Posted in: Photo Walk

I just participated in the most fun photo event. Scott Kelby (king of digital photog books) organized a photo walk that took place today in 2500 cities across the world. I participated in the one at Tallac Historic Site in South Lake Tahoe, CA.

Baldwin Estate Patio
Baldwin Estate Patio

There were about 15 photo walkers and my husband also came along, (even though he’s not all that interested in photography) because he likes to look at historic stuff and we both like to walk.

We arrived at Kiva Beach/Tallac Historic site around 8:00 a.m. and walked for about 2 hours. The site has been wonderfully restored and is a feast for the eyes. I would highly recommend visiting the site when you are in South Lake Tahoe. After we walked, we all met at Camp Richardson General Store to “chimp” our photos. In case you don’t know what “chimping photos” is, it’s when you look at the photos you took on the back of your camera, and you all say, “Oh”, “ooh”, “ah”, “awww”, etc.

If you want to see photos of the photo walk from all over the world, go to flickr and search for “Scott Kelby Photo Walk”. Amazing photos.

Really!

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Posted in: family | portraits

I love to look at family photography…especially with little kids. After doing several shoots with little kids I can see that you have to be quick, entertaining and patient. I’ve also discovered that I can take 400-600 photos in 1 hour of a family and end of throwing most of the photos away. If I can get 50 good photos from a family shoot, or roughly 10%, I feel like I’m doing pretty good. I think I’m going to get a jester hat with bells on it to wear during a family photo shoot. It might keep their attention for a minute or so.

Then what? Now I know why the old time photographers used to have a little toy squeekie birdie and they would say, “Watch the birdie”.

At any rate, here’s some of my favorites from the workshop I attended in Redding. Keep in mind that there were approximately 10 photographers pointing their cameras at this family so it was just pure luck that I got almost all of them looking at me…I think I might have said something like “Watch the funny lady” and then jingled my jester hat…just kiddin’

This one turned out much better than expected. Several of us wanted to get all the boys/men to sit on the table so we could take a picture of their matching shoes. All the photographers were giving instructions about crossing their legs and sitting the same way. As most of the other photographers finished up with their shots, I kept shooting and got this one. This little guy had an uncanny awareness of where the cameras were pointing and was not in the least bit camera shy. I didn’t even have to crop this one except a little on the sides. (He was a lot of fun.)

All in all, this was a fun and darling family who really helped us out with improving our skills as family portrait photographers.

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  • September 14, 2008 - 4:04 am

    Cathy Biddy - I was online looking for photos of Emerald Bay, CA and LOVED your shots. I was wanting to find out about how I can obtain a couple of them to hang in my home. My husband and I had our first date at Emerald Bay with our four children. Please contact me. Thank you. -Cathy

Posted in: Photography Business

What a wonderful time I had in Redding, CA, a couple of weeks ago when I attended the Northern California Photographer’s Portfolio Building Workshop and Trash the Dress Session, put on by Mark Behrens. There were 10-15 models, a family (with two little children), a hot car, experienced photographers to help us with posing, lighting and general photography stuff. There were about 30 photographers from Northern California (I think I drove the furthest), who were eager to begin shooting. All levels of photography were represented and all types of cameras…from small, compact point and shoot to large, expensive, lots-of-gadgets and expensive glass dslr’s and slr’s. I fell somewhere in the middle.

Our first lesson involved the different types of light and how they effect our subject. In this first session, the model was placed in direct sunlight with an interesting shadow pattern against a patterned wall. Although the light pattern was interesting, it was not kind to our female model. (Below) I changed the photo to black and white in order to focus attention on the contrast rather than the model. Not the most flattering light, but I like the photo for the hard shadow lines.

In this second photo, a reflector was brought in to show us that we could soften hard light by lightening shadows on her face using a reflector. In this case, although she has an interesting look on her face, the shadows are much softer on her and much more flattering. (Below)

In this last photo, we placed the model under a large tree with no dappled sunlight. The light is very flattering and she looks quite a bit younger and softer. I think all these types of light have a place in photography, but light definitely changes the mood and feel of a photo. The workshop was wonderful and I’m looking forward to the one that will be held in Sacramento in September.

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  • August 14, 2008 - 8:37 pm

    Bro - That’s a great shot, Sis. The split in the light is really amazing. She looks a little miffed…what’s up with that?

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