:: exercise #1 results {pictures in 10 min} | 30 people pictures ::

For our first "People Pictures" exercise, we challenged ourselves by getting back to the basics -- shooting in manual, manual focus & short session duration (10 minutes!). To me, the hardest part was getting well-composed, meaningful shots while concentrating on the technical aspects of picture-taking.

Since I needed to challenge myself, I decided against using my "usual test subjects" (i.e. my children!); instead, I asked someone who has never been in front of my camera before. Luckily, one of my beautiful sister-in-laws just came to visit us from London -- so I roped her into helping me this week :-)

50 mm, ISO 800, F/1.8, 1/60 sec

This image is SOOC, except I cropped a little tighter and converted it to black and white. As you can see, the image is a little soft -- manual focus is HARD! Especially when you are as myopic as me. Who knows if my prescription is up to date :-) In any case, I took this picture while we were just chatting during lunch at a restaurant. We haven't seen Irene for over a year -- she had been working non-stop on her PhD dissertation at the London School of Economics. This accomplished anthropologist (and musician) -- who specializes in issues concerning the Middle East -- passed her exams with flying colors this Fall and is now a professor at Cambridge University. My children are very lucky to have such a positive role-model in their lives.

My intent was to be able to capture the joy of being with her family and the relief that I imagine she feels after such an intense academic program. My son helped by sitting in her lap and being his hilarious self, making his Auntie I laugh out loud. Getting the proper exposure was challenging-- we were sitting about 15 feet away from the nearest window, and Irene was back lit during most of the exercise. I took it slowly, and made sure that I'd gotten the proper manual settings first before I started shooting. On a typical shoot, I talk to my subjects quite a bit. I find that with adults, a normal conversation with them while I shoot makes for genuine, meaningful images. So I tried doing that this time as well. By the time I got this shot, Irene had no idea I had already begun my 10-minute exercise.

To see this week's results from other photographers, please visit:

Group -- http://dc2011women.blogspot.com/
Abbey Road Designs -- http://abbeyroaddesigns.blogspot.com/ 
Claudia Muir Photography -- http://claudiamuirphotography.com/blog/
GSG Photography -- http://gsgphotography.wordpress.com/
Elaine Janet Photography– http://elainejanet.com/
The New Diplomat's Wife -- http://thenewdiplomatswife.blogspot.com/
What Eyes See Daily -- http://whateyesseedaily.blogspot.com

Be sure to leave comments and feedback! We'd love to hear from you! Please check back here tomorrow for Exercise #2!