Portrait Photography Bushy Park

Today i had my very first portrait photography shoot in Bushy Park. It's clear i have lots to learn, but it's a start. I'm so incredibly grateful to Matt and Lucy who gave up their Sunday afternoon at the last minute to help me in my photography journey.

Gah, curse this cold weather ! here is one i took indoors instead praticing back lighting and metering. 

Found this tutorial by Elizabeth Halford so very helpful.

Trying out Prisming in Littleworth Common

 I went out Saturday to scout Littleworth Common near Esher for a potential location for an upcoming portrait session. I really loved it's dense forest.

It also gave me my first chance to try out prisming or aka 'hurding.' I think Sam Hurd is pretty incredible for sharing his method where most photographers keep their techniques closely guarded secrets; afterall a six inch prism isn't going to make me Sam Hurd, his photos are so much more than some clever light refractions!

Not the most subtle examples of prisming, but i was learning the nuances of my prism, it was fun stuff! I particularly liked that you could use the reflections of a prism to erase areas you don't want in your photo, for example i liked the framing of some trees but not so much the ugly muddy ground and so i could use the reflections of the prism to remove it. Likewise as a tool for directing your attention to certain parts of a frame, much like you would use the plane of focus on a tilt shift lens. I also really liked the way you could bend the light and produce rainbows.

I got my prism here.

day dreaming about sunshine

As temperatures dip below zero and i tenderly hold my hot water bottle close like an old faithful friend, i look back to the Summer and our two weeks in Tenerife...

My aim for this year is to call upon friends and family for photo shoots to move one step further... towards what I'm not sure yet, but i do know I would like a new challenge like trying my hand at a photo shoot. And so I thought I'd scout some locations for said future shoots at a nearby forest park.

These were the only two shots i managed to take, early on when we arrived, just metres from the car park. Thereafter she bowed her head and pouted, and that put an end to anymore photos. Still my main aim was to scout a location rather than take photos, and this was forest was beautiful, so overall it was a successful trip.

The scenery and trees made me want a tilt shift lens so much more in terms of trying something a bit more creative. I found this really great video that breaks down how a tilt/shift lens works.

Hounslow Urban Farm

monkey see...monkey do

These photos made me giggle whilst i took them, when i edited them and when i posted them on here. Little Willa photo bombing her big sister.

Credit to Angie Muldowney for her tips on how to add text to photos. Just remember you have to come out of the 'Type' tool and then 'Flatten Image.'