Tag Archives: techniques

My First Engagment Shoot

Jul
18
2012
by Jessy | 0 Comments

A few weeks back I was able to do my first engagement shoot!  I knew this couple previously, I use to work with him and then he went to work for my husband for a year before moving on to bigger and better things.  I adore them both so much and was excited when they emailed and asked me to do their engagement photos.

The two didn’t want the “posed” type of photos and I was given strict instruction for no “glowy” or sepia processing.  This is something I like to ask as I know everyone has their own tastes.  They have to live with the photos in the long run so they should be processed in a way that they appreciate.

We started the morning at a fantastic coffee shop here that they frequent (and wow am I thankful, it’s my new favorite place!), then headed over to a building that had a lot of graffiti and then to a park.

These two had a lot of fun.  To get rid of the “posed” idea I had my husband with me to help me, but also to have someone else that’s not pointing a camera at them to chat with.  They were  telling jokes and just being them.  While they have their sweet moments they also have a lot of fun times that they are playing around and even making fun of each other.  I wanted to be able to capture both types of moments for them because its what truly makes them click and makes them “them”.

About an hour into a 3 hour shoot she made a comment that all of their photos were going to be the funny type of photos, but this is easy to think when you don’t notice how sweet you can be sometimes.  They had the sweet times between the goofy moments that I was so happy to capture, we were able to get the sweet loving photos without doing posted images and making them uncomfortable.

 

I wanted to get some shots of the engagement band, but being my first engagement shoot I hadn’t had many opportunities to try different things to find what worked.  Spur of the moment she said, “lets put out our hands to show my ring”.  It worked perfect.  It’s not the super posed type of look but it shows off the ring and still comes across as a very sweet photo.  This is definitely an idea for future shoots that I will be stealing from this bride to be.

I took this image into OnOne and used focus to slightly blur everythign but the ring to help it stand out a little more.  I tried this photo in black and white, but liked the color much more.  Definitely a keeper!

There are many more, but check the “Portraits” section of the site to see them, not always enough room just on the blog.

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Album Cover Images – Sound of One Hand Clapping

Jul
10
2012
by Jessy | 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I had the oopportunity to go to Denver for my company and shoot even photos.  You can read about the amazing opportunity that they gave me on my blog here.  While I was there I was able to stay a few extra days and stay with my cousin, back in the day we were great friends.  Our families did everything together and shortly before I moved to Florida she moved from the piano to the guitar and singing.  Even then I was amazed with her talent.  I am so happy she kept it up and has formed a band.  They have some great music, if you are looking for something new check out Sound of One Hand Clapping on Reverbnation.  If you want more information on them or are in the Denver area and what to keep up on their upcoming shows then like them on Facebook.

Erica and Dan asked me to do a photo shoot that weekend for album covers of their upcoming release.  I was absolutely ecstatic to do something like this for a band, and especially my cousin.  She is such a talented individual it was a great feeling that she thought enough of my photo work to ask something like this of me.  This was one of my very first portrait type of sessions and I’m thankful that it was them.  They are both so easy going and laid back, we were able to just have a lot of fun and not do too much posing other than what they wanted.

Maybe I’m crazy but I think the images came out great just by talking with them and having them talk to each other and have fun rather than trying to get the perfect posed shot.

All of these photos were  of course shot in color, with my Nikon D7000.  I switched between the kit lens, my 105MM and a 12-24.  Any black and white conversion was done post processing in Lightroom, or photoshop.  I did also use On One software for a few things, just because I am very specific about what software I use for what and when.

Even after completing the shoot and going back I was almost nervous to drop them on my machine and see what they really turned out like.  Having not done my portrait shots and it being so important for them I was just worried.  I had scheduled to go hang out with my parents for a while so I left Erica (my cousin) with the SD cards and my laptop so she could load them and go through them.  When I got back and saw how happy she was that before editing she saw images she liked it relieved my fears.

Going through and processing the images I found a new love for this kind of work.  I had such a great time taking the photos, and they have become some of my favorite to process with all the personality that they each have.  From this I shortly after accepted a gig to do engagement photos for another set of friends I have.  Those photos have just completed processing and are out the door and in their hands.  I have even agreed to do a wedding this upcoming week.  I have found a second shooter to assist and am more excited than nervous.

Peter Hurley taught us at G+ Photographers Conference that when shooting portraits you are 90% therapist and 10% photographer.  I think I am loving that combination and having a great time.

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Use What you Have

Apr
29
2012
by Jessy | 0 Comments

Today on G+ is SacredSunday.  There are many themes for each day of the week and I try to contribute when I can because it’s great to get the feedback on images and to continue learning.  I didn’t have much to contribute today but I remembered the great ideas so many others always have.  Many times the images are created with the smoke from incense, flowers and vases around the house, etc.  They always have such great ideas and I have never been able to really put things together like this, so today was my day!

I tried to think of what I had around my studio that would work for this theme and how to mix and match to make a great photo and something that would work.

I have this great little bistro set I purchased a while back that has some words and sayings painted on the top of the table and stools that say “Everything grows with love”, and “a dream is a wish the heart makes”.  I thought this was very inspirational and would work….so now how do I make it even more perfect for a sacred sunday…something that will make it pop.  Thinking I remembered my necklace that I always wear, people tend to think it’s a cross.  It’s actually a cut out from a spoon and is a dragonfly but the wings do make it look like a cross.  I took it off and put it on the bistro set to see if it would work.  I was quit impressed with what I had put together!

With the cross from the necklace the wonderful inspiration from the set it was perfect!  I moved the necklace around between the words, on the stool, on the table, etc.  I took about 50 images using my NikonD7000 and my Nikkor 105MM macro lens.  Using this lens gave great clarity to the images but was so tight on the subject that I found myself standing on the bistro set to get some distance.

I think the images turn out rather well.  This just goes to show that with anything you have on or around you current location you can make great images and things that will not only inspire others, but yourself as well.  If you have tried this before, post some links so that others can be inspired by your story.  If you have not tried this, then go out and try it today, don’t wait for something great, make something great!

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Abstract Photography Created by Cropping

Sep
10
2011
by Jessy | 5 Comments

I am one of those people that (oddly enough) is hesitant to take a picture if I’m not sure how it will turn out.  Last weekend while in Canaan Valley West Virginia we visited SmokeHole Caverns.  I finally decided to take a few shots that I wasn’t sure of.  I took a few shots of the wall that actually worked well.  Caves are one of those places that I’m scared to take images of because the light is random and it’s always lit with spot lights.  Please note the images below.

 

This image turned out well with the light from the cave but the spotlights themselves had to be cropped out.  Once those items were cropped out its lovely with the colors and the layers.

SmokeHole Caverns West Virginia bacon staligmite

f/4.8 ISO 2500

 

This image is taken from the cave floor up the wall.  I used the camera flash for this image as the other lights were too high to illuminate the part of the wall I wanted to focus on.  As the camera flash is not idea you can clearly see the shadows created from the imperfections of the wall.  Those some of the shadows add to the image, some also distract from the image.  Some additional cropping could assist in correcting this issue.

Smokehole Caverns West Virginia canaan valley wall

f/3.5 ISO 2500

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HDR eBook

Mar
01
2011
by Jessy | 0 Comments

Finished another ebook last night.  There was a lot of great information about the 10 mistakes when creating HDR images.  I saw many things that I have done and some of my images have all 10 of the mistakes!  This weekend I am going to re-do some of my images to correct the mistakes that I have made and I will post them concurrent of each other to help show others, and myself, the reasons, and small changes that can be done to make an “OK” HDR photo a “Great” photo (well hopefully they turn out great)!  This is a practice that I am going to start here on this site and continue to do to help myself learn and remember techniques as I keep attempting to be a photographer.

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