people
They say that there is no "I" in team, though when gymnasts perform, all of the events are solo events. It's the team total that matters, of course, and our gymnastics team has been on a roll the last few years.
This photo was taken before a home meet a little over a year ago. I didn't get many good photos because the great telephoto lens I normally use broke that day. I didn't get many action shots but I did get a few of the team.
This is another portrait from a session several years ago. We had started in the studio and then, late in the afternoon, headed north to the old farm I like so much. At the time I took this, the sun was about to go down and it was one of those perfect August evenings, when the temperature starts to moderate and the wind dies down to a mere hint. And the silence and the subject remind me of why I like this kind of portrait photography.
Canon 1DII 1/125s f/4.0 ISO160 115mm
I was skeptical when this subject told me she wanted to pose for one of her senior pictures in a prom dress she had bought on eBay. But when she came out of the dressing room, I could see that this had potential. We took several poses but we liked this one best. Sitting and looking very relaxed and natural, she is surround by the ample pink folds of the gown.
I am always a little nervous when my subjects say they have a prop, though props (like this hot pink prom dress) often add something important. In addition, it helps reflect that subject's personality.
Canon 1DII 1/125s f/7.1 ISO100 40mm
This photo was taken just across from the famous Pike Street Market and just down from the famous "Original Starbucks Store." The sound of the guitar caught my ear but the three young listeners caught my eye. I was on the move so I didn't have much time but I did take three or four photos of this group. But this ended up being the best, even though you can't see the faces of the children. But that's probably OK since showing candid photos of children can get a photographer into trouble sometimes.
My mother-in-law is one of the most amazing women I know. When we travel, she can outpace the best of us. She is smart, witty and curious. I'm saying all of this not because she sees this blog (I doubt she'd like this photo), but because it is true.
Here she is pondering puzzle pieces. She, my wife, my son and his wife Katie worked off and on all weekend assembling it. I would say that it is about 75% complete. I have not helped because puzzles seem kind of pointless to me.
I just finished teaching a short course at night called "Intro To Digital Photography." I had a great group, though I've discovered that trying to translate the process of conceiving, taking and processing a digital photo isn't easy. But teaching photography has been good for me because it has helped me objectify my hobby and break it down. My conclusion is this: taking and making a good photo is a very complex process.
So why a photo of Evie and her horse? Evie's mother was one of my students in this class and helped with this photo. So I thought I'd post it. Like the photo of Gabriel from a few weeks ago, this photo breaks a rule of portrait photography that says that the subject's face should be the biggest object in the photo. But I think Evie does a good job of stealing the viewer's attention. :-)
Canon 1D 1/125s f/4.5 ISO200 70mm
;
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
This is another one of my early experiments in portraiture. Regan had come along on a photo shoot to provide company for a friend of hers I was photographing (whose pictures I can't find :-( ).
After photographing her friend, I asked Regan if she minded if I took a few pictures of her. She grudgingly agreed and this photo may show a little of her reluctance. I didn't know much about portraiture then but I did know that the soft window light I found for this portrait is flattering. I hadn't learned about Rembrandt lighting but it is present in this portrait.
In the process of organizing my photo collection (400,000+!) I came across some of my first portrait sessions. This happens to be of a girl named Ellie and is one of my favorite portraits. I was shooting film in those days and then developing it in my makeshift darkroom. Once the negatives were ready, I used a high resolution film scanner and Photoshop to process the pictures.
Ellie was very relaxed and comfortable. I wasn't because I really didn't know anything about taking portraits. I thank her for this photo, which was taken in a doorway of an old barn north of Watertown.
By Scott Shephard
I was hot tubbing at Bill Zubke's in a SD blizzard. What possessed me to run from the steaming hot tub and jump in the snow? Stupidity. I hope this photo isn't too disturbing for younger viewers. I know it disturbs me.
We spent a few hours in a Japanese pre-school when we visited my son Brian in Japan a few years ago. I found this when I was looking for something that I might be able to post in the "Look At Me" series. I love this photo because it just "happened." There was no staging or coaching involved. I stopped and she looked up at me with a curiosity I saw everywhere in the children in this school. Of course her beautiful big, dark eyes help make this photo.
Getting a decent portrait of one person is hard enough. Photographing two people increases the challenge. Not only do you have to hope that they both look good/happy/whatever when you snap the picture but there are technical considerations. The two biggest are lighting and focus. In the studio I generally use two light sources to light the faces, though you can tell from the highlights in the eyes that the main light is to my right. Since eyes need to be sharply in focus, I coach the subjects to try to have their eyes on the same plane relative to the camera. I also use a high f-stop (8 or 11), which helps the depth of field.
Canon 1DII 1/400s f/8.0 ISO200 45mm
I have helped take photographs for the Watertown High School yearbook for many years. In last year's edition I did a series of photos for the beginning of each section in the book. This one was for the "Academics" section. Nice skeleton. I'm told that it's not "real" but made from plastic.