Nancy Drew Costume!

I wanted to document my sister's lovely Halloween costume for this year! Can you guess who she's supposed to be? If you're interested in the making of, feel free to click here.

Beach Long Exposures

 4 seconds

25 seconds

 4 seconds

Over the summer, I tried out some longer exposures on a beach. I really wanted to get that smooth water effect, and I think it worked out pretty well. I decided to put the two pictures in black and white, because the subject had a hard time standing still, so there was a bit of that inevitable motion blur. Putting the shots in black and white gave me a bit more room to play will sharpness/contrast. Plus, I like the somber look it gives it.

Ice Storm

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.