Neglected Beauty

We were asked to pick a theme for our photography final and photograph the theme. Since I live in such a small worn down area, I decided to photograph the destruction and neglect of the buildings and objects in my area. The tittle of my collection of work was "Neglected Beauty". I can't really take credit for the title because Zachary came up with it. Thats what happens when you're boyfriend is a writer. 

Here are a few of my favorites.

Some how all of this old stuff just caught my eye. All of the textures and colors are just beautiful. I'm pretty sure we trespassed while taking these photos but hey, it was worth it. 

If you have any questions about how I took any of them or where they are at I will be glad to answer them!

Taking Artistic Photographs (of Lights)

A couple of weeks ago, The Torch filmed an exclusive promo video at the Dekalb County Fair.

You can watch the video here.

I brought my camera along and decided to try out some techniques I had recently discovered. I am very happy with the way these photos turned out. The lights from the rides created interesting shapes and subjects.

When I started to photographed this ride (I can't remember it's name, it just spun around, and it was not the Ferris Wheel), I decided that it would look best a little blurry.

• My lense was set to Manual Focus
• From there I messed around with it to get the not so focused look that created the out of focus "circle lights".
• The ISO was up very high.
• It was up to about 1600
• When photographing night images, you want your ISO to be the highest number it can be, without making the photo look grainy.
• My aperture was 5.6
• Normally I shoot everything with a low depth of feel. I like the blurry background look and having one thing in focus. 
• This wouldn't have made much of a difference in this photo because everything is going to be blurry anyways, but it effected the shutter speed.
• The shutter speed for this photo was around 1/60.
• 1/60 is the slowest your shutter speed can be without the photo getting blurry from the camera being hand held
• If you go any slower, you may need a tripod to steady the camera.

This photo is a little different than the last. Instead of making the entire photo blurry, I decided to just have the movement blurred.

• The camera's lense was on Auto focus.
• You could have it on Manual, you would just have to focus in on your subject.
• Since it was still a night photograph, the ISO was still high.
• Probably still on 1600
• My aperture was still set on 11
• By changing this to a higher number, you make the aperture smaller (confusing, I know). Just know that higher=smaller and lower=bigger, when you're dealing with aperture.
• When you have a smaller aperture, the camera lets less light in. This may sound strange when you're dealing with night photos because you would think you would want more light, but when you're capturing movement, you want to get light through your shutter speed and not by aperture.
• The shutter speed was very slow
• The slower the shutter speed, the more light the camera detects.
• For this photo, I wanted the movement of the ride captured. See how the lights are blurring together in a circular motion.
• To do this, your shutter speed needs to be very slow.
• Here it was at 1/30
• Normally you would need a tripod for a shutter speed that slow. I just happened to get lucky and this photo turned out like I wanted.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone. Maybe now you guys can go out and take some artistic shots of your own. 

Tips for Quick Portraits

In photography, we had to do a portrait assignment. We had two weeks to get it done, but guess who procrastinated and took 200 photos in two days??

This girl.

Even tho I was rushed to get everything finished, everything went very smoothly. Not to mention, we all had a lot of fun taking the photos. I've decided to give you guys some tips on quick portrait photography. We are all busy and this will help you with times such as when you're kid looks super adorable, but you have to be somewhere in 10 minutes.

Here are a few tips on quick portrait photography photography.

• Make sure your subject doesn't feel rushed
• Use props (like in the photo of my sister drinking the Frappe), props give the photo a more natural feel.
• Look for interesting walls and backgrounds.
• Don't sweat the small details. 
• Find the best lighting for the time you're taking photos.
• If it's in the middle of the day, take photos in a completely shaded area (shaded side of a building, etc.)
• Make sure your lighting isn't creating contrasting and harsh shadows on your subjects face (under nose, under chin, under eyes).
• If the sun sets in two hours, have your subject face the sun and keep your back to it, this creates a beautiful golden lighting effect.
• Make sure your subject is having fun (fun = good expressions)
• Remember photoshop is your friend. If the subjects makeup or hair isn't flawless, spend more time editing, instead of getting ready so you can have more photos. You can always edit on a rainy day, but you can't retake photos.

Hope these tips help out, the next time you have to take some fast photos!

Also, some of you may recognize Hannah Riles. Check out her flawless fashion blog!

my little sister's senior photos

How awesome are these senior portraits? She wanted to go for the city feel, so we traveled to Birmingham and went to various spots in the city. It's such a beautiful place. We were exploring at night and we came across a street that almost looked abandoned. It had a cobble stone road and all of these unique buildings and businesses.

Since she is happy with her photos, so am I. I think these are the best portraits I have done since I started doing photography. The fact that her eyes are the prettiest blue color I've ever seen helps out quite a bit also.

I am so proud of her. She only has about a month left of high school and she's off to college where she gets to face the world one essay paper at a time. Our family couldn't be more proud of her.

Blink Studios

My photography business photographed a wedding this weekend. We had a total of three photographers there, and we had a blast.

The wedding was at my friend Jeffrey's (the groom's) house. They just had simple hay bells set up in rows as seating and set up the reception outside also. It was the most effortlessly beautiful wedding I've ever seen. It was also very anti-stressful and fun. 

Here are a few photos from Jeffrey & Tiffany's unforgettable wedding day.

down by the bay

Green Jacket - Zara

Tan Boots - Big Budda

Dress - Thrifted

Scarf - Thrifted

Wearing a dress when it's windy is never a good idea. Zachary and I had to take photos of my sister's senior prom day. We snuck off to a local dock and snapped some photos of the sights in the middle of the crazy day. 

She had a great prom, from what I could tell....she was still asleep this morning so I didn't get to talk to her much. 

She went with her best friend, Payne. The two of them made beautiful photos.

See how beautiful they are??? I'm so proud of her.

(awwwww)