Rebecca Doehring Photography

I wish I could count the number of times I have heard, “How can I take pictures like you?” or “What camera can I get to take pictures like you?”

Let me start off by saying… You have just paid me the BEST compliment.  I love that fact that you respect my work that much to want to be able to replicate it.  Its a very hard question to answer in such a short time.  If it were as easy as “just” the camera, then I wouldn’t be able to get paid to do what I do, and I really wouldn’t be forking over a couple thousand dollars a year to travel and study under some of the unbelievable master photographers I am so excited to learn from!  The skill or talent I might have comes directly from a LOT of time, (studying and practicing).  Like every profession out there, I continually do what I can to learn, study, experiment and do everything I can to stay current and fresh.  Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers… all of them have a requirement to continually educate themselves.  While photographers may not have the same requirements or laws to enforce continuing education, I personally place that on myself.  I am very excited about the conferences I am attending in November and January!  I always come back so revived and excited with all the new stuff I learned!  It’s not at all that I don’t want to help, its just that help is so much easier said than done.

There are many many talented photographers out there… and some of them are people that just dabble in it.  However… there is a level of understanding and natural artistic talent that helps it to come easy to them.  Those people could probably be very successful if they attempted or had the desire to run with their God given talent.  And of course there are people out there who purchased a “good” camera, and decided they could take a picture and started a photography business.  With absolutely no disrespect at all to the general public, most people really cannot tell the difference.  But I always say… if you personally LOVE your images that you received, then that person did their job.

In this entry, I hope to at least direct a few of you that have wanted some guidance.  The ones who “want to just be able to take a good picture of their kid.”

In understanding your new SLR that you just paid hundreds of dollars for, to get a decent image, use that camera what it was meant for.  The camera is like a computer.  All those buttons and knobs… they amazingly work together to create some gorgeous images!  It’s the understanding of how and what they all mean that is up to you to make that magic come to life.  Of course, if you paid a ton of money for a camera, it better take an amazing pictures.  That’s only a fraction of it.  It’s the person behind the camera, that sets the controls to help the machine do what it was made to do!  And of course their artistic talent (or training) that creates the image.   You can control color, temperature, exposure, depth of field, create your own personal settings with your own combination, know how to shoot in low light, bright sun, and when to use each setting for all the different lighting and situations… etc, etc.  There really is a ton to think about.  While its second nature to me, it’s a lot of information for a beginner.

The first step is taking that camera out of auto and switching it to manual.  Once you learn your camera, and how to use it, then you can step into learning lighting and composition.

To understand my little obsession with the camera and what all it can do, my “for fun” reading is the Magic Lantern book for the 5D Mark II.  All camera models have it, so when you go to a book store ask for the Magic Lantern Book for the XXXX model camera you have.  You can purchase it at any book store.  When I say I am constantly trying to learn, I have seriously read that book over and over and over again.  And each time I have another light bulb moment!  This book is a fabulous tool for understanding the camera.  The manual that came with your camera is great, but the Magic Lantern actually gives you examples, and pretty much dummies it down for you.  Its not only the how, but the why!

So you have now learned your camera.  What now?  What is the formula to a great image?  Understanding light and how to set the camera in those lighting situations.  This concept is something even I continually work on.  Every photographer does or should.  You cannot imagine what I have put my children through.  Poor Caylin is probably the only 8 year old to already have her Baby Belly portrait taken.  To capture that image, the most important thing… EXPOSURE!  This is tricky to most, and hard to master.  Here is a little tutorial on exposure with how to set your shutter and aperture.

http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/shutterandaperture.php

Lighting is EVERYTHING in creating a mood to an image.  For fun, I want it to be bright and colorful.  For moody or serious, I want it to be darker, more shadows and lower light.  But how does that relate to the camera settings.  This is where your understanding of “proper” lighting, exposure, and again your artistic vision all work together.  While a lesson on lighting is a whole other concept I do not even know where to begin, I can help you with a few helpful artistic rules to follow when trying to create an image.

Understanding composition.  Here is another site that does a great job of explaining some basic rules to follow.

http://digital-photography-school.com/four-rules-of-photographic-composition

I always say… you need to know the rules to break the rules.  And a lot of times that is what makes one photographer stand out over another.  As most of you know, my first love is drawing, so understanding composition for me wasn’t a learning curve on this aspect of photography.  This stuff reads like music notes to me.  Understand that there is a reason a certain image grabs your attention.  There is a reason you gasp at certain images.  There is a reason that you are attracted to some images over others.  There is an art, talent, method,  a rule,  a guideline, symmetry, a plan… and all of the above behind what a professional in the art world is creating.

Photography is so addictive, and if you spend time investing in “what, how & why”, I’m sure you will soon understand why I am so obsessed with what I do!  So many people want to capture that breath taking image of their child.  And YOU can!  You just have to invest the time to learn!  I promise it will not happen in auto!  Don’t be scared to take that camera out of auto!  Think outside of the box!

LIGHT BULB!!  I’m thinking I might just have another contest for a free session!  I’m thinking I am going to have people submit their “out of the box” image… and I am going to have my fellow photographer friends vote on the winner!  RULES coming soon!