APictureLife Photography: Blog

evan + brianna

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:22:39 GMT

easily one of the best parts about what i do is being a part of a new beginning

i’m watching/documenting/experiencing and freezing time.

i had been dying to try something new and different for this session.

i wanted to get out of orange county and try something a bit more simple.

i threw the idea out to brianna, she said she’d be happy to let me experiment!

little did she know i’d be having them meet me at 4:45 am to get to our destination by sunrise

it was freezing, beautiful, quiet, and perfect.

exactly what i was hoping for.

thankfully we shot these photos last week as brianna had reagan on saturday !

i’ll be sharing those photos soon.

in the meantime here is their maternity session

i couldn’t decide if i liked it in color or black & white, so here’s both.

ISO: What is it?

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:24:57 GMT

your ISO

you’ll see the little letters on the top right side of your camera- if you have a canon like me. if not just look around

what ISO basically means is: HOW SENSITIVE DO YOU WANT YOUR CAMERA TO BE TO THE AVAILABLE LIGHT YOU HAVE?

the lower you set your ISO the less sensitive to light – 100 being low and 1000 being high

the higher the ISO setting the more sensitive to light the camera will be making your pictures brighter

try going outside tonight, set your ISO at 100 and take a picture of the sky- then increase your ISO up as high as it will go.

you’ll see the difference- it may be blurry and out of focus (because we haven’t talked about your aperture or shutter yet- but we will) but by doing this you’ll see exactly what i am describing

NOW, you may wonder, why don’t i leave my ISO up high?

because the higher the ISO the more GRAIN or NOISE will show up in your photos

**zoom in on the photos you take tonight, either on your camera or computer and notice that the higher ISO pictures have more spots or GRAIN-

if you are not planning on printing your images larger than a 4×6 print than more than likely the grain will not effect your photos-

but as soon as you try to make them larger (5×7/8×10/11×14) you will start to see an increase in grain

for me personally

i like my photos to have the least amount of grain as possible.

when i shoot at night or in a reception where it is typically dark, i like to have my ISO around 800 or higher

during the day my ISO will be anywhere from 100-400

now you may be asking, why wouldn’t i want to shoot my ISO at a high number all the time?

that’s because your photos will can become “noisy or grainy”- depending on how large you end up printing your image

here is a perfect example

hopefully this helps you get a better grasp of what ISO is.

next up: aperture.

basic photography

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:01:12 GMT

i’ve had several inquires for another Basic Photography Seminar which i may do again

BUT

in the meantime

why don’t i share some basic information about photography here.?.

first:

lets get you to stop photographing everything on AUTO. scary, I know. but trust me IT WILL GET EASIER and you may even thank me later ( i didn’t say NOW, but later: wink wink)

when i first started interning for a wedding photographer i was told to shoot on aperture priority or shutter priority (while this was helpful to start) it became more of a “crutch” than anything else.

i didn’t take the time to learn all of my camera settings- bad idea! i relied completely on the camera to think for me.

it’s a camera. it can’t think for me.

i put my camera on manual mode and have never looked back.

Soooo, what do you need to know when you shoot manually? a lot.

BUT

let’s start with the basics.

your camera has a dial at the top of it (this is a photo of mine)

for the sake of this lesson lets just look at 3 of the letters and what they mean

M= Manual Mode ( you control all of the settings on your camera)

AV= Aperture Priority (you control the aperture of your camera, while the camera controls everything else)

TV= Shutter Priority (you control the shutter of your camera, while the camera controls everything else)

turn the dial to “m”

do it. you won’t regret it.

now to the right of the dial you were just looking at, is this:

leave it alone, for now.

go outside and photograph something

go inside and photograph something

look at your pictures

are they too bright?

too dark?

blurry?

good, now i know for sure that you are on manual mode

COME BACK TOMORROW AND WE’LL GET STARTED!

marnee + rob… married.

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:32:56 GMT

this is rob & marnee’s

feb. 25. 2012

wedding.

classic, elegant, timeless.

big canyon country club

have i mentioned how much i love, first looks?

marnee’s face is a good example of why!

special thanks to big canyon country club and staff for going over the top for this wedding! what a friendly, beautiful, and classy location!

Sandy from Sandy’s Candy made the beautiful candy station

Roger’s Gardens out did themselves on the flowers & reception center pieces

and

rick howard music for keeping the party going!

High School Juniors and Seniors WANTED

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:24:10 GMT

we are currently looking for high school juniors and seniors to be our models!

cash prizes, give aways, and crazy fun pictures!

[email protected]

rob + marnee: sneak peek

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:16:22 GMT

a sneak peek at what we captured this weekend at big canyon

—> scotty + lisa <—-

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:58:50 GMT

i was trying to do something different for this blog.

i wanted to pick 1 picture from each important part of the day: getting ready, first look, ceremony, etc.

guess what happened?…

i couldn’t do it.

so here is the small/large version of their blog.

small in that it is less than i normally post

large in that i couldn’t not post some of these photos.

so here is scotty and lisa’s february wedding in southern ca.

aaww the sweet little flower girl… just wait she became much more animated through out the day!

it’s one of my favorite things to capture… the guys getting ready vs the girls getting ready.

night and day difference, night and day.

i love that lisa had her twin brother walk her over to scotty for their first look.

my favorite grandma, ever… you’ll see why when you get to the reception photos. and she may have offered me a shoulder rub and a glass of water during the reception for all my hard work

lisa and her brother taking a shot or two. their faces are priceless.

make it rAiN!

grandma wanted a better angle for pictures

tim from California Dj’s did an amazing job keeping everyone on the dance floor ALL night!

scotty and lisa’s 300+ guests all fit comfortably in the ballroom at Pacific Hills Banquet & Catering

Sean + Nicole.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:17:11 GMT

nicole & sean will be married this summer in north carolina

she, a southern belle

him, a southern californian

and “them” together couldn’t be better.

since the wedding will be in nicole’s home state of north carolina they chose to have their engagement photos taken here in southern ca

we headed out to villa park in orange county (sean’s alum) for their engagement session

it turned out beautifully.

don’t you agree?

see you in may!

—->a friendly reminder<—–

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:52:56 GMT

i was reminded at church this weekend and i thought i would share with you, as it is something we may or may not often hear enough.

i am valued

i am loved

what happens to me, matters.

miss me?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:37:12 GMT

seems i took an unexpected blogging hiatus…

i’ll be back tomorrow, with these two.