I have a confession to make:
I was a teenage skateboarder (and in my mind I still am). I was probably more into skateboarding than photography. I read all the skateboarding magazines, and had tear sheets and posters of skateboarding plastered all over my bedroom walls. I practiced 360′s every spare moment, and had contests with my brothers on who could do the most 360′s in a row. I skated to junior high school, skated to the mall and skated to faraway parks full of smooth paved paths and hills. I loved the feel of the board under my feet. I built ramps with scraps from construction sites, and learned how to do kick turns on the ramps. I took pictures of my brothers and friends boarding, and I even made a double feature 8mm movie of boarding tricks called Skateboard Madness with the neighborhood kids.
So what has this got to do with photography?
Two things: Passion and practice. If you are reading this you are already very passionate about photography. You’ve probably read books, magazines and blogs on photography and maybe you’ve even taken some courses.
Like skateboarding, photography needs to be practiced again and again in order for you to become really good at it. Practice using your camera in order to get the most from it. Find the menus, buttons and exposure settings that work in various lighting situations. Take at least 100 pictures a week. Study light and figure out how it affects your photographs. Look at all sorts of photos, other peoples photos, famous photos, and find the light in them.
Your camera is like my skateboard. I knew how it handled at the top of the ramp and how to maneuver it so I wouldn’t wipe out. I understood how to balance my body so that I could do three 360′s without spinning out of control. My tools were board and body. In photography your tools are camera and light. Practice using both to capture your creative vision.
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{ 12 comments }
Marlene, the site is great! I did not know about your skateboarding passion…I, too, loved the board, although not any near as much as you by the sounds of your adventures! Ah, our youth, such good times…
Karie
Thanks for your note Karie! I still have that old board and some days I haul it out and take a ride. The neighbour kids call me “old school.” Amazing that my body remembers the balance, and I can still pull off a few tricks, though I’m not sure I’ll be getting on a half-pipe anytime soon.
Marlene, I love this shot.
How did you do the post processing? Selective colour?
@Cathie
The short answer is I used a mask.
Think of a Photoshop mask as masking tape. When you paint your house, you use masking tape to protect (or hide) certain areas from getting paint on them. Same theory goes for Photoshop masks.
Here’s how:
1. I made a Black & White adjustment layer, which automatically includes a mask (all adjustment layers do). The whole image turned to black & white as a result.
2. Then, I painted with a black brush on the mask part of the adjustment layer on the area I wanted in colour, and it masked, or hid, the black & white parts so the colour parts came back.
3. If I went over the lines, I just painted over my mistakes with a white paintbrush.
So to summarize, when using a mask, black hides and white reveals. Using masks makes your edits non-destructive. In other words if you mess up you can easily fix things again.
Great, thanks, I’ll give it a try soon.
I can think of lots of opportunities to use this for clients.
Great blog. Ended up here through the TT forum! Very nice.
Quick question… as a fitness dog trainer I sometimes get shots of dogs in the moment while I’m training. I have to make it easy and fast since I’m usually training at the same time.
Is it just ridiculous to think that using an iPhone can capture shots good enough to use?
Good enough to use for what? I have to ask! Action? Stills?
If it’s your company marketing material or web site, probably not. You don’t want to look unpolished so I always recommend using professionally produced images.
If it’s to show your clients the progress you’ve made with their dogs, then yes, they may be “good enough” but only if you are happy with them too. Never show people shots that you don’t think conveys your message. Make sure the photos add value.
Also can you get close enough to the action with the iPhone? Are the dogs far away or close, sitting nicely at attention?
The problem you will likely run into is when taking action shots. Can you control the shutter speed enough to freeze the motion, or is it just one big blur? I love showing motion using blur (slow shutter speed) by the way.
It might be better to record the action using the video option, so if you have the latest greatest iPhone you may be in luck as the photo and video capture capabilities are getting better all the time.
The only way you’ll really know for sure is if you do some test shots. Bring them into your image editing program and take a close look.
A skateboarder, eh! I learned something new today! I agree about the passion and practice. I got a new lens and it was a whole new learning curve. I did not expect to love my tripod so much. That was an easy learning curve. It saves a lot of time when I am taking food shots. No need to pick camera up, etc. Just adjust shot and shoot even if my hands are messy. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten about ISO and light temperature. I swear, I have been cognizant until the last couple of months. That is probably because I have been taking fewer pictures. ie, less practice.
Sarah, I’m so happy you wrote. You are so right about the tripod thing. Hands free! You gave me a great idea. Perhaps it’s time to do a feature on tripods.
I think you have a good excuse for taking fewer pictures as you’ve been living out of the truck of your car for the past couple of months! I always look forward to your blog and your beautiful food photos (hint Everyone take a look). I plan to do a feature on you soon, or maybe you’d like to do a guest post about your photo making process and how you combine your love of food with your love of photography. Please say YES!
Oh, Marlene…..puhleeze! Me talk about photography? What could I possibly say? I don’t know anything!
I beg to differ. You have an amazing intuition when it comes to light!
You are so kind! Thank you. Of course I would be a guest blogger. Just let me know more about it. Bye.