ben b/w

ben b/w, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Some very close friends of ours, from our previous life in Minnesota, know that I'm an inveterate Pittsburgh Steelers fan ... I actually sat through a cold, snowy January evening to witness them defeat the San Diego Chargers on their path to Super Bowl XXIII, and the one thing I took away from the game (besides the amazing sense of community with 65,000 people) was how quickly Nashville had thinned my heretofore thick Minnesota blood. :)

So Matthew and Aaron saw this little Ben Roethlisberger action figure, made their mom buy it, and then put it in the mail for me. What they don't know is that I'm a lover of tiny things; if I were to stage it properly, I'd have Ben throwing to a Lego Stormtrooper, with a Lego Darth Vader in close pursuit, while the miniature Millenium Falcon hovered overhead, all near a little Vikings bobblehead doll on the sidelines of Tiny Starbucks Espresso Cup Stadium.

But I didn't stage it that way -- at least, not that I'll admit in public ... I had Ben out in the weeds, on the patio table, and here, in a pretty black and white shot from our dining room table. To see the rest of them, just click on the image above, which should take you to my Flickr page.

This is another piece of evidence for "found lighting," as that's just the sun, around 2 p.m., in our dining room. It's better than a studio ...

The Joys of Found Light

tulip b/w, originally uploaded by pr9000.

One thing baffles a lot of "pro-sumer" photographers -- light. Specifically, how do you get the proper light on your subject? (1) Is it a flash? (2) Is it sunlight? (3) Can I turn on the light on the ceiling fan?

Answers: (1) Yes ... (2) definitely yes, with a caveat ... (3) well, you could, but you'd better know what you're doing.

I specialize in natural light photography, which means, in a nutshell, that I don't do studio work. Not that I'm opposed to it; it's just that I don't have a studio, and everything I've learned to this point has centered around using what Mother Nature gave us -- with a little help now and then.

For example: the shot above, of a tulip. I came down from my office around 2:30 p.m. and saw gorgeous sunlight streaming in my dining room. I've learned that Tennessee in January isn't the sunniest place in the world, so I took advantage of the rays, filtered through the blinds of the window, to capture this shot.

So it's all natural light.

I cheated a bit, by positioning the tulip so that not all of the bulb was in direct sunlight ... and when I do black and white, I do it on my computer, not on my camera -- meaning, I used my editing software to make this a black and white shot.

I also knew what not to show you ... I had taken a few shots where the sun was directly on the petals, and only then did I remember that direct light can be a bit harsh at times. It biew out the details of the petals, making for a bland photo.

Light works best when it's diffused. You won't see too many good shots with, say, a bare bulb providing the light, or shots where the sun is blindingly bright. Light diffused -- through a screen, a little plastic thing on the end of your flash, or through clouds -- is light that works.

But -- the point is -- take advantage of the natural light that you see around you. You can get very dramatic effects without investing a penny in lighting equipment.

Embrace The Flare ...

sun setting @ heinz field, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I've always been a sucker for lens flare.

Not familiar with lens flare? Here's the nerdy Wikipedia definition; the photo above, taken as the sun was setting last weekend while I attended the Steelers-Chargers playoff game in Pittsburgh, is a bit easier to understand. Basically, it's the artifacts from the sun when you point your camera pretty much directly into it, or at least allow the sun to be in the field of vision of your lens:



For some people, lens flare is a problem, and I can understand the point: it adds (sometimes) unneeded distraction from a well-composed photo, and it blows out color and contrast values, so that photos with lens flare seem washed out, grainy and otherwise unable to be salvaged into something pretty.

But I say you should embrace the flare! In the right situation, flare enhances the photo. Take the shot above: Without it, I just took a picture of the ramp at a stadium. With the flare, it invokes the mood -- a snapshot of an early January afternoon quickly disappearing into a cold midwinter night ...

I'm not saying lens flare is good in every photograph; I work hard to eliminate it most of the time, either by use of a lens hood, my hand, a piece of paper, a hat, or some element of the thing being photographed ... but there are times when the well-chosen inclusion of a lens flare adds a crucial bit of "color" to your photograph.

Introducing "Little Thoughts" for 2009

gerb IV, originally uploaded by pr9000.

For 2009, I'm introducing a line of "Little Thoughts" posts on the RPI blog -- notes about different aspects of taking great photographs, learning more about your camera and sharpening your editing skills -- basically, things that have popped into my head about what I do all day.

Click on the label "Little Thoughts" below to see all the related posts. And if you have suggestions or comments, feel free to leave them after each post, or shoot me an email instead.

I hope you enjoy them!

pretty ribbons, pretty bow ties of blue ...

I'm sorry to paraphrase Willie Nelson like that, but it's one of my favorite Willie songs and most likely was written not too far from where I currently sit, typing this up ... and it's not too far from being the perfect way to describe McClain, Guy and Bennett -- the three stars of a family photo shoot that was one of the most enjoyable I've ever done.

Tresha and Jay were kind enough to choose Rinkes Photography to capture their family, and we chose one of those delicate Sunday afternoons that seem to give up its sunlight with a smile; when the sun was out, it was toasty warm, but when the sun went behind a cloud or a tree, you realized it really was getting close to winter. But no matter -- everyone was up for the experience.





Guy (top) and Bennett were perfect gentlemen, and looked fantastic in their matching bow ties (which Tresha told me were quite a challenge to find). The whole family looked good, actually -- moms (and it's always moms) ask me for clothing advice all the time, and I always say the same thing: Dress your kids as you normally would, in complementary colors or patterns ... Mothers have good eyes for fashion, and photographers have good eyes for photos. And I can barely dress myself sometimes, so moms -- keep on doing what you do. :)

fall comes to westhaven

Scott and Laura have a gorgeous family, and when they approached me for a photo shoot in November, I was excited. I mean, look at these kids!



How could I say no?

We picked a bright, sunny afternoon and visited several spots in Westhaven: the park and path along Pearl Street, the Residents' Club, and the park/fire pit on Wire Grass. Amina and I don't have children -- Trotter manages to keep us pretty busy all by himself -- but I walked away from this one with a renewed appreciation for the jobs that parents have to do ... managing to keep four kids (1) in cooperative moods and (2) relatively free of grass stains and other blemishes?

However Scott and Laura did it, they obviously had practiced it long before. One thing that didn't change, though -- getting all four kids to smile at the same time, and looking in the same direction. Laura was able to do impressions of the kids, right behind my shoulder, to achieve the laughter ...



I wasn't sure about that shot as I pressed the button, but looking at it later, I liked it quite a lot. But this one -- this one I knew was gold as it was happening:



We had a wonderful time with the family, and I think they were quite pleased with the results.

Guilty! Guilty!

hailey, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Oh, I should mention that this little girl gave her cold to her uncle, described in the post below.

But she did it on Christmas day, and we all know that Santa's passed out from exhaustion by noon or so that day ... so I don't think he noticed. :)