Jan
29
2013Photography Critique: The Vocabulary
I hope you’re wearing your heavy duty antiperspirant today. I know I am (mainly because I’m afraid no one is going to link-up!). Before we dive into photography critique, I thought I’d throw out a helpful list of vocabulary so you know what on earth I’m talking about when I critique my own images! Most of these things we’ll get into more in depth as the year goes on, but for now I’ll give short no-nonsense definitions so you can start familiarizing yourself with the terms and use them yourself. I’m also not going to give you too many words for right now. We’ll stick to the basics.
Underexposure: An image that is mostly dark. Even what was white looks grey.
Overexposure: An image that is mostly light. Even what should have been black will look gray.
Depth of Field: How much of an image is in focus (a function of aperture). A shallow depth of field has very little in focus while a wide depth of field will have more in focus.
Warm: A white balance that tends toward yellow or orange. You whites will be yellowed.
Cool: A white balance that tends toward blue or green (maybe even purple.) Your whites will be bluish.
Noise/Grain: White or colored speckles particularly in the darker colors of the image. Seen when an image is shot at high ISO.
Sharp: When an image is focused well on what the photographer wants your eyes to land on. In a portrait, this is usually the subject’s eyes.
Leading Lines: When something in the photo moves your eyes toward your subject or around the image. Think family sitting in the middle of a railroad track, the track leads your eyes to the family.
Sun/Lens Flare: When the sun reflects off your lens and into your image. This can be purposefully used or it can be an unfortunate accident.
Personal Photography Critique
You’re going to get both my SOOC and my edited images. Mainly because I want you to see that if you don’t have editing software you can still take great photos. But I also want you to see that even a “professional” photographer messes things up and may have to save them in post processing. Most of these are my own daily photographs, but there’s a couple client photos in here too so you can see my process from initial image to final product.
Alright, here I go!
Left is SOOC image. Right is the final edited copy.
Why I like this photo: This is an emotional image for me. Sedryn had bronchialitis and was such a sad whiny boy! Those flushed red cheeks, crusty nose, and that pouty mouth… sigh… adorable.
The Bad: My exposure is a little darker than I prefer.
White balance is also a tad off. Sedryn’s room has Tungsten lighting (your old filament type bulb) and knowing how grumpy he was going to be waking from nap I did not tweek white balance as much as I could. I need to get better at doing that quickly! The blanket below his elbow with the blue bit, that white should be true white. Even my final edit is a touch on the warm/orange side. I like things warm, but this might be a bit too much.
The high ISO I used to capture this shot sans flash caused a ton of grain in the back ground. You can see it the worst in the dark parts of the crib back. A newer camera or larger sensor might not have this problem… but my current camera is always grainy above 400 ISO and this was shot at 1600.
The Good: In that tiny split second that he actually looked at me, I did nail focus on the visible eye! Woot! Not easy when I was shooting wide open at f/1.7 to make up for the lack of light in the room. It’s also a skill (picking focus points) that is less than a year old for me.
The wide open aperture of f/1.7 blurs out the background leaving you focused on the baby and not the potentially distracting background.
Top is SOOC. Bottom is Full Edit.
Why I like this Photo: I actually made my husband pull over the car and used the roof of the car as a tripod. We were on our way home from Owl-ing at a friend’s house. Those clouds lit up by that full moon… absolutely breathtaking!
The Bad: Because I was using the roof of the car as a makeshift tripod I had very little control over the composition of this image. That means I had pretty much no choice but to capture that super distracting lens flare and the “for sale” sign in the bottom right corner.
I nowhere near captured the actual scene before my eyes. It’s too bright and the contrast is not deep enough. Some of this is the limitation of a camera and I couldn’t change it. If I had more knowledge of High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR), I might have been able to do a better job bringing this out in the edit. However, HDR isn’t something I’m super interested in learning.
The Good: Obviously I was able to get rid of the lens flare and the for sale sign in the final edit. Hooray! I was also able to increase the darkness of the sky and while keeping the beautifully reflective light on the clouds.
Using a car for a tripod with a shutter speed of 1/30 of a second, I’d say I rocked getting a sharp image. Normally there’d be camera shake with an exposure time that long!
I like the way the power lines move your eye around this image from the moon down to the clouds and back again. It’s a good use of leading lines in the composition, though I’ll admit I didn’t have much choice in the matter due to the position of the parked car!
Right is SOOC. Left is fully edited.
What I like about this photo: There is nothing distracting you from the full glory of her pursed lip birthday cake face! (her dad’s birthday)
The Bad: As you can see, I seriously underexposed the original image. Moments before I had been shooting her backlit brother. I turned around and saw this and captured it with the settings I had. After all, toddlers move so quickly. Had I not been shooting in RAW, I would not have been able to save this image at all! I’ll tell you about RAW later, but if you know what RAW is know that I normally shoot my kids in JPEG. RAW files are just too big! I must have not switched back after a client session.
The back eye is out of focus due to her face angle/my wide open aperture. Not the worst offense in the world… but it drives me crazy!
If I was being a perfectionist, I should have edited out that little string on the hat in the bottom left corner. And maybe also the bit of orange dirt on her left shoulder…
The Good: I filled my frame with my subject leaving nothing distracting to your eye! (which is impressive if you had seen what was on that table in front of her!)
I have learned to save potentially unusable images in Photoshop Elements. It’s always better to get it right in camera, but it’s nice to know how to fix it if I mess up!
The front eye’s eyelashes are perfectly sharp! I forgot how much I love this lens.
What I like about this photo: As a mom (sleep-deprived in these stages of my children’s lives), I so appreciate the capture of the tiniest details. These are the things that I loved the most but can remember the least. Sedryn’s extra long blond hair. Aeralind’s legs always pulled up nearly to her chest. Bronwyn’s feet always popping out of her blankets. Sigh. I guess I’m more emotional about my imagery than I thought!
The Bad: I think I either missed focus or should have used a wider depth of field. This is my 35mm Macro so I’m less than 2 inches from sweet Ethan’s feet here. I typically choose to manually focus these shots b/c the autofocus is slow this close to the subject. So it could be that I’m off. Yet, I also forgot that the closer you get to your subject the shallower your depth of field gets. If I had shot at a wider f/stop, maybe f/4, then maybe his big toe would be in focus.
The Good: I actually think my white balance and exposure on the original shot wasn’t so bad. His skin really is that red/magenta. The blanket is a little bluer than in real life, but not too bad overall. It’s not very bright, but this is also a RAW image so that’s a given. I always have to brighten my RAW images in post processing.
I like the color edit, but not nearly as much as the black and white. The black and white is so timeless. Hopefully, a beautiful memory for this client!
What I like about this photo: Ethan is modest (which was hard and often is hard for newborn boys!). And he just looks so peaceful. I also managed not to catch any of my backdrop stand in the image (sometimes I mess that up a ton).
The Bad: As you can see, the real life of a newborn photographer is exposed in the bottom left. That was only about a third of that accident, the rest caused me to have to change shirts. Ahem. So I had to edit that spot out.
My white balance is a wee bit too blue, but also not too bad. I did brighten and warm it up significantly while editing.
I think the contrast on the final edit might be a bit too much. I think I prefer a softer look in my newborns than what I achieved here.
I wish I could have straightened or intertwined his fingers under his cheek. This is my ‘safe’ shot. I tried to get his fingers straighter for a subsequent image, but Ethan just would not have it! Every baby has something he doesn’t like me to do; for Ethan, messing with his fingers would startle reflex him and curling him up in a ball was clearly uncomfortable for him.
My depth of field is also a little shallow. His foot is out of focus. But Ethan was super tall (nearly 22 inches!) so I think I would have been alright with a more average baby 😉
The Good: This is a really solid client shot. I love how smooth the blanket is in this shot, which is something I also struggle with because most of my blankets are very wrinkly (but soft!) cotton. His face is sharp. He looks sweet. And he’s posed pretty well with his face not buried in the blankets. It’s just a really solid shot.
A Quick Look Ahead
February is likely to be the most intense month of this class. Each week you’ll have a medium sized assignment, followed by a link up the following week. We’re going to learn about the exposure triangle. By the last week, you should be able to begin to shoot in manual mode if your camera has manual mode. If your camera doesn’t have manual mode, you’ll be fully equipped to use A-priority or S-priority(sports mode) and know when to use which. It’s going to be intense, but worth it. The assignments should only take 15-30 minutes a week, but keep trying to practice using your camera 5-10 minutes a day as well.
Your Photography Critique Assignment
Now it’s your turn to shine 🙂
- I want you to put up 3-10 of your best images on a blog post and write your personal critique below each image; Link your blog in the comments! If you don’t have a blog, I’ve created a Flikr group for our class. You’ll simply create an account, upload your photos, and put your critique into the description of each image, and then add those images to the group pool. Flikr is pretty intuitive, but if you need help feel free to use my contact me page and I’ll help as much as I can. Alternatively, you could use free blogging sites like Blogger or WordPress.com and create a blog just for this class. It’s really up to you!
- Once you’ve completed your personal critique, come back here and link up your work if it’s a blog. Link your specific post rather than your blog as a whole. For example, http://www.quietgraces.com/free-beginner-photography-class is a good link to a specific post while http://www.quietgraces.com would only link to my home page and make it hard for a user to find my work. You will also be able to link to a specific photo on Flikr or a Flikr set.
- Go check out the work of the person who commented right before you (or any image that catches your eye in the photo pool!). Pick one of their images and give them specific “Oreo” photography critique in the comments section. Don’t skip this step! It will only take a few minutes to critique one person. Additionally, this is what will build our class community and will also give you opportunity to both practice giving critique and receiving it. Each time I host a homework link-up, you will be instructed to do this step.
I can’t wait to see your work! Tell me in the comments, what did you think of this assignment? Was it helpful? What did you learn about yourself as a photographer?
Jan
28
2013”The gospel frees us from the relentless pressure of having to prove ourselves, for we are already proven and secure.” Tim Keller
Life as a perfectionist isn’t easy. Even if I plan each day to the very minute, a hundred messes will break out.
The girls will roll around the floor screaming and fighting over baby dino.
Sedryn will puke because I gave him milk that was spoiled without realizing it (when he’s mostly the only one who drinks milk in the house it’s easy to overlook that sort of thing….).
Mount laundry will continue to be clean… and unfolded.
It will rain when it was supposed to be sunny.
I will burn dinner.
My photography clients will cancel (or I may not have a single one this year).
My dreams will be side railed.
I have two choices in these moments.
1. Pull myself up, put on a big smile, do the extra work, and show you how worthy I am.
2. Fall on my knees, announce my failure or my mess before my family(that includes you) and God, ask Him for help (or ask the local body of Christ when needed), and then crawl back up clinging to His grace because He is more worthy than anything else.
I will choose the latter. I will choose to reveal my messes if it proves Him greater. And just saying that makes me sort of cringe. You know how when you type something out like that, the Enemy chooses to create more mess in your life. Yeah, I know that’s coming. And I know this too: His grace is sufficient.
I’m writing this today for that friend who sent me texts while likely sitting in her car on lunch break because she was crying so hard she couldn’t call. That friend whom I wish wasn’t so far geographically or I’d be in the car with a hyper overtired children on my way to clean her home(which clearly isn’t in my gifted-ness), make her supper, and finally hug her tight when she got home.
We’re never going to be perfect. We’re never going to be proven. We’re never going to have anything to glory in except this one thing: Jesus Christ. And He is enough and perfect and impossible to lose.
So, friend (friends- all of you sweet messy people really), don’t be afraid to be seen in the thick of your un-glorious mess. The mess you created or the one surrounding you. I’m not impressed when you’re busy proving yourself. I might be jealous (but that’s my own sin issue, eh?), but I’m not impressed. But when you share with me and others the mess you’re living, then I am impressed. I’m impressed with your strength and the grace He has given you to keep going. I’m impressed with the desire to come alongside you and partner with you however I can, knowing that soon you will walk through my mess with me.
That’s the purpose of the Body of Christ: to disciple each other in the gospel of grace. That means there will be seasons where I will preach the gospel to you, and there will be seasons where I will beg you to preach the gospel to me. And we will both feed from that gospel like starving women; for it is only in that gospel that we will ever be “proven and secure.”
Jan
25
2013It happens again.
It’s barely 50 degrees next to my desk window and I’ve sweat through my shirt because I’m afraid of the rejection likely to come.
But Laurie, she falls over laughing at least twice at me. The good laugh. The kind of laugh that helps you know that you’re not the only one feeling that way. The kind of laugh that shows your feeling is universal.
I’m not sure why the fear of being defined as the awkward middle/high school nerd again keeps coming from. Why do I let that season of growth define me again and again? It’s almost been twenty years since I walked in those shoes and I’m still grieving. Still letting it define me.
But I’m not that little girl anymore, the one who had rejection on all four sides. The one who felt so alone. The Lord, He’s put me in a place where I have people who laugh at my nerd-iness in the good camaraderie way. Friends who hear the heart within, no matter where they came from, and truly see the person He is causing to come to being within me.
And for those friends and that new image in me, I will thank the Lord again. Even if I still soak through with sweat in fear of the old rejection.
Jan
24
2013
Starting around the time that I was in the process of writing my Life Statement, I’ve had a string of sessions that are right in the middle of living their beautiful-mess with grace. First, there was Karen with her heartbreaking story of trusting wholly in the grace of God. And then there was this session with fellow photographer Amanda of MyOhmanda Artistry and Photography. But then again, maybe God has just opened my eyes to the messy beautiful more because of that Life Statement. In any case, let me share a little of Amanda’s life with you.
Amanda’s had a rough year. Her mother, who diligently prayed Amanda through some rough situations in her life, went home to be with the Savior this year. Her hopes for a VBAC were crushed. And she has two boys 4 and under and was expecting a third. Children that young just make life joyfully ridiculously full of unexpected mess.
Micah came on the very special date of 12/12/12 as a little reminder of how many unexpected ways God blesses us through pain and through joy. I don’t know the end of this story, but I do know that like all parts of His story it’s going to point to the gospel: the story that our perfect doesn’t have to be perfect because He loves us enough to die for us despite our failings. I’m excited to have been introduced to the joy of walking with her through this season.
My personal favorite part of Micah’s Session is the Greenville, SC mother and baby newborn photography images we took. Amanda was so willing to get in the picture with her family. It’s not easy as woman to see yourself in images and try not to listen to that evil voice that says we should look a certain way. It’s even harder to get in the photograph right after you’ve had a c-section and it’s physically painful to do so. But Amanda wanted to be in the picture. Having just lost her mom, she knows how valuable ever single image of her mother is. Her boys will always treasure these images.
Even this family image is precious. It’s real life lived gracefully with a 4 and 1 year old plus a newborn. The joy, the laughter, the tantrums, the tears, and the sheer absurdity of each day all rolled up in one image. (Does Newborn Micah really have his eyebrow raised as if to say, “Who are these people?!”)
Don’t worry, we did get one great image of all three boys together. A miracle image if I do say so myself!
Here’s just a sneak peak of all of the rest of the adorableness in this session.
Amanda, it was a real honor to be invited into your life during this hard season. Thank you for choosing me to capture your Greenville, SC Mother and Baby Newborn Photography.
Jan
23
2013I’ve always been sort of a loner. What can I say, I was the girl who willingly spent 90 minutes alone in a darkroom developing pictures. The girl who wore out a single mattress spring right under where her elbow rested to write in her journals. The girl who cut her finger with her own pocket knife while playing pioneer in the woods alone.
I do alone well. I’m stubborn and I want things my way, and if we’re doing a group project, well, I’ll just do it all thank-you-very-much.
But I can’t do alone well. I’m pretty sure no one can.
God Himself exists in relationship: Father, Spirit, Son. He made us in his image. He made us to crave relationship.
When I am alone, I am weak.
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:11-12
One February in college my fellow Outdoor Leadership Major, Whitney, suggested we take two never-been-camping-before Hawaiians out into the woods. It was 60 degrees on campus, so we packed up our gear and headed a mere 35 minutes into the mountains.
When we arrived our path was covered with 1-2 inches of snow mostly turned ice. Yet we were there, so we paid for our permit and made the best of it. In middle of the night, I awoke freezing in my 45 degree rated bag on top of that block of ice beneath the tent. I had never been so cold. I listened to the breathing of my tent-mates, all of whom were mere acquaintances.
“We’re all awake aren’t we?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
It was the coldest night of our lives. We rearranged our tent. Spread two sleeping bags underneath all of us and the other two on top. Topped it all off with a pair of silver emergency blankets. Ate our meager provisions of pop tarts and took turns in the middle through the rest of that long cold night.
I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t had tent mates that evening, the ranger would have found me in the morning and taken me to the hospital.
But it’s not just on a foolish camping trip on ice without the right gear that having people around your really matters. I need relationship daily. To spur me on to grow me. To show me sin. To help me change.
For me, this has been especially apparent since the birth of baby #3. I sort of had it under control when the it was just the twins. Sure, there were hard days, but strings of them were rare. Even waddling around 9 months pregnant things were pretty much okay.
Then came Sedryn. Suddenly, I had more babies than hands, limited sleep, a need to sit down and nurse for 20+ minutes every 3 hours, and not many places to go. To top it all off his first few months of life were the dead of winter. My church small group had broken up and we had not hooked up with a new one. I was the new girl in my ladies bible study group and my MOPS group and because of the newborn couldn’t make it to most evening events. And I was a mess. Some days I cried more than the kids did.
And God used this time to humble me. I made calls to friends in tears exclaiming “How do I do this?” in between sobs. I got roped into a new church small group. My MOPS friends became a lifeline. I cried so hard in Ladies Bible Study and left with so many hugs and encouragement.
I couldn’t do it alone. (You can’t do it alone.)
So when Holley (and God) selected me for this God-Sized Dream Team, I immediately told friends (really… that’s not in my nature). But I wanted and Holley asked us to have encouraging friends to be accountable to during our dream season. I have two main ones right now (and I’m sure throughout my season of growth these main supporters will grow and change and evolve and He sees fit).
First, I want you to meet Julia.
That’s Julia with her sweet family when they were here visiting in September 2011. If you’ve hung out here on this blog for awhile, I’m sure you’ve met Julia. We wrote a series on True Beauty together. Julia’s twin girls are a mere 5 months younger than mine and we bonded over those crazy early months of nursing twins on no sleep via our blogs. For about 7 months we just exchanged raising twin baby ideas… and then we got the crazy idea to read a book together over the phone because both of us needed bible study and couldn’t manage to go anywhere consistently with our needy babies! Then, her husband Brad (who is a sarcastic nutcase with a really sweet tender side) surprised Julia with a trip out to meet me right before Sedryn came along.
Julia is now one of three very best friends. She’s not afraid to tell me like it is (ouch). She lets me bounce ideas off of her. Julia thinks very differently than I do and it challenges me to understand different viewpoints. I’m honored that she’s willing to walk through this season (and this life) of God-sized dreaming.
Holley also asked us to ‘buddy’ up with a fellow God-sized Dream Team member. I was lucky enough to pick Laurie.
Laurie is a mom of 4 girls, two adopted from foster care. She’s a life coach and her smile is infectious. Since the two of us have just been paired together, I can’t tell you much about her yet. We’re Skyping together on Friday. My palms are sweating just thinking about it, but at the same time I’m super excited to both learn from her God-sized dream journey and encourage her/receive encouragement from her. It’s going to a wild sweet ride.
How about you? Who supports you on your journey?
