Weekly Blog-Frequently Asked Questions-Time of Day

Hi all,

I hope that everyones week is going swimmingly (anyone catch that pun, based on the beautiful weather lately?) and prosperous! I've been quite busy lately working on commercial photo shoots for local small businesses, several family/kid portraits, engagements, food photography, and also some personal works. Images from some of these shoots to follow soon.

Over the next few weeks I'd like to cover a few questions that I'm frequently asked when clients inquire about photography services or are planning a specific time/location for a shoot. Hopefully, this will also be informative to some of my readers and that they can apply these ideas to their own personal photography.

This week is all about lighting/time of day to do a shoot. I'm asked regularly about WHEN we should schedule a shoot outdoors in natural light. My response is always (and honestly not usually accepted eagerly) early morning or really late in the afternoon. The reason, I explain, is to utilize the best possible lighting which occurs just after sunrise or before sunset. There is a small window of time during this part of the day, when the sun gives us a gorgeous golden hue that is frequently called the "Golden Hour" or "Magic Hour." Obviously this doesn't apply as much on cloudy overcast days but it still makes a difference in the final quality of the images. 

Most people have noticed this, and EVERY competent photographer worth their salt should know this. The difference is completely noticeable when comparing images shot in the late morning, noon, or early afternoon versus the same images taken during this "Golden Hour" time period. Personally, I rarely even take my camera out of its bag between 10:00-2:00. A few reasons for this is that midday sun is often too bright and can "wash out" (or brighten a scene entirely too much) and also creates harsh unflattering deep dark shadows. You can try to apply this to your own photography by taking any photograph yourself at noon, and then take another photo of the exact same spot or subject at 7:30-8:00 P.M. (this time of the year) and compare them side by side. Below is a quick example of just a simple iPhone photo I shot in my backyard a few days ago during the "Magic Hour." Hope this helps! 

As always, comments, critiques, and/or questions are encouraged. Thanks for reading!    

      

Abstractions and Little Oddities of New Orleans

Happy Monday everyone,

This weeks blog post will focus (or not) on a few abstractions I created during the New Orleans trip last month. There are so many unique and odd artifacts to see around the city if you just look closely. It seems there's some sort of little photographic gem hidden on almost every city block you travel. Here are just a few of the items that caught my eyes during the trip that I felt warranted a photo and subsequent blog post. 

This will be the last blog I'll post on the trip for a little while as there are many other things I've been working on that I'll share in the coming weeks. As always, I'd love to hear comments, questions, and/or suggestions or critiques from all of my readers. Thanks, have a great week!   

Delicious Foods and Drinks of New Orleans

Good afternoon everyone,

The last few weeks have been quite busy across the board, but I'll share more of the things I've been working on in future posts. Staying with the New Orleans theme, for today's post I'd like to share some of the unbelievably delicious food and drink we were fortunate enough to have during the trip a few weeks ago. 

This blog post features some of the BEST sandwiches I've ever had, the original Muffuletta sandwich from Central Grocery, and the Po'Boy from Mothers Restaurant. Both are equally delicious in their own unique way! Also included are charbroiled garlic parmesan oysters (which I was leery of at first, until I tried them) fantastic buttery croissants, sugary beignets from Cafe Du Monde, étouffée, Bloody Mary's, and a French 75 drink, which was 1 of my birthday drinks. Admittedly, these photos are not the best of quality because I took most of the images while dining in the restaurants with whatever available light I had. There wasn't an opportunity to light or style the dishes the way I wanted, but my main goal was to just chronicle or document some of the spectacular foods New Orleans has to offer. If you've never been to New Orleans and you are a food lover...GO! You will not be disappointed with the HUGE variety of flavorful foods available there. Enjoy, and as always comments/critiques/questions are encouraged.

         

Architecture of New Orleans

Happy Monday everyone,

Last week was a difficult week so I apologize in advance for not posting a blog. I won't get into specifics but I'll just say that we again lost another close family member to that hideous affliction, cancer. Pretty much every family member I know has had at some point, or passed away from cancer and I'm quite aggravated by it. Hopefully we will find the cures to rid us of this despicable disease that has impacted too many of our lives.

On to this weeks blog as I feel the need to dive straight into work. This week's blog focuses (pun intended) on the many styles of New Orleans architecture. The city is littered with popular historical buildings, like Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar, Cafe Du Monde, and St. Louis Cathedral but there are also a wide range of other architectural styles that reflect the many cultural influences that helped shaped New Orleans. Shotgun houses, Creole cottages, Double-Gallery houses, and Creole townhouses are just a few of the other designs I photographed on our trip. The multitude of colors, shapes, and sizes are very interesting to observe as you walk the streets. The Superdome is also another interesting structure to see at night. The entire stadium changes colors continuously throughout the evening. 

The goal of this blog is to give readers who haven't visited New Orleans (or even those that have) a sense of place based on the unique structures and sights the great city of New Orleans has to offer. Enjoy, thanks for reading, and as always questions/comments and critiques are encouraged!