Final self-portrait

 ISO: 100  f/ 5.6  shutter speed: 1/1600

ISO: 100 f/16.0  shutter speed: 1/250

The first picture I took several weeks ago. I would much rather be taking a picture than actual being in it, so I though I would do a silhouette. I love sunsets, so I got the idea of doing a picture of me taking a picture while the sun was setting(since that's good light for a silhouette anyways.) I set the camera up with a tripod, and pressed the shutter button than ran and got in place. Several times I wouldn't be right in front of the sun, so I finally got a stick to mark where I was supposed to stand. For the second picture, I got another silhouette idea. Since we already had newspapers hanging all over our wall, I decided that would be a cool back drop. Since newspaper has to do with reading, I thought it would be cool to be reading a book, and have the book lit up. I had a flash behind me that was sitting in a Styrofoam cup so it would stay, and a flash on a lightstand above me at an angle to get the book with a snoot on it. The flash in the snoot kept turning off which was making me really mad, and kept messing up my pictures. Since I didn't have a remote, I kept having to get up and run to go sit back down and get in place. I was having to be really careful with the book I was using because it was an old Bible from the 1800s so it was kind of falling apart. I was taking this picture in the middle of the day in a room filled with windows and no blinds, so that's why I had to put my aperture at 16, ISO at 100 and shutter speed at 1/250. I was using a 17-50mm lens. For post-editing, all I did was crop the image. I liked how it turned out since you can't see my face but you can see the book and my hand.

self-portrait attempts

 ISO:100  f/16.0 shutter speed: 1/250

 ISO: 100  f/16.0  shutter speed: 1/250

ISO: 100  f/ 16.0  shutter speed: 1/250

I took these pictures this past weekend. I had an idea to have me as a silhouette, but something right in front of me lit up. I enjoy cooking, so I thought it would be cool to be like flipping something in a skillet. This turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. I had a light behind me to make me a silhouette, and a light with a snoot from the diagonal side to get me flipping the tortilla in the skillet. I didn't have a remote, so it took me FOREVER to get these. I was using a 17-50mm lens. I liked how on these the tortilla was lit up, these were a couple of the tons i took that actually did that.

Parade time exposures

ISO: 100  f/22  shutter speed: 13 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/18  shutter speed: 15 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/29  shutter speed: 25 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/32  shutter speed: 15 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/32  shutter speed: 30 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/29  shutter speed: 20 seconds

I took these pictures at the Christmas parade last night. I kind of got lost going down there, so when I finally got there, I didn't have a whole lot of time left. I decided I wanted to do some time exposure pictures. I kind of had the photo contest for downtown in mind, and don't really know what they want yet, but when I figure that out, maybe I could do something like one of these. In the first picture I like how you can see people in it, and tell that the cars are turning. The second one is different because I took as the band was passing to see how that would turn out. I like how the buildings look in that picture. The fourth picture I really like how you can see people behind the lights. In the fifth picture, I thought it was cool how you could see both the red and green light from the stoplight. The two lines at the top were kind of cool, although I don't know what they are from. I used a 17-50mm lens for all of these, and a tripod. I was messing around with my settings depending on how bright the float/car/people were that were passing at that time. The parade ended way too quickly for me, but I was still pretty pleased with what I got. I brought up the clarity in all of these, in a couple of them I brought up the fill and recovery a little bit.

Thanksgiving break orb attempt

ISO: 100  f/5.6  shutter speed: bulb-80 seconds 

ISO: 100  f/5.6  shutter speed: bulb-161 seconds

I took these pictures over Thanksgiving break. I had been wanting to do it for a while, and I still really want to do it again. I didn't have any glow sticks so I had to use a flashlight. I also didn't have a remote, so my cousin was the one spinning in circles. I don't like the second picture as much because you can see her in it, and the first one isn't really the shape of an orb. I have been waiting to get glow sticks so I can do it again, and make it better. I was going to keep the shutter open longer, but the flashlight I had was too bright, so it would be blown. Over all, I had fun doing it, but learned a lot, and want to go get glow sticks so I can do it over and make it better.

Christmas Dinner

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/160 

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/160 

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/160 

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/160

These were taken this past weekend at my house. My mom cooked a "Christmas dinner" and we wanted to illuminate the empty chair and really put emphasis on it. We did not have all the gear we needed at all. We had two flashes, but only one stand and one sync. We finally figured out how to use master and slave but with that we had to have one flash on the camera which isn't exactly what we wanted, but it worked. The first picture I like how it is above and you can see them praying, but it is too dark, and it kind of makes the empty chair look weird. The second one is underexposed, but we were still trying to figure out the flashes and everything. The third picture is still kind of dark, but I like how it looks. The newspaper just can't print a really dark picture :( So, for the last picture, we brought the fill light up quite a bit. For these pictures, I was holding the flash and Brianna was taking the picture and Haley joined my family, except for the first picture where Haley and Brianna's roles were switched. We all were figuring out our flashes together, and were being as resourceful as possible. For a snoot, we used a paper bag with black tissue paper. Since we didn't have an umbrella, we used one of mine and duck taped it to the light stand, but since we didn't have enough syncs and stuff, we weren't able to use that(but Brianna did for her self portrait) After we took the picture, we all pigged out on the food, and it was so delicious! This was an extremely fun photo assignment! :)

Thanksgiving break randomness

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/640 

 ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/5000

ISO: 500  f/5.6  shutter speed: 1/125 

ISO: 500  f/ 5.6  shutter speed: 1/125

These were taken one day over Thanksgiving Break, I was using a macro lens and went outside and was just taking a bunch of random pictures. It was the day it rained, so I loved all the water droplets everywhere. The first picture is a water drop hanging from a leaf that I really liked. In the second picture I was trying to get a silhouette of it, but it didn't work as well as I had hoped. I still kind of like how the leave is black and part of the drop is black and part of it is see through. The third picture was of this lemongrass plant my mom has. I wasn't used to the aperture on the macro lens cause that picture was shot at 5.6, but there are still several parts that are blurry. The last picture is my favorite of these, because I like the water on top of the rose and how it is brighter that the rest of the rose, and the bug crawling on it, and the green leaf. I love using the macro lens, and being able to get really close to objects. I had a lot of fun going around and taking these pictures. :)

Tigers Got Talent

 ISO: 800  f/5.0  shutter speed: 1/50

ISO: 800  f/ 4.0  shutter speed: 1/100 

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/80 

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/80

These were taken at round 2 of Tigers Got Talent. It was really dark, and the spotlight wasn't bright enough, and I don't know why I didn't bump my ISO up to 1000. ugh! The first picture was of this guy doing something kinda strange, and I was trying to slow my shutter speed so you could tell the red thing was moving. The second picture I loved Cari's expression as she was telling a joke from a laffy taffy. The last two pictures were of Rachel Qualls. She started to play, but there were several technical difficulties, so the people were coming out to help her. I thought these were kinda cool pics as they were trying to fix the problem. For post-editing, I cropped, brought up the exposure, fill light, and recovery some. I really wish I had used a bigger ISO, and I am mad at myself for not.

Happy Thanksgiving Smith!!! :)

Duck Hunting

 ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/800

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1600

These were taken this past weekend when I had a photo assignment to get Cole Kennedy duck hunting. Unfortunately, they went duck hunting at 5:15 in the morning, so I had to get up really early. When we got out there, I couldn't start taking pictures until the sun came up because it was so dark, and supposedly it's bad to use flash when duck hunting. The first picture I was taking for the photo assignment. Since we aren't allowed to have a gun or dead duck in the yearbook, I took pictures of him duck calling out in the mud/water. I started out on the other side of him, but with the sun shining so bright on his face it didn't really work out. When on the side I took it on, I liked how I was kind of in the weed/stick things (I don't know what they're called). The second picture, I was actually taking several of them retrieving a dead duck, but then I got distracted by the thing in focus (again, I have no clue what that is). I ended up kind of liking this picture. I was using a 17-50mm lens. For post-editing, I color corrected and cropped the first image.

Walking Stick

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/400 

ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/125 

ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/250

These were taken this past Thursday. My dad was coming inside and saw this walking stick, so he called me over to come look. As soon as I saw it, I went and grabbed my camera. The sun was setting at this time, so they all had an orangeish/yellowish tint to them. The walking stick was frustrating me since he was the same color as our door. I wanted a bigger contrast, and I never thought to move him. I really like the shadow on the first two pictures, and I like his antennas in the last picture. I like these pictures, but they could definitely be better. I wish I would have closed my aperture more (bigger number) so more of the walking stick was in focus, and I wish he was on something that was a different color than him. I used a 17-50mm lens for all of the pictures. For post-editing, I cropped these, and used the white balance tool.

HDR pics 1st attempt

I took these pictures yesterday after learning how to do HDR pictures. I didn't have the most exciting place to take pictures to get the right lighting, but I still had a lot of fun taking these. In order to get it to look this way, I had to take several images of the same thing, and I had to have underexposed, overexposed, and exposed correctly images. I then put them in this program that puts all of them together, so that you can have detail in all parts of your image. After that I saved it, made another one of the same image, and used a preset on it. After that I put the two images in photoshop and merged them together by using the overlay. My favorite of these pictures, is the second one because I like the reflection on the windows. Doing this makes me want to go down town and try to get some HDR pics there. I used a 17-50mm lens for all of these, and a tripod. I had one more picture that I did, but I changed the focus point for the different exposures which ended up messing the picture up because it made it look blurry. Taking these images taught me a lot, and hopefully I'll now be able to go out and get some with a cool scenery/subject thing.

Lighting Ratios

ISO: 400  f/9.0  shutter speed: 1/320 

ISO: 400  f/10.0  shutter speed: 1/250 

ISO: 400  f/10.0  shutter speed: 1/250

I took these pictures Tuesday when I was learning how to use the light meter and about lighting ratios. The first picture is a 3:1 ratio and the last two are a 4:1 ratio. You can definitely tell a difference with the shadows. On the first picture, the shadow is a lot less than the next two with a bigger ratio. I do not like the composition of these images at all, but that was not what I was worried about or focusing on. It took me a little while to figure out the settings to get the ratio right, and Casey was being so patient with me, thankfully. The last picture is weird from the angle I took it at, but at the same time I kind of liked it. I just hit the black and white button on that picture. I'm hoping that next time I will be able to set up a lot faster and have a better composition. Next time, I'll set it up better, with a LOT better composition and background, and have a better image.

Swim Meet :)

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/250 

ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/250 

ISO: 400  f/2.5  shutter speed: 1/500 

ISO: 400  f/2.5  shutter speed: 1/500 

ISO: 400  f/2.5  shutter speed: 1/500

These were Saturday at the swim meet. This was my first swim meet to shoot, and it was a lot of fun! Haley was always having to tell me what was going on, since I didn't really understand it, but towards the end I started to get the hang of it. Shooting this really makes me want to have or use an underwater camera. That would be so cool, but it was still really cool without it. I'm really sad that this was the last home swim meet, and I am really hoping that I can go to the TISCA meet so I can shoot swim again. I used the 50mm lens for all of these pictures, and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. For post-editing, I cropped, and used the recovery tool. 

Egg Toss

ISO: 100  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1600

 ISO: 400  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1250

 ISO: 100  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1600

 ISO: 100  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1600

ISO: 100  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/1250

This was taken like a week or two ago, when Brianna and Claire were playing with the eggs after Claire finished her book cover. I was using a 17-50mm lens for all of these pictures. The second picture is of Brianna trying to balance an egg on her head. It was quite funny to watch. I wish I would have used the 28-75mm lens or gotten closer to them.

Six Weeks Project

You don't Love Me Yet

ISO: 200  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/125

51sBWDHIhkL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb‑sticker‑arrow‑click,TopRight,35,‑76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Sold

ISO: 200  f/2.8  shutter speed 1/250

515YV2XV7DL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb‑sticker‑arrow‑click,TopRight,35,‑76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


The first book cover picture was actually the second one I did. I had found several I wanted to do, but either didn't have the stuff I needed for them, or they had some scenery that we don't have anywhere in Texarkana. I found this one, and I liked it, but didn't know how to do the photoshop work for it, so Smith showed me, and it was easier than I had expected, but still really fun. The second picture (first one I took) is of Taylor. I was trying to get one of my book cover pictures done one weekend, but the only time I had available, no one was able to be my subject. I was going in my sister's room to see if she was there, and that's when I saw this book, which I thought was pretty cool. Taylor was a perfect subject and we used Brianna'a cardigan thing. For taking this picture, I learned more about off camera flash, which I haven't used very much. This made me want to get better at off camera flash and use it more often.

Butt Bump!

ISO: 1000  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/400

This was taken at the Sulpher Springs varsity football game this past Friday. This was during a play that started back around the 50yd line and they kept coming right towards me. I was trying to get out of their way and still take pictures at the same time, so this is what I ended up getting. It made me laugh really hard,  and I wish I wouldn't have cut the guy's foot off, cause that would have made it a lot better. I shot the game with a 70-200mm lens and this image is at 70mm. For post-editing, I brought the exposure up a little bit along with the blacks.

October 6 make up blog

 ISO: 1000  f/ 1.8  shutter speed: 1/250

ISO: 1000  f/ 1.8  shutter speed: 1/250

These were taken at the senior pep rally Friday. During the video, we were told to get pictures of people crying. I had the 50mm and these were the only people I could get close enough to. Everyone else I saw crying was like in the middle of everyone or on the other side. I had to get super close to these girls for these pictures. For post-editing I changed the white balance, and brought the exposure, fill light, and blacks up a little bit.