The Brownwood Art Association will be seeking entries for their first ever Christmas Photo Contest in conjunction with the Christmas Under the Stars Festival on December 2nd and 3rd at the Depot Civic and Cultural Center, 600 E. Depot St.

The contest is open to photographers 8 years old and up with prizes awarded in categories of ages 8-14, ages 15-20, ages 21 and above, and professional. Special prizes for People’s Choice and Best “Scared of Santa” photo will also be awarded.

There is a $5 fee per entry, and photographs will be accepted at the Depot on Monday, November 28th from 1-4pm and Tuesday, November 29th from 6-8pm. All photos must be framed with wire or hook and be ready to hang.

The photos will be on display at the Depot on Friday, December 2nd and Saturday, December 3rd from 4-8pm during the Christmas Under the Stars Festival.

For more information, contact Kim Hurt at 325-200-6404 or go to BrownwoodChamber.org.

You can pick up an entry form at the Brownwood Chamber of Commerce or download it here.

Hey all, don’t forget to enter your very best photographs in the Brownwood Reunion Photo Contest sponsored by the Brownwood Art Association. Photo bugs ages 8 and up have a chance to win prizes and show off their work at the newly renovated Art Center at 215 Fisk. Entries are only $5 so enter as many images as you like! We’ll be taking entries today from 6pm-8pm and tomorrow 1pm-4pm at the Art Center. We have entry forms and pens at the Art Center so just make sure your images are framed and ready to hang. See y’all there!

The 4th of July has come around again and I know a lot of you will be attending fireworks displays this evening so here is a post from last year full of tips for make the most of your fireworks images.

Well the 4th of July is coming up quick so I thought I would post my top ten tips for shooting fireworks along with a few of my images from last year’s show in Comanche.

1. Use a Tripod

The most important tip is to secure your camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a tripod.

2. Use a Remote Release

One way to ensure your camera is completely still during fireworks shots is to invest in a remote release device. These will vary from camera to camera but most have some sort of accessory made for them. The other way of taking shots without touching your camera is to use the self timer. This can work but you really need to be able to anticipate shots well and its very very hit and miss.

3. Plan How To Frame Your Shot

One of the most difficult parts of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. The challenge you’ll face in doing this is that you generally need to aim your camera before the fireworks that you’ll be photographing goes off – anticipation is key. Here are a few points on getting your framing right.

Scope out the location early – Planning is important with fireworks and getting to the location early in order to get a good, unobstructed position is important. Think about what is in the foreground and background of your shots and make sure you won’t have people’s heads bobbing up into your shots (also consider what impact you’ll have on others around you also). Take note of where fireworks are being set up and what parts of the sky they are likely to be shot into – you might also want to try to ask some of those setting up the display for a little information on what they are planning. Also consider what focal lengths you might want to use and choose appropriate lenses at this time (rather than in the middle of the show).

Watch your Horizons – One thing that you should always consider when lining up fireworks shots is whether your camera is even or straight in it’s framing. This is especially important if you’re going to shooting with a wide focal length and will get other background elements in your shots (ie a cityscape). As you get your camera on your tripod make sure it’s level right from the time you set up.

Vertical or Horizontal? – There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). Both can work in fireworks photography but I personally find a vertical perspective is better – particularly as there is a lot of vertical motion in fireworks. Horizontal shots can work if you’re going for more of a landscape shot with a wider focal length of if you’re wanting to capture multiple bursts of fireworks in the one shot.

Remember your framing – I find that when I photograph fireworks that I spend less time looking in my viewfinder and more looking at the sky directly. As a result it’s important to remember what framing you have and to watch that segment of the sky. Doing this will also help you to anticipate the right time for a shot as you’ll see the light trails of unexploded rockets shooting into the sky.

4. Change Up Your Focal Length

One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is having your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right time. This is especially difficult if you’re shooting with a longer focal length and are trying to take more tightly cropped shots. I generally shoot at a wider focal length than a tight one but during a show will try a few tighter shots (I usually use a zoom lens to give me this option) to see if I can get lucky with them. They enable you to really fill the frame with great color.

5. Use A Small Aperture

A common question around photographing fireworks displays is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/8 to f/16.

6. Use A Slow Shutter Speed

Probably more important to get right than aperture is shutter speed. Fireworks move and as a result the best photographs of them capture this movement meaning you need a nice long exposure. The technique that I developed when I first photographed fireworks was to shoot in ‘bulb’ mode. This is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter (preferably using a remote shutter release of some type). Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds).

You can also experiment with set shutter speeds to see what impact it will have but I find that unless you’re holding the shutter open for very long exposures that the bulb technique works pretty well.

Don’t keep your shutter open too long. The temptation is to think that because it’s dark that you can leave it open as long as you like. The problem with this is that fireworks are bright and it doesn’t take too much to over expose them, especially if your shutter is open for multiple bursts in the one area of the sky. By all means experiment with multiple burst shots – but most people end up finding that the simpler one burst shots can be best.

7. Shoot With Your Lowest ISO

Shooting at a low ISO is preferable to ensure the cleanest shots possible. Stick to ISO 100 and you should be fine.

8. Turn off Your Flash

Shooting with a flash will have no impact upon your shots except to trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Keep in mind that your camera’s flash will only have a reach of a few meters and in the case of fireworks even if they were this close a flash wouldn’t really have anything to light except for some smoke which would distract from the real action.

9. Shoot In Manual Mode

I find I get the best results when shooting in manual exposure and manual focus modes. Auto focusing in low light can be very difficult for many cameras and you’ll end up missing a lot of shots. Once your focusing is set you’ll find you don’t really need to change it during the fireworks display – especially if you’re using a small aperture which increases depth of field. Keep in mind that changing focal lengths will mean you need to need to adjust your focusing on most lenses.

10. Experiment and Track Results

Throughout the fireworks display periodically check your results. I generally take a few shots at the start and check to see that they are OK before shooting any more. Don’t check after every shot once you’ve got things set up (or you’ll miss the action) but do monitor yours shots occasionally to ensure you’re not taking a completely bad batch.

Also experiment with taking shots that include a wider perspective, silhouettes and people around you watching the display. Having your camera pointed at the sky can get you some wonderful shots but sometimes if you look for different perspectives you can get a few shots that are a little less cliche and just as spectacular. Most of the best shots that I’ve seen in the researching of this article have included some other element than the fireworks themselves – whether it be people, buildings, landmarks or wider cityscape perspectives.

Good Luck and Happy 4th!

I’m proud to announce that we are now offering classes in Abilene at the Center For Contemporary Arts! We will also still be offering classes in Brownwood at the studio. Photography classes are offered on Saturdays to fit with busy work and school schedules, and no matter what your skill level from first time camera owner to aspiring pro we have a class to fit your needs! And if you are looking for a gift for the shutterbug in your life we do have gift certificates available. Check out the Classes tab here on the blog for more information and to register, new classes and dates are posted monthly so check back often!

Like most of you I have been considering New Years Resolutions and after a lot of thought have come up with one – to hone my artistic skills and improve my photography with a 365 project. Perhaps you’ve heard of someone doing a 365 project or even attempted one yourself, if you haven’t a 365 project is a personal challenge to take a picture a day for one year. The purpose is to flex your creative muscles and become a better photographer through practice by taking pictures on a regular basis.

I’m all for having a structure in place that encourages one to be creative and take pictures on a regularly but I’m not sure that snapping a random image every 24 hours leads to photographic prowess. It seems to me that taking a random image everyday would sooner lead to burn out, frustration and giving up when you forget to take and image at all on day 53. Or possibly God forbid, an image of ones cat in a window sill when you jump out of bed at 11:50pm realizing you didn’t take a picture yet.

So I’ve decided to give myself a series of 30 day challenges instead of a true picture a day(hence the ish in the title). I will set aside time several times per month to pursue a certain subject, tool, or technique ending the month with a post on this blog containing the 30 best images from my endeavors. Through an in depth exploration of a certain subject I hope to refine my skills and expand my creativity. I’ve already started photographing my January theme – Night Landscapes. Here is an image from last year, my first attempt at such things. Consider it a taste of what’s to come!

I always get the question “what should I wear for my session” or “how many outfits should I bring”. My answer is always the same: “bring all of the things that you love and that make you, you!”
Now, if you need some inspiration, here are some of the 2011 style trends:

Sure, scarves have been in style for a long time, but this year they will be worn a little bit differently, here’s how:

You can never bring too many accessories to your shoot: hats, scarves, bracelets, earrings, bags, purses, belts, necklaces and anything else you can thing of. Here are some ideas:

For outfits, it’s great to have variety. For example: 1. something simple: jeans, flip flops, white t-shirt, 2. something dressy: dress and heels, 3. prom dress? 4. a layered look: boots, leggings, shirt, sweater, coat, 4. something trendy: whatever you are into right now and might be embarrassed of 15 years from now! Here are some ideas:

Style Tips For Girls

What to wear:
Anything goes, bring a variety of colors, sweaters, tees & hoodies, dresses from prom, homecoming, bring heels, favorite shoes, jewelry, necklaces, dark jeans, worn out jeans, accessories, earrings, headbands – bring anything you LOVE to wear.

Bring:

Something classy when you look at your portraits 20 years from now. Consider covering your shoulders and arms for one outfit.

Something casual -what you wear everyday. Long Sleeves, Short Sleeves, or both – variety rules!

Something different fun – whatever you want, Dresses, Tanks and Cami’s, T-shirts.

Identity clothes- sports, music, arts etc.

Things- dance stuff, a microphone, guitar. See some samples here.

Hair ….we suggest no new styles. Use a de-frizz product to tame stray hairs and fly-a ways. Hair should be done BEFORE coming to the studio. Quick easy hairstyle changes are ok, but it should be quick or you’ll lose camera time. Waiting to do hair or makeup until you arrive will dramatically cut down on camera time and images. We will not run over your scheduled time.

Make up – my number one tip is don’t wear any glittery lotion or make-up. It doesn’t look good in pictures. Number two tip: bring your lip gloss for touch-ups!

Use a concealer on acne. If you stand 2 feet away from a mirror and and can’t see it, it won’t show in your images.

Professional Hair & Make up – many girls want a professional job done for their portraits, if you do too just let us know! We work with licensed local stylists and you can add it to you session for just $50!

Nails….your hands will be in your portraits. Have your nails done.

Tops….feel free to add sweaters or jackets. We suggest covering arms in one or more outfits.

Shoes….bring lots of them! They can totally set off an outfit!

Style Tips For Guys

What to wear

Something classy when you look at your portraits 20 years from now. Button up shirts, Shirts, sweaters, polos, jackets. Do not bring a suit unless it’s something you wear and you own one that fits.

Something casual what you like to wear everyday, your own unique style – tees, jeans, torn jeans, shorts, hats, bring different colors.

Something different fun – whatever you want

Identity clothes sports, music, arts etc.

Things car, a microphone, guitar ect.

Hair avoid cutting your hair right before the session. Give new styles at least two weeks

Extras

Nails.…your hands will be in your portraits. Have your nails done.

Tops….feel free to add sweaters or jackets. We suggest covering arms in one or more outfits.

Make up….Have it done before arriving, bring powder and lipstick for touch ups. We recommend having it
done professionally.

Clothing….bring a variety of colors and clothing for all seasons. Girls, if you’re wearing a tank top bring a
strapless bra. Spaghetti straps and sleeveless tops will draw attention to the arms, making it difficult to hide bra straps. There are additional charges to remove bra straps.

Brows and facial hair….please remove any unwanted brow and facial hair

Tanning….avoid being overly tanned for your skin type as it will add weight to your face.
Also avoid sunburns, uneven spray tans and tan lines. There are additional charges to remove sunburn and tan lines.
bumps and blemishes….we remove them all, so don’t worry!

Pets….you must bring someone along to watch and care for your pet while you’re being photographed.
Keep in mind that involving your pet takes extra time and may mean less images and/or clothing changes.

friends, siblings…. we’d be happy to take a couple images with you and a
friend, sibling, boyfriend/girlfriend. As with pets, this involves extra time and may mean less clothing changes
and images of you. THIS IS NOT A FAMILY PORTRAIT.

Arriving….Plan your travel time to arrive 10 minutes early. Allow yourself plenty of time to get here. If you’re
late, we cannot run your session into the next appointment’s time – it will only result in less images taken of
you. If you will be more than 15 minutes late, please call to reschedule.

Music…..bring your favorite cd or ipod if you’d like.

Glasses…..to eliminate distracting glare and reflections, call your optician to either borrow a pair of empty
frames or have the lenses removed from your own frames. Non glare lenses work well in some cases. If you
choose to wear glasses with lenses in keep in mind that removing glass glare from your photographs will be
done at your expense. Non glare lenses work well in some cases.

What to bring

Clothes – bring what you want and we’ll help you choose what’s best

* Wear one of your outfits to the session
* Have hair and makeup done before arriving. Not having this done means less images.
* Rain – summer showers come and go quickly. Arrive at your session as scheduled and if weather is an issue we will reschedule the outdoor part of your session.

Last but not least make it fun, and make it YOU!

Well the 4th of July is coming up quick so I thought I would post my top ten tips for shooting fireworks along with a few of my images from last year’s show in Comanche.

1. Use a Tripod

The most important tip is to secure your camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a tripod.

2. Use a Remote Release

One way to ensure your camera is completely still during fireworks shots is to invest in a remote release device. These will vary from camera to camera but most have some sort of accessory made for them. The other way of taking shots without touching your camera is to use the self timer. This can work but you really need to be able to anticipate shots well and its very very hit and miss.

3. Plan How To Frame Your Shot

One of the most difficult parts of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. The challenge you’ll face in doing this is that you generally need to aim your camera before the fireworks that you’ll be photographing goes off – anticipation is key. Here are a few points on getting your framing right.

Scope out the location early – Planning is important with fireworks and getting to the location early in order to get a good, unobstructed position is important. Think about what is in the foreground and background of your shots and make sure you won’t have people’s heads bobbing up into your shots (also consider what impact you’ll have on others around you also). Take note of where fireworks are being set up and what parts of the sky they are likely to be shot into – you might also want to try to ask some of those setting up the display for a little information on what they are planning. Also consider what focal lengths you might want to use and choose appropriate lenses at this time (rather than in the middle of the show).

Watch your Horizons – One thing that you should always consider when lining up fireworks shots is whether your camera is even or straight in it’s framing. This is especially important if you’re going to shooting with a wide focal length and will get other background elements in your shots (ie a cityscape). As you get your camera on your tripod make sure it’s level right from the time you set up.

Vertical or Horizontal? – There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). Both can work in fireworks photography but I personally find a vertical perspective is better – particularly as there is a lot of vertical motion in fireworks. Horizontal shots can work if you’re going for more of a landscape shot with a wider focal length of if you’re wanting to capture multiple bursts of fireworks in the one shot.

Remember your framing – I find that when I photograph fireworks that I spend less time looking in my viewfinder and more looking at the sky directly. As a result it’s important to remember what framing you have and to watch that segment of the sky. Doing this will also help you to anticipate the right time for a shot as you’ll see the light trails of unexploded rockets shooting into the sky.

4. Change Up Your Focal Length

One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is having your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right time. This is especially difficult if you’re shooting with a longer focal length and are trying to take more tightly cropped shots. I generally shoot at a wider focal length than a tight one but during a show will try a few tighter shots (I usually use a zoom lens to give me this option) to see if I can get lucky with them. They enable you to really fill the frame with great color.

5. Use A Small Aperture

A common question around photographing fireworks displays is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/8 to f/16.

6. Use A Slow Shutter Speed

Probably more important to get right than aperture is shutter speed. Fireworks move and as a result the best photographs of them capture this movement meaning you need a nice long exposure. The technique that I developed when I first photographed fireworks was to shoot in ‘bulb’ mode. This is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter (preferably using a remote shutter release of some type). Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds).

You can also experiment with set shutter speeds to see what impact it will have but I find that unless you’re holding the shutter open for very long exposures that the bulb technique works pretty well.

Don’t keep your shutter open too long. The temptation is to think that because it’s dark that you can leave it open as long as you like. The problem with this is that fireworks are bright and it doesn’t take too much to over expose them, especially if your shutter is open for multiple bursts in the one area of the sky. By all means experiment with multiple burst shots – but most people end up finding that the simpler one burst shots can be best.

7. Shoot With Your Lowest ISO

Shooting at a low ISO is preferable to ensure the cleanest shots possible. Stick to ISO 100 and you should be fine.

8. Turn off Your Flash

Shooting with a flash will have no impact upon your shots except to trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Keep in mind that your camera’s flash will only have a reach of a few meters and in the case of fireworks even if they were this close a flash wouldn’t really have anything to light except for some smoke which would distract from the real action.

9. Shoot In Manual Mode

I find I get the best results when shooting in manual exposure and manual focus modes. Auto focusing in low light can be very difficult for many cameras and you’ll end up missing a lot of shots. Once your focusing is set you’ll find you don’t really need to change it during the fireworks display – especially if you’re using a small aperture which increases depth of field. Keep in mind that changing focal lengths will mean you need to need to adjust your focusing on most lenses.

10. Experiment and Track Results

Throughout the fireworks display periodically check your results. I generally take a few shots at the start and check to see that they are OK before shooting any more. Don’t check after every shot once you’ve got things set up (or you’ll miss the action) but do monitor yours shots occasionally to ensure you’re not taking a completely bad batch.

Also experiment with taking shots that include a wider perspective, silhouettes and people around you watching the display. Having your camera pointed at the sky can get you some wonderful shots but sometimes if you look for different perspectives you can get a few shots that are a little less cliche and just as spectacular. Most of the best shots that I’ve seen in the researching of this article have included some other element than the fireworks themselves – whether it be people, buildings, landmarks or wider cityscape perspectives.

Good Luck and Happy 4th!