Here are two edits of a natural light image I took of my daughter in France. I positioned my daughter with the sun behind her (so I was shooting into the sun) and I had a large white wall behind me. This large wall acted as a large fill reflector filling the shadows and taking down the contrast.
I set my camera to manual exposure, set the aperture I wanted (personally I like F4 to F5.6 for portraits like this, this was shot at F4), zoomed in my camera so I was only metering for the skin on the face and changed my shutter speed until the camera meter told me the exposure was correct.
With my exposure set I was free to concentrate on composition and interaction with my daughter. The result...a very pleasing portrait from my holidays in France.
To the parents with children in the Skerries Educate Together N.S. Please click the image above to get access to the schools private gallery with all your images from the day at the parade.The username and password can be obtained from the school.Please do not contact me for log on details as I will not be able to give the details out.For any parent wishing to get a print, I can organise for a copy of the file to be in Image Depot in Balbriggan, there will be no charge on my part for the image, the only cost to you will be the charge for the print from Image Depot.If you do feel you should pay something for my photographic services may I suggest you make a donation to Skerries Educate Together directly.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
While working for the Evening Herald on Saturday I was asked by one of the parents of another team (not the match I was covering) if I would photograph their team as they didn't have a shot of them all together.No problem, and no charge. Although I would suggest a small donation to UNICEF of €10.00 per parent. Just click the banner below.
To download your image for printing click here.If you would like one for facebook then save the one below.
Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
My wife ran out to the shop Saturday lunchtime and left us the task of setting the table. At around the same time I noticed some really harsh sunlight pouring into our kitchen. So what do you reckon I did as soon as she left?I ran upstairs and grabbed my camera and a reflector of course. This shot took about 30 seconds and shows how easy it can be to capture a good quality image if you understand basic camera operation and you can visualise the final image.Essentially all that was required was moving Alana far enough away from the glass doors with the sun pouring through them and meter for Alana's face (which started out darker than the sunlight and became darker the deeper she came into the room). As I'm metering for her face and as she moves into the room the darker her face gets and the greater the light intensity difference between her face and the sunlight.
I then added a hand held reflector (yes, I shot this with one hand and yes I was shaking) to fill some of the shadows on the face.
Below another edit.
Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Well I have been a little busy since my last post hence the lack of posts. Just a quick one here with two shots of little 3 month baby Emily.
They are a perfect example of how fast things change on a shoot with a young baby going from wide awake to fast asleep very quickly.
I kept the shoot really simple, using two strobes bounced off far walls and the ceiling with the white bed cover providing a nice bit of fill.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
The world is full of parents and other family members who take thousands of photographs of their young family members every day. For many of these people the following will apply.
They know their photography is not what it could be. They want to take images that capture the real essence of their child but because for of a variety of reasons they are unable to capture on their camera what they visualise in their heart. Sometimes they capture a wonderful shot and wonder why they can't do this consistently. They become frustrated with themselves and they either educate themselves or eventually the camera goes into a drawer only to be taken out for family snaps and special events.
The ability to photograph children is a skill that I am very happy to say I do have. Did I always have that skill? No, I was as described above for a very long time. My camera stayed in the wardrobe in my bedroom, in its box. It wasn't until I started to educate myself did I turn myself into a photographer. It was a slow steady journey, one I am still on today. I hope I never reach the destination because I always want to improve my art. I believe with a little direction any parent with a camera can turn there photographs into something more. Its for this reason I started this blog with a series of educational posts. I want to share what I have learned and encourage people to take more photographs, better photographs and be as proud of their photographs as they are of their children.Parents and other close family members are often in the best position to capture expressions of their child. They are totally relaxed in their presence, they know them, there is no defense mechanism on the part of the child. What you get is the real inner child.Over the next few weeks I will be putting together a number of posts to help people produce more professional looking images of children. The high level list at the moment comprises of:1. Planning your Shoot2. Camera Position3. Composition4. Backgrounds5. Exposure6. Lighting7. Capturing natural images8. Basic PhotoshopArticle including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
