Home Forums Photography Showcase My most recent shoot…

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  • #4974
    Open Focus
    Participant

    I’m really really really very proud of this shoot. I’ve been taking classes to better understand my camera and this was the first shoot I did off the bat.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/

    Not too happy about the compression, the images in full res look beautiful. Sadly during the shoot my lens kept malfunctioning and I had to constantly re calibrate. (My Nikon is about to be replaced if it keeps screwing up…)

    Anyway, love them or hate them, I’m proud of myself either way.

    #4980
    rocktographer
    Participant

    Personally, I LOVE the very first photo in that gallery! Happy clients, I bet 🙂

     

    #4983
    nairbynairb
    Participant

    Yeah, that first photo is just outstanding. Good work!

    #4988
    cameraclicker
    Participant

    I think I prefer 28 to 1, probably has something to do with my general preference for a hard lens.  The steel building in 24 & 24 makes a good backdrop.

    Keep shooting!

    #5003
    dawnofthedeadling
    Participant

    Those are gorgeous! Keep up the good work!

    #5084
    fstopper89
    Participant

    They do look quite good. I had seen some of your work from your Facebook link, and these seem to be a good improvement. The first is a bit heavy on the vignetting, but not so much it’s a distraction. One near the bottom it looks like the guy has antlers because of the placement of the tree behind him, not terrible but it’s something to watch for when composing the shot. Sharpness looks good and exposure is mostly correct.

    One thing that bothers me, is not about your images at all, but your business name. Maybe it’s just me, but “broken focus” kind of implies a technical problem with equipment, lol! Psychologically it just kind of bothers me. If you really push for this more professionally, I’d reconsider the name. When I first considered doing photography for hire I thought the name “Flash in Time Photography” sounded really cool but then the more I thought about it, the cheesier it sounded (along with a billion others were under that name on Facebook, even though I had thought of it all on my own) and then I thought, well I’m shooting typically with natural and available light, not even with a flash, so it just sounded dumb and I changed it to my first and middle name which is much more original and helps people easily equate my business with me. Some do first and last name, but I thought ahead for the time when I’ll get married someday my last name will change.

    #5089
    Open Focus
    Participant

    Thank you, it might just be my personal opinion, but I really like the vignette framing that I use for my images. I have a few of my random photos around the house framed and I think they give it a nice touch, granted these framed images are mostly black and white and also of landscape. When I edit the RAW image, I absolutely refuse to go beyond -30 in the Vignette range. I think I’ll keep the ‘heavy vignette’ for my landscapes and try staying on the 0 – 15 range for portraits. Only way to really learn is through experience! 🙂 (As for the other photos on the page, many of them were older photos from 3 years ago, some I retouched, others I processed from the original JPEG.)

    The image that you said looked like it had antlers– yikes. I cannot believe I missed that entirely. I have a shoot tomorrow so I’ll have to watch out for that. This was actually a candid shot. The blonde subject was hiding the fact he was chewing gum, and his partner turned to look and say “Seriously? Who chews gum during a photoshoot…?” They were really so much fun to work with. I’m really excited for spring, they’ve got their session booked when the trees start greening up.

    As for the name, believe me I am working on it — haha! I chose this name WAAAAY back in the day when I had inherited my grandpa’s old cameras and he has a Konica that has a cracked lens. My friends and I were thinking up names for my photography (moreso for a username rather than a business) and we said something along the lines of “Broken Focus: Art Through A Cracked View” more so because I was trying to be edgy, and I was just starting out and had my very own copy of Adobe Elements and thought that Cross Processing was oh-so-cool. I would love to use my name, the problem is my surname just doesn’t sound right. “Emma Holton Photography” or “Holton Photography” just doesn’t seem to fit. The whole name ‘not fitting’ thing is somewhat of an unrelated issue as well. Maybe it’s just because it’s my OWN name, but it is something I’m hesitant about because I will be changing my name to Hoover when my fiance and I get married. Using the First and Middle name is genius though unfortunately, mine does not flow as beautifully as yours. 🙂

    #5101
    fstopper89
    Participant

    I used to do a lot more heavy vignetting (usually in Photoshop, later switched to using Lightroom for my vignettes) and yes, some photos a darker vignette looks great on. It tends to set the photo apart from anything else. I’ve found more in portraits though to lessen the use of it, mainly because if the client wants to order a print, the edges may be cropped depending on the aspect ratio and part of the vignette will be lost and part will be left behind. Though, if you’re the one ordering the prints for your clients you can make separate files for each print dimension and add the vignette as the last step. In Lightroom I used to put my vignettes to around 20-30 but have started only pushing them to around 10-15 (assuming both our programs are referring to a percentage).

    Your recent shoot shows A LOT of emotion, which is what will set you apart, as long as you are consistently doing well technically. I love engagement and couple sessions, because the clients I’ve had have always made it easy to capture their love.

    You have it easy if you want to change the name to your full name- I think Emma H Photography would sound just fine, and that way you can use it both now and after you’re married since the initial is the same letter.

    #5102
    fstopper89
    Participant

    Also one thing I noticed, with the recent shoot of the two little kids, I can’t get past the distracting logos and words on their shirts. Maybe you do counsel clients before their sessions on outfit choices, and whether or not they (or their parents) choose to take your advice ultimately is up to the client. If you don’t already do this, consider doing so. Either via phone or email before the session I talk to the clients about outfit ideas and remind them to try to dress in coordinating colors (not necessarily the same colors) but keeping the intensity of the colors similar to each other, minimizing distracting patterns like bold stripes and polka dots, making sure to wear clothes that aren’t too revealing (unless it’s for modeling photos or the like) and to avoid logos and words altogether. I love their knit striped pants but it would have worked better if they had plain, dark-colored tops on. Recently I did a large family session where the grandfather wore a shirt with “Hurley” in big letters across the front. I cringed a little when they arrived and I saw what he was wearing, but you can only do so much. They were super nice people though.

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