I have been rather slack on my photography blog these past few months. My 2 little kids have been rather busy, coupled with lots of client sessions, running a house and my other side business (a self-contained accommodation house in the Blue Mountains). People often ask me how I manage to do it all. To be honest, sometimes I really don’t know! I think the most important thing is to have a passion for whatever it is that you do. That way work doesn’t feel like work
As I do at the close of each year, I try to look back over my photography since the beginning of the year. Being a perfectionist photographer means that I work hard to try and improve each and every time I pick up the camera. I truly believe that no photographer is perfect. We all have more to learn, and more to improve on. At the start of the year I did the Milky Way Illuminate Course in Studio lighting. It was brilliant and completely changed me from a natural light photographer to a studio light photographer in only a few short weeks. With this change, I also noticed a big improvement in my photos. Not just in the way that my clients and babies were being lit with nice shadows and catchlights, but also the skin tones. Prior to this I was spending a long time in post-production trying to get my images looking right, but I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was that I was missing.
My other big “a ha” moment came when another photographer suggested that I use my Expodisc at the beginning of my sessions to make sure that my white balance and exposure were correct. Being able to get my white balance and my exposure spot on, and the consistency of studio lighting has really made a big difference.
I am spending much less time in post production since I made these little tweaks. It is really quite amazing how these little changes can be so dramatic in the end result. Lighting and exposure really are everything!
And just because you can’t have a blog post without a photo – here’s a pretty amazing before and after I put together. The top image is from one of my very first sessions. How things can change in only 3 years with lots of hard work and dedication!
