Look Back – Is the Best Shot Behind You?

On our Disney Cruise vacation, they announced that we would be arriving in Tortola (BVI) near sunrise, and the view of the ship pulling into port would be worth getting up for.  I was the only one in my family interested (no surprise there).

Walking around on the upper deck with a handful of other passengers at shortly after 6am, I looked over the front of the ship as we approached the islands.  The view was pretty, but not spectacular, mostly because the beautiful sunrise was behind the ship.  The “approaching” shot I had envisioned was not there.

Initial view approaching Tortola - www.tressiedavis.com

Growing bored, I turned and walked toward the back of the ship, and noticed immediately a better view was behind us.  Adjusting my camera settings for the more intense light and stunning color, my next shots evoke an entirely different feeling and memory of that morning – and my images do not do it justice.

Look back - the better view may be behind you - www.tressiedavis.com

Once the sun rose high enough in the sky, I again moved toward the front of the ship to catch our final approach to Tortola.  Was it worth getting up for?  Absolutely – a beautiful beginning to the day.

View Approaching Tortola - Disney Fantasy - www.tressiedavis.com

These three very different images were taken in the span of 30 minutes or so.  Lesson learned – sometimes it’s a good idea to look back…before facing forward once again.

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Softball Banner

This past spring I was asked to create a softball banner for my daughters team.  For the record, I am in general not a photographer who does composites, and had never created a banner like this – it was a little nerve wracking!  The first thing I did was pay a visit to my favorite template designers site – Ashe Design and selected “Stormy Arena” which I thought best fit the photos I had previously taken of the Hurricanes softball team (in addition to matching their name!).

Working with the coach, the team image was selected and I set to work masking it into the template.  Not as easy as it seems like it should be, but there are great tutorials on the Ashe Design site.

Creating a Composite Image

Once my image was added to the template I modified the text, added the girls and coach names, removed raindrops from awkward places, blended small areas that were not quite right and modified the size.  The Ashe Design template had separate layers for everything and it was incredibly easy to modify the composite to get the image EXACTLY how I wanted it by moving components/masking/changing the opacity/etc.  I was SO pleased with the results, and it looked amazing when printed.  The girls loved their banner!!!

Softball Banner - 2015 Hurricanes Fastpitch 10u www.tressiedavisphotography.com

 

My first love as a photographer will always be portraits, but I have to admit that I really had a good time with this.  Also Ashe Design rocks 🙂

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

She’s a Photographer

I released a relaxed exhale as we left the cruise ship and began our walk down the path to the beach, enjoying the happy laughter of our kids as they raced ahead, cool breeze flowing through my hair when…”excuse me, will you take our picture?”.  I awkwardly accepted the offered point and shoot and even more awkwardly try to figure out how it works as my dear husband says “you picked the right person, she’s a PHOTOGRAPHER“.

I wanted to slap him.

I don’t know why I am so uncomfortable with the title being blurted out like that. Is it because I perceive that other people will assume I should know how to work ALL cameras as I stupidly fumble with theirs?  Is it because I know in this moment, this light, this location they will get nothing more than a snapshot (some photographer, they will think when they review the photo) or is it in fear of the dreaded “me too!” As every Tom, Dick and Sally is now a “professional photographer”?  Or horror – if they really ARE a photographer, are they secretly judging me by the quality of their requested snapshot?

At that moment, it was a little of all of the above I think.

Am I a snob?  Maybe. Sometimes. But paradoxically I am also supremely insecure about my own abilities and wonder what my place is in the photography world.  Permanently ensnared between confidence and insecurity, flowing one way or the other with the wind – I’ve heard enough stories to know that I am not the only photographer/artist to feel this way.

So the next time I’m on vacation and I am the one that stops an unsuspecting passerby with “excuse me, will you take a picture of us?”, and she looks at me awkwardly as her husband pipes up “you asked the right person, she’s a PHOTOGRAPHER!’, I will smile warmly and say “me too”.

Riley and me in Grand Cayman (2011)
Riley and me in Grand Cayman (2011)
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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.