I’m so excited to share some of my favourite images from a recent engagement photo session with Lynne and Brian. Seeing as how Brian is working on his thesis at UBC in Vancouver, we decided to do a session there. UBC is so big and there are so many places to go but the main attraction was definitely this beautiful couple.

*click to enlarge

Thanks for be so great and willing to go along with all my ideas and for bringing your fun personalities to the session. Looking forward to documenting your wedding!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 58 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1250
flash: not fired

I loved the look of this beautiful block of cheese wrapped in a napkin ready to be grated over a steaming plate of pasta at a quaint Italian restaurant in San Francisco. How’s that for setting? Have fun processing this one!

Remember to link to your version by leaving a comment below. You are welcome to add any specifics about what you did in your processing (software used, adjusted values, cropping etc) to help us learn. Click here to get the complete details for What’s Your Play. Remember, all readers are invited to submit their own photos for manipulation by emailing a high res photo (preferably SOOC) to play [at] dolcepics [dot] com.

Last week’s photo was so much fun to play with!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 14 mm
shutter speed: 1/5
aperture: f/10
ISO: 1600
flash: not fired

When we walked into the Cable Car Museum in San Francisco, I went straight to the workings of the powerhouse that runs the four cable lines in the city. I used a slower shutter speed to catch those 14-foot diameter sheaves in motion while resting my camera on the ledge so the un-moving parts would be sharp. Having an ultra wide lens on a full frame camera comes in handy in these tight spaces and creates an interesting perspective. It was pretty amazing to see the inner workings of the cable car system.

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 50 mm
shutter speed: 1/80
aperture: f/2.0
ISO: 1250
flash: not fired

I had to share one detail shot of a machine at theMusee Mechanique in San Francisco. I just love the colours in this SOOC image. Have fun playing!

Remember to link to your version by leaving a comment below. You are welcome to add any specifics about what you did in your processing (software used, adjusted values, cropping etc) to help us learn. Click here to get the complete details for What’s Your Play. Remember, all readers are invited to submit their own photos for manipulation by emailing a high res photo (preferably SOOC) to play [at] dolcepics [dot] com.

It was so great to see everyone joining in last week with the “wizard”. Take a look at the our plays!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 50 mm
shutter speed: 1/500
aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 400
flash: not fired

Our photo club went all film on our last photo walkabout. That is, everyone but me because I wasn’t able to get my hands on a film SLR in time. So, I had to fake it with my D700 and 50mm f/1.4. Although I missed out on the same quality and dynamic range of black and white film, I still forced myself to shoot under similar conditions, as if I had a 35mm camera in my hands, for the film shooting experience.

To get the 35mm experience with your digital camera:

- set your exposure manually
- choose only one ISO and stick with it
- shoot in JPG and monochrome (we focused on black and white that night)
- focus manually
- take no more than 24 or 36 shots
- I also chose to only use a 50mm (no handy zoom and different perspectives)

All in all, it was a great exercise! After “growing up” as a photographer in the digital world, trying to mimic shooting film meant I had to really stop and think before pressing that shutter release button. I took the time to compose well, focus, set exposure and wait for the right moment. Choosing to shoot in all black and white also meant that I would have to see the world differently.

I learned a lot from this experience and I hope you will give it a try too. Get back to the basics and rediscover photography again!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.