Six unedited favorite photos that I captured during my first photo session with a family of four (as opposed to shooting one or two people at a time). (I am not uploading edited photos because I know when I put photos on the internet they are changed drastically so I don't think it's worth it at this point to wait for the slight adjustments. I will have to figure out the quirks of the internet. Is it just discrepancies in dpi or is it one of the problems with using JPEGs or something else altogether?) This was also my first time bracketing my exposures and my first time shooting in RAW (on purpose). Bracketing was not necessary or at least bracketing a whole exposure was not necessary. And I can see now why a 50mm lens (effective about 80mm) on a less than full-frame camera is best for portraits. Shooting four subjects is a bit overwhelming for 50mm but at the same time we have here some appealing portraits of the kids and the couples that I would not have been achievable with a shorter focal length. So, it's a trade-off. Prior to the session, I was most worried about choosing the appropriate aperture so that all four people are perfectly in focus but so that the background is as blurry as possible. Sometimes I did this correctly and sometimes I did not. Sometimes I think the source of my error was my own motion or trying to shoot in spots in too low of light.
This should sum up the first Journal Entry, as I am just beginning and very excited about the basic digital photography course at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This session was a good experience for me. I took 150 photos and immediately reduced that number to 75 (deleting mostly the photos bracketed for the correctly metered exposure). There will probably be about 20 that will be printable in significant size. I'm not sure how these odds compare to a professional's, but I think to get 15 good photos from a session is considered acceptable. The most appealing part of photography for me is looking for the light. This session was done at the home of this family, a small lot next to the slough. As you can see there were plenty of wonderful backdrops. Granted, it was a gorgeous Fall Equinox day . . . possibly the most beautiful day of the entire year.
