I have been trying to learn better picture taking skills.
I have a great camera now and that has made all the difference….believe me.
I checked out the tutorials at ShootFlyShoot.com and liked it so much I put the link in my sidebar so you could take advantage of it too.
We have a beautiful home and when my husband and I designed and built it, I spent HOURS and HOURS thinking of how I wanted to use the house and what was most important to our lifestyle.
We wanted an old styled home but newly built.
Large rooms, lots of windows, porches, generous hallways, and lots of architectural details.
We achieved all that and are extremely happy. (more here)
Then, when I started blogging it became very evident by the pictures I took…
that this house did not have great light for photography.
I’ve struggled with this a great deal.
I envy all those gorgeous white and light filled spaces I see on other blogs. Design choices we made such as porches, wanting the kitchen and breakfast area to overlook the creek
and the unchangeable fact that the creek is on the North side of the house have resulted in this photography issue.
Now, don’t get me wrong, these choices are right for living in the house.
The porches create shade for the rooms in the summer.
Having the kitchen and breakfast area on the North means shaded coolness in summer and sunny warmth in winter when the trees are bare.
Old homes in pre-air conditioning days were built the way they were for these exact reasons.
So, we got what we wanted…….but as is usual for most of us……we can’t have everything! Who knew I would become a blogger?
Lately, I’ve had my laptop in the living room with me in the morning while I work. At the right time in the morning, the sun streams through the trees and into the kitchen and breakfast area. I sit and think….
I should take pictures when I see that….
but that means closing the laptop, putting down my coffee, going to get the camera….see, I’ll never be a GREAT blogger because I’m too lazy!
So, I’ve procrastinated and , of course, we’ve had days and days of cloudy mornings…….sigh…
Finally…it’s been clear, sunny and blue skies…so now I can show you what I mean……
I haven’t done anything to these pics except resize, straighten a bit and frame them. I want you to see how interesting light and shadow can be at times.
You can see how dark the kitchen is in general.
To the left of the sink is an ironstone display.
Much improved with a little light.
It changed to this in just a minute…
What a difference….a second later, the shade was back.
I’ve been bringing lots of hydrangea blooms in to dry lately and they are in the breakfast area….
The kitchen is way in the back…see the darkness?
Suddenly the sun came through…see the lightness in the basket?
The shadows can really help capture the textures.
Pictures speak volumes, and my very favorite blogs are those with amazing pictures…they just capture me immediately. I want my blog to have better pictures too and I would love to be able to take pictures in some of the darker spots of the house.
I hope to keep learning and improving!
Do you have difficulty with pictures too? Any photographers out there with suggestions for me?
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Between Naps On The Porch
I'm Lorraine. I have a love for home & design and I enjoy sharing that passion with others. I'm so glad you're here to join me.
email: missflibbertigibbet@gmail.com
I have ALOT of trouble with pictures and LIGTING!!! Our house is in the woods so no good light. The dining room is terrible and since I LOVE tablescaping that poses VERY big problems with pictures. HOWEVER, we are building a new house that should be filled with LIGHT!!!! I am very excited, and hope my pictures wioll improve. I am going to check out that link on your sidebar, I have ALOT to learn!!!! BTW, I LOVE your house!!!! XO, Pinky
Getting a new camera is a priority on my list. I love to look at pretty pictures and I do believe the camera helps a lot.
I am still learning too.We do have lots of light in our house.Sometimes that can be an issue too.Your home is lovely.
xx
Anne
I am in the middle of the Shoot Fly Shoot series and it is finally starting to make sense to me. I hope I have the time in the next week (vacation) to actually practice what I’ve learned. Our house is dark AND we live in Minnesota where it is almost always dark when I’m home during the winter months.
If we follow the simple settings they teach us at SFS, it shouldn’t matter that our homes don’t get much direct sunlight. We can FOOL the camera into letting more light through the lens. I even bought myself a tripod, which is a necessity if I’m slowing the shutter speed. So far I’ve only used it for a family photo and it worked great!!
I’d say you did a bang up job with these pictures. You are getting really good at it. My picture taking is a joke…one that is NOT very laughable. I really need a better camera but now that I am not working I miss having “me” money where I felt I could get what I wanted when I wanted it. So…we’ll see!
Hope you have a great day! xo Diana
My goal is to learn from my daughter over Labor Day. She used the same type of camera I have in her college photography classes and knows quite a bit. Why have I not managed to take advantage of that resource before now???? who knows. Actually those cloudy mornings would make for some beautiful photos on your porches. I found a $5 tripod at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago wondering if it would work with my camera, and it works fine. So I have that part taken care of. Nice pics.
Use dad’s tripod. A tripod helps immensely. Shots you think look fantastic in your viewer then look hazy or out of focus in a photo editing program. Tripods allow so much more advantage to setting up the shot over simply holding the camera. These shots look great!
You didn’t mention exactly what camera you have did you? I’m assuming you have a dale instead of a point and shoot. If that is the case you will want to invest in some additional lenses, prime lenses to be exact. They are made for very low light photos (among other things.) And this is where the tripod incomes in handy. At some point there may just not be enough natural light. Invest in a flash that you can use to bounce light to your subject, making it much more diffuse and less harsh. And shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot.
That was dslr not date, sorry.
Nice pictures. Which camera have you been using recently?
Thank you for this post! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this one.
I noticed you’re using the Haida square ND filters. Was there any specific reason you chose these over the Hoya round? I use the same body and lenses, so I’m wondering if it has to do with ease of switching between the 77mm and 82mm lens sizes? Or is your preference based on something else? I’m trying to decide which filters to purchase. Thanks again.