Help-Portrait

September 8, 2009
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Help Portrait is a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate…

As recently posted on Scott Kelby’s blog, here is a video of Jeremy Cowart explaining what Help Portrait is all about.

I just signed up today and looking forward to December 12th!.

Here is my favorite quote from Jeremy:

“We don’t want to see your photos. This isn’t about you, or me, or portfolios, or lighting. This is about giving pictures, not taking them. It’s about exposure, opening yourself up, laughing, connecting, sharing and most of all serving for the pure sake of serving. It’s about helping people see the beauty of who they are and what they already have…”

Please visit help-portrait.com for more detail.

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Categories: Uncategorized

Dragging the Shutter

September 3, 2009
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When using flash as the main light source, sometimes I was ending up with an overexposed subject and dark background.  A couple of weeks ago, I tried a technique called “dragging the shutter” which comes very handy to get the background better exposed or include more ambient light.

Normally, I shoot at 1/60-1/125 of a second with flash. But when I want more ambient light in a photograph, I drag my shutter down to around 1/15 of a second (the value depends on the available ambient light). By keeping the shutter open that fraction of a second longer, the camera is able to pick up more ambient light from the background, producing warmer photos with more detail. (more…)

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Categories: Flash Photography