Behind the Lens

When you think about taking pictures at night your typically dont think about leaving the flash off and catching really cool shots.

This pictures was taken on Friday at the Parade of Lights in Fort Worth, Texas.  

The trick to these photos is much easier than you think.  It is a simple movement that you do when you are holding your camera. 

All you need to do is adjust the setting on your camera to blur the background and keep the subject in focus.

Here are the simple steps to photos like these at night:

1.  Set your shutter speed below 80 (even lower if it is really dark)

2.  Find something that is moving like a car, or parade float, or a person.

3.  Focus your camera on that object that you have chosen.

4.  Now follow that object as they move by standing still and only using the camera to follow their movement.

5.  Press the shutter release multiple times to capture the movement you desire.

Yet again five simple steps to photos you never knew you could do.

Good luck and happy shooting!!!!

One of the most common things that I am asked to do these days is colorization to a photo.  Here is an example:

This creates a really neat effect on the picture and it is actually much simpler than you imagine.

The first step is that you take a photo with something on it that you want to leave in color.  Maybe it is a candle, or a hair bow, or a skirt, a toy, or anything else that you can think of.

The second step is that you use the selection tool to select around the part of the image that you want to leave in color.  Be sure and zoom in as much as you can before you start selecting so you can see all the details of the part of the image that you are selecting.

The third step is to invert the selection.  This is an option on your selection tools at the top of the program.  When you invert the selection that you made (around the part of the image you want to leave in color) then Photoshop knows that you want everything but the object you have selected to be what is edited.

The fourth step is to change the inverted selection to black and white.    This will turn everything but the original selection black and white.

The fith step is optional.  You can add text if you choose or you can leave it like it is.

And there you go! 

Four to five easy steps that can help you edited photos like the pros!!!

With the digital age of photography, editing a photo has become a term in and of itself.  When someone wants something done to a photo they say “photoshop it.”  The term is used as loosly as people saying, “oh I will just google it.”

Photoshop can be used to do many different things to a photo that you probably would have never thought to do yourself.  You can slim someone’s figure, you can change the color of their eyes, you can change the color of the sky. 

In this day and age a photographer cannot keep an upper edge if he or she does not have photoshop skills.

Today I will include a few examples of some simple changes in photoshop that will add the finishing touches to your photos that are most popular right now.

First we have a photo of a little boy on a bench in a farmer’s market.  As you can see the sunlight that catches his eyes and creates a beautiful look before photoshop techniques are applied.

Now with a few changes by adding a a diffused glow to the picture and a slight blur to the edges the picture will take on a whole new look. 

As I talked about before many people think of Fort Worth as a down-home country town.  But I have found in the photography work that I do that you can put a pretty girl in a fancy dress and modernize any rustic our country scene.

As you can see from these photos all it takes is a serious look or a fun and sexy pose to transform the background to something else. 

This photo with the hands in the shape of a heart was taken with a very low f-stop setting.  If you want to take photos with a depth of field like this one, where you have one object close to the camera that is in focus and the rest of the photo is blurry, you need to make sure that your f-stop is set to the smallest number your camera will allow.  This can be a very artistic and fun way to really make your photos more professional than the next guys.

Here is another example of the difference in the subjects and backgrounds and how simple changes can really make your photo less rustic and more modern.   Check out this link:  http://www.l10drupal.org/north-texas-superbowl/sites/default/files/fortworth.png.  Here you will see a picture (not taken by me) of cowboys and cows in front of the skyline of Fort Worth. 

All I have done differently with the same backdrop is have the subjects in modern not cowboy attire and off-centered the photo. Off-centering the photo can modernize almost any situation.  Look at these two photos for example.

This one is off-centered and looks more modern.

This one is more traditional and the only difference it is centered normally.

An old red building that may seem to be an eye sore for you can also be the best backdrop you can find for a modern photo.

 This old building would look great with an old cowboy but when you put a girl in a fancy dress with this background old suddenly turns new.

 This is another simple way to capture those photos with you friends, children, family that have that special look.  Look for the oldest falling-apart building you can find and use it for your backdrop.  Don’t forget though that the subject does not always have to look at the camera or even be as close to the camera as you can get.  Close-ups are wonderful but the are not always necessary.

Finally there is the fun things you can do that just simply are improved by a unique background.  Rail road tracks are always great for brides, couples, parents with children, seniors or pretty much anything else you can think of.  You don’t have to have a conductors hat and overalls just to take pictures on a railroad.  Railroad tracks are always a great way to get an awesome shot!

I would love to see pictures you guys try with these tips!  Send them to me anytime!

I saw this sign when I was walking through the stockyards on a photo shoot.  The art of this sign strock me as breath taking.  Even though I disagree that Fort Worth is made up of only cowboys, cowgirls and kicks on the side of the road this sign had such detail that I could not help but post it.  It is not picture of a specific person that I know of but there is such a story in this man’s face. 

He seems kind and caring but if your pushed his buttons you would regret it most assuredly.  He is hard working and a family man.  He has probably worked on a ranch or farm and spent lots of time in the sun – look at his wrinkles!

He has a son and he has taught him good work ethic and working skills. 

He would give the shirt of his back or his last dollar if you needed it.  He is a life-long friend of many and if you had a flat he would be the person you would call.

He is a great stroy-teller and can tell a joke like no one else you know.

What do you think when you see this blue-eyed cowboy?

Over the next few weeks I want to explore the people that live in Fort Worth. 

There is so much that you can tell about a person from their face but there is also a lot that is left open to interpretation.  I would like to start from some candids that I have taken of children.  A child is a blank slate.  Their future is not determined yet and when you look at them you never know what to expect.

Typically when most people look at a small child the first thing that they do is start to make silly faces and funny noises.  I personally was never this way with my children.  I talked to them like they were little people and in return they learned to talk back the same way without all the baby talk.  But that is a whole other story that we are not discussing here.

As a photographer when I see a baby I tend to think about the later picture. 

What will this child do when they are four?  Are they going to place soccer or baseball?  Or when they start school.  I wonder if this child will be really good in science?  What about math or reading?  Maybe this child will grow up to be the president or maybe this child will be a teacher.

What do you think when you see a child?  Do you imagine what they will be?  Do you remember their name so you can say you knew them when? 

Will this child be the next person that people in Fort Worth, Texas brag about?  Will this be the next famous person from Fort Worth?

Tell me what you think?

Tourists think cowboys and cowgirls when they think of Fort Worth, but that is not all this city is about. 

Neon lights are typically associated with 1950’s diners and such but they can also create a unique type of art. 

This has been captured very well in downtown Fort Worth.  The art of the lights unveils a different side of Fort Worth that most don’t consider. 

When you drive the streets of downtown Fort Worth late at night the beauty of the lights is captivating.  To capture this beauty well Fort Worth has added art features that light up when the sun goes down at night. 

Simple wire posts that line the edge of downtown along I-30 transform when the sky turns dark.  Simple lights turn something you would normally drive past into art. 

Just 1/2 a block away light on the side of a building turn a plain wall into something worth looking at.  The lights change every minute or so and it is easy to stare and watch. 

Where else do you have the desire to stop and stare at the side of a building? 

Not only do the neon lights command your attention but the distribution of lights on the old historic buildings allows their beauty to continue long into the night. 

One of the most unique things you will see though is a working Rolex clock displayed on the sidewalk outside Haltom’s jewelers. 

Now you know what Fort Worth offers in architechural art in the form of lights at night.  I hope that I am beginning to show just how much Fort Worth is so much more than a Cowtown.~

If you have lived in Fort Worth for any length of time, do you associate the city with the stereotypes of those not from here?  When I moved to Fort Worth 13 years ago, I moved from a small town in South Texas and I was ready for my adventure in the big city.  I did not associate the city with cowboys, horses, and old buildings.

It was not until I became a professional photographer that I really began to notice the tourist parts of this city.  If you go to the Fort Worth Stockyards on any given day at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. you will see a cattle drive down Exchange with genuine Texas Longhorns.

If you drive into the Stockyards there are authentic brick roads, old buildings, and cowboys on horses on every corner.

Is this really what Fort Worth is all about?

I can’t help but think about people who live in Orlando Fla., or Hollywood, Calif. Some people live there their whole lives and never visit the attractions.  But if they tell someone where they are from the typical questions arise.

“How many movie stars have you met?”

“How many times have you been to Disney World?”

I grew up around cowboys and cowgirls, men and women who ranched and farmed for a living, and then I moved here.  Of the over half a million people here, most have no idea how to be a cowboy.  Some have their designer boots and fancy shirts and call themselves cowboys.  But all they are doing is feeding the stereotype of what Fort Worth is believed to be.

Honestly, have you ever caught a chicken?

I do have to admit that there are a few true cowboys in this city. I know that cowboys are the historical ancestors of our wonderful Cowtown, U.S.A.  But I hope to expose and explore the diversity of what this city really is.

Does Fort Worth have a modern side to it or is it all about cowboys, country music, and raising cattle?