Guest Post: Photographer Jaymi McClusky

Oh, you guys are in for a treat. I discovered Jaymi’s blog through Sweet Shot Tuesdays. Her work is so consistently beautiful: tack-sharp focus, beautiful composition and use of color. Although, her black & white processing is really lovely, too. What’s more – wait’ll you hear what she shoots with.

What I Learned (In 6 months of blogging and photography exploration)

I’ve been into photography on and off for many years. I took a couple of classes in high school and college (back when you still had to shoot on film!) but never stuck with it long enough to really remember anything. Then last fall I found a renewed passion for it and dove back into it. I started my blog as a way of not just showcasing my pictures, but also detailing my progress and sharing what I’ve learned as I go along. I’ve gained so much from other photography blogs and I wanted to pay it forward. Every time I go on a new shoot or try something new I write up a “What I Learned” section on my blog, which helps me remember what I learned, and I hope helps others too. Now that I’m half way through my first year of this, I thought it would be nice to write up a comprehensive “What I Learned.”

When I started my blog I was shooting with the now-archaic Nikon D70. This is one of the first pictures I took with it after my passion for photography resurfaced. I don’t know what it was exactly about it that hooked me, but I just knew that photography was going to stick around this time.

So what have I learned?

Focus, Focus, Focus – I am EXTREMELY picky about focus in my pictures. I like shallow depth of field, but the part of the picture that I want in focus better be in PERFECT focus. The only way to really tell this for sure is to view the picture at 100%. So whether it’s on the viewfinder of your camera, or on the computer later, zoom in on your picture until its 100% and examine the area of the picture that should be in focus. If you zoom in past 100% the picture could start to distort, so make sure you stay at 100%. If the area in question looks soft or blurry, I’ll generally decide that the picture isn’t worth showing. I have about 10 versions of this bee picture where part of the bee is a little soft or blurred (it was moving after all!) and they don’t make nearly the same impact as this photo.

There are a lot of things Photoshop can do to fix pictures, but it cannot take something out of focus and make it be in focus, so make sure your focus is right in the camera. Focus can be affected by your aperture being too wide, shutter speed too slow, or movement of your subject. Make sure everything is in place when you take your picture to get your focus spot on. I really believe that TACK SHARP focus is a huge factor in making a picture go from good to wow.

Equipment Isn’t Everything – Since I started my blog, I upgraded my camera from the D70 to the D90. It made a huge difference, but the D90 isn’t exactly the most expensive camera on the market and some of my favorite images are still ones from my D70. I also shoot most of my pictures with a 50mm 1.8 lens, which is a relatively inexpensive lens. Photography isn’t all about having the fanciest equipment. I’ve been blown away by pictures that were taken on point and shoot cameras. Getting the “wow” picture to me is about focus, light, and composition. If you don’t have that down, your pictures won’t be great no matter how expensive your camera is. Your camera doesn’t take great pictures, YOU take great pictures. The same goes for editing. I know people who have spent a lot of money on expensive actions and textures for Photoshop, but I use all free actions and free textures that I’ve found available on Flickr. If you know how to use them, they’re all you need!

Shoot Manual! – In my experience, automatic settings underexpose pictures. I spent a lot of time shooting on “aperture priority” mode. I figured this way I could set my aperture to control my depth of field, and I could just let the camera pick the shutter speed I needed. But I found I was almost always brightening my pictures in Photoshop. Auto settings were underexposing my pictures! Sometimes now I’ll take my first picture on aperture priority mode to see what shutter speed the camera provides, and then adjust my shutter speed manually from there. It made a world of difference.

Post Processing – I have learned so much about editing photos from reading tutorials on other blogs and by downloading free actions. Most of the time I only do “clean edits” on pictures, which means basic adjustments to light, color, contrast, and sharpness. But when a picture looks “just ok” to me, sometimes putting it in black and white or adding subtle texture can add a lot of drama to the photo.

Get Creative – When I don’t have anything to shoot, I go for a walk around my neighborhood. I’ve probably taken the same walk at least 5 times , but from trying new angles and different compositions I always come back with different pictures. I’ve made the same flower look completely different from shooting it at a new angle.

Also, get creative with lighting. I used to think that if the sun was behind my subject, all I would get is a silhouette or a really blown out sky. But, if you’re shooting manually, backlighting can create beautiful images with soft rays of sun flare dancing around your subject!

Then, if you WANT a silhouette instead, simply change your manual exposure to expose for the sky instead of your subject and you’ll get a fun silhouette. Expose for the picture you want, don’t just cross your fingers and see what you get!

Other Quick Tips:

• Solid shade is better than solid way-too-harsh sunlight.
• An hour before sunset is my favorite time to shoot.
• Get your friends to pose for you, the more practice you get, the better your results will be.
• When shooting people or animals, I always focus on the eyes.

• Blogging is the best thing I’ve done for my photography—it forces me to constantly get out there and shoot so I have new shots to post on my blog. It keeps me dedicated and inspired.
• Be creative when shooting portraits. Shoot your subject jumping in the air, or bring a prop. I did a birthday session that was made really fun by bringing a bunch of blown up balloons and throwing them around her.

I hope sharing what I’ve learned has been helpful! Check out my blog to follow my progress and read even more lessons and tips!

Thanks, Jaymi! You are so talented!

Please visit Jaymi at live.love.travel!