Recent Shoots

Shot engagement photos for Alan & Jen a couple of Saturdays ago. Also photographer Jen and her sister for Christmas Gifts to give to their parents. Here are some of my favorites:

Full Galleries can be found HERE (Jen & Alan) and HERE (Jen & Erica).

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Bouque Engagement

Just finished working the photos from an engagement shoot downtown. The weather was cold but the scenery was beautiful. We caught the afternoon light just as the sun was about to set which made for some beautiful pictures. The couple was really great and I loved how they were up for anything. I cannot wait to see what we can do for their wedding next year!

The full gallery can be viewed Here

Here are a few that I liked:

Ayala Engagement

One of my coworkers needed some engagement pictures so ofcourse I offered her my services. We did the shoot at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs Colorado last Saturday. It was extremely chilly but they were a really fun couple. They even brought a couple of different outfits to change into for the pictures. The full gallery can be found HERE

Here are a few of my favorites:

Whats going on

I cannot believe it has been this long since I posted. I got a new job in a new city and it is just running me ragged. Lets see what have I been up to.

The company whom I networked with for State Sporting events contacted me and I shot State Cross Country for them this last weekend. When I got there the owner handed me a Canon and said you know how to use this right? I didn't ... but can't be that hard right? It worked out beautifully and I recieved many compliments on my images. He paid me above what our contracted hourly rate was and said he would call me the next time he had something.

As far as wedding photography goes I did book a wedding and an engagement session. The engagement session will be the weekend after November and the wedding August 2007.

I am also buying a backup camera due to this recent wedding booking. A good thing to have though just generally as well. I am purchasing a Nikon d100 with 2 batteries, a camera bag and a Sigma 28-80mm lens for $400.00 sounds like a good deal to me. I had checked into renting a d70 and was quoted $95 a day so I really only need to book 4 weddings for it to pay for itself.

As I work in the city lately my camera has been staying at home :( I miss the feel of it in my hands and the pride that wells up inside of me when I take a really outstanding composition. I am attending a wedding as a guest on Friday and I am going to be taking it along. We need a little alone time :P

Keep on keeping on...

Wedding photography is really picking up. I have had some additional contacts about my pricing and packaging and although it feels really good I can tell that with a full time job it is going to get crazy stressful. I put together my wedding contract and now am working on the album with samples of both my wedding photography and my photoshop enhancements. I need to get to know it by heart as I am meeting with a client on Saturday to finalize a deal and I want to seem like this is my umpteenth time going over it with someone lol.

Finished the calendar I was working on for my MIL, as well as took some really awesome (in my opinion) casual portrait shots of my neices...so for lack of time I will leave you with those.

Big Day

I am so excited. I just have to recount it here before I don't want to forget what this feels like. I booked a wedding today and 2 engagement portrait sessions. That means $850 in my bank account from this addiction I have to photography... I emailed back and forth with the client all day and we are meeting next weekend for her to put down the deposits. She wants her engagement photos in time to put out as xmas cards and the wedding is in August 2007.

I am just so excited. My hard work and perseverance is paying off. This could be what I need to really get some nice professional grade equipment, since wedding package prices are so lucrative.

OK thats all for now, I was just so excited I had to share.

State Tennis

Was asked to shoot state tennis yesterdat. Turned out to be a very profitable and rewarding decision. While I was attending I saw an event photography booth and thought I would go over to introduce myself. The booth I later found out was run by Wallace Photography out of Nevada and was contracted to cover all the "state" sporting events. Based on my work the owner asked me what my day rate was and when I quoted him at $200.00 he said that sounded reasonable. He rattled off a list of people that were there shooting for his company today and Bryan Kelson was listed amont them. He is a photographer for a big paper down here. I overheard him talking about his own day rate during a baseball game once...$450.00 guess I should have held out for more eh? He told me he would contact me later this week and we could coordinate our calendars. You know it still feels so strange to be able to market myself, my work. This would add another event photography company to my list of clients as well as providing me with more sports work which would be wonderful. I am so excited.

As a bonus I also shot some of my best work during the state match I was covering. Here are my favorites for your viewing pleasure...

Some Vball and a new start...

So I have been a busy bee this week. First off I designed myself a wedding photography website which must be good because I have already had 2 people email me asking for quotes. The url is http://stephiewilliams.googlepages.com if you want to have a look.

Last night I shot volleyball. You know I can across a quote "shoot tight, crop even tighter." I usually crop my images during post processing to get the desired composition...however for that last football game and then again with this vball game I decided to utilize the lesson learned from those words. It is working out so much better. Now I just need to get a good handle on post processing the red eye out of my photos. Here is one I liked from last night.

Friday Night Lights

Covered some football this weekend for the paper. I had been having some trouble with my focus...I was using my kit lens and I would always seem to get the grass in focus and miss my player. So I started to use my Nikkor 70-300mm even though it is only a f4-5.6...This combined with waiting for the play to get reasonably close has been working out well. Here is my favorite of the photos I turned into the paper...

Admiring

...No my camera and I have not parted ways. I have been shooting unfortunately on an assignment only basis. Have been pretty busy and just have not gotten to get out there like I would have liked. I have been admiring though. I added quite a few links to this page after finding some really phenomenal photographers out there. Every morning as I work I browse dgrin.com, dpreview.com and fredmiranda.com and just wow myself with all the great work I come across. It inspires me....Recently I have been admiring thedailyexposure.com. It is a photolog by John Waller...striking. Really no words to describe his talent. His images are simply breathtaking. And the odd thing is he appears to capture these images with the same equipment I own.

This weekend should give me some time to go shoot. I have to cover a football game on Saturday night but I would like to start playing around with some 'detail' photography. Not really macro per say just things that we see everyday that may not be that interesting...

Some before and afters...

Ok so I have been spending waaaay to much of my time playing around with my wedding photos. But truly the tips I posted earlier are AMAZING! I mean my photographs were strong before but they look awful when you compare them to the afters...Here are a few of my faves and what I did on them...

Before


After - Applied glow effect and upped the saturation using a mask to keep brides coloring the same.


Before


After, did glow effect and some vignetting.


This one I do not have a before of but I did it playing around with glow and masking...not sure if I like it. May be to overprocessed for my taste.

Post Process Pro: Yang Photography

Slight desaturation (channel mixer) of the image, then adding a warm tone (color balance), then adding contrast (curves)

Wedding Photo Technique

Here I will be posting some wedding photo post processing tips I learned from the folks at FredMiranda.com...when I have some time I will try them out and post my before and afters.

Glow Technique -
Improves skin texture. Create a duplicate layer, and then set the blending mode to "screen". Then just add a a Gaussian Blur with a radius of 15 to 25 pixels. Also, you may need to reduce opacity and/or lower exposure, as it can blow highlights.

Fix Auto Levels -
If you go to Adjustments>Levels and then click options, change the clipping from 0.10 to 0.01 and also select the option to work on the greys. The big difference you will note is that when you do an auto levels the image will not change quite so much. you may need to adjust the image a little further using levels or curves but it should not change the colour of your image.

Motion Blur -
Two ways to do it. Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Then use the history brush to remove the sections you don't wanted to blur. The other way is duplicating the layer, adding motion blur, and masking out undesired areas. I prefer this way because you have more control.

Vignettes made easy -
1. Circular or rectangular box with the marquee tool (M key) and select what you DON'T want to have the vignette, usually the subject.

2. Add a feather to that selection (Ctrl, Alt, D) and feather of 250 (depending on your image size, for 5D you need 250 and too bad thats as big as it gets).

3. Then invert your selection (Ctrl, Shift, I) and then make that a new layer (Ctrl, J). With this as a new layer, it's a non-destructive way to add a vignette, you'll see why you want it in a layer.

4. Adding the vignette. Now with that selection a new layer, you can alter it by using Ctrl L for your Levels, or your Curves (Ctrl M). I usually use curves, or sometimes I will make that new layer and put the blending mode as Multiply. Here's why it's important to make it a new layer:
-1. It's non-destructive to your image
-2. Your vignette selection will be there as the new layer. You can also desaturate or blur this new layer easier.
-3 (The most important, IMO) You can alter the vignette strength with your opacity slider. Change the opacity back and forth in a zip, much easier than doing it on the original image.

Experiment with multiple vignettes on one layer, and a technique shawn imploys with spotlights and other light additives. Be careful as you don't want to over-process a JPEG as it can destroy certain parts of it for good! That's why working with layers and masks is SOOO important, and makes changes a whole lot easier if you want to 'undo' a certain effect or lessen it.

Sheepish...

For as long as I can remember I have been posting on dpreview.com. I post primarily in the D70/D50/D80 forum. I enjoyed the fact that when I would post my shots and look at other peoples shots the only variable in the equation was lens choice. I knew I could get similar results as my peers as we have similar equipment.

I just recently started posting on dgrin.com, the smugmug forums. Now when I post my sports shots they are compared to those with MUCH better equipment, camera, lenses, strobes. While I continue to remind myself that as a broke freelancer I do very well with what I have I cannot help but feel sheepish in posting there. I feel as if the concensus would not be hey great job with that crappy equipment lol but rather a general ackowledgement that mine were not as good as Joe D200's so I must not be a professional.

This is now magnified by me finding a stringer position in my new city. The paper that I will be stringing for like most papers provides equipment to all STAFF photographers. The paper I string for now loves my night football shots, indoor basketball and volleyball shots. Thats because my photos are being compared the their staff photographer who has older equipment. When I go to this new paper my photos are going to be compared to 10 megapixel, strobe enhanced gorgeous pictures from expensive glass. I will be really lucky if they are happy with my outdoor sports shots.

I am not used to this shake in confidence. On an upside though it is pushing me to try harder and produce stronger images, perhaps what I lack in quality I can make up for in composition, subject, capturing THAT moment.

Big changes...

So I interviewed for a corporate job on Friday and recieved a hire offer back. Ofcourse I said yes. While I will be very sad to have my freelance work interrupted the main reason for me even applying for this job is its tuition assistance. They are going to pay 100% of my tuition up front for whichever school and whichever major I choose. So I have narrowed it down and decided on the San Francisco Academy of Art University. They have an online program and as you progress through it in 2 years you have a Associates of Fine Arts in Photography, 4 years you have a Bachelors. 6 years a Masters. I am going to stick with it for as long as I feel I am getting something out of it.

Now notice I said 'interrupted' on my freelance work. I still plan on doing as much of it as I can, just realistically it will be lessened. I have had a couple of papers express interest in the city I am relocating too and I hope to keep photographing events as I can. That way my photo resume will still show a prescense in the workforce and experience section while I am in school.

Back to current events this weekend I drove to Gunnison, CO to cover a football game. On the way back I took my time and did a little photo hunt...Here are some pics.

Me a wedding photographer?

Was in the office the other night when T. the staff photographer for the paper said she hoped that David (the guy I shot the wedding for, one of our reporters) would bring in pictures from the wedding when he got back from the honeymoon. It was then that I kind of haphazardly mentioned to her that I shot as a secondary and that the photos were up on my site. So ofcourse she had me come over to her desk and we took a look at those as well as the engagement photos she had not seen.

I explained to T. that I was trying to get experience so that I could shoot as a second for a couple of different photography companies. Similar to my tourrnament shooting with MW Photography I would just get paid around $200 or so a day to go help another photographer shoot a wedding. She just looked at me and grinned..."These are not secondary shots Stephanie, you can do it yourself..." Me? Nah...what about this what about that...I listed what I thought were fatal photographic flaws. Let me show you something she said...and pulled up the websites for the photographers in my region that did weddings> They were AWFUL! Too much photoshopping, Outdoor photos in complete shade just really bad photography. T. had just shot a wedding last Sunday, she said it was for a friend so she only charged $750. Normally she said she would charge $1500.00. This is with giving them no prints, just a cd with the images on it. She suggested if I really was worried about the calibar of my work to shoot a couple and charge around the $750.00 mark. Get comfortable, work the kinks out then when I felt I was up to par charge up there with the big boys.

Sooooooo...I officially have an ad on craigslist.com offering my services. I am also going to be checking there for opportunities. Don't get me wrong I am not going into wedding photography as a career path, just looking to fine tune my skills, make some money and give some people a good deal. All of this just makes my head spin. If you would have asked me a month ago I would have replied no way no how!

A day in the life...Wedding Photographer.

2:30 p.m. arrived at the church so as to get there when the bride did. Hoped to get some great candid shots of her getting ready. The weather was completely horrible that day. Cloudy, misty looked like they were to be married in Scotland amid the marsh. Greeted their primary wedding photographer John. I was suprised to see him shooting with a Rebel (not even an XT) we exchanged questions 'how long have you been shooting,' 'how do you like shooting weddings?' etc...He thought my two years shooting experience was pretty impressive and my d70 was a nice piece of gear.

The bride and bridesmaids were getting ready in this super small room behund the alter. It was a trick fitting in there and being able to maneuver among 6 girls. I often found myself standing on the arm of the small couch or propped up on top of a chair. I found out very quickly that there was little to no use for my long lens. Any close up's could easily be achieved by cropping or just moving in closer. I used my 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 Nikkor and my Sigma EF-500 DG ST flash. Having three mirrors along the wall presented a challenge as the only 'getting ready' photos I could achieve were in the mirror. While these were interesting, I was hoping to get moore diverse shots. Many things went wrong during this time and I often found the bride looking pensive. I really had to photographically stalk her, having my camera aimed at her during the entire time to be able to capture genuine emotion on her face. I was pleased with how this section of the wedding came out...

From here their primary photographer led them outside for formal photos for each gender. This was a surprising move as it had been 'misting' for some time and in addition to the ground being muddy the props he required for the shot were completely wet. He made the bride sit on a wet park bench...offering a towel for her to sit on but still...He seems to take a lot of variations on the same shot. There was very little attention paid to composition and the placement of arms, bouquets etc...I am sure the shots will turn out beautifully however because the girls were so beautiful. During the time I kept my camera on the bride hoping to catch a candid moment of her laughing or mid though. These are my favorites from this section...

The ceremony was extremely tricky. I was following advice posted on DPReview by Sam J. Stern. Under this advice when shooting indoors I was using M Mode, 1/80, f6.3-8 with my flash on TTL and up one click. This advice seems to rely on the bouncing of light from the ceiling. While this worked perfectly for the shots of the bride getting ready the vaulted ceilings of the church just did not cooperate. I found myself having to aim the flash almost directly at the couple and was dismally disappointed when post processing my pictures and finding gaping shadows looming behind the figures. This was also a time that I was surprised at the bahavior of their primary photographer. Upon asking him where he was going to shoot from during the wedding (trying not to get in his way) he told me he planned to shoot from the back of the church about 5 rows from the door so as not to disrupt the guests. He also was shooting with a 70mm lens which was why I thought this a surprising move. At no time did he center himself in such a way as to get a decent shot of the bride and groom at the alter. From some 20 ft away in a dimly lit church with a 70mm lens and a 6mp camera it will be interesting to see his results. Feeling a sense of personal responsibility to the couple since we are friends I just let my photojournalistic instincts kick in. After all they are paying me to get the shot right? And the first rows are family who also have a vested interest in my capturing their most precious moments right? I sat on the floor directly in front of the first pew very close to the aisle. At first I was worried someone would think it was tacky but when the grooms mother (who I was sitting in front of) bent down and asked me to get her a good photo of the couple praying after lighting their unity candle I knew I was fine. Looming shadows and all I think I did a good job for my first time. Here are some photos shot during this section...

After the wedding formal photos with the entire wedding party and family were posed and shot by the primary photographer. It was a really big group and the primary seemed to last a bit of interest when it came to making the composition pleasing as far as weighting and symmetry. An uncle who was very shot was placed in the back and I actually watched him standing on his tip toes as he was aware his head was going to be completely lost in the shot. Once again he headed out to the wet park benches...(importance of having a back up plan!) ONce again I just focused on getting the candid shots in between his formal takes...Here are a couple from this section...

***I am still going through my photos and this is about as far as I got last night, I will be adding the rest of this walk through as well as photos later this week. To view the complete set of photos thus far go here http://stephaniewilliams.smugmug.com/gallery/1854948/1.

Upcoming Wedding Jitters

Saturday is the big day…for the couple…and for this photographer. The Wright-Young Wedding is this Saturday at 5. After shooting the couples engagement photos they asked to hire me on as a secondary photographer for the wedding. I was told this was only because there was a non refundable deposit that was secured by the primary photographer when they decided to go with him last spring. Either way this is fine with me. I have never shot a wedding before and I figure this will be a way for me to beef up my portfolio, and really get some good experience while still making it monetarily worth my while. I plan to shoot as if I was the primary on everything except the wedding party posed shots (I know those are hard enough for the Primary photographer, I don’t need to make his job any harder…) that way I will get a full range of experience and images.

So to try and calm my nerves I began researching wedding photography. I have come across some notoriously bad wedding photography such as danielphotography.com, pictures out of focus, strange looking poses…The only keeper shots appear to have been luck of the draw shots, you know the one or two you get when you shoot like 500 images! Then there are those that although fabulous instantmemories.com are extremely pricey ($2150.00 minimum package)…It seems that if someone with an eye for pleasing photos, combined with a good working knowledge of how to use their equipment there is quite a bit of money to be made in this arena.
Stay tuned as I plan to document within this blog the entire experience from the preparation of the bride, the the couples last dance, post processing and beyond!

I will leave you all with some photos that I came across in my research that knocked my socks off

Photo by Eric Robinson

Photo by 'Uncle Frank'