Portrait Help

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: May 2007

Side lighting using a window

Watch Candice's online video to see this technique in action.

1. Place your subject parallel to the window. This will give you strong side-lighting.

2. Have the subject’s face turned toward the light so that the highlight side is closest to the window and the light is able to slightly wrap around the subject’s face. You want there to be a triangle of light on the shadowed cheek. If the shadows are too dark for you on the shaded side, add a reflector. Hold it to the side and slightly below so it can bounce light back into the subject.

3. You want to avoid having them stand parallel with their face forward because this will give you a harsh line of shadow down the center of the subject’s face.

Metering

Picture Perfect Photography: Metering

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: June 2007

Here's what your shot might look like without metering close.

Learning to think like your camera’s meter
The way your camera sees things is completely different than the way the human eye sees things. As we look at the world, our eyes are able to balance light and dark. The human mind also has a great ability to edit things quickly pulling out the important information from a complex scene. Our cameras don’t work that way. I’m sure we’ve all had moments when we got our pictures back only to be disappointed that our photographs don’t look exactly the way we remember them.

Usually this is because of the meter in our camera. Metering determines how your camera adjusts for lighting with the shutter speed and aperture. So to get great photographs you have to learn how your camera’s meter works. Here is a simple explanation:

Learning how to meter:
One of the most important things to learn about your camera is how it meters light. Most cameras take an overall reading and set the exposure for a middle-grey (meaning that they meter everything in the picture and average it).

Example 1: If you were taking a picture of a child with the sun shining brightly behind them, the camera will read all the light, and when you get your picture back the sky will be pretty and your child’s face will be dark.

Example 2: Snow. Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful snowy day just to get it back and see that it is blue-grey instead of white? That’s because it took the average, which we know would be white and made it middle-grey.

There are several ways to get past this. The main one is to move in closer to your subject. Get closer and cut out the bright sky. If you don’t want to do that, then meter closer. Move in. Hold down the button and take note of what your camera is telling you. Set your camera to those settings and move back. Your camera is going to tell you that the exposure is wrong, but it’s not. Try it! You’ll see the results will be beautiful.

The same shot after metering close and then changing the settings.

A few cameras have weighted metering sensors or spot metering so you are able to determine the area in your viewfinder that you want the camera to meter.

Also, a lot of cameras have a something called AE lock. It’s a setting that will “lock” the exposure settings to whatever you metered on no matter where you move. It’s a great tool to learn.

Learning how to use your meter can make a world of difference in the photographs you take. Try it in a back lighting setting and I promise you’ll be happy you took the time to meter correctly!

For more information and to see how the process works watch this video on backlighting.

Indoor Light

Picture Perfect Photography: Indoor lighting

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: July 2007

Most people have the tendency to turn on their camera and start up the flash once they’ve stepped inside. But just because you’re inside doesn’t mean you can’t use the available light to take your pictures. There are a few simple things you can do to help your indoor photographs have great light!

The first thing you can do is to raise your ISO. ISO is the international standard used to denote film speed. It is now being used in digital imaging as the ISO equivalent for the sensors used in digital cameras. That might sound a little complicated, but all you really need to know is that the higher the number, the more sensitive to light (meaning the higher the number the less light needed). So while an ISO of 100 is great for taking pictures outside on a cloudy day, an ISO of 800 is great for taking a picture in a dim restaurant. Most cameras are set around 100 but on some cameras you can dial all the way up to ISO 1600. Your camera’s manual will tell you where, if and how you can change your ISO.

Note: Changing your ISO can add a little noise to your picture so if you are planning to blow something up big, you may not want to change your ISO.

The second thing you will need to do is open your aperture. An aperture is a hole in the camera that can open or close to let in more or less light. In this case you will want to open your aperture to let in more light. That means use a low number aperture, for example 2.8 or 1.8.

If you combine a high ISO and an open aperture, you will be able to take pictures without a flash indoors.

Check out this picture taken in my friend’s home with the flash on. See the harsh shadow behind her on the wall. And the harsh light?

Notice the difference in this picture taken in the same hall without a flash. See how much better the light looks and how much more flattering it is on the subject?

There will be some situations where taking a picture without a flash is simply impossible because of a lack of light. In these cases, remember to pull the subject away from the walls and into the center of the room, that way you don’t have strange shadows projected in the background.

Soft Focus

Picture Perfect Photography: Soft focus

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: August 2007

How do you get a soft, dreamy look to your images without spending a lot of money for a selective focus lens or spending a lot of time in Photoshop? Try these easy tips for a fabulous look.

There are several ways to control the focus in an image. Yes, you can buy lenses to help you or you can use photoshop to blur out the background, but you can also do a lot just by buying a cheap UV filter for your camera. You probably already have one. They are especially important in protecting your lens from scratches and dust. But they are also so much more.

Check out this still life image straight out of the camera with no filter. It’s not a bad image but it could be so much more.

Notice the difference in this second image. See the soft glow? The strong blur of the background and the smoother tonality? This was done with two inexpensive items--a cheap UV filter and KY jelly.

It may sound funny, but all you have to do is place the KY jelly on the areas of the filter that you want blurred. Only use it on the outside of the filter--you don’t want to get it on your lens. In the days before digital, this was a trick that professional photographers often used, only back then it was vaseline.

KY jelly is actually much more user-friendly because, unlike vaseline which was difficult to clean off the filter, KY jelly is water soluble so it rinses right off. This is a fun technique because you can place the jelly wherever you want to!

This final image is similar to the previous one in that it has areas that are also soft and out of focus--but there is a hint of graininess in this photograph. This was added by putting a clean filter over the lens and breathing on it to create a fog. The center will clear first so look through your view finder and take the picture when it looks like you want it to.

Shutter Speeds

Another one on Creating Keepsakes. This time it's on shutter speeds. This will come in handy! :)

Picture Perfect Photography: Shutter Speeds

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: September 2007

Shutter speeds, what are they? What do they do? How do I change them? And why does it matter?

It’s less complicated than you might think. Every camera has a shutter. A shutter is like a door—it opens and closes when you press the button to expose your image. The speed refers to how long the shutter is open. The longer the shutter is open, the more light you let in. Sounds great right? If you always had a slow shutter speed letting in lots of light, would always get great pictures? Not exactly, your shutter also controls the movement your photograph shows. Fast shutter speeds freeze movement. Slow shutter speeds show movement so the subject blurs.

When you are taking portraits and you want the subject to be sharp, you should always use a shutter speed above 1/60. And above 1/125 is even better. This is good to know because if you are photographing a sporting event (or a toddler), where the subject is moving quickly, than you will want to use a really fast shutter speed (1/500 or even 1/1000.) If you want to show movement in a photograph by blurring the subject, then you would use a slow shutter speed like 1/30th or 1/15th.

When you are using a slow shutter speed, you should try to use a tripod so that you don’t get camera shake. Camera shake is when the shutter speed is so slow it blurs not only the moving subject but the whole photograph. This is usually caused by your unsteadiness while holding the camera.

So where do you control this on your camera? Of course you can control it on manual. But to simplify things while you are learning, use the TV or S (depending on the camera) mode on your camera. On this exposure mode you choose the shutter speed and your camera will choose the aperture to give you a correct exposure.

Here is a list of shutter speeds to go by. Some cameras will go longer or shorter depending on the brand and some have in-between speeds, but these are the basic speeds. Basically, 1/8000 is the fastest and 2 seconds is the slowest.

1/8000 s

1/4000 s

1/2000 s

1/1000 s

1/500 s

1/250 s

1/125 s

1/60 s

1/30 s

1/15 s

1/8 s

1/4 s

1/2 s

1 s

2 s

Bulb ( which means the shutter will stay open until you push the shutter button again then it will close)

The photograph above was taken at a shutter speed of 1/20th. The subjects are blurred especially where they were moving the most, in the legs and feet. Also the background is slightly blurry because I was holding the camera myself instead of using a tripod.

This photograph was taken at a shutter speed of 1/1000th. Even though the subjects are jumping at the same speed, their images are sharp and frozen in the air because of the fast shutter speed.

Play around with your shutter speeds and watch the different results your camera produces. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to capture a great variety of action shots.

Life at 509

Cute little scrapbook featured at Creating Keepsakes I think I will have to scraplift it for our house here in Florida! :)

Here it is:

Mini Book of the Month: Life at 509

by Erin Lincoln

Appeared In: October 2007

The "For Sale" sign has been pitched in the front yard, ads have been placed in the newspaper, and we've already started packing up the extras. But before we leave, I want to document my feelings about the only home my husband and I have ever known together.

There has been so many good memories and photos from within these four walls that it is hard to find a place to start. Why even try? When you can't make sense of it all, go with a more random approach. Every bit is meaningful, so it doesn't matter what you pick. Only that you start.

The Cover

I went through my album box and pulled out a 6x6 postbound album by Making Memories. To jazz up the cover, I covered a chipboard page from a Maya Roads house album and attached directly to the surface. It was easy to slice the pages out of the binding with a craft knife.

Front Page

Mark the passage of time with calendar stamps by Hero Arts, only there's no need to circle a specific month and day.

Random Snippets

In this house, Matt carried me over the threshold on our wedding night...we both turned 25 and 30...we brought home two kittens for the first time. I have a ton of these little random snippets of events in my head. I placed each one individually on a 4x2 inch piece of paper and topped with a patchwork house made with a Quickutz die.

Longer Stories

I don't think I'll ever forget being woken up in the middle of the night to find our bedroom flooded with light from above. We thought we were being abducted by aliens! When we shook off the last remants of sleep, we were relieved to learn it was only a helicopter on a search mission.

We still laugh about this and countless other funny stories that have originated at 509. I recorded my favorites in the album and used the text to cover up the body of a chipboard house-the same one I used for the cover. The mini-paned window was the first thing I designed by myself on the computer to be cut out on my Quickutz Silhouette. Worked great!

House Quote

We have a wall quote above our front door. It says, "Where we love is home. Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts". I'll always feel that way about 509, even long after we've moved.

I recorded the quote over two 6x12 pages to go in the album. Keeping with the patchwork theme created by the house die and the chipboard houses, I cut out the quote with my Silhouette from several sheets of patterned paper. The font is Georgia--one of my favorites!

Photos

Over half the pages in this album are missing photos! Remedied that situation with going through my photo boxes from my film days and digging out treasures from when we first moved in. Also printed out newer digital photos to help better represent the seven years we've lived here.

What memories I've recorded through snippets, photos, stories, and significant quotes don't begin to scratch the surface of what has happened here during the last seven years. But it's something! The rest will rise to the surface when I'm going through photos and other scrapbook pages. The combination of the two will keep 509 fresh in our mind for years to come.

Last Scrapper Standing 2: Challenge #1

Just wanted to keep this in case they yank it off the site like they did with the original dares a few weeks ago.

Alright kids - here we go!

Transparencies. Overlays. Acrylic. Right now, if it’s clear, people are using it. So our first Dare to you is to rock the transparencies. 8. On one page. That’s right, people. 8 clear elements on one page, no more no less. We are looking for fun, NEW, innovate ways of layering.

Your layout can be two pages, but no minibooks, no projects. Make sure all 8 overlays are visible and countable. Have fun and get creative with it!!!!

Extra info/rules:

1. Your entries will need to be posted by next Wednesday, midnight EST.

2. We will provide the details about WHERE and HOW to post them on Tuesday, September 25.

Ready? GO!