Sara and Damon - Set 2 The next item on our agenda was to do a straight engagement-style shoot. I chose Old Town Pasadena because the location was convenient and I knew the location acceptably well.

Sara and Damon got changed for this shoot and we drove out to Pasadena together. We started shooting as soon as we got out of the car at the top of the parking structure.

VV helped carry equipment and manage the dog a the park; in Old Town he carried equipment and kept a lookout for incoming cars. I asked them to pose for a variety of shots in places like the middle of the parking structure and the middle of the street which could have potentially been disastrous if I hadn't had that second set of eyes watching out for my models!

These shoots were very experimental for me in that I didn't have one, set clear vision going in. This is kind of why my post processing style is all over the map! In any case, this shoot was insanely educational for me. I have to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Sara and Damon for your time and energy (modeling for an inexperienced photographer = hard work!) and to VV for being an awesome assistant!

(click to enlarge the photos!)

Labels: engagement-style, photoshoot, sara and damon

  ¶ 12:03 PM 4 Comments

  Sara and Damon - Set 1

Why the wait? Honestly, I was feeling a bit disillusioned for a while and was not completely happy with the way everything turned out. Also, work got really busy and the holiday season was highly stressful. You all know how that goes.

All that said, here are a few of the photos from the first shoot I did with Sara and Damon (I cannot thank you guys enough for letting me do this!) and their dog, Charlie!

We went to a park to shoot, my dear boyfriend VV in tow. VV held my lenses and tried to get Charlie to look at the camera by waving dog treats over my head while I frantically snapped away, adjusted my settings and feebly tried my hand at directing my patient subjects.

After nearly an hour and a half of shooting at various places around the park, we wrapped up and went back to the house to drop off Charlie and to prepare for the next shoot. Photos from that coming up presently!

Labels: charlie, dog, engagement-style, photoshoot, sara and damon

  ¶ 11:40 AM 1 Comments

  Update Yes, I got through one "shoot" and processed all of the photos and given them to the wonderful friends who let me photograph them and I still need to post a select few favorites here. I realize it's been a couple of months, but I've been madly stressed out lately due to work. Anyhow.

I wasn't happy with all of my processing. I should have checked it on more monitors before finishing up with them. That's the problem with digital, you see. A lot of them came out kind of too red/yellow and a bit oversaturated. I also need to learn how to handle green/purple fringing a little better as well as maybe get a camera that handles green/purple fringing a little better.

I'll post a few photos soon...!

  ¶ 3:29 PM 2 Comments

  Post-shoot thoughts I accomplished the shoot without too many problems...! Note: Old Town Pasadena can be tough to shoot in. Must carry water. VV is a fantastic asset when taking pictures.

I really need to work on being more assertive when directing my subjects. I think it worked out reasonably well this time since they were already friends of mine, but I definitely need more practice.

I've finished post-processing a large number of the photos already. Some of them turned out kind of well! I got through maybe half of them last night. I'm going to let them sit for a bit and then take another look at them tonight to see how I feel about them upon a second viewing.

  ¶ 3:49 PM 3 Comments

  Last minute thoughts So I'm actually in the car right now (don't worry, ever-so-wonderful boyfriend VV is driving) on the way to my first "shoot" and I've gotta admit...I'm a little nervous.

Not nervous about who I'm going to working with--they're old friends of mine who are doing me a great favor by letting me shoot them--but about what I might learn about myself. In short, what if I suck?

Before today I would be able to look at pro photographers' blogs and think "I could totally do that" but...what if I can't?

I guess that's what today is really about...learning a little more about myself.

Here goes nothing

  ¶ 1:23 PM 0 Comments

  Establishing style I've never done an actual "shoot" before. All of my portraits have been constrained by my working environment...and the fact that I'm both the subject and the photographer. Tough. I think that maybe it's because of this that I haven't exactly figured out what my "style" is. I have, however, figured out what I do and don't like to some extent.

I don't like texture overlays that are overlaid over an entire photo (that was a lot of "over"s). I feel like they flatten and take away from a photo. I think it can be used well sometimes, but most the time it looks kind of cheap. BUT...I do like grain. Not in everything, but I think it can really add a certain mood/interest to some photos.

I don't really like sepia. I think maybe I just don't get it. I do like black and white, though! I also love desaturation to almost every degree.

I generally don't like selective saturation. It's fun for snapshots and it can look great if used correctly but most of the time it looks kind of cheesy in pro photos. Probably not something I'll be using any time soon.

I love overexposed but contrasty shots. I also love super contrasty photos in general. Maybe that's why I like black and white so much...it's all about shadow, light, and contrast!

I do kind of like overexposure in general, though I suspect it's because it makes my undereye bags disappear.

So I have a list of some personal preferences. I have a "shoot" on Saturday (excited and freaked out!) so I guess I'll finally have a chance to see how my list will apply in real life!

Labels: personal

  ¶ 4:22 PM 0 Comments

  Starting off Nevermind the generic template and the lack of real content. That will all change soon...I hope.

This blog is to track my progress as a photographer. I'm currently working with a Nikon D40 (considered a "baby" DSLR) and a whole mess of lenses (yay!) but am looking to upgrade my camera sometime in the near (I HOPE) future.

Lately I've been considering trying my hand at taking pictures for money. The kinds of photos I think I'd enjoy taking the most are engagement/couples, boudoir (OH YEAH), and fashion-esque. Whatever that means. I have never been paid for my photos before, nor have I ever had a formal "shoot" where I actually get to direct people. I have no clue whether I'm going to be good at it or not but I'm going to give it a shot and see where it goes :)

What I'm doing now is asking (erm, maybe begging) people to "sit" for me so I can try and create some sort of portfolio in exchange for a disk of high-res, edited jpegs. This effort has been somewhat successful thus far! If I'm lucky, that means that this photography blog will actually have some pictures on it before long. AWESOME.

But where do I want this whole endeavor to go?

Short-term

Goal 1 Put together a portfolio
Get some good, quality work out there to let people know that I'm competent.

Goal 2 Get ONE paying gig
Short term, right? :)

I find it hard to put my goals out there for all to see...mostly because if I fail, everyone knows I tried and failed. What I'm hoping is that by putting things out there, I'll be held accountable for my failures...and my successes.

Labels: goals, personal

  ¶ 5:26 PM 0 Comments