Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday Slide Show: Indoor Natural Light

Today was my Portrait class. I mentioned earlier that the assignment was to shoot using indoor natural light. I also mentioned that I had become obsessed with looking for light. Luckily, my friend, Nicole who is taking the class with me also became obsessed. So together the two of us drove our families, friends and neighbors nuts. Not to mention ourselves.

Even though we never found the location of our dreams, I think we both came away with some good new knowledge. All self-inflicted, through fumbles and foils. Due to a deep-seated need to follow the rules to a tee.

I am beginning to see where the big ballerina gets her safety patrol instincts from. There were classmates (not ME or Nicole, of course) who did NOT follow the rules. And, boy were there kicks under the table and disapproving glances passed between the two of us this afternoon. Yep, I think Nicole and I were definitely high-ranking safety patrol officers back in the day.

Were my pictures perfect? Hell, no.

Did I follow the rules? You betcha.

Integrity, baby. Integrity.



Critique: "Light too harsh."


Critique: "Much better. Light patterns on the wall make the pictures interesting." 


 (BSD in his shaping room)

Critique:
Me: I really feel like these captured the assignment the best. Definitely portraits and the location helps tell a story. 

Teacher: Yes. Good use of light. You can tell he's in an industrial place. Power cords. Tools. And that thing in the middle.

Teacher is definitely not a surfer.

17 comments:

Cathy M~(checkitoff) said...

Super cool! Love all of these. You are a storyteller through your camera. You should def. print a copy of the pic of hubs in his work room for your girls. It will mean a lot to them in the future. Wish I had a pic of my Dad working on his cars in the garage. I will have to search for one! You did a great job on your assignment: A+

kim {the non-mom blogger} said...

Great job!!!

Those rule-breakers bug me, too.

mandy said...

these are great.
i love the bits you shared from the critique.
i have to disagree with your teacher about the last one from the first set, i think that 'harsh' square of light makes for a beautiful composition.

mandy said...

these are great.
i love the bits you shared from the critique.
i have to disagree with your teacher about the last one from the first set, i think that 'harsh' square of light makes for a beautiful composition.

mandy said...

these are great.
i love the bits you shared from the critique.
i have to disagree with your teacher about the last one from the first set, i think that 'harsh' square of light makes for a beautiful composition.

Kim said...

Cathy and Kim - Thanks so much! I'll take that A+ and pin it to my Safety Patrol belt. :)

Mandy- To be fair, he did say he liked that one best out of those b/c of the repeating squares from the doors, light and checkers. And that the important portions of their faces were highlighted. He said it would have worked better, though if I had moved them over a bit.

These pix were not staged though. They were really playing checkers. I did ask them to keep scootching back/forth b/c of the light, but I wanted to capture "real" moments so they are more candids than "portraits." Teacher was cool with that and said staging would be the only way to make it perfect...or wait until the light was not as harsh.

Gabe said...

I love the one of LB, looking at her daddy! TOO CUTE!!

It must be hard to hear the critique because you know the story behind the photos and the teacher is only looking at the photo!

sloan said...

I love that you're sharing your portrait class with us - I really like learning the assignments, seeing how you tackled it, and hearing the critiques - very interesting stuff!! I really like those BSD photos, too ... but frankly I love them ALL in this post ... great job!!

Clara in Paradise said...

Actually, the ones with the "critique" comments were my favorite. I've found that when in doubt, backlit portraits are always a winner (you might need a fast lens for that).

Jen said...

I long to have a camera to learn all these fun things. You are so good!
Love the checkers photo. Really sweet!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures!! oh how I need a class like this! Who is yours through?

Dani said...

Very nice. Natural light is so tricky. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

I have a sick desire to have some of my photos critiqued. I want to know what I need to do better.

Bridget said...

I am going to take a photo class one day, your pictures look great! I love seeing where BSD makes his surfboards.

Genn said...

Hi Kim! SO glad to have found your blog now too.

What photog class are you taking? Is it Oh Shoot or Portraiture with Candace Stringham? I took her classes recently and loved every minute of them!!

Your pictures look great. Love your creative header picture. And the pic of your husband with his hat on he looks a little bit like Tim McGraw. Does he ever get that? :)

knack said...

you did awesome...and I just love the way you write:)

I so wish we could have met up in Virginia this weekend!! I would love to hang out, and laugh with you. I was in the Lynchburg area...and I can't remember how far that is from Va beach? One of these days friend.....:)

thank you for the book well wishes:) you da best!

xo

Jess said...

i love all these pics...you are doing such a great job!!! i think my favorite is the b/w of BB. and i also love how LB is looking up at her daddy...and her laughing....so cute!!!

My Interior Life said...

Once again, you've outdone yourself. Love these!!