Portrait and Lighting Exercise

We had a wonderful day today with great sunset lighting. Did I use it to light my portrait... not really. I more or less used the warmth as back lighting and then used a reflector to get the foreground light on. I really had a wonderful time snapping some shots. Here are a couple... 

Working With A Flash

I recently acquired a flash for my DSLR. It is an older flash and for the most part a manual flash. I went out and took some photos with it to try and get the hang of various angles and methods of shooting with a hot shoe flash as opposed to the built in flash. 

Here are some examples: 

These two above were not with flash, I still like the color of them better than with the flash. I'll have to keep working on that. 

This photo above I really enjoyed because of the variation in the sky and the way the subject's blue eyes pop. 

As you can tell I still need some work on bonding with my flash but I am practicing :) 

Final Presentation Photos

Here are the 30 photos that I used for my photography presentation. I was quite pleased with them. I have found that I enjoy taking portraits of people and animals. I like small simple photos that can tell a story. I have to work on my landscapes and really mastering those but at the moment I am really enjoying macro and getting down to the small things that make up the whole. A person's (and animals') face and eyes tell a story that you can only see when you focus on them. Enjoy... 

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 113.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/800sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 70.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/800sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 200 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/500sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 200 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/125sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 200 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/100 sec

f/ 8.0

ISO 100

focal length: 45.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/160 sec

f/ 8.0

ISO 100

focal length: 32.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/400sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 35.0 mm

reflector used 

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/200sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 55.0 mm

reflector used 

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 53.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/40sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/200sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/200sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/200sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 18.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 24.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 200

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF400mm f/5.6L USM

shutter: 1/160sec

f/ 8.0

ISO 100

focal length: 400 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/100sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 18.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/250 sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 55.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/250 sec

f/ 5.0

ISO 100

focal length: 44.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/250 sec

f/ 5.6

ISO 100

focal length: 53.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/400 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 18.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

shutter: 1/400 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 18.0 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/400sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 200 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/400sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 70 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/1000 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 70 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/1000 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 70 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/500 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 168 mm

Canon Rebel XS

Exposure program: Manual

Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

shutter: 1/250 sec

f/ 4.0

ISO 100

focal length: 200 mm

Shooting Portraits

Shooting portraits can be quite difficult especially if you are asked these questions:

1. How should I pose? 

2. Where do you want to go? 

What I have found after doing a few portrait shoots is this: 

You can go into a shoot thinking of some poses that you might think would work, but most importantly you need to let your model show their personality. These pictures here are of my brother. I was taking head shots of him and he kept asking what he should do. We ended up just doing things that my brother normally does, working on projects, playing guitar, and just hanging out. I have also found that while taking portraits you should set up your tripod, focus on your subject then talk to your subject. Then while you are talking you can snap shots while they smile from conversation or are in thought. 

As for settings, it is good to scope them out before you need to start shooting. I prefer older buildings that don't have a lot of distractions. My brother's shots were taken at the house where he resides. They have an awesome roof and some great brick walls throughout. I recommend having a small note book on you at all times in order to write down good locations that you see. You never know when you'll need to take shots at the drop of a hat and need some good locations.