THE ARCHIVE
WIDE OPEN SPACES: SHOOTING IN MANUAL TIPS
I never knew I would love photography like I do. I never knew capturing light through my lens would bring me such joy. I'll take photos any time of day, but if I can shoot during the golden hour, I'm one happy camper. A lot happens during the magic hour that really adds to my photographing and it's all about the light. Golden hour light is soft, it glows, and it makes the subject of the photograph glow too. It took me a long time to capture photographs the way I do today, but one thing that has remained consistent is shooting in manual.
I'm far more comfortable shooting in manual now then I was when I first started, but it was shooting in manual that taught me about light. Shooting in manual taught me photography. I never understood why my college professor harped on shooting in manual, but I understand the importance now.
UNDERSTAND WHY
Understanding why you're shooting in manual will help you understand it's importance. Shooting in manual forces us to take in all the different aspects of our photography process; from where the sun is, what the light is doing, where our subject is positioned, and how we want to compose our photo. We have the option to shoot in auto, or shutter priority, or aperture priority, but those settings don't give us full control over our picture making and that's what we need. We need to be able to control all the settings to create the photo we want.
Let's break down an example. If we choose to shoot in aperture priority, we pick our aperture, and regardless of what aperture we choose our camera will choose the shutter speed, the ISO, and the white balance. Say we begin to shoot an hour before sunset. We decide we want to shoot with an aperture of 2.8 and we spend the next 2 hours shooting. If we continue to shoot in aperture priority, without evaluating the light, then by the end of our photo session, the photos we create may not be what we want... and this is why.... When we shoot in aperture priority our cameras chooses our ISO and our shutter speed. As we loose light during our shoot our cameras may pump up our ISO resulting in un-wanted grain in our photos or poor lighting.
When we shoot in manual we are forced to evaluate our lighting as our photo session progresses. We know how long or short our shutter speed can be before the subject starts to ghost. We know how much light we need in the sky before we increase our ISO. We know how high our ISO can go before our photos get too noisy.
KNOW YOUR CAMERA'S SWEET SPOT
Every camera's meter has a sweet spot. Learning that sweet spot will help you create better photos while shooting in manual. When you're shooting in manual and you're reading your camera's meter you'll learn that your camera has a sweet spot in regards to how it reads light. One of my camera's has a sweet spot that is 1 to 2 stops overexposed, which means I know to get the best exposure I should test my light 1 to 2 stops overexposed. One of my other camera's has a sweet spot that is 1 or 2 stops underexposed, I know to get the best exposure I should test my light 1 to 2 stops underexposed. Shooting in manual and learning your camera's sweet spot will give you even greater control over the photos you create.
UNDERSTAND THE CHANGES IN LIGHT
Understanding changes in light will help you create better photos when shooting in manual. If we start shooting early in the golden hour and shoot until the sun has set then we need to understand how those changes in light effect our camera settings and our photos. The beginning of our shoot will be golden and glowy, and our settings will be specific to that lighting. However, as the sun sets we will need to adjust our settings. Our photos will start out with a warm tone and by the end our photos will have a cooler tone.
Beth's Wearing : Pieces of You Maxi Floral Dress || Ekata Stone Cuff Bracelet || Ekata Goldfilled Knot Earrings || Shop Ekata jewelry and receive 15% off your purchase, use code EKATA15!
Shooting in manual can be very overwhelming, but it can also drastically change the way you make your photos. What are some of your surefire tips for shooting in manual? When is your favorite time to do photo sessions? xoxo. Samantha
BEHIND THE SCENES AT LOYAL COFFEE
You know you've found your tribe when...
If the majority of your blog career has been spent alone (no other bloggers live in your town) and then you find your self spending a weekend with other bloggers and photographers... you finally feel like you've found your tribe.
There's nothing like spending time with a group of others who completely understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. They know why you're pulling out your camera. They know why you're taking a photo from five different angles. They know why you keep staring up at the sky... I look at the sky a lot, haha! They understand why you've spend a whole hour in one place just taking pictures.
Conversations about the best lighting are normal. Conversations about where to sit are normal. Asking to move a drink, shift just a little to the left, look a little to the right are normal. Asking someone to sit tight or hold that pose for just a bit longer... it's all normal. I just love that.
Those moments, were these moment at Loyal Coffee and it's a perfect opportunity to take a peak behind the scenes. I love the two pictures just below. Meg snapped a picture of me taking a picture of Beth's drink and you can see the "after" photo just below of Beth's drink.
What I loved most about these moments was watching how everyone's creativity unfolded. Seeing how each person viewed an experience and seeing how they chose to capture that moment through their lens. For the most part, I shoot rather methodically. I think through what the light is doing, I look around at backgrounds, distractions, people, and composition. I'll actually hold my camera up to my face and see my surroundings through my lens. Not all moments I capture are like this, sometimes I simply see the moment, like this one. But a lot of the time is methodical.
One thing I loved watching, was Beth. Beth see's people and moments and captures them unabashedly. She'll view one moment and capture it 5 different ways. This was so inspiring to me, it challenged and encouraged me as a photographer. It helped me to see things differently through my lens.
Look at that photo below... that might be my thinking face, haha! One thing I love about this collection of photos is that you get to see what it looks like behind the camera. In one of the photos below, I was snapping pictures of Beth and Meg was trying to sneak through behind. You can totally see her trying to get by. I love the photos below of Meg, Beth did an amazing job capturing great lifestyle photos.
Featured Items: (Me) Between Two Pines Pullover c/o || (Me) AEO Denim Skinnies || (Me) Punch Vintage Leather Cuff c/o || (Me) Natalie Borton Necklace c/o || (Beth) Punch Vintage Leather Cuff c/o || (Beth) Let's Get Lost Tee c/o || (Amy) Mountain Time Tee c/o
*Save 10% on Natalie Borton jewelry when you use this link! Woot!
Moments like this weekend are important and necessary. Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.” This really makes you think doesn't it? Who are those five people in your life? How is the time your spending with them effecting who you are? If I could spend time with these friends all the time I would and I definiltey believe it would change the way I grow and how my business grows, but I'll take what I can get. ;) xoxo. Samanth
Photo Credits: Elah Tree || Oak + Oats || A Love Photography || Rivers + Roads
GOLDEN COLORADO ASPENS
Blue skies and golden aspens, that's what Fall is made of, right? :) If I could hang out with photographers and bloggers every weekend I would be over the moon. Hiking out next to the water, stopping to take photos, getting lost under the swinging branches of golden aspens, and laughing until we can laugh no more.
Meg and Beth had planned a few specific outings while we were visiting and Crystal Lake was one of them. It was absolutely beautiful; the temperature was just right, we had bright blue skies, and beautiful golden aspens. I totally stole this quote from Meg's insta, because it's just put so well.
"And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled over them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just around the corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well.” -The Magician's Nephew
We had the best time snapping photos. I took pictures of Beth. Beth and Amy took pictures of me. Amy took pictures of Meg. Meg took pictures of Amy. We laughed, we learned, and we loved every minute of it.
Featured items: (Me) Crisp in the Fall Graphic Sweatshirt || (Me) Joy is Contagious Mint Tank || (Me) AEO Denim Skinnies || New Balance 574 Cruisin || (Beth) Be Brave Graphic Sweatshirt
One of the best things about visiting Colorado was getting to spend time with Beth, Meg, and Amy. I learned so much, was inspired in so many ways, and I laughed until I couldn't laugh anymore. xoxo. Samantha
Photo Credits: Elah Tree || Oak + Oats || A Love Photography
LEADVILLE, CO + TIPS FOR PORTRAITS ON THE GO
I love tiny towns. Whether they are tiny mountain towns, tiny East coast towns, tiny West cost towns, or tiny Midwest towns. Tiny towns, from anywhere, are my favorite. Leadville is a tiny mountain town and it holds up to the tiny mountain town persona; quaint, friendly, local finds, and general good fun.
Leadville was our second stop during my Colorado adventures. And our first stop in Leadville was lunch, which I was super happy about. I'm always happy when food is involved, haha! After I inhaled my food, which was delicious, we headed out to walk the town. Because Leadville was the cutest little town ever and kept seeing the perfect places to snap portraits. I love snapping portraits... portraits was the reason I fell in love with photography. As we walked around Leadville I kept stopping and asking someone if they would let me take their picture... "Hey, will you stand right here?" ..."Hey, will you sit right here?" Thankfully everyone always said yes. :)
TIPS FOR PORTRAITS ON THE GO
LOOK FOR FRAMING: One thing I'm always drawn too when I'm on the go, especially when I'm thinking about portraits, is framing. I'm always looking for framing. When I look for framing I'm looking for structures that frame my subject. This could be door frames, alley gates, tree canopy's, anything. The picture below started out framed. I was initially drawn to the doors and the framing of the doors, so I sat Beth within the framing. Once in post processing, I decided I liked the composition a little tighter.
LOOK FOR UNIQUE BACKGROUNDS: One of the places we walked through during our time in Leadville was an antique mall. Guys, Tyler and I love antique malls. We love finding vintage items and unique decor pieces. Anyways, while we were walking through this antique mall I saw the perfect space for a photo. It was a rectangular room, so it provided a great u-shape similar to framing. Plus, all the vintage items created a really unique background.
LOOK FOR UNIQUE LIGHTING: This one goes with the one above. The same unique background had great unique lighting. There was a window letting in a perfect amount of light. It was the light that I was initially drawn too.
LOOK FOR DEPTH & LAYERS: Meg's photo above was inspired by depth and layers. As we were walking by I noticed the brick and iron railing, which I loved, but to take the photo straight on wasn't the greatest. What was behind the railing wasn't very visually appealing. I knew that I could create a more dynamic photo if I took the photo looking down the sidewalk, which created lots of depth and layers. The great thing about Meg's photo is that you get a better sense of a story.
Featured Items: (Me) Between Two Pines Pullover c/o || (Me) Classic Mojo Jeggings c/o || (Beth) Punch Vintage Leather Cuff c/o || (Beth) Natalie Borton Camille Necklace c/o || (Beth) Be Strong Boot c/o || (Meg) Between Two Pines Pullover c/o || (Amy) On My Radar Demin Jacket c/o
Guys, I'm so thankful for friends that let me snap their photos. I could take pictures all day everyday. We had so much fun walking around Leadville; eating good food, spending time together, laughing, window shopping, and stopping for coffee... even though I don't drink coffee, ha! :) xoxo. Samantha
P.S. Thank you to Beth of Oak + Oats for snapping these great photos of me and A Love Photography for snapping that cute one of the three of us!