Hand-Assembled Photo Albums

Have I mentioned I love photo books? I really do. =)

I have a special spot for hand assembling photo albums. Kolo makes beautiful paper, cloth, and leather albums and they are my absolute favorites.

With the photos I took at one of my dearest friends' wedding, I created two books, one for the bride and groom and one for the bride's parents.

(The final products were photographed on my versatile backdrop.)

The wedding ceremony had taken place in front of a red wall, which made for a striking background in the photos.

I loved the contrast of the bright red on the black pages and how the cream pages matched the bride's wedding dress.

I found the perfect black brocade fabric with red embroidery that matched both album covers and sewed drawstring bags to carry and store the books.

Two Photos for One Picture

Right after the sun set on New Year's Eve, I glanced out the window and spotted a single bird perched at the top of a tree with a sliver of moon in the background.

Because darkness had already set in, I needed the fastest shutter speed possible, which meant that my aperture (which controls the amount of light allowed through the shutter) had to be as large as possible (meaning the smallest possible Av number - it's inverse).

As mentioned in the blurry background post, a low Av number is used to achieve a blurry background effect. The further away the background is from the subject, the blurrier it will be. In this case, the moon was quite a distance behind the bird and therefore quite blurry.



Since I actually wanted the moon to be in focus in my final image, I took a second shot, this time focusing on the moon, ignoring the fact that the bird and tree would come out blurry.



Armed with my two separate images and Photoshop, I copied the in-focus moon from the second shot and pasted it on top of the blurry moon in my first shot with the in-focus bird. I adjusted the levels and changed the hue of the image to a lovely evening blue. The image is named "Awaiting the New Year".

A Backdrop for This Little Piggy Bank

To create a backdrop for photographing my cute little paint-your-own piggy bank, I threw my multi-functional $1/yd white piece of fabric on the table (near a window for natural diffused light) and draped it over the laundry drying rack behind it. TA DA! Instant studio.





I especially liked the last shot and felt my pig was giving me some attitude, so I had to give her a voice.

The Gingerbread House

I just had to share this photo of last month's gingerbread house. It makes me feel all warm and Christmas-y just looking at it.



This is another good example of that blurry background effect. Here's what I did:

1. Set my aperature (Av) setting to its lowest numeric setting (around 4.0 for me)


2. Zoomed in as far as the telephoto would allow


3. Moved myself around to fit the house and tree in the frame


4. Focused on the house, pressed the shutter button halfway down and held it while I framed the shot, then continued to press it all the way down to take the photo

Where To Print Those Lovely Pics

My two favorite professional developers are Gluskin's in Stockton, CA and Marin Filmworks in San Rafael, CA. They both have online ordering available and you can have your photos shipped to you. (You can also pick up in store, but I find it well worth paying the shipping cost for the convenience.)

Wolf/Ritz Camera is pretty decent for consumer grade, but their print paper feels flimsier to me. However, their prints look good and the prices are low. It may also depend on your local store, as a friend mentioned to me that his local Wolf didn't print as nicely as mine.

During my brief stint in wedding photography, shot in film, I took all my Kodak UC and VC film to Gluskin's and was very pleased with the vibrant colors and quality. I sent one roll of infrared to Marin and they did an excellent true black and white prints and their sloppy border for film is my favorite of all time. Unfortunately, they use a different sloppy border for digital prints, which I don't care for as much.

Organizing Digital Images for a Happier You

I used to be very attached to 35mm film. While I miss the convenience of the photo lab doing all the color adjustments, I have accepted that having all my photos available in digital format is worth the trade-off.

As soon as I get home from any shutterbug adventure (big or small), I get right to copying the images over to my computer. What works well for me is to label the folders in the following format:

2007.10.31 Halloween - Jill's House

I label the date in this format so that when I sort my folders by date, the folders appear in chronological order. (Be sure to add a "0" before the single digit months because some systems will file "10" before "7"; using "07" will eliminate the potential issue.) And of course, attaching a short description is very useful for future reference.

With this filing method, it becomes very easy to create "Year in Review" photo books with an online site like Shutterfly, Kodak Photo Gallery, or Snapfish for a collection of all the events that happened over the course of the year.

Organize as you photograph and you'll thank yourself when you're looking for those precious images years from now.

Getting that Blurry Background Effect in your Photos

There are two elements working together when you take a photo: 1) how long the shutter is open for [shutter speed], and 2) how wide the shutter is open [aperture].

If you take two pictures in identical circumstances, you can take one with the shutter wide open and a quick shutter speed and you can take the other picture with the shutter open a very little bit and for a longer shutter speed. Controlling the aperture is what will get you that blurry effect you're looking for, but understand that it needs to be paired with the appropriate shutter speed.

Most digital cameras nowadays have two sets of settings: one set consists of little icons and the second set have letters such as Tv and Av. Tv allows you to control the shutter speed and Av allows you to control the aperture. You will only control one element and the camera will adjust accordingly to balance lighting with the other element.

First, the subject that you want to be in focus should be fairly close to you (within 5') and the background you want to be blurry should be at least 10' behind the subject.



Select the Av setting and you should see an "F" followed by a number such as 2.8, 3.2, 4.0, 6.3, 8.0, etc. Select the lowest number you can, zoom in as far as your zoom will allow, focus on your subject, and check the shutter speed displayed. In general, you don't want to have a shutter speed any slower than 1/60th to avoid your subject being blurry, but if you have a steady hand, you may be able to get away with 1/30th.

By the way, use this technique when there's enough natural light and you don't need flash. Flash won't reach far enough to light up your background, so the background may be blurry, but you won't be able to see it!

Better Photos with Better Lighting

It can be tough to capture nicely lit images in real life activities when the activities don't revolve around perfect lighting conditions. Here are a few thoughts to help you evaluate your next photo opp with a more critical eye.

1. Direct Light is Harsh - by direct light, I mean the bright mid-day sunlight is shining in your subject's eyes or on part of their face. It's not very attractive when people are squinting and the light won't be flattering either. Try to get your subject under some shade (though avoid patchy tree shade where there are pockets of light shining through the leaves). If possible, shoot early in the morning or very late in the afternoon when the light is softer.


2. It's True about those Cloudy Days - cloudy days are better to photograph on because they produce nice, soft, diffused light on everything. However, you'll need to pay attention to your subject's eyes and check if they are in shadow or if they have really dark eyes. In either of those cases, turn your flash on so that their eyes will be visible. (They will need to be within 5' for the flash to be effective.)


3. To Use or Not to Use Flash - I avoid using direct flash as the main source of lighting whenever possible, though there are unavoidable instances. When you're indoors during the day, try to open up as many window shades and use as much natural light as possible. Move your subject close to the window, but remember to avoid that direct light. If you haven't tried the night setting on your camera yet (the little icon of a person in front of a black background with a star in the corner), give it a whirl - it can work wonders indoors, not only for night scenes. You'll have to hold the camera still for a little longer, but it does a nice job of using ambient light and less flash.