Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Giving back moments in time....

Well, I recently was notified that my application to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) has been accepted and I'm now an official, volunteer Affiliate Photographer for the organization!  I've gone through the steps to become activated and now will be awaiting my first session.  I hope to be able to shadow another local photographer for my first session so I can get an idea of how a proper NILMDTS session should go.

I'm not going to lie, I do feel nervous about my first time.  This is a very different type of photography than what I've done in the past.  I think part of my nervousness comes from being so new to the organization and not being familiar with their rules.  Also, I've never been put into this situation before so I have no idea how I'll handle the emotional aspect of the job.  I'm very familiar with how I work as a photographer in general photo shoots and how I handle them professionally.  It's a completely different situation when you are dealing with the death of such a young infant.  The family will be grieving, so my job will be simply to help them out by capturing those final moments.  I've mentioned before how important the art of portraiture is to getting those important moments in life.  For some people, getting those precious, brief memories of your child in their last moments can be of incredible importance, so I understand just how important my job is.  I think I'll really see the magnitude of that when I enter that very first hospital room and begin what the Lord has asked me to do.

"Those we have held in our arms for a little while, we hold in our hearts forever."



Sunday, December 12, 2010

Quote of the Week

To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them ~

~Elliott Erwitt
 
Whenever I go to a shoot, I will usually spend some time just looking around.  In fact, I do a lot of looking around during my photo shoots.  The reason is that I'm not just looking for some general backdrop but am looking for that "sweet spot", that feeling of knowing something special in that spot or that pose, or just that moment.  Some of the simplest of places can house the greatest photographs.  It's not where you photograph, but how you see that spot and how you take the photograph which will determine it.  I've had clients dismiss their own backyard because it's too plain, but honestly, there's just so many possibilities even in the smallest of spaces.  I also pay attention to where I am positioned in regards to the subject.  In photography, you should always try to steer away from shooting at the general photograph-taking position of "your eye level while standing".  Lay on the ground and shoot at worms eye view, even if that means getting yourself wet and muddy in the process.  Stand up on a ladder, balcony, way up high and shoot downward on your subject.  Shoot from many yards away with the brush framing the subject.  Look for those natural frames that Mother Nature created.  Shoot just part of a person's face or if you're shooting a child with their parent, shoot from the child's point of view and only capture part of the parent.  The main point is to just go beyond the realms of your normal view and find your inspiration!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Quote of the Week

"The eyes are the window to the soul." 
 I tried to find the originator of this quote as there seems to be many but I saw that the origin is in the Bible 58 to 68 A.D.
-Matthew 6 22-23
The first time I heard it was in photography school, by my teachers.  The eyes are the most important part of a portrait.  You can tell so much about a person by the look in their eyes, it's so important that the eyes are the sharpest element in the picture.  They must have light in them, for if you don't have light in the eyes, you don't have life in them.  They are the first thing you should notice when you look at a portrait, the second part would be the lightest point in the picture.  It's all about the eyes.  When I shoot and edit my portraits, I try to focus really hard on those eyes and make them pop, make them shine!