Team Portraits

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

I enjoy photographing many different subjects but sports is one of my favorites. Action photos present a great challenge to capture the exact moment of a play, hopefully with the ball in the frame and perhaps some dust flying.

Player and team portraits help the memories of a special season stay alive and are important for every team and player. Moms especially like to have these keepsakes each season. 8″ x 10″ prints, memory mates incorporating an individual portrait and a team photo together, magnets, and trading cards are available for players and their families.

Capturing the initial photograph is a very important and often overlooked part of the process. A good start requires a quality photograph from the get go. Proper exposure, precise focus, appropriate white balance, and composition are all components of a good starting point.

I then like to use Photoshop to create a frame around which the photograph is placed. Some creative text can also spruce up an otherwise static photo. Take a look at this example and let me know what you think. Is this a good way to remember a special season?

LVBA Team 15u 2009 Team Web

Gallery

By | |
Leave a comment

Have you seen a photo gallery lately?

Years ago this meant you had to go somewhere physically to see a gallery of prints. This option is still available to be sure, but additional options are now available. Online galleries are not nearly the same, but they do provide another way to view photos. I still prefer actual prints and will be entering 12 of my photos into a gallery NEPA Community Federal Credit Union in August.

I do put some of my photos online, mostly so others can see them and then picks ones they would like to have printed. But online galleries do have their place. Far too many people stick hundreds and even thousands of photographs onto their computer’s hard drives never to be seen again. This is not good.

The object is to get your photographs seen by other people. Do you have any of your photos in a gallery? Maybe it’s time you create an online gallery to share with others. It is easy and fun to do. And once you have them up, send me a link so I can check them out!

Contrast

By | |
Leave a comment

Today I was walking through Phoenixville in a part of town that has really improved. As we walked along the street we saw many quaint little stores and buildings that were very nice. Some were repointed brick and others were a splash of bright colors. One in particular was a newly painted storefront that was teal with yellow trim. Immediately I thought, that would make a great black and white photo!

contrast1

Seeing the contrast in a subject is sometimes easy to see and sometimes it is not. This subject stuck out at me in an amazing way just because of the contrast. Light and shadows work against each other, but they also can be juxtaposed in a creative and attractive way that is complimentary.

I didn’t have my camera with me so I had to settle for using my cheesy cell phone camera. It took the photo and I couldn’t wait to get back to my laptop and create a black and white photo of this image to see how it would look. Turns out that the color contrast was far more visible than the black and white image. I thought the black and white image would be good, but it was not. The color contrasts were more vivid and punchy than the black and white rendition.

Contrast2

I guess I still have some learning to do to see contrasts better. Do you see contrasts well? Do you know why some contrasts look better in color than they do in black and white?

Facebook

By | |
Leave a comment

Are you on Facebook? Do you have a Facebook page?

Facebook is one of many social networks that is attracting attention. It is the amazing how many connections you can make literally across the world. My Facebook page contains connections including relatives, friends, schoolmates, church friends, and colleagues. I can now keep up with people who I haven’t heard from in many years. It’ great!

I find it fascinating that far too many of us barely know our next door neighbors, but we have over 100 friends on Facebook. Just goes to show that the world is definitely changing.

Many teenagers and young adults are using Facebook every day. They text message each other and share all kinds of information electronicially. They are using social media networks to the fullest. Does anyone you know use an iPhone?

I have an iPod that I received as a gift after I saw how great my kids’  iPods were. Now I listen to the music of my choice and I listen to many podcasts. My social network is growing slowly but surely. I do have a Facebook presence and I am learning how to add to it more and more every day. You can check it out here. If you don’t have a Facebook page yet, you really should consider adding on. It is a great way to connect with other people!

Player Portraits

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

I had the privilege of photographing the Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy’s 15U Team today. Bright & early at 8:30 am were on the field to do the team and player portraits. The guys did a great job cooperating for the team portraits and then had some fun using a bat in a variety of poses for their player portraits. Some put the bat across the back of their neck and rested their wrists over top each end of the bat. Others held the bat and posed in a batting stance. It was fun to see the creativity the players had with one bat when they stepped in front of the camera.

At 3:00 pm I attended their second game of the day to photograph some action shots. The game was full of action, too. We kept dodging rain drops and eventually the rain suspended the game, but not before I had the chance to capture some great action photos. The sky was obviously overcast, which provide great light for photographs. It is amazing to me how the bright colors appear so vividly on days like this. The player uniforms were stunning and brightened up an otherwise dreary day.

Go Stars!

Photo Walk

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Scott Kelby is hosting the 2nd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk on July 18th. At first I wasn’t sure what a Photo Walk was all about, but then I decided to do a little research. A Photo Walk is basically a gathering of photographers who walk a identified route and take photos as they go. The event is casual and mostly a social gathering. However, photographers will learn from each other and get a chance to see how the “eye” of other photographers see possible photographs.

I decided to apply to be a potential walk leader by listing my photography leadership experiences. This morning I received approval to be a Photo Walk leader in Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg. Then I started working on developing the web page for the walk. It was all fairly easy and having already used WordPress for my own photo blog proved to be helpful.

Now, this evening, the web page shows that 11 participants have already signed up! Word is getting out and this is going to be a fun event. More information can be found here: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/stroudsburgeast-stroudsburg-pa-usa/

I hope you can join us!

My Workflow

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

I love digital photography. In fact, I enjoy all aspects of the digital process. It reminds me of the days I spent in college behind the camera’s viewfinder on an assignment, in the darkroom developing the film and printing my enlargements, and mounting the photos on matte boards.

Lightroom is my software of choice for most of my workflow procedures. My good friend and photo colleague, Dick McCreight, was the one who showed me firsthand the power of Lightroom. It doesn’t hurt that it is also easy to use, too.

Once back from a photo shoot, I hook up my card reader to my laptop and upoad the photos. I rename the files with the date of the shoot & a sequential number for each photograph. This provides a unique filename for each one. I also make sure to add the metadata with my information on the upload.

Then in Lightroom I go through the photos and tag the keepers. I don’t worry about tagging the rejects; just the keepers, because I will only be working with the keepers. I also tag any photos I think might need some editing with a red colored tag. Once my keepers have been established, I go back through them and mark the ones I want to put up on my website with a green tag. At this point I try to remember to create a collection of these photos. Then I go into the Web module and create the web page gallery. All that’s left to do is upload the gallery to my website.

When I receive print orders, the process continues with me using the Print module to crop and then export the file to send to my photo lab. I have also started creating photo books, so in this case I will create another collection of the photos I want included in the book and then export them for the printer.

I am learning to streamline the process and I enjoy each step along the way. It is so enjoyable to see the photograph I made come to life step by step!

What is your workflow? Are there some tips you have to share? Leave a comment so we can all learn together how to perfect our workflow strategies.

Online Photo Galleries

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Sharing photographs online in a gallery is a common thing for most photographers to do. It allows a photographer to show photographs with others in a convenient way and allows the viewer to browse through the gallery and see the photo. It seems like a win-win situation.

This might be the case if it weren’t for a few bad apples intent on stealing photographic images without permission. This is becoming an increasing problem and is forcing photographers to reconsider the wisdom of posting photos on an online gallery.

Using watermarks on photographs is one way to fight against this problem, but they do not totally solve the problem. Many people think that if something is posted on the internet then it must be free for the taking. This is obviously not true. But many people don’t care. They steal and misuse the photos anyway.

Do you enjoy viewing online galleries? What do you think about the use of watermarks? Should photographers be forced to take extra care in protecting their creative property?

As usual, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. A photographer can easily share photos with others, but runs the risk of having those photos illegally taken.

What do you think about all this?

Favorite Camera

By | |
Leave a comment

Do you have a favorite camera? Presumably a camera that fit great in your hands and was a pure joy to operate. In fact, it was a camera that felt so comfortable and worked so well that you hated to part company with it. Have you ever had such a camera?

Breaking in a new camera is like breaking in a new pair of Shoe Hero running shoes. The old ones feel oh so good and the idea of breaking in those new stiff sneakers just sounds like a laborious endeavor. But don’t give up. This new camera you hold in yoru hands just might become you most favorite camera ever!

Learning where all the controls are located might take some time, but the effort pays off in the field when you can change those controls quickly without even looking.

Back in my rock climbing days, I heard an old adage that I will never forget. It goes something like this: “You will know how to tie a knot only when you can tie it in the dark and in a cold shower!” This might sound like extremism, but you get the point.

How well do you know your camera? Do you fumble around while looking for a control button? Or do you know exactly where the proper control is located without even thinking about it?

Learn to know your camera inside and out and it just might become your favorite camera!

Good Photo Guidelines

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Many of you may have heard a variety of photography rules over the years. Do not cut the photograph in half with the horizon line. Think about the rule of thirds and place your subject at one of these intersecting lines instead of dead in the center of the photograph. Move in closer to your subject. Ask yourself, “What is the main subject in this photo and why am I making this composition? Focus on the eye.

Do any of these basic guidelines sound familiar?

Some people prefer to be rebellious, color outside the lines, and break the rules. This can and is certainly done with photography guidelines, but understanding them first is an absolute essential. Well, at least in my humble opinion. There are many ways to learn about photography and be a good photographer, but learning the basic guidelines and fundamentals will provide a solid foundation for any aspiring photographer

Do you know the photo fundamentals? Are you willing to take a workshop to learn more. I lead a photo trip with my good friend, Dick McCreight, where we provide photographers excellent opportunities to photograph the Pennsylvania Elk. Throughout the 3-day photo trip, we experience many excellent teaching moments and have opportunities to teach and learn more about photography. These photo trips are a lot of fun for us photographers to be together and learn from each other. You can find more information about these photo trips here: http://www.bobshankphotography.com/PA%20Elk%20Experience/index.htm

Check it out and sign up for one of our upcoming photo trips. You will learn some of the basic photography fundamentals and have a great time with some other photographers!