Speak Up!

Every time I do a photo shoot, I learn something new. To get better at my shooting I try to think about the shoot and what happened and how I did. My lesson learned recently is to SPEAK UP! I am a low talker. Some would call it mumbling, but I hate that word so I like to say low talker. When I take pictures I have to be aware of how I am speaking and how I am giving direction. When I have a camera and my hands near my face and the people I am directing may be 20 yards away quietly telling them what to do just does not work! So my lesson and a great tip is to speak up and speak loud when giving direction to your models.




Happy shooting – and find the art in every day moments

Childrens Harbor Lighthouse - Three Ways

 

Not Part of my State Park Journey - But Still Scenic

Okay, so along the way to visit all the state parks in AL - I may make a few detours.  I had one such detour today at Lake Martin.  I stopped and took some fun pictures.  It was an overcast and VERY cold day today, which seemed to work well with the images I wanted to get. 

Chewacla State Park - Auburn, AL

Up first on my Alabama State Park mission, I tackled Chewacla State Park in Auburn, AL.  This state park is a great day trip and it is just a hop and a skip from that state capital, Montgomery.  When you enter the park, if you follow the main road all the way through, you will go to a scenic overlook at the top where you can hike down to some great water falls. 

The scenery is gorgeous and picturesque.  I had fun hiking the trails and snapping photos!

2011 - ROCK ON!

Alrighty - what a long break from blogging and posting!  I have been here all a long working and growing Pratts photography, just need to find the time to talk about :) 

So for 2011, I am on a mission to visit all the Alabama State Parks and to share my pictures from my adventures.  Stayed tuned to my site http://www.prattsphotography.com/ and http://prattsphotography.blogspot.com/ to stay in the know and to track my progress. 

Remember - let me know if you would like to book a session!

New Gear

I finally took the leap and got myself a new camera.  I went ahead and picked up a D7000, which was just release from Nikon.  This camera is all that and a bag of chips (as we used to say a few years ago).  I had a great unboxing video, but my cat kept messing up my shoot so I culled it.  It is 14 mega pixels with 1080p HD video capabilities.

I love being an early adaptor and getting new technology, but when I bought my new camera I did not think about having problems with my computer software...more to come on that soon...

New Software

Well, I am making the move to use new software in my digital work flow.  After leaning heavily on a combo of Picasa and Elements, I am making the move to Lightroom 3 for my initial processing and organization.  It will be a HUGE move because I am going to be moving relocating about 40k picture files...I hope I have a ton of patience!

Watch and Wait

I have a major desire for some new gear.  I have been shooting with the same camera since the end of 2006 and even though I love it....I am wanting to try something new.  The suprising thing is that I am not really 'upgrading' in the traditional way.  The camera I want is similiar to the Nikon D80 I shoot with now.  It is the new Nikon D7000.  I wanted a Nikon D300s, but it seems that mist photographers are going to have to have video cabalitily in the future and teh D7000 shoots high def video.  Right now I am just in the process of deciding, but who knows - maybe I will have some new gear coming my way.

Fall is in the air 09 13 2010

Well, as much as I have loved summer it looks like it is getting ready to go away. Fall is in the air and a few leaves have started to slip from their branches.

06 26 2010 Let there by light

And God Said, Let There be Light.

06 17 2010 Built 1871

I was out on photo drive when I passed this old church. It was out in the middle of two farm fields. This church was founded in 1820 and the building was built in 1871. It was so beautiful.

06 12 2010 Another Perfect Sunset

06 10 2010 Rocks in Waiting

I guess I am just on a theme about dams, but I love photographing them. I was actually at a dam and I was struck by these weathered rocks. They are in the flood zone of the dam, so they get underwater when the water comes out, but until that time - they are rocks in waiting.

06 07 2010 Flare Above the Dam

I love sun flare. Although some photographers try to avoid them, I seek them out. Flare is caused when you can see the light source and it's patterns. It is special for me when I get a photo that has a little flare.

06 05 210 Night Lighting

This was a fun night. I was sitting in the back of my Explorer during a torrential down pour. I was trying to get a picture of a lightening bolt, but on this night it not streaking across the sky, it was popping behind the clouds. I sat with my shutter open to get this pic.

06 03 2010 - Bright Dam

A little nudging on the saturation and vibrance scale makes this picture of a dam in downtown Prattville, Al and the dramatic skyline pop!

06 01 2010 - Seymore Up Close

Animals can make such great subjects!

05 31 2010 - Double Rainbow

05 30 2010 - Still Afloat

Well, never give up and never sink could be the motto of this little boat. How it has not crumbled and floated away in the mighty Alabama River is beyond me, but it hasn't.

05 29 2010 Another Night Picture - The Moon

Here is another night picture that I took. The goal was to get a clear picture of the moon, but it was tucked behind the trees to well.