I’ve had so much fun over the last three and a half months working on my photography skillz. I think I’ve made small improvements over that short amount of time. I think most of all I’ve improved on my focusing weaknesses and capturing Penelope in her “moments”.
Chris is also a photography enthusiast, which creates a really fun dynamic. We have very different aesthetics and set up each shot differently. I welcome our differences because it helps me to think a little bit more creatively. However, Chris believes that it’s SO much better to walk closer to your subject rather than zoom in. I don’t think so, Christopher. The other day I was trying to convince him that his ways are wrong (okay, I wasn’t trying to convince him that he was wrong, I just decided to show him the difference of his method and mine). I thought I’d show him the results of our differing opinions:
Christopher’s method to walk close with your wide-angle lens:
Melissa’s Method to zoom in rather than walk super close (aka not-so-wide-angle Chris):
I dunno, I think my way is superior. What do y’all think??
I actually like the distortion of Chris’, but its just that, distortion. Obviously if you want a true image you zoom.
Now Melissa, I never specified that type of wide-angle abuse. I’d just rather walk up to someone than zoom in a whole lot and deal with camera shake and slow shutter speeds. Still, I like your demonstration of using zoom for portraits. I will adjust my future portraiture accordingly.
I like the second.
I think Chris just likes the barrel distortion because it makes his cranium seem huge. Huge cranium = must be smart [just check mine out if you doubt]. The distraction of the video camera in the background draws my attention away from Chris, which is a plus for me [sorry]. If it was the baby on the other hand…
I’m a big fan of subject isolation so I almost always go for the zoom [can’t beat a flat field and low depth of field for portraits]. Sometimes there’s something like Denali sitting in the background and I want to include it so I’ll go wide, but not too often. Big-craniumed babies aren’t too cute.
Basically, Chris totally lost this one. Just sayin’.
You know my husband has grown a beard too since leaving the Y. Quarter-life crisis perhaps?
Anyway, to business. I think your photography is great and I am always impressed with your set-ups. My vote is for the zoomin’ wife.
Chris you must’ve fallen down your face is all dirty !