Wednesday, December 28, 2011

All Work...

Greetings and welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. Wednesday finds us entering the downhill side of another week here in Hohenfels! I trust everyone is getting ready to ring in the New Year in an exciting and safe way!

Today we’re posting the entries in our theme for last week, Fruits of Your Labor. There were 2 entries this time around, Jennifer’s and mine. Let’s start with Jennifer’s entry.

Hohenfels Volks The Fruits of Jen's Labor
Copyright 2011 JennyO
Another great shot by Jennifer!

She described it in her own words, “Hi there, my submission is more of a layers project, the fruits of my workouts at the gym and my need to stay inspired”

My first thought was “rewarding your labor with more labor?” and I actually left that as a comment. Then I realized that after a long day, exercise is a bit of a reward, as it helps you unwind. I also realized that by working so hard, she was actually showing us the reward of her workouts, a fit and healthy lifestyle, and body. Kudos on that. The motivating quotes actually are very cool, but for the time being, I’m going to discount them, as we are talking about her photo.

I really like the idea of this image. Using the light from the window helps sculpt the form shown here and create a flowing silhouette without being a silhouette. Having lighting come in behind her allows for nice details and color to be brought out. Using the window as a light source, close up like this creates a nice bright light that wraps her body, and displays a nice fall off due to its softness. Large light sources are soft light sources! By shooting from a lower position, she creates a powerful subject, giving a bit of the dynamic to her shot! Chest height camera shots for a portrait make nice full body and 3/4 portraits, when shot from lower and looking up, it adds power and strength to your subject. A great pic using great light, with the quotes thrown in, it serves to remind us that hard work truly can be its own reward.

Next up is mine.

Hohenfels Volks A Quiet Evening
ISO 100, f/5.6, 2 seconds, 55mm
A Quiet Evening With the Princess

I chose to use a quiet Christmas scene to illustrate the reward I get from a quiet evening with my daughter, Jasmine. Of course, it’s rarely a quiet evening, but it’s almost always rewarding. Sharing her homework, eating our dinner, and enjoying either games or stories together makes the day’s labor worth the effort and more.

The cocoa had whipped topping on it, which had to be replenished to keep some form, as it melted throughout the 15 minutes of shooting for this shot. Smoothing the light with a small bounce brought out the colors in the mug, highlighted the cocoa bubbles, and added a nice bit of depth to the candle. A plus was the layering in the cocoa, from dark to white! For a similar setup, check out our last Ride Along. By allowing the light to fully hit the tree, we got some nice reflections and color from the bulbs and the tree, creating a Christmas feel, which is what spending time with the princess can be like!

Well, that’s it for tonight. For more on lighting glass, check out LIGHT—SCIENCE & MAGIC, from our last Reading List post. Also, check out Jennifer’s blog, it’s in our links to the right. She makes some great pics that deserve a look. I hope we’ll get some more pics posted in our next theme round up. Let’s get everyone voting and taking their pics for this week’s theme, Knock Knock.

Enjoy the rest of your evening, and remember to cast your vote for next week’s theme. Don’t forget to get your pics posted at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!

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