Off Camera Flash during the Golden Hour

This is my favorite time of year to take photographs. The perfect light comes right before most kids get super cranky so it makes some of the best pictures. Today add to it, I got some new equipment and it was the perfect time to take pictures of the boys.

Ever since I took a class on studio and outdoor lighting I have been obsessed with portable lighting and off camera flash. I am in love with the outdoor flash look and the depth it brings to a photograph. I edit for it in natural light, but its not the same. I went to a seminar recently that taught me how to do this off camera flash manually, but I found the more I had to think during my sessions the bigger the challenge. I just need my flash to figure it out for me, for now.

So I bought some pocket wizards that could do ETTL through my umbrella and I was curious. How the heck could the flash be read through my umbrella? I had some serious doubts. It was and it and it shot the proper exposure through an umbrella. So today, with my two favorite subjects who were playing with golf clubs, we explored the power of this flash.

Here are the first two pictures. I was stopping from F11 to F2.8 to see how the flash worked, how it did with sun flare, and how dark I really wanted my background with the subject exposed right. I came to a happy medium in my head, know what I like, and here are my two favorite pictures of that day.

 

Then since my boys were game today we went for it, whole session with goofy boys who didn't really want to cooperate but who wanted their pictures taken. Here is some full sun, flash photos in the golden hour. I like it and its the same as the shade settings, my flash just magically compensated. I LOVE that. I didn't have to think once.

Then the boys made a spot suggestion, and who was I to argue, my subjects get testy when bored. It was full shade, with no sun flare and I like the flash at the same exact camera setting. Three spots, my sweet spot was the same settings. I feel like I have so much control now.

 

Just to show you the difference I did have to let my flash recycle which I am not sure how that is going to work during a session. The recycle time is a little too long right now and it took me a while to realize that sometimes. But here are some of my misfires with a natural light during the golden hour. Definite difference and I am seriously LOVING off camera flash and controlling the light right now.

{Sneak Preview} The Gotlieb Family

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph my brother's family for the first time. My sister-in-law had been asking for a while, but our schedules never seemed to match up until this weekend. My one and only niece is now 5 months olds and as precious as can be.

Photographing babies can be a challenge, you never know what mood they will be in, if they get over stimulated easily or they just might not like the camera. My niece was a doll to photograph yesterday. She was all smiles for me all day long and one of my easiest subjects in a while.

We started off doing some stuff at home just so Lydia would be comfortable, my brother could watch football and my sister-in-law had some shots she wanted taken that needed to be done indoors.

I did a combination of both off-camera flash and natural light inside the house. It worked, and we have some fun pictures indoors of the family.

This was a test shot, but I love it because my brother is a sports nut and was really mad we planned these photos on football day. So here is a picture of him watching football with his daughter. There is no hope for Lydia, with two boys cousins and a dad's who is sport obsessed, she is predestined to be a tomboy.

Here is my sweet niece who was all smiles all morning long for me. I like to joke that anytime I hold her she cries, but not that day. She loved her Auntie.

After capturing Lydia we did some poses on the bed, trying to get an imagine my sister-in-law had seen before. Not sure if we got it completely, but we had fun trying.

Then after having lunch and waiting for it too cool down I took my flash outside and started working on some outdoor pictures. Unfortunately I had an equipment malfunction half way through so we went with reflectors the rest of the day, but I am LOVING off-camera flash outdoor. I need to purchase some new receivers though because my system is just not reliable enough.

 

After photographing them for an hour, my boys meet us at the park for some family time. A disclaimer, they had been watched by daddy all day so all those dirty faces, not my fault. I did take a moment to capture my sweet boys since I was taking pictures that day and they wanted in on the action.

 

Just a note, if you are ever interested in hiring me to be your photographer I am not working much these days professionally. I find I don't have the time, but I make the exception for friends and family. If you are reading this blog it means you fall into the category. So if you ever want to schedule a photo session with me for family photos, holiday photos, an event or just some images of your kids playing at the park let me know. I am sure we can work something out.

If you want to learn more about my photography or talk to me about taking pictures for your special event please visit www.heathergotlieb.com.

Erik 4 Years Old ORDERED!

This is always a good day, the day which I spend money to finally order my book. After months of working on this project, countless layout and font changes and tons of photo edits, it is finished. People often ask me why I don't sell this service and make books for others since they like my books so much. The truth is this just takes too long. The 70 pages of this book took me over a month to make. Mostly it is due to the endless photo edits. Since I am paying for the upgraded paper and lots of money to print this book I better make the pictures good. There are a few I missed, a few I might change given a chance, but it done and I need to let go and just order.

Of course the interesting thing about these book is the jealousy with the boys now. When I am working on a book for one of them, the other always wants to know when their newest book will be done. During the month of creating this I have had to read "Elliot, 2 years old" endless amounts of time. Also friends have had to sit through that book and talk to Elliot about all the pictures. Personally I am glad they are getting used and my kids are keeping their memories through this books. I wish I had more pictures before I was 5 because I don't remember much and don't have many pictures. This is not a criticism of my parents, we had a house fire when I was 12 and all my childhood pictures perished. This was the days before digital and file backups.

So if you want to check it out, here is the latest book. I will disclaim that this month has been hard for me personally so I didn't have it in me to do a book with all the text and a fancy layout. Instead I just went for the basics, with one little bit of text and lots and lots of pictures. I will probably regret that in a few years, but it is what I had to do this month.

Erik by Heather Gotlieb Johnson | Make Your Own Book

It's Elliot's Turn

Finally, my poor boy who is going to be 3.5 years old this fall, who is more than ready for preschool and has been dying to go since January of this year is finally starting. He went this summer for a week and fell in love and didn't want to stop so I was really looking forward to this fall. Unfortunately our school only offers a 2 day a week program for 3 year olds even though I would be more than happy to have him in school 3x a week. So every Tuesday and Thursday this fall you can find my little one in preschool.

I liked this whole warm up to preschool system when Erik was entering preschool, but I have to admit with having a child so ready to go to school this drawn out process of "meet the teacher," "being in the classroom a half day," and then a "half day by themselves" is a little drawn out for me. I already know Elliot's teachers, I know all about the systems and process of the preschool and we're just ready to go. Bring it on already!!

So just as Erik did, here is Elliot's first day of preschool pictures. His first official full day is September 6th, but for our purposes we'll call Meet the Teacher day his first. He did wear his first day of school outfit. It was a little anti-climatic for us. There was no daddy, no Erik, no one else to share this moment with us. Not sure if Elliot noticed, but I did.

When we got there Elliot instantly went for the playdough and made a "decoration." I have a strong feeling Elliot is going to be one of the oldest and way more advanced in his class. He is a second sibling and older 3. In addition he is already moving from cooperative play to interactive play with his current friends. So I have mixed feelings. I like that fact that in his class he could be the leader and "boss" and have his own space since Erik controls most of his life. But also I want him to have kids his age to play with and form future friendship with. Mostly I am worried because Elliot doesn't have any friends like Erik did when he entered preschool, but I am sure he will be fine. Also in the back of my head I think if we went to the other local preschool he would have 4 close friends in his class and it would be so smooth for him. Such is life I guess.

 

Then of course he went for the cars and trains. I was impressed because the trains didn't connect, but he mechanically figured out how to make it work by pushing and some weird combining. Elliot is definitely engineer minded at this age.

He also drew a rocket ship drawing. All in all a great introduction to preschool.

He even played in the yard for a few minutes and refused to leave. I knew all the mom's in the play yard ironically, but none of them are kids Elliot knows well. We'll find our place this year...

Kindergarten here we come

Every parent probably asks themselves this question, but I keep wonder, how did we get here. In two ways honestly. First of all where did the summer go? It seems like it just started going and now one of my kids are starting school. Being that its the middle of August doesn't help things. I have had my kids 100% of the time for the last three weeks with no camps or anything and I feel like we just started getting on a roll and now its over. I hate to admit it, but I was enjoying summer and wasn't ready for it to end although mentally I knew it was time.

Also I wonder how my children got to be so old. The next two weeks are filled with milestones for my family and I am not sure how I am going to stop the flow of tears from change. Erik started kindergarten, Elliot is starting preschool and my oldest baby is turning the big milestone of 5 years old!! It is just a time of change and I will have to go with it or dig my heels in and still go with it. I choose to take the high road and just cry and move on to the next major chapter.

So this day I have to admit just snuck up on me. The end of last week we were in San Diego, then yesterday we spend the day at the beach. So mentally I didn't really adjust for today even though we needed to be out of the house 40 minutes earlier than we did for preschool. Although school starts 30 minutes earlier than preschool Carl and I have made a commitment to walk our children to school. It takes an extra 15-20 minutes each day because we're about 0.5 mile away from the school. So between Elliot and I walking to school and back twice a day, we're logging in two miles. No wonder my poor Elliot took an awesome nap today.

Erik was excited and right on schedule today, it was his parents that weren't. I didn't have his backpack, snack or supplies ready to go. So between rushing to get everything out the door, getting those first day of school pictures, and getting to school on time we were constantly rushed.

Here are the documenting pictures of Erik's first day with the sign I made up. I definitely need to use a larger font next time. Live and learn...

Then I moved to the porch and cleaned it off, even though there was a car and junk the way. It is a tradition to take pictures here. Besides the cement bounces the light nicely into his eyes. So by this time Erik was mad at my pictures and just ready to go.

 

For the first day they had everyone line up on the asphalt to wait for the teacher. Normally not a big deal, but it was in the 90s at 9 am this morning so it was hot and we were all miserable waiting. Also by this time Erik was sick of me taking pictures or embarrassed and refused to look at my camera. Also he was really nervous grabbing my hand and shirt anxiously and just needing to be with us. This entire process was a bit overwhelming.

This is the only day we get to go into the classroom unless we are volunteer parents, which I plan to do every Tuesday, or any of the school nights. There are 34 kids in Erik's class so between siblings, parents and the kindergartners it was a big overwhelming. I love Erik's room though because it is basically two rooms and HUGE.

When we went to pick up Erik he didn't have anything but happy things to say. He was excited for a gift his teacher gave him and even had his first homework he couldn't wait to do. He has to write his name 5x every night. Also I will say, when we met his teacher last Friday I liked and responded well to her and hope she teaches as well as I like her. She has a hard job with all those kids and I can't wait to get in the room and help. Additionally I think they put all the kids from his preschool in the same room because I noticed about 7 faces there from Erik's preschool. I am glad Erik had so many familiar faces even if he was never in class with any of these kids.