Technical Tuesday - White Sheet Backdrop

This is a very simple and cheap technique.  All you will need is a king size white sheet, some shop clamps and a place or a structure to hang it on.  A king size white sheet at Wal-Mart is $16, Harbor Freight carries  the spring loaded clamps I use, $5 for 22 clamps, and for the structure...just find something to clamp it to that doesn't block light from shining through the back.  You could use an awning, a porch, a swing set, etc...  I haven't used this technique in a while but it is a really effective look, especially with black and white work.

Once you have the sheet hung and there is nothing blocking the light from landing on the sheet you can focus on your exposure.  To get the exposure you want, first step back and look at your subject, then decide what part you want to expose for.  Then move in close and get your exposure only for the part of the subject that you want to expose correctly.  Shooting directly into a white background can be very tricky for your cameras light meter.  That's why its important to get in tight and expose only for the section of your subject that is most important.  Most likely this will be their skin.  But its your image, expose for what ever you want.

The image on the right was made using this technique.  With the sunlight not falling directly on the sheet it offers a nice soft look to the image.  And look at the beautiful highlights on his skin, very soft and it wraps right around his face.

This image was made in the same manner but the sunlight was falling directly on the sheet.  You can see how it offers a blown out look to the image.  It softens the edge of the skin, but is a much harder light.  I really like how it wraps around her cheeks in a much more high dynamic look.

Moving in tight gives your image a different look, but still retains the feel that it has shot wide.

Next time I'll discuss shooting on the other side of the sheet.

David and Sheree - Wedding Photography, Carpinteria, CA

I had the glorious opportunity to photograph David and Sheree Davis' wedding in beautiful Carpinteria, CA last year and I'm just getting around to posting about it.  Here is how the album laid out.

Point of View - My Back Yard, Seated

Scout asked me to go outside and play with her today, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I was reluctant.  I took my camera with me...just like always and had a thought.  Why don't I see how many photographs, different looks, I can capture without moving my position.  Here's what I got.

It was a neat little exercise in perspective and composition.  Give it a shot.

3 iPhone Apps Every Photographer Should Own

I've been shooting more and more with my iPhone.  First of all because its always with me, but secondly if you know how to use it, its not a bad camera.  Not only is it a decent camera but there are a lot of really cool outlets for printing your photos from your phone now and most of them, in one way or another, link directly up with my first choice for iPhone photo apps:

Instagram - Instagram is a free download for your phone and gives you your own channel to stream photos you take to.

You can add numerous amounts of different filters do your photos.  The filters in Instagram are actually good compared to a lot of the other apps out there.

So after you've taken and manipulated your photo you upload it to your channel.  Your channel has followers and they can comment on your photos.  But the really cool thing is all the available products you can have printed from your Instagram channel.  The coolest thing I've found is the Instagram book from Blurb.  They're just beautiful.  They'll take the photos straight off of your channel and put them in a book...its that simple.

The second app I like is the TiltShift Generator.  Bottom line is this one makes big things look little.  You can process your photos in TiltShift Generator, save them to your phone, upload to Instagram and then print them on Blurb.  Crazy simple to have millions of people see your work now.  I love it.

The final app I recommend and its totally for fun, but its really cool, is the ShakeItPhoto app.  It is exactly like a Polaroid.  To the point where you actually have to shake your phone to process the photo.

I love that it leaves the shape of the Polaroid in the image.

There are a million great photo apps out there, but these are the ones I love.  The ones I have the most fun with.  You may have your own favorites and I'd love to hear about them.  Try these out and let me know what you think.

Vintage Me, Vintage You - Las Vegas Aerial Photography

I've previously talked about my brief stint as an aerial photographer in Las Vegas and that I had some additional images to show.  Well tonight is that night.  Here is my very direct approach to aerial photographs of Las Vegas.  You probably wouldn't recognize that this was the desert surrounding LV unless I told you...so I did.  I have a pretty direct approach to everything I shoot, but this is even more direct than normal and I love it.

You may be asking what I mean when I say "direct", by that I mean that I don't use strange angles and I don't ever ever ever tilt the horizon in a frame to try and make the photograph interesting.  I shoot almost in a grid, very square, and I let the subject matter stand on its own.  It actually bothers me to see tilted horizons in photographs or even really low perspective shots unless they have a good reason for being so.

Enough of my soap box, here are the images.

On take off (or landing) in the helicopter.  I particularly like how the left side of the frame looks like it is in motion but the right side looks still.

Washed out and abandoned road.

Fences and culverts.

The next two frames were actually the exact same location on separate trips up.  I photographed them without realizing I had shot it before.  Similar but very different frames.

Tire patterns in the desert floor.

Trench, fence and aerial survey location.

I have been wanting to go back up and shoot some more, but the cost to do so without actually doing business in the air is very high.  Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to again.  So these will have to do for now, they keep the memories and the feeling fresh.  Thanks for reading, God bless.