Today I met up with Holly for the first time. We talked about a variety of things, including the schedule for this week and how she organizes her schedule. In general, Holly has days for certain tasks. For example, she has shooting days where she works on photo shoots the entire work day. Other days include marketing days, editing days, and ordering days, among others. This week she has a creative shoot, so the next couple days will be preparing for the shoot, which will most likely be on Thursday-weather permitting. Tomorrow we will be prepping for the shoot. The shoot is based on summer, so the dress and collar that we will be making will be light and floral. During the scout we will consider what photos she wants to take so on the day of the shoot she maximizes her time.
Holly also taught me about different types of writing techniques and when they can be used. Some types that she talked about are natural, flash, and ice lighting. Natural lighting can be used when the photographer wants a softer, more blown-out look. It brings all the levels of the photo together and kind of blends the foreground and background. But natural lighting can’t be used all the time, especially in situations where the sun is bright and directly above the person the photographer is shooting. When the sun is directly above the subject it casts shadows on their face. In some cases this can be fixed by simply using a reflector, but other times the photographer would want to use external flash.
External flash not the flash on the camera, it comes from lights that are remotely connected to the camera. Flash creates a photo that has more contrast than natural lighting. When a photographer uses flash, it is to balance the natural light that is being used. For example, if the sun is coming from an angle a flash will be used to light where the shadows from the natural light are.
Holly also gave me the basic descriptions of the softwares that she uses to edit her photos. She uses Photo Mechanic, Capture One, Fundy, Lightroom, and Photoshop. Photo Mechanic is one of the most important but simple apps that she uses. Photographers often shoot in RAW rather than JPEG so that editing their photos in post is easier. A RAW file is made up of many layers, while a JPEG is just one layer. So when a photographer wants to edit a RAW photo, they can edit one specific layer, For example, if you wanted to raise the brightness of a photo, if it were a RAW photo, you could raise the brightness on some parts but not others, while in a JPEG you would have to raise the brightness of the whole photo. Although shooting in RAW is advantageous, the files are large and take a while to load. This is where Photo Mechanic becomes very useful. It doesn’t show the photos at full resolution, making it easier and faster to review photos after a shoot.
Alaina's Photography Intensive 