Wedding Sneak Peeks - Plus Things I Learned At This Wedding

Life has calmed down a bit for us. My little guys is starting pre pre school soon and my health issues are starting to resolve. Thank goodness because I booked this wedding some time ago. It's for the couple whose engagement photos I shot way way back when. I wanted to share them here along with some other tips I learned while doing this wedding:

Here are just a couple of my favorite shots in a slideshow...



Some things I learned:

1. Always have a ton of batteries and more memory cards than you think you will need.

2. Shoot in RAW as much as possible especially if you aren't sure of the lighting or have a fast paced day.

3. Make a kit with double sided tape, sewing needles and white thread, deoderant, breathmints, small scissors and whatever else you may think the bride may need. Sometimes you have to jump in and save the day. I had to fix a flower bouquet and a dress.

4. Have a game plan (and a back up game plan). Visit the church, where the after shots will be taken and the reception hall ahead of time. Get an idea of what shots/poses you want to take and when.  I would have been lost without doing that. The church was extremely dark so I had to rent a faster lens, the reception hall had a mansion attached to it with one of the coolest fireplaces that otherwise I would have never known existed (and produced some of the best pictures of the day).  I had 20 minutes to shoot at the house ahead of time (when I thought we would have an hour) and 25 minutes between the church and reception. I had a game plan as to what shots I was taking, had everyone lined up and ready to go. Had I not had a game plan, I would have been sunk.

Once my laptop is back from the shop, I will do some screen prints of photoshop processing (easy) for this volume of photos. I took 1600 pictures. 1200 of which I decided were keepers. I'll also share how I did my workflow too. I think that I took the long way around but it's a learning experience for me. I have never taken and processed that many pictures before.

More Free Photography Classes!!!

There are so many workshops out there, however, they are usually expensive. So what does the rest of us do when you want to learn more about photography or post-processing? Get on the internet and look for freebies. I just found some great online and FREE classes that I wanted to share with you:

You can go to http://h30187.www3.hp.com/all_courses.jsp?hplcpsession.id=636bc5a7669f2a9af89a406faf6f to enroll and take free photography classes from HP.

There are over 100 different courses you can take from post-processing, composition, photoshop and even general business courses (unrelated to photography).

I can't wait to learn some more about Photoshop! Check out some more free workshops I posted about HERE from Creative Live

Sneak Peek at the Beach Shots SOOC

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday weekend....I finally got a chance to pull some of the beach shots from last weekend off the old CF card:) My laptop is in the shop due to a virus, so I don't have access to my photoshop but hubs graciously let me use his computer. I figured I would post the SOOC (Straight out of camera shots) no cropping, adjusting the white balance (I admit, I completely flaked on the white balance and just used auto as you can tell) or anything! Eek...let's see if I followed the tutorials I posted about HERE

On Assateauge Island Day 1 - We went out midday which is tough because the son was almost directly overhead, giving some really harsh shadows. It was also ridiculously sunny, which is normally what you want when you go to the beach... but it's not what you want for beach pictures. A slightly overcast day would have worked out much better. Early morning or late afternoon right before dusk would have been perfect but nap time and bedtimes wouldn't cooperate so I made due with what we had.

 This shot was little mans first dip in the ocean. Doesn't the water look so blue??? I can assure you it wasn't. I don't venture out in water that you can't see your feet in... I was permanently spoiled by Key West!

I think I did OK with the picture on the left. I will probably do a curves adjustment and crop a little, but overall not a bad candid pic.

I used my husbands pants as my point for exposure metering since the sand and ocean and little mans shirts are so light and hubs shirt is black... The pants were the closest I could get to gray since I didn't have a gray card with me.

 Love this pic (going to get rid of the people in the background)... the surfer girl was a lot of fun... we were talking about the pending "appocalypse" that was supposed to occur that day and we agreed that we couldn't think of a better thing to do on our last day on earth than spend it at the beach... but I'm still glad I'm here now to talk about it:)

What a difference a day makes... below was our next day at the shore on the Ocean City MD beach... The day was overcast so the sand was more true to color, the shadows weren't so harsh and there was no squinting from looking into the sun. Perfect day for pictures. These were taken at the same time of day believe it or not.

There are so many more... I am thinking about posting to a photo share sight but right now here are the ones we will be using soon to discuss post processing and creative cropping. As soon as we get my laptop back, I can start post processing...I think the last two are slightly underexposed, so I will fix that, too.

Things I would have done (or done better) next time:

Bought a Polarizing filter - it would have made the sky and ocean "pop"

Used my flash to fill in some of the shadows to try to get rid of the "racoon eye effect"

Used a reflector to try to get rid of some of the harsh shadows

Changed the time of day of the shoot... Dusk and dawn would have added a warm hue to the skin tones.

Let me a comment to know what you think. When we do the post processing tutorial, I'll include all the data like what exposure and aperture I used.

Free Photography Workshops Online!

I just participated in the free live seminar with Creative Live for Food Photography with Penny De Los Santos. It was fantastic. I didn't get to watch the whole seminar, however, I did get enough out of it to learn some new food photography tips. I just received an email from Creative Live - they are having more free Photography seminars and I thought I would share the info!

Yes they are free - when you watch them live. They usually replay them late in the evening for free as well with other time zones. If you want to watch it after the fact or a copy of the DVD, there is a fee for the workshop. The setup is basic. It's a live webinar with an audience. There are places to log on their site so that you can chat with other people who are watching and another spot to ask questions. There are moderators that are reviewing the questions that are in the room with the speaker. There is a live audience actually taking the workshop in person. If you have a flexible schedule, these are great.

Here are the list of the future workshops:

June 10th and 11th  
     Doug Landreth, Artistic Post Production
July 29 - 31   
     Lighten up and shoot - Street Photography
August 26-28 
    Mark Wallace: Anatomy of a Photoshoot
September 9-10
    Tamara Lackey: Taking Care of Business
October 7-9 
    David Nightengale: Dramatic Images and Practical HDR *** I
    have been wanting to do HDR photography forever, can't wait
    for this one!
October 21-23 
   Rick Sammon Photography Weekend

I plan to attend each one... This is a great way to get workshop training but without the price tag... The site to get started and register is HERE... Remember you want to ENROLL not purchase. The current available courses to attend for free are listed first. You will have to create an account and give your email and that's it:) Enjoy!!!

Beach Vacation Time - How to take great photos on the beach!

We haven't been on a vacation in years so when my dad and stepmom asked us to share their shore rental this weekend, we were all in! My mom is coming in from western PA to stay with gram and our dog and we are driving until the map turns blue.... I wanted to get some beach photography experience in so I decided to lug all of my equipment along. I've been researching some tips to use when photographing on the beach. Since there is harsh lighting at times and also the sand is sometimes an unwanted reflector, it may be challenging.

Here are some links to articles that I found interesting...

10 Beach Photography Tips

How to Take Beach Photos 

Photography on the Beach

I'm definately picking up a polarizing filter before we go to give those rich sky tones and water hues...can't wait to share some pics with you next week when we get home!!!

I'm Back in Action.... Is anyone still out there?

Little Man is not so little anymore!

Hopefully there are some of you still out there… I have missed everyone! Photography has taken a back seat in my life the last year and I decided to put the growing of my business on hold to take care of my aunt, who I have mentioned in the blog in the past… She was battling cancer and the cancer won. The last year has been spent taking care of her, my son – who we found out had minor developmental delays and who has two therapy sessions a week, my gram who is still with us and is slowly declining due to dementia. I found myself barely being able to get out of the house, let alone work on growing a photography business. So I decided to take a breath and focus on my family first. Unfortunately we lost my aunt the beginning of this year to a long battle with cancer and 3 weeks later lost my husband’s brother at 27 to complications with his lupus. I began this fog for months which I have just climbed out of. I had a cold that lasted for months and could barely get out of bed. I found out I might have Rheumatoid arthritis which is a scary prospect and until the rheumatologist confirms it I refuse to believe it (even though my bloodwork and joints tell me otherwise), but most of all I think I just checked out mentally. There was no pressing matters or worries anymore. No running a million places or hoping for miracle cures. There was just silence. For seven years, I have taken care of my husband’s grandmother and aunt and the last two and a half my little man but never myself. It’s been a blur of doctors, therapists, ER visits, chemotherapy, and now funerals. Now there are only occasional checkups and little man is now cleared of therapy and is flourishing. I had been contributing to the deals blog and trying to make some connection to the outside world because I was starting to feel like a recluse, however, my efforts were futile. I realized that I missed photography and people who shared the love of photography… In January at the height of what was happening, I realized I hadn’t picked up my camera in months. I hadn’t taken a picture or looked at a tutorial, wrote in this blog, or even logged on Clickin Moms which used to be part of my daily routine and I was extremely sad. Before I couldn’t imagine a life without photography and for months I had been living it without even realizing it. I have been taking pictures for decades almost involuntarily. My camera was an extension of myself, it was part of who I was, it was my faithful companion but in the craziness of the last year, I put it down and forgot to pick it back up again.


So I have decided to start back up again and immerse myself with learning more about photography and sharing it with you all. I've decided to find some happiness in the craziness that life has thrown at us.  I just bought myself a continuous light kit (so I can master the studio lighting) that I just got off of ebay and some new lenses. I have even some events booked for friends and friends of friends. I have a huge idea list and lots of deals to share with you…. So hopefully you all can forgive me for being gone so long and share this journey with me:)

Jen

PPA Membership - my thoughts

When I decided to become a photographer and do it for profit, I weighed the option of joining PPA. I ended up doing it. I get a newsletter, Professional Photographer Magazine (which I personally love - they have articles from real photographers who have small studios and they are very candid about struggles, what they have tried, what worked/what didn't), and a ton of discounts. I got my equipment insurance and liability insurance which was completely affordable. Even if you are just doing this as a part time gig or hobby, doesn't hurt to get liability insurance. What if you went to someones house (even a friends) set up your light stand and it fell on something and broke it or worse it fell on one of their children. I think I have a million or something like that in liability. More than enough for non-studio. Plus if you ever plan on shooting a wedding, youmay need this for the venue. The wedding that I am doing in September, I contacted the facility to find out some information about it and set up a tour (so I can see conditions/lighting) and they required it....

They also have an agreement with Fed Ex where you can get an acct and get their discount on shipping. I am still working out the application with Fed Ex but it is soooo much cheaper than going to the local Fed Ex store.

You have access to Webinars (I love webinars) You never know what life brings so attending a workshop is impossible. I learned this as I had to cancel my flight for Launch ( i am still upset about this - I won in a contest and was soooo bummed) when my aunt who lives with us, her chemo was rescheduled for the day I was leaving. My son got fifths disease and ended up in the ER the day before I was attending Ana Brandt's (love her) maternity workshop in NYC which I paid for. Yes my husband and I do have bad luck in some things. That's why I love Online courses and webinars. I can take it in my PJ's in the comfort of my on home while my son is watching Wheel of Fortune (his new favorite show). A lot are free - some have a small fee for members.

They also have a resource section that has sample forms, contracts, and important business information.

Worth the money? Depends... I feel like it has been a huge benefit to me, however, If you are just in it for fun, look around the site http://www.ppa.com/ and see if it is for you:)