Photo: Seriousness

Seriousness

Amour with her friend Jerica O’Neal, acting all serious. I have a photo of both ladies smiling but it doesn’t work… there was no balance.

Amour is the noun for love in French, which is very serious.

Jerica had to stand on her toes while Amour crouched down or they’d be blocking each other. I couldn’t have them stand side to side either.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/500, F4, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-11-02T10:12:27-05, 20091102-151227rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: Eyes on You

Eyes on You

Amour is watching you. Or she is being watched. Either way, she’s not afraid . . . my caption-writing abilities are going down fast.

This is outside of the photography school at Daytona State College. They have these cool blue-tinted windows… you can see my reflection vaguely in the window on the left.

I just told Amour to do something interesting and I got this. Good job girl.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/1000, F3.2, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-11-02T10:10:38-05, 20091102-151038rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: Gamer Chick

Gamer Chick

Amour pretending to play a video game. :grin:

I gave her an old PlayStation 1 controller and told her to start mashing the buttons. She’s looking at an imaginary television set to the left of the frame. The cable for the controller just trails off to the ground.

If you play video games make sure to do it with friends because it’s no fun alone. I’ve been in a couple impromptu Mario Kart DS tournaments at the college cafeteria. Fun fun fun. Of course I can out-snake everyone. :cool:

She smiled with teeth and all in another shot, but I think she looks cuter in this one.

Editing was easy on this one, but it hinged on me getting a good background. There was an ugly railing just to the left in the background, which would’ve made the picture ugly if I included it. Composition is everything! So is lighting and your model or subject’s pose.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/800, F2.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-11-02T09:38:25-05, 20091102-143825rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: Kathleen and Amour

Kathleen and Amour

Kathleen Edsom, a culinary student at Daytona State College, posing with Amour Bloomfield in the grass.

I took a few photos with both ladies looking at the camera, but I preferred having Kathleen look up at Amour so it isn’t an ordinary portrait. I got grass stains on my jeans… but I had to kneel in the grass to get the camera down low enough. This was near bldg. 300 at the campus, so there were a lot of students watching, asking questions, trying to join in. There’s a big photography school just a few paces away so this is nothing out of the ordinary.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/1000, F4.5, 50mm, ISO200, 2009-11-02T10:02:50-05, 20091102-150250rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: With Nature

With Nature

The 3rd of 9 portraits of Amour. She’s stopping to smell the roses… or petunias, or whatever these blue flowers are.

The flowers and mulch was planted there, the flower in her hair is fake, and she’s wearing a dress and makeup, but I still say she’s with nature. :wink:

For editing I removed some freckles from Amour’s arm (spot healing brush), darkened the corners, added contrast, brightened her face, and toned down the greens a bit.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/1600, F2.8, 50mm, ISO200, 2009-11-02T09:58:38-05, 20091102-145838rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: Searching for You

Searching for You

Amour is looking for you! This is at the clock tower at Daytona State College. You can see her books and coffee in the background at the bottom left. It was overcast, which is the best lighting for portraits.

From the camera this was too dark, but I brightened it with the exposure tool and highlight recover to 45 in Adobe Camera Raw 5.0. There wasn’t much to do otherwise because she knew how to pose.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/2000, F2.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-11-02T09:55:30-05, 20091102-145530rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: The Violinist

The Violinist

Amour Bloomfield playing the violin. Amour is a Daytona State College student and she assures me she has modeled for many of the photography students. :cool:

She didn’t know how to play my violin, but she picked it up pretty quickly so hopefully no one will notice. The book is Suzuki Vol. 2, which I enjoy playing. I’ve never advanced beyond a second-year level in violin (unlike piano), but at least I have good intonation.

At first Amour was looking at the music, but I told her to look at the camera instead. It doesn’t make sense because she should be looking at the score if she’s playing a song, but photography often makes no sense.

The next eight days will all be portraits of Amour. I took a lot of different pictures of her. Check back soon.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/1000, F3.5, 50mm, ISO200, 2009-11-02T09:44:42-05, 20091102-144442rxt

Location: Daytona State College, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL  32114

Photo: House Flowers

House Flowers

I was thinking of adding a big picture of Hugh Laurie in the background… but it’s not that House. Just blue flowers with a house in the background. :smile: I think the house is for sale.

This is a weird angle. I’m not sure if it works well, but it seems different. The sky was dark as though it was going to rain. I made the colors warmer on the computer. If they’re too blue the scene feels cold. The focus is on the flowers at the back, so the ones at the bottom are blurry.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/125, F4.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-10-16T17:07:31-04, 20091016-210731rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Platonic Orchids

Platonic Orchids

These yellow orchids represent friendship only. :wink: I found these in someone’s front yard while going for a walk. I tried taking a picture from a high angle to just show grass in the background, but it wasn’t nearly as pretty as a flower-level shot.

There is a house behind the flowers, but it’s blurred out because I used a large aperture (F2.8). I changed the white balance to be less warm, added brightness, and sharpened on the computer, along with the standard darkening of the corners (vignetting).

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/250, F2.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-10-16T16:57:41-04, 20091016-205741rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.

Photo: Light-Blue Petals

Light-Blue Petals

Light-blue flowers by a rustic wooden fence. Composed using the rule of thirds!

I was having some problems with wind… the petals of the flower at the back would get blown up during a breeze which looked ugly. I pushed the petals down and snapped this quickly, while also considering composition and contrast. I had to be careful to keep the flowers from being over-exposed. Faster shutter speed or smaller aperture (higher F number) = less light.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/125, F2.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2009-10-16T16:55:37-04, 20091016-205537rxt

Download the high-res JPEG or download the source image.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Please credit me as “Photo by Richard Thripp” or something similar.