|
|
|
|
Newsletter Dec 2020
Good morning <<First Name>>
Welcome to December! Are we really on the last month of 2020, I hear you say!! I love these two stylish reindeer in the image above from Diablo last year. I feel that they should be sporting some new fashion and be prancing down a reindeer catwalk!! Supercute!
This year like many, we started early with our Christmas decorations. I have been busy fixing Christmas lights and ornaments and have a fun, picture-filled newsletter for you this month!!
The latest and greatest takes on a mono chrome look (apart from the candy cane :-)) with a wonderful local family.
The recent holiday mini sessions have been a great success and the spotlight and the monthly special highlights some of my thoughts for 2021 along the mini session theme. I have also included a few pictures from my recent visit to Baker Beach in San Francisco. This summer was so weird, I didn’t even run my usual photo vacation competition. So...There’s a great opportunity to win a session gift card with us in the Monthly special...check out the details below.
For the photographer in you carries on with the holiday theme and outlines ways of capturing better holiday pictures. Designed both to improve your photography and understanding of your camera as well as making sure you don’t miss capturing those wonderful decorations this year.
My own camera fun comes from a few photographs from a spectacular Japanese maple tree, which has never been more impressive! Keep on scrolling to get to the Panoramic passion, a beautiful sunset behind the Golden gate Bridge, photographed from Emeryville Marina.
Finally, as I sit here finishing the newsletter and watch the shadows get longer and longer, I am reminded and reassured that tomorrow will be another day, another challenge, another opportunity! Before we know it, 2020 will be behind us and we will be welcoming 2021!
I truly wish you Happy Holidays in December and all the best for you and your family in 2021! And of course I hope to see you :-)
Cheers,
~ Tracey xxx
|
|
Latest and Greatest - Family Fun and Candy Cane Poses!
Blackhawk is well known locally for it's gorgeous Plaza, wonderful water features, wildlife, and stunning arches and bridges with ivy. Really everywhere you look is very pretty!
But....sometimes the most unlikely places to photograph, just turn into some of the best pictures!! Did you ever look behind the Museum! Could be a title for another movie!!!
I just love the texture in these grungy crates that were piled up at the back of Blackhawk museum. Actually, they are very multicolored which makes for great color and black and white images! I'm just sharing some of the monochrome ones here and something about the location fits right in with the cheeky face of the little fellow in the last image! It's priceless :-)
Thank you for choosing me to capture these moments for your family!
|
|
|
Spotlight - Mini Sessions Around the Bay!
The recent holiday mini sessions have been so fun...So much so that I am on a mission to find other great locations for you all for 2021!! I would love to create mini sessions throughout the year and change it up as the different weather and seasons bring changes!
For the past couple of months I have worked here in Danville as well as Baker Beach in San Francisco!
Below are a few of the pictures I took towards the end of one of the days at Baker Beach! It was just spectacular and the sunset was a treat!
Keep up with the newsletter to be the first find out about how and where these sessions will take place!
Also, check out the monthly special below to find out how to have a chance to win a session gift voucher!
|
|
Gift Cards Make Great Presents!
Session gift cards are great! They are slim enough to hide, but weighty enough to make a great present!! If you are at a loss for what to get the important people in your life, it's a great option!!
A $125 gift card is good for any local portrait session under two hours!
A $250 gift card is good for the same portrait sessions as a $125 card but includes 5 high resolution images (printable up to 8x10)
All gift cards are valid for one year from the date of purchase!
How to be in with a Chance to Win a Session Gift Card!
It's very simple...
All you have to do is share this newsletter with a friend who might be interested in the content and receiving the newsletter and you will have your name and theirs entered into a draw to win a $125 gift voucher!
Please make sure you share the email addresses with me so I can enter you and them in the draw!
Gift voucher can be used for any session - portrait, business, etc or towards a bigger session such as an event or wedding!
Offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer
|
|
|
For the Photographer in You -
Techniques to Capture Better Holiday Photographs?
There are a number of ways to capture Christmas lights. It is a little bit of a challenge because many of the Christmas lights are not very bright. You may think flash would help, but The result of flash is to capture the tree and other non-lit ornaments and to completely overwhelm the Christmas lights so you can’t see them in the picture.
So another suggestion might be to use a long shutterspeed, however, this results in many of the decorations being too dark.
Here are a few options for you to try -
1. Use the double exposure function on your camera. Capture one exposure with the flash on one without. Of course this relies on the capability of your camera. Read on if you do not have a double exposure feature.
2. Using a bit of legwork and Photoshop, you can of course capture two exposures in the same way as the double exposure feature above and combined them in Photoshop. Definitely the toughest option.
3. The final option will help you understand your camera and its capabilities to a new level. It combines the use of a slow Shutterspeed with flash and will give you great results.
You will need to use a tripod for this and everything will need to be stationary unless you would like to capture some motion blur. Essentially the flash will take care of the non-lit part of the decorations such as the tree and the slow Shutterspeed will take care of the Christmas lights.
Without wanting to go into a long discussion about all of the settings you may choose on the camera... this should be learned over a period of time. I can give you a few suggested settings to get you started.
ISO - 100-200
Aperture - f5.6-f8
Shutter speed - Start around 20 seconds. Play around with this, if your image is looking too bright, increase the shutter speed by half to 10 seconds or more if necessary. If the image is too dark, decrease Shutterspeed to be longer such as 30 seconds or more.
Most importantly, have fun!
...as always, do get in touch if you have any questions or would like to know more.
|
|
Little Ditty About My Own Camera Fun - Japanese Maple at it's Best!
The Japenese Maple must be one of my favorite trees! Here in my recent pictures, it is showing off it's full colors!
|
|
|
Panoramic Passion - Golden Gate Bridge Sunset
The race was on to capture this photograph, I can tell you! I was coming back from Bolinas Beach and noticed just how beautiful the sky was. Quick quick....let's get to Emeryville Marina! As you can see, I only just made it. No time to get the tripod out, just a quick picture hand held...well, leaning on the car to be honest. Sometimes you just have to get what you can even if it isn't perfectly formed!
Follow me on Instagram to see how I post these panoramic images threeup @traceymedcalfephotography
|
|
|
Quote of the Month
"Strive to live in the present, resolve with the past, and create my ideal future" ~ Mark Divine
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
