Hopefully they give me a similar show next year as there is only a short window of opportunity to capture them in the almost abstract way that I was going for. I thought a triptych would be a nice way to display some of my favorites. I’m kind of into triptychs right now. Let me know what you think!

To tie this in to photography, a missed photo opportunity is especially painful. I try to relax and not worry about photos when I’m at a social event, so I almost didn’t bring my camera for a big summer party I attended this weekend. At the last minute, I decided to bring it for the purpose of recording videos of the super slip and slide that I had created for the event. I’m glad that I decided to, regardless of the reason why, because I was able to capture some really nice horse shots. It’s not that they are spectacular shots, or that the horse was striking a magnificent pose, but I was happy to have even had the chance to take these pictures. He only gave me a few minutes, most of which he was moving around too much, but I was pretty satisfied. Then I went out and got my videos and even a few pictures of the slip and slide extravaganza. No regrets!

So, just remember, don’t change horses in midstream! A change in course might be a bad idea too. :)

That's Bob on the left in one of his favorite places and Shannon on the right at one of my favorite beaches in Seattle.

This would be me and my boyfriend Dave doing a timed impromptu self-portrait.

]]> http://www.traciehowe.com/2010/07/381/feed/ 0 http://www.traciehowe.com/2010/06/slacking/ http://www.traciehowe.com/2010/06/slacking/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:44:13 +0000 traciehowe http://www.traciehowe.com/?p=376 I have been slacking, yes. BUT, I have a valid excuse! I just moved and I am still in a state of transition. Not only that, but I have been unable to connect to the internet through my own computer (that has everything important on it) at my new location through the new router. The good news is that I am upgrading my laptop to be able to connect. The best news is that, in addition to my upgrade, I am buying an iMac! That’s a quad core i7 27″ screen, baby! I wish it was a matte screen though :( .

I’m super excited about finally being able to process my photos fast! It’s been a long time coming. That means that I will be able to take on way more projects and post more often! I am getting a free iPod Touch along with it, so thanks Apple! I am debating on an iPhone purchase too, but I think the iPod Touch will at least suffice for the time being.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited about these new toys. They will serve me much better in posting new content here and on my Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracie-Howe-Photography/179744273518 . Heck, I might even join Twitter at this rate.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day and there was no shortage of bright, harsh sunlight. Fortunately, arboretums obviously have a lot of trees. We got some nice shots under those trees and I used a bit of fill flash when needed for the brighter areas.

If you’re wondering what the heck fill flash is, it’s simply used to fill in the harsh shadows created by bright light with a soft light. If you know what it is, the following will likely not apply to you, so you can skip to the next paragraph :) . The use of a fill flash is a simple solution to 2 common problems that I see in photos all the time. I don’t intend for this to be a lesson on flash, but it is a handy thing to know anytime the sun is bright and high in the sky. Just pop up or turn on your flash to see what happens, because you might be surprised. If you have a little pocket (or what I like to call point-and-shoot), just make sure the auto flash is not on. Auto will usually guess that since there seems to be enough light, then it doesn’t need flash, so that’s where you need to control it. Another instance where you might assume you don’t need flash is when the sun is lower in the sky. If it is close to the horizon, you first have to be aware of where your subject is in relation to the sun. If your subject is being lit directly by the low sun (your back to the sun), you’re likely to get very nice light as long as your own shadow isn’t falling on the person. If you find yourself unable to take a nice sunset photo of your subject (when you’re facing the sun), try a little flash to add some light to what would otherwise be a silhouette without it. Really, just try a little flash to see what happens. The fill flash method on one of those little cameras won’t work 100% of the time because they almost force you to lose control. In fact, the reason I decided long ago to upgrade my point-and-shoot to a DSLR is because I needed more control over what the camera was trying to do on it’s own.

Getting back to the engagement photo session…

So, after searching for some acceptable locations unoccupied by happy mothers and thankful children, we were able to take some pretty natural looking shots. I think people often assume that a photo session involves a lot of posing, which makes them feel awkward because it’s so unnatural. I try to make my photo sessions as natural as possible, but that usually begins with a little posing. You have to start somewhere, right? Unless people are used to falling into natural looking “poses”, I will start them out with something simple and then nudge them into interacting with each other somehow. This will inevitably give me natural shots, but the trick is to catch the good ones! It takes patience, but it’s fun because you have to interact with them as well.

Enough talk, here are a few from the shoot:

For custom prints, see my galleries!

For the photos already included in the frames, here are most of them:

Only want the frames? That’s okay, just don’t tell me if you’re going to rip out my prints and toss them! ; )

Frame and Print info:

• $3 – 4 smaller frames -11×14 (white signed mats and print included; in great condition)
• $4 – 5 small frames – 12.5×16.5 (4 have prints and black signed mats of various sizes; most in great condition)
• $3- Large frame – 17×17 (no print; has a white mat with multiple small windows; good condition)
• FREE- Large frame – 24×36 (no print; okay black mat w/ blue inner mat; fixable condition)
• $10 – CUSTOM prints – To select a photo, see my galleries!

*****Things to consider before ordering*****

All custom and included prints will be about 8×10. This will depend on photo selected.

I can’t sell any custom prints that depict recognizable people.

While I’m trying to sell some things, I should mention that I have more prints and mats at smaller sizes that I am offering for under $10. Just find a photo you like and see if I have it already. If not, consider ordering a custom print.

If you don’t live in the Seattle area, consider typical shipping costs added to your order.

This mini yard sale (for frames)/ print sale will last until the end of May.

The first step requires me to wade through a few thousand images. After that I begin narrowing them down by rating each one using my favorite tool, Adobe Lightroom. Eventually I have weeded out the bad or so-so ones so that I have the amount that I promised the couple. Then I edit!

I won’t get  into the entire process, but I will say that it takes a long time and it can be fun sometimes. Playing with Adobe Photoshop since I was about 12, I’ve pretty much had my fill of extreme editing for crazy effects or head-swapping and that sort of thing. When I turned to photography, I took the more conservative approach, which meant that I only applied a tiny amount of post-processing to give the little bit of pop that most digital photos need. Now I’m at the point where I don’t really know how much to edit. I look at the work of other photographers and I often see over-saturated, high contrast, bright subjects. I usually like the way it looks, but I somehow feel guilty because it’s not quite as real that way. Some may make the reasonable argument that it’s an art, so I can make it look however I want. So, what I’m wondering is, does that still apply when documenting a real wedding? I guess it’s really up to the clients who want to hire me, but I’ll continue to ponder this. Meanwhile, I appreciate any opinions concerning my little dilemma.

I have many variations of this first one below. It was fun to play with the depth of field in this shot between the ironing bride in the background and the martini glasses in the foreground. I think I like this one the best because it puts the bride out of focus so that she becomes a part of the scene rather than the center of attention, which would normally be the case. If she were in focus instead of the glasses, the story might have a different meaning for the viewer. Of course, I already know that story, which involved the bride celebrating with the girls in the midst of her wedding day preparations. That advantage can help me tell the story how I want to with my fun little camera tricks. :)

The second shots are just a few favorites of the bride and groom. I wanted to make sure there was enough time for these after all the group shots and before the reception. Strangely enough, I’ve had more than one bride who was simply not interested in these types of shots! I had to request that we try to get a few, for my benefit if anything. This couple, however, was happy to take enough time out to get their couple shots taken care of. I thought they turned out quite well considering that we were still a bit rushed.

To see more photos of this wedding, please check back in a few weeks for additions to my weddings gallery. :)

So last weekend, I waited patiently for my chance to take a few nice shots of the couple. It was actually kind of nice to relax with my friends and to SIT down! I did observe the other photographer while sitting comfortably in my chair. I am constantly learning and wanting to try new techniques. I liked the way he lit the room with a raised strobe behind a softbox while he moved all around with his mobile flash.  I’ll have to look into that! Anyway, it was a fun time and I even got to visit and take pictures of the tulips the next day since we were up in Mount Vernon! I spent the rest of Sunday editing photos from the Orcas Island wedding. Not a bad weekend!

The Victorian Valley Chapel was a quaint setting for the ceremony. The exterior was picturesque nestled in a grassy valley and the interior was beautiful with large stained glass windows as the backdrop for the ceremony. The weather was ideal for pictures after the ceremony and we managed to get through most of the group shots pretty quickly. The bride and groom were great about trekking up the hill for some neat couples shots. They did a fabulous job posing on their own and taking direction to get a combination of natural and candid shots. Here is a cute photo from after the ceremony…

I have some adjustments to make that I am aware of, but there are some problems that I can’t see. So, I invite you to comment on how it looks from your end. The more specific you are about the problem, and the browser, screen specifications, etc, the more likely I’ll be able to fix the problem. For example, because the “zoom” setting in my own browser was wrong, my header images looked off, so I easily adjusted for that.

Also, feel free to make any positive, “way to go” type of comments!

Meanwhile, please focus on what is currently the main substance of my site, the galleries!