Children At Play

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It's August in Texas and we all know what that means. HOT! Here are a few pictures of children beating the heat. They're in black and white because I was practicing some black and white photo techniques for a new product that I plan on offering. One of the pictures is not actually playing in the sprinkler, but I thought I'd just throw it in since it was taken the same day while I was doing some black and white practice.

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I Want Better Vacation Pictures

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Returning from our first camping trip in July I looked at all of the pictures taken and boy was I a little disappointed. There either weren't enough pictures taken or there were too many taken of stuff like walking sticks. There was also the problem of not really knowing how to use my wife's point and shoot digital camera.

Well, during our second camping trip I made sure to prepare...I actually read my wife's point and shoot camera manual. I found and dusted off an old film point and shoot camera and gave instructions to the kids to PHOTOGRAPH EVERYTHING that moves. Well, as a result we looked like the stereo typical Japanese tourist group. There were bodies running everywhere when the big yellow van stopped to take pictures. After all of the appropriate taking pictures of each other taking pictures was done, the troops set off to document the daily events. Well, I'm happy to report that we had a huge amount of pictures to sort through, but we also did much better documenting our vacation.

Also of note....I really have a renewed appreciation for Film. This picture was taken with a 15 year old pentax point and shoot camera using 400 ISO Fuji Reala film. The only thing done to it was raise the contrast just a tiny bit. I had it developed and scanned at Costco. I think I'll shoot more film in the future. I noticed that I have more keepers shooting film than with digital because I take the time to slow down and think.

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This picture was taken using a Nikon D70. I saw the setting sun filtering into our cabin and ran for the camera. I used Lightroom to add a slight vignette to the picture.

She Lost A Tooth But She Still Looks Charming

Here is Jacque who recently lost one of her front teeth. The mission was to make a new portrait to update Mom's wall, but Jacque didn't want to show her new "gap" in the front.. So, we decided to go for a different look. This image was converted to black and white and also retouched. It has a formal and slightly dramatic look. I hope you like it.

This portrait was done using a four light set-up and a reflector. One light on the background, one for the main light, one for the hair light, one for the fill light. The reflector was also used to control contrast on the shadow side of the face.

If you like the portrait, let me know.

Regards,

EJ

P.S. For Facebook users who see this post, you must select the BLUE link at the bottom of the entry that says "View Original Post" in order to see the images.

Now, I think I'm even cuter

I was just doing a little photoshop practice today. I'm taking two of the same images to show what a little skin softening can do for an image. This skin touch up was VERY slight. If you apply too much it can make the image begin to look like plastic. Which image do you prefer?

Thanks for looking.

EJ

I'm really cute now.

Another portrait day in Highland Village, TX.

This is another picture made during the June 26 session. Now, he's not trying to scare me and just playing around with me. This portrait is also one light and a reflector, but it was not converted to black and white.


Thanks for looking and Happy July 4th.

EJ

I'm really scary

It was hot today in Highland Vilalge, so Jonathan was more than happy to play with me in front of the camera. He put on his scary face, growled.and did his best to scare me.


This image was converted to black and white and then some simple burn and dodging was also done to personal taste. This image was a simple one light set up with one reflector. There were also some less scary images made which I'll post later.

I hope you enjoy.

EJ

A Boy and His Toys

Sometimes you have to distract them in order to get them to cooperate.  This little guy was having a great time playing while I talked to him and took some portraits.


If you'll notice, the second picture shows more contours of the face.  This was achieved by allowing the subject to be just a little more back lit.  These images were done with a 3 light setup using white vinyl as the backdrop.

Playing with Composites

These images were created using some creative photoshop techniques.  Hopefully, I'll be offering these as some children specials soon.

The end result:

Portraits At The APC

Just a couple of portraits taken at the APC in Lewisville. It 's always a great time visiting with John and Judy along with the children.

This was a 2 light set up using a reflector. The space was kind of tight so I kept the lighting very simple.

Looking For Thomas

Note: The blue background picture, #1, was actually done on purpose. There was enough of an amber gel used on Jonathan so that he would not be blue like the background is.

This was an afternoon on the railroad tracks in Highland Village, TX. Jonathan was busy looking for Thomas and I was busy trying to take good portraits of a fast moving 2 year old.

It was a lot of fun, but also had some technical challenges. One of them was trying to deal with the setting sun in the west. With a fast moving subject I opted to use a Nikon SB-800 set at about -2 to sometimes -3 ev. I had to stay at or below 1/500 shutter speed in order for the light to synch. If I was opting for a shallower depth of field I shut the flash off and used only natural light trying to be careful of not allowing the horizon enter into the picture too much since Jonathan was backlit. If I didn't watch that the background would have been bright white which I felt would be distracting.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

EJ

Little Patriots

These Portraits were done using two lights. One main light, an accent light and one reflector.. Since the children had fair hair I had to be careful not to use too much accent lighting or it would blow the highlights out of their hair. The kids had fun and I had a blast playing with them. I hope you like the portraits.


EJ