Stories & How-to’s
Photographer’s comfort, fear, and my Belize adventure
{I wrote this yesterday before Boston’s tragedy – I think the fear part will ring true with MANY of us} Photography is what brings me comfort. It’s how I show love to the world – it’s how I make people smile and remember that there IS goodness on the planet. After Jim died, though, it was nearly impossible for me to pick up my camera. A few weeks after he passed away, I shot a maternity session for a great friend. On the way home got physically ill on the side of Highway 13 because all I could think about is that I did not want her to ever lose someone like I did. I became consumed by fear for my friends and family. All I could...
Read MoreTravel Sessions and a Visit to the Franklin County Dog Shelter in Columbus, OH
I was already doing furchild sessions when the John & Schoep photo went nuts – but the publicity I have gotten from it has led to some AMAZING opportunities to both travel for sessions, and give back to the rescue community. Last week I traveled to Columbus, OH to take photos of two absolutely gorgeous German Shepherds. While I was there a local photographer, Mike Chambers, invited me to tour the new Franklin County Dog Shelter. This place is amazing! Its bright, beautiful, relaxing for the animals (semi-soundproof rooms – yay!), powered partially by solar, and a LEEDS building. The staff is so friendly, and obviously much happier to be there than...
Read MoreStop Action with Panning – the Monday How-To
Stop action shots are not all about standing still and capturing a moment in time. They are more of an amazing photographic dance with your body showing the moment and rhythm of your subject. (Yes I am a dork, but that’s how I best describe it ) The key to getting these stop action shots are not always fast shutter speeds – its coordinating the movement of your subject with your body movement. You want to match your body movement to the speed of the subject, sweeping along and turning as it moves towards you or by you. This is technically called “panning”. Here are some simple steps to building your “stop action...
Read MoreNatural Curiosity – Photo How – To
Capturing different perspectives is key to engaging photographs. The human brain is used to seeing things a certain way, so when we take a photo in a new or different way, the viewer is immediately drawn in to the photo. If you are taking photos of animals, you can photograph a different perspective by engaging the animal’s natural curiosity. Do not make them sit still. Let them move close to you, let them check you out, and you will take photos that really reflect who they are as creatures! Keep snapping away – you’ll be amazed by what you get. Here are some examples: This is Scout on my lap looking up at me. He always lays there while I am...
Read MoreKid & Kid – Story Behind the Image
I have hard drives full of photos I haven’t gone through in a very long time, and I’m picking my favorite images once a week and going deeper into them – both storywise and technically. I have the horrid habit of taking a photo, falling in love with it, and then forgetting about it two days later. It’s professional photographer job hazard . This photo of Aidyn and Andy the Goat is one of my all time favorites! I went with the idea of just getting some fun shots of the goats at Sassy Nanny, but Aidyn decided he would show me his friend. I shot it with my Canon 24-70 2.8 at ISO 400, f2.8 @ 1/2500, and then in post converted it to...
Read MoreThe Seattle Adventure – Meeting Team Wyla
The most amazing opportunities have landed in my lap since I took that photo of my friend and his dog! One of these was a chance to fly to Seattle to spend 24 hours documenting the amazingness of Team Wyla. Honestly, this post has been hard for me to write, because Wyla’s story is one that all animal lovers can relate to, especially me. Wyla was a beautiful dog whose body became overtaken by spinal and brain tumors. I say “was” because she passed away last week. It was like she waited for me to arrive so I could take photos of her humans and her together. Jaime, Wyla’s mommy, is a photographer as well, so though many photos have been...
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