Black and White Wednesday - "The Lady Behind the Lens"

Welcome to week number two!

If you missed out last week or you are new to this blog, check out my sidebar... I have created a link list for "Black and White Wednesdays" and will update it each week linking the newest post. I also included a link to explain what Black and White Wednesdays are all about:)

Last week I shared with you all what I had in mind for our hallway..... I want some real life candids in addition to some studio style shots and I also wanted to have some things that represent our family and the places we love to go and visit. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it??

As the week went on and I started to look through the archives of pictures from this past year, the one thing that was strikingly obvious...... I AM NEVER IN ANY OF THE PHOTOS. It is no fault but my own, because I will never pass the camera.....and quite honestly, I do not like being on the other side of the lens.

Along with the goal of filling up the wall..... I also realize that I need to try to work myself into a photo or two from time to time.....and while we are at it..... I need to get Pat, my husband, to get in more photos as well!! I want to make sure the kids have memories of their childhood, but also memories of their Mom and Dad.

Getting Pat into photos should be easy.... but how do I get myself in photos and still be the person to take the photo?

I set up a great challenge....more like a test, that took me WAY OUT of my comfort zone......

Do you know where I am going with this one??

Yep, you guessed it.....

I Put myself on the other side of the camera to get a taste of what I put the kids through.

The sitting area in our bedroom got turned into a makeshift little studio. I set my camera on a tripod and used the timer. You can also use a shutter release, but I chose not to because mine is not wireless and the wire is always getting in the way. The only other thing I used was a white reflector to help bounce some light.

Figuring out where I wanted to place the tripod and how I wanted to frame the shot was not so bad, but the hardest part was finding the right place to focus.....

I had to visualize where my head would be in the chair and aim the camera and then quick jump into place. It sounded easy in my mind, but wasn't quite as simple as I thought.......

Every single shot, I had to get up and look back through the camera, reset it, click the button, then quick run and get into postion again. Trust me.... do this for an hour and you can skip the gym.....and eat a piece of cake for dessert and not feel an ounce of guilt:)

The goal was to get one usable picture of myself...... I deleted many photos.... some of them I had inadvertantly cut off my head or the focus was not on my face and the overall picture was just plain blurry, but in the end, I feel I got a few usable photos, but this one was probably the best of the bunch.



So...I gave you the set up, now let's talk about editing.....

OH GOSH... I am so use to editing photos of children.....looking at a picture of yourself zoomed in all the way in Adobe Photoshop can be a frightening.....and an eye opening experience. Let's just say that the sharpening tool is not the friend of a middle aged woman and I opted to give the picture a softer....{more forgiving}look!!

While I won't drag you through every detail or explain each step of the editing process, what I can tell you is that I use both Lightroom 2.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. I adjust things like white balance and exposure in Lightroom, but the majority of my editing is done in CS3.

I try to achieve the desired look in full color first....than convert it to black and white.


I think I prefer this photo in color, but the point of this weekly challenge is to start printing out more black and whites........

There you have it....photo number two heading to the wall:) The Lady Behind the Lens........ I don't think you will be seeing me step in front of the camera very often.....but I will make an occasional appearance!

This was definitely a challenge for me and I urge any of you that never pass the camera, to give it a try!! BTW, if any of you have tried this and have any ideas or suggestions...please let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Okay my friends...... now it is your turn to show me what you came up with this week! I can't wait to make my way around to all of your blogs!! Don't forget to link and/or leave me a comment.

If you have any questions, write the question in the comment section, and then check back..... I will answer you back in the comment section as well:)

Happy Wednesday and Happy Shooting!!