Growing Pains: Don't Make This Terrible Mistake

My friend and photo colleague Tiffany Trott was right on the mark in her blog post today at 23photos.com when she suggested that photographers reset their camera settings before putting away their equipment.

I made the terrible mistake of not checking my settings during a shoot at the Democratic National Convention. The night before, I had been inside a dark museum, requiring me to boost my ISO to the highest setting possible on my Canon 5D, which was an amazing 3600! My shots were perfect from that night, but I forgot to change those settings the very next day when I was shooting in broad daylight in front of Mezcal when celebrities associated with the Creative Coalition made another appearance.

I didn't realize my mistake until I uploaded the photos for post processing. As you can image, the increased ISO made the photos incredibly grainy and the color noise was out of this world, peppering darker African-American skin tones with speckles of blue, green and red. I was so sick to my stomach, I thought I was going to vomit! Some noise correction in Photoshop took care of most of it, but some of the shots just couldn't be saved.

From this point on, I would advise all of us to take Tiffany's advice. Don't store your gear away without resetting to your basic shooting mode. For me that's ISO 100 and turning the dial back to Manual or Aperture Priority. It's a great routine to have and include in your overall work flow.

Get the Job Done: Gloria's Senior Portraits

, originally uploaded by Sheba Wheeler.

This Saturday, I did another senior portrait session with Gloria, a childhood friend and referral from Jordan. After finishing these great shots with Gloria, I'm more convinced now than ever that portraiture is the type of photography I love and prefer doing.

I like being able to show the client a new side of themselves, and I like having them experience a one-on-one session where they are the main focus. That makes the experience more personal and memorable if I can make them feel special and important. If a client is nervous, I will take the time to show them some of my favorite shots right in camera. The clincher happens when you hear that quick intake of breath or that gasp right before they say, "Wow, those do look good." I'm not sure if they are surprised by how they look or my ability to get the shot! :) Either way, those are always great reactions to witness.

A colleague told me once that a fellow photographer took portraits rather than some other type of photography, namely nudes or boudoir shots, because portraiture "was safe." But I don't think so. Maybe the photographer takes portraits because he enjoys being able to make people feel good about themselves, like I do. Lord knows we all have those moments when we need someone to remind us just how beautiful we really are.

Gloria said she wanted flowers in her senior portrait, so we spent the early morning at City Park where the flower beds are gorgeous, colorful and plentiful. I'm happy that Gloria's sister was with us; she not only was a great assistant holding reflectors and diffusers, but she was instrumental in getting true smiles and laughter from Gloria.

DNC Coverage: Praying for a Miracle

Photos I took of Cynthia Parish appeared in print and on denverpost.com today!

DNC Coverage: WARNING DISTURBING IMAGE

After I finished writing my daily for the DNC coverage yesterday, I left the office and wandered around downtown Denver to see what I might come across. I happened upon this very intense protest against abortion and couldn't resist a chance to capture such raw human emotions and confrontation.

While several police officers flanked the perimeter of this scene, keeping a close eye on things, a large group of people crowded around this disturbing display of photos of allegedly aborted fetuses. I say "allegedly" because I've covered numerous abortion protests where I later discovered that the photos they were showcasing were not actually of human fetuses. I do not know about the legitimacy of these images; I only know that the response they drew from passersby was real.

To capture this shot, I used my 16-35 wide angle lens and placed myself directly between the protesters and crowd. While the poster itself is indeed very disturbing, I find my eyes moving around the image and focusing on each of the faces. Notice how the man in the right portion of the frame is lost in thought, biting his fingers. The woman with her hand on her hips is clearly arguing with the protester who is trying to argue her point of view. The other young protester isn't speaking, but his gaze is directly pointed at the woman confronting the protesters and their display. The young man in the yellow t-shirt directly across from me is caught in the middle, just like I am, but his gaze is on the woman as well.

One could argue that the image is too busy...that there is too much going on in the image for a viewer to be able to focus on. I say this is a pretty good example of photojournalism, capturing a moment filled with life and humanity. What do you think?

Get the Job Done: The Ultimate Client Compliment

My Favorite Shot from My First Senior Portrait Session

I received the ultimate client compliment on Saturday when I presented my first set of senior portrait shots to Jordan: "I want to be up on your wall!"

That's what Jordan said after I showed her what I think is one of the best portrait sessions I have taken to date due to the diversity of shots and locales. To Jordan, having one of her pictures blown up to a poster size and placed on one of the display walls in my home has become one of her goals. Since I have become her family's official photographer, I have images of her mother Teri, her brother Bishop and her baby sis Avery hanging up as a reminder to myself about my own growth as a professional photographer. So I've decided that I will honor her request and hang my favorite picture from the shoot, shown above. I love how the red of her shirt pops with the golden yellow background. Taking the shot from above is a complimentary angle for her features, while the vignetting adds a sense of timelessness to the image.

What shot did Jordan pick to go into her high school yearbook? This gorgeous pic taken of her on top of the 10th floor balcony of the Denver Newspaper Agency building where both her mother and I work for the Denver Post.


Jordan's Yearbook Pic

I could barely contain my excitement while she sorted through the images, and the fact that she had a hard time deciding meant there were tons of great pictures to choose from! I let her take control of my MacBook Pro as she sorted them out, and I think that personal touch really made her feel as if she was an integral part of this process (which of course she WAS!) It was difficult to try to take a back seat and let the client decide what photos she wanted because I definitely had my favorites, and I was surprised that she didn't like the same images I did, or even the same images her mother liked.

Overall, this was a great learning experience, and her referrals got me two more potential customers, one of which I will be shooting this weekend after the Democratic National Convention is laid to rest.

One other note: since I only had several hundred of images to edit, I went ahead and edited all the images before presenting them to Jordan. But what I found interesting is that out of the 50 I shot, she only picked about 20 that were her favs. Does that mean I spent unnecessary time editing shots she didn't want? I will have to chew on this a little more.

DNC Coverage: Celebrity Appearances in Denver

Trying to capture this image of Spike Lee was difficult because I am so dang short! So I had to hoist my camera above the fray and pray I got the right angle. A little straightening in Photoshop CS3 and this image was totally successful. Maybe next time I'm at a "red carpet event" I will do what the photographer on the left did: stand on a step ladder during the interview!

What I found interesting about this experience (other than fighting being star struck while I was covering the event for The Denver Post!) was Lee's refusal to deal with the media onslaught. He was angry that he got mobbed in front of Mezcal. Once he was rushed inside, he refused to come back out again. But other stars appearing at the same event willing gave numerous interviews and plenty of time in front of the camera.

To see other celebrity photos, visit my Flickr page or check out celebrity galleries at denverpost.com.

Instructor's Tip: Frame Edges and Balance

Enjoy this week's "Instructor's Tip" by award winning nature photographer Russ Burden:

Frame Edges and Balance
One of the nice things about landscape photography is the same subject can often net different images with many variations. The most basic is capturing the scene both vertically and horizontally. If you are not in the habit of doing this, write yourself a reminder right now and place it in your camera bag. Another way to create a variation is to add a foreground element. Additionally, you can shoot the scene with both a wide and telephoto lens to get different perspectives. As most variations are based on compositional changes, there are two more ideas I want you to add to your shooting list - Balance and Frame Edges.


FRAME EDGES are very important and often overlooked as many photographers zero in on the key subject area that is usually toward the center of the frame. The concept of TUNNELING the viewfinder happens as ninety percent of the attention is given to what’s occurring in the center. I urge you to carefully scan every corner of the viewfinder.


BALANCE - Prevent a situation where too much of the composition is weighted to either side or to the top or bottom portion of the image. The most common OOPS regarding this is including too much sky, especially if it lacks drama.

The photo(s) in this post were taken by Russ Burden. To learn more about how Russ captured this image, join him on one of his photo tours. Visit Russ Burden Photography to get more information.

To take a class with Russ or a fellow Digital Photo Academy instructor in your area, check out the Digital Photo Academy. I took Russ' intermediate and advanced courses last year, and he continues to be a strong source of knowledge and encouragement as I progress in my photography.

Don't forget to check Take Great Pictures for Russ' most recent tips. On the home page, click on the "Photo Tips And Techniques" button in the left hand column. Additionally, check out his "Digital Tip of the Month" found by clicking on the Digital Photography button.