Category Archives: Photography

Photo shoot on the dock, part 1

During Family Vacay 2010, there was a lovely dock. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to photograph my newly-married sister Erica on that dock. At one point, both she and my cousins’ wives Steph and Kelsey were all hanging out thereabouts, so I cackled “this is my opportunity!” and grabbed my trusty Nikon D5000. “Pose! Pose now!” I commanded– “and I won’t take no for an answer! Get to work! Hop to it! No time to waste!” I’ve always been bossy–it’s an older sister thing. But hey, it works. So for today, I bring you the pictures of Erica. Tomorrow will be the pictures of the other ladies.

My sister is not just beautiful, but also a natural in front of the camera . . . a skill of which I am extremely jealous. More on that later. She knows what to do with her face, with her hair, and with her body, so it’s a pleasure to take pictures of her.

Me, on the other hand . . . when I know my picture is being taken, my face immediately configures itself into an awkward and tense expression. My nose starts to get red. My limbs start to look like they were sewn on by Dr. Frankenstein, at slightly odd angles. My back hunches, my eyes water, my mouth seizes up, and it’s just a visual nightmare. My problem isn’t my face or body in real life . . . just when it’s captured on film. I hope you understand.

Anyway, Erica doesn’t have that problem. No, not one bit.

Maybe I can convince her to write a guest post with some tips. There are plenty of Photoshop and photography tutorials out there, but I could definitely use a good tutorial telling me how to act when the camera is turned on me. Um, Erica? Whaddya say, huh, huh?

Some of these I messed with a good bit in Photoshop–Gaussian Blur, Selective Color to amp up the blues or yellows, increased exposure, etc.

Some I didn’t even touch, like this one below.

She makes it seem so effortless–not even this lovely splinter stopped her from being a relaxed model for me.

OK, I’m sorry!

No more pictures of splinters, I promise. At least for the next 24 hours.

Though you should know that when I get the urge, I can’t deny it.

As you look at these shots, are there any in particular that you like? Compositions that work, or don’t work? Photos that are too obviously processed? I’d love to hear your feedback.

My black and whites are looking a little odd . . . I haven’t discovered the trick of how to make them “pop,” and they end up looking more flat than I’d like. I want dimension! Any tips from you Photoshop users out there?

Could someone that knows them confirm that Erica looks a lot like her new sister-in-law Nicole in the picture above? I think it’s the hair.

No to influence anyone’s opinion here, but I think the one below is one of my absolute favorites. There’s just something about the composition, with her face in the upper part of the frame, the motion of the hair, the natural laugh, the color of the water . . . it just makes me feel good inside.

You can really see the processing differences between the picture above (bright yellow hair) and the picture below (more of a faded yellow.) I think they both have their merits . . . but they definitely create a different mood.

Her hair look almost white in this picture below–I can’t tell if I love the effect or hate it. Decisions, decisions. They’ve never been my strong point. That’s why I need you all, to tell me what’s what. To make up my mind for me.

Do any of you have a photographic muse? A person that makes you want to grab your camera and just shoot away till kingdom come? Or are you the muse who is perfectly comfortable in front of the photographer? (if you are, please send suggestions my way, and fast) I love hearing your comments and opinions!

Update: my cousin’s wife Kelsey recommended using the “channels” mixer for my color to black and white transformations in her comment below. A little later, I pulled up a favorite blog of mine to read, and what do you know! There on the front page was a tutorial on black and white processing with an explanation of how to do exactly what Kelsey was talking about. If you’d like to read the post (from Kayotic Kitchen), click here.

The Wedding Part 7: The Ceremony and Beyond

For “The Wedding Part 1,” click here. For “The Wedding Part 2,” click here. For “The Wedding Part 3,” click here. For “The Wedding Part 4,” click here. For “The Wedding Part 5,” click here. For “The Wedding Part 6,” click here.

Due to the unfortunate fact that a bridesmaid isn’t allowed to prance up the aisle with a camera and large external flash strapped to her neck, I was unable to capture a single photo of the actual ceremony. Next time I’m purchasing a high-tech spy camera that I can strategically place in my flower, and which will silently snap high-res pictures when I crunch my back righthand molars together (that’s where I’ll conceal the shutter release mechanism). I’ll just have to make sure not to crunch down my other molars where my emergency capsule of cyanide lies hidden, just in case . . . but I guess I’m not allowed to talk about my secret government missions on this blog. It’s too bad, because it’s quite a story, involving missions to outerspace, secret caves where the Knights Templar left us important clues, and underwater trips to scavenge the remains of the Titanic and uncover important evidence. But I’ve already said too much.

Today is the last wedding blog post. I feel like we’re at the end of an era. In fact, I’m starting to wonder what the heck I even blogged about before the wedding! Did I say anything at all, and more importantly, do I have anything left to say?? Erica, could you and Dave please reenact your wedding every year so that I have something to share with the world?

This final post has a few pictures of the reception, though I was so tired by then that I couldn’t bring myself to snappity snap away at the speed of yore. For example, when Erica and Dave made their way over to cut the cake, I realized I had no energy left to lug my camera across the room and take a picture. I’m sorry, guys–that’s why I’m not a real photographer. I got no stamina.

The reception was lovely. Lovely food, lovely speeches, and both lovely and hilarious dancing.

Here’s Dave commanding Erica to give him a kiss. Erica appears to be about to swoon. Or something.

My ISO, exposure, and white balance were all over the place, man . . . but the exhaustion was setting in, and as I gazed at all the funny little buttons on my camera with a foolish grin on my face, I realized I didn’t care anymore. If people came out looking yellow or green, well–it was all starting to seem quite hilarious. That would explain why this last installment has the worst picture set of the entire wedding series. It’s called photographic/emotional overload, and one day it’s bound to be my downfall.

To conclude, we all danced around. This dancing session turned a nice respectable couple like this:

into a frenzied, over-exposed dancing machine:

I won’t tell you what else Charles and Rachel did at the reception . . . it’s so good it’s going into a separate post. Wow.

Aunt Jessie also let loose and hopped around:

The groom did some kind of amazing little number here:

. . . and that’s all I have to say about that.

The wedding story is all over, but thankfully I just remembered that I do have things to say that don’t involve Erica and Dave making sacred promises, sharing snuggles, and hobnobbing with relatives. So unless you were only here to gaze upon Erica’s lovely bridal countenance (in which case I understand completely and it’s goodbye forever), see you back tomorrow for “the regular fare”: things involving spinach, Penne Rosa, mosaics, and family vacay. For now, I leave you with a picture of the cheesecake dessert, which may or may not cause your arteries to clog if you look at it for more than 10.1 seconds. Hey, the clock is ticking! I’d navigate away from this page as quickly as possible if I were you.

The End!