focal length: 70 mm
shutter speed: 1/320
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 500
flash: none

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/200
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 500
flash: none

My first attempt at a diptych! It’s not really the type of diptych I had envisioned as my first one but I wanted to put these two together anyway. What in the world is a diptych? Well, to me a diptych is a combination of two photos put together deliberately to show some kind of connection. They may not be connected at all in subject matter per se, but they might still be related in colour, texture, mood etc.

The one above is two photos. One is zoomed in and the other is wide while both having the same subject. I like it because, although the subject is the same, the angle and position of the subject are different, highlighting different things. The one on the left focuses on my subject’s face while the one on the right focuses on the ducky and her crouched position.

Do you have any favourite diptychs that you have created? If you haven’t tried one yet, why not give it a go? Please share. I’d love to see your creative juices flowing.

These days, she’s been preoccupied with her makeshift cape. Loads of fun… that lasts all of 5 minutes. Then it’s off to a new adventure!

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

focal length: 32 mm
shutter speed: 1/800
aperture: f/8.0
ISO: 200
flash: none

Wow, I changed my aperture away from the omnipresent f/2.8! Hard to believe I know. I was just trying to get a few defined sun rays for a different sort of picture. I exposed for the sky rather than on my subject so her face turned out quite dark. I had to bump up the fill light in Lightroom and fiddled around with some other settings. Then I threw a texture layer on top using multiply blend mode, opacity 52% for this sun-kissed photo look.

One of the other things I love about Lightroom is the history. Unlike in Photoshop, the history for every single change I made is recorded and remains there, even after I close Lightroom and reopen it! I can always revert back to any point in my editing. Very cool indeed.

The best part about summer is the sun and the fun times we share with our loved ones under it’s warm rays.

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

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/1000
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

Trying different angles can give you such different results. I was surprised to see how much older my little baby looked in the shot above. Perhaps it’s the way she is standing with her legs shoulder-width apart and arms hanging straight down. The high angle I shot this at seems to make her look taller. It might also be the sharpness of her face while her feet are blurred, which heightens the effect, no pun intended.

Compare with this shot, taken on the same day. I processed it differently but the angle itself renders a much different image.

focal length: 29 mm
shutter speed: 1/320
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

I’m not saying it’ll be the same with your photos. I just wanted to show you how shooting at different angles can change the overall feeling of an image. Interesting, isn’t it?

Now I need to go cuddle with my “baby” before all her babyness slips through my fingers!

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

*click image to download large size (1024×680)

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/1250
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

Is it Tuesday already? Here’s your 3rd WYP assignment! I shot this yesterday in the evening at about 7:00pm. I find that shooting at this time in the sun gives a beautiful golden glow. This image is SOOC compressed from the RAW file. Have a go at it and make it your own!

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 read the complete rules 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.

And of course, the collection of all your plays from last week’s WYP:

Click to read the rest of this article »»

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

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 640
flash: none

What do you think about the colours in this photo? Would you believe that the original (scroll down) had a grossly orange hue. Obviously I did not set custom white balance on this one. I should have brought my grey card with me to this yellow-lit restaurant. Oh well. No worries though, because I shot in RAW format. White balance correction is a breeze with RAW files. I can simply choose from the drop-down menu for White Balance and choose the preset white balance I should have used, or I can move the “Temp” slider around until I find the right colour. Move the slider to the left for a “cooler/blue” temperature or to the right for “warmer/yellow” look.

It’s as simple as that!

If I had shot JPG in-camera, recovering from this mess…

… would’ve been tough. It’s doable but because JPGs are compressed, you may have more difficulty getting the colour that you want.

Have you had any white balance nightmares? Shooting in canned light can be pretty unforgiving, unless you’re shooting RAW. Give it a try sometime under canned light and please let me know your thoughts. For some, the time and processing power needed to work with RAW files just isn’t worth it. For others, it’s a life saver and gives you much more control when fine tuning your images. It all depends on your style of photography and workflow.

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