Tag: Photography

Understanding Color in Photography | Book Review

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
Since photography is one of my hobbies, I like to grab up photography books as they come up for review. I have found Bryan Peterson to be a helpful photographer author, so when I saw this book coming up, I grabbed the opportunity!
This was the easiest to read of Bryan Peterson’s books that I’ve read so far–possibly because it is relevant to any photographer (whereas other books, like his flash book, requires a little more advanced knowledge of equipment knowledge). It is easy to read, also, because there are so many images–which, for a photographer and visual learner, is a fantastic thing. I also found this to be helpful for me as a graphics designer. My favorite section was when Peterson and Schellenberg took each color of the color wheel and gave examples of photographing that color–as well as some handy tips on how to get the most vibrant color. Now I’m ready to go out and shoot some colors!
Quick disclaimer: there was one page of nude photography, so conservative photographers, be forewarned.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books and happily provided my honest review.*

The M Family | Photoshoot

Published on by Amanda Tero4 Comments
Believe it or not, I still DO do this thing called photography. Actually, let me pause a moment and just reflect. Year before last, when we were building our house, I was unable to teach music much (I had maybe six students) and that was barely enough to cover bills. Without my advertising or anything, the Lord landed multiple photography jobs in my lap–enough to provide for my needs the whole year. Wow! Then, as soon as I was able to start teaching more regularly (25-30 students), photography jobs dwindled. I can’t help but wonder if that was just God’s way of providing for me… and now that I’m too busy to really add the ball of photography into my juggling act, I don’t have near as many requests for photo shoots.
Now. This photo shoot. Their mom is my good friend, and so when baby #3 was coming along, I told her I’d do a photoshoot for the baby. She chose 3-month pictures (which, I think we may have slid into around the 4-month mark with schedule conflicts and all…) and really, baby D couldn’t be at a cuter stage. Of course, I’m kind of in love with this little guy anyway. I mean…
Yeah. You agree with me. He is ADORABLE. Completely. And totally sweet and cute and charming and all that. 😉 Okay, okay… enough about my newest little favorite boy (I suppose until a nephew comes to claim his place 😉 ). 
If you’ve been following my blog for two years, it was a little more than two years ago I did a family photoshoot with them. They’re growing up!!
I mean… Miss K isn’t a little girl anymore! She’s growing up to be a beautiful young lady.

And little Miss A. She’s just as adorable, but two years ago, she still had a hint of toddler-face. Nope. She’s totally growing up!!

And the three of them together… ❤

These girls love their baby brother!!

I had a blast with them. Can’t you tell? 
Here are some other pictures from the shoot. 🙂

And a whole passel more of the lil’ man. 😉

This next one… baby with his stuffed animal and daddy’s and late-grandpa’s stuffed toys. ❤ 
So sweet!!

“Got him!” 😉

Roses | Photography

Published on by Amanda Tero4 Comments
I’ll admit, I have gotten lazy in my photography lately. Well, either I have gotten lazy, or there is just too much going on in my brain to think about this third hobby (that’s actually closer to the honest truth). Sometimes, though, I do take a few minutes to capture something.
In December, one of my sisters had given Mom some roses. I noticed that they were dried out and mostly dead, but they were still beautiful. I spent a few minutes with my iPhone (4s) to snap a few pictures. I like taking pictures with my iPhone, just because it shows that you don’t have to have a fancy DSLR to still get good shots.
Here are the pictures, completely unedited.

What do you usually use to take pictures?

The C Family | Photoshoot

Published on by Amanda Tero5 Comments
I have gone months without posting anything photography-wise. My apologies. Learning to juggle everything is a bit tough at times.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to take pictures of some friends up here. We had a little fun exploring the options of a private campground. I think my favorites were the creek pictures (down below)…

This next one… We were taking “Daddy-daughter pictures” then Maddalyn decided that she wanted to pose like her daddy. ❤

And this one…
They had a picture taken at their wedding in this pose and wanted to duplicate it. I thought that was precious!

And to finish… probably my favorite picture of the day. All-boy. All-country.

Daniel and Cassie | Engagement Pictures

Published on by Amanda Tero11 Comments

Well this is a post WAY overdue. My brother, Daniel, got married in August. Beforehand, however, I got to do their engagement photos. Because of situations such as using his camera (Daniel has way better equipment than I), him having the pictures, needing to sort through them, them being on a honeymoon, etc…. I am just now getting the pictures here and ready to share them!

First of all, they’re one of the cutest couples I know. 😉 I may or may not be a bit biased. 😉

Second, doing their engagement session was a fun challenge because, during engagement, they didn’t touch. So there was no “huggy” pictures, yet we didn’t want the pictures to look stiff like, “I’m going to marry this person, but I’ll just keep my distance.” 😉

These are their top picks. 🙂

Courtney and Emanuel | Wedding Pictures

Published on by Amanda Tero6 Comments
Last month, I had the honor and privilege of photographing another wedding! Not only was Courtney a beautiful bride, she happens to be one of my friends (since like 2003 or so). I loved being able to capture the memories of their wedding and witness as two of God’s children came together in holy matrimony!
{Photography note: I personally liked the low-opacity look, so all of these pictures are edited with less color than normal}

Besides being a lovely wedding to photograph, I also had a blast! These people were great to work with and all of them had a fun sense of humor. Like all of the “extra pictures” we took. 😉 I would get a crazy idea and they would laugh and go with it. One of the groomsmen actually said he was having fun during picture-time. I consider that a success.

I played piano for a vocal duet during the foot-washing, so handed my camera over to Lizzie with SunKissed Photography to capture what I couldn’t.

Another neat thing about this wedding was the reception. The groom’s family used to be Amish, so they adopted some Amish traditions into the reception — like the bridal party playing volleyball (love that idea! And yes, I did put my camera down and get in a game later).  

Quilts and Heirlooms

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
Last week I needed to take some pictures for an upcoming project, so I dragged out Mama’s quilts. I really love Mama’s quilts (note: the plaid one is the only one she didn’t make). And one by one, she’ll be passing these along to each of her children (at least, that is the goal; she might have to hurry as she has twelve children…). 

Here are my current two personal favorites. 🙂 🙂 I’d say I have “dibs on the green one,” but one of my sisters has mentioned that she really likes it. And, as she has a guy in her life and I don’t yet, she just might get it. 😉

What heirlooms do you have around your home?

After the Storm

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
The other night, a quick storm blew through. Afterwards, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful array of clouds. So, out came my camera and tripod and began the playing. As I took pictures,  I couldn’t help but draw a parallel to our lives. After God allows a storm in our life, He also gives us beauty. Sometimes we just have to look for it.
These pictures are completely unedited — straight from the camera (okay, so I converted them from RAW to JPEG and added a watermark). For those of you interested, these were taken playing with f-stop on 22 and 32, shutter speed between .5-1 second. And for the rest of you who are interested, yes, the trees are so thick out here that it’s practically impossible to get a sky picture without treetops waving their hands.

What was the last thing you took a picture of?

Understanding Exposure | Book Review

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments

If there was one book that I would feel pretty confident in handing to an upcoming photographer, this would be it. Peterson’s Learning to See Creatively was good, but it didn’t really teach a person how to use their camera. I have a fairly good working knowledge of exposure (thanks to my photographer brother), so most of what Peterson explained I somewhat knew (some of it, I need much more work on). He definitely goes into depth with explaining the triangle of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. This isn’t a book that people new to camera terms can pick up and understand in a day. Some of it will take processing and hands-on exercising.

Sometimes, Peterson went into too much “layman explanation” for me. Since I understand ISO and since I prefer technical explanations, I found his “worker bees” analogy to be confusing, but new photographers may find it helpful.

Again, Peterson is not my preferred photographic style, but his explanations work for any style. And though he’s a Nikon user (I’m Canon all the way), he presented the information in such a way that either camera users can find it helpful.

There were a few pictures I decided to edit because there was a little more skin showing than I prefer, but it was only 3-4 images. Also, there were a few times Peterson used words that I prefer not to.

*I received this book in exchange of my honest review from Blogging for Books*

About the Book

Understanding Exposure has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography. In this newly updated edition, veteran photographer Bryan Peterson explains the fundamentals of light, aperture, and shutter speed and how they interact with and influence one another. With an emphasis on finding the right exposure even in tricky situations, Understanding Exposure shows you how to get (or lose) sharpness and contrast in images, freeze action, and take the best meter readings, while also exploring filters, flash, and light. With all new images, as well as an expanded section on flash, tips for using colored gels, and advice on shooting star trails, this revised edition will clarify exposure for photographers of all levels.

Photo of Bryan Peterson

About the Author

BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, an internationally known instructor, and the best-selling author of Understanding Exposure,Understanding Shutter Speed, Learning to See Creatively, Understanding Digital Photography, and Beyond Portraiture. In addition, he is the founder of the online photography school The Perfect Picture School of Photography (www.ppsop.com). He lives in Chicago.




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