bradley halladay | lancaster commercial photographer | halladay photography

Wedding :: Shannan & Seth

HalladayPhotography — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:46:13 +0000

Back at the beginning of June I had the opportunity to work for Nicola Herring Photography and 2nd shoot Shannan and Seth’s wedding down in Maryland. In light of hurricane Sandy, many probably don’t remember the tornado and flooding we had at the beginning of June. Shannan and Seth’s wedding was during one of those storms, and the reception was outside too!

Follow this link to see more pictures and more of the story from Nicola’s blog post…http://nicolaherringphotography.com/weddings/shannan-seth-maryland-wedding-photographer

Self-Portraits – Forget your timer…

HalladayPhotography — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:32:07 +0000

So many photographers have two reactions when trying to take an image that includes them: (1) Set a timer (2) Remote trigger. While I’ve used both and I think there is a time and a place for each, I’ve found what I think is a better solution. Interval Timer Shooting is often thought of for use with time-lapse photography, but I use it for self-portraits. The disadvantage of shooting with a set timer is you have one shot. I’m sure we’ve all either seen someone or been the one, that had to run back to the camera and check the image, then run back and take another, because someone blinked or a kid wasn’t looking. If you use a remote trigger, well then you are holding the trigger in your hand, awkward.

Interval Timer Shooting provides a couple benefits. Because you can program your camera to shoot multiple exposures, it allows you to hopefully get a good shot in a series of shots, without the need for checking your image after every shot. This past weekend I was asked to shoot my extended family picture. Usually this can be a painful process and we all are grumpy by the time we get anything organized. The first shot below, took a total of about 15 seconds to shoot 18 exposures and then verify that 1 of the exposures had everyone looking/smiling. End result, a good family picture, and no grumpy family! (well at least not from the picture taking process)

Interval timer shooting is also good with kids. After the first image, the click of the shutter often grabs the kids curiosity and they look, just as the next exposure is captured. It also provides you as the photographer an opportunity to interact and have a dynamic photo shooting experience. The series below is from my Christmas picture last year. I set my interval to take a picture every 2 seconds and take something like a total of 99 images, which was about 3 1/2 minutes of shooting. It allowed us to interact with each other and provided for a lot of funny pictures!

So next time you need to take any pictures including yourself, think about using the Interval Timer Shooting. *NOTE* Canon shooters, I’m sorry but I don’t know what Canon calls this or where in your menu it would be. If anybody knows, just leave a comment below.

Photography Block and Google+

HalladayPhotography — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:53:58 +0000

I was recently asked in regards to posing, “I get through a few ideas and start blanking out. Does this ever happen to you?”. Sometimes as photographers we find ourselves getting stuck in a posing rut, posing block. I know it happens to me. This method is my way of trying to be prepared for a shoot, it may not work for everyone, but I’ve found it to very beneficial. I used to have a collection of images on my computer separated by categories and I would print out a contact sheet and keep it in my back pocket, but recently I’ve upgraded to using Google+ and my smart phone. With Google+ I can organize my idea images online in private galleries that give me easy access from anywhere in the world.

Before a shoot or a wedding, I’ll look through my images to see what images I feel will fit the client and the setting for the shoot. I’ll select the images I like and add them to a new gallery titled after the event. Now this isn’t a checklist of poses, but a collection of ideas that I can review between ‘sets’ in a shoot. I’ve also used my idea list to show a model the pose I was trying to describe. With the Google+ app you can easily interact with your galleries on your smart phone. This allows you to take your idea ‘book’ with you everywhere you go.

If you find yourself entering a shoot where you won’t have access to the internet, just download your photos to your phone for offline viewing. Google+ makes that easy by giving you a download button.

This method isn’t designed to be a crutch, you can’t completely rely on it, but use it as a tool or an assistant. I hope you can find it as beneficial as I have.

SENIOR :: Connor

HalladayPhotography — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:40:07 +0000

Connor is a man with a lot of talents. For starters he’s a first chair trumpet player, then add all his sports: basketball, swimming, track & field, basketball and soccer. I’m sure there’s another one I’m missing. Connor graduated last week and is scheduled to go to NC State next year. Yeah ACC!!! If anyone knows me, they’d know I’m a huge Duke fan. I have a lot of respect for the ACC.

The weather tried to threaten us, but it turned out to be a nice evening. Congrats Connor on completing high school!

Scooters

HalladayPhotography — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:57:41 +0000

A couple weeks back, we had a fun time with Country Road Scooters. Look back at my post on Country Road Cycles. We tried several dates to get this shoot in, the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. We had a fun time squeezing in this shoot.

Open Shade – [POC]

HalladayPhotography — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:27:48 +0000

POC – Proof of Concept

I wanted to show a cheap and relatively easy way to create ‘open shade’ on a sunny day at high noon. In the image below you can see how harsh the light is: intense highlights, harsh shadows, very contrasty. I’m sure as a photographer you find yourself in situations where dealing with time limitations you might have to shoot in such awful light.

You can solve this problem with a California Sunbounce. It will only set you back $700. Instead why not try a DIY version ($25ish): PVC pipe and ripstop nylon. It’s like a 4′ x 8′ softbox! You can find ripstop nylon at your local fabric store. My wonderful wife sewed the edges and added elastic on the corners to quickly slip over the frame. I’ve had this diffusion panel for a while and have found other great uses for it, such as a backdrop. Want to create a nice high-key white background outside, just place this panel between the sun and your subject.

Now, this image isn’t anything special, but that’s why it’s a ‘Proof of Concept’. I just wanted to show how you can create soft flattering light at a hard time of day.

Surf Surf Surf Surf

HalladayPhotography — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:43:39 +0000

Took some time off and spent a week in sunny Florida with my family. My typical vacation setup is a D300 with the 17-55mm, however this year I tried something different. I shot everything with a D700 (removed battery grip) 50mm f/1.4. This setup is small and compact, but forced me to look more creatively for shots since I was shooting with a prime lens.

The picture below is a 2011 | 2012 shot from the bench I proposed to my wife 7 years ago. The image on the left was shot with a 17-55mm and the shot on the right with the 50mm. Both images where shot by an amateur (after I set all the settings). But you can see the 50mm is sharper, and also appears less distorted.

2012 First Snow

HalladayPhotography — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:50:26 +0000

We had our first significant snow fall of the year on Saturday. What fun it was to see my three year old enjoy the snow. My son, who is only 18 months, was not a fan. Kate enjoyed getting pulled around in the snow on the sled, but then wanted to pull the sled instead.

She piled the sled full of snow and sticks and towed it around the yard.

This is probably one of my all time favorite pictures of Kate. I used a special trick to create the utmost cooperation in my model, hot chocolate! Yep, I promised her hot chocolate, instant perfect model! So cute, even at 3 she’s a sucker for chocolate. The hat was designed by By Jackie Lee.

Merry Christmas

HalladayPhotography — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:21:24 +0000

With 1 week left until Christmas, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for a great 2011!

Family :: The Kings

HalladayPhotography — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:23:55 +0000

If you’ve been following my photography for any length of time, you know I don’t normally shoot families. However for close friends, I can make exceptions.

Baby A is already a couple months old and beginning to smile and show expressions. He wasn’t too sure about me at first, glaring at me like I was crazy! He’s probably got a point, but he eventually came around and we got some smiles before he wore out and fell asleep!

I love in the collection above, the bottom right image, where Baby A looked up and found his Mommy.