Beginner's Photography Workshop

If you were nodding yes to almost every one of those questions, then it's true, you already know you want to participate in this class. Right? Right. 
Here are the details: 

When: Saturday, March 2nd from 1-4 p.m.

Where: My home, unless otherwise specified 

Taught by: Me, Amy Elisabeth Photography 

What you will gain: A better friendship with your camera along with newfound knowledge of creating better images! Become more confident behind your digital camera! 

What you will learn: Step away from Auto Mode! Learn ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure and metering and how these all work together to create an image. Become creative and understand how composition, shooting vertically and horizontally help you achieve this. Find correct lighting to avoid the imfamous pop-up flash!

Who this class if for: Any beginner with a DSLR camera(digital cameras with interchangeable lenses) who wan to better understand photography and their camera. This class will not teach you how to use various brands of cameras. Having your camera's manual along is  imperative. 

Cost: $65 Which includes group instruction hands-on practice, teaching materials, and light snack/beverage.   Non-refundable, however if unable to attend, you can trade your sign up with a friend.

To sign up and join the fun, please email me at amyephotog@gmail.com

To read about last year's photography class, check it out here! 

Out Of Camera & After Editing

My children are probably my favorite subjects to photograph outside of our flurry of pets around our home. But my daughter is probably my most photographed participant. She helped me prepare some images for my photography class I held last weekend. She patiently let me take numerous images of her, finding the best lighting and those catchlights, or reflections in her eyes. Which I love!

The image above is how it looked right out of my camera and on to my computer's monitor. Exposed nicely. Sharp. How I like it. I shoot in RAW format which basically means this image was completely untouched by the camera. When shooting in JPEG format, the camera will sharpen, add contrast, saturation, etc to an image which is perfect for everyday shooters who may or may not use any type of editing software post taking pictures.

But I do use an editing software. Hey, sometimes that is what I love most about taking pictures. Enhancing them to something even more!



I use an editing software called Lightroom which I have adjusted to and now love using. It has caused my editing workflow to speed up and cause my turn around time for editing sessions for clients so much faster. Which leaves me more time to take pictures of my kids!

In the picture above, I ran a preset which in seconds added saturation and vibrance with contrast and some added warmth. I sharpened the image and then I am done.

With this black and white version, I ran another preset to give this contrasty, warmer look. I truly love pictures in black and white. Maybe it is my love of Ansel Adams photographic style. Or how black and white adds a sort of a dramatic, emotional feel to an image. Either way, currently I am being drawn to editing more of my pictures to black and white.

Photography Class ~ A Recap

This past Saturday I held a beginner's photography class at my home. 8 wonderful ladies attended who wanted nothing more than to move out of Auto Mode on their cameras, get the most out of their cameras and create better images. I was really excited to hold this class and teach them about Aperture, ISO, Exposure, and so on. For four hours I saw lot's of lightbulbs go off above their heads as they learned something new and "got it"! So rewarding for me as a photographer to be able to share my tips, tricks and photo recipes with others so they can learn to take better pictures. I feel many of them left the class Saturday evening feeling so much more confident about using their camera and excited to try what they had learned! And that makes me pretty darn happy!

All of these pictures shown below were taken by my extremely talented big sister who has developed her skills as a photographer in leaps and bounds!  I am so proud of her and love how we are able to share this passion for photography together. You can view more of her awesome work over on her website here and her own blog here.

I had this awesomely, yummy cake made by Jennie's Cake Creations for my class. I sent her some ideas of what I wanted, mainly a vintage type camera cake. One of the images I sent her was how this cake turned out. I loved it! Not to mention it was very good to eat!! She is super talented and I highly recommend her for creating your cake for any occasion!

Inside my home we did some "classroom" time. We worked on how various settings on our cameras worked. How to clean our camera. I talked about prime lenses and zoom lenses. 

We moved on to how the Aperture ring in our lens brings more or less light into our cameras. How Shutter speed affects the speed of light entering our camera. What ISO is and how it works.

 

We then moved outdoors and used these cute runway models to practice what we had learned. And these cute models happen to be my niece and my daughter. I am so proud of both of them for being so patient to model!

 
I showed the class how to position your subject in sunlight. On Saturday it was a bit hazy so we didn't have real bright sun to contend with, but I kept my daughter at a 45 degree angle to the sun, turning her head a bit to ward off any shadows. We also moved the girls into some open shade and showed the class how this works well too.
 

In this picture I was demonstrating how to do some backlighting, or shooting my subject with the sun behind her. And there is my funny niece photo bombing the picture. She cracks me up!

Here I am taking a test shot and letting others know what my settings were for that particular picture.

 

This is my sweet daughter! I love this image!!

And my sweet niece who is so beautiful and will be 13 in just a few days!! 

I am so thankful to those who attended my class on Saturday. I would very much like to teach this class again. I loved having the opportunity to make this class happen!

Behind the Scenes...Photo Session With Mariah

I sense many people who get in touch with me to schedule a photography session are not real sure what to expect and how a whole photo shoot unravels. And I can't blame them for feeling that way either because until I get to know someone and learn their expectations I do not know which way a session will go. And many do not know who I am or what I am all about.

Honestly, there is no pulling teeth during a portrait session. No sound of a dentist's drill. It is all about you. Having fun. Capturing your personality. Being your true self. Living life as you are. Real. Life. Real. Fun.

Once you get to know me, you will soon learn I am probably one the biggest down to earth type of people you will ever meet. Any photo session should be fun and be relaxed and include fun memories not to mention developing a friendship with me as your photographer.

I am very fortunate to have a great friend named Delynn who has a real love of photography and also one of my greatest supporters of my photography passion. She has become very good behind her own camera's view finder and last night she offered to take pictures of me photographing her daughter and her high school senior portrait session.

I am very glad she took these pictures so I can share with you how a photo session happens. What to sort of expect. And how my job as a photographer goes to work.

After viewing these images, it is fun for me to see how I work and interact with my clients during a photo session. I try to make them feel comfortable in front of the camera and offer suggestions to help them throughout our time together. And of course my knowledge and love of horses is an added benefit to a photo shoot such as this one.

I wanted her and her horse "Buddy" to be in the shade to shield her from the sun and avoid squinting her eyes. Plus the tree added to the overall mood for these shots. Who wants pictures of themselves squinting? Yes! Me neither!

When I am photographing my subjects, I strive for all types of angles and positions. I look for the best possible light and how that will play in the overall outcome of each picture. And I also want for my subject to look their very best, so trying various angles gives so many more possibilities along with creativity for the images.

My gear I use is Nikon and I love my camera to pieces! Funny as that sounds, my camera has been my true partner throughout my photography journey. And the lenses I use are called prime lenses and they do their very best for portraits. I often will interchange them throughout a session for various moments and posing.

Like I mentioned before I move all over the place to find perfect light conditions. My subject's best pose, representing and creating an overall image that shows them in real life. So seeing me crouch down such as the above picture or laying on the ground is how I work. I could care less about getting dirty. I live on a farm after all! However avoiding snakes and poison ivy are high on my list when treading in new territories. Which makes me rethink my flip-flop attire entirely.

I am picky and can spot a "don't" moment quite often. I usually help my subjects with their attire or hair just before snapping pictures to make sure clothes, hair, etc. are in place and picture ready. My camera bag not only holds my gear but is stocked with safety pins, hair spray, tissues, lip gloss, bug spray, hair bands, barretts, lotion and gum for those "just in case" moments.

And being picky like that is a benefit to you! Trust me!

Playing with various locations and backgrounds are fun, fun, fun. What may seem rather boring to a bystander observing me taking pictures, really cannot benefit from what I am seeing in my mind in how I want an image to play out. And once I see that image on my camera I know I have found a really good spot and it is going to work for that subject and overall moment.

I will shoot from up high and down low to add more creativity and emotion to capture my subject. For this picture above I was photographing Mariah and her horse Buddy and was standing on a bench. I found this to be a fun perspective by looking down at her and Buddy's head.

I saw so many opportunities from this angle and really had fun with it although they were a bit worried I might topple over!

Working with animals are my favorite and of course equines rank right up there. Having had horses myself for nearly 30 years works in my favor because I know how horses behave, interact with humans and I am very comfortable around them. I absolutely love sessions with any animals! Except snakes of course.

"And that's a rap!"

After I shoot a photo session I am sort of on cloud nine as the picture above reveals. I feel a bit like a rock star in fact! I have created some awesome images for my client I know they will truly love and I will be so very proud of. It is an amazing feeling. I love it. I love being a photographer. I am so very lucky to be at this point in my life. This is truly where I am meant to be.

I hope you enjoyed this little behind the scenes entry and gain a better idea of how my photography sessions happen.

Thank you again Delynn for taking these pictures! You are the best!

Amy Elisabeth Photography ~ Beginner's Photography Class

My very first ever beginner's photography class took place this past Saturday. Amazingly it went so well and I completely enjoyed myself being in the "hot seat" so to speak as the ....gasp....teacher! But I loved it and the gals that attended were great to work with and I saw quite a few light bulbs go off for them throughout the day. Which for me, felt awesome. I already know I would like to teach another class soon!

I had these yummy sugar cookies made up to look like old time cameras. A local bakery designed them for me and were a huge hit.

Our two adorable models were my daughter and niece who willingly smiled, giggled and had fun posing.

My beautiful niece! Growing up so fast!

Interestingly enough, this cute pooch, Hope, took over as leading model. She really worked the cameras! As she pointed butterflies and shadows, cameras snapped away at her.

Panting and drooling away, she was a hit amongst a row of photographers.

These are just a few of the pictures taken from our time practicing outside. Such a fun day! Weather was gorgeous. Laughs were heard. Aperture and shutter speed were explained. And everyone left the class no longer with their cameras on Auto Mode! Ahhh happy day!

I am planning another class for either later this summer or early fall. If you are at all interested in receiving further information on attending, please email me, dvmswife@aim.com.

Photography Class June 4th!

I still have a few openings available for my beginner's photography class to be held on Saturday, June 4th!

Before & Afters

Taking a picture and seeing it in camera are one thing but to finally see it up on your computer screen is another whole new outlook. On the back of my camera and all DSLRs, there is a viewing screen, the LCD, liquid crystal display. I use that ALOT. I also use the magnifier button to zoom into the picture to see if I am nailing my sharpness and detail, looking for any blur. If I see any amount of blur, I retake the image. We are very lucky in this day in age to have digital cameras that produce this image right away on our LCDs.

The above picture is after I edited it in Adobe Lightroom 3. I am a bit of a newby to Lightroom but I have used Photoshop Elements for several years now and many of the steps and processing are quite the same. I shot this image in JPEG Fine, not RAW and am still able to play with the exposure, brightness, temperature, blacks, contrast, etc. I know for many photographers RAW vs. JPEG is and will be an ongoing debate but for me it is a personal preference. For everyday shots, I shoot JPEG. For professional sessions, RAW.

Here is this same image SOOC, straight out of camera. Wow, what a difference. Even though I checked it over several times in camera after taking this picture, it seemed fine. However, once I saw it on my computer screen it was too dark for my satisfaction. We were inside a building with awful florescent lighting which I think created havoc with my eyes and viewing the back of my camera's LCD image. And just a note. I would rather fix a slightly over exposed image than a very underexposed one.

I raised the exposure, the brightness, upped the blacks and a tiny bit of contrast and I raised the temperature to warm it up a bit. I also sharpened this image too. You would be amazed at how sharpening an image just makes it pop out and look polished. Once I was happy with those adjustments, I then ran what is called a preset in Lightroom. In Photoshop they are called actions. Basically they are a post processing effect to enhance an image and leave out all the steps to actually get what would be a preset. I love these. They make my life so much easier.

The preset I used for the above image warmed up her face, made her eyes brighter, brought in a vintage coloring to it and also a vignetting around the edges. I love how it turned out.

For the image above, I did a few things differently.

I was outside taking pictures of "Jake" as he sat in the back of his truck watching his human dad cut lumber for my home's new stairway. I had lot's of natural light. It was fairly overcast but that works fine for me. Bright sunlight may have given this image a very different lighting look to it. I was fairly happy with my exposure and lightened it very little. I zoomed in and cropped the image a bit to remove the lettering on the truck which I found distracting to the image. After some sharpening and bringing up the blacks slider I ran a preset. I use the blacks slider alot because it can really bring out depth and detail to an image.

Photoshop and Lightroom are a photographer's best friend. They go hand in hand and being in this profession it is a must to create the very best photographs. These programs do not take the place of fixing an overall bad picture. They enhance. They make good, great. Awesome, outstanding!

Photography Class Giveaway!

I am so looking forward to my upcoming photography class I will be having on April 16th. I am especially excited about everyone who has signed up! I want this class to be fun, full of information and really hoping for those "Ah-Ha" moments where things really begin to click(not the shutter button click!)when learning how to use ISO, Aperture numbers and Shutter speeds to bring out the best in pictures taken.

For this class I want to make it extra special. In order to do that, I contacted a few retailers about possibly donating an item to one lucky participant in my photography class. As luck would have it, this necklace above arrived in my mailbox the other day.

Can we say adorable, whimsy, one of a kind camera necklace? We sure can! And it is special because for any photography lovin' gal this necklace will be so fun to wear!

The lead-free camera holds a signature aqua-toned rhinestone on a soft leather suede adjustable cord. I am very excited to give this to one special gal attending my class in April!

These are created by Pamela Topping and she graciously donated this necklace to me.

If you would like more information about this necklace and more styles, please stop over to Pamela Toppings website here. She is also having a super cool giveaway this week in honor of her birthday as well! Be sure to check that out! She can be found on Facebook here. And if you are using Photoshop and/or Photoshop Elements, you have to see her wonderful actions she offers. They are beautiful and surely a staple in any photographer's tool bag.

If you have not signed up for my photography class, be sure to contact me to find out more information and details!

An Announcement!

This idea to hold my own photography class has been popping up in my mind alot lately. I have so many moms who come up to me and ask me questions about how to capture better pictures of their kids, pets, flowers scenery and on and on. I always love these questions. I love to help them in hopes they will take better pictures. But there is more to just pressing the shutter button on your camera and hoping it will magically take a perfect picture. Ha! Been there. Done that. We don't live in a perfect world do we?



It takes practice. Lot's of practice. And patience. Tons of patience. Trial and error. Learning to take charge of that black box in your hands called a camera. And learning to move away from the green square otherwise known as Auto Mode.




Taking pictures is not rocket science. It is however about learning what I call photo recipes. Each particular photo situation involves a special recipe. Ingredients and skills. Lighting. Aperture. ISO. Shutter speed. Exposure.



With such an interest in photography all around me I have decided to share my talent. My passion for photography. With hopes to teach and guide others along so they can achieve more from their camera. Lose the red eye! The blasted whiteness of flash. Dark pictures. Blurry moments.

In April I have decided to hold my own photography class directed towards beginners with DSLR cameras(cameras with interchangeable lenses). This class will mainly be geared towards moms or dads who want to take better pictures and move outside of that green auto mode box!

More details will be announced soon with an exact date, time and location. I will be teaching about lighting, aperture, ISO, shutter speed and how all of these are used to create better pictures. I will share some of my photo recipes and how they worked for a particular picture. And this will be a fun time! Not complicated. A chance to develop your photography skills. Take your picture taking to a higher level. And feel more confident about that black box in your hands!

Keep checking back here or on Facebook for upcoming details!