A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Diana White, a registered massage therapist (RMT) at Past Tense Massage Therapy Clinic to create some headshots for the website (screenshot below).

We decided to do an outdoor shoot in Steveston where the clinic is located and prayed it wouldn’t rain. It is winter in Vancouver after all!

Luckily, we were blessed with the most gorgeous morning and had a great time taking in the iconic landmarks that define Steveston.

Here are a few of my favourite shots.

If you’re looking for a massage therapist in the Metro Vancouver area, please contact Diana White. She is wonderful!

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

Yesterday, I wrote an article for Vancouvermom.ca, a great website for local moms. Click the link to read 8 Tips for Shooting Indoors at the Vancouver Aquarium. I hope you find the tips useful!

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

focal length: 50 mm
shutter speed: 1/5000
aperture: f/2.0
ISO: 400
flash: not fired

I was going through some of my older photos for a guest post I’m preparing on another website and found this one of a dolphin showing off a neat technique. When a moving subject, it’s important to use a shutter speed that is fast enough to freeze the motion if that is your intent. I used a very fast shutter speed of 1/5000th of a second to capture a still shot of the moving dolphin. The same rules will apply when photographing kids in their element, which usually involves a lot of moving around!

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

focal length: 50 mm
shutter speed: 1/160
aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 320
flash: not fired

Took this shot in a gritty part of Vancouver last week. Hope you enjoy processing it. Click, download, play!

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.

I just loved seeing everyone who got so creative last week. Take a look at all these plays!

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

Over the weekend, I had the chance to work with a few great photographers in my area at a studio we rented for the day. We had a few models come in and had a blast. It was such a good opportunity to work on creative lighting. I wanted to show you what a difference some well placed lights can make.

Here is a natural light shot.

focal length: 48 mm
shutter speed: 1/100
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1000
flash: not fired

It’s a clean shot, good quality but not all that exciting.

Now add a couple lights.

focal length: 44 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/8.0
ISO: 200
flash: fired off camera

The image has completely changed from boring to amazing. The creative lighting has added dimension, warmth and contrast which requires very little processing if any.

Here’s a diagram of the setup.

A strobe with a grid on a boom as key light and a gelled speedlight shooting into a hotlite reflector on the camera’s right. A huge thanks to Jason Brown of Revival Arts Studio who set up the lights and let me use his pocket wizards.

Here’s a look behind the scenes.

I encourage you to experiment with light, natural or strobed, to create any look you desire.

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