From DPS....

DPS is offering something photographers and their friends should check out!
Scroll all the way down to get the special code located under the video :)

Weekly Assignment Week 3: Symbols of Freedom: Hannah Ruth

Great job Hannah! I like the angle of the flag photo, and I really like the starry sparkler!

Puppy Love

Boys and puppies :)
Gotta love 'em :)

July's Assignments

Week One: June 30th-July 6th
"Red, White & Blue"

Week 2: July 7th-13th
"Patriotism"

Week 3 July 14th-20th
"Symbols of Freedom"

Week 4: July 21st-27th
"Your Independence Day Celebration Memories"

Fringe Mailbox

Can't wait to see each and every one of your entries!
Anyone in your family who likes to take photos
is always welcome to join and send in pictures!!

Weekly Assignment: Brown & Metal

This week you get to capture 'BROWN'

...and 'METAL'.

Have fun!!!

Deadline is June 26th

Fringe Mailbox

Weekly Assignment: Glass & Shiny

This week is 'Glass & Shiny'
You can submit shiny glass or
something glass and something shiny,
or any creative combination you
can think of!
Can't wait to see your art!

Deadline is Friday June 19th 2009

The Fringe Mailbox

Where did I get all this glass? Well, while we were in
Arizona over Easter, my grandma took us to a desert
botanical garden to see this Chihuly (chi-HOO-lee) exhibit.
Wow! It was amazing! I came home with tons of photos....
....which is not surprising..... :)

Purple: Emily W.

Weekly Assignment: Purple

For this assignment you get to find
all things purple!

Have fun!

Deadline: Friday May 22, 2009

Fringe Mailbox

Picturesque Portraits Part 5

Posing Basics

Your subjects will give you genuine smiles
and expressions if you get to know (or already know)
them before bringing out the camera.
Talk to them before and during the shoot,
and with children, take playtime breaks
in between posing.

You can demonstrate the pose for them, and also
ask if the pose you choose feels natural and
comfortable to them.

Use action to get spontaneous natural expressions.
This is really helpful with children as well.
Have the kids give you their best sports(boys)
or princess(girls) pose, or character face.
They usually enjoy acting on command!

For slightly older subjects (grin)
have them jump off something,
peek out from behind a tree,
swing around a lampost,
swing on a swing, climb a tree,
pose with a pet or object they like,
or anything else you can think of!
They probably have good ideas, too :)

"If it bends, bend it!"

Masculine Poses:
-Strong angular stances
-Head square with the
shoulders or tilted towards
the lower shoulder
-Hips held straitght
-Weight on back foot
-Minimize waist
-Hands in soft fist,
or in pocket.

And fellas like leaning on
something, or anything :)
So find a good leaning spot
and adjust head etc. accordingly.

Feminine Poses:
-Gentle, flowing stance
-Head tilted towards high shoulder
-Arms gracefully positioned,
each finger seperated
and positioned
-Back arched (weight on
back foot)
-Minimize waist and thighs

Have her twist slightly at the waist
so that her shoulders aren't even
with her hips. Keeping the arms
away from the body also helps
to slim the figure :)

Don't crop at joints, and make sure
there is room at the head and feet.
You may need to crop it in editing,
or the place where you print may
need to crop it to size, so leave
room for that. Also check
the edges of the frame for
distracting elements :)

Keep the background simple to
emphasize the subject, and check
for trees, poles, and lines
that may be 'growing' out
of your subject's head!

Does the background re-enforce
the mood or emotional impact
of the image?

Your goal in portraiture is
Personality :)

Picturesque Portraits Part 4

Lighting

Add light to your portraits to cut
down on harsh shadows and to
make catchlights in your
subjects eyes.
You can use a reflector and/or
a fill flash.
(Just watch out for red-eye witht the fill flash!)


Flash

A bounce flash makes softer
natural shadows, causes
fewer reflections,
and eliminates red-eye.
It also lights up the room,
and you can add a bounce
card or a lightsphere
to direct the flash.

Balance your subject with the
background. There are two
kinds of flash options
manual and TTL.
When using your flash under-expose
to compensate for the flash of the flash :)

Picturesque Portraits Part 3

Lenses


Portrait lenses have a focal range
from 85mm to 105mm.
This range isolates the subject,
blurs the background,
and doesn't distort the face.

Camera Angles

Move around and experiment
with different perspectives!

Shooting up at your subject
emphasizes strength and
achievement. :)

Shooting down at your subject
emphasizes innocence
and vulnerability. :)

Picturesque Portraits

The Goal of Portraiture:

In simple terms, it is "using creative posing to show the true and real individual, and using camera angles and locations to emphasize the subjects personality and humanity."

Thus our journey into portraiture begins...your main goal is not just to take pictures of someone, but to show who they are with pictures. In one photo, how would your audience know that the graduating senior you just photographed, is a down-to-earth individual, or that a city-born bride loves the country? You get the awesome and amazing job of portraying personality! Don't be daunted if it's hard to 'see' what you want at first, shoot lots of pictures, use your model's ideas, try out 'crazy' things, and you may be surprised.... :-)

Picturesque Portraits: Part 1

Ready for some portrait how-tos? I've been glancing over my notes from IPS as well as looking through my people-posing photography book, so here is your first lesson :)

Feel free to ask all kinds of questions, I'll do my best to answer them both in word and photo example if you want.

Can't wait to see your photos!


Part 1 Lighting:

There are several different sources of light that have varied effects on your portraiture.

1: Direct Sunlight
(the best way to use this type in portraits is to put it behind your subject and capture the "rim light" around your subject. "Rim light" is mostly seen around the rim of the head)
See the golden rim around their heads?
And if you can
get a lens flare now and then
so much the better! :)

2: Overcast Sunlight
(Provides a softer, diffused lighting
to your picture, and eliminates harsh
shadows and allows for natural
expressions.)


3: Open Shade
This lighting choice happens under trees
or next to buildings or structures that
cast large shadows.
(depending on the time of day
watch out for and avoid splotches
of light that land on the face
especially under trees)(In this photo, you can see the sun behind the couple
yet they are in complete shade. Neat, eh?)

4: Window Light
Provides very soft lighting, and you may need
to use a reflector to fill in and soften the shadows.


5: Studio Lighting
Gives you absolute control over the amount
and quality of light in each photo, and it's
wonderfully multi-purpose:
usable rain or shine!

(Wee disclaimer :) This photo was
made with just my camera and
my 430EX flash and the available
light...combined with some
editing in Picasa, it looks
pretty close to a studio-lit
photo....minus the studio!)

And last but not least...

6: Stop Light

With this you have absolute control
over pedestrians, and it is available
in most downtown areas :)

(imagine a photo here)

I have yet to get one of these :)

Thus ends lesson #1, and hopefully I can
get #2 up here today as well. Right now
I have to get dinner ready, so I'll
pull myself away from the computer
and I'll see you later :)

Play around with the different lighting where you are,
get used to interpreting what light you see and
can use for each portrait, and how you can
adapt the light or situation as needed :)

Any questions? Drop me a comment
or an email !

-Allison
Your Friendly Fotog