Light, Shadow, and Sand Castles with the Olympus Stylus

Today the beginning photography class I'm teaching in Watercolor, Florida moved east on Highway 30A to Rosemary Beach to shoot light and shadow at a sand castle building class. As I mentioned earlier, no one has SLR's, just point and shoots, so I punted, bought a point and shoot, and am teaching the class with that. Although mine is a cool one...it goes underwater for up to 30 minutes, (and got shrieks and gasps at the pool when my youngest, TT, ran over to my beach bag, grabbed it, and jumped with it onto her little crab float into the pool last night with a giant splash, )everyone knows that if you backlight with a point and shoot, you usually get a perfectly exposed background with totally dark, non-detailed faces. Well, it seems that this bad boy Olympus Stylus has the ability to meter on shadow and then transfer its findings to the big picture, so I, of course, didn't have a care in the world. But what about everyone else in the point and shoot world? The answer, my friends, is fill flash. While using a flash in the day time sounds counter intuitive, fill flash will fill in those harsh shadows like nobody's business, and You will be a photography hero in no time when your family sees their bright, shiny faces in pictures, while while still maintaining a nice shadow balance, which means that while your shot will still allow the highlights and shadow to shine through, it won't look all boring and blown out. Everyone's sand castles looked outstanding from our 9 a.m. till 11 a.m. shoot...I'm proud of my class! I can't wait to upload the pictures to show you! By the way, if you have any photos that look a certain way and you can't understand why, email them to me at photobarb@aol.com with a description of what you did, if possible, and I will try to let you know how to change it out the next time. Remember, taking pictures is supposed to be fun!!

It's Not the Size of the Wand. It's the Magic the Wand Posesses.

It's not the size of the wand. It's the magic the Wand posesses that counts. Today was the first day of my photography seminar in Watercolor, Florida. It is a beginning photography class, but one thing I didn't think of was to tell everyone to bring SLR type cameras, I just figured that if they were interested in photography, they would own a camera that you can put in manual mode...that means you, dear reader. If you are interested in photography and you aren't putting your new fancy new DSLR camera in manual mode, you might as well have a point and shoot, because the camera will be in charge of you, and not the other way around.

Well, today, every single person brought a point and shoot! I am here to tell you, as a person who has never had close personal contact with a point and shoot before, I pretty much freaked out, because everyone had questions that I wasn't sure I could answer. I went into instant freak out, panic, shove down a dozen donuts and panic some more mode, and then, just as I was set to embark on the next dozen, something inside me snapped and I just let go.

I don't know if it was the rain, the sweet faces of my absolutely cool students, Brian, Margo, Elliot, Jeffrey, Sarah from Alabama, Sarah from Tennessee, Jennifer, Julia, Jason, and Karen, or just a sugar high, but all of a sudden I just started giggling. If you can't beat them, join them, I always say. I called my trusty hubby and he ran out and got me a very cute little pink Olympus Stylus that seems to be indestructible...you can take it underwater to ten feet for a very long time, drop it from ten feet, change the ISO, adjust for macro, super macro, movement, blur, adjust the lighting for daylight, backlight, tungsten, and a couple of different flourescents, shoot in the rule of thirds insteadof those center weighted guys. I was impressed...It pretty much does everything except the laundry for you...gosh darn it...well, I guess that's why I have my hubby, now isn't it? So, in typical Barbara Stitzer fashion, I am learning as I go, and am for the duration of this whole course am going to become one with my mega macho pink camera, (whom I've named Pookie, of course, ) and then I'll show you what I did with it...and I am willing to bet that it's going to be pretty gosh darn cool. I'll be back after I snarf another donut.

Upcoming Workshops and Shoots

I just shipped my equipment to Florida for my upcoming photo workshop and photo shoots in the amazing Watercolor, Florida. I have rented a cool Victorian House, and will be doing a day on window light, a day on studio light, and a day and an evening on sunset shoots, even if the weather isn't holding up, because in life, light is crazy, even is Arizona, where there are 300 days of sunshine a year, and especially in somewhere like Florida, where it's almost guaranteed to rain every day. When I lived on Kaua'i, it rained every day, and, let me tell you, I should have bought stock in the Glad company, because the Ziplock baggie was my best friend.

Watercolor has special characteristics, and with these characteristics, challenges...the sand is super white, which can throw your meter off majorly, and the water clear and reflective; you can see your feet even when you're 30 yards off shore, and the light bouncing off the water can work a number on the old meter, as well. Also, there are a million, billion people out there...so I'm going to cover how to keep your cool when someone walks through your shot, and how to keep your clients focused, which is a biggie...people love to look around when there are spectators around, even when they're paying you good money to make them look your way. ;) They also love to talk to each other...it's like photographing people who are eating--don't do it! You have to make them ignore the crowds...a surefire way? It's covered in my seminar!

Reno, Nevada July 23-29 Photography Extravaganza

A couple of images from our "downtime" in Jamaica. TT wouldn't let the dolphin kiss her...I shot this of us with my 20mm lens while waist deep in the ocean. Thrillseeker I am.

Well folks, the dates are set for my Photography Extravaganza in Reno, Nevada, July 23-29. I am available tophotograph you and your families, and also to teach you how to take better photos. I'm almost full of bookings, thanks to you all, and to Jennifer Dennis, but I thought I'd throw it out there, in case one or two more want to have their portraits and paintings done by me, or if you would like me to take you out shooting. I have two sets of friends there, the Skowroneks, who probably rank as the best people to have the worst times with and still be able to laugh really really hard about it afterwards, and the Dennis's. I was pregnant with Zoe when Jennifer Dennis was pregnant with her Natalie, and we just bonded tight and stuck. The Skowroneks hike a lot and they have told me of some amazing spots, which is really great, because all I remember about Reno is that when I was a little girl, my father, a gambler from wayyyyy back, got a wild hair to go to Reno. We drove all the way up there from Long Beach, California, and when we got there, there were two casinos and a lot of absolutely nothing. My dad got out of the car, and a guy stumbled out of the casino and threw up on his shoes. My mom got out of the car to help my dad, fell over the curb, and split her lip. Neither one said a word. Dad stepped out of his shoes, they both got back in the car, and we drove the 9 hours home in silence. Now I hear that everything is much different. Reno is a fabulous, bustling town, filled with breathtaking vistas to take beautiful photos of your family. Hooray!

Shooting in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands

I was privileged to shoot the wedding of Katy and Kellen this past weekend in Jamaica. They have been together for nine years, since they were teenagers, and they just love each other so much. The way he looks at her...well, let's just say it reminded me of how Buzz used to look at me before we had two kids sleeping between us every night. Their parents love them so much. It hurt me to see how much their parents love them, because my parents are pretty much gone, and it made me miss them. I am the first to admit, I don't like to shoot a lot of weddings...I will only take 10 weddings a year, only people that I absolutely believe in and fall in love with, and this one was the first one in quite a while that made me cry with it's beauty and simplicity. After the wedding, they jumped in the ocean in their wedding clothes...the pure joy of it...I realized that as a photographer, I watch too much...which is what makes me a good photographer, I guess, but the next day, I just felt like I needed more, I took my family to Ricks Cafe, an "overrated tourist trap" according to the tour books, but the greatest rush in the world for us as far as jumping off high cliffs go. Even four year old TT made a little 5 foot jump! I felt like I really was alive, living in the moment, no cameras, nothing in the way of feeling the rush of jumping off that cliff. I think that as a "professional watcher," artists, photographers, writers, it's important to go out there and DO sometimes. A lot of times, actually. It makes I guess my guest spot on the http://www.daretobefabulous.com/ website paid off. That day, my husband looked at me like he did on our wedding day...even with two squirmy girls sleeping between us. It was a good day.

Guest Column | Dare To Be Fabulous: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CLICK by Barbara Stitzer

Guest Column | Dare To Be Fabulous: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CLICK by Barbara Stitzer

Daring to be Fabulous in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands

I am honored to be this month's guest columnist on a very cool website called http://www.daretobefabulous.com. There's a rare picture of moi, which is always fun, because no one ever takes my pictures...hmmm, maybe threre's a reason for that? and my little sweet girls, and, oh yes, the story of my life and, ummm, how I'm daring to be...um, fabulous. So take a look at it and learn everything you've always wanted to know about me but were afraid to ask.

I am leaving for my Caribbean tour on Monday. Anyone who still would like to have me shoot for you while you're there, please feel free and give me a ring or email before then. It's going to be a great time!