Just keep shooting

No one knows how hard it is to stay motivated more than I do. I mean, just look at the gaps in my postings. I find it much easier to stay on the ball if I make it a routine. So, even if I don’t have to be to work until noon, I still get up at 7am so I can do my morning ritual: Brush teeth, make coffee, and start thinking about what I want to post that day. It makes it especially difficult when I’m not posting everyday. (As to not flood you all with tons of my ramblings to sift through.) But unlike blog posting, photography is something you can do everyday, all the time without “spamming” people. You only share what you want to. That being said, it’s best to stay in the habit of shooting everyday; It keeps your skills sharp, and your creativity alive. Even if you’re a portrait photog, you can still walk around your neighborhood taking pictures of flowers, bugs, and cloud formations. And if you’re really outgoing, you may even wish to ask a stranger to take their photo. Now that is a good way to practice your skill set. My point is, if you’re really interested in becoming a paid photographer, take advantage of every moment you have to hang out with your camera. In this photo of my niece, she was playing with my guitar. If that’s not a photo-op, I don’t know what is, so naturally, I ran to get my camera. I could’ve totally missed the opportunity by leaving the room. The moral of this story….

Keep your camera with you. Keep yourself motivated. Keep shooting.

Available Light

The most important thing to master, while photographing, is light. There are many types of light: The sun (Natural light) light bulbs/strobes/flashes/halogen/etc. (Artificial light) All of which can be diffused (softened) by placing something between the light source and your subject or reflecting the light off of something. Being able to work with what light you have is paramount. (See what I did there?) Our eyes can adjust to light better than a camera can. So when taking a photo indoors you have to make sure that your available light is not only bright enough, but reflected in the proper manner to get the desired result. In this photo of my niece, eating some kind of pureed fruit, I moved her closer to the window. The light coming in from that window provided nice side lighting while her highchair trey reflected that light onto her face. Otherwise, her face would’ve been too dark, and I would’ve lost the detail in her pretty little eyes.

Patience

If there’s one thing that photography has taught me, it’s patience. Sometimes you have to wait a long time to get that shot. These are two friends of mine that were visiting from New Jersey with their new baby boy. I thought why not make a shoot out of it. When trying to get everyone in the shot smiling, focus on the one that may have more difficulty staying engaged. In this case, I had my friends hold the smile while I worked on getting little man’s attention. Otherwise, you all are trying to get him to smile, and when he does, he’s the only one looking at the camera. You have to be quick with little people and animals. As you can see, it worked out alright.

Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 41 mm
ISO: 100