Good Advice

Jessyel Ty Gonzales wrote a guest post for Scott Kelby's blog that I found chocked full of good advice.
You can read what he wrote here.  It's straight forward advice for anyone contemplating photography as a career or anyone that has already made that decision.  
On a personal note, I started this class absolutely clueless about my camera, unless it was in Auto mode.  Once I learned how to find the proper exposure, I haven't looked back.  I have found an unexpected amount of joy, satisfaction and a curiosity for life during this class.  I am sad to see it end.  
Back to Mr. Gonzalez...
He reiterates much of what I have heard throughout this semester, but he takes bits and pieces I have heard here and there and lumps it all together in a succinct list to keep as a reminder.
I hope you find his advice as helpful as I do.
Here's one of his shots...  Great!

Falling in love...

Yes, I have fallen in love with studio lighting!

We had a quick demo in class a couple of weeks ago.  Absolutely amazing!  

A few of us went in together and set up the equipment on a Saturday and had a great time practicing.
I think this is my favorite shot from the studio that day:



This image captures the playful relationship my husband and daughter have. That is what really shines through to me.

I've been trying to figure out why it is I like the 'atmosphere' or feeling I feel when I see studio shots.  The best I can come up with at this point is all the focus is on the subject, no background distractions.  It's all about them.

Without question, I have a TON to learn about the subject and have been poking around online to learn what I can.  Our professor (Kate) said there are whole semester classes on studio lighting.  That would be heaven!

Until I can take one of those, I will keep learning what I can.  I will be posting links to resources below (and I will keep updating them as I find them).  I do find myself trying to think of where I could set up a permanent studio in our home.  Maybe when we get them all out the door to college!


B & H Photo
Adorama TV 
dpreview 
Digital Photography School 

Julianne Kost

Photoshop has been a scary word for me, but I will soon need to jump into this program.  AHHH!  Yes, an intimidating thought to say the least.  I am feeling some comfort though because I know that Julianne Kost can be right there to help through the tutorials she has made.  I have really benefited from her Lightroom tutorials and am looking forward to learning more from her.
 
Julianne joined Adobe in 1992 and has a BS in Psychology and an AA in Fine Art Photography.  Her tutorials are very easy to follow and take you through, step by step, a specific element of the software that you are trying to understand. 
She also shares a daily Photoshop tip on her blog you can find here.  

Rien van Ritjhoven

In searching architectural photography online, I came across the website of Rien Van Ritjthoven.  
 
I found a nice short biography about him here.  

I find some of his photographs almost look more like architectural renderings.   
The images he has taken inside of buildings have a really interesting composition.  The advice given by our professor, Kate Sanker, this semester can really be seen in his interior images:  fill the edges and the rest of the image will take care of itself.  When I look at these photos, I can almost feel like I could walk in and sit down.  His images seem very clean, light filled and modern.


 
You can see his images on his website, http://www.architecturephotography.org/.

500 px

If you would like to browse a LOT of others photos, you might really enjoy a visit to 500 px.   This website is loaded with photographs that you can look at and 'like' if you choose to.  There is a review of the site you may find helpful here.  It seems a big plus of 500 px is that you are not giving away all your rights to your photographs when you post them.
I have enjoyed looking through photos on this website and trying to learn from others compostions, lighting, etc. 

Joel Sartore

 

I first became aware of Joel Sartore because of The Great Courses (which offers courses on many different subjects).  Mr. Sartore is their expert for the fundamentals of photography (which you can see a listing of here).  This is not a sales ad by the way :)  My Mom purchased the DVD set for me as a gift - on an amazing sale.  So far I have only seen a tiny section of it because I have been way too busy this semester to sit down and watch it, but I will this summer.

 What little of it I have seen has made a lot of sense to me.  Joel Santore has been a National Geographic photographer for many years, as well as other publications such as Time and Life.  You can see his work at his own website, http://www.joelsartore.com/.  His passion for wildlife and nature really shine through in his work.  He has authored several books and seems to have a very full life.

Ever since I can remember, I have been impressed and amazed with pictures I have seen in National Geographic.  My husband and I have watched documentaries showing what the photographers have to go through to capture animals in their natural habitat.  It requires a lot of patience, stamina and good humor.  Mr. Santore's photos are no exception.

He has a great FAQ's page on his blog.  You can find it here.  I look forward to learning even more from him this summer.

Light Painting

I was introduced to light painting during a critique this week in photography class.  My classmate Leslie (you can check out her blog here) made an amazing photograph using a glowstick, tripod and slower shutter speed.  I was really intrigued!
I have learned light painting has been around for a long time.  The closest thing I can think of for this is waving around the sparklers growing up on the Fourth of July and seeing the "after image". 
You can click here for a good explanation from Wikipedia. 

Here are some images I love:

by Brentbat



by Rafoto

I found a basic tutorial on You Tube.  You can find it here.  I am excited to give this a try!