Hello fellow bloggers! Just got back from a landscape workshop given by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Our workshop took place in beautiful Glacier National Park. This photo was taken at sunrise and as you can tell the sky is smoky from nearby wildfires. I learned a great deal and got to meet some awesome fellow landscape photographers! The RMSP instructors are phenomenal! Check out their website.
Tag: photography
Day 132 of 365: TIPS on how to photograph flowers!
Day 132: Tips on how to shoot flowers! One of my all time favorite subjects are flowers. They are so colorful and put a smile on my face, especially in the winter when I am starved for color! Here are some easy tips on how to best photograph flowers!
- Get down on their level to shoot them.
- Get as close to them as you can.
- Shoot a part of a flower, may have to use manual focus.
- Strive for good composition, place the center of the flower using the Rule of Thirds.
- Use the Rule of Odds, in a group shoot an odd number of them, not even.
- Use selective focus.
- Use a wide open aperture in natural light, set vase in window, and make that great bokeh happen!
- When outside, lay on the ground and shoot them at their level.
Hope this helps! Get out and shoot some colorful flowers today as they start to emerge from the soil!
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Day 117 of 365: SPRING!!!

Day 117: Spring is here, at least according to the calendar! There are many signs that spring could be here.
I have a friend who has seen a robin in north central Montana. I have been hearing a plethora of different birds singing in the morning.
The official start of spring, known as the vernal equinox is today, March 20 at 12:15 p.m., for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Today the night and the day are exactly equal in length.
I thought spring would never get here! We can celebrate that those long, dark days of cold and snow are mostly in the past, for this year. That is not to say that we won’t get any more snow, which in Montana can happen any month of the year!
Even though I am fair haired and fair skinned, I love the sun! It doesn’t always love me though. The feel of the warm sun’s rays on my face and back is so welcoming! On close inspection I notice the grass starting to green up. The animals are frisky and people get a spring in their step, attitudes improve. It’s ALL GOOD!
Go out and enjoy the first day of spring! If you are in the southern hemisphere, go out and enjoy the first day of autumn!
What will you be doing today?
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Day 113 of 365: Limerick and a Photo
Day 113: A limerick and a photo. Sharing a winter photo of some trees lining a driveway and a limerick that goes with it:
- My eyes were instantly drawn to these,
- these graceful, delicate, artful trees,
- symmetry, symmetry,
- a shot that speaks to me,
- boasting of its beauty in the breeze.
Thought I would share this limerick with St. Patrick’s Day coming soon. Limericks are said to have originated in Ireland.
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Day 106 of 365: Quick Tips on How to take better portraits!
Day 106: Quick tips to take better portraits with your DSLR. This photo above is of a great young high school senior that I took at Hyalite Reservoir in Montana.
- The right lens: I use an 85mm f1.8 lens, another good lens is a 50mm f1.8 lens.
- The right white balance. I have found that adding an amber colored filter over my speed light or using a gold colored reflector when working outdoors adds a nice warm hue to the skin tones, which is more attractive than cool skin tones. The above photo I took in the evening sun light which is also a good option. Set your white balance to match the current lighting situation.
- The right ISO. Set your ISO (the camera’s sensitivity) to 200-400 range.
- The right aperture. Set the f/stop from 5.6-9.0. The wider the aperture the more blurred the background will be. Beware, you run the risk of your subject not being in focus, especially if all of the subject is not in the same plane.
- Set the right focus. Set your camera to single area AF, focus on the eyes. The sharpest part of a portrait should be the eyes.
- Try to always shoot in RAW. It gives you more information and allows you to do more in photo editing.
- Lastly, a good rapport with your subject. This helps them to feel more comfortable and you will be better able to capture their true personality!
I hope this helps! Portraits are fun to do! Go out and try these tips when you shoot your next portrait.
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