Pretty Skies

The weather in Michigan over the weekend was

SPECTACULAR!

I was so happy my daughter Lindsay was home

so I could snap some spring portraits of her.

I was going after the Monet painting look,

so I dressed her up in a fluttery, flowery

pink dress.

I've been making lots of headbands, and

decorating hats I find at thrift stores, so I wanted

to try them in some photos.

I was in the mood for PASTEL...

which means SPRING to me.

Note, she was still wearing green fingernail polish

from St. Paddy's Day..OOPS! 

The only thing missing on this

picture-perfect day was...

a pretty sky....

So, I added one:

Yep, this is the Monet painting look I wanted!

I used the same editing method I shared to add

wallpaper to a blank wall in

this blog post.

You can do it, too, on any photo

with a drab sky.

Go from this...

To this:

Play with the opacity so your new sky

matches the tone and mood of your photo.

In my pastel portraits,

the sky remains subtle, but adds a bit of color and interest.

My daughter took photos of me so I could

update my blog header for spring.

From this blown out sky...

To this pretty sky:

Whenever I see a pretty sky, I snap

some photos and keep them in a file folder called SKIES.

When I need one, I have lots to choose from.

I am sharing some of my sky photos here.

Feel free to snag them and use them in your photos.

They are free and can be used without credit.

But please don't sell them!

The sky's the limit for this project.

(Sorry I couldn't resist!)

Check out these links for more

great photography ideas and tips:

My 3 Boybarians

Violet's Mystical Violets

This is the story of five-year-old Violet

who is surrounded by love and her namesake flower...

and where these mystery flowers came from.

Violet's Grandma Rosemary was my

sister's, sister-in-law.  I met Rosemary

when I was 12 years old and when

my sister married her brother, I made

Rosemary adopt me as a sister, too!

She was warm and bubbly and loved

to cook and sing and laugh.  I adored her!

She also loved her granddaughter Violet

shown below with daddy Jason. (Rosemary's son.)

Shortly after that photo was taken, Rosemary

was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue.

Her disease devastated her body and

the family. 

Her son Jason, his wife Lynn and Violet

moved in with Rosemary to help care

for her.

When Rosemary could no longer speak,

it was two-year-old Violet who would

crawl onto Grandma's lap to soothe her.

Violet instinctively knew to be gentle,

and would "read" books to Grandma Rosemary.

Violet was a lovely blessing in

Rosemary's final year.

Soon after Rosemary died at the age of 56,  almost exactly two years ago,

Lynn was driving home after picking up

a quick McDonald's supper.

She heard Violet babbling from her

car seat strapped to the back seat.

"I'm feeding French fries to Grandma!" Violet calmly shared.

In the rearview mirror, Lynn could see her toddler

daughter holding up some fries.

Lynn could feel Rosemary's presence in the car

and sensed baby Violet was seeing her.

When they arrived home,

Violet continued to talk with Grandma.

Lynn said the house felt very heavy and she expected

someone to pop out from every room.

As Lynn put her to bed, Violet waved over Lynn's

shoulder and said "Night-night, Grandma ."

A few days later, Violet was playing with blocks on

the floor. She looked past Lynn and suddenly said,

"Oh, hi Grandma!"

Jason asked her if she saw Grandma, and

Violet said, "Daddy, she's standing right there!"

Neither Jason nor Lynn could see her.

Looks like Grandma Rosemary had an even

bigger surprise for Violet.

Jason and Lynn still live in Grandma Rosemary's house.

Jason said there were never any flowers in the back yard.

The spring after Rosemary died,

the back yard was miraculously covered in tiny

purple violets!

Jason and Lynn were astonished and enchanted

and knew it was a special gift planted by

a very special grandmother.

Jason posted these photos on Facebook of Violet with her

special violets this spring that popped up even thicker

than last year.

Jason was happy for me to share this story about

his dear mother so others will know

our loved ones who pass over

are still very much with us...

Panning Photos

Last summer when my husband and I were on

vacation in Whistler, British Columbia, I noticed

everyone was biking. They even have extensive

biking trails and obstacle courses.

I loved watching the bicycle acrobatics

and captured this fun shot as a FREEZE FRAME:

But I also wanted to try

Panning Shots to create movement in

the photos like these:

Even a blurry subject looks cool!

I was delighted to see that Sarah Halstead's

Tutorial Tuesday

is about Panning Shots.

She gives a great explanation of how to do it,

so check out her Naptime Momtog blog.

If you want to try this...look for subjects

that are moving either left to right or right to left

past your camera.

Using a longer shutter speed...up to 1 second...

as the subject enters the frame, pan with them

so they stay in somewhat focus while the

background blurs creating motion.

While in Whistler, I sat on a slight hill facing

a bicycle trail.

I didn't want to look like some kind of

strange stalker,

so I acted like I was photographing the

woods next to the trail and when

a bike whizzed by, I panned with it.

The bikers didn't even notice me.

I had a ton of DUD shots.

It takes LOTS of practice, but

try this with anything moving.

Try this with cars passing on a busy street

or a child running during a soccer game.

I changed my location because

I noticed some purple flowers a bit

farther down the trail...

I like the purple streaks in

the background.

So look for interesting objects

and colors in the background.

Last month, a mother hired me to

take hockey portraits of her ten-year-old son.

I remembered the panning shots

and tried them here.

I LOVE that he is blurry...

looks like neat ART!

She loved them, too!

This summer should provide a great

variety of fun subjects for you to try this techinique.

Have FUN!

Backlighting in Portraits

I LOVE backlighting in portraits and wanted to share

what I have learned to create spectacular photos with

light from behind the subject.

My favorite time of day for backlit portraits is

the evening, but it also works in early morning right after sunrise. 

For this photo series, I started about two hours before sunset

when the sun was golden and low in the sky.

It's not really an exact science.  It takes experimentation.

Place your model with the sun to their back and see how the

sun reflects off their hair.

I used a large, gold reflector for this series because

I like to see the face,

but you can experiment without a reflector and

shadowed faces which also create a mood.

I meter off their cheek.  Don't worry about

blowing out the background...It will create

amazing art.

There are no perfect camera settings for

backlighting.  Experiment!

I used ISO 100, large aperature (2.8 on a 50mm 1.4 lens)

and a fast shutter speed. But you will need to try various settings

to achieve the look you like.

I LOVE the bokeh around the lighted trees!

Turn your model different ways to achieve

different lighting effects.

Below, the sun lights her from the left side. (I used a reflector.)

I don't have an assistant.  I hold that dang reflector myself

and it's VERY awkward...but works for me.

Did I tell you I LOVE backlighting???

You can also backlight during the afternoon.

When I first started doing portrait work,

I used to PRAY for a cloudy day.

But that isn't realistic, so I had to learn to

embrace the sun however it was that day.

This next group of photos was taken about 2:30 PM with

bright sunshine.

The key is to find a location where

you don't have shadows on the faces.

This means finding some shade like

a tree, a building...whatever will take the direct

sunlight off the subject's face,

but still allow the sun to illuminate the

hair.

These were taken on a covered bridge.

The cover on the bridge blocked sun from

their faces...thus shadows...

but I played with the delightful backlighting.

I did not use a reflector for this series

because I had plenty of mid-day light.

Sunflares can really add to the artistry of your portrait.

Move around, to place the sun over a shoulder or

behind the head.

OR....

You can add a sun flare in Photoshop and Elements

if the sun isn't in the perfect place.

How enchanting is this gazebo photo

with the perfectly placed sunflare? 

(*wink!*)

I don't let a sunny day stop me from taking

portrait shots.  I just find some shade...

And use the bright light as an enhancing feature.

Recently, I photographed a family on a sunny winter

day...the only time they could all be together.

Notice how I found a spot partially

shaded by this pine tree to elminate shadows on

their faces...yet utilized the streaming

sunlight as an effect.

I did the same thing here with that

wall of tall bushes and brush to their

left...yet look at the awesome side light.

For this closer shot, I used the shade from

the trees.

I LOVE action shot portraits!

(Oh, I added the fake falling snow as shown in

this tutorial)

I hope this helps you create some beautiful

portraits using the bright sun as your assistant

rather than a curse!

Also, check out this
great tutorial on how

to shoot silhouettes.

Pin It