Mother’s day, next year

Just as Mother’s Day was arriving, I had the privilege to do two maternity shoots with expectant mothers.  This was the first time I did something like this, and it seemed to be a success.

It also made me understand that I am, I guess, a “natural photographer”  The parallel can be drawn from athletics, a “natural athlete” is someone who excels at almost any sport they do.

Even though none of the photographs was cutting edge or different (we all did our homework and the clients choose most of the ideas), I got into what athletes call “the zone”.

I feel that no matter what it is (except maybe for event photography I am taking pictures of, I love doing it, and try my best to do everything possible.

A natural photographer.

Or just someone who loves to take pictures.

Here are some from the shoot, as well as how I processed them, and then some fun behind the scenes. Thanks to Chelin of Chelin Miller Photography and Priscilla for the help!

This one was the hardest, I had to increase the space around her, clean up some of the background, then mess around with the exposure after.  The rest were just some minor touch up to skin and then some filters in Perfect Photo Suite 7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the fun ones

 

 

 

Mr Liu, Cricket Fighter

I think I finally found my long term personal project that every photographer “needs” in his portfolio.  Nothing life changing, but something I am fascinated by and interested in, and want to do it for myself.

This was an assignment from The Beijinger for their games issue, it was really fun to shoot him, a real “Old Beijinger” sweet, fun, energetic.  He just finished lunch with a group of tourists, some of the “authentic Beijing experience” that tour operators offer.

I knew something like this-cricket fighting-existed, but never knew the extent of time and materials involved.  You can see from some of the shots, there are highly specialized tools for different techniques, and ever “Cricket Coffins” for when they pass.

For those that want to know, all of these were done with my Canon 5DMkIII with just two lenses, the 50mm f1.4 and the 24mm 1.4, the later which was on loan from a friend to test out.  I think I’m sold due to the ability to blur out the background while still getting enough in for a nice environmental portrait (see the first pic).  My Tamron 24-70 f2.8 can do it as well, just not as nice.

To quote Mr. Liu from the article “A good cricket trainer knows a badass cricket when he looks into his eyes.”

Enjoy!

A new class: Photography 101

This is for a workshop at The Hutong, but no description is available yet.

 

Tired of missing shots because you don’t know what your camera is doing?  Always wondering how to get those awesome shots you see everywhere?  Want feedback on your pictures, and how to make them better?  Then Photography 101 is for you.

With this course, you will learn how to control your camera effectively, know the basics of composition and image processing, analyze photographs from the masters, and get feedback on your work.

In addition to the classroom, student will have weekly assignments on various topics that will reinforce the concepts learned.  Students should spend around two hours every week (or more) shooting assignments.

The course will run every Wednesday night from 7-9:30 for eight weeks (20 hours total), starting April 24^th.  The course cost will be 1800rmb for non-members, and 1700rmb for members, paid on the first day, with a course DVD with all materials and extra information being handed out at the end.

The course will be limited to 6 participants, so there will be ample time during the critique section to cover everyone.  If there is enough interest, a class running on Mondays during the parallel dates will be opened.

All that is needed for the class is a camera with manual exposure and focus controls.  Interchangeable lenses is a bonus but not necessary.  If you are unsure, please contact the instructor at 1world1eye (at) gmail.com

The course is broken down into 4 categories:

-Technical (6 hours) you will learn about your camera how it works.  Topics include:

• The photographic trinity: ISO, shutter speed and aperture
• The histogram and how it works
• Exposure Modes: From Auto to Manual
• Autofocus options
• Lens choices

-Composition (6 hours) you will learn some basic composition techniques and how to apply them.  Topics include:

• Light-Available/Natural, Golden, Artificial
• Foreground and Background
• Rule of Thirds
• Leading Lines
• Color

-Analysis (2 hours) You will take a look at the works of the instructor and master’s to see how they took the pictures, and what’s makes them strong images.

-Critique (6 hours) You will be going out and apply the techniques and topics covered in class and get feedback on them.

Each week will have a theme and overview that will integrate the above topics accordingly.  It is subject to change depending on the participant’s wishes.

Week 1-

Camera Basics and composition

Assignment-“Motion and Depth” 

Week 2-

Camera Basics and composition part II

Assignment- “Lines and shape”

Week 3-

Camera Basics and composition part III

Assignment- “light and shadow”

Week 4-

Basics of workflow and post processing

Assignment- “A bird’s/bug’s eye view”

Week 5-

Critique session I

Photographic Genre  1 (TBD)

Assignment- “Around my block”

Week 6-

Critique session II

Photographic Genre 2 (TBD)

Assignment- “Color”

Week 7-

Photographic Genre 3 (TBD)

Assignment-“Uncomfortableness”

Week 8-

Final Critique and Q&A

 

Course dates are as follows:

4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12

Please leave 6/19 open for an extra class, since one class (5/1) falls on a holiday, there might have to be a change depending on participant’s availability.

This course is designed for people just starting out with photography, but with the weekly assignments and feedback, it can be tailored to a more advanced amateur.  It would be also a good refresher course for those that have taken the weekend workshops, since there is more time for shooting and learning in-depth over the course of two months.

 

A ghost city, with a new look.

I recently visited Ordos, a brand new “ghost city” with almost no inhabitants.  There have been plenty of stories already done regarding the city, but I thought I would try a new take on it.   This was also a test of the in camera panoramic feature of my Fuji X-pro 1.  I wanted to see how it worked, and how well it stitched the images together.

I tried to find places in the city which would be normally populated, the main library and museum, two beautiful pieces of architecture.  Some main roads, a huge park by the river, and some other places of interest.  I was hoping the images would add to the feeling of these grand spaces being (almost) completely desolate of people.  There were a few, but for a Friday afternoon, it seemed rather dead.

The feature worked pretty well, only problems I found was with organice structures, it had problems lining them up, which could have also been me trying to sweep exactly on the medium line.  There were also some problems with the skies being segregated, which I think was the camera choosing an image too far in advance to make a smooth transition.

All in all I really had a lot of fun with it, and the almost 180 degree sweep makes for looking at things a whole new way.

You can see the full rez images here on my Flickr, I did no editing or touch up, these are SOOC (straight out of the camera).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset over Istanbul

Yeah, its just one of those cities, and one of those shots.  I miss it…

Weekly photo links

A great piece on how to edit a lot of images from David Duchemin here.

Some funny saying for photographers to put on T-shirts here.

A great times article about legendary photographer Bill Brandt here.

How to choose the best portrait lens for you from Adorama here.