Photography Review: 2011

2011 has been a crazy year! I graduated from UCLA, got a job, moved cities and got my own apartment. 2011 was also a big year for my photography. Having the opportunity to photograph so many gorgeous, happy, brave and inspiring people was fantastic!!! I learned something from every shoot. It was a blast getting to know everyone.

Here are some of the photos I took in 2011:

Becca Barrett Photography

 

Becca Barrett Photography

 

Becca Barrett Photography

 

Becca Barrett Photography

Becca Barrett Photography

 

Becca Barrett Photography

Becca Barrett Photography

Becca Barrett Photography

Becca Barrett Photography

 

Becca Barrett Photography

Okay, so I didn’t take that last photo. My sister did. But it is my favorite pic of me this year, at my graduation. I can not wait to see what 2012 brings!

My Life in ipod Photos

I don’t carry my digital SLR around with my everywhere…I’m worried I’ll break it. But I do carry around my ipod and that has a camera in it. I was looking at the photos and I thought they told a interesting story about my life in the last 3 months. It shows things that are important to me, really random moments that I had to take a photo of and cute/inspirational moments that needed photos too.

I would be really curious to see other peoples photos off their ipod. I think it really tells us something about our lives. What is important to us, what we think is funny etc.

The photo below is me and my little sister. She is VERY important to me. She is my confidant, friend, and rock. She is younger than me but so much smarter. She is probably also funnier… which is why she is trying to eat my head in this photo.

This is my puppy (my old puppy). Her name is Val, which is short for Valentine. She is actually scared of cameras. She is scared of cameras because of a incident with me…I took a photo of her and the flash went off. Now anytime a camera pops out she RUNS away. However, she doesn’t know my ipod is a camera…WAHAHAHAHA

This is just a random photo from UCLA. Someone put bubble bath mix in the school fountain…I thought it was funny.

I LOVE coffee!!! And it’s finials week…so lots of coffee will be consumed this week and the next.

This was a really inspirational message left outside my gym. I had to take a picture.

This is a photo of my hair struggle. I have really curly hair. It can be wild and a mess. I try shampoos, creams and a heavy duty hair straightener to get it under control…it kinda works.

Arah McManamna: Anytime

Arah is a photographer, friend and fellow Bruin. She was kind enough to offer to take some photos of me. You can see one of those photos up on the top of website. I LOVE what she did. But of course I couldn’t let her take some photos of me without getting some of her!

Here are the results of that shoot. While we were shooting EVERY photographer in LA was at UCLA. This might sound like an exaggeration but it’s not. Their were about five other photographers out their shooting. Both Arah and I are newbie photographers and it was interesting (and a bit intimidating) being around professional photographers and all their fancy equipment.

I am amazed by Arah’s confidence in front of the camera! Later when I post the photos she took of me, you will see a lot of awkward smiles. Arah however was a star. She would naturally smile, pose and have fun with the shoot. She could also do a fierce serious face too!

 

laying down on the grass was totally her idea. I think it trued out wonderful!

 

 

Can I just say, I LOVE her hair!!!!!!!

 

25 Things I’ve Learned About Photography

1) Shoot in RAW. Always.
2) Animals don’t always cooportate when you are taking pictures.
3) The same thing applies for people.
4) Look at other photographers work and learn from them.
5) I HATE grain. ISO 200 or even 100 is my best friend 🙂
6) Be accepting of feedback.
7) Don’t throw out your little point and shoot camera just because you have a fancy new DSLR.  This is the biggest mistake I ever made! A big honken DSLR at a party is a bit odd.
8 ) Don’t be afraid of manual settings.
9) Camera backpacks are annoying.
10) Lighting is everything! If you have too much or too little light you are in trouble.
11) I ❤ comments and thus I should comment more on other blogs!
12) Don’t put your camera strap around your neck. Wrap your camera strap around your wrist three times and hold on to it.
13) Be able to instruct models on how to pose.
14) Having a snazzy photography website doesn’t make you a photographer.
15) Take several shots of the same image.  – I mean really, always have a backup.
16) Try taking your photo from a different angle. See if it’s more interesting.
17) The only way you get better at photography is to take more pictures.
18) The rule of thirds is a good rule.
19) Show your photos to everyone! Use Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs!!!
20) Don’t be afraid to ask people to model.
21) The light right after sunrise or right before sunset  is the most beautiful thing in world.
22) National Geographic Photographers don’t have real jobs…so being a photographer means a lot of freelancing.
23) It’s better to underexpose than overexpose.
24) As much as you might like someone elses style, don’t copy it.  That is like being that kid in high school that dresses however the popular kids dress like. It’s better to be yourself.
25) Carrying a tri pod up a hiking trail is really impractical. Really.

Random Pic During Dead Week: The Roof of the Legion of Honor

It’s dead week at UCLA. That means I have to actually do all the reading that I have been putting off. Thus there will be a lot less picture taking, blogging, tweeting and facebooking.

I also left the cord that connects my camera to my PC at home. So I literally can’t up load pictures.

Good luck to everyone with finials!!! Hope you like this picture (it was taken a long time ago)