Nikon D70 - 85mm fixed lens; 1/15 at f/5.6; ISO 1100
Kind of festive, right?
The next one is sooooooo close to being a fabulous shot ... but it isn't. It's of Dos looking at our tree with a priceless expression -- but the particular thing she's looking at (a gold ornament) is obscured by some very out-of-focus branches. It looks instead like she's gazing in wonder at a big green rectangular blob. I wish this were the sort of shot I could fix and recreate, but 4yo models don't take direction well enough for that. Or, at least my 4yo doesn't.
Nikon D70 - 85mm fixed lens; 1/100 at f/1.8; ISO 1400
The point of these challenges is to push myself, to break through the same ol' same old, and to learn new things about photography. One thing I've learned from this challenge, and from that second photo in particular, is that I need to prepare for those perfect moments far more carefully. I couldn't have known she'd make that sweet face, but I should have noticed the lack of lights and ornaments in that half of the shot. I should have put some extras on, or moved a branch or two out of the way. Fabulous pictures happen by luck, absolutely, but not just luck.
Your thoughts, class...? :-)
I do have another photo to share, but it required some Photoshopping (and then I really went to town with the Photoshopping, lol) so it doesn't count as a Challenge picture. But if I get a little time tomorrow, I'll try to post that one too.
~RCH~
6 comments:
Crap, I almost forgot! Mary, your challenge for next week is: Emotion. I look forward to your result(s)!
There is this book and website i heard about yesterday that reminds me slightly of this:
There are two friends, living on oppisite ends of the country and they have to post a picture each day by like 10 am. It is called A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles apart. And they started a new website for evening pictures: http://3191.visualblogging.com/ Pretty Interesting!
Wow! Your photos are stunning! I'm so jealous of your talent!
Hey! Thank you for your nice comment. I've been enjoying Mary Elizabeth's photos for a while now and it's apparent the talent runs in the family. Seriously, these photos are just amazing. There is so much heart, emotion, wonder I don't know what, in that last shot. Seriously it's great
Sis, sorry I haven't commented sooner. It has been crazy times lately. But I completely love both of these shots. The first -- you need to tell me how you did it. I Love those shots, but I just don't know how to do it!
Dos is so pretty, too. And I don't think the fact that you cannot see what she is looking at exactly is a bad thing. It makes you focus more on adorable Dos, and the wonder in her eyes. Very, very beautiful.
The first is super easy: Just make sure everything is out of focus, lol.
If you want something in focus with blurry lights behind, make sure you get your f-stop as small (big?) as possible (for instance, with my 85mm lens it can go to f1.8) so you get super shallow depth of field. If you need to use a higher number f-stop, make sure there's enough distance between your in focus subject and your lights so that they will be appropriately out of focus.
Also, the more blurry they are, the bigger the bokeh (secret photography code for "blurriness") effect will be. If they're just slightly out of focus, the circles will be smaller than if they're SUPER out of focus.
Now go experiment! Maybe you can incorporate some of that into your Emotion challenge! :-)
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