New Website!!!!

I will no longer be posting anything new on this blog.  I have finally (almost) finished my new website!  I've been working very hard on it.  It is still a work in a progress and I'm not sure if it will ever really be done!  So go check out my new website -  
www.meganhansonphotography.com. 

Leave comments so I know you've been there.  I LOVE feedback :)  Tell your friends - like my facebook page - hire me to be your photographer!!!!

I'm still trying to figure out how to add slideshows to my gallery pages and my home page needs some work too . . .

Brent & Lisa - First Look {Provo, UT Temple Wedding}

I had the amazing experience of being the photographer at this sweet couple's wedding last weekend.  They were both so much fun to work with!  I've been working hard on the photos and couldn't wait to post some!  I will definitely be posting more when I finish them.  Congratulations, Brent and Lisa (I hope you like the photos!!!!)

Newborn Shoot {Joelle}

Sweet baby Joelle came to visit me this last week for her first photoshoot!  She was asleep for us for about the first 5 minutes and after that, we could not get her to go back to sleep.  We weren't able to get any of the sleepy newborn photos on her stomach.  She would cry if we even tried to put her on her stomach!  I was able to still get some pretty beautiful shots of her though.  She is a GORGEOUS baby with huge dimples just like her mom and dad!

 Her mom had made the cutest nursery for her, so we had to get some shots of her adorable room.  I love owls!  It really is a beautiful bedroom!

They brought me some photos of what they wanted me to get and one of them was a collage of closeups of the baby.  I thought it was beautiful so I made one of Joelle.  Baby fingers and toes are so sweet!

6th Grade Photography Workshop

My daughter's 6th grade teacher asked me to teach a photography workshop to her class.  I'm teaching 3 different lessons to the children.  We had our first lesson this last week and I thought it would be fun to share on here what I taught the kids.  Photography is a passion of mine and I love learning about it and I had so much fun teaching these children!

The first part of our lesson was a little history of photography.  I love history and believe that you have to know where something came from before you can move forward.  It's amazing what we can learn from the past!

The first photograph that we have is dated 1827 and was taken by a man named Joseph Niepce.  Niepce had been working with chemicals for some time and finally figured out how to get an exposure.  He used a camera obscura (pinhole camera), put it outside his window, and left it there for 8 hours.  Here is what the photo looked like:

Niepce met a up with a man named Daguerre.  Daguerre was a set designer of huge diorama sets.  He was tired of having to hand draw every set and wanted something easier.  With Niepce's help, they developed one of the first kinds of cameras- the Daguerrotype.

The exposure times were still very long (not 8 hours but a few minutes) and people had to sit very still.  Daguerrotype photos were very sensitive and could smudge quite easily so they had to be placed in glass before given to the client.  Here is an example of a Daguerrotype photo:

Daguerre and Niepce weren't the only two who figured out how to make permanent exposures during this time, but their daguerrotype was the most popular.  Camera's evolved and the exposure times shortened.  Daguerrotypes faded away to the wet plate process.

These cameras were large and cumbersome, but the photos didn't have to be put between glass once they were finished being in the chemical wash.  William Henry Jackson was a photographer during this time that took this large camera and his dark room tent on expeditions to the West.  With his photos he was able to show Congress what was out here.  Because of his photos, Yellowstone became a national park!

In the early 1900's, the Lumiere brothers figured out how to use color in the chemicals used to develop the photos.

From there, photography advanced quickly and exposures time got shorter and shorter.  Many camera companies sprung up - one of the biggest being Kodak.  Cameras got smaller and smaller which made it so more and more people were able to own their own "handheld" camera.



(The funniest part about this was that most of the students didn't know what a 35mm camera was. They were so surprised to learn that up until digital cameras came out, you couldn't instantly see what the photo looked like and you had to wait to get the film developed!)

So that was our quick history lesson!  I went on to teach them a few technical aspects about photography:

Aperture

Aperture is inside the lens.  It tells the lens how wide to make the hole.  If the hole is wide open  then there is a shallow depth of field.  If the hole is not wide open then there is a larger depth of field.

It's a little confusing at first because you have to think in opposites (large aperture means smaller f/number, small aperture means larger f/number)

Examples that I showed the children:



example of aperture wide open at f/3




Example of aperture almost closed at f/22. This was a photo that Emma took last year.  See how the ducks and the mountains in the distance are all in focus.  That's because of the aperture!



Shutter Speed

The shutter speed is just how it sounds - how fast or slow the shutter is closing.  If the shutter is closing very fast (like at 1/200th of a second), then little light is making its way into the camera but it will "stop" action.  If the shutter is slower (like at 1/2 a second) then a lot of light is making its way into the camera.  The photo will "show" action.  Examples:



An example of a slow shutter speed to "show" action



An example of a fast shutter speed to "stop" action.  (Emma and Hannah loved that I showed this photo of them!)



I taught the children to always hold the camera with two hands.  It will make it so their photos have less camera shake.  And if possible, brace an elbow on a table or rock or even your knee to keep the camera steady.  I also taught the children about focal lock.  This is when you hold your shutter button down halfway to lock your focus in place.



This is an example of not using focal lock.  Instead of focusing on the baby, the focus went to the wall.  When holding down the shutter button half way, some brackets will light up where the focus is.  If that is now what you want focused, recompose your photo and try again.




A better focused photo!

After we talked about the exposure triangle (I didn't go into ISO - a little too technical for the 6th graders!), and how to focus their camera, I taught them 4 important things they can do to make their photos better.

LIGHT!

I touched very quickly on lighting during this lesson.  I will teach them a bit more about it next week.  I told them that using natural daylight will give them the best photos compared to indoor lighting or using their camera's flash.  I showed them how to not shoot into the window, but have your subject stand next to the window to get a good exposed photo.

CHECK YOUR BACKGROUND!

Next, I taught the children to check the background before snapping the picture.  We see 3D but the camera sees 2D.  Anything in the background will just be a distraction to what you really want the photo to be.



An example of a very distracting background!



A little better but she has a lightswitch coming out of her head and a weird pointy thing above her head (which is a decoration on my wall but you can't really tell what it is because of the way the photo is composed.)



Much better!  This photo is of my daughter and that is all you see!

FILL THE FRAME

When taking a photo of a person or a close up photo (macro) it is important to fill the frame.  That means that only put in your photo what you want in your photo.  Goes right a long with checking your background.  Examples:

A photo of me that my husband took a couple years ago.  First of all, he was supposed to be taking a photo of me but where does your eye go - straight to the blue garbage can!  The focus locked on it so it made me blurry.  Notice how I'm almost nonexistent in this photo.  If he would have zoomed in on me, then  I would have been the focus in the photo.

When I filled the frame with just the two boys, the photo became about them.  It is much more interesting to look at then if I would have zoomed out.



Even though this flower was in a plant with many flowers, the photo is more interesting because I filled the frame with just one flower.

  RULE OF THIRDS

This is one rule that most photographers learn from the beginning.  It's an important one to know and can be very powerful.  But it's equally important to know that you can break this rule and it can still be an amazing photo.  It's just important to know the rules before you break them! 
When taking a photo, mentally visualize your photo broken up into thirds.  If you can line up your focus point on one of the intersecting points or along one of the lines, the photo is said to be more interesting.

I use this rule all the time when I'm taking photos of children.  Just putting the child a little bit off centered does make the photo more interesting.  It's also a great rule to use when photographing food.  Make the focus a little off centered and you'll have a better photo than if you put it right in the middle.

After we discussed these 4 pointers, I gave them an assignment:

Photography Assignment:

Take one “close up” photo of each of the following:
1. Someone you love (can be a person or pet)

2. Your favorite thing in your house

(examples – a book, a pet, your mom, a video game  or movie, a toy, an article of clothing, a soccer ball, etc.  Be creative!)

3. Something you eat

4. An interesting shape (examples – a pencil, a knob, a decoration, a fork, an apple, a leaf, etc.  There is no wrong answer here - just keep it to one thing)

5. Something in your bedroom

I can't wait to see their photos!  I hope that you learned something from reading my lesson!  If you decide to do the assignment too, then please send me your photos - I would love to see that someone actually learned something I taught :)  I'm going to do the assignment too so I can show the children next week. I'll post them along with next weeks lesson later.

My beautiful neice and fun nephew!

To surprise their mom and dad for Christmas, my neice and nephew wanted me to take their photos.  We picked a gorgeous day where we were able to get some cool sunbursts in some of the photos.  I love these two kids like they're my own, so it was natural and easy to get beautiful pictures of them.  I hope their dad and mom like their photos!!!

The location of a photographer's dreams . . .

When we were trying to decide on a location for this family, they wanted something outdoorsy (is that a word?) because the dad is big time outdoorsman.  We talked about going up to the canyon to get snowy pictures, but thought it might be too much of an effort with the baby!  So, we went to my old stand-by which is so beautiful it never gets old.  It's right in my "backyard" and this family lives in my neighborhood. So we decided that it'll be great for them to look back on these photos after they've left this area and say "this is where we lived - no seriously!"   And I love that there is snowcapped mountains in the background!  I'm jealous because I want my family photo here too!!!

 So when I started taking their couple shot, they weren't shy at all!  Their photos turned out so natural because they were just themselves!  I love this photo of the two of them.  She's going to put it in their bedroom - so beautiful!

I love this family!  Their children are so gorgeous!  I could follow their little girl around all day and take beautiful photos of her because she's so photogenic!