Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
On-Location Pet Photography
For all you pet owners and furry friend lovers out there...this one is for you!
I recently adopted a dog that was rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri. I almost instantly fell in love with Sully. He is a 2 year old male poodle with a very sweet personality and oh! so snugly. He is turning into a wonderful companion for our little Yorki-poo female, Ginger.
I feel huge joy when photographing animals. I seek to capture that joy in my furry subjects through photography, and translate it into beautiful photographic art for their care givers to cherish now and forever. I will photograph your pet on-location where your animal is most comfortable and I can be most creative. I offer various styles including fine art pet photography, classic portraits, fun images and unique perspectives. Your pets' personality will shine through!
Meet Sully and Ginger...
Benefits of Pet Ownership
When thinking of ways to moderate stress in life, usually techniques like meditation, yoga and journaling come to mind. These are great techniques, to be sure. But getting a new best friend can also have many stress relieving and health benefits.
While human friends provide great social support and come with some incredible benefits, let's focus on the benefits of our furry friends: cats and dogs!
Research shows that, unless you’re someone who really dislikes animals or is absolutely too busy to care for one accordingly, pets can provide excellent social support, stress relief and other health benefits — perhaps more than people!
Here are 10 benefits of owning a pet:
1. Pets Can Add Structure to Your Life
2. Pets Are Date Magnets
3. Pets Can Improve Your Mood
4. Pets Encourage You To Get Out And Exercise
5. Pets Control Blood Pressure Better Than Drugs
6. Pets Can Improve Family Bonds
7. Pets Are Allergy Fighters
8. Pets Stave Off Loneliness and Provide Unconditional Love
9. Pets Can Reduce Stress — Sometimes More Than People
10. Pets are great companions for the Aged
I recently adopted a dog that was rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri. I almost instantly fell in love with Sully. He is a 2 year old male poodle with a very sweet personality and oh! so snugly. He is turning into a wonderful companion for our little Yorki-poo female, Ginger.
I feel huge joy when photographing animals. I seek to capture that joy in my furry subjects through photography, and translate it into beautiful photographic art for their care givers to cherish now and forever. I will photograph your pet on-location where your animal is most comfortable and I can be most creative. I offer various styles including fine art pet photography, classic portraits, fun images and unique perspectives. Your pets' personality will shine through!
Meet Sully and Ginger...
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| Photo by Tara Craigon |
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| Photo by Tara Craigon |
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| Photo by Tara Craigon |
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| Photo by Tara Craigon |
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| Photo by Tara Craigon |
If you are interested in having your furry friend photographed, please contact us for a free consultation!
www.taracraigonphotography.com
Benefits of Pet Ownership
When thinking of ways to moderate stress in life, usually techniques like meditation, yoga and journaling come to mind. These are great techniques, to be sure. But getting a new best friend can also have many stress relieving and health benefits.
While human friends provide great social support and come with some incredible benefits, let's focus on the benefits of our furry friends: cats and dogs!
Research shows that, unless you’re someone who really dislikes animals or is absolutely too busy to care for one accordingly, pets can provide excellent social support, stress relief and other health benefits — perhaps more than people!
Here are 10 benefits of owning a pet:
1. Pets Can Add Structure to Your Life
2. Pets Are Date Magnets
3. Pets Can Improve Your Mood
4. Pets Encourage You To Get Out And Exercise
5. Pets Control Blood Pressure Better Than Drugs
6. Pets Can Improve Family Bonds
7. Pets Are Allergy Fighters
8. Pets Stave Off Loneliness and Provide Unconditional Love
9. Pets Can Reduce Stress — Sometimes More Than People
10. Pets are great companions for the Aged
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
iPhoneography
Recently, I was part of a group photography show titled No Rule(z). I was one of six artists who came together to produce an exhibition of visual art created solely by 'alternative' means (anything but a DSLR). Everything from Lomography to using expired film, cross-processing film and multiple exposures to iPhoneography!
The No Rule(z) photography exhibit was all about breaking down barriers and allowing creativity to find itself in the work that we created. In addition, by choosing alternative processes, we allowed ourselves to let go of all the technicalities that come with taking photographs. No Rule(z) was about the sense of surprise and discovery that comes when you get your first roll of film developed and find that magical shot; it's about discovering the happy mistakes that make a mediocre shot an amazing piece of art. Overall, No Rule(z) was about letting go and having a little fun.
I chose iPhoneography as my 'alternative' means of image capture. Freedom Photography, is how I define it. Many will limit the definition of "iPhoneography" to only those images taken with an iPhone and processed with apps on the iPhone. I think it is more about artistic expression than the technique.
Photographs aren't just about dynamic range and megapixels, they're about stories and moments.
The iPhone's simplicity and accessibility helps me concentrate more on seeing and recognizing those wonderful slices of life that unfold everyday before our eyes. With all the technical skills required to shoot with my DSLR, I feel very unencumbered to just shoot what I want, wherever I am and edit the image in a way that I am feeling in that moment. I love it. It brings be joy. It keeps those creative juices flowing. It fuels my inspiration for more elaborate photography projects I want to shoot with my DSLR and because the iPhone is always with me, I'm able to capture so many fleeting opportunities.
Whether I process the iPhone's digital images with iPhone apps or on my desktop computer is not the point. It's more about completing the artistic vision that came to my mind. I believe that taking photographs with an iPhone can lead to heightened visual awareness and that is the key for me. This iPhoneography philosophy has become my visual catalyst. The hardware surrounding this catalyst just happens to also make phone calls and play my music!
Here are some of my favorite contributions...
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| Invitation design by Tara Craigon |
The No Rule(z) photography exhibit was all about breaking down barriers and allowing creativity to find itself in the work that we created. In addition, by choosing alternative processes, we allowed ourselves to let go of all the technicalities that come with taking photographs. No Rule(z) was about the sense of surprise and discovery that comes when you get your first roll of film developed and find that magical shot; it's about discovering the happy mistakes that make a mediocre shot an amazing piece of art. Overall, No Rule(z) was about letting go and having a little fun.
I chose iPhoneography as my 'alternative' means of image capture. Freedom Photography, is how I define it. Many will limit the definition of "iPhoneography" to only those images taken with an iPhone and processed with apps on the iPhone. I think it is more about artistic expression than the technique.
Photographs aren't just about dynamic range and megapixels, they're about stories and moments.
The iPhone's simplicity and accessibility helps me concentrate more on seeing and recognizing those wonderful slices of life that unfold everyday before our eyes. With all the technical skills required to shoot with my DSLR, I feel very unencumbered to just shoot what I want, wherever I am and edit the image in a way that I am feeling in that moment. I love it. It brings be joy. It keeps those creative juices flowing. It fuels my inspiration for more elaborate photography projects I want to shoot with my DSLR and because the iPhone is always with me, I'm able to capture so many fleeting opportunities.
Whether I process the iPhone's digital images with iPhone apps or on my desktop computer is not the point. It's more about completing the artistic vision that came to my mind. I believe that taking photographs with an iPhone can lead to heightened visual awareness and that is the key for me. This iPhoneography philosophy has become my visual catalyst. The hardware surrounding this catalyst just happens to also make phone calls and play my music!
Here are some of my favorite contributions...
Thursday, June 9, 2011
HDR Photography
What is HDR Photography?
HDR photography is present in many pictures taken through modern day digital cameras. The truth is, if you are a real photography enthusiast then there is a great chance that you have taken at least one photo exemplifying HDR photography.
The real functions or even executions of HDR photography may be debatable. But no matter which website or source you consult they will always say it is a technique that employs the great use of exposure range to get distinct values between light and dark areas of the image. Its real intention is to create an image that accurately characterizes the intensity levels found in natural scenes. If you ever wondered why the picture you took was different from the scenery you actually saw, then maybe it’s time for you to learn HDR photography.
HDR Photography is the technique used to capture and represent the full (as possible) DR found in a scene with high perceptual accuracy and precision. To remember things better, think of the 3S: sunlight, shadows and subjects. These are the things that make an ordinary picture an HDR image.
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| © Tara Craigon Photography |
Theory Behind HDR photography
There are two theories behind HDR photography. And as the technology around HDR photography evolves so is the discipline itself. But if one wants to take HDR imagery seriously then he must first understand the concepts and theories that make up this discipline.The most fundamental of all HDR photography theories is to take multiple shots at varying exposure levels of a particular subject. A special computer program will then combine the images together into a single image. This is just an incarnation of the original theory during the time when there are no digital cameras and advanced computers and programs were nothing more than a work of science-fiction.
The second theory is the one that capitalizes on the RAW processing software to create various exposure levels of the same image. Modern Digital SLR camera and a lot of the Point and Shoot models allow photographers to capture RAW images. A RAW image or file is the data captured by your Camera’s sensor that is not processed yet and therefore does have color information. You can manipulate this file, adjust its color, lighting or while balance.
Post-processing
Post processing is the last stage in HDR photography that you can really control. This is where technical skills merge with creative sensibility. And with the introduction of advanced digital cameras and photo editing software, HDR image post-processing is made a lot easier.However, this does not guarantee that having an excellent HDR image will be as easy as clicking the shutter button. There may be times that the three or more images you took with varying exposure values are simply not enough. With this, the only chance you are left with is to do a post-processing of the image.
Post-processing generally involves color correction, saturation, contrast and brightness and darkness adjustment and other image element manipulation. But in HDR photography we need to concentrate on contrast and brightness and darkness adjustment. Brightness and darkness adjustment is the direct digital translation of exposure manipulation in the picture taking stage. If in the camera you adjust exposure settings, in the post-processing stage you will adjust the brightness.
The main advantage of process is surpassing the limitation of actually configuring your camera in different exposure levels. While some cameras may have eight exposure settings and therefore 8 different images, post-processing can simply give you a limitless number.
After the shoot, transfer the images to your computer. There is a merge to HDR feature in many photo editing software including Adobe Photoshop CS2 and above, Photomatix Pro, Dynamic Photo HDR and others. Post-processing software also allows you to blend photographs with different exposures. This clearly increases the dynamic range of the final output photo. There is also tone mapping which reveals highlight and shadow details in an HDR image made from multiple exposures.
Text credited to Haje Jan Kamps, www.pixiq.com
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