Author Archive for admin – Page 3

Check your Settings….

Check your settings!  Make it a habit – before you go out on any type of photo adventure, check all of your settings.  You will never be plagued with images shot with the wrong exposure.  So make sure you check:

  • ISO
  • White Balance
  • Shutter Speed
  • Aperture
  • Bracketing
  • Exposure Compensation

At the end of a shoot, always restore your settings to the same each time and you will know where you stand.  It can be very easy to finish a shoot, put your camera away and then download your images – but wait!  Don’t forget to restore your settings, so you are ready for those great photo ops at a moment’s notice.

Photographing One of My Favorite Things

Today I got to do one of my favorite things – take pictures of cupcakes and cookies from Lady Di’s.  What a perfect way to end the week!  These mouthwatering treats are as good as they look.  Stop by her shop located on The Old Road and Valencia Blvd. in Valencia and take some home today.  Tell them we sent you!

MelCarll-5364

MelCarll-5366

MelCarll-5315

Wedding Image of the Week…

Mel Carll-0077 web

Sometimes the best image is the details.  Here is an example of one of my favorite images from a wedding I shot this past month.

Wedding Workshop Wrap-up

On Sunday SCV Center for Photography hosted our Wedding Photography Intensive workshop with the awesome Wedding Photographer William Innes as our fearless instructor for the day.  The dedicated group started at 8am, yes, on a Sunday morning, and the entire group was early at that.  By 9am the group was shooting our totally decked out models Sarah & John, who did a fantastic job.  We were back in the studio b early afternoon for lunch and Q&A.  After lunch, it was all about workflow and editing the images from the day.  By 5pm the group was spent, but thrilled with the images and new found knowledge.  To see more on the workshop and about our totally awesome instructor, head over to http://williaminnes.com/blog/

sarah garage door bw

Silhouette Photos

In looking at some photos on the web today, I noticed a lot of silhouetted photos on the beach that really made me think about how little I have seen this in our local photography.  So after doing some looking into my own images, I realized that I have done some of this, but really not enough lately, so I thought I would post some basic thoughts in creating a nice silhouette.

  • The basic idea is to place a strong subject in front of the bright light, which can be a person, tree, building, animal, whatever it is that interest you.
  • Make sure you great light behind your subject, and that light needs to be brighter than the light hitting your subject from the front, or foreground light.
  • It helps it you have a nice plain background, no clutter, nothing that could distract your viewers eye from leaving the main subject in your image.
  • Do not use any flash from your camera.  You are trying to make your subject go black in the image, although you will want some detail, but just enough so that you know what the subject is.
  • The most difficult part is the exposure.  Use spot metering, and point it at the brightest part of the image, as this will under-expose your subject.  If your subject is too bright still, either speed up the shutter speed or change the aperture.  So if your aperture is currently at f8, adjust to f11.  And then just continue to adjust to you get the image you are looking for.

Making a silhouette can lead to a great image, both in bright daylight, or even at sunrise or sunset.  So get out there and make some images, and if you need additional inspiration or assistance, check out our workshop schedule at the SCV Center for Photography via our website www.scvphotocenter.com.

Nikon releases new lenses

Nikon announced today the release of several new lenses.  The first that caught my attention was the 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 VR lens that compete directly with Tamron.  This will provide the everyday photographer with a great range, thus reducing the need to change the lens.  This will be a welcomed addition to the vacation photographer as it will improve the range from the Nikon 18-200mm VR.

The next lens is the 24-120 f4 ED VR.  The great thing about this lens is it is geared toward the full frame sensor, so no loss of megapixels.  Great addition for those with the D700 and D3 cameras.

The other lens is the 85mm f1.4 which has been a little late to the game.  While the 85mm f1.8 is a great lens, this should rock with the f1.4 aperture.

Eric’s Party at the Hyatt Valencia

On Saturday 8/14 we photographed Eric’s 16th birthday party at the Hyatt Valencia.  What a grand party indeed.  He invited 90 of his close friends for an evening of music, food and all around fun.  Thanks Eric for letting us share and photograph your birthday event, and I do mean event.  Here are just a couple of tease photos from the event.  SCV Center for Photography supplied 2 photographers for the evening, and it was more fun than work, as the kids were a blast.

eric party bw_KAC9472-Edit

fisheye overhead_MEL0293-Edit

Shooting Ideas…..

There are times when your photographic creative juices fail you, and you just can not come up with any ideas of what to photograph, but you want to photograph.  Here are a few ideas for you to consider:

  1. Your Yard:  You may think this is funny, but your  yard is a target rich environment.  Most of you are likely to have flowers, roses, herbs or plants.  These items always make great macro subjects.  And don’t forget the grass, which first thing in the morning with dew and sunlight can be pretty pleasing.
  2. Your House:  To be more specific, the kitchen.  Consider those hanging pots, or the many utensils you have laying around.  If you just look around, you may be surprised what you see.
  3. Park:  Most us have a park fairly close to home.  The kids play area always has some interesting objects, that might be interesting macro shots.  The kids playing, laughing and running are great photos to send the grandparents.  You may even be lucky to have a water fountain or other textures to consider.
  4. Industrial Park:  Take a drive though the local business park.  Check out the textures on the building, as they can make for some interesting abstracts.  A lot of businesses have some pretty nice landscaping, so again, flowers, plants and even water treatments can make for great photos.
  5. Farmers Market:  Most towns today have a local farmers market, and this can be an awesome place for photographs.  You should always ask the vendors if they mind having the produce photographed, but generally, most have no problems.

Hopefully these tips can you help you jump start your creative juices on those slow days.  Enjoy, and keep shooting.  If you are interested in other ideas, please log onto our website at  www.scvphotocenter.com and check out our many workshops each month at the SCV Center for Photography.

Sneak Peak of our latest portrait session in the studio….

Final Cassie 13_MEL9061-Edit_pp1_pp ver 2 web

Enjoyed shooting the happy couple after the wedding.

Come on into the SCV Center for Photography for your portraits.   www.scvphotocenter.com

Ansel Adams photos found at Garage Sale

You have read that correctly.  A Fresno man purchased 2 small boxes 10 years ago for $45, negotiated down from $70 and now reports are coming in that they could be worth upwards of $200 million.

According to the story, 65 glass negatives created by Ansel Adams were believed to have been destroyed in a 1937 fire that had destroyed over 5,000 plates.  The plates were created sometime between 1919 and 1935 and included his iconic locations of Yosemite and San Francisco.  It is thought that Ansel had used them to teach a photography class in Pasadena and then stored them in a warehouse and never reclaimed them.  The original boxes were purchased in a warehouse sale back in the early 1940′s prior to being purchased again in a garage sale in 2000.

So if you are out garage sale hunting, you never know what treasures you may come across.