My DC Ladies are part of my life. I went to the MeRa Koh Confidence workshop in October 2011 in Washington and it's been an amazing experience. The best two things I got out of this: the ability to shoot entirely in Manual (it's second nature by now), and the wonderful friendship of all those ladies I met there. I also came away with some serious lens cravings. Anyway. We have a closed Facebook group that is very active, and it's so nice to share everyday photo frustrations and triumphs with a group that is both knowledgeable and gracious. The talent in this group is just mind-blowing, and more than a bit humbling. Leslie of Binkies + Noseprints in DC is one of those talented women. Not only does she take the most wonderful images but she also has seemingly boundless energy. She is extremely creative and always comes up with new ideas and not only that (I come up with new ideas all the time) but she executes those ideas. That's where I usually fall short. A few weeks back, we all read Chris Orwig's photo book "People Pictures". It's a beautiful and inspirational book full of sound advice. It also contains 30 photography exercises. I thought, What a good idea, I should do that one day. And then promptly forgot about it. Leslie, on the other hand, took this idea and ran. Then, she got us to run with her! We'll be posting our results on our blogs every Monday. Follow the links under the image to see the images of the other photographers - I'm really looking forward to see the variety of takes on the challenges.

So, without much ado, my result of exercise no. 1: 10 portraits in 10 minutes.

The goal was to shoot someone for 10 minutes, creating 10 portraits, using only a fixed lens and manual focus. Then, one was to choose one image that captured the subject in an authentic way, without being posed.

I tried it first with Leah which utterly failed. Three-year-olds in my house don't stay on target for 10 minutes. Alan, my oldest, was more cooperative. I made some images I really liked -- I actually did get 10 portraits out of this session! -- but ultimately chose the one below. It catches him like he is right now, on the cusp of adolescence, a bit moody and withdrawn at times, with glimpses of what he will be like as a teenager, his hair all wild and standing up in tufts. I took this image at the very end of the 10 minutes, when he grew bored and didn't want to I didn't do much to the image, just adjusted the contrast and exposure a bit. Tomorrow, I will post two edits, one in BW which I adore and will probably put up on my wall.

The shoot felt frantic and chaotic (I had all four kids underfoot) and maybe I should have chosen a more composed subject. Manual focus was hard! I caught myself focusing with the center mark and then recomposing - which is what I usually with auto focus. It's not necessary with manual focus, of course, but it's like muscle memory, almost impossible to suppress. I shot the images inside Alan's bedroom which has great light but is small. I was backed up against the wall and should have lowered my aperture to get both eyes into focus. I tend to shoot tight, and I tend to shoot with a shallow DOF. It does make for difficult focusing. So his left eye is a bit soft. Hm.

Do click on the links under the image to see the results of the others in the group. Enjoy and come back next week for another installment!

Binkies + Noseprints Abbey Road Designs GSG Photography Elaine Janet Lizzy Slade DC Group -- the results of those members without a blog are posted here