I love photography, I love going out and having sessions somewhere. Finding landscapes that are truly wonderful. I admit, that I’m not the best when it comes to shooting models. But I’m learning, and I know I can still get great shots with perseverance.
For this adventure, Fall had just started, Lisa went over to her best friend’s house, and my step-daughter and I tagged along. Unfortunately all the batteries for my camera was dead, so I used my fiance’s cell phone.
I’m normally pretty free form with models. Mainly I just plan a day out, and take random shots. If I see something good, I’ll get them to pose, but normally I try to shoot natural things. The problem is, you never know what you are going to get, and as I couldn’t see the phone’s screen all that well, much of it was guess work.
The first thing I learned about models, is to take multiple pictures of the same scene. Honestly, you never know, you can nab a great shot, and their eyes will be closed. Unfortunately, the phone wasn’t really conducive to this. So I snapped this shot.As you can see, great shot, yet her eyes were closed. I was able to use Lightroom to pull the colors out of the trees and dead leaves, making it all a great landscape photo. I kick myself for not making sure I got this perfect, but oh well.
Speaking of Adobe Lightroom
, I am constantly amazed by how wonderful it is. It is a great tool, and a must have for any serious photographer. You can take a really lame shot, and still bring it back to at least okay.In this shot, I thought the pose would look great, but it just didn’t. I always love using interesting branches or trees, I really should have played around with it more. But after working in Lightroom, I was able to pull out some interesting colors, making this a decent picture. Her expression really gives an interesting feel to the picture, as she looks sad and contemplative.
Sometimes a camera phone is a great tool, because of the depth of field. In this next shot, I worked and worked to get a good feel for the colors, but I couldn’t, instead I had to let the drabness of it shine through.The model was in a perfect place, and the trees in the background just draw your eye. The depth of field is beautiful, bringing out this great landscape behind her. As an art piece, the photo is lacking, as the horizon is sloped due to us being on a huge incline, but the trees are straight. In the end, I like this picture, because of the drabness and the shadows. If I’d have known it would have come out like this, and had my camera, I would have tried different angles, and had the model pose maybe with a frightened look. This photo has such promise, and makes me want to go back soon and try some things....
And as I said earlier, sometimes, you really can get a spectacular shot.
I was able to really pull out the greens of the background, and get the great lines of trees making great angles. The model’s face was a great look, leaving it up to the viewer to figure out what she’s thinking. There is more I could have done to this photo to really bring out another sense. I could have went in and darkened the leaves, made them look more new, and maybe put in a lens flare aspect to the upper left spot of sun. But in the end, I try to do as little to my photos as I can.
All in all, I was satisfied with the shoot, though I got very few photos, and only one I’m really proud of. I’m sure CJ will continue to be a good model, as there’s so much I could do with her, as she has lots of colorful clothes, I mean, just look at the shoes! Was a fun trip out, and was a shame my camera was down, but it was nice taking pictures again. With luck, I can get more into it soon.
–Dan
