) and an 85mm 1.8 lens.  I love the new camera, it has so many more options and features.  Plus, it is easier to use and adjust all the manual settings and I can even see an improvement in image quality.

The lens is really nice, but it is taking some getting used to.   It's a small telephoto, versus my 35mm 1.8 that I've mainly used, which is a wide angle.  This means that I have to get real close to get close ups with the 35, but it is great for full body shots and is good indoors because I don't have to be that far away for a full length shot.  The 85, on the other hand, is only really good outdoors because it has a longer focal length and I have to back up so much and it really isn't as good for full length shots...though it can do it, you just have to be super far away.  It doesn't create awesome bokeh (creamy, blurry background).  The 2 lenses together are a great combo and I love them both.  They are great portrait lenses. Next on my list is the 50mm 1.4, which will really round out my group.

Meanwhile, I'm in the process of getting new editing software.  I had the entry level Photoshop Elements because it was all I could afford.  The full Photoshop is about $600 more than the entry level!  I could also use Lightroom as well, but it too is a few hundred dollars.  Well, I got a special offer email from Adobe where I can get the full version (CS5) for 70% off and Lightroom (LR3) for 30% off!!!  It is seriously the deal of the century and was only offered to those with Photoshop Elements.  The offer is good for a few weeks and I'm looking forward to getting it.  And of course, now I need to learn how to use them!  The nice part is that I can finally follow along with what many of the photographers are doing when I read through my forum threads.  I think these programs will help a lot.  A photographer friend really urged me to upgrade my software and I'm so grateful for this sale which will enable me to do so.

Of course, I think the camera, lens, new bag & software are my "gifts" for the next few years.  As far as Ron is concerned, he has just taken care of my birthday, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, Anniversary and much much more!  Speaking of grateful, having such a supportive husband is priceless!

I equate photography to the books "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"  and "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond.

If you give a photographer a camera, chances are, she's going to want a new lens.
And if you give her a new lens, then she's going to need new editing software.
If you give her new software, then she's probably going to want a faster computer.
And if you her a faster computer, then chances are, she's going to want a(nother) camera!

This journey continues to be a rollercoaster.  I want to learn faster, get better faster, do more sooner!  I love my photography forum because it makes me feel "normal".  I among a group of creative, passionate, impatient, driven, Type A perfectionists.  The highs are high--a great shot has the effect of a bottle of good champagne, but the lows are low--a bad session is like a hangover the day after you've emptied that precious bottle of bubbly.

Practice session #5

First newborn! These are all edited...

This was my first newborn session and it was so hard! Wow. She was 15 days old and did not want to sleep. That meant I couldn't get her into all the cute and cozy newborn positions. I'm still happy with the photos considering it was my first time. This was an indoor shoot and I was totally challenged by finding the light and setting trying to set up and work with props and backgrounds. There are a few technical snafus, but I'm not going to tell you what those are! I don't want to bring them to your attention! :)

Learning to edit (post process)

cThis is the straight out of the camera (SOOC) shot:


And this is the edited version.

It's not perfect, but it was a breakthrough for me! It's amazing what a little editing can do to polish an image and make it look more professional!

Practice session #3

This was my 3rd session and I definitely felt more comfortable "finding the light". Again, straight out of the camera and unedited.

Practice session #2

This was my second session and I tried to implement things I learned from the first like watching the light and not chopping off limbs! My focus and exposure improved, but still tons of mistakes and I learned a lot from this session.  Again, these are unedited.