Jenny's Senior Photos - Makeup for Oct. 24

ISO: 400  f/2.8  SS: 1/250

Jen, Casey and I had gone out to eat and somehow ended up wanting to take Senior photos. So we spent the afternoon getting ready and went out at sunset to take photos!

This was an experience for me to work on my posing and coming up with ideas of what to do with my subjects.  That was something that I DEFINITELY needed help with! I want to be a portrait photographer and I have problems thinking of poses! So I took this as an opportunity to practice. :)

I also had to use this experience to learn how to adapt to changing situations. You can't tell in this photo, but the sun was in the background, and I really wanted to try to use that to my advantage. The wind was also making it difficult because it kept blowing her hair in her face. It was frustrating, but I'm SO pleased with the outcome. Now, if only I hadn't cut off her toe in this photo.

Race for the Cure - Makeup for Oct. 22

ISO: 100  f/5.6  SS: 1/1600

This was Race for the Cure! :) This was the very beginning of the race. I'm pretty proud of these ones because I had my settings wrong just moments before this.  I was freaking out knowing that I was about to miss this shot, and I was able to get my settings changed and set JUST in time take take this photo! :) That definitely reinforces that I don't even have to think about this anymore. It's automatic, which I find great.

It was also pretty hard because the racers were all in the middle, between people. It made it much harder for me to get the shot, but I kept a clear head and made do, and get the product I was hoping for! :)

I missed Owl City for this...

ISO:  1600  f/2.8  SS: 1/400

I was upset with this class, greatly, because I got a chance to go see one of my favorite bands, Owl City, and I had to turn it down so I could go take pictures of a math models class using Skittles to learn probability. And I was deeply upset. DEEPLY. UPSET.

This was successful.  It was boring. It was basic. But I did have to figure out how to get these photos without flash because the teacher didn't want me to use it. I had to get my ISO WAAAYYY up, but it did work... I don't really know how to reflect over this one because it's a pretty basic assignment. It made me realize that I may need to start finding ways to make even the boring assignments more interesting! But how...?

Pink Out Failure (Makeup for Oct. 16)

ISO: 800  f/4.5  SS: 1/100

Don't ask my why I was taking photos of a pep rally at 1/100th of a second.

I don't know. I was clearly not paying attention to my settings, and that was bad, I know! But in my defense, my flash only wanted to go off about half the time, so when it wasn't, I had to make do somehow.  But I DID figure out how to make do! A way-too-slow shutter speed for too much action, but for something like this, it worked.  And it got the picture at least partially exposed properly, so that's what matters. It's useable, despite the issues.

But I will kick my own butt if I ever do this again.

Making The Tiniest Drop of Water EVER (Makeup for Oct. 12)

ISO: 6400 f/4.5  SS: 1/200

In Harris's Chem II class, they were making the tiniest little drop of water. They got two bottles of hydrogen and one of oxygen, mixed them, and then set it on fire. And this is the result!

I had a bit of difficulty exposing this photo because, stupid me, I forgot to bring a flash with me. I really need to relearn how to use flash because the flash and I are having a struggle with each other lately... But anyhow, the fire kind of helped me out here. My fairly dark room had to be lit up somehow, and the fire sure did the trick!

I know I need to bring a flash into the Math & Science building classrooms now.

And I did figure out how to properly expose for fiery explosions.

KITTYYYY! (Makeup for Oct. 10)

ISO: 6400  f/2.8  SS: 1/80

OKAY, DON'T GET MAD ABOUT MY SETTINGS, BECAUSE THEY WORKED.

This is a tack sharp image that was properly exposed out of camera, so don't get mad at me!

Anyway, I really like this photo, just because I think it catches my cat in her natural habitat.

Parked on my blanket so I can't use it.  I had a hard time exposing this photo because it was inside and it was dark, and I didn't want to use the flash for fear I would wake up the kitten before I could use it. But I made it work! :)  I figured out that a super high ISO makes a very grainy photo, and I figured out how to fix it (for the most part). A little softening will at least make it less noticeable.

Vivani Time Exposure "Ad"

ISO: 100  f/4.5  SS: 5 sec.

First Product

I saw an image that involved time exposure using a ticking watch.  I decided I wanted to try to recreate that image, but as I was editing the image, I got this idea in my mind of creating a "light" watch. 

I had difficulty initially getting the ticker to look right.  I eventually figured out the correct lighting, by covering all light except the light coming in near the bottom of the watch.

After that, I took a hundred different shots to figure out which area the ticker looked most interesting.

I learned how to use photoshop, too! But I thought it was pretty easy to get this image.  It was just a matter of keeping it exposed properly. But after a few lessons on Photoshop (the layers were KILLING me!), I finally made it happen. I don't know if it's award winning, but it's a start in the right direction.

Water Drops, Senior Year

ISO: 100  SS: 1/250  f/8  Lens 28-75mm

Water drops were WAY more successful for me this year! Look at this beautiful water drop. It's perfection! I definitely had to relearn how to do these, but teaching the juniors how to set up it up was definitely helpful.  I figured out that bringing up the clarity in Lightroom made the water look more... watery! And bringing up the vibrance sure did make the colors seems MUCH prettier! It took a little while to get the flash right, but we finally decided 1/64 power, and it turned out great. :)

It Would Make Sense If It Were Pretty...

ISO: 400  SS: 1/500  f/4.0  Macro Lens

There was no amount of editing that could make me actually LIKE these photos, but this is the best of them.  I found some dead berries in the court yard, and so... It was just kind of spur of the moment.

Unfortunately, the focus wasn't where I wanted it, and I just. I just don't like these.

I'm a photojournalist. I'm not a big nature photographer. So this is something I need to learn! Watch my focus point, and don't be in a hurry. SET UP THE SHOT! And take my time to make it a photo worth looking at.