TWO WAYS TO DO CAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATURAL LIGHT

As a professional photographer, one of the ways we practice is to photograph things we own. So, wether it’s a car or motorcycle, of which I’ve had many over the past 50 years, I’ve usually preferred to do them by Natural Light.  Since I want dramatic lighting the two basic times of day to use are in the evening or in the morning.  I usually go for evening “Magic Hour” as it’s easy to work with and I can consistently achieve great results.  However, for a portrait of our latest Jeep I wanted backlit fall colors behind my Jeep and in my location of choice that was happening in the morning at the River’s Edge in Eagle, Idaho. What was interesting at this spot was the unusual lighting.

It’s Mixed Morning Light….

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 142mm

What I mean by mixed morning light is that we have different color temperatures of light on the car. On the left we have warm direct sunlight (low angle sun at 10:30am) and on the right we have cool, blue, sky light. In post I brought the highlights and whites down a lot and you can see that those highlights on the right hand side of the car are not clipping. Then I warmed the image to 5450°K to a more pleasing tone for those fall colors.  The car photography specialists would probably not like using mixed color temperature lighting, but I like this image—it’s different.

Then there’s the Magic Hour at Sunset…

f5.0 @ 1/320 se.c, ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

It’s hard to beat this kind of outdoor Natural Light on anything!  It’s warm, directional, smooth and a single color temperature. This was done out in my son’s “backyard” in Lancaster, California about 10 minutes before sunset.

I really like both images for different reasons. What’s your preference?

’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

HONORING OUR VETERANS WITH PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITS

On Monday November 11th we celebrated Veteran’s Day doing portraits of our veterans! This great event all came about when we donated one of our charitable gift certificates for a family portrait to the Edgewood Spring Creek Eagle Island fund raiser in their silent auction.  We donate these gift certificates to about 25 different charities every year.  Soon after they contacted us with their idea of a Veterans’ Day portrait event to be held at their facility.  The event called, “Honor, Salute, THANK” would include portraits of veterans living at their facility (they have an independent, assisted living and memory care facility) and other facilities in the area. Edgewood would cover the cost of a 5x7” color print & folder to be given to each veteran and we would donate all of our labor. With military on both sides of our family—my father-in-law; Navy, WWII; my father, USAF, Korea; and my brother; Army, Military police—we didn’t hesitate to go all-in for this event.

Some were formal-in dress uniforms.

When the other veterans saw this gentleman walk in one quipped, “Even if I could find my old uniform I could never fit into it today!”  After each veteran had his portrait done they tended to hang around to raz each other and talk shop about their tours of duty in various wars. They all had a good time and really appreciated what we were doing.

Most were casual with their special hats.

I liked this one because he brought some memorabilia and when I saw the 8x10 print of his official Army portrait I had him pose with it to ad to his story.

Kathi and I had so much fun doing their portraits! We want to thank all of our vets for spending time with us and also want to thank everybody at Edgewood Spring Creek Eagle Island that assisted us in making this event a success; and a special shout-out to Cindy Barsness—Sales & Public Relations Director—who put this great event together!

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

FALL COLORS AND FAMILY PORTRAITS WITH PETS

We are fortunate here in our part of Idaho (Meridian, Boise, Eagle) to have many pet friendly parks with great trees and features where we can pose family groups, and then it just gets better when fall arrives!  Unfortunately, every other photographer in the valley knows this and if our clients insist on a weekend session our parks can become so crowded that it can spoil the experience for all of us.  However, since I’m so picky about when and where I do our outdoor portraits our only real problem at say Kathryn Albertson Park on a Saturday is finding a place to park.  So, to reduce these problems I try to book most outdoor sessions during the work week, avoiding the weekend, at about two hours before sunset.  

The first part of this planning is obvious, avoid the crowds, but the second part, two hours before sunset, is tactical and technical. Most outdoor photographers think that they must be out there at the so called Magic Hour and so they go out later than I do—which is fine by me—because then I’m leaving the park when they’re arriving! That’s the tactical part, but the important technical part is that the sun in Idaho never gets very high in the sky and at two-hours before sunset it’s plenty low enough to get me the backlight I want to create a fall like look even in the summer. I’ve found that if I’m out there during the last hour of light I can get sun flare in my lens while trying to get backlight behind my subjects. Unlike some trendy photographers I hate flare in my images; lens flare equals soft, fuzzy, portraits and a loss of color density—my clients want great fall colors!

Here’s what I’m talking about….

f6.3 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 105mm

Because I have my lighting taken care of and know how it will look at all my favorite spots, for any time of the year, in my favorite parks (this is Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise, Idaho) all I have to concentrate on are my clients, and in this case, their dogs as well.

Once we do a family pose and the kids we ask about special poses.  They requested individuals of the kids with their favorite dog. So, we used the log to the left of the tree…

f6.3 @ 1/160 sec., Iso 800; Lens @ 200mm

We like to use a seated pose of individuals with their pets to get their heads closer together in the portrait.  Then, in this case, I’m on my knees to bring her head in alignment with that nice glow in the background. In addition, I zoom in to 200mm to knock the background out-of-focus.

f6.3 @ 1/60 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 135mm

Using the same basic set-up with the boy we managed to get their big black lab on the log next to the boy. It took several attempts, but with my wife’s use of our squeaker toy, we managed to get the dog’s curious attention!

Moving to a different spot to give the clients at least one other family portrait look…

 f5.6 @ 1/160 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 135mm

This spot peaked in its fall look in the mid-week sessions we did here; by the following weekend it was all on the ground.

TECH NOTE:

Even at 1 1/2 to 2 hours before sunset I still had to bump my ISO up to 800 in order to get the f-stop for adequate depth-of-fleld. If I tried to use the last hour of light my ISO would have to be pushed to at least 1600—not my favorite thing to do with family portraits!

’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER'S TAKE ON FALL COLORS; PART 2

In part one I mentioned that I don’t do Autumn photography like most photographers. I find the big fall colors landscapes of a forrest of color worth little more than a passing glance. Personally I marvel at the details in nature, so even if I capture a whole tree or two I usually chop-up the scene in post creating interesting compositional crops. The preferred method is to start with a smaller scene and then zoom-in to create several different sub-compositions to show more detail.

One of my favorite settings to capture these artistic compositions is on the edges of tree lined ponds of which there are several here in Eagle, Idaho.

I’m looking for the reflections of autumn colors…

f14.0 @ 1/125th sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 60mm

I usually start in the morning because I’m also looking for backlight in the trees. On this morning we had a breeze and even some gusts of wind that made some ripples in the water. Those ripples created these nice abstract reflections of the tree’s fall colors around this pond. Without the leaves in the water this would be a total abstract. The leaves ground this image in reality and provide more interest and an extra center of interest.

Not content to leave it alone…

f14.0 @ 1/125th sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 60mm

I like this piece of the original, so I cropped in post, to simplify the composition. Now it’s getting somewhat surreal!  I like it.  

Then, towards sunset, at a bigger pond in Eagle…

f11.0 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 280mm

As usual, I was walking around with my lens @ 200mm to narrow my view. I had even added my 1.4x extender on it to bring it to 280mm. So, even though the view here appears large, it’s only a piece of the scene. What the lens adds is its compression effect to the scene bringing the foreground tree and ducks closer to the background. 

At still another pond in the afternoon…

f9.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

Looking for backlit leaves I found this little tree that had sprouted up in the shadow of a row of big evergreen trees. The backlight made its colors stunning. I really like that I had to frame this up to include the out of focus limbs of the evergreen trees. It really shows how these huge evergreens are dominating this little tree’s environment.

Time will tell it can flourish in that environment….’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client stie: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKE ON FALL COLORS; PART 1

In my 40 years doing fine art photography, in multiple Western states, it has only been these last ten years in Idaho that my fall colors portfolio has truly blossomed. I’ve never experienced such vibrant, colorful, and varied autumn colors until we moved from California to Idaho. My biggest complaint about fall colors in California—we lived in Silicon Valley—was that all the best colorful trees were in the parking lots of malls and businesses!

When we do portraits our favorite park is Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise. It’s good all year, but it’s exceptional in the fall.  However, if I want the more vivid fall colors for my fine art I’ll look towards Meridian, but for the best variety of colors, with the addition of water features, I always drive a couple miles into Eagle, Idaho. The key to great fall photography is to revisit the good spots periodically—at least every week in October. 

My recent images from Eagle, Idaho….

f11.0 @ 1/40 sec.,ISO 400; Lens @ 15mm

This was done at 11am to get the rising sun backlighting this marvelous tree.

TECH NOTE:  If you want great color and detail in leaves use backlight NOT front light, Front light hides detail and will often blow-out, clipping your high lights, on the shiny surfaces of the leaves.

This composition is about as big as I go with fall trees. I’ll pick ONE tree and then go in for details. I don’t photograph Forests; the best thing about autumn is in the details.

TECH NOTE:  With backlight and proper exposure our fall colors don’t need much work in Photoshop. For this image I reduced highlights and lowered blacks. I only bumped Vibrance +10 and Saturation +8.

MY PHILOSOPHY:  You can reveal more about a subject by showing less.  That means I zoom-in or crop…

f11.0 @ 1/250th sec., Iso 400; Lens @ 105mm

So, I stand INSIDE the tree looking towards the sun and pick a branch with some great backlit leaves. In addition, I move so that the background is darker behind the leaves to really make them “pop” off the background.

Then I move in on a special leaf….

f11.0 @ 1/200 se.c, ISO 400; Lens @ 105mm

I really like these leaves at this stage of fall. You can see the autumn colors progressing through the leaves like a slowly advancing virus.

An Eagle water feature….

 f9.0 @ 1/60 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 70mm

This pond, a favorite haunt of local ducks, is on the edge of a housing development. With the trees around it I look for the reflection of their fall colors in the water to align with features on the edge of the pond. I like to create compositions that include foreground, mid-ground  and background interest.

Hope you enjoyed this years fall colors and I will share more next week.  ’Til then…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training Site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client Site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

EQUINE-MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY COMBINED

We’ve done a lot of photography of people with their horses and many maternity sessions of our clients, as well, over the years, but this was the only time the two types of photography got combined.  It turned out to be a very special session for all of us.

One of our challenges was the posing of this gal with her horse. One of our mainstays in equine photography was of the owner in mounted poses with their horse. In this type of session I wasn’t even going to ask for that! Only if SHE volunteered a mounted pose would that happen. 

However, the standing poses worked just fine….

f8.0 @ 1/800 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

She said her horse was her first baby. They had an obvious connection to each other that showed in all our images.  

A full view of her with her big baby…

f5.6 @ 1/500 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 75mm

We normally discourage people wearing white in portraits sessions, but in this session the color harmony with her in white was perfect.

A special close-up moment…

f5.0 @ 1/800 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

We started about an hour and a half before sunset for some directional lighting and to control the level of light in the background. Then I use the most telephoto focal length I can—in this case 200mm—to blur out my background (bokeh is great!) isolating my subjects.

Next time you get the chance try something fun…’til next week.

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

WHY H.S. SENIORS ARE SO FUN TO PHOTOGRAPH!

High School Seniors Photography is among the most creative types of photography. Why? Because we’re photographing an individual we don’t have to worry about group composition and the space it takes to place a group within an outdoor background or a studio set. We are free to creatively use the many small niches in the outdoor environment that we don’t normally use. In addition we can do more variety in poses, with more interesting standing poses, that don’t work for groups. Then there are the clothing changes, something we don’t have time for in group portraits, that can really add creative variety to a session. And since the clothes matter to teens these different outfits tell us something about them. After all isn’t that why we’re doing their portraits at this pivotal moment in their lives?

One of my favorite types of sessions is what we call the Dual Senior Session.  This is where we do both a studio and an outdoor session—usually on the same day. These sessions are far more challenging, but can reveal a lot more about them as well. And because the environment, the background, the depth and lighting is so radically different in our outdoor versus our studio sessions the teens often act differently—the whole look is fundamentally different.  

This young lady is a good example….

f11.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 200, Lens @ 110mm

The parents always want their kids to smile in portraits and we do our best to accommodate them, but sometimes the child won’t comply.  This gal had a definite, single minded, style she wanted to portray in the studio. We can relate to most parents. Our oldest son would rarely smile in front of the camera. I actually like this portrait of her—It has emotional content that is real. It tells me more about her than would a cheesy smile.

Then we went to a local park…

f4.5 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 123mm

 Now, she’s really cutting loose!  This was the smile she gave us; this is her persona. We were happy with the results and so were her parents.

Another reason we do a Dual Senior Session is when the clients need a formal studio session for the yearbook in addition to the usual outdoor session.

This young man was really easy to work with….

f11.0 @ 1/200 se., ISO 200; lens @ 165mm

I loaned him one of my tuxedos for his yearbook formal (we also provide the black drape for the gals). Then as part of our service we take care of getting their formal image to the yearbook staff at their High School.  

Then off to the park for casual portraits…

 f4.5 @ 1/200 sec., SIO 400; Lens @ 222mm

Both of these outdoor sessions were done in the fall—our favorite time of the year here in Idaho. These were done in early and late October where we go out about two hours before sunset.

My style is to only use outdoor locations that are lit by the setting sun—so that when I place my subjects the sun is setting behind them.  Then I knock it all out of focus with a relativity wide aperture and as much telephoto lens as I can bring to bear.  

That’s it for this week….as usual don’t hesitate to ask questions…happy to answer you….

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

OUTDOOR BRIDAL PORTRAITS AT THE WRONG TIME OF DAY

My speciality is environmental natural light portraits. So, when doing family, high school seniors, or any individual portraits outside I decide when we start the photography session. I also usually decide where the session is done from my list of great locations. Since I want every session to be fabulous I need to control as many variables as possible in my portraits. That’s why I have our outdoor sessions start about 2 hours before sunset, depending on the location. Then we work the location saving the best spots for the “magic hour lighting”. Well, then there’s wedding photography; not the best field of photography for a control freak! With my 30+ years as a full time professional photographer nothing has been more challenging than doing weddings. Facing that challenge has made me a much better photographer in every area of my business.

Sometimes you only have 2 minutes to decide where and how you’re going to “get the shot”…

f4.5 @ 1/500sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

It’s 3 o’clock on a very bright, clear, summer day at the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California. Obviously not my favorite time of day and the bride wants an image on the bridge—the most open area of the gardens. I oblige my client giving them what they ask for and then I move on to MY choice of location. 

Using my lens at 200mm with an aperture of f4.5, I blur out the background giving me some nice bokeh and isolating her.

Next I moved her into the shade…

f5.6 @ 1/800 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

Putting her into the shade of a big tree gave me the soft light I wanted on her face. Then I looked for some less harsh background light I could de-focus, creating separation against her face and the black wig. It required very careful framing to get the separation around her wig—especially the upper right hand quadrant.

Then I moved her again…

f4.0 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 400; lens @ 200mm

Using this large canvas, created by a visiting Japanese artist, created a relevant background and it blocked the strong direct sunlight behind it. An easy exposure using open sky creating soft light.  

At another shady area….

f4.0 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800, Lens @ 120mm

Well known for their bamboo gardens I wanted some as a background. This was done in front of the visitor’s center. I liked the spotty backlight—I just made sure that her face stayed in the shade.

Then I moved her into the sunlight…

 f4.0 @ 1/800 sec., ISO, 400; Lens @ 200mm

Now I’m letting the sun light-up her white translucent shroud. This created a soft box effect—except her head is inside the soft-box!

This bridal session was challenging, but with such a great subject I was motivated to create something she would always cherish. We had a lot of fun too!

I’m open to questions…have a great day, until next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

STUDIO EXECUTIVE PORTRAITS OF WOMEN

Here at The Storytellers we don’t do “head-shots”. We don’t even use the term with clients; it’s always Executive Portraits. These sessions are custom tuned to the look they want combined with our advice gleaned from over 25 years of studio photography experience.

A vital part of each session is the clothing consultation. We advise that more clothing coverage is better than less. The more skin you show the more it takes attention away from the face. That’s why we recommend long sleeves and at most “V” necks. If we’re doing any standing poses we suggest pants or a dress at knee length. Then we move on to clothing colors and picking a background that will compliment those colors. When done right we have color harmony…

f11.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO, 200; Lens @ 120mm

When we told this gal about our backgrounds and mentioned our Tuscan, hand painted, muslin, in brown tones with hints of blue highlights, she put together an outfit that was in perfect color harmony and looked great on her!

Here’s the studio lighting set-up….

Studio Set-up

This is my basic 3-Light set-up.

• Main Light: Photoflex, 7 foot, OctoDome
• Hair Light: Larson, 9x24”, strip-light
• Background Light: one Norman head with grid
• Reflector: Soft white, 42”, Photoflex

Then we changed the background….

f11.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 200; Lens @ 150mm

We always do a series of seated poses with this level of framing—head and shoulders or a little wider—to give the client lots of choices This was her favorite image from the series.  

This particular pose is one of our “Power Poses”. In this pose we have the client lean forward slightly with an elbow on a knee.  This put her face forward of her tummy; when the face is closer to the camera than the tummy the size of the tummy is reduced.  It’s a standard pose for men to slim them, but obviously works well with a woman that is comfortable with it!  

’Til next week…..

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE WITH THEIR PETS

Our pets are only with us for so long. That’s why when we get portrait inquires and they ask if we will photograph their pets, in addition to them and their family, we always say Yes!  They also ask if we charge extra for pets or extended family; to that we always say No! We do not put-up roadblocks to potential clients. 

This portrait session was a fun, simple session of just this lady and her dog done outside in a dog’s natural environment.   You can see these two had a strong connection..

f6.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

I really like it when we can get images of people and their pets interacting with each other. It’s not that easy to capture because often the pet is distracted by all of the people, kids, and other animals passing through the park especially on a weekend. That’s why we suggest to our clients that portrait sessions are best done during the week.   

Here’s the more formal portrait…

f6.2 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 150mm

I love the old fence here at Merrill Park, Eagle, Idaho. At this point, since they aren’t interacting, it’s obvious her dog is now on guard duty!

So, back to some storytelling….

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., Iso 800; Lens @ 200mm

Sitting them on the grass, where I also had a better fall colors background, helped to reestablish that connection.  Dogs outside, in the park, are just like kids. They’re easily distracted and often reach their limit when a portrait session goes longer than 45 minutes.

 f6.3 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 170mm

Her dog, at this point, would no longer look towards me and my camera. She’s saying, “I think he’s done!”  That means we then move on to this lady’s individual portraits without her dog. She loved the images we got of the two of them and scheduled another portrait session in our studio for just her.

That’s it for this week….As always don’t hesitate to ask any questions…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

PROFILE LIGHTING IN THE STUDIO

Because we have total control of lighting in the studio it is the best environment to create dramatic lighting. It’s all about direction of light and creating shadows. The fastest way to kill dramatic lighting is the use of a fill light.   That’s why I quit using any fill light in my studio over ten years ago. The most I use to soften shadows is a reflector—and even then I usually use a soft white; rarely do I use silver. 

One of the most dramatic lighting pattens used in the studio is Profile Lighting. In Profile Lighting even the reflector is not needed…

f13.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 200; Lens @ 105mm

Profile Lighting is a simple 3-Light setup:

• The Main Light is at 90° relative to camera with the subject looking towards the light.
• One grided background light (set @ f8.0)
• One Hair light (set @ f11.0)

It’s simple in the number of lights used, but as usual, the placement and intensity of each light is critical in a successful outcome.

Here’s the original color studio image…

Original Color Image

Nowhere near as dramatic as my final Black and White image this was just my raw material to start with. In our film days this would have been our stopping point!

Processing the file:

• I first opened it in NIK’s Silver Efex Pro 2, single image, Tone Mapping; Used Deep 2.
• B&W conversion in NIK’s Silver Efex Pro 2 using their Fine Art preset-modified to my taste.
• Noise reduction in NIK’s Define 2.

It’s remarkable how far we can take a digital file today to create our vision of a final image. However, it’s still important that we start with a good basic image; with highlights controlled and Light and Shadows where we want them.

As always, don’t hesitate to ask questions…’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

MULTI-FAMILY GROUP PORTRAITS OUTSIDE

One of our specialties is doing family portraits, multi-family groups and the occasional family reunion; the more the merrier!  Because of our wedding background, we have considerable experience in putting groups together both indoors and outdoors. But our favorite is doing so outside, by natural light, in nice park-like environments—especially in the fall. We start with the most difficult portrait first, when at all possible, the formal large group—especially when there are small kids in the image.  Then we do the family sub-groups, the grand or great grand kids with grandma and grandpa and finally a fun one of the whole group…

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., ISO 1000; Lens @ 70mm

At this point we didn’t care if the kids got dirty, so we had everybody throw the fall leaves in the air!  You can tell they were now free to enjoy themselves; the parents as well!   This image was done just 45 minutes before sunset, so the light is really nice with the sun setting behind them. 

We usually start our outdoor sessions about two hours before sunset and since not everybody had arrived at the park yet we started with some individual family groups….

f7.1 @ 1/80 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 90mm

For this session we didn’t need to use our posing rocks—the park’s rocks worked just fine. Again, I placed this group with the setting sun behind them to get that nice back-lit glow in the leaves.

When everyone finally arrived we did our first group portrait…

f7.1 @ 1/80 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 75mm

I like this setting with the back-lit fall colors behind them and the unusual contrast with the rock bench and column as places to put our subjects. Artistically the only thing that hurts this portrait are the clothing colors.  I always suggest that everyone settle on a maximum of two-colors that work together; like navy with burgundy or different shades of one-color (light to medium or medium to dark). That makes the group look more unified and then you can focus on the faces of the people in the portrait and not be distracted by the clothing.

Now this group of families did better…

f8.0 @ 1/60 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 57 mm

The different shades of blue and the tans and browns worked better together. For this group we used our posing rocks, so the we could have some people sitting giving us a nice variety of head heights.  We like to create triangles and/or diagonals with peoples’ faces in our group compositions. At the same time we keep each family sub-group together and place them around grandma and grandpa. How many triangles do you count?  

We’re looking forward to this year’s fall sessions in our great Boise and Meridian (Idaho) parks!

Don’t hesitate to ask questions….’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

STORYTELLING PHOTOGRAPHY AT EQUINE EVENTS

I’ve done a variety of equine photography over the years, but until I started doing photography at the Western Idaho State Fair I had never heard of draft horse log pulling competitions.  Upon seeing it listed in the fair event brochure with a start time of 7pm I knew it would at least have the benefit of some magic hour light, and that was enough for me to check it out!

When I got to the arena I was happy to see beautiful large horses and competitors with a lot of character and enthusiasm for their sport.  One of the good things about this sport is that it has action, but it’s slow…

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 70mm

You can see what I like about this light; It’s an hour before sunset making the direct sunlight striking my subjects controllable.

Really nice friendly people here, too…

f5.6 @ 1/640 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 88mm

A big part of my storytelling at these events is doing images of individual competitors for a glimpse of behind the scenes character.

An image to illustrate the competition…

The Competition

This shows the basic idea of the event; to guide the horses through the course and through the yellow course markers without knocking them down with the logs. It looks easy in the stills, but not so much in real life.

More of the character…

f5.6 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

Did I say they were friendly? And each had his own style—this guy had kind of a Hawaiian cowboy thing going on!

f6.3 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 120mm

She was obviously very serious about the draft course competitions, but she wasn’t there to just mind the horses….

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., Iso 800; Lens @ 150mm

She was in the competition using the same two-horse, two-log, rig as the men.  This image is nice because it illustrates how those logs, as they turn through the yellow course markers, can twist and roll creating a serious foot hazard to the competitors!  They had to be quick and nimble avoiding the errant logs while still guiding the horses through the next turn.

That’s why staying ON the logs was best…

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 90mm

This image sums up the classic Americana—with old glory flying in the background—of the State Fair here in Idaho.

I feel privileged to be here to document such things while they are still practiced.

’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

WHY AN ENGAGEMENT SESSION IS A MUST BEFORE YOUR WEDDING!

Having done wedding for over 25 years, my wife and I have always stressed the importance of having a professional engagement session done way before the wedding to validate your choice in a photographer for such an important event.  We thought the engagement session was so important that we have always included it as our gift to the bride and groom for choosing us as their wedding photographers. 

The engagement session is how we get to know the couple in a low stress environment, have some fun, and learn how they relate to each other, to us, and what they will or will not be comfortable with when in front of a camera.

The couple in the following images came to us a month after their wedding for an “engagement session” because they were not happy with their photographer’s images taken on their wedding day—especially those of just the two of them.  We took them to one of our favorite parks in Boise, Idaho—The Kathryn Albertson Park—and did portraits in several locations just like we would if they were about to be wedding clients.  

Besides doing looking at the camera, we also do pictorials…

f7.1 @ 1/125 sec., ISO 500; Lens @ 200mm

Pictorials are portraits designed as more artistic images of the couple relating to the environment instead of the camera. Composing this type of portrait with more space around the couple makes it ideal for a large wall print or a canvas wrap.

f7.1 @ 1/125 sec., ISO 500; Lens @ 200mm

When we have a couple with a major height difference…

First we show them a standard wedding pose that we try to avoid for couples of very different heights. Then we show them a different pose…

f6.3 @ 1/160 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

Our goal is to get their heads together in most poses so they can relate to each other. This is just one simple way to do that outdoors. 

We always do individual portraits, as well….

 f4.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 165mm

For these we always have the other half of the couple standing right next to my camera to get the best expression from their loved-one. 

Then we reverse it….

f4.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 165mm

We always do a bunch of poses in different areas of a park. We do the usual mushy stuff; looking at each other, kissing, holding hands walking….etc.

This last image was something different….

f6.3 @ 1/160 sec., ISO 500; Lens @ 200mm

They both liked this one a lot because it had a rather introspective mood to it. This was actually one of my color test images I always do to maintain proper “color temperature’ as the sun sets.

We never know what our couples will end up liking when they see their slide show later on!  Again, that’s why you should have your wedding photographer do the engagement session way before your wedding.. If you really don’t like those engagement images it gives you time to find another photographer to do your wedding!

As always should you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask…’Til next week

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com