5 Take Aways from Week 4

1. In Lightroom: create virtual copies does not take up any space!  This alone is worth buying Adobe Lightroom 3.
2. In Lightroom create a normal processed image, then create a virtual copy and then BE CREATIVE!  You'll be surprised!!!  Really!
3. In my ISO TESTS, that shooting in ISO 800 had noise on my Canon 5D Mark II, but I was able to use the Noise Reducer in Lightroom and the image looked GREAT!!  I used to only go up to ISO 400 but now after all the tests, I feel comfortable bumping it up to ISO 800 if necessary.
4. That my Canon 5D Mark IIspot meter is 1/3 stop underexposed.  So that I should always overexpose by 1/3 stop.  Bottom line is when I shoot in Manual mode that I should always go right 1 click (1/3 stop).
5. Lastly, I've learned how to measure RGB and LAB values to determine the true speed of my camera.  And that each camera is different even if it's the same Canon 5D Mark II.  I'm sure you are saying "Shelly....what the heck are you talking about?".  Yes, I know!  I'll have to explain myself one day and show you my revised homework to explain how to find your true speed of your camera.

Hope this has been helpful for you all.  

Getting Started in Lightroom 3 & Resources

Now that you have recently purchased Lightroom 3 in your hands let me give you some resources from things my instructor gave us and things I've found on the internet.  So we can have this all in one place.

Julieanne Kost: she works with Adobe and these videos are AWESOME, these were required videos for my class and they are done REALLY well.  Here's a few to get you started:

• Single or Multiple catalogs
• Be Organized
• Select, Rate, Prioritize your Images
• Quick Evaluate
• Lens Correction
• When to use Virtual Copies and Snapshots 
• 10 ways to automate Lightroom Part 1
• 10 ways to automate Lightroom Part 2
• The list goes on!  I'll let you discover on your own the rest of her videos.

Presets: FREE!  Keep in mind, these presets are to get you started.  You should always ADJUST presets to match your photo.  And never install presets without knowing who the person is.  Check to see if this person is credible or not.

• Matt Kloskowski
• OnOneSoftware
• Sean McGrath
• Seim (Brush Presets: Dodge&Burn, Skin)

Books:

Lightroom 3: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process


Software:
Adobe Lightroom 3

Buy Tip: Need a DSLR? Check out this kit with an INSTANT REBATE

I just helped a friend buy this deal.  Not bad!!

Canon T2i Rebel w/ 18-135mm for $949.99


***AND add this 55-250mm lens for just $100 more (Regularly $299)

Total: $1049.99 after you check your basket.  Pretty sweet deal!


Canon has a bunch of instant rebates and both B&H Photo and Adorama honors them.

Tips: Things I look for after a good rain

Written last fall but never posted until now:
While I was on my retreat, we had a downpour.  As I took a friend around to shoot, he asked me what to look for.  I shared with him that after a good rain, it's great to shoot reflections in water, to shoot landscape because the colors are brighter, and leaves are clean.  I also shared how I like it before the storm too because you have great dramatic skies.  I love converting them to black and whites.

I like the reflection of things after a good rain.

I love the contrast in the sky!

How to get babies to look at the camera.

• Best tip I've ran across is to tell everyone to have everyone move away from behind the camera and so that you are the only one behind the camera.  You don't want the baby to look at other faces, just your camera. 
• Have your camera mounted on a tripod and hooked up to a remote if possible (optional) you WILL get better shots.  However, this shot below was actually without a tripod, and the others not shown here were blurry. 
• KEY: not pun intended :) then dangle your car keys above the camera and like magic the baby will look.  If for some crazy the baby does not look, then dangle the keys in front of their face to catch there attention first, then move back to the camera.  Works like a charm for me at least.

See my older blog for more technical information:
http://shellyauphotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/tips-how-to-take-your-family-picture.html

Never show your bad shots!

One of the things I tell new photographers is NOT to show your bad pictures if you don't want too.  Many times I get requests, "hey Shel, can you just copy all the pics to my USB drive?"  Don't worry, you don't have to edit it.  Deep inside something feels wrong within me.  I only want to showcase the pictures I love.  Also I shoot in RAW with a Canon 5D Mark II meaning that each image is about 25 MB, and the camera does not interpret the image, so if I were to give someone the raw file, it will come out bland.  So that is another reason why I don't give all my images to people.  And yes, you SHOULD be shooting in RAW is my best advice.

So bottom line, only show the pictures you love.  This young girl above, I must have shot about 30-40 pictures of her where I got about 5-10 decent ones, and about 3-5 really good ones.

Technique: KISS Method (Keeping it Simple Stupid)

Pictures look boring?  Try moving/zoom closer to your subject.

Here is a shot that is further away:

Here is a shot as I pulled in on that roof:

Notice the Dept of Field I got as well?

Tips: Birthday Party Pictures or Video

So it was my sons 3rd birthday and I was faced with the dilemma of taking pictures or shooting a video of the Happy Birthday song.  I choose to shoot pictures.  Then when it was done I said, okay everybody, lets light the candle again and sing happy birthday again!  So I did, but this time I shot the video with my DSLR.  The reason I wanted to shoot pictures in the first place was to get him blowing the candle out.  But the video is what the kids really want to watch years from now.  So this way you can get both.

Tips: It's all around us, just try it.

So I'm sitting down at lunch with my friends, and I have my camera.  I think to myself, lets find something to shoot in here.  Boom, I see the tea cup and the tea pot, and say I want that picture.

It took me a few try's and different shots, but I like this best with the tilted glass.

My point is simple.  These kinds of shots are all around us.  It just takes the time to pause and see what can I shoot here and how can I capture it in a way that is unique.

Tip: Let your picture flow

Look at this picture and why does it work for something that is so plain and boring?

Things to notice. I did not put that sign in the middle of the picture, I put it in the bottom left third of the picture so that your eye first see's this sign then draws you to move your eyes toward the plywood.  So your eyes are moving across a photograph.  That is how you can make your picture flow.  Not mention that this is actually funny!  See more of my Heart of San Francisco pics I took this past year.

Tips: How to take your family picture with your DSLR

So you have this new DSLR and you try the timer on your camera to take a family photo and it just does not work.  Sure the camera fires, but you always have the one person not smiling.  Then you have to run to the camera and look at the picture to make sure you and/or your wife likes it.  By the 5th picture your kids begin to loose control and get restless.  Yes, I have been there too.  And ohhh boy that fun idea just became a disaster.  Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Here are some tips:...

Connecting with people as you shoot!

Have you ever read a book or blog hearing someone say HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO CONNECT WITH THE PEOPLE YOU ARE PHOTOGRAPHING?  But when you shoot your adrenaline kicks in and you forget?  This past weekend I shot all day seminars and a dinner banquet that totaled 8 hours long for a friend.  I did my normal thing trying to hide (yeah right...with two big cameras) while catching people engaging with the speakers and each other as they all tried to network with each other.

When it was over I began to put away my equipment, I noticed there were a group of people standing around me.  And low and behold, they wanted to talk to me, and...