Bianca-Up Close and Personal

Maxwell is the one typically getting the camera’s attention. He’s a bizarre cat that does bizarre things which inspires me to document this bizarre behavior. All the while, pretty, delicate Bianca is sitting quietly in the background, preening herself and praying to the cat-gods that Max won’t attack her.

I decided to do a little impromptu photo shoot using a lens that I normally don’t use (ProMaster Spectrum Teleconverter Lens w/ Magnification of 2x, along with a Nikkor 50MM 1:1.8D).

And Bianca happened to be in the line of fire.

I set the camera to 400 ISO and used natural daylight to play with the lens’ depth of field. I loved how detailed the image could be, along with an intense depth of field.

Her paws are so dang cute.

Bianca’s pink little nose is one of my favorite things about her.

That and the fact that she isn’t stinky, like a certain other kitty.

Stepping back a few feet, I was able to capture her powerful green eyes. Sometimes, when she looks at me, I swear she is reading my mind…

Bianca has some of the longest whiskers I have ever seen on a kitty. When she sheds one of these, I’m tempted to make an ink pen out of it.

Soon, she bored of me and went back to sleep in her favorite position-on her back, with her front and back paws curled into rabbit position and her body wedged in the corner of the couch.

I guess she’s pretty bizarre, too.

Using Reflectors with Portraits

My poor Biceps.
He is my guinea pig of choice when it comes to trying out new techniques in photography. I don’t think he really minds, though. In reality, he can be quite the camera hog….but that’s another story for another day.

Using different reflectors (gold, silver and white) along with the sun’s natural light, here is a look at what you can do with your portraits.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/180, F stop 6.7
I sat on the ground with a white reflector propped up on my knees. You can see the light bouncing in his pupils if you look carefully enough.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/200, F stop 8
Same positioning, but using a gold reflector which warms skin tones. I use this quite often with family portraits.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/350, F stop 9.5
Here, I used a Nikon Speedlight SB-800 flash, pointed directly at Biceps, along with the gold reflector. The flash created definite shadowing underneath his chin.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/250, F stop 8
I moved my gold reflector as close to Bicep’s face as I could, without it being seen in the shot. The gold definitely intensifies his skin tones.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/250, F stop 9.5
This is the same shot with silver reflector which cools the skin tones. I’ll use this when wanted a colder look to a portrait.

Shot with my Nikon at 1/350, F stop 9.5
Lastly, I added my Speedlight Flash to the silver reflector, creating a colder, harsher portrait. This is a good technique when shooting fashion.

Biceps was such a good sport. I think I’ll keep him.

Toning down the Reds

I shoot with a Nikon and have noticed a re-occurring problem with the red hues in my photos.
They are crazy bright and overwhelming.

I decided to do a little test with this watermelon picture. Notice how almost unrealistic the red looks.

‘Agh! The reds are hurting my eyes! Do something!’

Using the ‘Magic Wand’ tool, I separated all of the red from the rest of the colors in the photo.

I clicked on the ‘Image’ tab, scrolled down to ‘Adjustments’ and over to ‘Photo Filter’.

Typically adding blue to red will mute it a bit. I chose to use a deep blue filter to tone the ‘SHAZAM’ down.

Here’s the after with the red muted a little. And below is the before.

Modern Engagement with a Vintage Feel

Today, I am highlighting one of my favorite photographers, Justin Greiman.
(He also happens to be my Hubby’s brother.)
Justin shoots bands, babies, weddings and everything in between. His patient and humble approach to his clients is earning him a reputation not only as a great photographer, but also as a great guy to work with.
Plus, his photos pretty much rule.

Justin recently shot this series for this couple’s engagement. I love the deep saturation of color, the vintage feel, the hat-tipping to a time when men mowed the grass in a tie and women wore heels while cooking.
My hubby is lucky to see me outside of lounge pants.

(Justin shot all of these with a Nikon D90 at ISO 400. He used 28mm and a 50mm lenses for this shoot. He used partially available light, with a little fill from one sb800 in a 15″ softbox. He edited them in Lightroom using Color Efex Pro 3.0, a plugin from Nik Software.)

Justin captured a story with these next three shots. They intrigue me and I want to know more.

She seems pretty upset about something.

Her anger turns to sass, which is what mine usually does as well.
I get her.

His arms crack me up. They sell the vintage feel of the shot, as does the yellowed effect.
She looks perfectly posed; just like a print ad from the 60’s.

Could they be any more cute? Doubt it.

This is one of my favorites from the entire shoot. The mood draws you in, the graininess of the portrait softening the shot. It seems intimate, as if you are seeing a small snippet of their life that no one else gets to see.
Thank you Beau and Chrissie for allowing me to show off your engagement pictures. And congrats on the upcoming wedding!
And thank you Justin Greiman for taking such wonderful pictures. Go check him out-he’ll blow your little socks off!