FIT to photograph

I only know a tiny bit about the technical aspect of taking a photograph, but I would like to share the little bit I do. I have taken a photography class, but learned more from just playing with my camera day to day and stalking my children to take their portraits. So  here are the very basics of shooting with a DSLR.

There are three really important technical parts to consider:

F (f stop)
I (ISO)
T (Time/Shutter speed)

These three things have to be balanced to get that great photograph with the goal of allowing enough light to hit the sensor. You have to be FIT to photograph.

F stop or aperture (which I can never spell correctly on my own)  is a measure of how open the lens is. When the lens is at a low aperture, like say f/2.8, the lens is wide open. This allows lots of light to hit the sensor. It also makes the depth of field very shallow. The point of focus is very sharp, but the background is very blurred or out of focus. I love shooting at a low f stop.

I remember ISO the way I remember film when you used to buy it. If you were going to shoot outdoors you needed 200 speed film because there was going to be plenty of light outside. If you needed to shoot indoors you bought 800 speed because there wasn't so much light. That's how ISO is. If you are outdoors and there is so much light that you don't know what do with you shoot as low of an ISO you can go, because it makes the photo crystal clear, but if you are shooting at night and you crank up the ISO, but you have to sacrifice because there is going to be some noise in the photograph. My camera can shoot at about 800 with virtually no noise, but once you get above that you can start to notice. You can avoid this though by adjusting your f/stop so that enough light is hitting the lens or your shutter speed is slow enough that it gives plenty of time for plenty of light to hit the sensor.

Time or Shutter Speed is the aspect of your camera that tells you how long that little shade that closes over the lens stays shut. A shutter speed of 50 means that the shutter is closed over the lens for 1/50th of a second. This is where is usually stops movement. You can show motion in a photograph by slowing down shutter speed to somewhere like 25 or 1/25th of a second. To get that clear crisp moment stopped in time you would need a super fast shutter speed, like 500 or 1/500th of a second (and not always necessarily that fast).

The important key to all these three things is to find a balance to achieve the type of photograph you are looking for.

If you have one subject that you want clear in focus that's good, because you can open your lens wide open and get plenty of light that way, but if you have 10 subjects and you want them all to be in focus you need to use a larger f/stop where the lens isn't open so wide, and you need to make up for the less light hitting the sensor by either uping the ISO or slowing down the shutter speed. It's all about balance, just like life.

Cameras these days are crazy intelligent, sometimes  even more so than their users, like in my case sometimes. You can shoot in shutter priority and the camera will figure out the appropriate settings for your f/stop based on the lighting conditions picked up by the camera. And in aperture priority you choose what aperture you would like and the camera figures out the shutter speed for you. I personally would rather shoot manual because you can manipulate all of them just the way you like, I can be a control freak like that sometimes.

Shooting manual can seem overwhelming at first because who knows the lighting conditions and where to even begin, but I usually throw my camera into P mode (which I honestly don't even know what the P stands for, but it predicts what f/stop and shutter speed you need based on the lighting conditions but does not allow you to change them) make a mental note of what the camera is metering for the lighting conditions and go back to manual start with that P setting as a baseline and manipulate the f/stop and shutter speed until I achieve what I'm looking for.

So there you have it, the basic of the basics of shooting with a DSLR

Twins?

 I love taking photos. I think there's something really beautiful in capturing a moment in time.

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything."

                                                                                                                                -Aaron Siskind 



Sunday we went to the Duke Energy train display downtown. I forgot my camera, but used my husband's phone to take a few snapshots.

When I took this photo:

I instantly thought of this photo:

 

That photo was taken in 2007. 

They resemble each other so much and the position of the photo is nearly the same. 

 

I hope to take this same photograph over and over for years and years to come. 

I'm truly bless with this beautiful family of mine.

Lost & Found

I know this blog is about my girls because I mean after all it is called my girls, but there are a few things about myself.

I am notorious for procrastination when it comes to writing papers. I hate writing papers. I would rather take 20 tests before I would choose writing a paper. My point here is that I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now. That's why I started this blog in the first place, don'tcha know?

So instead of writing this paper, these papers, since I have more than one, I will fill you in on my discovery.

Another thing about myself: I also lose everything. EVERYTHING. Unless it's big yellow and blinking DON'T LOSE ME!!!! in bright lights I lose it. Even then, there is a potential for me losing it.

I have about a million SD cards (and i can still never find one, and when I can it's not empty). I even have one of my brother's (that I'm still trying to find ha!) that I need to return to him. This particular SD was lost, but now it's been found! And I didn't even remember taking some of these photos! It's like finding a lost treasure!

Are you ready for this randomness?

Monica's Christmas Pictures

I took pictures of my friend Jamie's daughter Monica. She is almost 2 and the cutest little almost 2 year old I know! She speaks like a kinder gardener even better than some kinder gardeners!

Here are some of my favorites! Some of the one's I like most she isn't smiling or looking at the camera in. 

I also love when a photograph shows emotion. I especially like the 6th and last photo, because of the emotion in them.

Out of Inspirtation

Our third and final major project in my photography class has me stumped. We are allowed to take photos of anything. Anything at all, no restrictions on the subject matter.

Anything?

At first I thought this was an awesome idea. But now, with no direction my mind doesn't even know which way to wonder.

I tried to go downtown to find inspiration:

But I'm not so happy with the outcome... I'm not sure which direction to go into either. I've been looking at lots of famous photographers and their works, but nothing is striking the proverbial chord.

I love babies. Maybe I'll change gears and take pictures of babies. I'm taking offers if you have babies I can take a picture of. 

Any other ideas?

As Promised

Here are the photographs that I submitted that got me an A in my photography class! I thought photography would be a super easy class and that As wouldn't be hard to come by, but apparently those were misconceptions. Photography majors at the University I go to are pretty competitive and they have to wait till the end of their program almost to even take Basic Photography. So my fun class turned out to be a working fun class. I love it regardless, but I worked my butt off for this A, and submitted almost 400 files. Out of those 400 files here are the ones I made prints of to submit. The screen doesn't do these photos justice if I do say so myself. It's a black and white class too, so even though I am in love with color they had to be black and white.

We had to take a portrait of an individual 18 years or older. This is my dear friend, Candice.

We also had to do a self portrait, which was really hard for me. I never realized how self conscious I was to be in photographs and how intimate it ended up being with my standard 50mm lens. But here are the two photographs that I choose to make prints of:

I'm very pleased with the way they turned out.

Photography Project Two

My Photography Assignment Two was to take a portrait of a person at least 18 years of age. That was pretty much all the criteria that was given, which made it challenging for me. I don't like to think more than I have to, and when options are left open, one has to think. I think enough already though, geeze! These are my favorite photographs that I shot of my friend Candice, the middle left is my favorite.

Which one do you like best?

A sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek at my Photography class project 2:

 

Stay tuned for the rest....

I almost forgot!

I almost forgot to post  these pictures I took of Tracy.

My mom kept saying, "Wow, Megan, these look professional..."

and I kept saying, "Thanks Mom, that's what I was going for." Haha

The first one is my favorite! I love the greens in the background.

It's time for Mamarazzi Monday with Household 6 Diva. Poor girls, I always have a camera in their face, they probably don't know there is a normal life without aggressive mothers with cameras. Oh well, they'll thank me for the memories later in life. So here i go!

My prognosis for having another child was...

Well, you got lucky once....

Maybe you will get lucky again...

Devistating words for a 22 year old to hear.

So I prayed, and clung to my faith

And the Lord graced me with this!