Thursday, October 25, 2012

How I Got The Shot #34 - Wedding in Olde Gahanna Sanctuary

I had the pleasure of shooting another wedding at the Olde Gahanna Sanctuary recently.  It is a such a great location!  We did a VisualOhio story about the Sanctuary, which you can read HERE.


In this installment of "how I got the shot, we are going to look at some pretty basic techniques and why we used them.


Read more after the break...

Monday, October 15, 2012

How I Got The Shot #33 - Zombie Composite

This post is a combo tutorial of getting the shot and a little photoshop!

I wanted to create a composite image for a calendar image.  It was for October, so - you guessed it, my favorite zombies are going to be featured!!

Here is what I built for the calendar:


We will build something similar today!!

See the full workflow after the break.....

Monday, October 8, 2012

"This camera makes me slow down and think about the shot...." -- An opinion piece.

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard other picture takers say this:
"With x-camera/film it forces me to slow down and think about the shot.  Unlike my DSLR, where I can spray and pray and not care about what I'm getting."

Obviously this is paraphrased, but you get the idea.

While it may be physically impossible for one camera to shoot faster than another(burst mode and all that), the determining factor on the speed of which you choose to take an image is made by the lump of grey matter behind the view finder.

I get it -- getting film, developing can be expensive and you don't want to just burn through your physical media.  However, to "blame" digital for allowing someone to shoot more frames faster is like blaming the frying pan for burning your grilled cheese sandwich.  The pan did not decide the amount of heat and how long you left the sandwich on it's particular side.  So, stop blaming the technology for YOU shooting thousands of frames when a hundred or less might do.

It's called self control/restraint and it needs to be exercised by the shooter.

Don't place blame, instead -- develop good shooting habits, such as:

1)  Learn how to properly hold/support your gear.
2)  Know when you'll need assistance and secure it(2nd shooter, assistant to hold the flashes/reflector, VAL)
3)  Understand and have a practical working knowledge of your subject;learn to anticipate when and where to press the shutter release for best effect.
4)  If you are in total control of the shoot, setup a shooting plan/diagram prior to the shoot.  This will give everyone a roadmap in which to work within.
5)  Know your gear and how best to leverage its capabilities to get the shots you want with ease.

There are many more things, but this is a good starting point and a good set of ideas to get your own thoughts flowing.

Remember - there is a big difference between a casual snap shooter and a pro photographer.  A pro does their best to secure all the elements of the image in the initial capture of the image.  That means taking the time to craft a shot that encompasses all the elements necessary to elevate your shot from a mindless snap into a potential work of art.  Don't let yourself get carried away in the moment to the point that your sacrificing a quality shot for a quantity of average shots.