The *Official Photography Thread*

Spent some time in the foothills mule deer hunting and glassing with my cousin and his buddy.

DSC02018 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC02020 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

DSC02010 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

 

fooling around tonight with my EF 85mm f/1.8 ...

10 seconds, wide open (f/1.8) at ISO 1600, minimal contrast diddling and filtering

 

super fun little waves this weekend! finally brought my camera and took a break after my arms were done. took pictures for about 45 minutes and then paddled right back out

 

a few more:

 

Looks like a great day to be at the beach

 

i was dropping a car off at a shop cross town, and saw the smoke from a brand new fire that just broke out. this is just a tablet photo,



the Loma fire, burning around Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was about 500 acres by 6:30pm. Picture taken from like 12 miles away crowsflight, in Live Oak area just east of Santa Cruz.

 

Anyone shoot portraits while raining?

My sister asked if I could shoot her sister in law and her family, which consists of 3 people (wife, husband, daughter). I've never done family portraits before, let alone any sessions. I told her that if she's expecting professional results to seek the pros as I only do this for fun.

She just want some family photos as her in law is expecting another child. It's supposed to rain for the next handful of days - is doing a family portrait in the rain a good idea? I've seen some pics online of families with umbrellas as props.

 

shooting good people pix in the rain is pretty darn challenging, keeping them from looking like soaking wet sad dogs. rain == very grey light, too.

 

Gotcha, thanks! Yeah, usually when it's raining I put the camera away so my gear don't get wet. I told my sister if they had umbrellas maybe it'll be okay but would rather have it when it's not raining.

Thanks again for the quick response.

 

It's digital. Go for it. If they don't turn out perfect you can try it again. Nothing to lose but you could end up learning a lot. Some of my best pictures have come from crappy looking days and in the rain. On the plus side the light should be more even. Try shooting around trees or walking paths where you can keep the sky out of the background. Also get a protective cover for your camera so you can also relax on your end.

 

You won't have the pop or punch sunlight gives you and if it's raining. flash can bounce looking pretty ugly. That said, indoors or maybe on a porch or covered area (even in the canopy of trees) works. Brightly colored clothes help. Umbrellas work too. If it's more of a bright rainy day, be careful as light coming thru an umbrella will have a color cast that will be hard to correct.

As for the camera, use a plastic bag or if it's a light rain, a towel to keep it dry. You can often find cheap one or two use camera covers at a camera store-I actually keep a couple in my bag just in case-those hotel shower caps work too.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the feedback so far it's overcast and the rain has stopped. Expected to get poured on so we're waiting for now.

 

I shot a couple photos the other day in the rain for some friends of mine. Literally the first "people" photos I've ever taken. I love that kind of weather for car photos, but I definitely had to spend some time editing to bring back a warmer/lighter feeling.

DSC02231-2 by Joshua Shipps, on Flickr

 

Here's a few from yesterday. Never done this before. Went to a park and shot at a walking path with lots of trees to avoid the small sprinkles of rain. Tried direct flash - didn't like how they turned out. Tried bouncing it off a big white card that attaches to the flash - didn't like it. I ended up bumping the ISO for the most part, shot wide open most of times, and slowing the shutter speed way down since there wasn't much movements on their part. I am no good at composing, something that I already knew and 99.9% of my photos are snapshots capturing the moments of my family (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc.)

CC is welcome in case I have to do it again in the future.

IMG_3165 by ywsaechao, on Flickr

IMG_3170 by ywsaechao, on Flickr

IMG_3180 by ywsaechao, on Flickr

 

Here's a few I've snagged recently. Let me know what you think.
Untitled by Lucas Dodson, on Flickr
Untitled by Lucas Dodson, on Flickr
Untitled by Lucas Dodson, on Flickr

 

I think you did really good for what you had to work with. With the weather like that it can be hard to get decent stuff sometimes. Posing takes a good long while to learn. Not bad at all for your first time.

 

i think im hungry again.... THANKS....

 

Anyone know where I can have a custom watermark made? I want to use a image as my watermark. I lack the artistic talent and photoshop skills to do it.

 

a watermark pretty much has to be line art. you'd need to flatten that image to black-and-white, then turn that into light grey and transparent. it also needs to be pretty simple or it will get lost in the images you superimpose it on.

 

Thank you Murph! I appreciate your kind words.