Good exposure and how to recognise it

by Lilypad | Apr 17, 2016 | Photography Basics

Good exposure and how to recognise it

Part one of our series of posts on exposure

Imagine that you’d never ever eaten pizza, you didn’t really know what it looked like. You had a vague idea it might involve cheese, but you really don’t know if it had tomato or involved some sort of bread. Even if you were given all the raw ingredients, you’d be feeling pretty lost if you were tasked to make a great pizza. Would you even make something flat? Maybe you’d end up with a cheese and tomato cake, or an olive and basil pie. But a great pizza, the chances are slim. And if you did manage to produce a great pizza, would you know?

Trying to take a great photograph without understanding good exposure is much the same. Even if it takes you some time understand how to achieve it – knowing and recognising good exposure is easy peasy! And once you can see good exposure, you’ll well be on the way to working out how to improve your photographs.

A “good” exposure has the right amount of light on the subject.

Just like goldilocks, it’s not too light & not too dark. It’s just right.

Too Dark

Underexposed

Not enough light

Just right

Good exposure

Too light

Over exposure

Too much light

These three images show you in the simplest way what good exposure is. No need to get technical, learning about histograms or stops. Simply look at your photos with your critical eye and ask yourself if your subject well balanced in terms of light. Not too dark or too light, but just right.

Good exposure = balance.

So off you go, take a look at your photo’s and see how you’ve been going with your exposures. Now that you can see it, we can work on getting good exposure, and I promise – achieving good light balance in your photo’s is going to be so much easier than getting balance in your life :).

Check out the next instalment in our exposure series

Part two: the magic of balance and the exposure triangle

Behind the Scenes | The best photo of your baby is also the easiest!

by Lilypad | Apr 10, 2016 | Behind the scenes, Families, Kids & Portraits, Photography Basics

Behind the Scenes | The best photo of your baby is also the easiest!

It’s true, the best photo, pose, portrait of your baby is actually the easiest one to take and you can get stunning results with any camera if you follow a few simple rules. This work best for babies from about 8 weeks to 7 months, but like all things with babies give or take a year 😉 If you baby is happy on their back, your set.

Time of Day & Location notes

This shot is taken inside by a large window or glass doors using purely natural light, so any time of day where you have nice soft light coming in and no direct sun patches is perfect.

Setting the scene

The direction you lay your bub is key here, they need to be parallel with the window, so their head and feet are both the same distance from the window. You simply stand over your baby and chat, pull faces, smile, giggle and play peek-a-boo. NB: It’s easy to make a mistake, so be sure you use the camera strap around your neck.

The tech stuff

I my 50mm f/1.4 USM lens, the nifty fifty will work just as well. I set my aperture at f2.8 and the shutter at 1/500 then adjust the ISO to ensure correct exposure (in this case ISO640). Make sure you lean far enough over your bub so your not looking up their nose (that looks good on no one) and snap away. Magical portraits will follow. Guaranteed!

Fix your focus disasters in less than 5 seconds!

by Lilypad | Mar 29, 2016 | Featured, Photography Basics

Fix your focus disasters in less than 5 seconds!

You know when you take the perfect photo, the one when the stars align, your actually child looks AT the camera and smiles their magic natural smile and you clicked the shutter at just the right time. Then you take a closer look at your photo only to fall flatter than a pancake when you realise it’s completely out of focus. You got the shot, yet missed it at the same time!

It’s seems to be such an obvious thing, but it’s amazing how often focus is the downfall of a masterpiece. This one trick, will help fix your focus issues in less than 5 seconds. I promise.

With almost all cameras, be it your point and shoot or your DSLR, you need to tell the camera where you want it to focus. I’m not talking about manual focus (my eyes are rarely good enough for that) but manual focus point selection. Don’t let the camera decide (like with those fancy face detection features) where the image should be sharp. There’s a good chance your camera will decide the wall, trees, or even a portrait on the wall behind you is is what counts, and you’ll end up with your main subject blurred. If your using your phone, tap on the screen to tell the camera that’s exactly where you want the image sharp.

On your DSLR, set the camera so that you can choose the focus point manually (you’ll need to check your manual to find out how), with most camera’s you then choose one of those squares you see in the lens, place it over the subject and press the shutter half way so the camera can focus.

If your camera is focusing on the wrong place, your image won’t be sharp where it counts. In this shot, the wall is in focus, not the girl.

By simply taking charge and telling the camera where you want it to focus, you’ll never have a wall sharp over your subject again!

For bonus points when taking photo’s of people, remember, it’s all about the eyes when it comes to focus. If the eye is sharp, it almost doesn’t matter if nothing else is.

Even just a slight miss focus can wreak a portrait.

Sharp eyes help you connect.

Take charge of your focus points and you’ll be reward with sharp images, right where it counts.

National Photographic Portrait Prize

by Lilypad | Mar 21, 2016 | Families, Kids & Portraits, News

National Photographic Portrait Prize

I’ve just returned from an exciting weekend attending the opening of the National Photographic Portrait Prize in Canberra. Especially exciting for me because one of my portraits had been selected as a finalist!! When I was phoned with the news late last year I’m pleased to report there was a excited squeal and a wee happy dance jig or three. I given feedback from the judges as well that they really connected with the boys in the portrait, relating it to moments with either their boys or when they were a boy. While there are times I love to set up special portraits or images – this particular portrait was almost a total complete candid moment, it wasn’t set up, styled or posed – Jayden and Sawyer, the brothers in the image, regularly set up and race their cars down the ramp and down the driveway. Lining up the winners and losers to the side. A timeless glimpse in to their childhood.

It’s such a amazing honour to have one of my portraits hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, the exhibition will be on until June 28th an will then tour to selected locations in Australia for around 12 months. You can see all the finalists online here – and until June 28th vote for your favourite!

Behind the Scenes | Take a gorgeous Mum and baby photo

by Lilypad | Mar 16, 2016 | Behind the scenes, Families, Kids & Portraits, Photography Basics

Behind the Scenes | Take a gorgeous Mum and baby photo

Ok – I admit, I really am a sucker for Mum & Daughter images, my clients will attest to the fact that even when they only want to book in for the kids, I’ll always encourage them to be in at least one or two – and this has to be my favourite when their little ones are toddlers or babies. Today I want to share and deconstruct for you is an image of Mum & bub that simply oozes love!

Time of Day & Location notes

Taken in the last half hour before sunset – the sun was low in the sky, almost directly behind the subjects and slightly to the right. The sun was starting to dip below the tree line, giving that lovely soft back lit feel, with out harsh highlights.

Setting the scene

Setting the scene for this shot is super simple. I simply asked mum to play with her bub, lifting her up and down and touching noses. Giggles, squeals and smiles almost always follow. All thats required from me is to capture that love.

The tech stuff

I used EF130mm f/2L USM lens with a lens hood. The lens hood combined with the sun slightly off to the side prevented any direct sun from falling on the lens. Direct sun on the lens would have meant a final image with lots of sun flare and being very hazy rather than just lovely and soft. 1/500 at f3.2, ISO 640.

« Older Entries

Next Entries »