Awesome photoshoot with the naturally beautiful Nikki! I was loving the funky coloured brick walls, and was shooting in natural lighting. You’d never guess that we were actually goofing around and laughing for three quarters of the shoot 
. So much fun!
Keen to see some more portraits? Have a look at these:
Last week I had the pleasure of photographing this wonderful couple on a beautiful day at the beach. Thanks for a fun shoot, I can’t wait for the little one to arrive! 
Interested in seeing more portrait photography? Check these out:
These pictures are pretty, but they’re far from perfect. Notice any problems? Here are a few:
1. Uneven shadows. This is tricky to avoid, depending on where the light source is, but a more stunning photo would’ve displayed shadows in the right places. Take note of the lighting on the petals above – some areas are dark, and some are overexposed.
2. Over saturation. Sometimes too much colour (especially red!) becomes overpowering, and actually mutes some of the details on the petals. The image above is okay, but if it were slightly less saturated, more intricacies within the flower may have been visible.
3. Missing sharpness/clarity. The photo above shows a lot of clarity on the big leaf, which I love, but notice that the flower lacks detail. Compared to the leaf, it seems a bit washed out. In any macro photography, sharpness and detail are crucial, so I’m not super happy with this shot. I boosted the exposure on the plumeria because it was initially underexposed, but in doing so, lost some of its detail.
I know I’m being critical here (I do still like these photos ), but it’s important to see your mistakes in order to improve!
Have a look at these links for some more photography techniques:
I decided to try something a little out of my comfort zone with this photo of downtown Vancouver’s plethora of pigeons. Shall I call it abstract?
I’d love to hear what you think of it, whether or not you’d consider it abstract, or how it makes you feel (my good friend said this was her worst nightmare, for example ).
Leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks!
Want to see more black and white photos taken in Vancouver? Check this out:
Last month I was the photographer for the Kitsilano Literacy Skate hosted by the Kits Neighbourhood House. It was a fun event, combining skating with literacy games.
Even though I figure skated until high school (and it’s like riding a bike when I get back on the ice), I was still a bit nervous carrying my camera onto the cement-like surface (it just takes one crazy kid to ram into you…), but I was careful enough and my camera survived. Photographing on the rink was a learning process, so I wanted to share some thoughts with you!
Take Fun/funny shots: Little kids always work well for this, or any beginner skater for that matter. Whether they’re falling, teetering, or just in awe of the feeling of gliding on ice, they make for some entertaining poses. I thought this little girl was cute, trying with all her might to stand up. As you can see, she wasn’t having very much success…
Make use of the lighting: The ice gives you a nice reflective surface to bounce light back onto your subjects, which is great. Look up at the ceiling though – adjusting so the lights are in your frame can add another dimension, and create more spark. I loved this ceiling at the Kits ice rink!
Use blur in your images: Creating blur around a stationary object adds more mystique and depth to your images. I liked the shot below because not being able to see the kid’s face in the foreground makes you wonder how much it hurt when he fell, and how hard his collision was…
Watch for grey ice in your shots: As you may have noticed, I haven’t nailed this down. Some of my shots have sort of grey ice, which is mainly to avoid washing out any texture. Sometimes you have to sacrifice detail in order to get the colour you want (the mini Luongo dude below is an example), but be aware of your white balance setting.
Look for memorable/emotional images: This little guy made my heart melt, wearing a mini Canucks jersey. Who knows, maybe he’ll be playing for his city in the not so distant future 
.
I’m hoping no one has any any tragic camera-breaking-while-on-the-ice moments, but feel free to share your own stories .
Is it possible to get quality shots without studio lighting? Well you can be the judge of that, but I'd like to think so ;). For my shoot with the lovely miss Jessica, I positioned her near a large window, so we had a lot of natural light that illuminated her face really nicely.
Now don't get me wrong, I didn't just use natural lighting for this shoot. I also used a Speedlite 580EXII as a fill light by bouncing it off the walls. Confused? What I mean is, I pointed my speedlite up toward the ceiling or side walls to bounce the light coming from the flash off the wall and back onto Jessica, to illuminate the areas that needed a bit more light. Without it, there would've been too much contrast between the lit areas and shadowed parts. I never pointed the flash directly at her (a big no-no unless you use a diffuser to soften the light), because the light would have been too harsh.
I wanted a soft flattering light for this shoot, but if I had chosen to go for a darker mood, perhaps just using black and white, then more contrast may have looked cool. Just pay attention to the shadows in your images to see whether they're adding to or taking away from the feel of your photo.
I shot with a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens to get this shallow depth of field (Jessica's hand appears blurry while her face, which is quite close to her hand, is in focus). It was a very cold, rainy day (big surprise for Vancouver), and Jessica wasn't all that keen to touch the freezing window, but this ended up being one of her favourite shots, so I'm glad she stuck it out! Thanks Jess!
Overcast days may not seem like the best times for photo shoots, but the lighting is actually good because it's not as intense as a sunny day. In fact, avoid shooting midday unless it's overcast. Your subject may end up looking washed out!
Although it was chilly by the big window, it was worth it. Why? Big catchlights! See that lovely sparkle in Jessica's eye in the photo above? That's called a catchlight. Any light that hits the eyes can cause this, whether it's light coming from a window, flash, lightbulb, anywhere. You just need to play around with your subject's positioning to get the right angle for the light to be visible in the eye.
Always aim to get catchlights in the eyes! They makes your subject come alive!
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Do you want these smiley statues to stay in Vancouver? If so, you might want to let your city know…
It has until August 2012 to buy the “A-maze-ing Laughter” statues from the artist (Yue Min-jun) for $1.5 million, otherwise they will be taken down.
I love these statues, and how much joy & interest they bring to the city. Common, you can’t help but smile when you see them . They’re iconic to Vancouver, so let’s make sure they stay here!
Check out this article for more details and how to help out.
Want to add your two cents on the statues? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks everyone!
Here’s more black & white imagery in Vancouver:
Ever see something you’re dying to photograph, but hesitate, and then convince yourself not to take your camera out? I feel you, having struggled with this for ages. Why? One simple word: Fear.
I always worried about looking like a tourist, an amateur, and a plain idiot. People would stare at me while I crouched on the ground, and I knew they were wondering, “What on earth is she taking a picture of? What is so interesting about a (insert random object here)?”
There was a time when I wouldn’t venture downtown on my own to take photos, feeling too timid to whip out my camera. I’ll admit, I still struggle with this, but I’m getting better.
Having just watched Banksy’s awesome documentary on street art, Exit Through The Gift Shop, I was gravitating toward graffiti, so I made my way to Gastown. I had people giving me weird looks as I walked down dark dirty alleys with my camera in hand. But I didn’t mind. I just wanted to get some cool shots. I think the picture below is fitting considering later in January we start the year of the dragon . Want to know where this is? You’ll have to go searching!
If you’re feeling apprehensive about snapping away like a tourist, relax! Here are a few things that might help:
- Set goals for yourself that scare you a bit (ex. go to 5 busy places and start taking photos). Take your fear head on!
- If you’re photographing people, remember, everyone tends to love the attention of getting their picture taken.
- Who cares what people think! So they assume you’re a tourist, so what? (I’ve had several people ask me where I’m from…in my own city).
- So people stare, it’s human nature to be curious. Let them be. Don’t worry about them (unless one is a creepy man in a trench-coat).
- Think of the amazing photo you could get, and what you’d be missing out on if you don’t take the shot. You’ll improve your photography skills so much more by simply getting out there.
For this last shot I was nearly lying on the ground I was so low, in order to get the perspective & angle I wanted. Did people see me? Yip. Did they laugh at how silly I looked? Probably, but c’est la vie.
Now to face another personal challenge: mustering up the courage to photograph more strangers…
Aww mother daughter love. Thinking back to my teenage years I can just imagine how much stress I caused my mom; so it was refreshing to shoot this loving mother-daughter duo. Unlike many mother/teenage daughter combos, these two got along so well that it was such a treat.
Here are some portrait tips based on what I did during this fun shoot.
1. Pick cool but unobtrusive backgrounds: Gastown in Vancouver is a great location for unique background imagery that isn’t too distracting. The old brick and cobblestone streets are my favourite, so we took advantage of the setting, trying a few different locations within the area.
Once you know where you want to shoot…
2. Have fun with your subjects, let them play around and be themselves: I wanted to get both fun, carefree shots, as well as more thought-provoking, non-standard images. But most of all, I wanted these two young ladies to be comfortable, so I let them try what felt right, while talking and joking with them to keep the vibe light and fun. Getting your subject to relax and be comfortable is your number one priority when doing portraits – if they’re not comfy in their own skin it will show through in all your images!
3. Shoot from an angle, or get your subject to angle her body: Either shoot from the side, or looking up/down, or else direct your subject so they’re facing the camera at an angle. Whatever you do, don’t shoot straight on! Side angles tend to be a lot more flattering and slimming (picture a photo of yourself taken straight on with your hands awkwardly hanging at your sides, versus one of you angled slightly – which one looks slimmer? More intriguing? Sexier? You get the drift). Also, shooting at an angle creates another effect – you can have one person in focus, while the other person in the background (or foreground if you prefer) is slightly out of focus, making the main subject stand out a bit more, and creating more depth within the image (see the photo above).
Side note: If you’re shooting in b&w, creating a subtle vignette in post-production can really help your subjects stand out. The above photo shows a vignette where the sides and corners are darker and less clear than the rest of the image, putting more emphasis on the young ladies.
4. Lighting – illuminate the face: You may even want to overexpose your subjects compared to rest of the image to make them stand out. But more importantly, watch out for shadows on face – some are good (for example, a shadow over one side of the face can create more mystique and be slimming), but you don’t want dark circles under eyes, making your subject look tired.
5. Smiles are by no means a must: Don’t always make your subjects smile or look at the camera. A nice smile is stunning, but posed smiles can sometimes look, well, posed…and inauthentic. A huge smile can also distort the face in a less flattering way (making the eyes smaller, for example). Even if the smiles are great (see above ), shots without smiles can be very powerful and more thought-provoking. So encourage your subjects to relax, and play with different expressions, even just looking off into the distance.
Have fun with your portraits! If you have any comments or questions leave them in the comments section below .
Want to read more about portrait photography? Check these out:
What a challenge! With low, less-than-ideal lighting, and having to fight off die-hard fans, it can be quite difficult to get good shots. The ones I’ve posted are few pics from an awesome Vancouver concert featuring the Matt Webb Band (above: Matt Webb from Marianas Trench – yes, that’s a thong hanging from his mic! One enthusiastic fan threw it at him…). I wasn’t overly pleased with the shots that I got, but learned a lot from the experience. I thought I’d share some of the tips I learned the hard way…
1. Get there early to claim dibs on the best spot: Even if you have a back stage pass, you’ll want to get some shots from in front/near the front of the stage, where many a fanatical fan will be vying for the best spot (when you scroll down you’ll notice a dark haze of fans obstructing my vision in photo #2). So when shooting at a concert, get there early to stake out your territory!
2. Boost your ISO: If the lighting is low, boost your ISO! (Sorry, didn’t mean to make that rhyme – I swear I’m not that nerdy…maybe). If you use an ISO of 100 or 200 you won’t get a clear shot! It’s possible if you happen to have a tripod with you (and no fans knocking it over), but you’ll still need a fast enough shutter speed to capture the band in focus if they’re moving around. So boost your ISO – yes, your photos will have a lot of noise (that grainy look that doesn’t appear as sharp), but at least you’ll have a better chance of getting clear images.
3. Get the band in the action: Rather than just photographing their smiles, get them while they’re jamming! I was hoping to get more good shots of Andrew Twining, Matt Webb, & Mike Twining (from the Matt Webb band) rocking out/jumping on stage, but alas, it was not to be…
4. For an extra effect: Try using a shutter speed that will make your musician’s face look sharp, but will blur the hand strumming the guitar (see the top photo of Matt Webb).
5. Shoot/do post production in black and white: You don’t have to do b&w, but I prefer it for concerts photos (or at least low saturation), unless the lighting is interesting/different (I kind of like how the blue light came across in the last photo). Saturation, if you’re wondering, refers to how much colour is in the image. When the lighting isn’t amazing, the colours tend to be distracting or off-putting, and b&w images come across as more powerful.
What do you guys think? Do you prefer the b&w, low saturation, or blue shot?! And who else enjoyed this wicked concert!?!
Hello! I'm Amanda Webb, welcome to my blog :)
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