Wednesday, July 13, 2011

what I learned this past week

So I've been taking a slight break from my photography buzz, the good news is after my short break the thrill and love has continued. I'm just getting more frustrated because I don't see my photographs improving as much as I'd like. I know that will take practice. But the best way is to get some tips from another more experienced photographer. Which is exactly what I did.

This past weekend Samantha and her sweet husband came down and took our family pictures before my parentals head off on their mission this upcoming Monday. I picked her brain afterwards for some tips, we discussed some of my issues specifically wanting to take better portraiture photos. One of my specific issues was regarding grainy-ness of my photos.

Ugh, so grainy. Anyways she said its because my ISO is way WAY to high. Her tip was to start as low as 100 if possible and if the lighting is bad, go up. She also said that its partially because I'm underexposing my subjects by not changing my exposure time so it lets in more light. This can also make it more grainy, and doesn't exactly make it easy to edit. All great tips. 

The good news is I have two bridals to do, possibly three in the next month, and a wedding on August 6th. AH! Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional wreck. I'm trying to make myself feel better as I get prepared, but its really hard since this is my first wedding, ever. Good news is I'll get to practice as  a second photographer as one of our friends weddings beginning of August so hopefully I'll learn A LOT! 

Tips? Seriously. Lots of tips for shooting your first wedding. I need them.

-M

Click it Up a Notch

5 comments:

LivingFree said...

The composition in this shot is nice! They look relaxed and in love. Your friend gave you great advice in regards to lowering your ISO. Your Speed, Aperture & ISO all work together, like three sides of a triangle. You have to keep them in balance. When I first started shooting with a DSLR I shot in aperture mode, which allowed me to control the aperture, and the camera chose the speed and ISO. After about a year and half I finally moved over to full manual, but it took me that long for my mind to really understand how they all worked together. I still find it challenging to shoot in manual in a setting where my light is not constant. my3boybarians.com has a 31 days to better photos tutorial. She does a good job explaining all this.

Jamie said...

ALWAYS keep your white balance appropriate. This is usually the last thing I remember to do!

Sara said...

All great advise, the ISO is usually the last thing I increase. I usually shoot in 100 outdoors if it's reasonably sunny.
For me portraiture is about capturing the emotion and character of your subject. I would have gotten in closer to the couple. It's a pretty setting but I would have opened up my aperture some more, smaller number, throwing the background into more blur and focusing the eye on the couple. Also some close ups of that look between them & their hands on her tummy. Check out some photos on flikr and note down what you like about them, their poses and feel, then replicate that in your own shots.

Courtney said...

These are great tips! I second shot a wedding last October and it was a great learning experience. The biggest lesson I learned was I didn't like shooting weddings :O) he he That is great that you have a wonderful friend to talk photography to. Personally, ISO is the last thing I change. I set my aperture, make sure my shutter speed it at least at 1/125 and then I increase my ISO if I need to. I agree with Sarah that I would have shot a little more wide open. Maybe f/3.2. Good call on putting them in the shade on such a sunny day. Be careful of those spots of sun that come peeking through though. I would have moved a little more to camera left so that the woman's hair and head tilt were not blocking her expression. Such wonderful emotion you were able to capture!!!

Monica said...

Mel! You will do fine, I knew you would which is why I asked you =) I took her bridals on monday and she is really chill and relaxed. Just breath I know how you are feeling because I felt the same way when I thought I was going to do it haha. But it is a GREAT opportunity. Get a lot of the little details of the wedding. I always keep my ISO at 100 and adjust my aperture often to get different exposure of light... Also, if you have a friend that is available that does photography ask her to come and help! I'm excited for you!!