Tag: environmental portraits

2018-09-02

Photowalking through a Festival

It is time for Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk, again. This year, our local walk will be in Ashland’s North Mountain Park during the Bear Creek Salmon Festival. These photo walks are always a good chance to step outside of our normal or comfortable shooting environment. That is my first thought as I look through my own photos below; I was experimenting.

My hope is that this year’s photo walk will really set up a good opportunity for us to stretch ourselves in an area where so many of us struggle: people photos. This is a festival: lots of people will be out and about, cameras will be plentiful, and everybody’s guard will be down. We should have ample opportunity to catch photos of people without the awkwardness of us wondering if they mind us taking a photo. I am looking forward to the opportunities.

Enjoying each others photos after the photo walk.
Enjoying each others photos after the photo walk.
keep readingPhotowalking through a Festival
2014-03-23

Learning the Ways

2013-05-06

Shoot What You Shoot

2012-11-11

Why Didn’t You Ask?

2012-08-15

Worldwide Photo Walk in Salado

It is time for the Worldwide Photo Walk. It will be on October 13th, and our local group will be walking the quaint Village of Salado. Salado should provide plenty of interesting shooting, since it hosts of variety of artists itself, everything from musicians, to painters, to glass blowers. On top of that, Salado boasts quite an old and storied history for this part of the world. The buildings themselves tell a story which goes back many generations. If you are wondering what a “photo walk” is, it is really just a good excuse to get out and take some pictures. I have never taken anything earth-shattering, but I have had fun, which tells me the photo walk is more about the people than the photos themselves. You can talk gear to folks who will not roll their eyes; you can ask questions about types of photography you have not…

keep readingWorldwide Photo Walk in Salado
2011-09-11

2011 Worldwide Photo Walk in Belton

I just love the photo walk idea: getting together with other lovers of photography, going out, and having fun doing what we love doing. It is not talking about photography; it is doing photography. It is not really meant to learn, yet we usually learn something just by watching others and thinking about a different approach to a particular shot. It is not passive, but directly active. Last year, our Temple, Belton, Killeen, Salado area photo walk was in Temple. This year, we are going to switch things up a bit and try out a new downtown, Belton. Last year was a bit difficult to organize, because initially, our location was rejected because we were too close to other walks, in Austin and (I think) Waco. They finally gave in, but we had lost a lot of time that could have been used getting the word out to interested photographers.…

keep reading2011 Worldwide Photo Walk in Belton
2011-05-17

Weddings and Culture

The Minister
The Minister

This is a little take-away from a wedding I helped shoot recently. The focus of wedding photography, fittingly, is the bride and groom, but there is so much more going on: relationships, history, feuds, and innumerable others stories in progress. As soon as I ran across this photo back at home when reviewing the whole set, I loved it.

keep readingWeddings and Culture
2011-03-16

Stop and Smell the Diesel Fumes

A Man of Few Words
A Man of Few Words

Pumping diesel for heavy machinery, sporting a hardhat and safety goggles, using a unique but most likely purposeful grip, and even providing shipping containers for a background: this is the kind of photo I throroughly enjoy finding. I see them a lot more than I have a chance to capture them.

keep readingStop and Smell the Diesel Fumes
2011-01-23

Real Life Produces the Best Portraits

An excellent portrait in my book has little to do with technical perfection, trick lighting, or a formulaic set up. An excellent portrait is a glimpse at a person, tells a story, reveals something of the subject’s character, or allows you to understand the subject better. As such, a good portrait might well be in a studio, but quite likely will not, because the subject likely will be more comfortable in a familiar setting, and just maybe, a particular setting could bring out something unexpected. There is, of course, much we can all learn, there are little tips and tricks, but much of portrait photography comes down to just doing it. Trying to make the photo happen, then just letting it happen. Emulating a popular style, then doing it the good old fashioned way. Focusing on technique, then working to capture that one expression. More than anything else, I hope…

keep readingReal Life Produces the Best Portraits
2010-12-29

Everyday Portrait Photography Class

I will soon have the pleasure of leading some photography classes here in Temple, Texas, and I wanted to start off with the most useful topic possible [note: I did want to start with portraits, but due to some miscommunication between me and Temple Parks, we will do the portrait workshop in February]. How many of us would not appreciate being able to take better photos of our family and friends? The vast majority of our photos are of people, yet photographing people can prove to be one of the most difficult photographic pursuits. The focus of the workshop will not be to cram technical information…as if portrait photography were as simple as learning some formulaic technique anyway. The focus is to turn simple tips into habits through doing. We will identify the problems plaguing our pictures, learn the fix, and practice that fix enough that we all but eliminate…

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