What works for one person may not work for another

Setting up a studio

I've been trying my hand at taking portraits.  My wife, who is a saint, let me set up a small studio in our living room.  Quite frankly we don't use the living room very much, if at all, so transforming it to a small studio was a snap. Only one coffee table had to find a new "home". 

So I set up a couple of back drops, one black and one white.  I have a constant lighting rig as well as a Canon 580ex flash. I also have various tripods, umbrellas and other light modifiers. After listening to several podcasts and reading books on portrait photography, I thought I was ready to try some portraits.  

First, I tested on myself

The first shots I took were of myself.  I used my remote to activate the shutter.  After quite a few attempts, I finally got the constant lighting just right and took an acceptable portrait. It's the photo that is attached to my Google profile.  

The failed test!

Then came a test.  My daughter is starting her own makeup business, and I needed to take some glamour shots of my wife and my daughter that could be used on her website to advertise her business.  Obviously the most important part is getting a good image of their makeup to show off my daughter's skill.  I set my wife up with the constant light and every shot was blown out like this one. You could see some of the makeup, but the shots were not acceptable. 

I was shooting Aperture priority mode.  I couldn't get the right exposure.  So, I thought to myself, let's try manual mode.  This way I can set the shutter speed, aperture and ISO on my own to get a good picture.  

So, I set the aperture and shutter speed, but every time I pushed half way on the actuator, the exposure indicator on the lcd went down to -2 and what resulted was a black picture.  I, erroneously,  thought that there was a camera setting I had messed with which was making the exposure go all the way to black.  (More on this in my next post).  I still couldn't get the shot. 

Success!

Finally, I switched over to just using my flash.  I set the flash on manual mode at 1/16th power and a shutter speed of 1/200 and did some test shots.  I was finally happy with my photos.  Here's some examples of the shots that my daughter will be using in her makeup portfolio. 

As you can see, the final results are much better.  They highlight the makeup that has been applied.  The soft glow really makes the pictures feel warm and inviting.

I was sure that setting up these shots using constant lighting was going to work just fine because it had worked so well for my portrait. But in the end, I had to adjust what I thought I "knew" for another method that worked better for these images.

triolophoto.com

facebook.com/triolophoto

twitter.com/triolophoto

My blog is now part of the Alltop news and blog aggregation site. It's the best way to stay up to date on all your favorite topics. Just go to alltop.com, set up your account and follow your favorite topics. It's very easy. If you have a blog that you would like included in the Alltop listings, go to http://alltop.com/submission/ to submit your link for review.

The Delta Digital Camera Club

On Saturday, July 21st I had the opportunity to attend my first camera club meeting. 
It was very fun and informative. The Delta Digital Camera Club was formed for photographers who live in our area which is the area in Northern California collectively known as "The Delta".  It's the easternmost part of Contra Costa County.  The problem with living in an out-of-the-way area is that all the meet ups and camera clubs are a 30 to 40 minute drive for us people that live in towns like Brentwood, Oakley and Discovery Bay. Now that I have one so close, it will be easier to belong to a club.


Mr. Wayne Francis of Brentwood formed the club using a website called "Meetup" (www.meetup.com).  Meetup is a site that caters to basically any group of people who have the desire to enjoy an activity with a group of like minded individuals. If you have a hobby or interest, check meetup for others who enjoy the same activities. If there's no meetup already in place, then start one!  

Many different types of people with a variety of skill level 

To open the meeting, we went around the table and introduced ourselves. Those of us attending the meeting were from many different walks of life. There was a retired marketing executive, a school web administrator, two  professional photographers, a financial professional and so on. The skill level went from beginner to experienced pro. In fact, one of the attendees only uses her iPhone as her main camera. We come from all walks of life. But we all have one thing in common, the love of photography. 

Many different ideas on where to take pictures

We also went around the table and gave our ideas about where to go and take pictures. Of course most of the suggestions I'm sure you can guess: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon...etc. 
What is really eye-opening are the places locals suggest to go and take picture and I've never heard of these places! 

• The Vasco Caves? (http://www.ebparks.org/parks/vasco) 
• The Western Railway Museum in Suisun? (http://www.wrm.org/) 
• The precision flight team that practices almost every weekend at the Byron airport? (http://www.patriotsjetteam.com/) 

Where have I been? Not in a camera club that can give such great ideas, that's for sure. 


So, maybe you don't need help with your photography. Maybe you have plenty of friends. Maybe you're thinking you don't need to join a camera club. I'm thinking it's a good idea to join one, because now I have eighteen new friends to meet with, share ideas and take pictures.






My blog is now part of the Alltop news and blog aggregation site. It's the best way to stay up to date on all your favorite topics. Just go to alltop.com, set up your account and follow your favorite topics. It's very easy. If you have a blog that you would like included in the Alltop listings, go to http://alltop.com/submission/ to submit your link for review.

Apple's Podcast App is Terrible

I'm done with the Apple Podcast app for iOS. It has been deleted from my iOS devices. 

Love at first site

When I first saw the Podcast application in the app store after the most recent Apple World Wide Developer Conference, I was pretty excited. I am a huge podcast fan. I listen to podcasts all the time. Some for learning photography, some for keeping up to date on the latest technology, some just for fun. So what could be better than an application made by Apple for the specific purpose of listening to my favorite shows? I thought I would I loved it. 

• The tiled interface looks really slick.
• The "tape to tape" interface is functional and fun. 
• The subscription and sorting options really help keep your listened to and not listened to shows in some kind of order. 

 I thought it was all so cool. So slick. So Apple. But it isn't. 

Where do broken hearts go?

After struggling for at least two weeks with the app I have now deleted the app. I couldn't stand it any longer.

• It's buggy, annoying and crashes all the time.
• The app hangs anytime you start it.
• Selecting a podcast and trying to download it makes me want to pull my hair out and I don't have a lot left to pull.

I am now happy using the old Music app to play my podcasts because it actually works.

Does the Podcast app work with iTunes?

The biggest part of my frustration is trying to figure out how the Podcast app integrates with iTunes. Since the new Podcast app has a choice to subscribe to the podcasts you listen to, do I still need to subscribe to my podcasts in iTunes? Do I still need to add and remove podcasts when I update my iPhone? I searched on the Apple website and could find no information on how the app integrates with iTunes. I went through all my podcasts in the iTunes app and unsubscribed to them since I was now subscribed in the Podcast app. But then all my podcasts showed up in the Podcast app with old shows listed that had already been heard.


I have no idea what's going on with the Podcast app, but I'm not using it any longer. And part of this is Apple's fault. Most everything that Apple does is great, from computers to the app store to iTunes. Their products work well and because they work well, it's a huge letdown when something they produce doesn't work properly. 


Until Apple releases an update to the app and it's working properly, I recommend staying away from the app for the time being. 


____________________________________________________


My blog is now part of the Alltop news and blog aggregation site. It's the best way to stay up to date on all your favorite topics.  Just go to alltop.com, set up your account and follow your favorite topics. It's very easy. 
If you have a blog that you would like included in the Alltop listings, go to http://alltop.com/submission/ to submit your link for review.

Change your perspective and break the "rules"!

I went out to the front of my house on the 4th of July intent on taking a picture of the American flag that I could post on Facebook and Twitter. 


I stood and took pictures of the flag flapping in the wind from one side 

and then moved to the other side.

 All the pictures were just "blah". I was looking for inspiration. 


Then I walked under the flag, looked up and noticed the sun. The sun was high in the sky. As all photographers know, taking pictures with the sun high up in the sky is not the optimal lighting. But what I did notice was the sun shining right through the blue field on the flag making an interesting pattern. I found my inspiration. 


So, I laid down on the hot cement and positioned myself under the flag.  Of course I didn't lay down in the perfect spot, so I had to slide around a little to get in the perfect position to nail the shot.  I waited for the wind to start blowing again and when the flag was flapping around in the air, and more importantly, in front of the sun, I took my shots. Yes, that's right, I shot directly into the sun.  


When the blue field of the flag was between me and the sun I was able to get some pretty good pictures. This is my best one and after a little cropping,  I posted to Facebook and Twitter to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July.

I've heard the rules of photography from many professional photographers. I've also heard the same pros say "Now that you know the rules, break them", which is what I ended up doing.  


Move around, change your perspective, look up and look down because you never know where you will find your inspiration. 


I appreciate any comments.
Contact: triolophoto@gmail.com
FB: www.facebook.com/triolophoto
Twitter: triolophoto

eyeCLICK Kickstarter Project

eyeCLICK for iPhone. 

Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later.  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/656400238/eyeclick-iphone-4-4s-camera-remote-0

eyeCLICK is a product from David Wu. Mr. Wu, when he's not designing new, cool gadgets for the iPhone, is also the CEO of Madcow International Group. This product is not available for purchase as of yet.  Mr. Wu is pulling together funding for the project through Kickstarter. For those of you not familiar with Kickstarter, it's a way for new and creative projects to receive funding for their project via the web. Go to www.kickstarter.com for more information on how Kickstarter works.
The eyeCLICK for the iPhone solves a few of problems that exist when using the front facing camera on the iPhone. The eyeCLICK is a unit that attaches to the iPhone to give it more functionality than currently available.


Problem 1: The front facing camera is only VGA quality, where the rear camera is 720p, which is HD quality.  
The eyeCLICK uses a special set of mirrors and lenses that redirects the rear camera to the front.  This will allow you to take HD quality images of yourself and have an HD image when using Facetime or any other video communication app. You can still line up the shot using the iPhone screen. 


Problem 2: When taking a picture with the front facing camera, you always have to hold it at arms length making it practically impossible to get more than one person in the shot. 
The eyeCLICK also makes it possible to actuate the camera shutter remotely so you don't have to hold the camera at arms length to take a picture. You will now be able to set the iPhone down and frame your picture in the iPhone screen.  This also allows you to have more than just one or two people in the photo because you can move your group toward or away from the phone and frame it properly before you remotely activate the shutter and take your shot. And, because you are activating the shutter remotely, you no longer have to use the timer to take a picture.


Problem 3: Taking a picture with the back facing camera always means you have to have a designated photographer who won't be in the picture. 
Now, because of the remote trigger for the iPhone, no one needs to be left out of the picture any longer.


Remember, this product is still in development stages and Mr. Wu needs funding of $20,000 USD to build the product.  As of the writing of this post he has received a total of $2,436. For more information on the product or to help Mr. Wu fund his product, go to  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/656400238/eyeclick-iphone-4-4s-camera-remote-0