Photograph Store Windows and Reflections: Idea from Alessandra Cave's Shooting With Soul

Happy Wednesday!

First up, I want to let you know Craftside is going to be moving over to http://www.craftside.net/

It will still be the same fun and fabulous inside peeks into our crafty world, we are just moving!

Please subscribe to our new feed so you don't miss any of our Crafty goodness!

 

Now onto the inside peek, this time from the book Shooting with Soul: 44 Photography Exercises Exploring Life, Beauty and Self-Expression.

We all window shop, right? Why not turn it into a photo op and try taking some interesting shots of store windows and the reflections you can catch using these tips from the book Shooting with Soul.

Instructions

1. When shooting a window display or storefront, you can choose to include or avoid reflections.

2. To avoid reflections, shoot within shadowed areas (even using your own shadow projected onto the glass), shoot at an angle of 45 degrees to the window, shoot through a hole on black cardboard or fabric, or place your camera right against the glass. You can also shoot at night if the window’s interior is well illuminated.

3. When including reflections, make sure they do not compete with the focal point. Use reflections for an artistic look and to highlight or frame your subjects. 

Techniques

Depending on your camera:

• Use a polarizing filter to remove or reduce reflections. Place this magic filter on your lens and slowly rotate the filter until the reflections and glare are gone. The results are astounding!

• Make sure that your flash is off to avoid additional glare. 

Shot Ideas

• Photograph seasonal window decorations.

• Picture a live window display.

• Shoot the front window of a restaurant, bakery, or café.

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More about the Quarry photography book:

Shooting with Soul:  44 Photography Exercises Exploring Life, Beauty and Self-Expression - From film to Smartphones, capture images using cameras from yesterday and today.

by Alessandra Cave

Shooting with Soul is glorious and beautiful book for anyone who loves to take pictures. Whether you are an aspirational photographer, artist, creative mom, or blogger, you will enjoy expanding your understanding of this medium by exploring 44 weeks of unique and reflective prompts and exercises aimed to demystify seemingly “techie” topics and enhance your creative self-expression. No matter what camera you own, an SLR, point and shoot, or even a camera phone, this book offers tips and methods for any device that snaps a photo.

 

New technology is making it easier to share photography, and interest in photos is being fueled by the popularity of photo-based apps and social networking sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, Hipstamatic, Flickr, and tumblr blogs. Sharing photos with friends and family has become as easy as pushing a button, however, finding the right photos to take and coming up with creative concepts for jaw-dropping photos remains something that needs to be explored and fostered.

 

Shooting with Soul teaches successful photography methods through an approach that is very much like journaling. By putting deep thought and feeling into the process, and into the exercises, which focus on personal exploration and autobiographical information, you will become able to create images that are infused with soul and that connect you with your viewers more deeply, whether they are friends and family, a professional art audience, or followers of a blog or website. 

  

She currently lives in San Francisco and splits her time between commercial and editorial photography assignments, teaching workshops at creative retreats, and raising her amazing daughter, who is her biggest creative achievement to date.

 

Alessandra holds a Master in Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design, but she considers herself completely self-taught when it comes to photography. A former contributor to Shutter Sisters, the widely acclaimed photo-blog celebrating women photographers, Alessandra is passionate about inspiring and empowering women to pick up the camera and follow their creative dreams. Her work has been featured extensively around the world-wide-web, as well as in national and international publications, such as: The Beauty of Different, Nine to Five, Artful Blogging, Somerset Studio and Mingle. You can follow her work and journey at www.alessandracave.com.