Engagement Session was located at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at Cal State Long Beach.
Engagement Photographer
Toddler Photographs
This was baby Boyd’s first photo shoot! Photographers have always complained about taking pictures of babies. Mostly because you can never get babies to do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it. Shyloh was a very patient baby but like most babies didn’t want to pose for the camera. So I gave up trying to pose her and just shot her doing her own thing. Babies are so cute(.) I found if I just left her alone I could capture her personality better. I love these photos and I’m sure her mother will keep them forever.
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| From Kids |
OMG SARA!!!!!
Thank you so much…I just flipped thorugh them really quick here at work and they are wonderful =) I am soooooo excited!!!!! I owe you big time you are the best!!! Hope you are having a good week and maybe see you sometime soon??
THANKS AGAIN YOU ARE AMAZING…..
Kris
Photographer vs. Photoshop
There used to be a world before Photoshop. Photoshop didn’t always exist and photographers had to be able to get the shot in camera.
Photographers that include photoshop in their wedding packages are doing one of a couple things…
– Lying
– Don’t have enough experience to know the amount of time it takes to retouch
– Have no business so they have plenty of time to Photoshop.
– Or charge a fortune and out source the work
The truth is no photographer has enough time to Photoshop every image for every wedding. Here is how I know on average it takes me about an hour to do basic retouching on a single image. My standard package includes 400 images on a disc. If I were to include retouching it would take me 400 hours per wedding to do retouching. Which would mean each wedding if I were only putting in 40 hour weeks would take me 10 weeks.
People always ask me if I include retouching? I do for albums and prints but not for my standard package which includes digital negatives. If you feel like you need retouching on a couple images I charge $35 per hour. To be honest, if you look through my online profile nothing has been retouched. I used to have an image where I retouched out a stop sign out but it’s not up anymore. I think a wedding photographer shoot know enough about lighting, camera angles and lens distortion to be able to capture great photos in camera.
Happy Earth Day! Lets Save our Planet!
Happy Earth Day! Lets Save our Planet!
Protecting our planet is so very important to me. In honor of earth day I’m posting all the ways in which I try to conserve and reuse energy on a daily basis. I’m not perfect but I try.
• I mainly work from home.
• I recycle anything and everything I can.
• I reuse and repurpose everything
• I use low energy light bulbs.
• I wash my hair about every 3 days. (Shorter showers)
• I only run full loads laundry/dishes.
• I do laundry on warmer days in order to run the dryer less.
• I water my lawn may be once a week.
• I use reusable grocery bags.
• I use a reusable sports bottle instead of the one use plastic bottles.
• I dispose hazardous material properly.
Due to the drought I’m not planting any trees this year. Instead I’m taking my surplus of low energy bulbs to a friend’s house and installing them.
Links
http://www.epa.gov/
http://www.earthday.net
http://www.enn.com/
Looking your best on your wedding day
In order to look your best on your wedding day, make sure you practice posing. For ideas on posing watch celebrities posse on the red carpet. They’ll always put their weight on their back leg, arms slightly away from the body and look directly in to the camera. The number one thing I catch people doing is sticking their chin up/out in photos. The second thing I find is that grooms are generally not comfortable in front of the camera and they over compensate by being goofy. If you think your going to need help posing schedule and engagement session so that I can have time to coach you before your big day.
Another thing that can really make or break you wedding photos is the makeup and hair. Sometimes I find that hair and makeup looks great to the eye but not to the camera. When you go in to test your hair and makeup make sure and take a picture to see how it photographs. One of the advantages to living in LA is that you have access to make up artist that do make up for magazines. Make sure to hire a makeup artist that has experience doing makeup for photography. Try and get someone like this to do your makeup. Additionally you should appoint a friend to hold on to your lip gloss and pressed powder for touch ups. Ask them to keep an eye one your hair, makeup, and wardrobe. Sometimes during weddings you’ll get so wrapped up in other things that you don’t have time to worry about your appearance.
Shot List
Gorgeous photographs are the easiest way to relive your wedding day. A good photographer can make it so that you never forget those embarrassing speeches, the first dance, and your proud parents faces. When I’m photographing a wedding I usually never miss a thing, but why take that chance? Make a list of the photos you can’t live without and get them to me a week prior to your event. Also designate someone to help me coral people for the formals photographs (since I don’t know uncle Frank). Having someone who pretty much knows everyone makes things go smoother and helps to make sure I get everyone in the picture.
Here is a great link to an online example of a shot list.
Corinthians 13. Love
Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels,
but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol.
And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.
And if I dole out all my goods, and
if I deliver my body that I may boast
but have not love, nothing I am profited.
Love is long suffering,
love is kind,
it is not jealous,
love does not boast,
it is not inflated.
It is not discourteous,
it is not selfish,
it is not irritable,
it does not enumerate the evil.
It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth
It covers all things,
it has faith for all things,
it hopes in all things,
it endures in all things.
Love never falls in ruins;
but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or
tongues, they will cease; or
knowledge, it will be superseded.
For we know in part and we prophecy in part.
But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
When I was an infant,
I spoke as an infant,
I reckoned as an infant;
when I became [an adult],
I abolished the things of the infant.
For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known.
But now remains
faith, hope, love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Wedding planning
My goal when photographing a wedding is to capture the true essence of the event. In order to provide you with the best service, I like to completely understand your vision. Often times when meeting with clients I ask them to describe their perfect wedding. I want to know if your wedding is indoors or outdoors, day or night, classic or modern, formal or informal, is it cosmopolitan or more country… I also want to know the color pallet, what are the decorations going to look like, and what kinds of flowers are you using. Knowing your vision can make all the difference.
Another thing to show your photographer is pictures of the location. Most locations have a website with pictures but more than likely they do not capture everything. Now-a-days everyone has access to camera whether it be your purse sized point and shoot, or a simple camera phone, they don’t have to be award winning photos they just have to give the photographer a feel for the location.
Another thing that’s truly helpful is a timeline. A timeline helps me to track the sun. Knowing the natural lighting I have to work with I can make arrangements to bring more gear if I need to.
The days leading up to your event I spend a great deal of time putting together shotlist, organizing shots within the timeline, getting gear ready, mapping out the location, looking at the location, reviewing notes, etc…..
Are you backed up?
Most people have had a computer or cell phone break down on them. As a professional photographer, I know what its like to have equipment fail. In fact, it happens all the time. Which is why I prepare for it. When meeting with brides the question usually comes up, “Do you carry backup equipment?” I tell them “yes in fact, I carry a back up for my back up. Not only do I bring a professional back up camera I bring two.” As a professional photographer I’ve had equipment fail but to me being a professional photographer means no one ever knows because I’m prepared.
In fact I overly backup everything… Reasons being when it comes to weddings you never have an option of a reshoot; it’s a once in a lifetime event. So everything has to run smooth. In addition to carrying back up equipment on the day of also back up files on multiple hard drives, online and a computer just incase. So that if a bride needs a disc of her wedding years after an event I still have all the files backed up and saved.
The Cabin
These are photographs I took this summer at my family’s cabin up in Idaho.