A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do another senior photo session for graduation.
My equipment bag consisted of a 60d canon lens, a 50mm lens, a 5-in-1 diffuser, and a step ladder. My parents came to help out on the photo shoot as well.
I was really satisfied with how the images came out.
Here are some of Ruby’s senior photos:
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do another senior photo session. The area of choice was downtown Belton.
All of the equipment that we used, although we didn’t use all of it, included:
-Canon d60
-50mm prime lens
-5-in-one reflector
-430 EX extended flash
Here are some of Alyssia’s senior portraits:
I was COMPLETELY taken by surprise when one of the photographers in my class asked me to do her senior portraits for her a few weeks ago. I had never done senior portraits before, so I was a little nervous at first. However, the more we talked about potential locations, considered dates, and bounced around a few ideas, the nervousness disappeared and the excitement came.
The equipment that we took, although we didn’t use all, included:
-Canon d60
-70-200 mm lens
-50 mm lens
-5-in-1 reflector
-Several extended flashes
-Light stand
-Photography umbrella
Here are most (but not all) of Megan’s senior pictures:
If you have any favorites, please comment and let me know. Some constructive criticism would also be appreciated.
I had been meaning to take some portraits of my parents for the longest while, so when the opportunity came up to do so for one of my photography assignments, I quickly took advantage of it.
The main light sources I used included two studio strobes that we equipped with umbrellas as well as an additional strobe that had a softbox aimed up at my parent’s faces. I used the Canon 60d with an 18-200mm kit lens and a 70-200mm telephoto lens.
Here are a few of my mom’s portraits:
Just before this photoshoot, I learned a new editing technique called “bleach bypass” that I wanted to try and incorporate into the editing. For the majority of the photos, I used the bleach bypass effect and then added on some extras (black and whites, contrasts, etc.) I really had fun with this, especially since it was my first time doing a studio portrait session.
A few months back we did a Writing with Light assignment with flashlights. To get more experience working with low-light photography, our teacher gave us the assignment again.
The difference?
This time we had to use sparklers.
For the most part, my camera settings were:
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 125
Shutter Speed: Bulb setting
These first few shots are some of the more simpler ones that we did:
Then, we started getting a little bit more creative with the sparklers by trying to do some hoops, circles, etc.
We also attempted to make a kite.
These next few shots were my favorite of the night. To get some of these, I used longer exposures and zoomed in and out by rotating the lens, just to make things a little more interesting. I also made one of the pictures into a black and white as well as added a “frosty” effect to another.
This picture I softened up a bit. It reminds me a little of the solar flares that are generated by the sun.
We had fun with this assignment. Since I have had some experience doing writing with lights before, choosing settings and setting up weren’t difficult. The biggest obstacle was trying to move fast. Since the sparklers lasted such a short period of time, we only had what seemed about 30 seconds to 1 minute to get each design done. Despite this, I feel that we had just as much fun with the sparklers as the flashlights. The fact that they burned out so quickly created an interesting challenge. The sparklers also created a good natural effect since the light was spontaneous and flying everywhere. One of these days I’d like to do this again, just to experiment some more and try new techniques.
A few weeks ago, we had an assignment in photography to do an “A Day in the Life of…” (where we would basically have to follow someone around and show what it’s like to be them for a day). The subject?…A school principal.
On the day I was supposed to photograph my principal, I made sure I was early to the Career Center so that I could get the right camera and lens that I would need. I decided to go with a 50mm prime lens. Equipped and ready, I made the LONG journey to Patterson Middle School (actually it was only about a 5 minute walk from my photography class).
When I got to the school, I had to sign in and have my picture taken (to go on their records). After talking with the Principal’s Secretary, I found myself in the Principal’s office.
Meet the Principal:
This wasn’t the first time I had met Mrs. Balzer, but it was my first in-depth look at what a middle school principal does, so I was excited to see how the rest of the day would go.
Part of the assignment called for an environmental portrait of our principal. So, while she was working, I just simply asked Mrs. Balzer to look up at me for just a second. She smiled for the picture really well, and I was really satisfied with how it came out. The fact that there was a lot of natural light coming in from the window was a plus.
Not too long after being in her office, a parent came in that needed to speak with Mrs. Balzer. I could tell that it was serious, so I decided to take advantage of the time away to roam around the front office and take a couple photos. I actually took more than just these few, but I decided not to post them.
After the parent left, I headed back to the office. There was a teacher that came in to talk with Mrs. Balzer. I thought these next few photos were funny since it looks like the teacher was “in trouble.” In reality, they were just talking with each other about an idea that Mrs. Balzer had.
Here’s the same teacher and one of Mrs. Balzer’s assistant principals.
After the teacher left, Mrs. Balzer talked for a while with her AP.
After a while, the bell rang. Honestly, at first it didn’t register why they were getting up. But, as the photographer, I followed them anyway, camera in hand. It wasn’t until we had actually gotten into the hallway that I realized they were going to monitor the halls and greet the students as they walked to their next class – just a few of the daily duties of a good principal.
Here is Mrs. Balzer talking to another one of her assistant principals.
After the tardy bell rang, it was back to the office.
I wanted to take more photos, but at more creative perspectives and angles. So I tried moving around the room more, using the reflections in the glass table and picture frames that were on the walls, and going out of the room itself to try and be more creative. There were many times were I would take a picture, sit on one of the chairs, and just look around the room for a while and see where I could place myself for another shot. There was no rush, so I took my time.
There were other things around the room that caught my eye as well, so when I wasn’t photographing Mrs. Balzer, I was focused on those.
Then it was time for lunch.
One of the teachers really wanted her picture taken, so she posed with Mrs. Balzer.
There was also a student that Mrs. Balzer talked with for a moment in the hallway.
On one of the last stops of the day, we went to the assistant principal’s office.
Spending half of the day with Mrs. Balzer was really fun. It was also good practice for me as well. Since I used such a fast lens and didn’t find myself having to shoot in any dim light, lighting was not a problem for me. The post processing/editing part of this assignment did not take much time at all. If I had to do it all again, I would really consider using a telescopic lens (not for the entire day though). Several times I found myself having to get somewhat close to get tightly cropped photos since the prime lens’ zoom is fixed. Even though this forced me to have to move and be a little more creative, I’m still curious to see what some of the results would have been with a lens that would have allowed me to back away from the scene a little more and make me a bit more “invisible.” Other than that, I had a blast.
Taking pictures of the youth fair and the rodeo were both fun, but I still wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get some photos of some of “the other stuff.”
Here are some of the photos of the bulls and horses that I was able to capture from wandering around…
Just outside of the judging area were two young boys who were walking along, minding their own business. I noticed that it would make a good silhouette, so I decided to capture the scene.
To get to the area where the horses were, we had to make our way around a lot of mud. It took some effort to get there, but I think the pictures were worth it.
When we were just about done taking pictures for the day, me and one of the other photographers decided to just take a break and sit down for a while. Here is when I noticed an interesting reflection on the ground, due to the rain that had taken place a little earlier.
Our entire photography class had a really good time at the Expo Center. We were able to capture many images, attend a rodeo, and all the while still have a lot of fun throughout the whole day. I can’t wait for the next trip.
I had never been to a rodeo before, so when the other photographers told me to come with them, I was a little excited. Since I had already finished taking pictures of the judging competition, I saw no reason why not. What made it convenient is that it was in the next building over and, most important, that it was free.
We walked into the auditorium filled literally with thousands of screaming kids, apparently here on a massive field trip. Due to the low lighting, I had to make sure that I had a large aperture and, in order to have quality images, kept my ISO as low as possible. These first two are when the cowboys were getting ready to compete.
The first event was calf roping. This was pretty interesting to watch. The ropers, in groups of two, would try and work together to tie both ends of the calf in as little time as possible. The winner, of course, was the pair that could do this the fastest.
I had to have a fast enough shutter speed in order to be able to catch these next few shots.
Then, the only female in the entire competition rode onto the dirt with her horse.
She was able to rope down one side of the calf, unlike her partner who unfortunately couldn’t.
After that was over, all of the competitors left the arena.
There was also a clown that came and had the vast majority of the people in the auditorium laughing. I found myself not shooting as many pictures as I should have been because I wanted to see what he was doing too.
During this time, there were also two cowboys out on the field. The bull, who’s name was Sniper, was pretty entertaining too.
Then, it was time for Cowboy Kenny. He performed a lot of cool tricks on his dirt bike. Trying to capture him going full speed up the ramp and in the air was a little bit of a challenge, but it was also good practice for me as a photographer with such a fast-moving subject.
I was really glad I was able to go to the rodeo. Not only did I get photos I was proud of, but the practice and extra experience will help further my goal of becoming a professional photographer some day.
The pictures of the non-competition animals (as well as other photos I took at the Expo Center) will be published in the next post.
Last week, there was a Youth Fair that was being held at the Bell County Expo Center. Many were able to bring in their animals and compete for prizes; the animals ranged anywhere from horses and bulls to goats and pigs. There were also food, photography, and a variety of other competitions to take part in, not to mention the fact that there was also a rodeo going on. There was also a great variety of non-competition animals to take photos of too. The pictures of the rodeo and the other animals will be published in a later post.
When I first arrived I wasn’t completely sure where everything was or how things were supposed to run, so I texted some of the other photographers from my class. They helped point me in the right direction. Since the competition I was shooting was of goats, I took a couple shots to make sure I had the right settings.
Each of us were assigned a person from the Career Center FFA group to take pictures of while they were competing. My partner was Savannah. Since we were waiting for her group to be called up for judging, I decided to take advantage of the idle time and take some candid shots.
Then, it was time. I probably wasn’t as nervous as Savannah was, but I do know that I was moving around fast so as not to miss anything. Since I had been paying attention to how the previous judgings went, I knew where to stand and what things to anticipate next.
Here she is checking out the competition. You can just imagine her going “Hmph.”
As the judge inspects, Savannah patiently waits.
He slowly makes his way around the room, Savannah’s eyes following.
Unfortunately, she didn’t make the cut. The judge gave the signal for her and some others to leave since they didn’t make the the top five or so. You can imagine how she felt. I was also disappointed, but, as a photographer, I still had to try and capture the event.
Even though she didn’t place, the experience was still good.
Taking pictures of the Youth Fair was really interesting and something I’ve never done before. Since I had taken the Canon 70-200mm lens, I was able to capture clear shots without having to worry about grainy, noisy pictures. The next post will have more photos that I took at the Bell County Expo Center.
