Busy busy busy

I'm not complaining.  In the least!  But I've been busy as can be. 

Working on re-branding my Women's Photography (sneak peak coming by the end of next week), Photos by Kim Earley will transition into Fine Art Photography (landscapes, seascapes, etc.). 

I've edited my first novel, and I'm almost ready for my First Readers (eeeekkk!!). 

I'm working again full-time, AND have been consulting for TWO of my former employers. 

My boys are getting ready to start school next week (this is the first time in 6 years that they haven't been homeschooled).  My oldest just got her Associate's Degree and is moving forward with her Bachelor's.  Our 18-year-old graduated this year, and is in the process of enrolling in his first college courses.  I've got a Senior and a Junior in high school, both right behind him.  It's been crazy!!!

So, look for me soon... 

Family Photos

I'm definitely still learning about photography, and again I thought I would share with you my errors and fixes.  :)  Below you'll find some before and after photos, along with descriptions of what I'll do differently next time.

One thing I will note, taking photos of your own family is very difficult, especially if you want to be in the photos.  I've got a friend that I'm going to ask to do my photos this summer, to hopefully get some better shots.  I'm also about ready to start experimenting and learning with indoor lighting (I've been setting money aside to buy a starter studio kit), but I have an intense love of natural light photography, so I'm sure that will continue to be my favorite type of photography.

The examples above are all of the un-processed shots I had to choose from.  As we needed fairly level ground for this shot, and we were on a hill, I chose to shoot with the children leaning on a slight upward angle (so they wouldn't tumble backward).  Unfortunately, this meant that I would have the sidewalk and a portion of the building in the background.  I went into this portion of the shoot knowing that it would need processing (which I typically try not to do, as I prefer to attempt to perfect my ability to shoot without needing post-shoot processing).  When shooting portraits, especially with so many subjects, I tend to shoot 7 or 8 frames for each pose, in hopes of catching the best expressions in a single photo.  The shot I chose is below:

Shot with my Canon Rebel Ti1 in automatic portrait mode, I chose the photo with the best expression on everyone's face.  I cropped in as close as possible to keep all of the children in the shot and focus on their faces.  I then set the white-balance, and noticed a problem... because I was shooting in portrait mode, it narrows the depth of field, which is preferred in a portrait (blurring the background).  The unwanted side effect of this is that not all of the faces were in sharp focus.  That means this will make a nice 3x5, maybe even 5x7, but it will not look nearly as good as an 8x10, which I was hoping for.  Next time I will make certain that when I am hand-holding the camera (i.e., not in the shot), I will use an aperature-priority mode that will allow me more flexibility to control the depth of field.  I decided to use a selective un-sharp mask to sharpen and clarify my daughter's face.  I then used the clone tool to remove the sidewalk that remained in the background.  The result was a nice photo of all of my children, along with my new grandbaby.

Reviews of more photos to come.  Let me know if you like to read these things.  I've been rather quiet lately, getting used to working full-time again, enjoying spring break with our kiddos, and homeschooling.  But if you enjoy reading about the photos, getting tips and tricks from someone learning along the way, please let me know.

New Year's Resolutions

Rather than choosing a bunch of New Year's Resolutions this year, there is a movement in Social Media to choose a word to represent how you want to change in the upcoming year.  As my resolutions are rarely fruitful, I've decided to give that a shot.  So, this year, my alternative to the New Year's Resolutions is the word ACT.

How does this affect my photography?  It means to quit telling myself that I'm going to make time and do some landscapes (which only happens every six months or so right now), and ACT on it.  When I think it's time to do some photography, and start making a plan to do it, I need to put the computer or pen and paper down, and just go outside and start photographing.

It means instead of thinking maybe I should take this photography class at the school next semester, I need to ACT... go sign up for the class and get started. 

Instead of making vague lists in my head of things I want to learn, I need to ACT, and start learning them. 

It's part of where this blog comes in.  If I learn a new tip or trick, or want to learn how to shoot (for example) a shot of sparklers frozen (vs. the light trails from sparklers moving), then I'll research it, blog about it here, and try it out, posting my results here.  I hope that you'll find the information helpful in your own photography, and let me know if you've started your own blog, posting the results of similar ACTs of your own.

In the photos in this post, I really enjoy the light trails left behind with my husband and one son (right) by leaving my shutter open 5 seconds, but the image of my son looking at me (above) was better, I think, although it mostly froze the image of the sparks by leaving it open 1 second instead.  Both were relatively hand-held (stabilized on my porch rails), and no editing has been done as yet.

Do you have a word for this year?  Or do you have resolutions?  What are some of yours?

Portrait choices

Which ones are your favorites?