Photo Club Assignment #15: Food Photography

After feeling frustrated with my flash, when I found out the next assignment was food photography, I was pretty excited. Easy as pie, right?

However, by the time the deadline for the assignment rolled around I was extremely busy and I didn't get around to taking any new foodie photos. The way I saw it, I had 2 options: don't turn anything in or [cheat a little and] turn in a few pictures I already had. I chose the latter but was later chided a little bit for missing the point of photo club. Ahhhh well.

Food Photo #1

Taken on the back streets of Kathmandu.

Food Photo #2

Taken at the Bellingham Farmer's Market.

In a nutshell, here's what I learned at the workshop taught by another photo club member, Jereme.
{You should most definitely check out his portfolio here. Super impressive. It's easy to see why The Outdoor Channel, Versus, and ESPN2 think so as well!}

Food Photography Tips:
1. Shoot with a narrow depth of field. (This is when I have to point out that my 35mm lens is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread.)
2. Use natural lighting. (Jereme recommends diffused lighting in either the morning or the afternoon.)
3. Try to get some reflection onto your food and 'bounce it onto the foreground'. (He likes using a simple mirror to avoid using the flash.)
4. Get up close & take photos from all angles.
5. Keep the background clean and simple.

Yum!
-m.

To see more submissions, please head here.

Happy Easter!

Without Easter, there is no reason to suppose that good will triumph over evil, that love will win over hatred, that life will win over death. But with Easter we have hope; because hope depends on love; and love has become human and has died, and is now alive for evermore.

-Thoughts by N. T. Wright

Wishing you much hope today!

-m.

Photo Club Assignment #14: Flash Photography

Going to be pretty straightforward about this one: It's been my least favorite assignment so far.

Originally, at our 'workshop meeting', we took flash photos with reflectors and lights, strobes and remotes and all of this other gadgety gear. I do agree that it made a big difference. However, when it came time to doing my assignment, all I really had to work with was the built in camera flash. Definitely didn't produce the same results that we had in the studio.

Flash Picture 1:

I took this photo when we were out playing in the desert with the Al Zaabi family. Although it's kind of a silly photo, I chose it because the flash was a bit more natural looking than some of the other images I'd taken.

Flash Picture 2:

We were given the flash assignment right before I went to Nepal. Sitting around the Monkey Temple at dusk seemed like a good time to practice. This is what happened. Again, not my favorite photo, but kind of the best out of what I had to work with.

So much more to learn!
-m.

To see the other members' submissions, head here. There are some good ones!

Photo Club Assignment #13: "Mentor Texts"

Our first assignment of the year was to research accomplished photographers in order to find one photographer with a style or an image that we really liked. After studying their life and work, the next step was to select a single photograph to imitate. Through the process of replicating this "mentor text" we would hopefully pick up a bit of the photographer's technique and craft.

After thinking about "mentors," I went back to a favorite from my college days: Henry Doisneau.

Doisneau, self portrait, circa 1953

My Mentor Texts:

Doisneau, a contemporary of Henry Cartier-Bresson, was a pioneer of photo journalism. He was known for walking around the streets of Paris, camera in hand, ready to catch life as it happened.

Rather than copy one specific photo, I decided to try and copy a common theme: children at school/children at play. Given my circumstances, it seemed like a do-able option. :)

My Replicas:




There are a couple of things I don't like, but for the most part I was happy with my first assignment.
I like how my girls are unaware of the camera.
I like how I was able to capture both enthusiasm and (dare I say) boredom.
I like how these photos so accurately represent their different personalities.
I like, most of all, how they are just so darn cute.

Salut!
-m.

P.S. To see more "Mentor Text" assignments, head here.

Photo Club

A few months back I bought a new camera. After successfully killing my beloved Canon point and shoot in a vandalized old Soviet ballroom . . .

(it died during this very photo shoot)

. . . and then drowning my waterproof camera at Wild Wadi,

(this, people, was the honesttogoodness beginning of the end)

. . . I wasn't sure if I was ready for a more serious camera. However, a quick hop down to Portland, a lucky Craigslist find, and a little reassurance from my family was all it took for me to wind up with my first DSLR camera.


My very first picture!

While I don't have a single regret about purchasing my camera, I do -- quite frequently -- regret not knowing how to use it to its full potential. So when my friend invited me to join her at a photo club, I timidly accepted. I do have to say that it's been a bit challenging to share my pictures with other people and to ask for feedback--but it's been good, too. Most meetings either involve learning a new 'technique' or sharing the results of our latest photo assignments. Although I don't really think I'm much better with using flash (assignment #14) or doing food photography (assignment #15) the little nudge to take more pictures has been worth it.

-m.

P.S. I'm just beginning to learn about all this stuff, but some of the members are quite accomplished. Make the jump to check out some of their professional portfolios!
Brunilda Monnig Photography
Brad Kerr Photography

Women, Food, and God

{5.2011}

meh.
not her best.

-m.

friday mornings

this is why i love friday mornings...








skype--you're my hero.
-m.