Because We Can

Hello Everyone!!!

Hope you are all finding yourselves well this fine week of November.

I thought I'd take a second to tease you with one of my favorite pictures to date taken with my lovely new 50mm lens.

I'll be back later with some others just for fun and well because I can.

If any of you want to share any of your favorite photos, please do!!

Letty

(remind me to tell you a quirky story about this cat later)

Quickie

So the photo shoot from this past Saturday turned out pretty well.

I definitely got lucky with costuming because my models brought some clothes that worked well with some of the stuff I brought.

I also got lucky because I did the make up on my models and since I had rehearsed it the night before, it turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

Not to toot my own horn, but some of my crew members were asking if there was a make up artist there when they saw my girls.

Yes, I am proud of myself.

But anyway, I'm glad to know that in a pinch I would be able to pull something off in regards to make up (so long as it wasn't too elaborate of course).

Well, i'm sorry I won't be able to give you a sneak peek at the images.

Shooting the models was only half the shoot.

The other half still needs to get done.

And then I have to edit them together.

Fun!

But what I can give you a sneak at is the practice engagement shoot I did this weekend with two friends of mine.

So enjoy!! And as always, feedback is much appreciated.

Have a great week!!!

Letty
{LPS}

Oh No! Cramming!

So I have this very open ended photo shoot this saturday for class.

Me no likey.

It is supposed to be a fine art photo shoot, loose on the fine art definition.

I am having a really hard time with this.

All our shoots until now have been very, well not open ended.
(i know it makes perfect sense)

One of the styles or categories she reviewed with us as possibilities was one of improbable realities.

Basically all images are photo shopped together to make one seamless photo of something that is highly unlikely to be true.

I am working on developing something along those lines.

I picture somewhat of a snow queen in pale silvery, white makeup with a flow-ey dress or a puffy eskimo type jacket.

But I have had such little time to really think about it and develop it.

Worse, I don't have confirmed models or make up artists.

I'm dying.

I certainly don't appreciate we only had one week to put it together since we weren't even told what the assignment was until this past saturday.

Cruel, in my opinion.

Had it need not involve people, it would not have been cruel.

But it involves people, and people are difficult to contact, confirm, and book.

So all I have to say is

OH NO's!!!

CRAMMING!!!

I really don't like to cram.

I'm off, to bite my nails off as my deadline bolts towards me at an uncomforting rate.

Letty
{LPS}

Beauty Shoot Quickie

On Saturday we had a beauty photo shoot in school.

It was very crazy but so much fun.

We had models going in and out.

Make up artists left and right.

And at one point our group did a closed set because we had a girl take her bra off.
(no worries, it was not a nudity shoot, she was just showing her back but our teacher said if he [the photographer at the time] wanted the shot, it had to come off.
and really i agree, the image would not have been as strong if you saw her strap smack dab in the middle of her back)

Anyway, so it was a very long day followed by another long day of fun because today was my dear mommy's birthday.

I will be back with some more on the shoot as well as sneak peaks.

Have a great Monday!

{LPS}

Photo Quote of the Week

A technically perfect photograph can be the world's most boring picture. - Andreas Feininger


So I have to apologize for being behind this week and for being short, but I've been so swamped with school work as well as freelance work (not to mention my work work) that I've hardly had time to sleep, let alone do anything else.


So my quick thoughts but very obvious and important message are as follows:


BE CREATIVE!


Keep it simple.


DO IT!


Yep that's it.


Be creative is obvious yet so important.


I know when I started out, I was so focused on getting my metering down and the composition and this and that


I didn't really pause to have fun. 


I didn't make myself aware of whether the image was even interesting,
(and trust me there were many a time i should have checked)


Keep it simple, don't force yourself to be creative.


Now this doesn't mean that if you aren't feeling creative or can't come up with something to just give up.


What I mean is to think back to formalism.


Change your angle, change your lighting, change your depth of field.


Try turning your camera 45 degrees, so you aren't vertical or horizontal but diagonal.


Think of colors and shapes and lines. Draw those out in your images.


Shoot with the light in front of your subject, behind, to the side, above, below and every where else in between.


Do it. Whether you feel like it or not. 


Whether you think of it or not.


Whether you can come up with or not.


It's like Forrest Gump says, "you never know what you're gonna get."


If you don't shoot it you won't know for sure.


And even if you do shoot it, you won't know what you're getting until you've done it over and over and over again.


----------------------------------------------


Ok so that wasn't very short.


But can you blame me, I just want to share everything I can with you. 


Hopefully this makes sense.


Lots of Love and wishing you an awesome Friday!


{LPS}

What not to do

When you are doing a photo shoot of four models and there will be no other photographer but you. . .


Make sure you 


a) have more than one memory card


b) if you're going to use only one, make sure it's ridiculously large 
(like 16G or more! actually i don't even know if they make them that big, hmmm. . .)


or c) if you only have one, take your computer to transfer files after each model.


---------------------------------------------


Yes, my friends, I did not do any of the above.


As a result, during the fitness shoot, I had to shoot in jpeg and I had to review photos after each model 


to delete obvious discard shots
(such as the occasional overexposure and such)


as well as delete others which did not seem like great shots.


That was heartbreaking to me.


I hate deleting pictures in camera because you can't really experience the picture and know what's going on, on such a tiny screen!


Actually I kinda hate deleting pictures ever.
(and I know hate is a strong word, but I just really don't like that delete button at all)


But at least now I probably won't ever do that again.
(knowing me though, it probably will happen but at least not in the near future)


I do have teaser photos for you but I probably won't be able to load them until this weekend.


Sorry about that but school is getting pretty busy between this week and next.


Thank you for stopping by!!! Feel free to leave any thoughts.


Have a great one!


{LPS}

Photo Quote of the Week

"I am not interested in shooting new things, I am interested to see things new." - Ernst Haas

I love this.

Mainly because it is the challenge I set for myself as an artistic photographer.

I challenge myself not necessarily to shoot new things, 

but to see things in a new light. 

I feel like I broken record with this subject but I guess it's just because it's a topic that's personal to me.

There are so many things around us to see.

And most of the time, we don't really see them.

Like the things we take for granted.

But when I challenge myself to these these things new, 

I feel I gain a greater appreciation, 

not only for the world around me, 

but for the art of photography, 

and the understanding of them both as well. . . 

Hoping my pondering leads to some pondering of your own, 

Have a great week!!

{LPS}

Sneak Peek: Headshot Photo Shoot

So here are my favorite shots for the headshot photo shoot I did on Saturday.

The first two are of one of the people I've enjoyed photographing the most.

She was so sweet and made my job so easy.

The second two are of my second client of the day who also a joy to work with.

She was very easy going and easy to work with.

(wow, my word of the day seems to be easy)

Anyway, here they are straight from the camera, with the exception of some cropping I had to do to remove unwanted equipment in the shot.

And here's one that I just totally love for her facial expression and background.

Have a great week everyone!!!

{LPS}

p.s.

Fitness photo shoot teaser coming soon!

Sneak Peek: Fitness Photo Shoot

So here are some teaser photos from the photo shoot I assisted in a couple weeks ago. 

They're a little dark since it was the end of the day and I usually rather go darker than lighter anyway since darker is a problem that can be fixed. 

I'll post the edited images later. I might even post them before and after style. 

Let me know what you think and remember they are straight from the camera.

Have a great week!

{LPS}

Photo Quote of the Week

"PHOTOSHOP" - Everybody

Ok so it's not really a quote but I was working on some photographs from a photo shoot I assisted in over the weekend and I thought "This is my least favorite thing about photography!"

When I first started it was very much exciting to me. The things I learned to do and how I was able to sometimes transform my images, I was amazed. 

So I obviously didn't mind spending hours editing. 

These days, I despise editing. 

I have so may things going on that it just feels like a chore.

How does this relate to the "quote" of the week, you ask?

Simple. 

Editing means photoshop.

(or Lightroom for some of you, but i'm ignoring you for today's purposes)

Photoshop means many, many connotations.

Mostly bad.

Most people think botched artwork when they hear photoshop.

Something poorly done and even ghetto.

Yeah, that really makes me want to take my time editing.

And for a select few it means positives things which I am choosing not to dwell on today since I am only interested in the negative.

Yes, that's me, the optimist.

(actually i normally am, but today i choose not to be)

So back to editing.

It sucks.

I'm sure I'll think otherwise when all my work has been completed and I am once again filled with

Wonder,

awe,

and PRIDE

in the work I have done.

Until then, I shall be an unhappy camper.

Er, photographer.

{LPS}

P.S.

When I am back to my optimistic self and find myself with some free time, I shall fill you in on my recent absence and share my experience about the photo shoot I assisted in with some sneak peaks.

Byeee

Update: Where have I been?

Hey Photo People, 


I am sorry I have been MIpA (missing in photographic action) for the past two weeks now. 


Here's the low down.


My awesome boyfriend's dad was in a car accident last week so I was in and out of the hospital with his family. 
(He is ok now, just bruised and on "house arrest" per doctors orders)


After that I spent the rest of the week catching up on the work I missed at work.
(great stuff i tell ya)


This week has been all about homework and research.


I was offered to do wedding photography for a friend next month.


Since I've never done anything like that, I wanted to be informed and be prepared. 


Unfortunately it was all for not. 


I was informed today that they hired a photography since Monday.


I love them and I'm not hurt or upset
(the wedding is in 2 weeks so trust me, i understand)


But I would have appreciated the heads up so I didn't spend the past week staying up into the wee hours of the night doing research.


Oh well. life's lessons. at least i know a little something about wedding photography now.


So this week's lesson my friends?


There's always an upside.


Even if the upside isn't the one you were expecting.


{LPS}

Photo Quote of the Week

The 'machine-gun' approach to photography - by which many [photographs] are made with the hope that one will be good - is fatal to serious results. - Ansel Adams

OK.

So this week I did not forget to provide you guys with another photography related quote.

aren't you proud of me, you know you are.

And again when I read this quote I felt compelled to share some thoughts. 

mostly stemming from my personal experience with this concept. 

Before I had taken any photographic instruction, I admit I used this 'machine-gun' approach. 

I took many, many photographs of my subject with such rapid continuity that I was basically just hoping I got at least 

one.good.one.

Highly ineffective. 

While it is not a negative thing at all to take many photographs of the same subject, each 'repetitive' photograph should have a purpose.

Without it, you're just a sniper sitting in a tree with no scope and no visible target.

Each repetition should be serving some purpose.

Whether it's a change in angle.

in focus.

zoom.

depth of field.

whatever.

but your repetition should have thought.

it.should.have.aim.

like that sniper I mentioned earlier.

Otherwise, you're not doing yourself or your talents much good.

{LPS}

Photo Quote of the Week

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts. 

-Sir Joshua Reynolds

Under Construction

For my photo class this week, we were assigned to photograph the theatre festival that our school hosts for local high school theatre programs. I am not a very good people person photographer yet and I am certainly not a photojournalist so this assignment was particularly challenging for me. I did however try it, attempting to cover everything we were told to do and then some. I am not sure that I was able to get the shots  I needed in order to complete the assignment and since I am not allowed to retouch them at all, I am not sure they are sufficient. I do need to process them, as soon as I do, I will post what I will turn in. 

How do you approach jobs that are not your forte?

-La Petite Sirène

Toys

The following images are from from my themed shoots. This one I had alot of fun with. I was moving at the time and in my packing and unpacking sessions, I came across alot of different toys from my childhood, toys that you would normally get in kids meals and such. I took some of these and went to one of the playgrounds at a local elementary school. I set them up and tried to to make them look like they were a part of the scenery as best I could. Others were taken at home. Any thoughts?

None of the previous images were altered or corrected.

Thanks for visiting!

-La Petite Sirène

Signs

When I first started taking pictures, I would look to have some sort of theme to my photo shoots, such colors, concepts, objects, etc. I quickly discovered that it was not as easy as I thought it would be. There's a lot of repetition in the world and finding images that are significantly (or at least noticeably) different from each other was a real challenge. Of course I was more than happy to tackle this challenge but with only a limited time available to me to shoot, I had to drop my themed shoots and focus on developing my skills and in between that, finding my style. The following images are some of my favorites from one of my first theme shoots, I went on a "road trip" searching for signs, whether they be as ordinary as a car or more interesting than a dancing ostrich (I know great analogy ; ] ).

Once again none of these images have been altered or corrected.

Thanks for visting,

-La Petite Sirène

Introduction

Hello Everyone,

My name is Letty. I am a freelance photographer who has always had a love and appreciation for the things and joys that photography brings. However, I have only recently been able to really immerse myself in learning about photography and developing my skills.

This blog is intended to be somewhat of a portfolio of my preferred work and experiences along my photographic journey. I hope to someday be able to Make Captured Moments a Beautiful Part of Your World! *wink wink*

I really enjoy what I do and appreciate any chance I have at improving.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding my work or if you have feedback you would like to provide.

Have an amazing day!

-La Petite Sirène