What a Day for a Daydream

A Look Through the Water

I was looking through some pictures from the summer that I hadn't sorted yet and found these interesting shots I took from the dock at the family cottage. They have a bit of an abstract feel to them. I think the trick to these photos was to have movement in the water. I found them visually interesting, so I thought I'd share!

Hover and click to pin!

How to Make a DIY Reflector

For awhile now, I've been playing with the idea of buying a reflector. However, they're at least forty bucks, so I figured I'd try to make one myself. The picture above is what I came up with. It doesn't look quite as professional as one of these guys:

But it worked! I was pleasantly surprised with the difference it made in the photos. My design could probably use some work (it was heavy using the picture frame), but it didn't cost me anything (I had the foil on hand and the picture frame) and it worked well for the photo I was taking. 

Here's a comparison of a picture without the reflector and a picture with the reflector. Both were taken in the same light and same direction. 

The reflector acts as a fill light that really makes her face glow. This photo hasn't got any post-production.
It's straight out of the camera to show how effective the DIY reflector was. 

I just asked my subject to hold the reflector at a 45 degree angle pointing up at herself, but you could experiment by moving your reflector into different positions. I'd recommend you have someone help you hold the reflector, because it's pretty limiting of the shots you can compose when the subject or the photographer has to hold it.  

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or experiences with reflectors!

P.S. These photos were from a mini photo shoot for new profile pictures. If you want to see my advice on taking a good profile picture, you can check out my post here. 

Birthday Sunset Walk

My good friend was celebrating her 18th birthday, so we decided to take a walk on a little trail that snakes behind the suburbs. It led to a huge pond and lots of bugs, but we had a good time taking pictures and of course talking. It was a beautiful evening.

TIP: Don't forget to raise your aperture (landscapes) and lower your aperture (portraits) when switching between shooting people and scenery. 

TIP: Don't be afraid to crop a shot taken with a wide angle. Before cropping, the shot above had too many details in it, so the focus on the sunset was lost.

Hover over the picture and click to pin. 

How to Take a Dear Photograph

Dear Photograph is a website, and now a book created by Taylor Jones. The idea is to match up an old photo to the current scene. Then write a little note to the photograph. There is something extremely personal and poignant about this project. Sometimes I even get a bit teary when I browse through all the entries. Anyways, here's how I took my photos.

Step One: Find the place where the photo was taken. I found it easiest to use photos that were taken outside since a lot of indoor photo locations were unavailable because of people moving to different houses. As a side note, if you're moving from a childhood home this is a great way to preserve some memories. I wish I had done it when my grandparents moved, but I did not.

Step Two: Line up the photo to the scene. I got my sister to help me by holding the photo; if you can get someone to help you, it's way easier. It's also easier to move the camera instead of the picture once you've got it in the general area.

Here was my first attempt:

This was one of the first tries. At first glance it looks right, because the bridge is lined up. However the horizon/waterline wasn't matched.

After fixing up the horizon, the final photo turned out like this:

I probably could have had a higher aperture (less blur) for this one, but I'm happy with how everything lined up. I also like the little detail of the kid walking along. 

Step Three:  This one is optional, but for a true Dear Photograph, you have to write a little something. 

Dear Photograph,

That was the last time we were all together along that rocky shore. With everyone growing up and going their separate ways, I wonder if we'll ever search for smooth rocks to skip under the bridge again. 

Sunny

Here's a couple more photos that I took in the same fashion: 

Let me know in the comments if you've tried this before or what you think of it! Feel free to leave a link to any pictures that you've done like this. 

For your pinning pleasure. Click to pin. 

Evening Lighting Portraits

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160

 TIP: When shooting with a low aperture (blur) make sure that the eye closest to the camera is in focus.

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200

You get a beautiful effect for free if you shoot in the evening light, just before the sun goes down.

Pin it, but clicking on the picture!

A Walk in the Woods

Edited photo to look HDR-ish. Shot along the walking path.

 It wasn't a true forest, but it had patches of trees and different foliage, so we'll just go ahead and call it "The Woods". I brought the camera along when my sister and I went for a walk this week. My sister was a willing model and let me get in some good practice with shooting portraits as she picked wildflowers for my Uncle's cottage that we were staying at.

50mm f2.0 1/100 second ISO 100

 TIP: Try shooting right as the sun is starting to set. It gives a really nice light. Cloudy days and shade from trees also give good diffused light for soft shadows.

50mm f2.0 1/100 second ISO 100

TIP: Not all portraits need to be smiley. Ask your subject to try different expressions or catch them candidly.

50mm f2.0 1/250 second ISO 100

This was just to show the type of tree/bush-thing I shot my sister under to get that nice bokeh look.

50mm f2.0 1/125 second ISO 100

TIP: Don't just take pictures of your subject. It's nice to have a few "detail shots" of the props, especially props as pretty as wildflowers. 

50mm f2.0 1/250 second ISO 100 (go ahead and call me out on the hipster-quality of this shot, tehe)

50mm f2.0 1/125 second ISO 100 (Another detail shot)

50mm f2.0 1/125 second ISO 100

50mm f2.0 1/125 second ISO 100

TIP: When shooting with a low aperture to get that nice blur, don't put it as low as the lens or camera will allow. One or two stops higher won't look that much different, but will have a nice quality. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all pictures need to be pin sharp. It's alright to have a soft focus.

Thoughts on portraits? Thoughts on nothing in particular? Comment below.

Pin this post by hovering over the picture. 

How to take Fireworks Pictures

For those of you Canadians out there, this post is coming a little late, but to you Americans out there, it is just in time for the 4th of July Fireworks.

Fireworks are one of those tricky things to capture, especially if you're using a DSLR. However, it's quite a simple process once you got the hang of it.

If you're using a point and shoot, they often have a fireworks setting. If your camera has that, then use it.  The general firework setting will leave your camera's shutter open for a second or longer to capture the complete light trails from the fireworks. Since the shutter is open for such a long time (the average photo is 1/50th of a second or faster) you'll only get one shot per explosion. It's important to click the shutter at the right time to get the image You'll want to click it just as you see the firework head upwards. You'll be too late if you wait until you see the actual explosion part.

Too late

Now, if you're using a DSLR or a camera that doesn't have a firework setting, but lets you manipulate shutter-speed/aperture/ISO (some of the higher end point and shoots will), you'll have to create your own firework setting.

Here's the setting I used when I last took firework pictures:
Shutter-speed: 3.2 (aprox. three seconds)
Aperture: f/20 (no blur, mostly everything is in focus)
ISO: 200 (no grain/noise in the photo, less sensitive to light)

That setting produced these pictures:

Of course you'll have to alter the setting to fit the scene of where you're shooting, but that's a good place to start at. Keep manipulating your shutter-speed to get the look that you want. This was my progression of settings:

1/100 second

I kept my aperture at 20 and ISO at 200 for the whole time and just changed my shutter-speed. The first shot was taken at 1/100th of a second. I only captured a little bit of light. This was way too fast to get that firework look. 

1/13 second

Then I went way down to 1/13th of a second and that was a little bit better. You were starting to see some light trails. However, I wanted more drama to the shots. How slow your shutter-speed is up to you and how you want your shots to look.

1/4 second

This was more what I was thinking. If you want a simpler firework picture, then keep your shutter-speed around 1/4 of a second. This is also the threshold for getting fairly straight light lines without a tripod. It doesn't really matter if your hand shakes for these types of pictures, but if you'd like your firework pictures to look like they did in real life (without the squiggly streaks) then don't go higher than this. 

0.4 (4/10) seconds

More drama, but you can see the hand shake. I decided to take it up a few more levels to see how if I could get a fuller look.

2 seconds

There really isn't much difference between 2 seconds and the 3.2 seconds photos shown above, so this is where I decided to stay. This exposure will give you the fullest looking shots. 

There is also another way that I've taken firework pictures in the past. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fun experiment with abstract images. Behold the bokeh fireworks:

This is an easy look to achieve with both point and shoot and DSLR.

If you're using a point and shoot make sure you're off the fireworks mode and onto a faster shutter-speed mode like action or sports. Press your shutter button halfway down and let it focus on something really close, like you hand. While keeping the shutter button halfway down point the camera in the direction of the fireworks and press down completely. It should give you a similar look.

If you're using a DSLR then you'll need to make your aperture as low as it will go and shutter-speed a lot faster then it was for the other firework photos. Keep your ISO at 100 or 200. I took those pictures above with 1/30 of a second and f/1.8 aperture. 

A few helpful tips to send you on your way:

-look for other lights, through the view finder or LCD screen, that won't move (e.g. street lights) close to where the fireworks are being set off so you don't end up pointing your camera in the wrong direction. It can be hard to tell when it's so dark. Look for a set up like this:

Two street lights at the bottom

 You don't want a photo like this because you couldn't see anything through the viewfinder:

-Crop your images. It's better to use a wider focal length and then have to crop the picture, then a longer focal length and cut of part of the firework. The four images I showed at the very beginning have all been cropped to make a stronger image. Remember those street lights we were just talking about? Crop distractions like those out. They've done their job. You can simply use MS Paint to crop the picture or you can download free editing software like Google Picasa. 

Have you taken successful/unsuccessful firework pictures? Do you have a great technique for fireworks pictures? Let me know in the comments.