Author Archives: Donna Turner Ruhlman

I have yet to set up my strobes in 2011 because we have had snow, gray skies, and this window in our dinning room that has shutters. I keep this plant stand nearby because it is the perfect height for letting light from the snow outside, which is like a big soft box, to fall on the subject at a low angle. I can use the open shutter as a bounce card, and control the strength of that light by opening or closing the slats. So see—there is something to appreciate about our cold winters. Happy shooting!

It was a beautiful day here in Cleveland when Carri visited and we sat on our porch and enjoyed all that you see here on this board with a nice red wine. When the sun rays lit up her's jelly, I knew I wanted to recreate that light for a photo. If I'd taken it with the available sunlight right then, not only would it have been a bore, but it would have been very contrasty and would have a shallow depth of field because I would be hand holding my camera. So after we were done, I took the board and brought it inside. Using a spot strobe, very low,  I back lit the jelly and used a soft fill strobe in front.  I  recreated the natural light I'd seen ...

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The photo on the right was chosen over the photo on the left because it's more pleasing to look at. Why? That one chip I've marked keeps the viewers eye in the photo as opposed to that marked chip on the right that leads the eye out of the frame. It would be hard to go wrong photographing a subject like this. But even great color and texture can be less than successful if the composition isn't all it can be. Happy shooting!

We've had some discussion around here about what size photo files we should be uploading onto the blog. There are varying opinions on acceptable quality—mine being I want high quality because I want my photos to look good. But I do know that the bigger files slow our site down–so what quality am I willing to accept? Let's take a look at smaller files. This image of Doug is a good one because there is a lot of important information (his face) in a small area, whereas the rest of the photo (grass, rocks & barn) will suffer less with smaller files.

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When we first arrived on Arron Miller's farm he was standing next to his outdoor oven stoking the fire. We didn't have much time to interview him, get photos & eat a terrific mandatory lunch—so my photography couldn't be the priority. When you're in a situation that prevents you from directing the subject—you just need to shoot . . . and shoot and shoot. I had taken hundreds of images when luckily, right before we left, the interview bought us out to his finishing field where I knew in one image I could convey—Arron Miller "Grass Fed Beef Farmer." The others were taken earlier and don't say that—but you better have them for back up—or for down the road when you need a different (unpublished) photo ...

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Here is the original photo to M's post. I would never use photos of other peoples kids anywhere. Never. The decision to post photographs of kids on the internet, in my opinion, is to be made by the parents and the kid. Yes-I said the kid. I still remember the total embarrassment as a kid when my parents had friends and family over and presented a slide show—remember Kodak Carousels? I was 8 years old at the time and up flashed an image of a naked me in the bath tub with a soapy pointed hairdo. I was mortified—and to this day will never forgive my parents for that. Happy responsible shooting & using!

There's not a lot to say about this photo technically—there was a nice soft light on our pretty stone walk so I decided to use it. You can tell I'm not into this assignment—looks kinda lazy— and I now know why I am so happy not to have to photograph the CSA haul every week. I do it on Saturday morning—early! And I've been enjoying my Friday nights a bit too much lately. So—here's to sleeping in on Saturdays! Happy sleeping!

I didn't have a photo of the Chipotle-Corn Ciabatta without flour, so I'll use these photos of Michael's Multi-Grain Bread to show how a little dusting of flour can add texture, and in this case, contrast to a photo as well. Because the bread's color is similar to the board, the white of the flour also helps to separate the two and also contrasts more with the dark lines of the rack. Happy shooting!

When a food photograph makes you hungry, there's a good chance the food looks juicy. Think of a photo of an apple and then think of a photo of that apple just after being cut and the juice is dripping down the knife and skin. To make sure you get the most shine in your photo—get your main light (whether sunlight or bulb) coming from the side or back. What your essentially doing is capturing the reflection of the light off the water or oil and bouncing it back directly into your lens. Too much can cause hot spots, so be sure to take a bunch, varying your angle slightly, to get just the right amount. Happy Shooting!

Normally we pick up our CSA share between 9-11 on Sat. mornings—but this morning nobody in this house who has a driver's license was in any shape to go get it (our friend Blake is visiting)—so our good friend Stu picked it up for us and was rewarded with a great Michael breakfast. The thought of doing another photograph of this stuff along with a hangover motivated the words to come from my mouth, "Stu—don't move." Then—Click (with my Lumix point & shoot camera) and here we have our week 18 CSA photo done—and now I'm going back to bed.