These images are all from a recent trip to the Huntington Gardens. I always go with the intention of photographing the flowers (which I do), but then I end up completely absorbed by the structures themselves. There are so many pretty patterns and shapes.
This week has been a bit bumpy, but we’re almost done with it. Thank goodness. I’m going to try to slip out for a bit and see if I can soak up some inspiration outdoors.
One more day until the weekend – we can do it people!
Filed under Photography.
After yesterday’s tour of the Pavilion of Wings, I thought we would head inside LA County’s Natural History Museum for a bit. Trips like this remind me that inspiration can come from anywhere. I was really caught off guard by the Gems and Minerals Hall. Rocks that look like futuristic buildings. Minerals that look soft and fuzzy. There was even a gem vault where I picked out some dream jewelry.
There is something sweetly nostalgic about visiting the more classic exhibits. The dinosaur fossils. The dioramas. It reminded me of school field trips except better. No one is there telling you to stay with the group, and you can skip over the exhibits that you think are boring. ;-)
The newest (and most hyped) exhibit at the museum was the Age of Mammals. It was an interesting (and bizarre?) mix of animal skeletons and stuffed creatures in a bright, airy new space.
I love this guy’s smile.
Any other museum fans out there? Do you have a favorite museum or exhibit?
Tomorrow I’ll be back with some crafting. See you then!
Filed under Inspiration, Photography, Travels Near & Far.
Hi there! I’m back with Lenses: Part 2 (check out Part 1 here) as part of April: Picture This. We’re wrapping up today, and just about finished with all this photography talk.
Today, we’re looking at zoom lenses. I was a little surprised to learn that we own two different zoom lenses. I didn’t even know this, but it’s because one of them never gets used. I’ll explain more in a bit.
First Up: Zoom Lens
Last One: The Super Zoom
Well, that wraps up our look at lenses. If you’re thinking about branching out from your stock lens, I think a nice prime (50mm) is a good, relatively inexpensive place to start. And depending on your weekend habits, a zoom lens can be a fun way to explore new territory.
If you have any camera or lens advice you’d like to share, please feel free to chime in!
Filed under Photography.
Whew! Anyone else trying to battle your way through a Friday afternoon? I am really feeling it this week. I thought pulling out the Christmas lights and setting up for this post was going to send me over the edge, but I made it. And I’m glad, because I think this is a cool photo trick and one you should have up your sleeve. (I’m convinced everyone should take a picture of their Christmas tree this way each year — but it’s also fun with city lights, candles, or just because.)
For a long time, I would see those pictures with the little heart-shaped lights and think that there was some fancy equipment (or a strand of actual heart-shaped lights) involved. However, all you need is a camera and some construction paper. This trend has become so popular that there are a ton of tutorials out there on how to do this. However, I’d never actually done it until this morning — and I figure there are at least some other people out there like me. So if you’re one of those people, here’s the scoop.
Remember when we talked about bokeh? (Just a refresher: for bokeh shots, switch to aperture mode with the lowest possible aperture setting, lens fully zoomed in.)
Well, we’re going to do that but we’re going to make a little cover for our lens with a small shape cut out of it. You don’t have to make this fancy — in fact, I think you can do this just holding up a piece of paper to your lens (as long as no light is getting through). However, I saw this nice tutorial and thought I should make my construction paper cover look nice too.
The green part is just construction paper and entirely too much scotch tape fitted around the lens. (Don’t tell my husband about the tape.) I cut a small heart and snowflake out of black paper and attached it to the green lens cover. (If you have fancy hole punches, now’s the time to break them out. You can do this with any shape– not just hearts.)
The picture set up is simple. There is a strand of Christmas lights on the desk, and I set up some objects in front about a foot away. The camera needs to focus on something in the foreground so that the lights become blurry bokeh circles. Your picture won’t turn out if you are focusing on the lights themselves.
Can you do this with a point-and-shoot? I’ve read that it is possible. However, the shape that you cut out has to be teeny-tiny and I think you really have to practice how far away everything should be. I tried several times without any luck — so I think you have to be patient.
I’m consulting with my tech help (husband) this weekend – so I’ll be back next week with a few more photography posts including those lens recommendations I promised. Then we’ll be back to our usual faire.
Hope you have a great weekend! And if you try this technique, let me know. I’d love to see your photos.
Filed under Photography, Tutorials & Downloads.
Hi there! I’m back with more photography love as part of April: Picture This. It seems that blogging 4 days a week is the best I can do right now. When I try to get that 5th day, the rest of the world falls apart. (Or someone has to bring in dinner.)
Today, I thought I would talk about editing your photos on the computer. While I don’t spend a ton of time on this (and I’m by no means an expert), I do give all my pictures a little polish pass before posting them here. I know a lot of people use Photoshop (or the budget-friendlier version Photoshop Elements) adjusting contrast and curves or maybe even adding a little bit of blur (like we did for the fake miniatures).
However, the program that I prefer is Photoshop Lightroom. It’s priced somewhere between Photoshop and Elements, but it’s built specifically for photo editing and much more intuitive. I think using regular Photoshop is great if you are going to use the program for other tasks (or if you’re a pro and like that level of control), but Lightroom offers you tons of pre-sets and easy sliders to adjust contrast, exposure, white balance, tint, highlight recovery, vibrance and more. If you feel like your colors could be brighter and more saturated, then Lightroom’s “General Punch” setting could be your new best friend.
Here’s a little before and after that I put together in Lightroom. I selected this photograph I took of some of Princess Diana’s dresses at Kensington Palace. The light in the palace was very dim and made most of my photos turned out muddy and a little yellow. Blah.
Before Picture:
In Lightroom, I added the “General-Punch” filter and then brought the white balance to “As Shot.” I tried “Auto Tone” and then made adjustments to clarity, contrast, brightness, and vibrance until I was happy with the result. Because I knew I was using this photo for the web, I pushed the photo’s brightness quite a bit. It did get a little bit grainy at full resolution, but once I sized it down for the blog, it looks fairly clear and crisp.
After Photo:
I like my photos on the cool side, but that’s personal preference. I think this is where your photo style really comes into play. Your camera + the lighting conditions you photograph in + how you make little adjustments to crop and color = your recipe for developing your own “look” to your photos.
How do you edit your photos? Any actions fans out there? It seems to me that using actions in Photoshop would be a lot like using presets in Lightroom. (And if you’re curious, it does look like you can use your actions in Lightroom, too.)
Filed under Photography.
