Seniority.

I had the aaaaabsolute pleasure of photographing Rebekah for her Senior portraits.  She's my niece and completely freeking gorgeous.   I just happened to be out at my Dads house and noticed how beautiful the wheat fields were.  I instantly called Bekah to tell her she had to take photos here.  And dang...it was a good idea because the light was perfect.  :)  The night was special because Rebekah was only visiting Minnesota from Kansas for a few days.  So happy it worked out perfectly!  

Enjoy seniority and your last year of high school!

Love -----> Desiree    

Desiree Photography - 'There's an app for that!'

Desiree Photography has its' very own APP!  I have been working on this for quite sometime now and kept it on the down low while it was in the process.  But now the BIG NEWS is here and the app was approved by Apple just last week. How shweet is that?!   Download your FREE iPhone/iPad app from iTunes NOW!

You can view my favorite travel photos, get tips from awesome "Get Learned" tutorials, message me, and more!  I'm so excited to be able to share my latest images through your mobile device.

Download it, share it with your friends, and tell me what you think!!!!!

Download yours FREE now!

Just get in there.

Sometimes you just have to 'GET IN THERE' and get your shot.  While traveling, sometimes you can feel like you're imposing especially when you have your massive camera flashing in peoples faces.  The best thing to do:  Smile.  I never like to make people feel uncomfortable or take their photo when they don't want it taken. (Though sometimes this does happen) So...sometimes I'll quickly grab a shot and hope the people don't mind.  Otherwise I smile, and if they don't speak my language I hold up my camera and gesture.  "eh?......big smile"  100% of 96% of the time people say yes.  

When people do not speak your language it's very helpful to smile and SHOW them your photo!  Let them SEE the AWESOME photo that you took of them.  Most of the time they'll smile and laugh.  Sometimes I take a photo with the person just to show them that it's ok.  :)  And then SCORE you've got a nice memory with an nice old lady or a group of good lookin' soldiers.

Sometimes you just need to get in there and TAKE your shot.  You don't have time.  Sometimes you have to look like a gomer to get that cool shot of a bird.  ;)

Below are instances where I was so close to my subject I didn't want to make them feel weird or get yelled at by 'stealing' a photo of them so I simple asked.  Seriously, it's worth the shot!

Get out there and work it.  Don't be shy and remember...you're not a tourist..you're a PHOTOGRAPHER!  

(okay, maybe a little tourist too ;)

Get Learned: B&W

Things aren't always black and white.  They are shades of grey. 

When looking into changing your photographs to black and white you actually have a variety of options.  Photographers usually stick to one method.  I've sort of fell in love with the first image below. A good balance between blacks, whites, and neutrals.  If you've heard of 'BAMF' from Totally Rad Actions...I highly suggest you love it too.  :)

The second image is plain old desaturated, which means all I did was remove all the color and boom...B&W.  Notice a HUGE difference though don't you. 

It's really personal preference.  Which one do you like most?

Get Learned: Rule of Thirds

Rule of Thirds. The latest installment of 'Get Learned' by Desiree. 

Composition is one of those things that will make or break you as a photographer.  Being able to 'frame up' your shot is critical.  It's an element that helps make your photograph interesting.  The basic principle behind the 'Rule of Thirds' is being able to imagine breaking down your image into thirds so that you have nine parts.  Check out the grid below.  ( I made that in photoshop!  Such talent.  ;)  

Imagine this grid in your view finder.  Imagine it in-between your fingers when you do that one eye squint and frame up an image with your hands.  With this grid in mind the 'rule of thirds' identifies 4 important parts of the image you should consider placing points of interests as you frame and compose your shot.  (Those are the red spots in the grid above) You'll want to place your main subject off center.  Apparently I have a tendency to place my points of interest in the left section as we can see below. (I swear I have others stored on my hard drive!)  

By following these guidelines your image becomes more dynamic yet balanced and the viewers eyes are drawn through the image more naturally.

 Only once you've got it down good...  You get to BREAK THE RULES!  

Bright lights.

Just wanted to share a few of my latest creations. I've done a few shoots and workshops focusing on studio lighting and flash and I have to tell ya...it's aaawesome! I jumped into the latest MINNeSHOP here in Minneapolis so I don't have to be one of those photographers who is 'scared of lighting equipment.' There are those people out there and as a photographer who shoots the majority of my work with natural light it's important to keep up with the studio lingo as well! Check out some of my latest indoor portraits. Whoop!

Get Learned // Aperture Settings and DOF

Tip: DOF is cool.  It's Depth of Field. It's one of the basics of photography.  I've had a lot of people asking about how to take better photos at home with their camera or of their kids, friends, family and I've decided to share a few tips here and there.  If you're using a digital SLR there are a few basics you should know and GET DOWN GOOD.  real good.  real nice.

1. Practice practice practice
2. Know how your camera works
3. Practice practice practice

Those are my very first suggestions.  Knowing how your camera works is vital and sometimes when you're first taking it out it can be intimidating with so many buttons but the more you shoot, the more comfortable you will feel and more confident you will be to get your favorite shots.

I know taking your camera off that little green square of 'automatic' can be scary!  But you can also produce some very cool and more professional looking photos.  If you have a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) - SHOOT MANUAL!  It's absolutely fabulous once you do and you'll never go back.

One of the basics and one of my favorite technicalities of using a DSLR is being able to control your depth of field.  Your depth of field is related to your aperture.  Aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken and this is how much light is let into your camera.  Lower f-stops (wider aperture - ex. f 1.2) give a 'shallow' depth of field which allows you to isolate the subject from the background.  This is great for portraits.  If you're photographing a big mountain range and you want to see everything crystal clear you'll want 'great' depth of field (ex. f 22) to see all the details.

Aperture can be adjusted when you camera is on 'AV' - aperature priority - or in 'M' - manual mode.

More light                         Less light

AV - you choose your value from f1.2 - 22 or sometimes even a higher number and the camera will predict the rest of the information for you!  Bam, super nice and easy sometimes when you're just starting out.
M - once you get more comfortable switch it over to Manual and practice adjusting both your aperature and shutter speed.

The best way to get an idea of the different effects you can get with adjusting your aperture is shooting and SEEING it.  Below are a few images I shot with different apertures.
Think about depth-of-field as f1.2 = BLURRY and f22 = CRYSTAL CLEAR

Aperture: f2.8
Shallow depth of field

Notice the foreground and background are out of focus, allowing you to isolate a certain detail?

Below: Aperture set at f14.

Great depth of field

Notice how more of the photo is in focus?

I LOVE to use a 'shallow' dept-of-field (f2.0 -2.8 is my go to!) when photographing children.  You are able to get your subject in focus and blur out the background.  Giving you an adorable shot!

Little Kalen was photographed last weekend at f 2.0

Did you get any of that?!  I hope....so you can get out there and practice in the BEAUTIFUL weather that's coming up.  Whoop!