About Me

Funny photographer quotes….

No Comments

Here are some funny memes. They’re a little photo geeky but I think they’re funny so I’m sharing.

  • It’s not about the size of the lens, It’s how you use it.
  • I’m about to snap!
  • Photographer because freaking miracle worker is not official job title period
  • What the F…. stop
  • Memory making equipment toting, season planning, photo editing, people watching, smile encouraging, the Event loving, always snapping photographer
  • I’ve been known to flash people
  • The grass is always greener when you crank up the saturation
  • I’m just a hot piece of glass.
  • Cut the Crop!
  • I can freeze time! What’s your superpower?
  • I shoot people and sometimes cut off their heads.
  • Don’t be negative!
  • When life gets blurry adjust your focus
  • Shoot the kids, hang the family, frame the wife

About Me, Photographer's Tips, Wedding Photographer, Wedding Tips

My Editing Process for Weddings

No Comments
Many people think photography is such a great job. I get paid to take photos? Taking photos isn’t even a 10th of my job as a photographer. Most of my time is sitting in front of a computer editing. I know several photographers that shoot and print but I’m not one of those. I think the editing process is as important as taking pictures. 
After shooting an event I go home download and backup all my files. Then I load all those photos into a laptop so I can go through and check focus. Which means I blow up and check thousands of images, to make sure the focus is exactly on the focal point. (When I was in school one of my instructors was nicknamed the focus Nazi. He scared me for life.) 
After the focus check I do a quick run through looking for images that aren’t up to my standards, then batch process for the initial color saturation, rename the files, back up and re-upload. 
At this point I’ve put a couple days of work into the event. Once the files are all re-uploaded color and I go through correct each file. Then I organize the files and upload them oto an online gallery. At this point, I will email my clients and let them know that the gallery is up and they can start picking out their final images and share the gallery with family and friends. 
Once they have made their final selections I will double check their final images, confirm their address and mail them out a disc. 
While my process is very long I really think it’s the best way to ensure that my clients receive quality images. I know most photographers limit their editing and some only spend 4hrs max. Can’t imagine their clients being happy with the final result but….

 

 

 

 

 

About Me, Pet Photography

My Little Zipper Doo

No Comments
Recently I had a lens that went down and wasn’t worth paying to have fixed, so I went all DIY and watched a youtube video opened up the lens and figured out how to fix it myself. When every I buy new equipment or have equipment repaired I have to do a test. Zipper Doo happens to be my test subject 99.9% of the time. I figured I should post a photo or two. I think this lens is going to require more extensive testing but so far so good.

 

About Me, Photographer's Tips

Color Correcting & Calibrating

No Comments
Life for photographers used to be so easy we would simply shoot film, drop it off at a lab, pick up prints and deliver them to you the client.
Now the editing process is very long and tedious but has been done correctly to give you the client quality prints.
After I get done shooting a wedding I immediately download and back up
All my files. Then I load everything on to both my desktop computer and laptop. Typically I spend a day editing down photos looking for closed eyes, checking focus getting rid of doubles. (I overshoot all my weddings). After this is done I organize the shots into categories bride getting ready, groom getting ready, first look, formals, ceremony, and reception. Then I color calibrate my professional NEC monitors so I can see all the colors correctly when I color correct. The reason I color calibrate is because I shoot my entire wedding in a raw format. Raw format is a larger file format that captures a lot more information than the standard JPEG format. Color correcting is a long process it typically takes days. The reason is when I color calibrate I have to adjust the contrast, color casts, shadows, highlights and the mid tones all independently to ensure great prints. 
After I color correct the files I back up and load them all onto an online gallery where you the client can pick out your final selections and share the photos with family and friends. 
Tips: Look for consistency in a photographers work. Have you ever seen a photographers work that seemed washed out or too dark? The reason being is usually because they’re not calibrating their equipment correctly.  Believe it or not, this one thing that I’ve never had a bride ask me but it’s one if the most important steps to loving your wedding photos. 
In addition to calibrating your monitor, you also need the lighting controlled in your workspace. If the lighting is constantly changing in the room you’re working in your going to get inconsistent results. 

About Me

First Day of School…

No Comments

Does anyone else remember being so excited for the first day of school? I remember a few days before my parents would take me back to school shopping and we get new Trapper-Keepers, Jan Sport backpacks, Mechanical Pencils, and Hello Kitty erasers. I remember being so excited I couldn’t sleep the night before. Here is a photo my mom took of my before my first day of school. The yellow paper stuck to me was my bus pass. I always lot my bus pass.

About Me, Photographer's Tips

Color Calibration:

No Comments

Have you ever gotten back a photograph that was either really blue or really orange?

Every photographer should know the importance of color temperature, color calibration and then color correction.
In a Nutshell, Color temperature has to do with the color of the lighting used to illuminate the scene. Two of the best examples are your traditional light bulbs that tend to be orange/yellow and an overcast day that tends to be blue. Professional photographers often have to change their camera settings and use colored gel over their flashes to adjust for the different lighting temperatures and then color correct after their shoot.
When color correcting it is very important that the photographer is able to see the colors correctly through their monitors. All computer screens are different and the screen’s colors tend to shift over time. Which means the photographer has to have a piece of hardware that actually reads the color of the monitor and adjusts the color temperatures. Then when the photographer goes to make a print the photographer will need to apply a print profile to the image which corrects the color for the printers.
Recently I was hired by a business to photograph some products along with these products the colors had to be printed perfectly.
When I look at these images without using the printers profile the colors look really off however the prints are perfect.

About Me

Happy Fathers Day!!!

No Comments

In honor of father’s day here are some photos of me and my dad. My dad was my hero, cheerleader and so much more. I was extremely blessed to have such a great man as my father…

 

 

About Me, Photographer's Tips

Custom Printing Explained…

No Comments

What is Custom Printing?

Custom photo printing is when you get to choose any size, finish, format, crop and the prints are made to perfection. Typically a photographer when offering custom printing will make test prints. Typically test prints are used to check the tone, contrast, and color. When I do a custom print I generally like to give the test prints to my clients.
My clients can order custom prints right off my website and the print will be mail to them in less than two weeks.