Many thanks to all those Studio families who participated in our Spring 2014 photo sessions. You can view your dancer's photos in the Studio galleries (password required). I hope you enjoy them! Galleries are divided up by class to ease your searching.
Goodbye to one of my favorite spots
You may have noticed in my previous post about The Studio's Tenth Anniversary Calendar that one month was missing. I saved that photo for this post, because the location we used was one of my favorite spots in the area to shoot, and it's now buried. Here's one last photo as a tribute.
Coming soon: The Studio 2014 calendar
A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to work with a number of dancers and parents from The Studio to put together their 2014 calendar. We did some photos in the Studio, and others at locations nearby (including one that no longer exists - details will appear in an upcoming post). The dancers all did a great job (as you can see). It was a fun project, and I enjoyed being a part of it. Half of the proceeds will benefit the Studio's scholarship fund, and they'll be on sale in early November.
Long Shots photos in Central Penn Parent Magazine
It's been a busy summer. In addition to expanding The Studio and redesigning our galleries, we did some special photo shoots. One took place in a variety of locations around Harrisburg and is currently under wraps (I'll provide more details later). The other took place at the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, and the photos appeared in the September issue of Central Penn Parent Magazine. The Studio's community service project this year will benefit the Ronald McDonald House, and we were happy to play a role in that.
Which camera should I buy? (2013 version)
A few years ago, I wrote a couple posts in response to folks who asked what kind of camera to buy. One suggested a good point-and-shoot option, and the other was about SLR options. The camera landscape has changed a great deal since then, so I thought I would offer an update, including my current favorite.I won't mention many specific point-and-shoot models in this post. The latest iteration of the Canon G-series is the G15, but that seems to change quickly. And I'm not sure I'd recommend a point-and-shoot camera of that size anymore with the other more flexible cameras available near that price point.If you have a smartphone, you may already have a very capable camera with you all the time. As Chase Jarvis and others have demonstrated, you can take some very good photos with your phone's camera, especially when you use an app like Camera Awesome. In fact, Camera Awesome has some features that I wish my SLR did! And my phone's camera has the immediate gratification factor of being able to edit and upload with Instagram right after taking a photo.If you're looking for something more than what your smartphone has to offer, but don't want to carry around a bulky SLR, there is another class of camera that may interest you.Mirrorless cameras offer high-quality optics (many have the same size sensor as SLRs) in a smaller package than an SLR, and often at a lower price. Some, like those that use the Micro Four Thirds system, have interchangeable lenses. But my new desert island camera is the Fujifilm X100S.A couple years ago, Fuji came out with the X100. I was first attracted to it because its design reminded me of my first SLR. I was also interested in carrying a smaller camera body than my 5D around with me on a daily basis. I wound up ordering one, and despite its quirks, I found myself using it for most non-professional work. It is compact, almost silent, and its jpegs are so good I almost never shot in RAW. I ordered a white balance cap for it as I typically prefer to set my white balance manually, but its auto white balance is so good I ceded control to the camera. In fact, almost all of its automatic controls were too good to bother with Lightroom tweaks.The X100S is better yet. The focusing issues are fixed; I can even focus manually, which means macro photography is almost as fun as with my Tamron 1:1 macro lens. The fast lens means flash is rarely required, and the camera offers both an optical and electronic viewfinder. The X100S is just a lot of fun.Downsides: It's not cheap, and the fixed lens means you have to exercise legwork to get up close (not an option for bird photographers and paparazzo). You also don't have the immediate shutter release you do in an SLR, so it won't work for sports photographers or those chasing hyperactive children.For everyone else, it's at least worth consideration. You don't need to take my word for it: Both Zack Arias and David Hobby posted very positive reviews of the X100S. So positive, in fact, that I sold my X100 to preorder the X100S. The X100S is such a good all-around camera that even a career photographer like David Hobby is no longer carrying an SLR in his standard kit.So ditch the extra camera bag. Don't worry about which lenses to pack. Force yourself to forget about gear and just enjoy taking pictures.
Studio Spring 2013 dance photos posted!
Thank you, Studio families, for another good weekend of dance photos. With your help, everything progressed smoothly, and I hope you're pleased with the results. This year, we divided the galleries by age group rather than evening; I hope this makes it easier for you to find your dancers.Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and enjoy the photos!
Aubrey - Camp Hill senior
A couple years ago, Aubrey helped out with her older sister's senior portraits. I was happy for the opportunity to work with Aubrey this year on her own session. She chose a couple locations that I hadn't used before, and I was pleased with the results.
More from Erin's session
More from Erin's session.
Erin - Boiling Springs Class of 2013
Erin, a senior from Boiling Springs, brought some great ideas to her shoot, and even included her dog. Here are some favorites from her session; stay tuned for more next week.
Ice time
I was able to sneak in one more Class of 2012 senior session. Cain is a senior at Susquenita, and he plays hockey. Since I'm a hockey fan, I welcomed the opportunity to take some photos of him in his gear. We wish him the best of luck during the last few days of his senior year, and as he begins the next chapter of his life.
Stable session
Before last month, I'd not had the opportunity to do a portrait session in a stable. Luckily, Anna wanted some of her photos to be taken there, and I was happy to oblige.
Woo hoo! 2012 Studio dance photos are ready for order!
Studio dance parents, you can now order this year's photos from the usual location. Talk to Jennifer or Vicki if you need the password. Prices are the same as last year, and the same three packages are available as well.To make browsing easier this year, we split the photos into four galleries. One is for the photos taken Friday evening (April 13). The other galleries are designated by the day the classes take place: There is a Tuesday gallery, a Wednesday gallery, and a Mon/Thu gallery.Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and enjoy looking at the photos!
Kaitlyn - Harrisburg senior
Kaitlyn has a great sense of humor, and as you can see she was even open to having her portrait taken with Blinky (as well as a few other places around town). She's a future writer, and we with her luck as she pursues that.
Phoebe - Mechanicsburg senior
Phoebe is a talented dancer and singer, and we tried to incorporate those interests in her shoot. She was also the first senior I worked with who wanted the outdoor portion of her shoot in Boiling Springs, and I was happy to oblige. Like her brother, Phoebe was a pleasure to work with.
Megan - Susquenita Senior
Megan's senior session gave me the opportunity to shoot in a location I'd never tried before: A gymnastics studio. We conquered the challenges involved in getting light stands to stay up on varied pads, and wound up with some good shots there, around town, and in the studio.
Caitlin - Harrisburg senior
Caitlin's session provided the opportunity to shoot at Italian Lake in Harrisburg for the first time. She's a great subject, as I knew from prior sessions, and we wish her the best of luck as she begins her college studies!
Amanda - Summer session
Since the first portion of Amanda's session took place in some harsh January weather, we met again for another outdoor session in some milder weather.
Vacation photos: Choose a unique point of view
It's the height of vacation season, and DSLR owners are struggling to determine how many lenses they can take on trips without angering their spouses. The wide-angle lens is nice—especially for cities and vistas—but what if you want to zoom in close on an object? And how can you leave behind your current favorite lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8?! You know you'll miss that speed.When making such vital decisions, you need to think in advance about where you'll be taking photos. If you're going to New York City, by all means take the 12-24mm (even though it doesn't come with a case—shame on you, @tokinalens). On the other hand, if you're headed to Yellowstone to photograph wildlife, you'll probably want to take your 400mm f/4. (Although if you own that lens, you may not have a spouse to anger, perhaps because of your purchase of that lens.) And if you're going to be indoors in low-light situations, you should grab your Fast 50.The situation isn't always that clear, however. If you find yourself reaching for your "walking around lens" (not that there's anything wrong with that), consider first the challenge of restricting yourself to one lens. With the limited range one of your better lenses offers, you may be forced to take photos that differ from those being taken by those around you. With a walking around lens, the tendency is to zoom in tight on a scene; this temptation is caused by the small size of the display on your camera. When you do that, though, you may be robbing the photo of perspective, which will appear more favorably when your photo is presented on a computer display or in print. Alternatively, zooming in on fine details in a scene where most others are shooting at 50mm may also result in a unique perspective.Finally, if nothing else has helped you capture an out-of-the-ordinary photo, try going back at night (as in the photo above). You'll need to use a tripod or an available stationary object, but the result could be a collection of photos that stand out from those of your fellow travelers.
Whew! Studio dance photos are available now.
I'd like to thank all of you who were involved in picture weekend. We took more photos than ever before and still finished on schedule. Your patience during the process was greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy looking at the proofs that have been uploaded; they are divided into a Friday gallery and a Saturday gallery (password required). Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.
Amanda - Harrisburg senior (pt 2)
Here are a few more of my favorites from Amanda's session.
