359/365: Thistle and Weeds on Flickr.Via Flickr: Another day of work and school and rushing to the lake to catch the light… I usually pack up my bag as soon as the light is gone but I stayed a couple minutes extra today. This actually turned out a lot better than I expected it to.

359/365: Thistle and Weeds on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Another day of work and school and rushing to the lake to catch the light…

I usually pack up my bag as soon as the light is gone but I stayed a couple minutes extra today. This actually turned out a lot better than I expected it to.

358/365: Don’t Stop Believing on Flickr.Via Flickr: I think a cheesy, overplayed 80s song is only appropriate for this. It was dark and pouring by the time I left work. I hate shooting indoors, so I almost skipped this day. When Andrew got to my house, I changed my mind again and grabbed my bag and tripod. It was still pouring by the time we picked out this corner to shoot on. I safely wrapped my camera in a plastic bag and left it under an store overhang. We got soaked, but this was one of my favorite shoots to date. This is my last picture with Andrew. I’m finished shooting now and SO excited to post the rest of my photos. Stay tuned! :)

358/365: Don’t Stop Believing on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I think a cheesy, overplayed 80s song is only appropriate for this.

It was dark and pouring by the time I left work. I hate shooting indoors, so I almost skipped this day.

When Andrew got to my house, I changed my mind again and grabbed my bag and tripod. It was still pouring by the time we picked out this corner to shoot on. I safely wrapped my camera in a plastic bag and left it under an store overhang.

We got soaked, but this was one of my favorite shoots to date.

This is my last picture with Andrew. I’m finished shooting now and SO excited to post the rest of my photos. Stay tuned! :)

357/365: Fade Into You on Flickr.Via Flickr: I was running around town getting photos for the newspaper and dragged Andrew along with me. We ended up by the harbor to get photos of a restaurant in Seaport Village. I had to expand and edit it this twice because Photoshop crashed…and I think the first version was better too. There goes six hours of my life….

357/365: Fade Into You on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I was running around town getting photos for the newspaper and dragged Andrew along with me. We ended up by the harbor to get photos of a restaurant in Seaport Village.

I had to expand and edit it this twice because Photoshop crashed…and I think the first version was better too. There goes six hours of my life….

356/365: Iron Sea on Flickr.Via Flickr: I have to say…I’m pretty impressed with myself for always making it seem like I’m completely isolated in my pictures. In reality, this beach was crawling with people and I had to keep moving my tripod out of the way…which is a fun time in post-processing when you’re trying to expand lines…

356/365: Iron Sea on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I have to say…I’m pretty impressed with myself for always making it seem like I’m completely isolated in my pictures. In reality, this beach was crawling with people and I had to keep moving my tripod out of the way…which is a fun time in post-processing when you’re trying to expand lines…

that really helped a lot, thank you so much! and I can't wait for your tutorials!! :) — Asked by Anonymous

Of course, I’m happy to help! :) If you want to see any specific before and afters, just send me a message!

do you have any tips on shooting the sunset? what camera settings should you use (shutter speed, aperture, etc)? yay thank you! — Asked by Anonymous

I think you mean capturing a sunset without losing details of the foreground? It’s not all inside the camera- a lot of that comes from post-processing. 

I always shoot the foreground first and the sunset/sky last. I tend to use a shallow depth of field for all my photos so I would set the aperture anywhere between f/1.8-f/2.8. You need a relatively fast shutter speed to compensate (1/3200- 1/8000). Use a 100-300 ISO (depending on your aperture and shutter speed).

After I get a picture I’m happy with, I tilt my camera slightly upward on the tripod to fit more of the sky in the frame. Switch to manual focus and increase the shutter speed. If you already have the fastest shutter speed, drop the aperture.

Then in Photoshop simply increase the canvas size of your foreground photo (about 10 inches upward) and composite your sunset into it by copying and pasting as a new layer. Toggle the opacity so you can line up the horizon correctly. Create a layer mask and use the brush tool on black to get rid of the parts of the sky you don’t want to show through. Make sure the hardness of the brush is low or it will be more difficult to erase.

I’m going to start posting before/after pictures and video tutorials after my project is over (TUESDAY!) so stayed tune! I feel like visuals are easier to understand, but hopefully that helped a bit!

355/365: Don’t Dream It’s Over on Flickr.Via Flickr: I did some internship work today and filed my tax return..finally. I pulled over on my way back down south to shoot a baseball game so I could catch the sunset. I found a random field next to an apartment complex to shoot in. You can’t see it here, but I’m sitting right on the edge of a slope. The dirt was loose and I nearly fell down the hill like 3 times.

355/365: Don’t Dream It’s Over on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I did some internship work today and filed my tax return..finally.

I pulled over on my way back down south to shoot a baseball game so I could catch the sunset. I found a random field next to an apartment complex to shoot in. You can’t see it here, but I’m sitting right on the edge of a slope. The dirt was loose and I nearly fell down the hill like 3 times.

354/365: 3x5 on Flickr.Via Flickr: Ventured down to the field for golden hour.

354/365: 3x5 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Ventured down to the field for golden hour.

353/365: Heavy in Your Arms on Flickr.Via Flickr: I was doing some work for my internship in La Jolla and stopped by the beach to take my photo. One of the cliffs was gated off because the pavement underneath was eroding. There was a gap in the fence I squeezed through and went over to the edge to set up. The cliffs seemed pretty stable to me. But I wouldn’t recommend trying this by yourself…it’s kind of scary. Then I spent a beautiful Valentine’s Day with Andrew. :)Please help me reach 1,000 likes on my page! Please like and share! :)

353/365: Heavy in Your Arms on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I was doing some work for my internship in La Jolla and stopped by the beach to take my photo. One of the cliffs was gated off because the pavement underneath was eroding. There was a gap in the fence I squeezed through and went over to the edge to set up. The cliffs seemed pretty stable to me. But I wouldn’t recommend trying this by yourself…it’s kind of scary.

Then I spent a beautiful Valentine’s Day with Andrew. :)

Please help me reach 1,000 likes on my page!
Please like and share! :)

352/365: Across the Universe on Flickr.Via Flickr: Another quick shot by the lake after work. I may have over done the editing on this, but the picture wasn’t very interesting before. :/Nothings going to change my world.

352/365: Across the Universe on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Another quick shot by the lake after work. I may have over done the editing on this, but the picture wasn’t very interesting before. :/

Nothings going to change my world.

351/365: Home on Flickr.Via Flickr: Hopped the fence that said no trespassing and stumbled down a hill in Mission Trails into the woods. Home is wherever I’m with you.

351/365: Home on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Hopped the fence that said no trespassing and stumbled down a hill in Mission Trails into the woods.

Home is wherever I’m with you.

350/365: A Whisper on Flickr.Via Flickr: I don’t remember much about this day since I took this picture about a week ago….except that it was really cold and started to sprinkle. The end is near…

350/365: A Whisper on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I don’t remember much about this day since I took this picture about a week ago….except that it was really cold and started to sprinkle.

The end is near…

349/365: The Long Spring on Flickr.Via Flickr: I cheated and took two photos the other day to catch up. I will finish this project by the end of February. I can’t drag it out anymore. Looks better big.

349/365: The Long Spring on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I cheated and took two photos the other day to catch up. I will finish this project by the end of February. I can’t drag it out anymore.

Looks better big.

348/365: Meadowlark on Flickr.Via Flickr: I had to take a couple days off while I was in Arizona with my family. Shooting today was more fun than usual. Probably because I finally got to take a break and clear my mind a little. The weather is warming up and lifting my spirits.

348/365: Meadowlark on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I had to take a couple days off while I was in Arizona with my family.

Shooting today was more fun than usual. Probably because I finally got to take a break and clear my mind a little. The weather is warming up and lifting my spirits.

347/365: Split Needles on Flickr.Via Flickr: Went straight to the lake after work. I missed the sun by five minutes…I’m kind of tired of it anyway. The lake glowed eery blue in the fading light.

347/365: Split Needles on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Went straight to the lake after work. I missed the sun by five minutes…I’m kind of tired of it anyway. The lake glowed eery blue in the fading light.