Weddings
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Posted on May 31, 2010
Thank you SO much to all of you who participated in the website launch contest! I’ve never had such a response before, it couldn’t have been the 25% off, could it? I had one bride and groom who saved $1000 off their package! How fantastic is that? So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for all of you who booked weddings and sittings with me. Stay tuned in the next few weeks, I have another giveaway very soon!
I had my daughter pick the winner out of a hat. I know, so high tech! So, without further ado, the winner of the 11×14 Canvas Gallery Wrap is:
Kari & Reuben!
Congratulations!! And congratulations to everyone who booked, I know you’re enjoying that extra money in your pocket! Thank you all!!
Posted on May 27, 2010
I hear this a lot. To be honest, it breaks my heart. I feel like I NEED more pictures of me, there are hardly enough out there! Not because I’m hott and everyone needs to see. (That’s a given. 
) But because I want my kids to remember what I look like when I’m gone. I want them to pick up a picture of me and have fond memories. For me, capturing time in my lens is my job. I physically ache if I don’t have my camera to document something poignant in my life. I want more pictures of my kids, my husband, of my surroundings, and yes, even myself. Because it documents this little blip in time that is MY life. And I want my kids to be able to pass that on to their kids, and their kids, and so on.
So when I read this amazing post by Deb Schwedhelm, I wanted to scream “YES!” at my computer. Please, if you do anything today, read that post. It might just change how you view yourself in pictures.
Posted on May 25, 2010
I’ve been a Photoshop user since Photoshop 6 back in 2000. I’m a self taught PS user, as I am with most things, and it took me 10 years to learn what I know in Photoshop. (Don’t ask me about masks. I have no clue- I know, I know, they’re amazing. I haven’t figured them out yet. Give me a few more years.) So, when I went to a seminar “Captivated by the Light” with Ed Pierce back in (I think) 2008, I was blown away when he showed a bit of what Adobe Lightroom could do. It was as if it was built for me. Usually, when I would edit a wedding with Photoshop, it would take me days upon days upon days. Lets say I shot about 1000 pictures. I’d save all the original files onto a disc, and then make a copy of them all into a new folder on my hard drive. I’d open PS, and pull up 100 pictures at a time- PS would bog down if I loaded more. That would take about a half hour for them to be loaded up into Photoshop. Then I’d go through each picture one at a time, edit each one individually, crop, color correct, spot correct, etc. Then I’d save a copy of the new file, close it and move on to the next. If I didn’t want the picture, it just didn’t turn out right, or it was a double, whatever, I’d fill it black and save it. That way, when I went through the folder later, I could pick out each black filled picture and delete it from the folder. I had a few actions I used, but batches annoyed me, so I didn’t use them much. It would take me sometimes 3 hours to go through 100 pictures. Pretty much take up most, if not my whole day.
Then, Ed Pierce introduced me to Lightroom and it was love at first sight. Ok, maybe not love. I loved the idea of it. But, the idea of getting to know a new system, figuring out how it ticks, the ebb and flow of happiness and heartache, it was a bit daunting to me. After all, I’d had an 8 year love affair with Photoshop, and it was a good relationship. It made me happy. I had no idea there was a better fish in the sea. So I picked up Lightroom at the store and we went on a date. And that was it. We’ve been together ever since. I still see Photoshop quite often, and it works well with Lightroom actually. So, it’s not out of the picture by any means. But as far as my main workflow is concerned, Lightroom is the only one for me. (Ok, I’m done. You thought I was going to talk about threesomes, didn’t you?)
For the next few weeks (I haven’t decided how many, don’t pressure me.) I’m going to be giving some tips on how Lightroom has saved my workflow. Today, I’m just going to give a quick overview of the things I’ll be talking about and then I’ll actually go into depth on specific tips and tricks I use in the coming weeks. I’ve mentioned Lightroom to a bunch of other photographers and most have not even tried it. It’s daunting learning a new system when you’re so set in your current workflow system. But, trust me photogs, you’ll fall in love too.
Currently, my workflow goes like this:
1. Plug & Play (About 20 minutes. Yes. 20 minutes. Biggest time saver, ever.)
- Plug in my CF card
- Import all of my pics from a shoot (1000+ for weddings) into LR
- Save a copy of each pic onto the HD
- Label each picture with copyright metadata
- Create a collection for that shoot
3. Cull Images (Half hour to an hour)
- Go through each pic and label with a black or white flags (or no flag)
- Filter black flags and delete from collection
- White flags are to be edited for blog first
4. Edit for Blog (10-20 minutes maybe)
- Filter white flagged images
- Edit in LR
- Send to PS for any detail work (if needed)
- Edit in PS (if needed) and send back to LR
- Export to that shoot’s blog folder
After that, I’ll post sneak peeks and save the rest of my white flags for the final blog post. Then get back to LR.
5. Edit (Typically an hour for 200 photos. More if I’m super picky.)
- Go through each picture individually
- Fix white balance, color correct, contrast, saturation etc (if needed)
- Spot correct (If needed- I still love PS heal brush for this mostly, but LR is good for minor corrections)
- Apply a preset if needed
- Apply a color label if more editing is needed in PS
- Sync similar photos (This is my absolute favorite feature in LR. Hands down.)
6. Send to PS (Depends on the amount of editing needed- Typically it will take me an hour or two to get through all the PS labeled pics)
- Send blue labels to PS for sharpening (I still really love PS sharpening over LR)
- Send green labels to PS for minor fixes and spot healing
- Send red labels to PS for major editing
- Send yellow labels to PS for special actions and filters
7. Final run through (10 minutes)
- Run through each picture for quality control
- Fix any missed details
8. Export (20 minutes)
- Highlight all images and export high res copy to that shoot’s folder
- Highlight all images and export low res copy to that shoot’s folder
After that’s finished I backup the folder to disc. My extra HD and Carbonite backup each evening.
So, from start to finish, it will take me about 8-10 hours to edit an entire wedding with LR. I don’t do this all in one day, I’m still a stay at home mom after all. I typically work about 1-2 hours while a get a moment when the kids are asleep. Have I done it all in one day? I’m also a professional procrastinator, so yes. I have. But it is SO much faster with LR than with PS. There is no possible way I would ever be able to do a wedding in PS in one day. It would typically take me about 20 hours or more.
So, in the next few weeks, I’ll go into more depth about my workflow in LR. I’m still learning new things about LR everyday, so if you see something I might need to know, please feel free to share with me! I hope I can convince one or two of you out there to bring Lightroom into your life. There’s plenty of love to go around.
Posted on May 17, 2010
I had a great time with this session! Kara, Mike, their son Cole (and baby Ryder) and I went to Lake Katherine on Saturday for Kara’s maternity shoot. I had such a hard time just choosing one or two of these pictures! More of the story and more pictures to come!
Seriously, check these shoes. Aren’t they hot? And she’s pregnant. Walking around in a forest preserve. She’s my hero.
Posted on May 13, 2010
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I thought I’d voice…er, write my opinion. There are a lot of trends going around in photography. Some trends are cliché, some are really good, and some are absolutely fantastic. What I’ve noticed as of late is photographers lashing out at each other about it. It’s not an all out war (yet), but I can’t get over the idea that we, as artists, should embrace creativity and experimentation, not hinder it.
I saw a great post on the MCP Actions blog about trends and fads and it got me thinking. Should I follow trends? Should I start my own? Or should I just stick to the basics: composition, lighting, balance etc? I think the answer lies within each of us as individuals. You may loathe trends. You might want to be as far from the line of lemmings as possible. You might want to start your own line. Or, if you’re like me, you delight in the trends and you happily trot on with the rest. I think the point is not to bash any one person for their opinion. It’s like telling someone who to fall in love with. You can’t. You can’t stop them from doing it, and you can’t tell them who to love. You can’t tell a photographer, or any artist for that matter, what they should and shouldn’t love about art. Not only that, but maybe my client loves the trend. Should I tell them I won’t create the image for them because I “just don’t wanna”?
The Maternal Lens has some great thought provoking questions of the day on their facebook page. There was one that caught my eye about a month ago: What is your favorite photography “trend” right now? Simple question. Most people started chiming in with their favorite trend of the week/month/year. However, the question sparked some debate on whether or not we should follow trends or not. By the time I saw it, the debate was already in full swing. I was actually upset to see photographers lashing out at those who like trends and poking at images that don’t follow the photography “rules” exactly. I, of course, had to voice my opinion in the matter.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not offended because I like the trends. I’m actually just disheartened that some photographers would tell other photographers, “You’re doing it wrong. MY way is the right way!” Are you kidding me? (Ok, simmer down, Christina.) It’s art. You can’t tell someone how to create! Why are there “rules” in art? Well, if you take a picture of a white daisy in the sunlight at 1/8 f2.8 ISO 3200, you will get a completely blank white image. So, obviously, there are guidelines that you should follow. But, in my opinion, to put yourself and your work in a box and follow these so called “rules” to an exact tee is BORING. Can you get amazing images this way? Of course! But they’re always perfect. So perfect they aren’t interesting sometimes. If that’s what you want though, go for it! If you want to experiment (this is art after all- get artsy!) and try different ways of composition, lighting, color, trends, go for it! Do NOT let anyone tell you how to be artistic. Look at Seurat! He started a trend in Pointillism with his painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Even Van Gogh got on the bandwagon with that trend. And do you think Picasso ever followed any rules? Talk about experimentation. Or, in the interest of photography, what about one of the most famous photographers of all time, Ansel Adams? The man was a master at darkroom manipulation! If I may be so bold, I’d like to believe he would have a copy of Photoshop and maybe some Totally Rad Actions at his disposal if he were alive today. Maybe just my wishful thinking there.
So, start your own trend, or follow the others! Do what you want! But please people, be nice. Don’t hate on other artists for not doing it your way. Admire them for their creativity and for their ability to experiment. Or look up to them for how their images come out perfect right in the camera, no Photoshop required. Above all, respect. I think there needs to be more respect among our peers in this industry. If you can’t respect, please do me a favor and stay in your perfect little box.
Thanks for the little rant. 
Posted on May 3, 2010
Ok, so if you haven’t guessed yet from the sneak peek, Lilavabigen is the name we came up with for my daughters (Ava & Lily) and two of my nieces, Megan & Abigal (Abby is Ethan’s sister, for those who are keeping count!). Last year on a family camping trip, Megan, Ava and Abby were attached at the hip. They went everywhere together. So, we named them as a unit, Avabigen. Lily was too little to hang out, she was only about 3 months. Now, Lily’s walking and so we added her into the unit and named them Lilavabigen.
My brother (Megan’s dad) and his family live down state, so when they come up to visit, we try to make it an occasion. My sister-in-law mentioned that The Chicago Children’s Theater was putting on a play, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favourites. (Fantastic!!) So we decided to have a girly day and get Lilavabigen together. Then we started talking about pictures and tutu’s got involved and then my super secret field, and that was it. We were set and we were SO excited! My sister Jessica got the shirts from The Children’s Place I got the tights from BabyLegs, and my mom and I were up until the wee hours of the night making tutu’s. Actually, my mom never did get sleep that night and then she proceeded to babysit Ethan while we went downtown all day and then had the session. Mom, you’re awesome. I love you!
The shoot itself went great! There was a sleeping baby 5 minutes before the shoot and there was whining and crying and lots of drama, but you’ll have that with girls. Lily isn’t fast enough to stay with the older girls, so there were a couple falls, but she’s a tough chick. There was a LOT of mud on the way to and from the field, but once we were in, it was much drier. I took about 230 pictures (not a lot for me) before it started to drizzle. Little girls + tutu’s + rain + a field = disaster. So I finished up, we piggy backed the girls out of there, and got in the cars. And then it started to pour! Can we say lucky? All in all, I think it was a fantastic shoot, one of my all time favorites for sure!
Megan & Lily
Ava & Abigail
Posted on May 2, 2010
This is my adorable nephew Ethan. I posted his sneak peek a while back, so I know you’ve been waiting anxiously for more. A little warning for you: You won’t be able to walk away from this post without having an insatiable desire to pinch his cheeks and kiss his sweet face. He was such a trooper. He went through several clothes changes and smiled through every set. His faces are just priceless! Enjoy! (Like I even have to tell you to…)
This is an example of a Portrait Study, available in one of the many new session types I’m offering. I take several close up shots of the cutest parts of your baby: feet, hands, elbow, eye, etc and then I combine your favorite images into a collage, which you receive as an 8×10 gallery wrap. Check out any of the other new session types and pick one that suits you! My favorite part about this image: For blogging and copyright purposes, Ethan has his cousin’s name tattooed on his tush. That’s hilarious. <3
Posted on May 1, 2010
Four girly cousins, four tutus and BabyLegs tights, my super secret field and a half hour before the skies opened with rain! SO much fun! I can’t wait to show more! Here are a few to hold you over!
