Blah,Blah,Blahg

SOUVENIR FOTO SCHOOL::SESSION STARTING

It has indeed been awhile since we have had a session of our Souvenir Foto-School of Creative Captures.  For those new to the concept, Souvenir Foto School is a creative photography school where we offer weekly or in the case of the next session--daily assignments for a set period of time.  The school is not a photography 101 class (although we do have many resources available to you in class if you are looking for that). At SFS we intend to get you shooting, more shooting means you will be able to take the skills you have learned prior and apply them to the assignments thus improving your skills. Our ultimate goal for our students is that you begin seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

The school is open to all levels and all camera types.  The class is currently free with a catch (isn't there always a catch?). You will 'pay' your tuition via sweat equity.  If you are consistent and participate the class is free and open to you, if you are a slacker and don't do your assignments we will kick you out of class, no warnings, and no we won't accept the excuse, 'my dog ate my camera'.

To join you will need a Flickr account but they are free (but be warned Flickr is highly addictive), after you have signed up for Flickr send me an email (hello[at]leblahg.com) with your Flickr name/link and I will send an invitation to  you to join the group.

So who is ready for the next session?  You?  I know 30 days is asking a lot and it won't be for everyone but for those up for the challenge we can't wait to get started with you!

CREATING DOF WITH A KIT LENS BY KATE PANEROS

I had been waiting to put this up until I had the new blog launched. Since it seems I can't even get my website up, who knows when I shall grace the interwebs with my new concept? A very special thank you to Kate for taking the time to create this WONDERFUL tutorial.  To preface this tute, I have been telling anyone who will listen that the kit lens that usually comes with new DSLR cameras is useless, buy the camera body and get a nifty 50 until you feel comfortable with the camera then you can invest in another lens was my motto. One of the reasons I said this was because so many people wanted that 'pro' look of a focused object and blurry background.  I didn't think it was possible to achieve with the kit lens, Kate showed me that I was dead wrong...

Kate Paneros – A French Safari

The Basics

I think my favourite part of owning a digital SLR is being able to play with depth of field (DOF). My 3 megapixel point-n-shoot just never gave enough control, not that I would have known what to do if it did! That being said, a DSLR body and lens won’t automatically create great shots – you still need to know what you’re doing. One misconception is that the kit lenses are a bit average, and that you need an expensive fast lens with huge apertures to get much depth. I was guilty of this, and always coveted a lens with an f-stop under 2. They were out of my purchasing power, so instead I worked with what I had. First things first – know your kit lens. Mine is a Canon EFS 18-55mm. I also have a 75mm-300mm zoom, part of the twin lens kit. I always wondered what the 18-55mm part meant, so I looked it up, and discovered that it represents the distance from the optical center of a lens to the digital camera sensor when the subject of the photo is in focus. Huh? Don’t worry. It’s not necessary to understand all the physics with photography, but just know that 18mm is a wide-angle, 75mm is a closer zoom, and you can get crazy with 300mm and far beyond... Food photography often uses a small depth of field, to blur out backgrounds and focus on the food itself. At the other end of the scale, landscape photography uses a large depth of field because we want the whole scene to be in focus. It is quite easy to achieve a deep field of focus, but the challenge of mastering DOF comes in the form of shallow fields, or getting lots of nice blur in your shots. The Important Things DOF is affected by three things: aperture, lens focal length and shooting distance. There are 3 general concepts you can master that will get you in control of DOF: 

1. The larger the aperture, the smaller the depth of field. Here the focal length has been kept at 55mm, while the aperture has shifted from f22 to f5.6 – you can see the difference in background blur quite easily.

2. The longer the lens focal length, the smaller the depth of field. In this shot, I’ve framed the subject similarly, but at different focal lengths. I had to move back for the 55mm shot, but you can see the difference it makes to the focus. The aperture has even gone from f3.5 to f5.6, which happens when you begin zooming. Interestingly, you can also see the effect an increased focal length has on ‘compressing’ the scene (objects look closer together in the 55mm shot).

3.  Experiment with distance. The f22 shot in the first example didn’t have much blur – compare that to this one, shot at 300mm. Move back from your subject and then zoom in to achieve bokeh at small apertures. Also, the further away your subject is from the background, the better the bokeh effect.
Combine all three and you can get some great depth of field!

THE GRADUATES:: SOUVENIR FOTO SCHOOL

{photo's by creatocrat}

Ace and I like to go around the house and tell each other how lucky we are, it goes like this:

Miss B: "I'm lucky.'

Ace: "No I'm lucky".

Miss B. "I'm so lucky".

Ace: "I'm luckier".

And so on...It's totally lame but it always makes me happy. We just wrapped up another six weeks of Souvenir Foto School and all I can say is I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world. Truly. This class we focused on one subject for six weeks.  I wanted us to choose subjects that would be changing during this time period so we could document the progress, this may have been my favorite Souvenir Foto School session yet. I wish I could post everyone's images but for the sake of not bombarding your eyeballs off I chose just a couple that I felt reflected the study. I know I am being biased but my students are incredibly talented, creative and just all around nice peeps. I can't wait to get started on the next session!

The first image above is from Michelle of Creatocrat, she has such a way with light I want her to show me how she does it (Michelle also created a tute for you that I will upload Friday).  Most of her images are s.o.o.c. (straight out of camera) and that light is just creamy and rich (if you can describe light as such.)

Leonie is a new student and is an excellent photographer and just really creative. Just look what she uploaded for her last assignment.  I was flabbergasted (and whenever I can work that word into a post I am stoked!)

And lastly is my study.  As you can see even though I am an in-demand Brand Director,/jedi, I have not developed my own/brand style as of yet.  Sigh, all in due time. I can tell you that I really didn't like week 3 or 5 but heck we can't hit it out of the park like Creatocrat or Leonie every time now can we?

And if you feel like exploring a little more, our class is private but some of the images are available for viewing via these links:

Jules of Pancakes and French Fries

KristineNoel

LushBella

Pooler Peach Monique was the class cheerleader and I Ioved having her in class so mcuh I asked her to be the teacher's assistant next session.

Carte Postale (Kate is a SFS alumni and works her kit lens like nobody's business)

LynnBonnie-For everyone that is not joining in because you don't have a camera, please check out what Lynn took with her Iphone--stunning!

Okay, I am getting lazy now (surprise surprise), but I will be back and update more links later because let's face it, my class rules! Thank you to everyone that participated and I am hoping that the images inspire you all to join in next session it's going to be a blast.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It's Valentine's day and the start of a petite Souvenir Foto School session!  I am not usually this enthusiastic about Sundays, because Mondays follow and I think I have voiced my feelings on Mondays plenty of times. Bells and I went for a morning stroll and I shot some photo's for the first assignment. It was unusually bright + hot and I wasn't sure if I could shoot without going blind. I processed the first photo this way because I wanted to convey that sort of foggy morning warmth you get on a smoldering day.  I was also trying to play up the reds and pinks for the holiday. When I get started on editing photo's I become a little obsessed and try about 42 variations before I am satisfied.  This was my alternate attempt which I also like. A little more retro and cooler toned.

For those who want to join in on the fun you have all this week to join in.  Just leave your Flickr name in the comments and I will sign you up. After next Sunday though we will close the class to new attendee's.

xo,

Miss B

THE BEST OF THE BLAH, BLAH, BLAHG...

In my BYW course instructor and uber blogger Holly Becker doled out some inspiration assignments for us to cover on our blogs this week.  I chose the 'best of' assignment because I realize that some of you may be fairly new to reading my crazy talk and well I should assure you that I have always been this way, it's not recently that I developed my keen wit.  I started this Blahg on a whim and originally it was called 'The Everything' which is probably more descriptive than its current monikor but I thought I was pretty clever coming up with 'The Blah, Blah, Blahg', so that's this bad boys name--for now (subject to change at any time).

These links are culled from the deep archives of the Blahg. I have been doing this for an embarrassingly long time (embarrassing since I have about 12 readers and two are related to me and one I am going to marry).  I know monkeys swinging from chandeliers are not for everyone but I do know dear reader you have wildly good taste and an incredible sense of humor so I thank you for indulging me.  I chose these because either I loved them, you did or my fans in Romania did, so here we go a trip down memory lane....

This may be my all time favorite photo of cute.  Just bury me alive with cuteness why don't you?

It seems to me that when I write about my very naughty Frenchie my stats go off the charts.  Sometimes I forget that this is the WORLD WIDE web and not just the two of us having a little chat.  This post is out there now, I might as well own it.  This was one of my most popular posts to date titled REDRUM.

This post came in 2nd 'DOG DAY AFTERNOON' where my puppy consumed a whole tube of A + D ointment, yum!:

This tutorial took so much time to do and I really thought it was the bee's knee's.  I got zero, rien, zip comments and figured that it was horrible and kind of shied away from tutes a bit.  Perhaps it just needs a new audience?  It was aptly dubbed, 'WRAPPER'S DELIGHT':

No ''Best of' the Blah, Blah, Blahg would be complete without my very 1st post!  I was so very proud of it and even though it's not my best designed post, it's not half bad.  It's entitled: "GEE, YOUR HOUSE SMELLS TERRIFIC..."
and is a DIY project on aromatic reed diffusers.

I hope you will enjoy perusing the archives as much as I have enjoyed searching them for you. Wishing you all a very happy weekend!  If you are itching for a creative project to sink your chompers into, please join me for the petite Souvenir Foto session starting this weekend.  The details are here.

xoxo,

Miss B.

LESSON LEARNED.

The other day I showed you a photo of the view from my studio window.  The white cherry blossoms were in full bloom.  I had kept telling myself to take the camera out and get some shots of the gorgeousness but as is my habit I put it off.  Why?  What was I thinking?  It's not like the trees stay in full bloom forever.  I guess I was thinking that I had at least another week to shoot.  We had a rain "storm" this weekend, I write that in quotes because a Los Angeles rainstorm is just a slight down pour anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, the "storm" was a little too much for my fragile blooms and when Bells and I went out for our morning stroll (camera in hand) my stomach dropped.  It looked like it had snowed the night before.

I was so sad to see the tree-lined street absent of it's powdery white beauties.  We walked nearly the entire neighborhood before we found a tree that still had some rogue blooms on it.

And I shot as many photo's as my camera card could take, because I knew this would be my last chance until next year to capture the sheer beauty of this tree...

My lesson learned. I will shoot when the opportunity arises and not some arbitrary time in the near future.  The bright side?  You know I am ALWAYS looking for one!  I have a FAB idea for a mini Souvenir Foto School session.  It will be six week long, very specialized and in my humble opinion super cool.  So if you are interested in joining I will have the details up tomorrow and it's FREE.  Isn't that the best price ever? 

P.S. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Clickin' Moms? And NO you do not have to be a mom to join.  It's like digital photography crib notes...

GET READY FOR YOUR CLOSEUP...

In our Souvenir Foto School classes I always try to express it's not the camera it's the photographer.  No one ever has a great meal and asks the chef, "That was amazing, what kind of oven do you have?" Now do they? In class I try to help the students get rid of their need/desire for excuses and hopefully I inspire them to see things in a new, exciting way.  Me?  I am a slacker.  Not even teaching my own class gets me shooting.  In fact I woefully did not do my final assignment--three photo's that represent you.  I still plan on doing it but I have been busy. Excuses.  One excuse that I am not going to settle for is the one of not having my camera with me and missing a potential shot. I have a phone, I have a very fancy schmancy phone (as Ace will attest I have NO clue how to use). I just wasn't seeing the kind of results that I wished I could get from it, there was something not right.  Then I downloaded CP Pro app ($1.99) that makes my Iphone camera have zoom capabilities! I am all over my Iphone excuses and have been happily shooting away each day. I hope that maybe this will inspire you to take some more photo's and capture the extraordinary in the ordinary. These photo's were taken on my walk to the Flea and at the Flea.  I have passed this tree hundreds of times and only noticed it when I decided to shoot it. Here I was for weeks grumbling there was no inspiration, the same ol' thing and looksy I actually just went out there with a new mindset and viola inspiration struck!

Most of you that read this Blahg are creative types (I already know you are smart, beautiful and have a terrific sense of humor or else you wouldn't be visiting) but fill me in what do you do to get inspired? I am always up for trying new things as long as it doesn't involve going to a new zipcode without my blankey sort of thing.

SOUVENIR FOTO SCHOOL ::FAUX ALBUM COVER

Over at the Souvenir Foto School for Creative Captures (doesn't that sound like the start of a comic?  In Gotham City our hero was...), we are working on our final.  It's due this weekend. Guess what?  The teacher hasn't started.  Well false starts.  I start, stop, change my mind and delete.  I am probably certifiable. I have had so much fun teaching this class, well, maybe teaching is not quite the right word for what it is I do.  Anyway, the class and I will be doing a photo exchange after we turn in our final and then get started on Session II which I haven't quite got a handle on.  I have lot's of ideas but I really want to try to include as many levels as possible.

One of my fave assignments was the creation of a faux album cover, it seems that like myself my students are inspired by music. It really was a creative project and I think it would be so much fun to put together a photo album filled with faux covers.  Student/photographer Susie J commented that we should do mixed CD's with our albums next time and I think that's also an amazing idea--a shot that captures the essence of a great trip/time along with a soundtrack? What a cool way to save and share your memories, no?  Here are the 'albums' they created...

Susie J is talented and kind, it's a really welcome combo in a student.

{by susie j}

Weezer are you watching?  How professional does this look?  Kari did a great totally AWESOME composition!

{by kari beard}

I think this looks like a young, up & coming country ingenue's debut album.  It just seems to fresh, right?

{by ashley siobahn}

This 'album' might be very calming, what do you think? It just exudes a softness to me..

{by moira}

How fun is Alex's album?  Totally feel like this would have a Go-Go's vibe to it.  Alex is super creative so we all need to be on our 'A' game when she's around.  I like that.

{by alex asher sears}

I love that this is an actual photograph but feels like an illustration.  I am drawn (ha ha) to images that make you take a second and third look.

{by amy majken}

Just really creative the name and the concept.

{by jaime hamilton}

I love how inspired and motivated Alicia is.  I know that feeling of finding something you LOVE and she has that and it's contagious. I would love to have a dozen more Alicia's in class to get me off my rump!

{by alicia}

I had the pleasure of watching Jenny develop her own signature style while in class.  I am so proud I could burst.

{by jenny}

Is is wrong to wish this was my turned in assignment?  I love the tones and the charm of this 'album' by Creatocrat.

{by creatocrat}

Kellie lives in Australia! Do you know how cool that is to have your school go international within a couple of months?  So cool.  Her album so reminded me of a popular 80's song.  I loved the shadows and comp.

{by kellie}

This was my effort, which alas was not what I had envisioned.  I so want to be light and airy but a lot of my captures seem so dark and melancholy.  I am neither.  Practice my dears, practice...

{by yours truly}

Phew, that was rather long but hopefully enjoyable and inspiring!  You didn't need to join the class to play along, so I hope some of you who didn't picked up some bits and pieces to call your own.  The next session will last only 6 weeks, which is a much more manageable number than the original 16!  I will make sure to put up a notice prior to launch of second session and hopefully will see you in class!

TEXTURE TUTORIAL ::KINDA + FREE TEXTURE DOWNLOAD

I say this is kinda of a tutorial because I kinda suck at writing tutorials and well, explaining things in general. With the upcoming launch of our creative tool kit for digital post processing your images I think it might be necessary (or at the very least nice) to have some how-to on well how to use the tools in the kit.  I want to make it clear here that there's only a bajillion and one ways to work in Photoshop, this is one way.  I am open to feedback and requests and any pointers and of course if you would like to write a tutorial for the Blahg I am pretty sure that I won't object.  Our kit will have larger size textures of course, I made these as free 5" x 5" squares because I thought it would be easy if you just wanted to do a quickie on a blog image or just to play around with.  When we launch I also promise to have perfected my tute skills so you may actually be able to follow me.

I found the 'original' image on a free photo stock site.  It's cute but well it's nothing to write home about. I am sure you, like myself have collected a lot of snaps that are just sort of hanging out on your hard drive because they bring happy memories but aren't 'hey mom look what I did worthy'.  Right? I think I have a bunch just like this. The sky is sort of not a real special blue but not too dark or light.  I really wanted to show you the type of photo and colors that work best with the 'grass' colored textured square to achieve a nice, vintage aqua sky.  That's where I am pulling my hair out with other texture sets, PLEASE tell me what kind of images will look good with your texture, give me large enough examples that I don't have to take out the Hubble or whatever to see. I really would love to see MORE 'before and afters' if you are selling textures (or actions/presets) because I am so easily persuaded that I probably would buy.  Okay, enough of my rant. This 'tute' (using the term loosely) assumes you are familiar with Photoshop/Photoshop Elements.

This type of photo (color wise, with lot's of blue sky) looks fab when paired with the Souvenir Foto textured square in 'grass'.

• In Photoshop/PSE place the texture above the photo in the layers palette.
• Once you have the texture on top of the image go to the layer blending modes and choose "overlay'.  I set this to 100% opacity, you could lower this setting of course but I wanted a beautiful aqua sky a sort of cross processed look. I added a layer mask to take the texture off the birds but I don't wanna go into masks here today that's a whole 'nother can of worms/tute but because I love you here's a tute from someone more competent than myself.
  
• I liked the look so I stopped there and cmd 'e' (Mac) ctrl 'e' on PC to merge layers and I was done with that one.

For the second sample I did the first two steps as outlined above, once I got to the super saturated aqua:

• I added a hue/saturation adjustment layer above the texture (it's that half black/white circle at the bottom of your layers palette, here's a shot from another tute)
• I slid the saturation layer to the left about mid way to take away some of that crazy color.
• I then added another adjustment layer but this one was called 'photo filter', I chose 'deep yellow. As you can see from the last image it made the blues more green and the yellow on the birdies is a little more pronounced.  The color is very muted because of that nice slide to the left on the saturation slider. It makes for a totally different look than the first sample and I like them both ways and probably could keep going if I didn't need to get back to work.

Here's a color chart for the texture download, I hope this makes sense and you can have fun right away!

 {SOUVENIR FOTO TEXTURED SQUARES DOWNLOAD}

5 AWESOME PHOTO 101 RESOURCES

I will try to keep these coming as I find them so you can easily reference them again and again.  I haven't gone through all of these in depth so if you think something is no bueno let me know and I will review again, if you have any for me to add let me know as well and that would be greatly appreciated!

Pioneer Woman Basic Photography tutorials this is hands down one of the easiest and most comprehensive set of posts on the basics such as exposure, shutter speed, f-stops yaddayadda...

Andre Gunther Photography Tutorials Andre has a boat load of answers to your burning questions.

Cheapshooter 11, yes 11 video tutorials culled form You Tube (so you wouldn't have to). Everything from aperture to cleaning you sensor and then some.  These may be hit and miss but see if you like any of them and toss the ones you don't.

Digital Photography School A plethora of information for the novice photographer plus the bonus of a forum to ask as many questions to your fellow photographers s as your lil' heart desires.

Jodie Coston Morgue File classroom lessons, tips, the whole enchilada and of course free!