As this semester is coming to and end, I have been thinking about where I was with my photography towards the beginning of the semester compared to now. Going back to school has made me realize something... I haven't really been taking my photography too seriously. Since I have realized that I have been taking more pictures. Some just for personal use...

...And also for professional reasons. I have been taking a lot more pictures for families and Katelyn Luce Photography has been growing. I am excited to see what this next semester brings and I am happy that I pushed myself to go back to school and finish my degree in Photography.

I was able to finally find time between writing essays, working, and doing photo shoots to take a few pictures. The weather has been muggy, cold and rainy... but after my classes today I decided to go out to try and capture the fog in my pictures. The fog doesn't really show, but I really like how these pictures turned out.

This past Tuesday, I went to my first live seminar. I really enjoyed being able to hear the point of view from someone who has been doing what I would like to eventually do professionally. I got a better idea of what working as a food photographer would entail. I got to learn things like using salt to add fizziness to a drink or always having a spray bottle filled with water, q-tips, tweezers, and makeup brushes on hand to fix minor details.

There were just a few things, however, I found a bit discouraging from the seminar. The person who was lecturing gave off the impression that it is almost near impossible to become a successful photographer unless you have the money to purchase expensive equipment.

After going to my first live seminar, I am interested in looking for others to go to. I learned a lot, also a lot of things were put into perspective for me.

I have been inspired to do another 365 project.

Just incase any of you are not completely sure what a 365 project is, it is simply just a project for photographers or anybody who would like to participate to take a picture every day and post it.

I have tried many times to do a 365 project and I have never completed one, but this time I am inspired to do so!

I took this picture to start off my project.

The pink around the edges is just paper that I have put around my lens to add color and softness to the image. I used my 35mm lens and one soft box light. I then did some editing in Lightroom 5 to add saturation and more exposure and contrast to my eye.

I have only seen one completed 365 project, and I loved going through all of the pictures from beginning to end. It was really great to see how much that persons work has improved. I am hoping to do just that... Improve my work, and also to get my name and work out there. Maybe I will even inspire someone to start a project of their own!

In my last blog post, I had mentioned about a maternity photo shoot that I was going to be doing... Here are a few of my favorite shots that I took.

I used nothing but natural light, my camera, and my tripod.

We ended up running out of light before we finished the session, but we are meeting again for another shoot this week!

Whenever I know I will be working with props for a photo shoot, I practice photographing them ahead of time. This prevents me from spending time during the actual photo shoot trying to figure out  how to photograph the props and allows me more time focusing on the people i'm taking pictures of.

The images below are of a banner I made for a photo shoot that I am doing tomorrow.

The burlap I used to make this banner is some what see through, so it was pretty tough to photograph.   After a few attempts I was eventually able to find a perfect setting.

Using nothing but natural light, I was able to capture these images by setting my camera at a shutter speed of 1/60 and an aperture setting of f4.2.

For the past two weeks in my Photography Seminar class, we have been discussing different types of photography and the different techniques photographers use to better their pictures. When we were discussing food photography I have heard of a lot of the tricks that most food photographers use but it had made me realize that I usually never use any of those tricks. 

One thing that professional food photographers use, especially for advertising, are mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes help give dishes volume. For example, a roasted chicken, salad, or pasta. Below is an example that I did of a before and after picture of a simple bowl of pasta with tomato sauce.

 Before adding mashed potatoes:

After adding mashed potatoes:

I prepared the top dish exactly as I would for a quick dinner. Cooked for 11-12 minutes, drained, then I stirred in the sauce until all of the noodles were fully coated. For the second image, I prepared it completely differently. After placing the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the bowl, I cooked the noodles for about 3-5 minutes. I then added a small amount of sauce to them, stirred, and then I carefully placed them on top of the mashed potatoes. I then added some extra sauce on top.

Being able to actually see the difference between the two dishes makes me realize how much of a difference these techniques make, and I am excited to try out the other ones and share those results with you as well!