To all ye who want to paint with light ...

I should have started this blog many moons ago as I started experiencing the joys of rediscovering the art of photography. But as the saying goes - it's better late, than never!
So, here I am, in the hopes of recording what I learn as I progress from ignorance to enlightenment; about what my eyes can see that my camera can capture; and, what my mind imagines and my camera paints with its capabilities.

Please feel free to add any comments and share your wisdom (tips or tricks) that you have picked up along the way.

And do check out my How-To and Birding pages as well.


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Day 271 - Portrait Session - 2nd Day

These images are from Sunday. I took most of the images with ambient light coming in through my balcony door from the left of the camera with a flash side-bounced for additional light from the right - it was pretty gloomy and snowy by the time we were ready to shoot.

I used my 18 - 55 mm lens as I would have to get the family together, therefore a wider angle and the flexibility to get in tight was also required due to a lack of proper space in my make-shift studio.


I really liked the relaxed expressions on the faces when they all thought I was testing the light! ;-)  It's sometimes nice to just shoot in between posing the subjects, trying to catch them off-guard.

The littlest one had already scampered off, not wanting to be part of the photo session any longer.  He was much more at home watching my son play on his computer, than he was with us, posing for pictures.

I really love this shot! Dunno why, but I think it's mostly to do with how tight I was able to get them in, creating a feel of immense bonding.

4 comments:

  1. catching people off guard captures a very 'real' essence of the characters portrayed. the one which you clicked while all the posers were relaxed is the best till now of your portrait series. the natural look can be captured if one is a great actor or super friendly with camera or when you just take a shot without them knowing it :)

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  2. toni!!! how are you? it took me forever to respond and blog hop. A lot of things are going on in my end...but we're all recovering...anyways, great portrait photos!!! i love the black and white the most although the colored ones are as beautiful as well.

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  3. Nice job! The composition in all of them is great. And these work a lot better than the ones taken with flash, as the light source is much larger and softer. The look is very clean and natural.

    Only suggestion: The background is a bit uneven. In some shots, it would work as a solid white or light grey, while in the wider shots, an even gradient from white to light grey might work. But to correct this would require some Photoshop work.

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  4. @Susmita: Thanks! I completely agree with you! I try to get a mix of both posed and candid shots - works really well.

    @Noreen: Glad to hear you're coping with all the different things. Thanks for the compliments on the photos! :)

    @Jim: Thanks again for the great feedback and tips. It's always great to hear what you have to say. I do have to learn a bit of PS since I have to work in my tiny apartment without a backdrop. I meant to hang up a white shower curtain, but it was so crumpled, it wouldn't really work well. And these shots have a flash as well - it was placed to the right of camera, and used with a side-bounce. But I agree, ambient natural light works way better to a point I had been totally intimidated by flash photography.

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