The SpectraLight Photography Blog

The place to expand your knowledge and love of photography.

I would like to offer portraits taken anywhere in the world. Please give your opinion with a one-minute survey and you might receive a FREE portrait session in San Franciso. View the survey: http://tinyurl.com/yjka3mz

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

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About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

 

Have you ever tried to get a photo of something but your view was blocked by an object or group of people?

The photo on the left shows a fence blocking the view of final preparations of a float for the Rose Bowl Parade.

For the photo on the right, I raised the camera over the fence and took a series of photos tilting it up, down, left and right until I captured a photo that was nicely composed. I then deleted all other photos that were not as pleasing this. continue reading…

Pasadena City Hall

Architecture can lend itself to striking photographs. While a full view of a building shows the overall appearance; it is the detailed close-ups that can present a whole different “feel.”

The photo on the far left was the first view that caught my attention. I then utilized my zoom lense to bring out many of the unique architectural features that really make this building special.

Click on the photos to see them larger.

Other notes: These photos are of Pasadena City Hall taken in December, 2009.

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

Here’s a photo of me getting up close and personal at the Rose Bowl Parade. The red arrow is pointing at my face with a camera up to my eye.

If you’re on Facebook, check out my pix from the parade: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=148358&id=58764471726

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

Sometimes taking a minute to walk around your subject while taking photos will present a more interesting composition than what you first see.

In photo at left, the building is somewhat hidden by the trees and the lighting is pretty one-dimensional.

I then moved to the opposite side of the building where it had some sunlight and shadow and a little less trees blocking the view.

Other notes: These photos are of Pasadena City Hall taken in December, 2009.

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

Click on a photo to see it larger

Sometimes tipping your camera a little sideways can give an ordinary composition a lot more interest. The photo at far left shows the palm trees growing naturally.

I then tipped the camera to one side for a more interesting take on a subject that’s been photographed millions of times (other photo).

Other notes: These photos were taken two days before the 2010 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena.

So what do YOU think? Please leave your questions or comments below.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

Click on a photo to see it larger

Using your camera’s flash is sometimes a matter of personal preference. In an earlier post, I showed how the flash eliminated shadows on the subject’s faces for a more pleasing look. In the top photo, the flash eliminated the shadows but took away from the form and texture of the roses.

In the bottom photo the roses are illuminated by available light only. Note how the roses have a more three-dimensional look.

Other notes: These photos were taken two days before the 2010 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena at the rose garden at Tournament House – the official home of the Tournament of Roses Association executive offices.

continue reading…

Click on the photo to view it larger.

Photos of people taken on a sunny day can be very challenging. Harsh shadows on one side of the face and bright sunlight on the other is very unflattering.

The good news is that with today’s cameras, it is not difficult to fix this problem.

The top photo was taken without using the little flash on a “point-and-shoot” digital camera. See the dark shadows on the faces? Also note the distracting signs in the background to the right of the couple.

In the bottom photo, I turned on the flash and let the camera automatically add just enough light for a more pleasing look on the couple’s faces. I also moved them a little to the right to hide the distracting signs and reveal the curved sidewalk that “connects” the couple in the foreground to the arbor in the background. continue reading…

Falls Day in the Park is this Sunday – Oct. 4th – from 1 – 4 p.m. at East River Park on Lewis Road in Olmsted Falls. There will be free hot dogs, brats, donuts, apple cider and door prizes from local businesses. A rock band will provide free entertainment while you enjoy the arts and crafts vendors and more.  It’s a great time to reconnect with old friends from the Olmsted area.

SpectraLight Photography will be giving away FREE note cards of Olmsted Falls scenes to their clients as a “thank you” for their past patronage. To see the photo that is featured on the free cards, visit: http://www.spectralight.com/art/freecard.html

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html

Most people are aware of the Giant Eagle Fuel Perks program. Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to really get the most out of it!

In that past 12 months, I have saved OVER $800.00 in gas! Yes, you read that right… $800.00!

Here are some tips to get the most out of your Fuel Perks program.

1) Always get the full 30 gallons of gas you are entitled to when you use your Fuel Perks. Although you are limited to putting gas in only one car, you ARE allowed to finish your fill-up with gas cans. So be sure your tank is pretty low and take your gas cans for the rest.

So here’s how the savings works. Let’s say you have a $1.50 per gallon discount earned with your Giant Eagle Advantage Card. If you get 30 gallons x your $1.50 discount – you save $45.00 on your fill-up! A $1.75 per gallon discount would save $52.50 on your fill-up! A $2.00 per gallon discount would save $60.00 on your fill-up! In the summer of 2008, when gas was $4 per gallon, I had enough fuel perks earned for a $4.00 per gallon discount. So $4.00 x 30 gallons yielded FREE gas valued at $120.00!

So what do you do with the extra fuel you put in the gas cans? You add them to your car’s tank as needed.

By-the-way, I bought three – five gallon gas cans for about $11 each from Home Depot a couple years ago. (I bought a $50 Home Depot gift card from Giant Eagle for the Fuel Perks credit before I bought the cans!) My next fill-up with the full 30 gallons paid for the cans so all future use of the cans was totally bonus gas!

2) GIFT CARDS, GIFT CARDS, GIFT CARDS. That is the primary way of building your Fuel Perks credit. You aren’t limited to buying gift cards for others. Buy them for yourself, too! Giant Eagle has over 130 different retailers to choose from. Home Improvement Stores, Travel, Department Stores, Electronics, Toys, Movie Theaters, Sporting Goods and much more.

Do you buy stuff from Home Depot? We moved a couple years ago and bought ceiling fans and other stuff for our new home. We ended up buying HUNDREDS of $$ of stuff from Home Depot. It’s amazing how fast it adds up (and so do the Fuel Perks)!

Are you an “electronics junkie”? I’ve bought TVs and computers from Best Buy with gift cards. The list goes on. Be sure to check out the list of gift cards available at Giant Eagle at the end of this post and get going!

My favorite category is Restaurants. Check out this handful of eateries you can get cards for:

Applebee’s®, Bob Evans Restaurant®, BucaSM Di Beppo Italian Restaurant®, Carrabba’s Italian Grill®, Chili’s Grill and Bar®, Cold Stone Creamery®, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®, Damon’s Grill®, Dave & Buster’s®, Long Horn Steakhouse®, Macaroni Grill®, Maggiano’s Little Italy®, Mavis Winkle’s Irish Pub®, Max & Erma’s®, Mootown Creamery® Olive Garden®

To see all the cards available, visit:
http://www.gianteagle.com/GiftCards/browse.aspx?cntid=177291

So what do YOU think? Please click the “No Comments” link and add your thoughts or questions! If there are already comments, please add yours.

Win Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards with our fun trivia contests when you become a Facebook “Fan”: http://www.facebook.com/SpectraLight

About us: SpectraLight Photography & Design is located in North Ridgeville, OH – just 10 minutes west of Great Northern Mall and 20 – 25 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Discover more about our photography services: http://www.spectralight.com/photserv.html