Makeup Exploration

Water Exploration

Editing Photos

Well I've now done my first family photo shoot and am very happy with the results. They came out really well and the mom begged me to look at the photos before I even edited and she was super happy with them :) It's getting to the end of the year and finals are coming up. Pretty scary but still I'm ready for next semester. Here are some photos from my first photo shoot.

Nikon D5100

So I'm trying to figure out what lens to buy for my camera. The only lens I have right now is the 18-55mm. I'm thinking of getting a 50mm cause it's on the cheaper end of lenses and I've heard good things. Any suggestions?

DSLR Camera Tutorial (ISO)

Today we will be talking about ISO which is the camera's sensitivity to light. A high ISO means lots of light coming into the camera and a low ISO means very little. For example when I'm taking pictures outside I use an ISO usually of 400. I do this because I know when I use film 400 is a good speed of film to have. The same is for a digital you just get a whole lot more range more easily. If I'm taking a picture where I want the background to be totally black but the subjects to be showing I'll use a ISO of 3200 or so. You really just have to play around with it and see how it works with different settings but once you master when and how to use the ISO properly your pictures will be amazing after all the other things you've learned from these tutorials.

Homework:
Play around with all the ISO measurements and take 5 pictures that you feel are good with each one.

Next Week:
Learning how to use the exposure triangle together. (Shutter Speed, ISO, and Aperture)

Last Weeks Homework (Aperture):

diy Camera Strap

I have two camera straps that are both not the softest things in the world and since I'm close to going to Universal Studios I decided it was time to make a better one. I played with lots of ideas. Making a small pillow and attaching it. Making one from scratch with cushion. But my friend, Maddie, had the best idea by far. Turn a tie into a camera strap and in the process destroy one of my other ones. So here is how I did it.

Materials:

• Tie
• Old camera strap
• Sewing Machine

STEP ONE:

Cut out the pieces of the old strap (the two hooks and the belt loop)

STEP TWO:

First put the small end of the tie into one of the hooks and sew it together.

I wrapped it around twice so that it wouldn't wiggle around and it ended up looking really cute and like it was a tied tie.

And how I sewed it together.

STEP THREE:

Now place the big part of the tie through the belt loop and through the other hook.

STEP FOUR:

Now with the big pointy end of the tie push it through the center ring of the belt loop so it looks like this. And sew it.

STEP FIVE:

Go take lots of pictures comfortably!!

DSLR Camera Tutorial (Shutter Speed)

With Aperture (from last week) you figure out how to keep subjects in focus or out of focus. But with Shutter Speed you learn how to make blur or not. It regulates how fast the picture is taken. And if left open for long periods you can get really awesome photos. But with this you also need to control how much light is coming in. I don't have much else to say about it but to just go out and play with it a lot =D

Homework:
Take ten long exposures. Take fifteen fast exposures.

Last Weeks Homework (Aperture):

DSLR Camera Tutorial (Aperture)

What we will be learning over the next couple weeks is the exposure triangle which is made up of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.

Some definitions to give you a basic understanding.

Aperture is what lets so much light into your camera.
Shutter Speed controls the amount of time the shutter is open.
ISO is the amount of sensitivity to light.

Lower aperture is more light. Look at this weeks homework on next weeks post for some examples.

Homework:
Take pictures of the same thing with different aperture and see how the picture changes. Record these changes. Don't look for very pretty picture composition (we will learn about composition later) just learn what the aperture does for the photo not caring about ISO and Shutter Speed just yet.

Next Week: 
Shutter Speed

Homework from last week:

Selective Color

Effects: High Key

Manual

Macro

Manual

Manual

Macro

Auto

Manual

Effects: Night Vision

Auto

Manual