Category Archives: Photography

Learn to use your speed light to improve your portraits

Miracle at Graber House 2015
Miracle Guillory, my model was lit by 2 Speedlites inside my small Octodome softbox and also another on fitted with a grid on the left of her. The small Octodome was on the right just out of camera frame.

It’s been a while since I led a small flash lighting workshop,  so I’ve scheduled one for Sat Oct 31,2015.

We’ll be using the auditorium on the 2nd floor at the city of Riverside’s Main library.

I’m planning to have 4 models, possibly more, but that would depend on the number of students that actually pay and show up.

If you live in Southern California and are interested in taking better portraits, there’s no better investment than taking a workshop to learn to light. Continue reading Learn to use your speed light to improve your portraits

Fairmount Park, Riverside’s jewel of a park

Fairmount Park is a frequent haunt of mine because of the innumerable possibilities as a backdrop for portraits. Lots of shade any time of the day makes it ideal for my purposes.
Fairmount Park is a frequent haunt of mine because of the innumerable possibilities as a backdrop for portraits. Lots of shade any time of the day makes it ideal for my purposes.

If you’re a reader of this blog, you might realize I seldom photograph landscapes or scenics.

I thought long and hard about why.

I suspect it has to do with my need to come up with something different even if it’s a very common subject that’s been photographed countless times.

Think of Machu Picchu, the Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal,  Zion, Yosemite, Borobudur, Angkor Wat  and all the other Wonders of the World.

They are amongst the most photographed manmade structures on Earth.

They’ve been photographed from every conceivable angle, time of the day and season of the year. Continue reading Fairmount Park, Riverside’s jewel of a park

Outdoor lighting setup suitable for the backyard.

I almost missed Miracle this year. I had already packed up and she had dressed to leave so I was fortunate to see her.
I almost missed Miracle this year. I had already packed up and she had dressed to leave so I was fortunate to see her. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Recently I participated in the 5th annual Graber Olive House group photoshoot.

Last year I participated in this invitation-only event for the first time when I only had 3 hours to spare.

This time around I was there from around 10:30am to 5:30pm.

I photographed 6 models. Continue reading Outdoor lighting setup suitable for the backyard.

An evening stroll along Willamette river in Eugene, Oregon

Looking down from the Ferry Street bridge on the pedestrian/bike path at sunset, I used a 75-300 mm lens on my Canon 5DM2 body and shot in raw
Looking down from the Ferry Street bridge on the pedestrian/bike path at sunset, I used a 75-300 mm lens on my Canon 5DM2 body and shot in raw

Summer has a way of getting in the way of my using the camera.

I’m busy.

With the family being home, everything gets consumed much faster so there’s more trips to the grocery store.

Even while traveling, I don’t actually have much time to use my camera.

I’m mostly mostly playing chauffeur if not short-order cook and not thinking about where I could go to take pictures.

When we do go places on trips, like my recent one to Eugene, Oregon, we inevitably arrived when the sun is too high and we don’t stay long enough so that the light gets interesting.

On one of those evenings when we had dinner at a restaurant by the paved banks of the Willamette river in Eugene, we took a stroll afterwards.

My gang took off while I hung back because I recognized the potential for a picture when we were walking underneath the Ferry Street bridge.

It was also about that time when I heard a voice from above.

Heavens, it wasn’t from that high up, maybe 20 feet above me.

It was the very friendly voice of Martine Keller who happened to be taking pictures above me from the bridge above.

So great minds think alike.

We both recognized this spot had potential.

I’m sharing Martine’s pictures to provide context.

I’ve since become Facebook friends with her which is how I am able to share her wonderful captures here.

Color or Grayscale (BW)

Looking down from the Ferry Street bridge on the pedestrian/bike path at sunset, I used a 75-300 mm lens on my Canon 5DM2 body and shot in raw
Looking down from the Ferry Street bridge on the pedestrian/bike path at sunset, I used a 75-300 mm lens on my Canon 5DM2 body and shot in raw
eugeneBW
Go ahead and click on the pictures to see a bigger version. Then let me know which you prefer. I definitely prefer the GRAYSCALE version.  Thank you for the feedback everyone.

Peter Phun Photography

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