ACTION SHOTS May 17th

ACTION SHOTS

Our next event will be May 17th and we will be practicing using our Shutter Priority Setting.

I sent you an email from my gmail account letting you know my plans for the next two events.  That takes us to the end of a six month "class".  

Thank you to everyone that attended.  It was fun and I believe we learned alot.

I will continue this, I'm not sure but I'l going to see if I can't get involved with the Bothell Parks and Rec department, because I love sharing this kind of information.

Hope to see you May 17th.

Blessings,

Laurie Ascanio

TULIP FIELDS

So far there are two people saying they're going to the Tulip Fields with us tomorrow.  That's ok.  We will still have fun.  If you go later in the month, please share your pictures with us!  I found some photos that I thought had merit.  Not the usual 'stand over the flower and take a picture'.  In our zone that doesn't do it justice nor is it of much interest.  

Scott Kelby in his book, The Digital Photography Book says..."On an average day, if you were to walk by some wildflowers in a field, or along a path in a garden, you'd be looking down at these flowers growing out of the ground, right?  That's why, if you shoot flowers from a standing position, looking down at them like we always do, your flower shots will look very, well...average.  If you want to create flower shots with some serious visual interest you have to shoot them from an angle we don't see every day.  If you're going to shoot some great flower shots, you're going to have to get your hands dirty, well at least your knees anyway.  

You don't have to have a macro lens to take great flower shots - zoom lenses work just great for shooting flowers for two reasons: 2.  You can often zoom in tight enought to have the flower nearly fill the frame, and 2. it's easy to put the background out of focus with a zoom lens, so the focus is just the flower.  Start by shooting in aperture priority mode, then use the smallest aperture number your lens allows

.  Then try to isolate one flower, or a small group of flowers that are close together, and focus on just that flower.  When you do this, it puts the background out of focus, which keeps the background from distracting the eye and makes a stronger visual composition.

Here are a few boring shots in my opinion:  

Here are some great photos:

Note where the horizon is, where your  eye is led, composition, subject placement, etc.

Thanks again to our special guest Jim Kreiger.  It was fascinating to listen to him.  

SPECIAL GUESTS SUNDAY

Photoclub is this Sunday March 8th!  1-3pm Travel Photography Cities and Architecture

Special guests:  Jim Kreiger and Angie Joyce.

I know some of you were a little late last month.  We have a full class so if you can make it on time, I would appreciate it.  Jim is coming at 2pm so you will not miss him.  Angie will be in a special video I produced.  They are both professional photographers and we are going to learn a lot from them.  

Remember bring your camera and your manual.

See you Sunday, 

Laurie Ascanio

CONFLICT ENTRIES

Frank Curtiss's grandaughter Teddy

Conflict picture 1

Marta Miller's child

Conflict picture 2

Mandy Halverson's family

Conflict Photo #3

REFLECTORS

www.amvona.com is where Lisa Taylor found her reflector.  I went to the site and they're all out of stock.  I'll try back later to see if it's there again.

CONTEST THEME FOR FEBRUARY

THE THEME FOR FEBRUARY IS CONFLICT!  

Remember in the video we watched.  Three parts of a good picture is Conflict; Details; Settings.

"Conflict that involves tension; a moment of vulnerability; a risk being made; emotion, impact"

These are kids competing with my sons Drama Improv group at BHS.  I love the stage lighting.  

So this is a little like the game "Apples to Apples"  Your category is CONFLICT.  But it's not the old definition of Conflict.  And it's not my definition of Conflict, cause I'm the dealer ;o)

Use the definition below to find your picture. 

"Conflict that involves tension; a moment of vulnerability; a risk being made; emotion, impact"

Have fun and let's get the pictures to me by the end of February so I can have my judges look at them ok?  

Thank you!    -Laurie Ascanio

Class 2 February 8th

Good Day Everyone... I'm so glad for those of you that made it and I missed those of you who couldn't be there.  I've included some notes below of our time together and focusing on Family and Portraits .

Congratulations to Krista Jones for her 1st place win in our Photo Contest!   I had wonderful judges all the way from Kansas for this event!  I'll have to figure out a blue ribbon for you or something... Way to go Krista!  You'll have to look back at the blog for her Entry #1 in our SMILE photo contest for January.

Details in the video lesson

 Conflict – What is the first thing that comes to your mind?  Arguing?  Fighting?  That’s not the kind of conflict we’re referring to.  As story tellers, we are searching for conflict that involves tension; a moment of vulnerability; a risk being made; emotion, impact.

Details that speak.  The details that represent what the subject loves and the beauty they see in life.  The details that define what they love and value.

Setting: the place where the details exist and the conflict takes place.

Rule of Thirds

Landscape photographers are particularly fond of this one, but it works well for many types of subjects. The rule of thirds simply says that, instead of placing the main focus of interest in the centre of the frame, which gets a little boring, that you look to position it on an intersection of the thirds. That is to say one third up and one third in or two thirds up and one third in etc.

Here's a 'thirdsy' sort of picture, hold your mouse over the picture to see the grid. Placing the boat near the top of the picture tells the viewer that what they are supposed to be looking at is the reflection.

We could take the boat out altogether, of course, this would focus our attention even more on the reflection but the picture might then be a little too minimalist.

Also the mast is almost exactly on the 'third' line. There is a little space to the right of the bow of the boat which helps to give the impression that, although the boat is not moving, it has somewhere to go.

Although a nice illustration of composing 'on the thirds' this picture falls foul of another 'rule' in that it has very light corners, especially at the top right and, coupled with the yellow stripe, the effect is to lead the viewer's eye out of the picture. 

Smile Entry #7

Entry by Taylor Tracy

Smile Entry #6

Entry by Carolyn Moody

Joe McNally "Da Grip"

Smile Entry #5

Smile Entry #5 Frank Curtis

Smile Entry #4

Entry #4 by Mandy Halvorsen

SMILE ENTRY #2

#2 Entered by Marta Miller

#3 Entered by Kayli Smith

Smile Entry #1

Krista Jones entry into the SMILE contest for January!  Come on people!!

Where did the crayon shots go?

So...I think I sent a shout out to those of you that took some neat Depth of Field exercise pictures of the crayons in class.  Hmmm.  Where are they?  The other night, Frank and I went to Crossroads Mall and these magazine's caught my eye.  I had my 50mm lens on.  So it's shot with ISO/500   50mm   F3.5

Theme for the Month

Amy Halgren reminded me I did not pick the theme for the month... as a tribute to Caden here...I declare the theme for the month to be SMILE... whatever that might be for you... send me a picture so everyone can vote!  Winner will be announced at the next meeting Feb 8th.

Thanks everyone.  

-Laurie

First Meeting 1-11-09

What a great day.  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who came!  Way to go... we're bursting out of our first room... 

Our Club Calendar:

JAN 11 White Balance & the Exposure Triangle

FEB  8 Portrait work and Family Settings/Shots

MAR 8 Travel & Architecture/City Life Shots 

APRIL 12 Flowers/Fauna Shooting flowers like a pro (maybe a road trip to the tulip fields in the Skagit Valley)

MAY 10 ACTION SHOTS sports etc.  Learn to pan etc.

JUNE 14 TBD

Here are some facts we covered in today's class:

White Balance: 

AWB/CUSTOM/TUNGSTEN/FLOURESCENT/DAYLIGHT/FLASH/CLOUDY/SHADE 

what's the right one to choose for your setting?  Is it ok to let the camera be automatic on this one?  Yes it is.  I would say 90% my camera picks the best one.  But the other 10% I end up choosing something different becuase the camera is metering off of something I don't want it to. 

 

Exposure Triangle:

1.   Aperture...lens opening...f-stop

2.  ISO...film speed...the higher the number the faster the speed of your film/sensitivity of your         sensor to light.  The lower the number the slower the speed of your film/sensitivity of your           sensor to light.  100 (speed) Bright Sunlight  2600 (speed) dark 

3.  Shutter Speed...the amound of time your shutter stays open during your exposure.

These 3 factors are called the Exposure Triangle.

With film, you were stuck with a constant film speed depending on the film you placed in your camera.  In digital you can change your ISO setting for each exposure.

Aperture and shutter speed function reciprocally.  Each doubling or halving of aperture or

 shutter speed represents a one stop change in either aperture or shutter speed.

So Bottom Line:

APERTURE:

stepping down (more light in) f1.4  f2  f2.8  f4  f5.6  f8  f11  f16  f22 stepping up (less light in) 

maller depth of field range                                                                     larger depth of field range

SHUTTER SPEED:

stepping down (more light) 1/4  1/8  1/15   1/30  1/60  1/125  1/250 1/500 (stepping up) less light

more blurred moving subjects                                                     less blurred moving subjects

Don't forget Brad's great analogy of the PIE shape.  Split a pie 3 ways.  If you make one section of the pie smaller (like the Aperture) the ISO or the Shutter Speed have to become bigger to continue to make a whole pie.

Thanks again for a great class everyone.

Laurie

In a very short time the NCC Photography Club has become a reality. This club is an exciting place for photographers of all skill levels. We will provide support through mentoring, community service, field trips and educational programs. The club endeavors to provide a showcase and an opportunity for the growth of photographers of all interests through themed competitions and monthly critiques by independent judges.

Lets see where this takes us!

Thanks everyone...Laurie Ascanio