New Workshop: Tranquille Farm Fresh Digital Camera Basics & Foundational Photography

I’m very pleased to add to the list of workshops available, the ‘Tranquille Farm Fresh Camera Basics & Foundational Photography’ on most Saturdays at the farm!

This workshop will work as a first come, first serve list.  Sign up with myself or Tranquille Farm Fresh and you will be notified of your secured date.

Topics include: Exposure modes (focusing on manual and aperture priority), focusing techniques, metering modes, utilizing your histogram, jpg vs. raw, file sizes, handling contrast, white balance, equipment information, fill flash and a plethora of other good stuff!

  Times: 9:00 am until approx. 12:30 on most Saturdays.  First workshop: June 1.

Cost: $90 (total) includes follow up information on the material and equipment questions.

Contact: Myself – kfunk@telus.net or   info@tranquillefarmfresh.ca   (Annette)

Hope to see you come out and enjoy a great  workshop at a fantastic locale!

Ballerinas – a photographic journey (16)

I have to be careful when I’m working with people on the street..for obvious reasons  This locale provided the safety aspect as it’s at a 3-way stop, making for slow traffic.  This day, however proved to be challenging in that we were shooting around 5:00; just when people were leaving work in droves, wanting to make it home or to the pub for happy hour.

So, after getting the desired technical aspects correct:  Lighting, composition, positioning and posing we were ready to shoot…but were we?  I think we made about 12 trips out to the cross walk and quickly back again as traffic flow got stronger and stronger.  Add to that people slowing down to see exactly what the heck’s going on in downtown Kamloops with a girl in a tutu!

Clare, from Kelowna, a very gifted young dancer was in town for the Kamloops Festival of Performing Arts, and I was lucky enough to be able to work with her for about an hour or so.  We had discussed this pose earlier and I felt it worked very well and would dominate a street scene that in comparison was quite drab in its late winter state.

Ballerinas – a photographic journey (15)

I’ve been heavily influenced by iconic photographer Joe Mcnally.  His use of light is masterful, the way his personable nature gets his subjects involved is inspiring and his overall execution is flawless.  This latest installment of my Ballerina series hopefully captures some of these attributes.

I had been eyeing this locale in my hometown of Kamloops for a long time and with winter losing its’ grip I was able to consider executing it.  As usual I scouted the day before and found a mess!  The walkway was covered in winter gravel.  Do I wait??  Heck no.  I was at the shoot an hour before my dancer showed up with a push broom and spent about 40 minutes cleaning 75 metres of concrete…hey, it’s what needed to be done.  I’m sure the public thought I was doing community work service for breaking & entering, but I just smiled and chatted with anyone willing to stop.

We had discussed clothing and found the perfect dress, one that lent itself extremely well to a dusk/night shoot in that it ‘expanded’ to catch the light with the poses we wanted to do.

The dancer, Hailey from a local dance studio, was just what I was looking for:  Awesome attitude, hard worker, physically and technically gifted and not a peep about it being just above freezing!

With it nearly completely dark, the only available light was the walkway lamps.  Any other artificial lighting would have been moot due to the lack of space, and it wasn’t something I wanted to add to the mix.

With my amazing Nikon D3s at a ridiculous ISO and 9 frames a second  I was able to capture Hailey in sharp detail at 1/200 sec at the pinnacle of each pose.

 

New for 2013! Personalized photography instruction and coaching

With the success of ‘on location’ workshops in the past few years in association with www.tourismkamloops.com , I’m extremely excited to expand my teaching portfolio to add 1:1, on-line instruction and coaching for 2013.

As I received more advanced questions it became apparent that a personalized approach made complete sense. And this is where I come in!

What exactly am I offering?

I’m taking instruction to the next level of personalized service.  Instruction will cater to individuals’ specific needs, and will include an open, on-line dialogue and (3) 20 minute phone conversations for the duration of the instruction.  During that instructional time there will be ongoing assignments that will be critiqued.

How long is each assignment?

Assignments will be 4 weeks in duration, unless the student wants to add additional weeks, for which an extra fee will be applied.

What areas of photography can be instructed?

With almost 20 years of photographic experience, 12 of those as a full-time photographer and  contributing editor / ‘Assistant Photo Editor’ of Outdoor Photography Canada magazine I am able to handle all your requests, however for the most part topics will consist of: Portraiture,  lifestyle/sport, macro, artificial light, nature and the art of composition,

What is the cost?

Each 4 week instructional period will cost $159.00 plus tax.

What can I expect to ‘take away’ from a course?

1.  A clear understanding of what it is that you can improve upon in your desired area.

2.  Methods and techniques as to how to proceed to make your imagery stronger.

3.  Creative vision that will allow you to process and execute faster and with more clarity.

Do I need any experience?

I cater to any and all photographers, regardless of their experience.  If you want to start with a traditional ’Camera Basics and foundational session’ in a group environment, please see my ’2013 Kamloops and area workshops’ in this blog.

  

Contact me for more information on how to become not just a better photographer, but the best you can be.  I can be reached at kfunk@telus.net or t: 250.377.4054 or c: 250.320.4055

Keys to creating stronger imagery!

This is a question, that surprisingly I don’t get asked enough; how do I create stonger imagery?…I do get asked a lot of execution questions about histograms, contrasty light, grad filters and a host of others, but I really love it when someone jumps right to the meat and potatoes of it and asks, “how do you know when you’ve created something strong?”

Well, this is fairly simple to field actually because I start by saying that there should be an immediate emotional response.  Even today, I look at powerful images from others and am awestruck by how the strength of something captured by a camera can hold so much power.  My stomach reacts, I become extremely focused, I can’t look away and I want to know more about the image.

But how is that accomplished you say?  There are certain elements that consistently come together to formulate the aforementioned reaction:  Simplicity.  Yes, this is often over-looked in creating.  People strive to get as much into the image as they’re feeling at the time.  This is not the best approach.  Try to focus on a subject matter that you feel needs portraying.  It may be a landscape, a flower, a face, it doesn’t matter!  KISS (keep it simple, sista).  By keeping distracting elements away from your subject matter, your images will immediately become stronger.

Compositional balance:  Think of your camera as a teeter-totter when you’re looking through your view-finder.  You should ‘feel’ the balance while viewing.  Not too heavy on one side or the other with subject matter, but a nice balanced feel.  It becomes easier with practise.  Also, for the most part, use your ‘rule of thirds’ to accomplish a pleasing composition.  If you have a ‘grid’ option in your camera’s menu, try it, I love mine.  Not just for composition but horizon lines as well!

Story-telling.  I know, sounds like a children’s novel right?  But, by creating an image that leads the viewer on a visual journey, we’ve immediately piqued their interest big time!  Repetition and leading lines out of the image create a ‘I want more’ effect, and that element is huge!  It doesn’t always present itself, but when it does take advantage of it.  The viewer, most likely won’t even know when they’re so drawn to the image but yet, they’ll be compelled to know more.  Boom, now you’ve got them hooked!

Photography means ‘painting with light’.  Which leads me to the last and one of, if not the most important elements of imagery; light! The quality and emotion of light we use to create our images has an absolutely huge effect on the overall impact and feel of the final product.  Great light outside comes twice a day, dawn and dusk.  There is a ‘golden hour’ at each end of the spectrum.  If you’re trying to improve your imagery this is a prime time to do so.  For other subjects besides landscapes for instance, great light is still imperative and can be found or manufactured, you just have to look for it.  Whether it’s close-up work, portraits or even animals, dynamic lighting will push that image to the next level. 

Combine all the elements that I’ve talked about here, and I guarantee that you will immediately see results.  Don’t fool yourself though, strong imagery takes time and hard work to accomplish.  The more effort you put in, the more you get out.  Sorry for the cliché, but nothing can be more true here.

For more information and examples, go to my website at:  www.kellyfunkphotography.com  I offer a host of workshops that can help you get the most out of your passion.

Cheers, Kelly

Ballerinas – a photographic journey (14)

With winter approaching, and work now giving me some time to build on the Ballerina Series, I was keyed up to create a concept that I had envisioned for quite some time.  Let me get this out there right away: I don’t like winter! I find it suffocating and drawn out…BUT, it does provide me with very unique settings to carry out this series.

Before we got caught in the throws of the white nastiness I wanted to showcase a dancer with a virtual ‘way out’, an escape of winter into whatever world or climate that the viewer imagined.

I had envisioned a pose similar to the one above and I knew immediately that a free flow pose in this ‘take off’ state worked perfectly.  The dancer now had two ways out: To fly or to take the road, either was at her disposal.  This was the main image that I was focused on as it held the dual meaning so well.  The dancer (Morgan) and I agreed though that the area was so cool we wanted to try something else.  The second shot turned out to be a more spontaneous execution, which I was super excited about.  I had brought the luggage but with something entirely different in mind.  The outcome surpassed my expectations!

Until the next Ballerina post!  Cheers, Kelly

Kelly Funk – Real estate photography in Kamloops

It should come as no surprise that real estate, whether it be homes, condos, apartments or commercial properties sell better with imagery.  In short, buyers need a starting point to determine if they’re interested.

 

 

 

Good imagery gets more leads; it’s as simple as that.  I’ve dedicated my work to providing high end material with an emotive quality that captures people’s attention. 

In the competitive world of real estate, having impactful images to accompany a listing is the only way the property will get a second glance.

I also understand profit margins, and for that reason I’ve developed price points that are affordable for the agents.  Whether it be a starter home, or a multi-million dollar commercial property I’m able to work with the seller’s budget.

With 12 years experience in the profession I understand what sells.  Let me help you make it easy to move listings.

kfunk@telus.net

t: 250.377.4054   :250.320.4055