Fun With a Fisheye | Part 1

If you missed my original post about shooting with a Fisheye Lens, you can find it here.

The first evening that I used the Fisheye Lens, I just walked around my neighborhood taking photos of random things that I came across.  I was mostly trying to get a feel for the lens and see how it worked.

Day 1...

This photo was taken with me laying with my feet next to the trunk of the tree (I deliberately left them in the photo for a little perspective, and you can see them in the bottom right corner ).  The tree was near the top of a small hill, so I am laying a bit upside down with my head lower than my feet.  If you look at the top left of the photo, you can see the cars that are on the road behind me...

Here is the same photo, but I have inverted it, to give a different view. In this one the street and cars are easier to see...

The instant I saw that photo, and realized just how much of the scene around me the Fisheye Lens could capture, I was in love! I felt like a kid in a candy store - eyes wide open, staring at all the possibilities in front of me!

This next photo was probably more fun to shoot than it is too view. What I really should have done was tried recording a video through the lens to see how it looked. Watching the cars zoom up and down the curves felt like I was watching a kid playing with toy cars on a race track...

Day 2...

All of the following photos were taken just a few miles from our neighborhood.  I have no idea what the buildings used to be, but I'm a sucker for old, falling apart, graffiti covered dwellings!

This next photo really shows how much the lens curves things, as the two railroad tracks are parallel to each other in reality...

I hadn't quite learned my lesson about getting close enough with this next image.  I was close enough to that wood pile on the right side that I could easily touch it, and it still looks a million miles away!  I was checking out how the horizon curved through the lens when I moved it away from the horizontal...

I had read that Fisheye Lens often have a lot of chromatic aberration, and you can really see it in this photo...

One of the practical uses I can see for a Fisheye Lens it to be able to photograph inside of doorways and capture the whole room inside.  I never could have gotten the following two shots without it.  This photo is taken looking through the door way that is visible in the photo above...

This is another view into the small building taken looking through the doorway that is visible on the left side of the above image...

I then moved on to another nearby building.  Those grey metal beams in the foreground of the photo aren't curved in reality!...

This photo is taken looking straight at the wall that is on the left side on the above photo.  I love how it curves everything and makes it look like it is bulging out straight at you!...

For this final image of the day, I zoomed in a little bit to use the lens more as a wide angle and minimize the barrel effect.  On my camera body, this would be a nice feature of the lens but on a full frame camera this photo would have still been quite distorted (and all of the above photos would have been true circle images instead of just the edges having the black rim like they do)....

So, which one is your favorite?  My two favs are the first and the last ones.

I really enjoyed my first two days of shooting with the lens, and felt like I really learned a lot about what I was able to do with it!  But, there are lots more photos coming up, so stay tuned for more fun Fisheye pictures in Part 2!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

BBL 2011-2012 | Rent a Fisheye Lens

#11 RENT A FISHEYE LENS AND EXPERIMENT WITH IT

Why did I include this on my Bucket List?

I included this because I thought it would be great to experiment with a new and different realm of photography. Every time I have seen a photo taken with a Fisheye Lens, I've always thought to myself that the images look like so much fun to create. I really wanted to test my limits and see what I could do with one.

Was the experience what I had hoped it would be?

Using a Fisheye Len was everything I was hoping it would be and so much more! It was such a great learning experience and really got me thinking outside of my comfort zone. Shooting with this lens was so different from shooting with the lenses that I am used to using, and I had to look at everything in a different way. It brought an excitement to shooting that I haven't felt since the first time I picked up my camera. Did I end up with any show stopping images? Nope. Did I have A TON of fun playing around with this lens for the past week? You bet I did!

The details...

I'm going to spare you the lesson on Fisheye Lens, but I will say that if you ever consider renting or purchasing one, make sure you do your research and know exactly what you are getting! I was surprised by how much there was to learn while I was trying to decide which lens to rent.

I settled on the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye. I don't shoot with a full frame camera body, so most of the other options weren't going to provide that typical fisheye distortion look. That's all well and good if you're wanting just a wide angle lens, but I wanted to have myself a little fun seeing just how much I could distort reality! And distort I did!

It took me a while to get the hang of using the lens. Everything I read about shooting with a Fisheye said that you have to get close to your subject, and that everything would look farther away than in real life. They weren't kidding! One of the photos I tried taking was of a flag off in the distance framed by trees on both sides of it. It truly would have been a gorgeous shot with a zoom lens. I took it with the Fisheye, got home and put in on the computer, and I would have needed a magnifying glass to even see the flag!

After the first couple of times using the lens, I finally started to figure out what it could and couldn't do, and that's when the fun began! My goal for my week was to spend as much time with the lens as possible, and see how many different things I could come up with to photograph, while applying the fun barrel effect that Fisheyes are known for.

I will be sharing a series of posts with my Fisheye photos over the next week or so, but for now I'm going to leave you with this:

It's a series of photos I took of myself while hand holding the camera. It was kinda fun to see the different ways I could distort my face! This was my second time shooting with the camera, so I hadn't quite learned yet how close I needed to get for maximum distortion. If you've never seen photos taken with a Fisheye lens before, take a close look at each of the images and see how things are distorted. Check out how the headboard on the bed, and the whole room in general are curved. Check out how long my arms look, and how small and far away my body looks. Check out how HUGE my forehead and nose look in some of the photos, and how about those glasses?? I purposely wore them, instead of my contacts, because I thought it would add even more fun to the photos.

I hope you'll come back later this week to see more photos from my Fisheye Lens Experiment!

P.S. What do you think? Should this count as my September Self-Portrait? :)

Do you want to see my entire 2011-2012 Bucket List? You can find it here.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Birthday Bucket List | 2011-2012 Edition

To quote the great Ferris Bueller (what can I say? I'm an 80s kid), "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Life does move pretty fast these days, and it seems to be moving faster with each passing year!  In an attempt to slow down and make time to have a little fun, I've started keeping what I call my Birthday Bucket List.  Basically, it is a list of new things I want to do before my next birthday.

When I first started doing this, the number of things that I wanted to do in the coming year was the same as the age I would be turning on my next birthday, but as the years started adding up I found that I just couldn't keep up.  So, instead I've narrowed the list down to 12 things, with the goal of attempting to mark one off my list each month.  (But don't hold me to that!)

So, here is my 2011-2012 Birthday Bucket List:

1. Plant a palm tree... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

2. Make pasta from scratch... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

3. Find a new music artist/band that I love... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

4. Take a vow of silence for 24 hours... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

5. Fast for 24 hours... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

6. Cruise around the Hawaiian Islands... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

7. Try to surf... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

8. Try a new sport or form of exercise... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

9. Take a photo a day for a 30 days... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

10. Take a photoshop class... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

11. Rent a Fisheye lens and experiment with it... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

12. Rent a Macro lens and experiment with it... CHECKED + BLOGGED!

As I complete the items, I will mark them off the list and write a blog post about the experience.  I'm really looking forward to the coming year, and getting to learn, see, and do some exciting new things!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Self-Portrait | August 2011

Is August seriously almost over? As I was typing in the date above, it took everything I had not to type in July. Where oh where has this summer gone?

As I mentioned, I'm going to be making some changes to the blog in the coming weeks, and one of those changes is to include a monthly self-portrait.

Why a self-portrait?

Lots of reasons!

For one, I thought it was high time I stepped out from behind the camera and showed my face on the blog. As I was doing some recent edits, I realized just how few photos there are of me and I thought it was about time to change that.

For two, I wanted to do a better job of documenting my own life in photos. It's about time that I start practicing what I preach!

For three, I'm really not a big fan of using a tripod. I tend to find it frustrating and I usually avoid it when at all possible - even resorting to hand holding the camera for slow shutter speeds that really would do much better on a tripod. The best way to overcoming something is to do it, right? And it's pretty much impossible to take a self-portrait without a tripod.

For four, I wanted the challenge, and the life lesson.  I think that taking a self-portrait is much more difficult than taking a portrait of someone else. We are always so much more critical of ourselves than of others, and taking your own photo is a double whammy. Not only can I criticize myself in the photo, but my photography is also up for critique.  In recent weeks, I've started on a path toward greater acceptance of who I am.  I'm concentrating on trying to realize that I am enough, instead of always zeroing in on my perceived short comings.  I'll probably share more on that eventually, but for now... my desire for greater self-acceptance is also fueling my desire to take my own portrait every month.

August's self-portrait was taken with me sitting in the chair in the living room of our rental house in Phoenix. I seem to have adopted this as "my place" in the house, and I almost always sit there any time I am in the living room. I opted to photograph myself sitting in this chair, with my computer on my lap, because when I look back over the month of August it is nothing but a blur of day after day spent working on my computer as I updated my website and blog.

As I was brainstorming for this month's self-portrait, I had an idea of how I was going to take this photograph. On a whim, I decided to reposition the camera and I ended up liking the composition of the image much better than in my original idea. I have a feeling that taking my portrait every month is going to be a wonderful learning experience. Trying to imagine what a shot is going to look like with a person in it is very different from actually seeing it with the person already there!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Tips + Tricks | Photographing Dogs

I've been getting a lot of requests lately for tips on how to take better dog photographs, so I decided to write up my tips and tricks in a blog post.

Please keep in mind, I'm not claiming to be an expert pet photographer!  I certainly have taken more photos of dogs then of all other subjects combined, but 99% of those have been of my own dogs. When they were puppies they were growing so fast that I took hundreds of photos of them every day. Now that they are older, I don’t photograph them every day, or even every week, but they are still the most available subjects for me to shoot any time I feel like breaking out the camera.

What can I say? Most people abuse their children with their cameras, since I don’t have kids I have to use my dogs.

So, here is what I have learned over the years about taking photos of dogs:

1. If you do nothing else, the number one thing you can do to get better photos of your dog is to get down at their level. When photographing them, you want to be at eye level (or close to it) with them. So, you are probably going to have to sit or lay on the ground with them.

2. A tired dog is a good dog to photograph! The more worn out a dog is, the more likely it will be to stay in place when you tell it to sit or lay down. So, try to make sure that the dog gets a lot of exercise before you start taking your photos.

3. If you are photographing the dog away from it's normal environment, make sure you allow it plenty of time to check out the surroundings and get used to all of the new sights, sounds, and smells before you begin.

4. Don’t try to photograph the dog alone!  It is much easier when you have someone there to help you out.  They can help get the dog to sit or lay down in place, and then help get their attention for the camera.  Never be afraid to ask for help if you needed it, especially if the dogs you are taking photos of aren't yours.  The owner can probably give you a lot of helpful tips about how to get their pet to respond to what you want it to do.

5. Treats, treats, and more treats!  Whenever I am photographing dogs, I keep my pockets well stocked with tiny treats.  A favorite toy, or anything that the dog really likes would work, too!  I use the treats to get the dog to look where I want it to look.  So, if I want the dog looking straight at the camera, like in the photo below, I usually take a treat and balance it on my camera lens.  Lexi is really staring at the treat right above the camera, but you can't tell when you look at the picture.

If you want the dog to look off to the side, like in the photo below, then just hold the treat or toy there and get the dogs attention (this is often easier if you have someone else hold the treat/toy for you. Or sometimes you can just have the other person stand where you want the dog to look and call to it.)

6. If all else fails, use a leash or tie out. Sometimes you just can't get a dog to stay in place, and it will keep walking up to you for attention. If this is the case, then you may have to hook the dog to a leash or tie out to keep them in place. We are so used to seeing dogs on leashes, that even when they are attached in the photos, we rarely notice it. Plus, you can usually place the tie out so that it is behind the dog and barely visible.  In both of the photos below, the dogs are attached but I bet you didn't notice until you looked for it...

7. Sometimes photographing pets doesn't go like you plan.  You just have to roll with it and do the best that you can.  Even if your photos don't turn out perfect, they're still cute photos!  That's the best thing about photographing dogs and babies - your subject is so cute that no one will notice the small flaws in the images. In the photo below, I wish that I hadn't cut the edge of Zoe's ear off along the left side of the photo...

And here I wish my shutter speed had been just a little faster and Lexi's tongue wasn't blurry, but I still think the photo is a keeper! Would I present it to a client? Probably not. But would I put it up in my own house? I sure would!

8. And finally, photographing two dogs is crazy hard. If you thought trying to get multiple people looking at the camera at the same time is hard, try photographing dogs! It takes hard to a whole new dimension. But, with time and patience it can be done. Just don't expect to do it on the first try. If the dogs you are trying to photograph aren't trained to sit, lay, and stay, you're in for quite a challenge, but just keep at it and eventually you will succeed.

Of course, it’s awesome when you get great shots, but if you ask me one of the best things about pet photography is the hilarious out takes! Here are two of the funny photos from recent sessions that had me laughing out loud the instant I saw them!

And there you have it! If there is something I forgot to address, leave me your questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

(You may also want to check out this post full of tips for capturing photos of your dog's personality.)

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.