Photography…made simple??? Part Du

Are you ready for my next post on Photography made simple? Now you know I have to add my disclaimer that I am by no means an expert on photography, not by a long shot. So, what I am going to try and do is simplify what I do know to help others who are interested in learning more about their cameras.

I left my last post promising to shed a little light on the main aspects of photography….Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

First, I want to address an important concept I believe some people may not be aware of….Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO do not work independently of one another. They are connected. Change one and you (or the auto features in your camera) must adjust one of the others to achieve “proper exposure.”

I know…I know you are asking yourself, “Great, what the heck does that mean?” Don’t worry I am going to try and break it down for you. Geeeezzzzz! Calm down grasshopper! LOL!

So now we need to figure out exactly what is “proper exposure.” Since I am going to reference it over and over we need to clarify that term. Proper Exposure, in it's most simple meaning, refers to capturing the right amount of light for a particular image. Let’s say for this discussion that proper exposure is whatever aesthetic (look) appeals to you. Yes, if you are a professional, or if you submit prints for judging, or even for sale there are guidelines for proper exposure. I believe that trying to explain all of the aspects of “proper exposure” would just be overwhelming at this point; and at the end of the day, it’s just one more thing that can vary mildly depending on which pro you ask. So for this article when I reference “proper exposure”, I am referring to what looks good to you. For example, you may like a darker image (slightly underexposed) or a lighter/brighter image (slightly overexposed); but if you love the image, then who’s to say it’s wrong. Art is subjective! Play and discover what speaks to you.

Now, what do I mean when I say that Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO are all connected? Imagine if you will a triangle with each of the three points being one of elements of photography. As shown below:



Now imagine that there is a ball in the center of the triangle and you must try and keep it there in order to achieve proper exposure. If you tip the triangle in any direction, the ball will roll off and you could end up with a darker or lighter photograph. Still not clear? Well, I know this seems a little redundant but try to imagine holding that triangle in your hand with the steel ball rolling free in the center. If you adjust aperture up or down (move the tip of the triangle up or down), the ball will roll off in one direction or the other taking what you have determined as the proper exposure and making it darker or lighter. One or both of the other elements must be adjusted by you or your camera (raise/lower the Shutter Speed or ISO or bottom two tips) in order to level it out and bring the ball back to the center for proper exposure. Does that make any sense? Does that help you see the connection between all three elements?

At this point you may be asking yourself, “how is this possible?” I don’t adjust anything on my camera. I just pick it up, point it, and click the button. Well, that’s because more than likely you have your camera in “Auto” mode and it is automatically adjusting all three elements for you. If you own a camera, no matter how basic, film or digital, these three elements are always present. Your camera (set on Auto) is programmed to survey a scene and it will try, to the best of its ability, to adjust these elements to capture what the scene actually looks like. Unfortunately, no matter how extravagant the camera is, it doesn’t always get it “right.” Plus, you don’t have any creative freedom over your images. That’s why it’s so great to understand the different modes, functions, and aspects of your camera. If you don’t like what you are seeing in the view finder, then you have opened up some options to change how your camera records a scene. Cool huh?

I think I will let this soak in before I go on to explain exactly what each element is and how it affects a photograph.

I promise Lexi…my very next post will start breaking down each one.

By the way, please feel free to send me any questions or comments that you might have about this post or any other for that matter.

Till next time…Happy shooting! The camera…not each other! 

Since posts are always better with pictures, take a gander at a few more of my favorites.



Look at the light in this photograph by Dina Douglas (http://andrenaphoto.com/blog/). Besides the fact the photo is just stunning, look at how the light right behind the girl looks slightly yellow/orangey because of the setting sun. Can you see how light has a temperature/color?




This photograph is by K-Gallery which is now Verve Studios (www.vervestudioblog.com). Isn’t it fun? Doesn’t it capture what being a kid is all about? Set up a photo shoot like this with your kids and see what happens!




I believe this photograph was also taken by Verve Studios (www.vervestudiosblog.com)…if that is not correct, please let me know. This photo cracks me up every time I see it. Oh for the love of sibling rivalry. Capture your friends and family being exactly who they are because that will help take a photograph from ordinary to extraordinary.

Photography…made simple??? Part 1

One of my friends asked the following question on facebook: Aperture and Shutter Speed! When to use fast/slow shutter and small/large aperture... when should I use flash - lol I love to use it all the time!! I know it's prolly not the best idea though...

Lately, I have had several friends ask me similar questions about their cameras or photography concepts. They are interested in taking better pictures of their families, friends and documenting their daily lives. They aren’t necessarily interested in being pros they just want to capture their memories. I love this!

I definitely want to state up front that I still have so much to learn about photography and I have no illusions of being an expert but I am going to try to explain and attempt to simplify some of the fundamentals of photography as I understand them.

There are quite a few photographers that I admire very much. One of which is Matt Radlinski of Verve Studios (www. vervestudioblog.com) who stated so beautifully that photography is the art of “Painting with Light.” What an awesome way to explain it. Understanding that is probably the number one concept that most people miss. (Including me) Light is everything. It is the beginning and the end. It evokes the mood of a photograph, the way light bends and moves around subjects, the temperature of light, even the abundance or lack of light. Learn to look at light. Pay attention to what direction the light is coming from, how does it fall on your subject, what is the temperature (is the light yellow/orangey like most home lamps or the color at sunset, or is bluer like natural daylight, or even greenish like the light from a fluorescent light bulb), how does light look when it’s behind your subject, straight over head, to the side or in front? How does the changing light throughout the day affect how your subject is perceived in a photograph? Play with light…find what moves you…what looks appealing to you. That’s the beauty of any type of art…there is no right or wrong with the art you are creating for yourself…it’s up to you what you think is beautiful.

In my next segment I will try to tackle the technical aspects of photography and attempt to answer my friend Lexi’s question; I am going to try and take a somewhat complicated subject and try to make it simple for a beginner. There are three main elements to photography... Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. Stay tuned for my next post to get the 411 on each of these elements. In the mean time take a look at the lighting in some photographs from a few of my favorite artists.



Look at the amazing rim lighting (rim lighting is the light you see outlining the couple) in this photograph by Susan Stripling (www.susanstriplingblog.com). Doesn’t it add to the romanticism? Isn’t it sexy and ethereal? It’s almost like god has shown a spot light on a secret magical moment.



This photograph was taken by Denise Andrew. Look at the way the light leads your eye from the top of stairs to the bride and then lights her path. You almost feel like you are taking the walk with her.



This photograph is of yours truly. (That’s right…it’s me!Holla) It was taken by the fabulous Krystal Radlinski of Verve Studios (www.vervestudiosblog.com). Look at how they produced this amazing light…it definitely gives it its edgy sexy factor and falls beautifully across my face and body.

Again… Light is everything.

Till next time!

20/20 Story on Denise Lee. What a Shocking Revelation!?!

This is a long one. The other night I was watching 20/20 and I was floored...not only by the story (which was bad enough) but by a point that they didn't even mention.

On January 17th, 2008, Nathan Lee tries calling his wife, Denise Amber Lee several times on his way home from work and is unable to reach her. As soon as he arrives home and walks through the door he sees his wife’s cell phone laying on a chair and her purse in the living room. Nathan then searches their home for his wife and two small children. He finds both children in a back bedroom but after searching the entire house he is unable to locate his wife. He makes the first call to be received by the Florida 911 dispatch that day, to report his wife missing. He also calls his father-in-law, who worked with the police department to help expedite the search.

A female neighbor alerts the police that she saw a green Camaro driving slowly up and down the street in front of the home and then around 2 pm it pulled into the driveway of the Lee home.

A few hours later a man named Michael King, pulls into his cousin, Harold Muxlow’s driveway and asks him to borrow a flashlight, a can of gas, and a shovel to fix a broken lawnmower stuck in a ditch. While they were speaking in the front yard, Muxlow sees a woman bound and screaming in the back seat of King’s car. At one point she was even able to jump free of car while screaming for help. King quickly grabbed the woman, shoved her back in the car, and jumped into the driver’s seat. King told his cousin “not to worry about it” and then drove away.

Just after 6 pm, another call is made to 911, this time by Denise Lee. She had managed to secretly grab her abductors cell phone and dial 911. She pretends to speak to her abductor while answering questions from the 911 dispatcher. The call lasts for about 6 minutes before it is disconnected.

A few minutes later, another call is made to 911 by Sabrina Muxlow, the daughter of King’s cousin. She tells them her father, Harold Muxlow called her to tell her that his cousin Michael King, had come over in a green Camaro to borrow a few items and there was a women tied up and screaming in the back seat. She even told the dispatcher that the woman had momentarily escaped from the vehicle and was screaming for help.

Police were dispatched to Michael King’s home and inside they found that it was empty except for what would later be referred to as a “Rape Room” because of the duct tape and other items found. However, they were unable to locate Michael King, the Camaro, or Denise Lee.

A few minutes after Sabrina Muxlow’s call, another call to 911 was made by Jane Kalwalski. She told the dispatcher that she was next to man at a stop light in a blue (instead of green) Camaro and what she believed was a child screaming in the back seat. The child was banging on the back windows trying to get out. Kalwaski told the dispatchers she was on Highway 41 and provided them with several cross streets. She even told the dispatchers which road the vehicle had turned on before she lost site of the car.

Six hours after the first report that Denise Lee was missing and about 3 hours after Kalwalski’s eye witness account of a “child” abduction” police pulled over Michael King in his green Camaro. Denis Lee was not found in the vehicle with him.

Several days later, Denise Lee’s body was found naked, shot, and buried in a shallow grave only about 5 miles from where Jane Kalwalski had last reported seeing her.

Before, I continue with what shocks me the most about this story; I want to say that Denise Lee was nothing less than a hero. She was a hero because she did everything right, she did everything she could save her own life, and in the end to help convict the man who took her life. She was a hero because she got a man away from her two small babies, she was a hero for surviving being viciously raped for hours, she was a hero for fighting back, she was a hero for placing the 911 call, and for doing everything she could to let anyone around her know she needed help. And in the end, she was a hero for leaving so many pieces of evidence behind to help capture and convict her killer.

For the women who did everything they could to help her that day, you are heroes too. You make me proud to be a woman.

The story covered how the 911 dispatch made fatal errors while handling her case. They did not send out an alert to police officers in the area so no one was looking for the car. There was a police officer that told Denise’s dad that the Camaro passed right by him but he was never informed they were looking for the car. If that isn’t bad enough…I couldn’t help but wonder was Jane Kalwalski the only driver on the road that day to see a woman (child) struggling and screaming in the back seat of a green Camaro?

NO…in a recent expose on 20/20 a few other citizens came forward to say that they had also seen a woman struggling in the back of a Camaro. The first was from a man who said that he saw the Camaro cross in front of him with a woman banging on the windows in the back seat of the car. Then another man driving down the highway also describes seeing an eerily similar situation with a vehicle in the lane next to him. However, both decide to turn away feeling that it was most likely a domestic situation and they did not want to get involved.

Has a point occurred to you as it has to me that all of the men in this story who saw a woman screaming and struggling to get help…Did nothing?

I was shocked. I still am. If you had asked me before that show…I would have thought most…not all, but most men would come to the aid of a women in trouble. Is there such a thing as “Crisis Situation Gender Bias?” Are you more likely to be saved by a man in a fire or car crash but by a women in a domestic violence or rape?

Do men turn the other way when they see a women in a violent situation with a man? Are men embarrassed when faced with these circumstances? I would really like to know the statistics. Should we tell women in these situations to seek out the help of other women? Could that be the key to saving your life?

I would love to hear your thoughts and stories on this subject. What should we tell women? How do we help each other to survive?

Today's the Day

So today, I decided to start a blog to just get my thoughts out there about all kinds of issues from a girl's perspective. I would say that I am an average Joe-ette. I want to write about the things that move me, bother me, make me laugh, make me cry, and just make me think. I don't think that I am an exceptional writer. As a matter of fact, I don't know anything about writting stories. So...I am just going to write the way I think and I am hoping that you find a voice here and feel free the share your opinions on any of the posts. First topic....coming soon.