“I’ve always been enthralled with photographs.  As a child I often watched slide shows with my family when my dad got out the old slide projector and set up the special white screen that magically appeared out of a metal tube on a tripod.  We’d make popcorn and watch for hours, at least it seemed like hours!  I was especially excited whenever a photo of me came up.

When I was about 8 years old I had my dad buy me a darkroom setup so I could develop my own photos.  I must have been too young to really figure how to do it well but remember when I first dipped the paper into some chemicals and saw a black and white likeness of our dog appear.  I was ecstatic!  I wanted to buy an enlarger but could never save enough money to buy one.  The long, narrow closet in which I had set up the darkroom  eventually became my bedroom . . . and there was no more room for chemicals.

It was years before I took up photography again and then mainly just snapshots.  Then I was called as a LDS missionary to Hong Kong and it was there that I fell in love with photography again.  I bought a a good Pentax SLR and began shooting all the wonderful sights to be seen in Hong Kong . . . I enjoyed that so much more than knocking on people’s doors.  Then one day while I was out, someone broke into the apartment and stole my camera.  I’d love to go back there again just spending all my time shooting . . . and eating.

When I finally retired I had the time to do all the things I really enjoyed . . tennis . . table tennis . . eating . . . and photography.  I bought one of the best cameras out at the time and almost all the lenses I wanted.  (I still want the 800 or 1000 mm zoom but am still wondering if I could get $10,000 dollars worth of enjoyment from it!)  My sister Melanie helped me so much at the beginning learning the basics of digital photography.  I was enthralled with her photos, especially the ones out on the Salt Flats.  Since then some of the  best times I’ve had in photography have been shooting with her.  Some of the most memorable were in St. George, American Fork Canyon, the Utah State Capitol Building and our old hometown Smithfield.

I still don’t have a “specialty”.  I love taking landscapes, people, macro shots, dogs, birds, architecture, sports action, and figuring out which lens works best with a particular shot.  I’ve grown to love Photoshop.  I love manipulating images and discovering new “plug ins”.  I still have lots to learn but it’s always exciting to me.”

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Lon, to Long Beach and Beyond – a gallery on Flickr

When my brother, Lon Dean, bought a Canon EOS 1D – Mark 111 a few years ago, I was not prepared for his photographic journey.  I was the photographer in the family and had been for 20 years.  So when he started shooting, I was shocked that he had such a good eye.  He shot his dog Pudge (we’ll meet him later), water drops from his faucet, his Grandchildren, and his kids.  He learned his camera , but  would often ask me technical questions.   As his experience in shooting broadened, it first included shooting around his town, Long Beach, California.  Then he entered the “Best of Long Beach” photography contest and won several awards.  The next year he won the audience appeal award.  This year he won the overall I-am-the-best-shooter in Long Beach award.  A significant achievement.  And now I ask him questions.

I love Lon’s shooting.  It is so daring.  And he attends many events in his city and photographs them.   He shoots the birds and the bees, the surfers and their boards, the sunsets and beaches, the people and their doings.  When he travels — he shoots the sights with equal aplomb.

Do you know your town as well as Lon knows his?  Have you photographed it?  Have you learned how to shoot at night with a tripod and long exposures?  Have you shot the interiors of buildings?  Remember, as you shoot, you will find your style or niche.  You’ll discover what is important to you.  You’ll start taking memorable images — even some million dollar shots.  And you’ll have memorable times.  Include your children, talk with them what you’re doing.  Get them a camera so they can shoot too.  And you’ll have some million dollar memories.

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There are lots of things wrong with the above photographs.  I’ve mentioned some of them in the comments of the individual pictures.  But consider this, there is no such thing as a perfect picture.  It may look perfect — beauty is in the eye of the beholder — but to achieve one thing, some other thing has to be let go.  Photography is a give and take.  You keep some rules here so you can disregard rules there.  The brilliance is in knowing the right time for each.  That said, there are also many things done right in the above photos.  You can gauge the success of the session  primarily on the subject’s response.  If they had fun during the shoot and like the pictures, it was a roaring success.

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My friend, Jenny, noticed how beautiful the light was every morning as she changed and bathed her baby daughter.  One day she photographed the scene.  The combination of subject matter and light is perfect and these shots — found at home — are family treasures.  I’ve included these images from last week’s work — as I promised — and will continue to do so from other photographers for the next few days.

Moving away from home, especially the first time, can be a pretty traumatic adventure.  Thinking back about it, 40 years after the fact, I remember it as being a  lonely time.  Exciting, but still lonely.  I was the second oldest child in a family of 9 children.  We were actually best friends.  My brother, Lon, would hardly leave home without saying, “Don’t say anything funny ’til I get back!”  So being on my own with only one roomy — one I had never met before and didn’t have to feed or wash her face or shoo her out of my things — was like losing all but one finger.  But it did give me time for observation — and reflection.  And to find what was important to me individually.  I can’t really say I did a good job of that.  But I can say that almost everything I have done in my life since, is in some way connected to my early years at home.  It was my foundation.  And I still find that even after all these years, I look, act, and sound like my sisters.

This really has nothing to do with photography except that we have now moved away from home and into our neighborhoods.  Just make sure you take with you what you learned at home.  If it works (makes you a better photographer/person and more serviceable)  then keep it, improve upon it.  If it doesn’t work (make you a better photographer/person or more serviceable) it’s okay to discard it.  Toss it aside.   Just make sure not to toss out the baby with the bathwater.  (Just some bit of wisdom I heard at home and thought I’d share.:)

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Also, I have a few images to upload from other photographers — their shots taken at home.  I’ll be posting those sp0radicaly through out the week.  Check back often so you don’t miss them.  There’s some pretty beautiful and interesting images.

These images were all found within 10 minutes of my home in Saratoga Springs.

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So, today is the big critique day!  Time for us to explore together the treasures found at home and photographed during the last week.  Just like the critiques in Beginning Photography at Utah State University, we can learn exponentially more from our shared observations. What do you like?  Don’t like?  Don’t be shy.  The purpose of this exercise was to get to know your camera as well as the things in your home.  To see things in a different light.  From a new angle.  And if  you have images to share, please figure out a way to share it.  If all else fails, email them to me and I will post them for you.

Now it’s time for the chat.  What do you like/dislike?  Which works the best/least for you?  What did you find interesting/boring?  Did it give you ideas for things you’d like to try?  What insights do you have which you’d like to share?  Just click on the name of the post, “Critique:  Found at Home,” at the top of the page.  It will take you directly to the post where you can leave your comments.

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One of Canon's most popular lenses, the 17-40 mm f/4 L retrofocus zoom lens.

One of the things you should have been learning this week shooting at home is how to use your camera.  I can’t help you with that — I know how to use my camera, not yours.  But don’t worry, all cameras come with a user’s guide.  So if all else fails, read the instructions.  I know you’ve heard that so often it’s not funny anymore, but it is still true.  Read them and practice using the different features on your camera.  The more you practice, the better photographer you’ll become.

Photo Tip:  Put your camera’s instructions in your camera bag, so if you run into a problem while you’re shooting, you’ll have expert advice right at your fingertips.

Some of the things you should know and be able to do quickly are:

• Find and change the f stop, iso, and shutter speed
• Know how to change your lenses
• Use the self timer
• Understand your metering system
• Learn to focus accurately
• Know how to change your white balance

Not all cameras have all the above mentioned features.  But you should know which of those features your camera does have and how and when to use/change them.  In Beginning Photography at Utah State University, we were told to secure (beg, borrow, or steal buy) a camera that can shoot in manual mode.  It’s okay if it was an automatic camera, but the course required it to also have a manual mode.  And surprisingly,  it didn’t need all the bells and whistles that new cameras have.  It just needed to be a camera the photographer could control.  Know your camera.  Does it have a manual mode?

The only other requirement was that the camera must have interchangeable lenses.  Sometimes you need a long lens, other subjects require a wide angle lens.  Beginning Photography was just the right place to learn which focal length was best for the subject.

I was asked in Starting Here, Starting Now,   “I have an old (digital) camera. Probably 3 or 4 years old. Should I buy a new one?”  I answered, “You only need a new digital camera if you want to do more than your old digital camera can do. For example, if your old digital camera had a fixed lens and you’d like to use multiple lenses, then it’s time to buy a new one. But if you don’t even know what I’m talking about, then the camera you have is still good for you.”  I think that’s still good advice here.  Just like your shoes, you don’t need a new camera until you’ve outgrown your old one — or it is worn out.

Just something to think about on a Saturday in September.

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We were like a team, cheering each other on . . .

Every Monday , in beginning photography at Utah State University, we (students and our professor) gathered  together for a critique.  Each student brought 10 mounted and matted prints from the previous week’s shots, and in turn displayed those prints around the room (mostly on the chalkboards) so all could be seen.  Then we discussed the good and bad about each shot.  We often laughed and were occasionally impressed by the work.  These were easy-going discussions where we all learned from the triumphs and the disasters of each other.  I valued these discussions because in an hour or two, I could learn exponentially more than I ever  learned just by shooting alone.  We were like a team,  shooting alone but working together.  And we all benefited.

So, on Monday — the one coming up around the bend — I plan on posting my  favorite images I’ve shot at home this week, and hope you do, too.  If you can’t post, please comment and say you have something for the blog — and I’ll send you an address where you can  in turn send the images and I’ll post them for you.  Please, please do this.  I’m begging you!  (How’s that for drama?)  We’ll all learn so much more if you participate.

Some of the items I found at home before this week.

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As an aside, for about five years  after taking the photography classes at Utah State University, I only shot in black and white.  Never once did I take a shot in color.  So when our business, Altus Photo Design was born in 1996, we sent two shooters — one shot in color, the other shot in black and white.  (Obviously, I was the black and white shooter.)  We were purists — no digital conversion for us.  Besides, each film actually had a personality of its own  — some had gorgeous grain while others had rich blacks.   I actually didn’t learn to like color photography until about 10 years into the shooting.  Let me explain.

Color can get in the way of the composition.  It can be distracting.   To me, color shots looked like everyone’s point and shoot snapshots.  But black and white shots looked timeless.  And most times, more artistic.  If you’re not relying on the “wow” of  the shot being gorgeous color, you have to be more careful while shooting.  Composition, cropping, tonal qualities become key to the success of the image.  And if you can shoot well in black and white, you’ll be a much better color photographer.  I’ll just show some examples to let you see what I mean.  But before I do, I’d just like to say that we’ve now joined the digital age and shoot in color then convert everything to black and white after the fact in photoshop.

Kaden with his mom

Some things look better in color — others in black and white.  Which do you like best?  Why?  Just remember, while you’re shooting around the house this week, consider saving some in black and white.  It opens up a whole new world.

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Since we’re shooting at home this week, I thought I’d find some examples from  photographers on Flickr who shot at home.  Notice that personality comes packed in these shots, they have very clean lines — no clutter to confuse the eye — and each has an unexpected element: the whiskers on the cat; the location of the child; the condensation on the can of pop — you get the picture.  Loads of possibilities found right at home.

Which brings us to more discussion from Beginning Photography at Utah State University.   There are two kinds of shots — found and made.  A “found shot” is something you stumble upon.  It is all but perfect and is begging to be photographed.  But as soon as you twist the cup or add flowers or change the scene in any way with shooting in mind, it becomes a “made shot” and you have become a “photographic stylist.”  Actually, that’s how my love of photography began.  I stumbled upon it!

I was at a photographer’s studio late one Friday afternoon picking up a check for one of my children when a call came into the studio.  It was the photographer’s stylist saying she could not come into work on Monday, he’d have to find someone to take her place.  Because it was so late in the day and in the week,  Steve (the photographer) asked me if I could take her place and be the photographic stylist for a cookbook he was scheduled to shoot during the next two weeks.  He told me it would be easy, just bring whatever props I wanted — relating to cooking — and show up for work Monday morning.  His expectation was for me to be an extra pair of hands, buy groceries, wash dishes — and mostly stay away from the shooting.

It sounded fun — so I showed up to work Monday morning with my car packed to the gills with props from my kitchen.  I asked Steve where I should put them and was told, “Leave them in the car.  You’ll know where to find them if we need them.”

Most of that first day I washed dishes and swept the floor and looked in on the sets to give my approval.  Then late in the day the client came to me and said, “Do you like the way this shot is going?”  “Frankly no,” I answered.  Then she said, “What are you going to do about it?”  “Nothing!”  I said, and started to wash more dishes.  But she said, “Yes you are!  That’s what I’m paying you to do.  I was told you are an artist.  Now go fix that shot.”

With fear and trembling — knowing I was not the person she was told about — I walked over to the set and stood next to the art director.  I didn’t say a word, only stood there watching.  It was a french bread shot — and the director had chosen sand colored everything.  The client was right.  It was boring!  Each item blended right into the next.  To my relief, the art director said, “This isn’t going the way I expected.   Do you have any suggestions?”

Pretty soon I was carrying props in from the car and making suggestions here and there.  Candlelight here.  Green ivy there.  We re-vamped the shot (and the next, and the next) — while Steve watched horrified.  But when the shots started getting better, Steve looked relieved.  By the end of the two weeks, I had a job.  I became Steve’s photographic stylist.  And my love of photography was born.

So.  Begin where you are.  At home.  Take lots of shots.  Be sure to include “found shots” and “made shots.”  Each has its place.  And let’s see where this adventure takes you!

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Hmm.  I admit  this world with all its varieties of animal, vegetable, and mineral can be  pretty daunting.  So the next point I learned at Utah State University in Beginning Photography was to first, shoot at home around the things and people you know best.  Shoot everything at home for a week — the people who live there, your dog or cat, the doorknobs, the boxes of junk in the garage.  Shoot everything — including the kitchen sink.  Try different angles from low to high and from side to side.  See if you can see things differently.  Notice your observation skills increase.  And when you leave home, make sure you take your camera with you.  Just in case.

The pictures below are a common sight in our household.  Michael — my daughter’s husband — studies a lot.  He doesn’t read, he studies.  It’s one of the things we count on.  So.  Don’t forget to shoot the happenings at your house — along with the people and things.  From all the angles and from different points of view.

Markers

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Image via Wikipedia

In the late 1980′s I went back to college to finish my undergraduate degree.  I was an English major in love with photography.  It would have taken me too long to complete the degree if I changed my major, so I kept it and did all the photography classes on the side.    For a while, I’d like to revisit some of those lessons (Beginning Photography, Utah State University) one at a time.

Lesson #1:  You’ll never take that “one in a million” shot if you don’t start shooting.  Shoot as much as you can.  The more you shoot, the faster you’ll learn.  And the faster you’ll start taking million dollar images.

This is easy today with digital cameras.  Click, delete, click, delete . . .  But before digital, film had to be purchased and processed.  So even if I hated all my shots — and never used them, I still had to pay for all the clicks!  And it was expensive.  Anyone had to be pretty committed to photography to become a good photographer back then.  So start shooting!  Just begin where you are (I’m talking to me, mostly) and post your best shots here.  Come on!  It’ll be fun — and we may even learn something, too.  And before I forget.  I took these pictures last year on a little outing to Bear Lake with my in-town sisters and my mom.  I took 70  pictures that day — looked at them briefly — and did nothing with them.  These are direct from the camera, no digital manipulation at all (they could use some).  And lots more problems.  Can you see what they are?  We’ll talk about them, and your posts too!

Bear Lake, Southwest Shore

Me, Mom, Heidi, and Michelle

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Image via CrunchBase

Eye-Fi memory cards: wireless photo & video uploads straight from your camera to your computer & the web..

I found this this morning on a facebook ad.  I didn’t want to loose it, so I’m posting it here.  I think it’s pretty nifty.  I have a new gig shooting some product photos for an online company.  This looks like a pretty simple way to transfer the files from my camera to the web!  Great idea.

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Liz with the skin smoothing technique and the automatic color correction in photoshop.

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Skin Smoothing

More of that cover girl, glamour look.  I tried it on my mom.  She’s 80.  This is how she turned out.  Oh!  and that’s me next to her.  My granddaughter said I look  better untouched.  Oh, I wish that were true!

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I found the above link on Pictureline’s Facebook page.  I wanted to use it, and thought maybe you would, too.

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And yes, dusk and dawn are some of the best times to shoot architecture.  The last rays of sun on the facade often look like a blush of pink, a bit of ambiance, and a sparkle of personality.   It’s the emotional impact in the image.

But the tip I’ll share today is this, if you’re shooting a window, make sure you’re standing in the middle of the window.  Or a door, the middle of the door,  etc.  Otherwise the symmetry of the shot is off.   And in architecture — because the building doesn’t smile or look pensive — one of the nice things to shoot is the symmetry.

And one more thing.  Take the photo just after the lights come on in the evening.  You’d be surprised at how much better anything looks with a little light glowing from the inside.

Her face is in the shade -- good! But the blown-out highlights in the backgound are a problem.

When Cody and Angela Langford and their 4 daughters came to town — the first time in 10 years — Cody’s Aunt Heidi organized a family party to meet and greet these Missouri Langfords.  Amy Hart offered to hostess the party at the Pavilion and Boat Dock in Saratoga Springs.  About 30 family members showed up, a great photo op.  However, it was held in the middle of the day when the sun was too strong or hot for good photography.  So.  What does a photographer do?  Change the time of the party?  I don’t think so.  A photographer has a few options, however.  Some of them good.

First, choose to shoot the subjects in the shade — not full-on sun which leaves black shadows under the eyes.  We’ve all seen them.  We’ve all shot them.

Second, choose to shoot into a dark background.  If you shoot into a light one — filled with hot sun — the subjects will be underexposed.

Third, shoot when a cloud momentarily covers the sun.  A cloud acts as a huge lightbox and changes that harsh light into beautiful, gentle light.  If even just momentarily.

Fourth, take lots of pictures.  You can always edit out the ones that don’t work.  Who will know?

Would a rose by anyother name smell as sweet?

I did go shoot yesterday morning. . . drove around in one big circle, 10 miles around . . . and came home to shoot the zinnias in my front garden.  Just notice the gentle light.  That was all I was going for.  And the shoot was a success, because I shot something.  Anything.  Oh, I know it wouldn’t get me any points if I were supposed to shoot cars or monkeys.  But I was shooting light, and that is the essence of photography.

I have lots of dusk pictures.  But only a handful of dawn because, you know, it comes so early in the day.  So.  I’m off to see what I can get.  In the meantime, look at this picture taken at dusk.

This image, taken at dusk, has no deep shadows or blown out highlights. It just has lots of gentle light.