Photographing Interiors and Faux Finishes

Or, Some of the Grooviest People are Faux Finishers : )

Several months back I had the utmost pleasure to work with a wonderful woman by the name of Laura Wool.

Laura, a fantastic faux finisher, hired me to document some of her work for her new website. I spent a couple of weeks driving around north of the greater metro Atlanta area, going from one lovely home to another. We would meet and I would set about head scratching and problem solving aka trying to decide where to place my lights etc.

I was simply bowled over by the caliber of Laura’s work and thrilled to be part of the process. I was, in fact, so happy with the results that I plastered the images all over my own website. Well, finally Laura’s website is complete and launched. Yay! So this is my ‘shout out’ for Laura Wool.

LW-6829

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On Location Children’s Photography Shoot

Or – Oh be still my beating heart!

OMG!!! I just spent the morning with three of the MOST fantastic children in the UNIVERSE.  Listen people, I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years.  When I say a kid is great….trust me, I DO know the difference.  This is actually my second time playing er…working with this family.  What a joy.  Great parents with the ‘just right’ mix of allowing their children freedom, yet raising good citizens.

JW8141

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How To Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

This past weekend I had the COMPLETE pleasure of working with a group of people so warm, vibrant and energetic I may be walking on cloud nine for weeks to come.   It’s shoots like this that keep me highly enthusiatic about photography in general.   I really do have a dream ‘job’.

I could take this post in any number of directions. I could talk about bold color in portraiture, how to transform virtually any place into a photography studio, how to work with children of varying ages or how to work with a larger group of people. Let’s roll with the last one.

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio - Photography Tutorial

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Deborah’s Excellent Adventures In Commercial Photography

Adventures in Commercial Photography

That is me up in the ‘cherry picker’ basket of a state of the art, quarter million dollar service truck! Oh. My. Gawd. I thought I had died and gotten a lift right up to heaven!!! I swear to Good Golly Miss Molly, I had SO MUCH FUN I would’a almost PAID the company that hired me to do it! Okay, just how many is TOO many exclamation points?

So, here I am, preparing for lift off with the driver/operator, a really nice guy by the name of Eddie. We’re right smack in the middle of downtown Atlanta on Peachtree Street. This is after Eddie so sweetly and precisely maneuvered that basket right down to the sidewalk, so I could practically walk right in.

Here we begin our ascent.

Going….

Going…..

Gone.

Here I am photographing the ground crew, who was photographing me : )

This is a view from the top looking north on Peachtree.

A slightly different, vaguely queasy making view.

Another shot from the ground crew, showing the scintillating action!

No matter how high I go in life, I still love the little people……down there on the sidewalk.

And here I am , all safe and sound, but completely JAZZED about the whole experience. Most of the people who know me realize I’m really just an overgrown 10 year boy in a 50 year old woman’s body. The 10 year old HAD A BLAST AND WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN!!!

Oh…..before I forget. So, what exactly was it I was photographing?

This:

Now don’t tell me life ain’t grand.

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Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

Do not be afraid. Come on in. Shut the door behind you. Put on your shades, if need be. Throw caution to the wind as you enter the High Color Zone. Two of my absolute favorite things in life are color and photography.  Let’s combine them and see what happens.

There are several ways you can create a rich, saturated backdrop. Many of them involve multiple light heads, specialty brackets and hardware, and colored gels. I will focus on the easiest and most economical way to do it, which is with a basic, one light set up. You don’t need to light your background and can just let the light fall off. This will render your backgrounds richly saturated. You can view the basic lighting set up in my Photographing Young Children with Low-Key Lighting tutorial and view suggestions and links in How To Set Up A Photo Booth In Your Home.

Using Bold Color in Portraiture - Tips and Techniques

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Depth of Field – Photography Tutorial

I want to talk about depth of field (DOF) and why it matters. First, a definition:

In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on either side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions. –Wikipedia

Aperture and Depth of Field, Photography Tutorial

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Outdoor Portraiture – Photographing Families in Natural Light

Natural Light Photography – Part 2

Fall is approaching and this might be a good time to talk about how to handle an outdoor family session.  This is a good tutorial for those with a limited amount of equipment.  All you really need is a fairly good camera.  It would also be nice if you have a couple of different, fast lenses at your disposal. Depending on where you live, you might even be able to rent those lenses at a surprisingly low day rate.

Outdoor Portraiture - Photographing Families in Natural Light

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