Capturing Photos of Someone You Love

Today is my mom's birthday. She's not a fan of having her photo taken and will dislike every photo I post. But she's my mom and I think she's beautiful. I grab every opportunity I can to photograph her. 

She lives three and a half hours away from us but has seen Ian every month since he was born! That is 64 trips and over 14,000 miles. She hasn't missed a month.

Did I mention she can jump rope? This was a month before she had her knee replaced. I don't know if the two are related ;)

She was at every event each of her five kids were part of as children and she makes most of the big ones for us as adults. That's my brother finishing one of many marathons. He qualified for the Boston Marathon that day!

She's a vicious Scrabble player.

And she and Shea genuinely love each other. The real deal. 

So, happy birthday today mom. Thanks for being you and thanks for letting me photograph a bit of you.

Will you wish her a happy one too? And then go take pictures of the people who are important to you too! Don't worry about making them perfect. Just take them.

What Camera Should I Buy?

Every class I teach I'm asked this question. It's a big and daunting decision for most of us, made even more difficult by the number of opinions floating around out there! 

Since it is holiday gift giving list time of year I thought I'd add my two cents!

Before you read further, I recommend you read Scott Bourne's Annual DSLR Camera Buying Guide. Love his perspective. Come back here when you are done ;)

I'm going to be practical here. I believe you should buy the most camera you can afford. Period. BUT, that being said, most of us live on a budget and have other life necessities to take care of. 

While price is not the only factor to consider, it's a biggie. Here is my budget list for Santa :) Both of these can be found for under $700 and have great features.

Canon T2i

Nikon D3100

Of course, hold these, feel them and see which you like. 

Consider purchasing the body only and with your savings buy a good, fast lens!

Is that too simple? Two cameras to consider?  Let me know if you want to spend more and I can definitely help spend your money! Both cameras are linked to B&H Photography, my choice for camera equipment since my beloved local store closed.

For those of you who want to spend more, take a look at the Canon 7D or Nikon D7000. And for those of you who want more detail, I recommend spending some time on dpReview side by side comparison. Ignore the price listings and look at ISO sensitivity, Continuous drive, and megapixels.

Studio Roundup

I love watching people's photography skills develop. It is such an honor and privilege to take a little part in that development.  I know what it feels like to be frustrated learning how to use your camera and have that one little nudge or perspective that opens up an entire new world for you.

I'd love to create a page on my blog highlighting the work of those of you've I've helped. I'm specifically looking for those of you who are shooting professionally now and want to get the word out!

If you've taken a class with me, read Get Me off of Auto, followed a tutorial, walked with me, or been helped in anyway please comment with your name, blog or facebook link (or both), photography focus,  and the geographic area you shoot in.

You all arrive in my life with so much talent. I don't want to take credit for what you know, I just want to show you off to the world as talent I've been fortunate to connect with.

Get Beyond The Garlic And Find Joy

Do you ever have those days when you just need a little more joy in your life. Nothing is wrong, but nothing feels quite right either.

So to my photos I go. In Lightroom I searched the keyword JOY. My results - 0! Are you kidding me? Happy - 0! Really? Ok, last try. Smile. Again. Zero. I searched "garlic" and found 15 photos, but nothing for joy, happy, and smile? What is wrong with me?!

I began the scrolling, clicking and keywording.

Now. I have joy.

I vow to label my photos with emotion from this day forward so that when I need joy I can find it fast.

Photography Quiz - Answers

Oh, beautiful blue sky found in fall! It helps create gorgeous photos!

Bryan Peterson in Understanding Exposure calls it "brother blue sky" for a very good reason. By simply metering off of the sky, I was able to get the correct exposure on the first photo I took. There was no fiddling or compensating needed! Nice.

Ann aced this quiz! Well done!

Jill's suggestion of using Sunny 16 could be right as well, just wasn't what I used. Do you know Sunny 16?

Simply put it says, if you shoot on a sunny day you can use these settings:
f/16      ISO 100       shutter speed 1/125

You can then bump these up a stop, another down a stop getting the equivalent exposures. So, these settings would then also work given Sunny 16
f/16      ISO 200       shutter speed 1/500

or even this
f/8        ISO 200       shutter speed 1/250

Its a nice little technique to have in your back pocket, but if you like things extra easy Brother Blue Sky is there for you!

And just in case you've never met Mr. Peterson, you might not know about Mr. Green Jeans, the Sky Brother's cousin. When shooting a scene with a lot of green, expose for the green and underexpose by -2/3.

I used that technique while lost in a grape vineyard.

This is straight out of camera. Achieving the correct exposure right out of camera means black and white conversions are faster and, in my opinion, more effective. 

Does this make sense? What exposure techniques do you go to?

Photography Quiz - Fall Edition

Napa Valley in the fall is beautiful. My hubby planned dinner at an amazing vegetarian restaurant* and left the rest of our weekend open for exactly what I requested, nothing. We drove some, tasted a little wine, wandered around Yountville and took photos.

While I shot this, I thought, oooooh, perfect for a quiz!

40mm | ISO 400 | f/9.0 | ss 1/320

This is the first photo I took and it is SOOC (straight out of camera).  Here is the question for you:

How did I get the exposure correct with my first shot? No devices, gizmos, or cards used to determine the exposure or try to trick you. You've got my settings. What's your guess?

I'll reveal tomorrow. 

*A post about the restaurant coming soon, as we believe they thought I was someone I am not :)

Let's Celebrate The Weekend

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday! I'm touched by the outpouring of kindness.

I'm off to celebrate a bit more this weekend with a short trip to the Napa Valley. So, I've got a question. If you were headed to Napa, what is your MUST VISIT winery? Post quick, I'm leaving in just a bit!

Watch for a new photography quiz on Monday!

25 Days of Thankful - A Project

We've started a project in our house that I can proudly say we've kept at for 4 days! Perhaps a new family project record.

Before dinner each evening Ian and run into the backyard and collect the largest leaf we can find from our Mulberry tree. After a little dirt removal we set it on the dinner table with a marker. Through dinner we each talk about one thing we are thankful for. Ian seems to always go first and is quick to provide something concise and sweet.

Nov 1 - I'm thankful for plants things with you Mom
Nov 2 - I'm thankful for my family
Nov 3 - I'm thankful for keeping our house clean
Nov 4 - I'm thankful for my family

A little repetition is okay for me! I will show him Nov. 3rd when he's 13, just as a little reminder!

I write each of these on our leaf and we leave it as the centerpiece of our table.

The next day we repeat it. I'm loving watching the leaves from the our first days begin to slowly dry out as we add new ones to the pile.  I wait holding my breath just a bit to see what Ian is going to come up with each night.

In case you are curious, here is my list
Nov 1 - I'm thankful for my boys
Nov 2 - I'm thankful for difference of opinions
Nov 3 - I'm thankful for cupcakes
Nov 4 - I'm thankful for place where people know our names

And Shea's
Nov 1 - I'm thankful I learned to cook
Nov 2 - I'm thankful for a relatively transparent democracy
Nov 3 - I'm thankful for my family to come home to after a long day
Nov 4 - I'm thankful that when I had meningitis, I had no ill effects

Since the leaves will eventually be placed in our compost bin to become part of our garden, I'm capturing each of our statements on a card and will bind them together. Cathy Zielske made this even easier with her Thankful 4x6 Photo Album Project kit. It is in the DesignerDigitals store tomorrow. I've taken a little twist with it, since it's intended to be passed out for family to complete at Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm hoping to bind it to have at dinner. I'm not worrying too much over the photos. I used an iPhone photo from a new cupcake shop we found, but plan on using anything that fits! The leaves will show up somewhere in the process too!

So, what would your thankful list include? Today, I'm thankful to celebrate one more amazing year!

Photography of the Future

In some photos I can see the future. Something about them just screams Ian at 16.  I can just see it. Without a doubt.

Do you see it too?

My Photography

Photography provides many opportunities. I can photograph majestic landscapes, highlighting gorgeous details of nature. I can photograph architecture, showing off its fine lines and details. I can photograph flowers, bugs or birds,  capturing their natural beauty.

Yes, I shoot those things. Sometimes.

They are not my photography.

My photography exists in the moment. The face. The expression. The hands outstretched. The simple smile. Capturing the age and stage of the moment. Knowing when he's twenty five I can still see him at five. The moments of joy. Pure, unadulterated joy.

That is my photography.

I want to capture the feeling of the moment. The internal part of me that hums a bit louder when I see his face. The part of me that glows with love in a way I've never experienced. The part of me that laughs out loud watching who he is and who he is becoming.

I want to capture the "I love you moments." The "you're the best momma in the world" smiles. Those are the photographs with the most meaning for me.

My life.

The rest are fine photos. The rest will be appreciated.

My photography is the photography of emotion and connection and family.

And that, is good enough for me.

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Today is the last day to register for Your Life: Captured Through The Lens. I'd love to have you join me.

October Rejects

It's time for October's rejected photos. I started this project earlier this year to have a little fun and show you the photos no one typically sees. I can learn a lot from the mistakes!

So here we go.

That sweet face you see so often? It has its not so sweet moments as well. Too close, too fast, too crazy. WAIT FOR THE SHOT.

Exactly what was I using to set my exposure here? It obviously wasn't the green grass!

Such a sweet photo of Ian and me and the brick steps. Look THROUGH the viewfinder next time, before I set the timer.

So I looked through the viewfinder. Too much chair and too much eyelid.

Again, more chair and table. I think this was a crazy finger right before the tomato shot.

Oops. What was I taking a picture of here? SLOW DOWN. And SPEED UP the shutter speed!

A mom can get pretty excited the first time her son decides to climb a rock wall. So excited she doesn't even look at her camera settings before the click. SLOW DOWN, this is becoming a theme!

My husband and I try to take a photo together when we see a mirror. Here, I missed. Repeatedly.

Oh, Halloween night. Youngsters together walking into the light after a fun evening. The moment. The beautiful silhouette. Missed because I clicked in AV when I know this needs Manual. Silly. It was a great shot in my head. I was too worried about them walking away too fast to think it all the way through. Guess what? I missed it anyway. STOP AND THINK.

I'd like to present to you #7 in a series of shots. I call it, THE LENS CAP IS ON.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the other side of my photography! I've heard a class starts today that will help me improve my photography!

364 Days 'til Halloween & A Winner!

The magician international super spy vampire is sleeping after a fun weekend of activity.

We've officially entered my Jubilee which also means the Holiday season! This time of year is loved in our house.

Thanks everyone for taking part in the 13 Days 'Til Halloween. I loved posting and loved seeing what you did with the challenges.

Using random.org our winner (with the most entries, so her odds were good!) is Sarah. Check out her fun Halloween photos! I loved the Jabba the Hutt photo!

Class starts tomorrow and registration is still open! I hope you will join me for six weeks of Capturing Your Life Through The Lens! Trying to decide if you want to join in class? I'm taking questions today about class, format, anything at all! Let me know!

1 Day 'til Halloween - Checking It Twice

Oops! I forgot to post 1 Day 'Til yesterday!

Isn't it typical of this crazy time of year, packed with activities, places to go and things to take care of? My intention was to post a pumpkin photo or two, but we didn't carve it yet. We didn't last year either. In fact, last year's pumpkin didn't get carved until Thanksgiving when I made it into pie!

Today's tip takes shape in list form so you can make the magic happen!

A few things to remember before the evening festivities begin.

1. Charge your camera's battery
2. Clear your memory cards, then Format them in your camera's menu to get the most space.
3. Place your camera or bag next to the battery so you don't leave the battery behind (or am I the only one who does this?)
4. Decide what lens you are going to use and if you are going to use flash. Make these decisions before you walk out the door, and stick to them so you can focus on the fun.
5. Place your camera's drive mode on Continuous shooting so you can snap several frames at a time, it gives you the best chance of one being right!
6. Watch your SHUTTER SPEED.  In my opinion this is often the biggest mistake I make when shooting in low light situations, heck, maybe in most situations. I forget to look at it or talk myself into believing I really can hand hold my camera for 1/20th of a second. (I can't)
7. Have fun!

Post a link to your favorite photo in the comments below! 

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Don't forget to link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you get up to 13 chances to win! Comments close at midnight pacific time tonight.

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats and have access to the online forum and gallery. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

2 Days 'til Halloween - Halloween Scavenger Hunt

The excitement is boiling over in our house this morning! Ian's first school party and costume parade. He's changed his mind about his costume a few times, but I think we've settled on one for today and one for tomorrow. We'll see what Halloween brings! He's a boy of many costumes with a Grandma who likes to sew, so he's got a good stash to select from!

*TP Mummy not sewn by Grandma aka Mumzy

Today's challenge is one of my favorites! Head out with your camera for a scavenger hunt. You might find these today or throughout the entire weekend. I love the challenge of finding specific things and grabbing them in creative ways.

Here you go! 13 just for fun. Find as many (or as few) as you'd like. Link me to them when you've got some! BigHugeLabs has a fun mosaic maker, to quickly put them together.

1. A black cat
2. Teeth
3. Red - fun chance to follow The Red Rule
4. Stuffed
5. Striped
6. Spooky - maybe Shoot The Moon
7. Pointy
8. Brew
9. Orange
10. A treat - a great opportunity to Fill the Frame
11. Bones
12. Ghostly - try to Ghost Someone
13. Cute

Have fun! Happy Shooting! Be safe :)

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Link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you can get up to 13 chances to win!

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats and a class forum for posting questions. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

Photography Help At Your Request #1

Kim posted her photography dilemma for tomorrow morning. I'm giving her answer it's own post as I think many of you may find yourself in this spot.

Her question:

I have been asked to take a group shot of my daughter’s dance team on Saturday. I have never done anything like this before and really want to get as nice a shot as possible. I am hoping you can help me better understand what the best course will be to get the best shot. So here’s the situation. 

12 to 14 girls

High school football field (no shade, sigh) 

9 to 10 am shoot time (sigh).

I played a little bit this morning at the correct time and here is what I discovered

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A. 

Front light will get me a bunch of squinting girls but by using my M mode and light metering ( thank you so much for sharing that sweet gem on TDD) off their faces I get a pretty nicely exposed photo.

B.

Sidelight is going keep the girls from squinting but if I meter of the shaded side of their faces the sunny side is over exposed and if I meter off the sunny side the shaded side is underexposed..

C.

Backlight gets me well exposed girls, by metering off their faces, and a blown out background. 

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Everything I read online says “just don’t ” Ok now lets get real.. We can’t always be in control of these situations… I just want to do the best I can with a situation that is out of my control…

Since I don’t have the luxury of having all the girls to play with before Saturday I am seriously hoping you can give me your best advice…Is there anything else I need to be mindful of while taking a medium sized group shot .

Wishing your Life class was already underway

Group shots are difficult. Getting everyone to look at the same direction without getting eyes closed or funky faces can be tricky. You are doing the right thing by trying it out before the girls are there. Let's talk about your choices.

A.
A is a nice light choice, as you've noticed. IF you use this option, the best trick is to have everyone close their eyes tight. Look at the sun. On the count of three have them open, and using your continuous shooting mode snap several photos. You need to be fast with this and only try it a couple of times, their patience will be short!

I've used this when shooting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training Triathlon teams when we wanted the lake behind us leaving no choice, but to look into the sun.

B.
Sidelight is going to be uneven and while you avoid the squint, you will need to fill in the shadows with either a LARGE reflector, diffused fill flash, or lighting. This seems to be a trickier approach that takes more gear. I'm not a big fan of hauling a ton of gear if I can avoid it.

C.
Does the background matter? This is really your creative call. If you want both, you have two options.
Option 1 - If you choose to meter off the sky and shoot, you will need to use fill flash in order to expose the girls correctly. I like to play with my fill flash level before a real shoot. I would have someone stand in the spot you are going to shoot, fire off several frames and review them on your histogram to see what works best. Move your flash compensation up and down until you like what you see. Getting flash right always takes a little fiddling.
Option 2 - If you choose to shoot without a flash, expose for the girls, blowing out the background. Then without the girls in the frame, expose for the background. A little Photoshop magic and you've got a picture with both pieces well exposed.

This is not an easy situation, but definitely one many of us find ourselves in. Life goes on whether or not the light is at a perfect angle!

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Do you have a situation you'd like perspective about? Email me at katrina at katrinakennedy dot com with the details of your situation. It might just appear here!

Kim send me an email, I have a flash tutorial I'd like to send you for posting your question and kicking off our new series!

Look forward to seeing you in Your Life Captured Through The Lens. Class starts November 2nd!

3 Days 'til Halloween - How To Shoot The Moon

Shea's favorite

When the full moon is out on Halloween, the creep factor rises.  This year it isn't full, but there is still a moon! Give it a try. Frame it.  Leave it lonely in the sky. If you get really lucky take advantage of clouds.

You might recall my steps for shooting the moon.

1. Grab your lens with the longest focal length.
2. Take off your UV filter, if you have one on.
3. Set your ISO to 100.
4. Set your aperture to f/8.0 (this is not the only option).
5. Set your shutter speed to 1/125 (this is not the only option).
6. Zoom out to your longest focal length
7. Focus on the moon, ignoring your light meter (it's going to freak out, indicating you are overexposed)
8. Recompose if you'd like.
9. Shoot!


Okay, that's one way :)


Here are my steps for these.


1. Grab your lens with the longest focal length. (I used 200mm)
2. Take off your UV filter, if you have one on.
3. Set your ISO to 1250.
4. Set your aperture to f/2.8 (the moon is a LONG way out, you'll get the entire thing in focus).
5. Set your shutter speed to 1/400 (this is not the only option).
6. Zoom out to your longest focal length
7. Focus on the moon, ignoring your light meter (it's going to freak out, indicating you are overexposed)
8. Recompose if you'd like.
9. Shoot!

10. Shoot again.

Now, take a look at the #'s in steps #3, #4 and #5. Noticed how they changed? THAT is the exposure triangle - ISO, aperture and shutter speed. THAT is how photos are made! There are always multiple combinations. 

Ian's "spooky" favorite

My favorite

Any questions? I'd love to see what spooky photos you can come up with!

4 Days 'til Halloween - Step To The Other Side

Its a good practice to capture photos from many different angles. Sometimes you discover unexpected treasures.

When Ian was two and a half, he loved waiting at the door for tricker treaters. He hadn't really grasped the idea that HE could go get candy at other doors!

This Halloween prepare to grab a photo from behind. Whether it is at the door as your pirate opens it for others or as your goblin rings the doorbell at your neighbors house. Simply watching them walk away is a classic perspective too. You'll get the best cooperation when they can't see what you are doing!

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Don't forget to link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you can get up to 13 chances to win!

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

5 Days 'til Halloween - Diggin' Up Good Stuff

Only five days left! Are your pumpkins carved? Costumes in order? Camera batteries charged?

Today I'm taking a different approach and sending you around the web for great Halloween photography ideas.

Rebecca Cooper has a great new book at Ella Publishing and great Halloween tips post on the 1825 blog.

Digital Photography School has some great tips from last year.

More great Halloween Photography Tips at the New York Institute of Photography.

For a little low light step by step, check the Daily Digi.

PhotoTuts has a GREAT post about Mesmerising Moon Photography.

A search or two at flickr can give you TONS of ideas and inspiration!

1. halloween, 2. That's a lot of Pumpkin Pie!, 3. Advanced Happy Halloween (^ ^), 4. Web of Lights, 5. Halloween: My [second] Favorite Holiday, 6. Happy October !, 7. Pumpkin Pile, 8. bokeh pumpkins, 9. :: fairy of dreams ::

Do you have any favorite Halloween photography tips?

CreativeLive Tamara Lackey Entry from KatrinaKennedy

Here is my entry for the CreativeLive event I mentioned yesterday. I'd love to hear from you if you were a mom I've helped. Thanks!

Question About My Photo of the Day

So which would you pick?

He helped me out on a little project. Hoping to take a trip to spend time with Tamara Lackey in Seattle next month. You can join in the fun still too! It's live and it's free.

6 Days 'til Halloween - Fill The Frame

Six more days to photography the sights and sounds of Halloween!

Today, get in close. Fill the frame with your subject to leave the view NO DOUBT what your subject is. Whether your photo is a bit scary or super cute, step up closer and leave nothing but the subject in the frame. If you need to crop to do that...no problem, we won't even notice!

Check out my focus post at the DailyDigi if you are curious about just how close you can get!

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Don't forget to link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you can get up to 13 chances to win!

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

7 Days 'til Halloween - Not For Vampires

Holidays and events find us behind the camera taking photos of everything and everyone. But what about you? Are you in any photos or is that just too frightening?

Mirrors are the easiest classic way to get yourself in the photo. Try a little something different this time though. Don't cover your spooky self with the camera. Place the camera low and shoot into a mirror. It may take a few tries to get it right. Have fun with it, see what else you can get in the picture. Think Halloween. And you know what? You don't have to be in focus, just be in the photo!

50mm | ISO 4000 | f/1.4 | ss 1/100 

I'll assume you're a vampire if you don't take part in this challenge!

8 Days 'til Halloween - Dig Deep

Have a little fun with perspective with your Halloween photos. Make people look bigger by shooting low and wide. The lower you go, the larger they will appear. If you shoot super wide (the smallest mm number on your lens) you can exaggerate their height even more. This is one spot where point and shoot cameras can have a great advantage over dSLRs!

So, dig deep for your Halloween shot and show us your results!

ISO 4000, f/4.0, ss 1/40

I used Matt K's Ultimate Fighter preset in Lightroom because I'm in love with Lightroom and Matt K!

Show us what you dig up!

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Don't forget to link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you can get up to 13 chances to win!

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

9 Days 'til Halloween - On Location

The excitement is building in our house! With a weekend in the mix before the big event, it makes it perfect time for a location shoot!

Taking Ian out for a little fun somewhere that matches his costume makes him more cooperative and I'm always happiest with the background. So dress up the little one (or the dog or the big ones, whoever is cooperative), grab your camera, and head out!

Bats love hanging out at the cemetery.

A cemetery would be perfect for little ghosts, witches, vampires and other scary things. Find the oldest section of the cemetery for the best headstones. For our shoot we went to a historic cemetery from the Gold Rush Era about an hour before sunset. After a discussion about respecting the space, "mom what is respect," "why mom," "are they going to wake up," I let him explore. I tried to catch him at his natural moments with all of the costume on or just parts. Make it fun and you'll get the best photos.

Other fun spots might be:

Cleopatra  next to a river.

A little cheer leader or football player on the 50 yard line.

A little firefighter at the fire department.

Mario and Luigi in front of a pizza place.

Little bugs flying through a field of flowers or garden.

A little pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. I'd love to shoot a little pumpkin lined up with all of the pumpkins at the grocery store!

Harry Potter would be amazing atop a hill at dusk with just the blueish twilight glow behind him.

I can see Spider Man walking up the side of a wall. Position Spider Man below a window in your house, have him "cling" to the wall, shoot out the window as close as you can get to him at your widest angle. Oooh, this would be a fun shot!

Woody, Buzz or Jessie at the playground or near a train or stacked in a box with lots of other toys.

A little princess in front of a castle (I'm imagining our local Fairy Tale Town). 

I'm looking for a red velvet curtain and stage for  this year's photo of Ian!

What's your favorite Halloween location spot?

Behind The Lens: Deirdre Harger

I love sending the emails out for Behind the Lens. The reactions and responses are so real and so fun. Deirdre's words were what every teacher wants to hear, "some of my best shots are a direct result of what I learned in your class." I'm so appreciative of her comment, but do believe she came with her own great talent too! I'd like to introduce you to Deirdre Harger.

What sparked your interest in photography?

Mostly children and family and the desire to document our lives’ progression.  We got an EOS film camera as a wedding gift, and I started photographing our dogs and family members (always on auto).   Later, we got our first digital camera (a 3 megapixel Olympus) as a gift from my mother-in-law.  I finally progressed to a digital EOS but still always on auto.  As I delved into digital scrapbooking, I discovered “Get Me Off Auto” and “Capturing a Photo a Day” and then “Your Life Through the Lens".  Once I started to learn about exposure, shutter speed, ISO, aperture and all that other fun stuff, I was hooked.  

What camera do you use?
I use a Canon 40D 

What is your favorite lens?
My favorite lens is my Canon 50mm f1.8, with my Canon 70-200 f4 a close second.

What makes you happiest about your photography?

My photography makes me happiest when it captures a mood and sparks a memory so that I can feel that mood and moment all over again every time I look at the photo.

What have you learned from Your Life: Captured Through The Lens that has helped your photography most?

I love the way “Your Life:  Captured Through the Lens” explained technical elements of photography while also delving into the emotional side of things.  It taught me to try to find the little things in my life that will remind me of what I was doing that day, not just the big moments, but the everyday little things, and to be able to capture them in a photograph that’s pleasing as well.

What are your current photography goals?
My current photography goals:  I want my focus to be sharper.  I really want to just keep building on what I’ve learned through tons of practice.  I want to be able to view my surroundings in a unique way and capture that with my camera.   I also love viewing others’ work and I draw a lot of inspiration from that.  I guess my main goal is to have a meaningful visual memoir of our lives for my current and future family members and friends  I am fortunate enough to be able to go on most of my children's field trips, so I take a lot of photos that other parents really appreciate.  I also need to try to get in front of the lens more too! 


Thanks Deirdre for sharing your images and words. I love your take on everyday life.

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You can be a part of Your Life: Captured Through The Lens. The six week class begins on November 2nd. We'll explore  "shutter speed, ISO, aperture and all that other fun stuff" in a user friendly, step by step way. You'll finish class shooting on Manual mode and understanding how aperture and shutter speed work as well! You can take part in 13 Days 'Til Halloween for a chance at a spot!

10 Days 'til Halloween - Cut Off Parts

Focus on the unexpected today to create a bit of visual interest in your subject. The viewer doesn't need to see the entire costume to know exactly what he is dressed as!

In addition, you can see a visual triangle in this photo - from tip of his cape to his eye to the tie below his chin. Whether you have a triangle or simply emphasize a part of your subject, try a Halloween twist by only capturing a portion of your subject!

Avoid chopping at joints, it just isn't as pretty!

Happy Haunting!