EDDIE TAPP ON FLETCHER PORTRAITS
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Here's what Eddie Tapp has to say about portraits done by Jay Fletcher.

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PHOTO TIP - LOW LIGHT WITH NO FLASH!
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Summer weather encourages us to take advantage of those decks, patios, and picnic grounds to spend time with our friends outdoors. Unfortunately, we all get caught by the "auto" mode on our cameras and end up with evening pictures of our family and friends with that "deer in the headlights" expression.
This is your chance to show off your new talents with the camera. DO NOT USE A FLASH for these images. Set your camera to the manual mode, and set your f-stop to wide open normally f2.8 and set your shutter to around an 1/8- 1/15th of a second. Be sure you use a tripod or something steady (in the above case I used a table), and encourage your subjects to stand very still. Set your timer, et Voila! You have just created an image that contains emotion and a sense of the viewer's being right in the image it self.
Try setting your camera up on your patio or by a campfire and just experiment. You will soon notice that using available light in low-light situations can be tricky, but the images that you can capture will show you the world in an entirely new way. Remember, if you're shooting with a digital camera, and the shot just doesn't work, DELETE and try again!
If you are feeling really creative, you can even use your computer and image editing software to "tweek" the effect a bit. Always keep in mind, though, that the best photographic tool that you have is your eye. While some times you can make a good shot better, rarely can you make a bad shot any good at all. Be creative and dazzle your friends.
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