One of my favorite things to do is look back at the photos I’ve taken over the year. Finding the moments where something clicked, reliving the time spent capturing the photo – it’s all there, right there in my images. And with Shutterboo Photography taking off this year as well, there are so many minutes, so many laughs that I can recall just by staring at pixels.
I took the time throughout the year to write down my favorites from each month – the photos that captured not only something that makes me proud but also captured my mood. They may not be my “best work” or your favorites, but they bring a twinge to my stomach, stir up my butterflies – and I kind of love that feeling.
January: The Virgin Islands
We went cruising last January and my new 7D made it’s way with me to the Virgin Islands. By far one of my favorite images from the year is of my friend Alan standing on the beach in St. Kitts. Every time I look at it, I want to go back.
February: Balloon Self-Portrait
I took this photo for the WPC{2011} but it’s one of my favorites. I’ve taken the advice of my friend Mrs. Rev and strive to take a self-portrait each birthday. So while this isn’t my birthday SP, it was still in February and involved the largest balloons I’ve ever encountered.
March: Chase – the one that can hear
I don’t have very many good photos of my doggin Chase. She despises the camera and usually darts away. But for longer than a split second, she left the blanket on her head and I caught picture. She’s not a silly dog, more of a no nonsense kind of pup… but that just makes this one even better.
April: Meredith+Troy
I was hesitant to take their engagement photos, but man am I so glad I did. Meredith and Troy. I had a blast being with them, jumping all over the place with my nerves, but we walked away with some keepers. “No Parking” is a forever favorite. I know some other people that feel this way as well.
May: The Sorority Girls
I had the honor of photographing several different Sigma Kappas last year but the first group is the one that stayed with me. These three gals, Madison, Kelsey and Sarah, were goofy as could be and didn’t have a care in the world. Not only did we get some fantastic images on UofL’s campus, but they stirred up my girly feelings for the ladies I call my sisters.
June: Little Angry Man
My DAd has said that if you want to capture the pictures others don’t, don’t take the camera away from your eye. I did just that and I caught this little boy in a mini-fit of rage, accusing me of stealing his cousin’s flashlight. I was an innocent bystander holding on to a small flashlight only after being asked to. And well, I snapped this.
July: Cali
I am loving watching all my friends’ children turn into little people. And it’s especially true of Cali – she is her mother once over and I could not believe the fun stories this little girl told during our family session. And I adore this photo of her.
August: Sleepy Ethan
Oh man. I couldn’t wait to get over to Brent and Emily’s to see their youngest son, their third son, and stick my camera in his face. He was as precious as could be, so sweet and mellow. Then he yawned. And then I melted.
September: Heather+Clinton
I had the opportunity to assist Louisville Wedding Photographer Courtney Reece in September. And not only did I learn a lot, but I had such a wonderful time. The time I spent with Courtney and Melinda was some of the best hands-on schooling I’ve had. And the bride and groom, Heather and Clinton, were out-of-this-world gorgeous/in love/fabulous/pick a positive adjective and it will probably fit.
October: The Meehans
I feel the need to say that the mini-sessions I had in October were better than I had even hoped for. Each family was fantastic to photograph, the kiddos were beyondo cute and I felt so blessed to be a part of their lives in 2011. But the Meehans… maybe it was the time of day, I’m not sure… but the colors that came out during their mini-session were like whoa. And I might have a crush on Eli.
November: Theresa+Billy
My cousins who are expecting their first child in February. This definitely took the top spot of any other photographs I took in November – and I got so many awesome photos in November – but this one takes the cake because I cannot help but smile. I could not be happier for them, knowing that it’s taken years to get to this point, but in a matter of weeks, they’ll be a family of three. I am so excited.
December: The Big Deaf Dog
Seriously, could I have left the BDD out? My last photo taken for the WPC{2011}, the theme was “black and white” and the BDD fit the bill. This dog gives me so many headaches… but they’re soon forgotten when she pulls on her sweet face. And even though she can’t hear and does the weirdest things dogs shouldn’t do, I think I’ll keep her.
{ Shutterboo Photography }
Attraction through the view finder. I go through phases where I constantly keep ending up in front of something. For the longest time it was flowers. Couldn’t go a few days without trying to photograph the soft petals and bright colors. Then I became mildly obsessed with sun flares. These days I’m attracted to lines.
Horizontal lines. They catch my eye. Which is funny considering I can never balance my camera so that they’re straight. Luckily, I’ve learned how to quickly straighten them and crop in editing. But I love them. Everything about them. How they carry your eye across the image, have a clean appearance and are everywhere I go.
After I snapped this shot, I started questioning my new attraction. I had just walked up to the stack of lunch trays and snapped it. Random lunch trays… I just took a picture of lunch trays. But the colors, the negative space between them, it keeps my interest.
So what about you? Do you have something that keeps bringing you back with your camera?
While I didn’t make my goal of finishing up our vacation photos before the end of May, I got really close. There’s no need to reflect on the fact that we took this vacation in January – that type of information is irrelevant. What does matter is that I want to go back oh-so-badly.
We took our first cruise to the Virgin Islands with two other couples. I love vacationing with friends. Having a group to parade around with makes it more of an adventure. You also have more people making fun of you but whatever. Details. We left port from Puerto Rico and made the rounds to St. Thomas, St. Johns, St. Kitts and St. Croix before floating back to San Juan.
I’ve shared much of our St. Thomas adventure already. I have no photos from St. Johns as we were ziplining in the jungle. Kind of hard to hold a camera when you’re doing your best Rambo impersonation. So many of the photos below are from St. Kitts, St. Croix and El Yunque in Puerto Rico. And what I’ve learned is that composing photographs while on vacation is for photographers that vacation with photographers. I also learned that sea legs stay with you even after you leave the boat.
Our first night on the ship – the boat across from us waved goodbye.
The bay at St. Thomas. I really loved St. Thomas.
The bay at St. Kitts. My second favorite island.
Taxi to the beach.
The Atlantic is on the left. The Caribbean is on the right.
You’re familiar with this one. But Alan was soaking it all in. Gorgeous.
Hills. Clouds. Grass. Sigh.
In port at St. Croix. Where everything was blockaded for a parade.
As you can see, they are not photographers. And walk very,very fast. Too fast.
So many baton twirlers walked the parade in their sequence.
I don’t really care for sailboats. But it’s got to be better than this desk.
El Yunque. We walked to the top of the tower to get the birds eye view.
Proof that we made it to the tippy top.
All I wanted to see was a monkey in it’s natural habitat. El Yunque has no monkeys. I settled on this gecko.
Would you believe I still haven’t made my way through our vacation photos? The cruise was in January. It’s May. I’m not done. I can’t believe I’m not done. Boo Brooke, boo. But I think I know why.
When I look back on our pictures from our trip, they almost all look the same. Different islands, same pictures. I suppose my eye just doesn’t know how to change it up in a new place because they all look the same to me. There’s ocean, a thick line of land and blue skies. It’s gorgeous. I’d go back in a heartbeat. But kind of disappointing.
I did walk away with some lovely scenery shots (which I feel like I struggle with so I’m glad to have them) but the overall group of vacation photos… meh. Meh or not, I will finish sorting and editing our vacation photos by the end of the month. I’m saying it out loud so that it will happen. And then I will print them.
OK, that last part might take me another month. But I’ll try my darnedest.
Last year, I hit up the local skate park with a co-worker during our lunch hour. Completely out of my element and fearful of being ran over by a kid on wheels, I still pointed my camera and went to town. My shots were meh - framing and composition weren’t bad for my first go round with gravity defiers but the color was way off. Way way off. So much off I just made every shot black and white.
The sun was too bright, the shadows were too harsh – even with ISO at 100 and f/stops dialed up to 16, I just couldn’t figure out what else I could do in the concrete jungle. Especially when I wanted to keep the focus on one person and not have the background sharp as a tack. It was like I needed sunglasses for my camera.
Enter Google. Enter my horrible searching ability.
Thing is, I actually found an answer: a neutral density filter.
A neutral density filter is supposed to reduce and modify the intensity of light before it reaches your camera’s sensor. It totally sounds like RayBans for the Mac. So I got one to experiment with.
Don’t ask me what brand or strength it is – I’m not sure as I left it at home. Boo.
I got my lab coat on and started playing with the filter. One thing to note is your camera must be in manual mode – your camera is too smart on the aperture preferred mode for this doohickey. The AP mode accomodates for it. Which then defeats its purpose. So after I slapped on my 50mm prime, I found the most colorful thing within 20 feet of me and set up a still life.
Yes. It is Sprite. I work with what I got, people.
Like any experiment, I needed a sample, a constant, to compare the NDF test against. In manual mode, I set the camera for the perfect exposure and fired.
Focal length: 50mm
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 250
Since the neutral density filter is supposed to reduce light and result with a shaded photo, I left my camera settings as they were. I screwed the filter on and set up my second shot – my NDF test shot.
Focal length: 50mm
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 250
Mac totally has a pair of shades now. With the settings the same as the perfect exposure shot without the filter, I new that it would in fact (or should) shade the image. Which is what I wanted it to do. With this doohickey, I will have more creative control over my camera when shooting in bright light situations. (I’m afraid it won’t help harsh shadows though.)
I knew that the AP mode accommodated for the filter, so I went ahead and manually set for the perfect exposure with the filter on.
Focal length: 50mm
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
ISO: 250
It’s just a wee bit lighter than my first shot, the one taken without the neutral density filter. But it can be done. And if I wanted, I could purchase a second filter and fit it atop this one to double the light reduction.
I haven’t played with filters much but I know that they are an inexpensive way to experiment with photography. Neutral density, polarizing, infrared, contrast, color correction, cross screen, diopters – there’s so many out there to play with. The next time I feel like I need something to “push me,” I think I’ll be trying another kind of filter. But this one will keep me busy for a while.
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