Toluu

Beyond Megapixels

Cameras,Photography

New “Links” Section: looking for submissions!January 7

I am currently building a section on our website for links. If you want your own site added to this list or know of suitable websites please add a comment to this post with the following information:

• Brief description of the site.
• URL of the site.
• Anchor text you want added

Photographers in the News: A passion revisitedJanuary 5

I’m starting to really love these posts about Photographers in the News, I’ve read some really interesting pieces because of this weekly bit and this weeks reminded me that starting again is always an option and being a new year, I thought it was poignant.  It’s about a retired professor Alan Rubin.  He had a career, a family, obligations and a life and with retirement he picked up a passion that had faded to the background since his youth.  

Mr. Rubin not only picked up the camera again he pushed himself to learn.  This really appealed to me. The last line of the piece was my favorite:

His story as an artist is one of rediscovery and adaptation, and one suggesting that it’s never too late to pursue a dream, to learn and to grow.

The beginning of that sentence, “His story as an artist” just grabs me.  An artist.  Do you consider yourself a photographer, an artist or someone with a camera?

Removing and Adding CatchLightsJanuary 2

For this photo editing lesson I’m going to be using this SOOC (straight out of the camera) image of my nephew.  You will remember it from this post over here about CatchLights and about how I loved the picture but didn’t like the reflection of the TV acting as a CatchLight. 

So today we’re going to do the following.  FIRST we’ll remove the CatchLight of the TV and the other misc light noise on his eyes.  SECOND we’re going to add in new CatchLights.  For this lesson I’m going to be using Photoshop Elements although the tools I use are available on nearly all photo editing softwares. 

Before we begin I want to remind you of the importance of zooming in to the edit area and out of the edit area frequently.  I always find that I get a little “edit” happy when I’m zoomed in for too long.   Ready?  Let’s go.

Step #1- Make a copy of your photo so that you have a place to compare before and after.

Step #2 - In your photo editing software zoom in to the area that needs to be edited so it fills your screen.

Catchlights 101December 31 2008

I used to take good pictures on accident.  Every once in a while I would really look at a portrait I had taken and think “something about this just makes it look really special”.  Upon learning what a Catchlight is I realized that a lot of the portraits I loved had Catchlights.  

What is a Catchlight?  It’s a reflection of a light source off the eye.  The Catchlight is a direct mirror of that light source.  This can make all the difference between a Catchlight that adds to a photo and one that detracts from the photo.  You can remove or add Catchlights in Photoshop (or other editing software) I’m going to get into that tomorrow.  It’s all a matter of personal preference but in my opinion, they add a lot to the photo.

In professional portraiture you’ll notice a very clear light source, the glimmer in the eye will be a defined circle.  But most of us (at least I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong) are taking shots of our family, friends and our kids so we’re not working with professional lights.  To capture Catchlights you’ll need to have some light source facing your subject.  

Let’s look at some examples that I’ve shot over the past few months.  In the below photo you can see that light hit her eyes at an angle, it happened to be from my bedroom window.  I think that the glimmer adds something to this photo.  

Inspiration Board Tuesday: Jessica ClaireDecember 30 2008

Jessica Claire is a photographer I look to frequently for inspiration and I found her in a completely random way.  I was searching Kate Spade Shoes and ended up on this page, check out the second picture.  Not only are those shoes fantastic the picture was really great.  Who thinks to take a picture of shoes?  It never would have occured to me that’s for sure.  Now I find myself snapping shots of shoes all the time.  My dad’s work boots, my pink boots still coated in snow, Lexi’s swimmy shoes in Florida.  

As we stroll into 2009 this week I want to turn this Inspiration Board question on to you.  What photographers inspire YOU, who would you like to share with the rest of us?