California Squirrels

April 19th, 2012

Squirrel in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

 

A few months ago, I decided to take a break from blogging to focus more deeply on my art.  Most of the time I love to hear all of your thoughts and reactions to my work (both good ones and bad!), and I use that input to grow as an artist.  Recently though, I felt like I needed less input and more quiet self reflection.  A break from blogging and social networking has given me some much-needed time to listen to my own creative inner voice.  Today I am interrupting my own silence to share some pretty giant news: at the end of this month, my husband and I are moving to California.

I have lived, loved, and worked in the Indianapolis area for most of my life.  For me, this city holds cherished friends and family, amazing nature and wildlife, and countless happy memories.  To all my clients: you’ve been amazing.  Thank you for letting me share in your lives and witness your most important moments.  Thank you for giving me a chance to do what I love most in this world and call it work.

What’s next?  If you’ve already booked a wedding with me for any time in the future, our plans are still on!  I’ll brave the TSA checkpoints to get back to Indianapolis for your wedding.   And no, it’s not too much trouble- I wouldn’t miss it for the world.  If you’re a portrait client, please stay in touch.  I’ll be making a few trips to Indianapolis every year, and I would love to see you and/or schedule your session during one of those times.  If you live in the San Francisco area: please give me a call!  I will be continuing my photography work when I get there.  And if you’re a California squirrel, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Newborn Photography Posing Workshop with Rachel Vanoven

October 26th, 2011

Newborn Portrait Poses

After years of practice in the art of photography, I still crave new experiences.  My most recent adventure has been in newborn portrait photography.  Obviously, newborns are 100% adorable, but I’ve always struggled to capture portraits that are worthy of their chubby little cheeks and teeny tiny toes.  If you’ve ever tried to take a great picture of an infant, you have probably experienced my frustration.  Since they have very little strength at this age, posing them is a very difficult and delicate process.  Their mood is highly unpredictable, and let’s face it- they don’t take direction.  So when I saw Rachel Vanoven‘s work with newborns, I was fascinated.  I signed up for her workshop hoping to learn some tips for creating these amazing newborn portraits safely and masterfully.  All the images in this blog post are mine, taken at this workshop.  However, Rachel Vanoven did the actual posing work while demonstrating the techniques for each pose to the class.  I have had a few opportunities to practice these techniques since the workshop, and I can’t wait to get more experience!  If you are expecting a new little miracle, contact me ASAP for special pricing on newborn sessions (limited time only)!

Sleepy Newborn Portrait Poses

Adorable Newborn Portraits

Creative newborn photography

This is one of the poses that fascinated me most.  It’s so cute and shows off all the cutest baby parts- fingers, toes, cheeks!  In the class we learned how to do this safely as a composite of multiple images, so the baby is never left unsupported.

Newborn Photography - Adorable Poses

I love this one- baby burrito!!

Newborn Pose - Daddy's Hands

This baby was soooo sweet.  She is so happy to be held by Daddy!

Newborn Poses with Antique Props

I love these props!  I have a similar nest as shown on the left, but I’m still shopping for a cool bucket.  I love that I can spend time shopping at antique stores “for work”.

Modern style newborn portrait

Newborn Portrait Photography

Erin + Jon : A Perfect Denver Wedding

October 17th, 2011

After an absolutely incredible engagement session with Erin and Jon, I couldn’t wait to dive into their wedding day.  And dive, I did.  I spent the entire day with them, vicariously experiencing as much love and excitement and fun as any wedding photographer could wish for.  By the time the reception hall closed its doors, I left with all my memory cards full, a slight limp (ok, my gear is a bit heavy), and a huge smile on my face.  Denver was incredible, but what made this wedding so special was Erin and Jon.

 

Wedding photojouranlism candid photograph of bride with cell phone

Candid wedding photojournalism image of mother and daughter painting fingernails

Wedding details - box labeled "Wedding Stuff"

Bride getting her makeup done before the wedding

The bride's pearl necklace

Candid wedding photography of bride with makeup

Hairspray!

Wedding photograph of rings on piano keys

Bride and bride's maid before the wedding ceremony | Wedding Photography by Reflected Spectrum

Wedding photojournalism image of flower girl giggling before ceremony

Wedding photography of bride and groom exchanging rings

Bride and bridesmaid running through a parking lot

Wedding portraits of bride and groom in Denver

Bride and groom signing the marriage license

Bride with flower girl

Bride and groom dancing

Portraits of bride and groom, wedding cake

Bride and groom dancing outside

Creating Art with Photography : Part 2

August 22nd, 2011

In my last post, Creating Art with Photography : Part 1, I explained my artistic process in creating a macro photograph of some woodland berries.  This post will continue in the same line of inquiry, exploring the process of creating a beach landscape image.  The same principles apply, but here we explore the additional possibilities specialized equipment can provide in difficult lighting situations.

Artistic Landscape Photography of Rocks on a Beach in Kauaii, Hawaii

Last year my husband and I went to Hawaii for vacation.  Walking on the beach one afternoon, I noticed these awesome rocks on the beach.  I took the photo shown above, but when I looked at it I was disappointed.  The image is fine, in fact many of you have probably brought home similar photographs from your beach vacations.  But I knew there was potential in this scene for a better image, one that was not just fine but amazing!  I could tell the lighting was too harsh, too little of the ocean was showing, and it didn’t have the feeling of peaceful beauty I was experiencing.  I normally prefer to create my landscape images during the “golden hours” (around sunrise or sunset), but it was 2:30 in the afternoon.  You can see the harsh shadows and glare coming off the water and sand, and even the black rocks!  One option would be to come back later when the sunlight would be more flattering, but sometimes the image you want isn’t available at a later time and all you have is now.  I advocate getting the best shot you can at the time.  Then, if you’re able to come back later to try for a better shot, great!  If not, you still have an awesome shot to bring home.

Hawaii Beach - Image of Rocks in Tide

To battle the hot afternoon sun, you need serious weapons.  If you can only afford one weapon, I recommend a filter called the circular polarizer.  I’ve used one in this shot to cut the glare, and you can see what a difference it makes.  The beautiful blackness of the rocks shines through instead of being hidden by ugly glare.  The glare is completely gone from the sand as well, and we’re getting closer to a peaceful image.  I’ve also set my camera on a tripod and changed my angle for this image.  I chose a lower angle to include more of the water and sky.  I increased my aperture from 2.8 to 14 to give depth of focus, and slowed my shutter to 1/6 of a second.  Next I’m going to play with the waves.

Landscape Art Photography - Lava rocks

Ahh, getting closer!  In this image I have increased my shutter speed to 2 seconds and closed my aperture to f/22.  I’ve set my ISO as low as it can go, but I still would like to slow this image down.  For that, I have to take another weapon from my bag.

Beach Landscape Photograph

Behold, the neutral density filter!  A neutral density filter is one that subtracts light without adding color.  This one allowed me to slow my exposure to 8 seconds, lending a misty look to the water.  I have a little bit of unwanted flare in the image now, which I would have corrected at the time if I noticed it.  Unfortunately, another problem with afternoon sun is that it makes it difficult to see the image review screen.  Luckily, a little flare is no match for Photoshop.  I was happy enough with this one to take it home.  I’m also using a graduated neutral density filter (a rectangular filter with a dark to light gradient) to darken the sky enough to see the pretty clouds.

Fine art imagery of lava rocks on a Hawaii beach

This shot is the same one from above, after processing in Photoshop.  As I said, I wanted a peaceful image that would remind me of the way I felt while I walked on the beach that day.  I felt the messy sand took away from that goal, so I smoothed the sand.  I optimized the colors, and removed the flare.  I actually returned to this location the next morning to photograph it at sunrise, but this one was still my favorite image.  If you want the recipe for turning your snapshot images into fine art creations, the secret ingredient is thoughtfulness.  If you’re tenacious enough to persist until the image in your camera matches the image in your mind, you’ll have created something unique and priceless.

Creating Art with Photography : Part 1

August 14th, 2011

I think all photographers, regardless of skill and experience level, have a desire to improve their work.  People ask me regularly for tips that will help them take better photos, but there are already countless books and web articles offering quick photography tips and recipes to bring home the perfect shot.  While it does help to have a trick or two up your sleeve and a few good lenses in your bag, the real necessity is your mind.  Wait, don’t go…I didn’t say you need Albert Einstein’s mind.  YOUR mind is what you need.  Even if you don’t fancy yourself an artist, or a genius, I promise you have something to offer to the world of photography.  The number one thing you can do to improve your photography is to keep trying until you find a frame that captures your experience of the subject, and what it meant to you.  Don’t be satisfied with your first try, keep pushing!  In this article I will show you some insight into my process of creating photographic art, and I hope it will give you the courage to push your snapshots to the next level.

Fine art photography of berries in the woods, by Indianapolis photographer Laura Poland

I took this photo while wandering around the woods.  I was attracted to the bright colors of the berries, and I thought it would make a nice macro photograph.  Many people would stop here, it’s a nice photo.  I knew it could be better, so I kept trying until I got the frame I wanted.  I noticed some other branches of berries on the same bush, so I went to see what patterns I could make by changing my position.  It’s amazing how the image can change when you change your angle.

Macro photograph of berries in the woods

This image came next.  I liked it more than my first image, but it still wasn’t quite what I wanted.  The yellow leaf in the top corner bothered me, and I thought the play between the two branches of berries could be more interesting.  My macro lens doesn’t zoom, so all I’m doing at this point is watching, moving myself to slightly different positions and angles, checking the image in the viewfinder, watching, moving, etc.  If I was using a zoom lens, I would also be moving closer to the berries and zooming to wide angle perspectives, then moving far away from the berries and zooming to telephoto perspectives to give different composition options.  Wide angles make your subject look big and your background look small, telephoto angles compress the background.

Close up macro photography of woodland berries by Laura Northrup Poland

Getting warm!  This image was almost what I wanted.  I liked the complementary angles of the two berry branches (note:  these are the exact same berries as in the previous photo, the angle is different because I moved myself).  I wanted deeper focus, though.  And I thought the image was just a tiny bit too bright, maybe if it were a little darker the colors would look deeper.  I adjusted my aperture to a higher number (higher number = deeper focus = smaller aperture) and changed my angle very slightly.

Woodland Berries, by Indianapolis Fine Art Photographer Reflected Spectrum Photography

THIS was the image I wanted.  You might agree with me that this is the best image, or you might prefer one of the others.  You might think you could’ve photographed these berries in an even better way.  Art is a subjective process, it’s okay to disagree.  If you want to turn your snapshots into art, the key ingredient is thoughtfulness.  Consider your images and decide if they could be better or different, and don’t be afraid to try new ideas.  In fact, be afraid not to try.

Engagement Portraits with Erin & Jon

June 17th, 2011

Emotional engagement picture with sunset backlight

Last week I had the honor of photographing my first out-of-state wedding!  Erin and Jon had an unbelievably gorgeous and fun-filled wedding near Denver, Colorado.  I arrived a few days early for this engagement portrait session.  Since I was new in town, I asked Erin to choose the location for our portrait session.  She suggested this beautiful park full of rock formations, animals, and nature.  Though I could easily have spent all day in this park, when I learned that the actual site of their engagement happened just minutes away I saw an opportunity too good to pass up.  After we had spent some thoroughly enjoyable time in the park, we headed to an open space area near the house where Erin grew up.  Erin and Jon showed me the very rock where they sat together on the day Jon proposed, two years prior to the date of their wedding.  Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

Artistic engagement portraits

Vintage engagement portrait

Engagement Portrait with Sunset

Wedding engagement picture in nature

Wedding engagement session in the Colorado mountains

Sunset engagement portraits

Emotional, loving wedding engagement portrait

Engagement picture of couple laughing together

Fun engagement picture on an old fence

Elk in the Mountains

This Elk crashed our engagement session.  We decided he needed to have his picture taken too.

Wedding engagement portrait at night

This is the rock where Jon proposed!

Moonlight engagement portrait in Denver, CO

And they sat here on the rock, in almost exactly this position.

Emotional wedding engagement portrait

Moonlight Engagement Portrait

Night engagement portraits by moonlight

Beautiful night, beautiful moon, beautiful loving couple- it just doesn’t get any better!

Keep an eye on this blog for pictures of their amazing wedding, soon to come!