Since I started messing around with macro shooting, one thing that annoys me is the incredibly shallow focus depth. This is to be expected shooting so close to the lens. Even at high f-stops, you really can’t get much focus depth. One answer to this problem is focus stacking. Focus stacking involves taking multiple images… Read More Focus Stacking a Macro
Sunday morning I packed my camera with a 150mm macro lens in my backpack and went out for a bicycle ride. I knew where some wildflowers would be with maybe some butterflies and bees and I needed some exercise so I biked to them. I was expecting a lot of yellow flowers, but when I… Read More Close Ups of a Purple Flower
Sunday afternoon I had to get out of the house. I didn’t think that there would be much to shoot around town judging by the mostly dry pond last week, so I just drove out to Inks Lake in the late afternoon. The sky was mostly clear and summer has not quite let go its… Read More Twilight Fishing Pier
I have been wanting to get out and take some night sky photos of the Milky Way this summer, but the weather and my personal schedule have not cooperated with me. So I watched the weather all week and made a plan for Friday night at Pedernales Falls State Park west of Austin. Pedernales Falls… Read More Night Sky at Pedernales Falls State Park
My fourth and final portraiture class was about trying a bunch of seemingly weird techniques to shoot portraits. Mainly using the flash lighting in ways that went against the conventional rules of shooting portraits. First, we shot a model with a white background. The background was lit by its own flash so it wouldn’t be… Read More Portrait Class, Part 4
In portrait class three we studied full length portraits and lighting. There was also a lot of discussion about hand orientation, leg position, and feet placement. There was a lot to keep in your head at once, while also trying to focus and frame the photo and communicate with the model. The below full length… Read More Portrait Class 3
I had my second installment of a portrait class that I am taking with my daughter. This class was focused on flashes. I don’t own an external flash for my camera so I had to use the equipment provided by the instructor. The first thing to try was direct flash with the flash mounted on… Read More Portrait Class, Part 2
I recently signed up for portrait classes with my oldest daughter. I have no experience shooting portraits and I generally prefer landscapes (no people), but my daughter is quite in to portraiture and had taken photos for many of the girls that she went to high school with. So, I signed up for this class… Read More Portrait Class, Part 1
Happy Father’s Day (in the USA). The day started off cloudy and rainy which ruined my planned morning photography outing. But in the afternoon the sun came out, and being of bored mind I wandered around my backyard and decided that I would take close-up photos of some lantana flowers. I went and grabbed my… Read More Lantana Flower Close-Up
Sunday evening as I was preparing to cook dinner on the grill outside, an unexpected storm moved in. It went from sunny and calm to winds and heavy rains in an hour. So, I cooked inside on the stove. But after the rains had stopped, I went outside and could see regular lightning all over… Read More Lightning
Jason Frels 