If any of you know The Madill family you know HOW SPECIAL these photos are!! They have prayed for this little miracle! I am so honored to be able to photograph this moment for them. Love them big time!!!

Hello friends! Happy Wednesday!  It’s that time again!  Last week we had spring break so I took a break from posting so here we go!  This is a good one!  We have been talking about the Big Three! Those three little things that go into creating the PERFECT PICTURE or we could say PERFECT EXPOSURE.   So far we have covered, ISO and SHUTTER SPEED. If you missed those posts you can click HERE for the ISO episode and HERE for the SHUTTER SPEED.   Lots of good info there you will want to read!

Okay let’s get on with it!! The last of the 3 SETTINGS is APERATURE or F-STOP.

The aperture is the size of the opening in the lens, and is yet another way to control how much light enters the camera.  If the shutter functions like a blinking eyelid, the aperture is like the pupil of the eye.  It gets larger or smaller depending on how much light there is in a given situation.  Unlike our eyes, however, the aperture does not adjust automatically- that is up to us!  If you want more light in, choose a larger aperture.  If you want less light in choose a smaller aperture.  It’s pretty straight forward.  If it’s bright go smaller, if it’s dim go bigger!

Another word for aperture is F-stop.  For the largest aperture opening use the smallest F-stop number.  This is really confusing at times.  It would make more sense if the largest opening was the largest number but that would be to easy! 🙂  The largest aperture- where the most light comes in- has an f-stop of 1.0 (f/1).  The smallest aperture- where the least amount of light comes in- has an f-stop of 22 (f/22).  I told you it was confusing!

Changing your aperture also gives you another powerful tool in determining the outcome of your image.  Aperture controls your depth of field.  The depth of field is the amount of your image that is in focus.  Let’s say for example, you are taking a portrait of a child.  You want his face to be sharp and the background to be blurry.  This is called shallow depth of field.

Now let’s say you are photographing a beautiful landscape like the Grand Canyon and you want the entire image to be in focus.  This is called a deep depth of field.  Here is another example of where the numbers are reversed.   A large aperture (low f-stop number) a smaller area will be in focus.  A small aperture (high f-stop number) a larger area will be in focus.

There you have it! The confusing world of the F-stop! Now next week we are going to be going over how to put these three together to get that perfect exposure. And it will ALL MAKE SENSE!  It is going to be a fun post! I’m going to give you my exact recipe. 🙂  Thank’s for reading! I really am enjoying these weekly posts and hope that you are all learning something new!

Happy Friday!! As promised I wanted to share a quick little edit that you can do in Photoshop that you can use on your everyday photos.  I’m new to this video thing so let’s hope this works!!  If you have questions leave them in the comment section.  Enjoy!!

Happy Wednesday!!  It’s time for another episode of Workshop Wednesday where I bring my workshop to you in weekly lessons!  I am having so much fun with this!  This week I will also be posting a Photoshop tutorial on Friday so make sure you subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out.  I will be doing a quick and easy photo edit that you can use on any photo.  Perfect for your everyday photos!

Last week we covered the first of 3 SETTINGS that you need to know to give you that PERFECT PICTURE-  ISO!  If you missed last weeks lesson you can find it HERE.   The next but equally important is the SHUTTER SPEED!  Let’s talk about SHUTTER SPEED!

What is SHUTTER SPEED?   This is the speed at which the camera’s shutter opens and closes to take an image, just like the blinking of an eye.  The shutter allows light in to reach the sensor.  A slow shutter speed means the shutter is open for a longer amount of time, letting more light to hit the sensor.  A fast shutter speed means the shutter opens and closes quickly, allowing less light in.  Slow shutter speeds are especially helpful in low-light situations, like a candle lit dinner or outdoors at dusk.

The faster the shutter speed, the easier it is to freeze movements.  Slow shutter speeds can mean blurry pictures, especially if there is motion in the image.  If you are shooting a sporting event or an active toddler, you will generally want to use a fast shutter speed.

Okay so let’s give this a try!  I am hoping that you are all trying to shoot in Manual Mode. If you are not ready to switch all the way to manual, there are modes on your camera where you can start to get creative, a partial manual mode.   For shutter speed priority on most camera’s dial it says TV.

If your camera doesn’t appear to have a TV setting, check your camera’s user guide to find out what the shutter speed priority setting is called.  While you’ve got that user guide out, also look up which dial on your camera will change the shutter speed.

So simply turn that dial to TV, and change your shutter speed to a setting that will freeze the motion, and shoot.  Have some fun!!

If you’re still experiencing blur, increase the shutter speed. If you’ve captured the blur but your photo is dark, try reducing your shutter speed by one click, and try again.  If your photo is too bright, you have the freedom to increase your shutter speed even further.  Experiment until you get the right balance of good exposure of frozen motion.

So what do the numbers mean?

Shutter speed is represented as fractions of seconds that your shutter is open after your press the button.   1/6 equals one sixth of a second. 1/250 is 250th of one second. 1 is, quite simply, 1 full second.  A shutter speed of 1/250 is faster than a shutter speed of 1/6, and so on.

Here’s a few examples of where you should set your shutter for different situations.

Child running toward at their top speed                    1/1000

Child jumping (eg. cheerleading, track meets)          1/800

Child kicking a football                                                  1/500

Child hitting a  baseball                                                1/350

This will obviously vary depending on how fast the child is at these activities, but it’s a good starting point.   There you go!!! Now go freeze motion!  Please let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below!

Don’t forget if you would like a copy of my PERFECT PICTURE workbook to follow along you can purchase it below!  Happy Wednesday and don’t miss our PHOTOSHOP tutorial this FRIDAY!

The light this time of year is changing and I am so excited!  It’s changing from that dreary, cold, blue winter light to yummy warm spring and summer light! I’ve always been fascinated with how the temperature of the light changes with the temperature of the outside.  So cool!  This warm spring day the light was beautiful! We were in the right spot at the right time!

I LOVE a good classic black and white! The will never go out of style for me.  I’m here at my mother in-laws home and she has pictures in frames everywhere!  I am ALWAYS drawn to the black and whites.   So for my peek of The Haynes family I’m in the mood for black and white!  These guys were so much fun!  We had the most beautiful sunny day for their session.  Families with lots of littles are always my favorite!  So much energy to draw from.  We ran around Tacoma, explored all the fun places and of course came away with some darling images!

 

I love teaching and I love sharing my love of photography with others!  It’s been a long time coming but I have decided to do a weekly blog post with photography tips and tricks to help YOU get that “PERFECT PICTURE“!  I’m bringing my workshop to you! Exciting right?!  I think so!  For the first time ever I am also making my workbook available for purchase so you can work right along.  No longer do you have to attend the workshop to get it!  The workbook is full of information from lighting, to exposure, what makes your camera work, photoshop, you name it!  The workbook will be available in digital download as well as a hard copy if you are like me and like the feel of paper books.  Links to purchase will be at the end of this post.   Now let’s get going!

PHOTOGRAPHY is about light, and the camera is the tool we use to capture that light.  The amount and quality of the light that enters our camera determines what your photo will look like.   The light is what calls the shots.  We can learn to work with this light to get the look we are going for.   There are 3 SETTINGS on the camera that relate to light and if you master them you will get that PERFECT PICTURE!  They are-  ISO, SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE.   We are going to go through them one at a time.  This week we are talking all about ISO! Love me some ISO!

ISO

What is ISO you say?  Remember when you went to the store and bought film for your camera?  I know that was forever ago and some of you might never have done this!  But you would go to the store, pick up either 200 or 400 speed film.  That number is the ISO.  ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization.  But you don’t need to know that!  What you need to know is that ISO allows you to control how sensitive your camera is to light.   Or the sensor inside your camera.  It’s your digital film.

Just like the old days when we would grab a roll of film for the setting we would be in, it’s the same with digital photography.  You’re just selecting that film speed on your camera instead!   For example if you were outside on a bright sunny day you would pick a film speed with a low ISO like 100 for the bright light.   If you were shooting in a lower light situation you would’ve chosen a high ISO like 800 to maximize what light you had available.

Now with digital photography,  you can choose the ISO for each shot! Yay!! To do this correctly you need to analyze your light.  Here’s what you should remember…

*Low ISO, like 100 or 200, helps limit the light.  Use under bright conditions

*High ISO, like 800 or 1000, helps maximize the light.  Use it under low light situations.

This chart gives you a general idea of which ISO’s work best in different lighting scenarios.   Just like those fun charts that used to come on the back of the film packs!

Now for this weeks challenge…  get out there and practice with different ISO’s.  Take your camera outside, start with ISO 100, take a pic, what does it look like?  Do this with each number.  Take notes.  Which do you like best?  What works best with your lighting situation?  How is it changing the look of your photos?  Practice, practice, practice!  Next week we will cover the next setting that will help you get that PERFECT PICTURE,  SHUTTER SPEED!

IF you are still reading this post,  THANK YOU! I am so excited about this!  There is so much information to share!   It’s going to be so much fun!   A couple more things!  If you would like to purchase my workbook click here…

I’ve also put together a private FACEBOOK group for those who would like to join me there!  Extra info and fun will be had over there!  Click here to request to join!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/106813239713111/

Thank you again!!!! Happy picture taking!!

xo~ Angie 🙂

I LOVE when my clients want to try something out of the norm.  I am always up for an adventure! If you are local to the PNW you know that the weather this time of year is less than perfect.  We are lucky if we have a warm, dry day!  After a little brainstorming we decided that The Museum of Flight would be just the place for our session! I don’t know I think I have airplanes on the brain this year!  Such a fun location and I love how the pics turned out!

It’s FEBRUARY! The month of LOVE! Since I love you all so much, every February I have a $100 Mini Session special to share some of that love! You really are all so great!  So… $100 Mini session vouchers will be available this week only!  This is the ONLY time that mini’s will be available for $100 this year so stock up! The vouchers do not expire!  This would be the PERFECT GIFT  for Valentines Day too!  Grab a few while they are around!  Click on the link below to purchase.  Happy February!!!

Sometimes you need to do a project just for you! One that reminds you why you love this art form.  One that reminds you that it’s not just a business, that it spurs something inside of you that you have to get out on film.  This is my nephew Taylor.  He has to be one of the coolest human beings I know.  He came up for a visit this weekend.  I knew him plus an airplane would be just the project I needed.  And it was!!  I love these images!!  So much more like this up my sleeve!  Can’t wait to get going!!