Sign up for Photo Class!

For several months now I’ve been encouraging Terry to hold a few classes about the fundamentals of digital photography - basically for anyone who was interested in improving their knowledge of the digital SLR camera, and their skills as a photographer! Several folks said go for it, sooooo……. here we go!

Introducing……. “4 THURSDAYS IN JULY!”(catchy title, yes?!)

This will be a four week class of about 90 minutes each - covering a different topic each night. Terry's goal is to help all of us become better; i.e., more interesting, photographers. Photography is a tool that we all use quite often throughout our lives – let’s make it a skill that will really benefit us in many ways. Our classes will be held at Reinbold Gallery – 1280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim (between East St. and St. College Blvd.) from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. We’d like to hold attendance to about 15 per class. Although he's most familiar with Canon cameras and will be demonstrating with those; all camera types are welcome. Just PLEASE bring your camera’s instruction book – if it’s not Canon – as that will help him help you to get better acquainted with your camera.  Course fee is $20 per class, but it is strongly suggested that if you attend one – you attend all – as missing one will really mess up your head in relation to the others as they are all very interconnected!

Thursday July 7^th. – “The Camera Is Your Friend!” Ever wonder what all those buttons, dials, and switches are for? Ever wonder if they could help you take better pictures? Well, come to the Gallery this first nite and you’ll find out these answers.  We’ll take it slow and easy exploring all those gizmos, and what they do. We’ll take some sample photos so we can see their effects on our work. If the class has questions that take us beyond 8:30 during any of the classes, that’s fine with me – but officially we’ll end at 8:30pm each night.

Thursday July 14^th – If the camera is your friend, then “These Three Tools Are Your (photographic) Family!” The most important controls on any camera are the Shutter Speed, F-Stop, and ISO. Cameras set to “automatic” – in any of its variations – are simply set to factory specifications; and those are not necessarily best… or even what we need - for creative or even good photos. You will thoroughly learn how to control these three simple functions, and will then be well on your way to seeing the light….which brings us to….

Thursday July 21^st – If those tools are your photographic family, than “Seeing the Light” will take you to your inner creative self! (I’m sensing a theme here!) Creativity is the ultimate form of self-expression. Would you like to say something meaningful through photography? Do you have a point of view you’d like to share with others? At the very least – do you just want to take better family and vacation photos? In this class we learn some basic rules of composition that apply to all good photography. This is the stuff most folks never bother thinking or learning about. It’s what will set you apart from all the other “shooters” out there mindlessly banging away with their automatic point-and-shoots!

Thursday July 28^th – “Show Your Stuff.” Here we’ll see what we’ve learned! We’ll wrap up any unfinished business – unanswered questions, unclear concepts, etc. Then we’ll show samples of our best work over this past month. We’ll project our images on a large screen in the Gallery and learn from each other! We learn by doing…and from each other! I expect we’ll learn a lot this night!

So that’s it. If you are interested call the Gallery at 714-535-5644 to register. Pay cash or check at the door the first night. Call Terry at 714-345-8000 if you have any questions. Hope to see you all there!

Babies come in all shapes & sizes

I was fortunate enough to be entrusted to photograph Dan's "babies" this week. I've never seen such a gorgeous collection of musical instruments. All of them in mint condition, and treated reverently by their dad, they were a gleaming sight to behold. I even got a short sampling from Dan of how beautifully the flugelhorn sounds when played by a master! Gleaming copper, silver and gold presented a challenge in lighting, but I think Dan got the personal art piece he was hoping for- the grouping will be a large framed print for his office. The close ups were for me- I was captivated by the rich mellow color of the copper flugelhorn.  Such a fun assignment!!

The Maternity portrait

Now granted, it's been 20 years since I was last pregnant, but I can still remember the feeling of carrying around an expanding miracle. It's a time when you can't believe what your body is capable of- and just when you think you can't get any bigger...you do! I've had women tell me that the last thing they want to do in the last month of pregnancy is have a portrait taken. They look in the mirror and see a rounder face, well...a rounded everything! They've had pictures taken by friends, and all they see is bulk.

I love showing what I can do with lighting, a little fabric, and a willing subject. Look how beautiful Karla looks in these maternity portraits! I can tell you when you talk to Karla right now, she doesn't feel this beautiful. She's ready for her little miracle to present herself- pronto! But I also know she's glad she took an hour to come in and have these portraits done. Years from now she'll have memories of the miracle, not the weight.

Seeing Double

Last month, I enjoyed photographing newborn twin girls, and this past week I had twin boys in the studio for their close ups! David & Bryce are 4 month old fraternal twins, and as sweet as can be! Their dad Stephen is an avid soccer fan (that's football to him - go Cardiff City Bluebirds!), so of course we got the boys in full Cardiff jerseys. But I'm still a sucker for babies in diapers, so I also made sure to capture their sparkling smiles sans jerseys.

Daddy's Little Girl

 Like all daughters, Sarah is growing too darn fast - but Chris makes sure he has us photograph the two of them together every other year. Chris is a musician working on his first CD, so the guitar was a natural "prop" which he used to keep Sarah and me entertained during our session. I love witnessing their special bond, and coming up with new ways to preserve it in portraits.

 

Lovely Lauren

Lauren came to see us because her mom wasn't happy with the senior photos taken by her school photographer. She is a natural beauty - with a fun fashion sense. Several outfits later, we had lots of great images- here are two of my favorites.  

We chatted a bit about her experience with the school photographer. What it boils down to, I think, is that having your portrait taken should be a fun, memorable experience - with great images to show for it. If the staff isn't friendly and helpful, the experience suffers.  If your photographer hasn't studied lighting and its effect on facial sculpting, your images suffer. If you feel rushed, automated, and assembly-lined, the experience and the images suffer.  And if you have to pay for it all, you just get angry! 


Glad to say - we had fun, we know how to use flattering lighting, and we had over an hour to play with clothing changes, backgrounds and various sets. I love this profession!

Public beaches?

Recently, Terry and I had a fun weekend hosting the Campbell family on their first visit to California. Their older son, Matt, is our older daughter Lacy's boyfriend, and we had a lovely few days getting to know them and showing them around the Anaheim - LA area. On Saturday, we visited our favorite beach town of Laguna, taking in the Sawdust Festival, strolling Main Beach, and dining open air at the Cliffs. They took us up on our offer to do a California beach family portrait, so we brought along our camera, and found a relatively uncrowded spot of beach to take a few shots. One camera, one lens, no tripod, lights or flash equipment.

Within 2 minutes, a lifeguard came up asking for our permit. We explained that we were just taking pictures of our out-of-town friends, and he asked if this was a professional shoot. We said we weren't charging for the pictures, and again, they were friends from Missouri. He let us alone, and what we told him was true...but my frustration is this - since when does a family who wants a photo taken on a public beach need a permit if they'd like a pro to take it for them? I can understand if this was a private beach - trespassing in front of someone's home - or we were filming a movie with lights, reflectors, dozens of crew members etc - but this is a public beach, and there was no one inconvenienced by our presence. It's just not right to restrict public access to public beaches. As far as I know, this "permit only photography" is being enforced in Laguna and Newport Beach. How long before public beaches start charging the public to walk on the sand?