Much learned from my first wedding

As you may know I photographed my first wedding.  I had a great time and ready to do it again. I learned many things.

1. Make a shot list. (and take it with you)
1. Talk with your client to establish imtportan shots for them
2. Establish a time with the wedding party to take formal pictures
3. Use a low aperture to cut down clutter in the background and aid in low light conditions.
4. Know the limitations of your flash.
1. Shooting in low light is a challenge and in a later blog I will discuss how to deal with it.
5. Don't get to caught up on one thing, you may miss something important.
1. I think I foucused to much on details and forgot the wedding party. 
6. It is would offer better coverage with two photographers
1. This would aid in not taking away from the actual ceremony. An easy division of work would allow for better coverage.
7. Try not to be so obvious
1. I think I may have taken away from the actual ceremony with my movements in trying to get good shots. 

I did learn some things before the wedding that proved invaluable. A flash deflector proved invaluable and it was cheap and easy to make.  Check out the link here flash bounce .  This was a great tool that only cost two dollars.  It really even outs the skin tones and makes for a more professional lighting effect.  And saves a lot of work in photoshop later.

Stay tuned next week when I discus in depth some solutions for low light photography.

Playing with lighting

Tonight I took some time to play with the lighting kit before I break it out on Sunday for the wedding I am covering.  Everything seems to be working fine.  I really need to get a more attractive model.

These are examples of a using a gel on a white background

This is what the gels look like on the darker background.

Now, let me explain what the gels are and how they are used.  A gel is simply a heat resistant piece of  transparent plastic, that has translucent color added to it.  The gel will be placed over your light source to create a coloring effect to your image.  To create the effect like the one I have done, the light and gel is placed behind the subject pointed directly at the background.  I chose to slightly angle the light up, which allowed more coverage over the background.  This does not have to be done with an expensive light kit. This can be done with a colored flood lamp.  It is also important to note that I placed another key light at nearly a 45 degree angle about 5 feet in front of the subject (yes, that would be me).

Now, I want to just throw out some images that I took tonight using some other lighting techniques.  I am not sure what I will have more my next post.  Hopefully, I will be able to successfully pull off this wedding and have some photos of that up here next week.

Been a while

I know it has been a while since my last post.  I have been trying to get settled in to my new place in Bremerton.  As you may have seen, I finally launched my website with its own domain name,  Tim Barron Photo.  My projects for the next couple weeks will be stock photography.  I have my photo studio set up in my new place and am looking for some suggestions for still life photography.  So, if any of you have suggestions on what still life photograph would be interesting  let me know and I will try to shoot it and post it up here for everyone to check out.

Happy New Year Microstocks

In 2009 I finally got the confidence to take that next step in photography.  I started with baby steps and started in October with submitting images to various microstock sites.   In keeping with the theme of my blog I thought I would give you all some insight about these microstock sites.

Microstocks were first introduced by Bruce Livingstone, who created istockphoto.  This site was originally a free photo stock site which grew rapidly.  Livingstone sold istockphoto to Getty Images in 2006 for a reported 50 million dollars.  Today the number of microstock sites continue to grow.  A few of the larger ones include dreamstime, fotolio, bigstockphoto, shutterstock.

Microstocks are all fairly similar in submission and selection criteria.  Most offer submissions via java enabled uploader and a easy HTML platform.  Still other offer photographers that have large volumes of files to upload via file transfer protocol (ftp).  Photos must meet certain file size requirements, usually 3MB.  If you meet the file size requirement and successfully upload your photo you must enter keywords that describe your photo.  These keywords are essential in getting your image seen.  Once you have established your keywords, your images are submitted for a stringent review.   If your images are approved your are set.

Here are a few of my portfolios for examples.  While you are there if you see any thing you like feel free to purchase and use as you like.

Dreamstime Portfolio
Fotolio Portfolio
Big Stock Photo Portfolio

Thanks for looking and you too can get your images to be making money for you, just take that step outside your comfort zone and post some images.  As for me, I am attempting to get the benchmark of 100 photos uploaded and accepted by June 2010.  With any luck and some creative photography I may be abel to achieve this goal.  

The Photographer's Christmas Wish List

Everyone loves to take pictures and I have put together a list of items that are sure to be at the top of a photographers wish list.

1. Memory cards- be it SD, SDHC, compact flash or the Sony Memory Stick.  Memory cards are without question a must have and lots of them.  They are an inexpensive gift or stocking stuffer that will be greatly appreciated by any photographer.  
2. Aftermarket camera strap.  If you are an avid photographer these 15-20 dollar beauties are invaluable if you are hiking or are in need of carrying your camera for an extended period of time. 
3. Cleaning kits-  These kits have become increasingly less expensive over the past couple years.  These are a great purchase and one that will be appreciated so much, especially after a few outings of  missed photos due to artifacts on your image.
4. Remote Shutter Release-  These are great for taking your own family portraits or a great creative tool if you are looking to do some self portraits.
5. Gorilla Pod-  A great invention that has come on the scene recently.  These flexible small tripods can attach to numerous structures making it an extremely versatile and lightweight tripod.
6. Extra lens caps-  If you have lost one,  you know that a spare can prevent you from scratching that expensive lens that a 5-10 dollar lens cap could have saved. 
7. A photography magazine subscription.  Prices for subscriptions have came way down and why not give that photography a gift that comes every month.

Well, that is my top gifts for 2009 for under $30.00.  So, if you are still searching for that perfect gift for the picture taker in your life, I hope this helps.

I also wanted to share some photos with you all of the past few weeks.

The search for the Barron Family Tree

Found it!!!!!  Cut down by KeeJ "Paul Bunyon"  with his might axe, or bow saw.

Then it was placed on the Sleigh.  Most likely the fattest tree we have ever had.

Digital Photo Power

With today's blog I wanted to really show you some examples of how small things can make a big impact.  So, that is the theme for this post.  You all may have heard about the four slain police officers in Lakewood, WA.  If you haven't heard or want to know more about this horrific act, check out My Northwest.com.   The coffee shop and area where these officers where brutally gunned down are places that I know well and I feel a need to show support for the officers and their families.  With that said, I will be donating all the revenue from my picture sales through the month of December to the families of the fallen police officers of Lakewood.  If you want to help out  please take a look at my galleries and order a print or two.  Here are two of my galleries Scenic and Wild.  If you just care to donate directly to the families a fund has been established.  You can donate to that fund directly here, Fallen Officers.

As you can see with these photos below little things do make a difference.  The before and after photos are the same picture with just a few keystrokes that have really added some drama.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Here are some more photoshop and aperature projects I have been working on lately.

Again little things make a difference and you can help make a difference to the families of the Lakewood Police Officers.  Here are the links again.  My galleries, Scenic and Wild.  Direct donations, Fallen Officers

I floated to San Diego on my own private raft and got some pictures from Balboa Park and the World Famous San Diego Zoo.  That float may be the last time I visit San Diego for a little while.  I wanted to spend some more time at the zoo but with the shorter days it was just not possible.

Balboa Park has beautiful architecture.  I will post more pictures in the upcoming days

The zoo had its usual cast of characters but these were a couple of my favorites