Monday, March 21
The Super Moon - Phoenix AZ Familiy Photographer
On Saturday the moon was the closest it's been to Earth in 20 years. I wish I would have rented a telephoto lens, but I still think this picture turned out great.
Friday, March 18
Q & A - Phoenix, AZ Family Photographer
Yesterday I asked on Facebook what would people like to know about me. I've been wanting to share more about me on my Photography blog, but have a total writers block. So I thought it would be fun and here are the questions asked...
Marco Samardzija -
"What made you want to do photography, since you got a degree in psychology. To me, they are opposites. One is an art the other is a science."
In 2004 I got a BA in Psychology at ASU. (Go Devils!) When I started college I was a pre-business major. First year of college I took Psy 101 for one of my general credits.
I didn't think it would change my life.
The class was interesting, but I wasn't going to change my major because of it. Then, the following semester I took a Social Psychology class from Professor Steven Neuberg. It changed my life. As a pre-business major I was not having fun learning about economics and what not, it was work to understand it. Psychology was different. I wanted to go home after class and read the textbook just like any other good book out there. I loved it! Professor Neuberg made it fun and interesting and I just couldn't get enough of it. So, I switched my major! After graduating, I worked for The Child Crisis Center as a Healthy Families representative... in other words I was a social worker for the AZ Healthy Families Program. It was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I loved thinking I was helping to make a difference in people's life. Getting people to trust you with their problems and open up wasn't easy, but over time I felt the families I worked with trusted me and allowed me to help them.
On the other hand, I've always loved photography since I was a little child, as a matter of fact I've been published... (ha!) ... in two of my high school yearbooks. I laugh because I was talking to some friends last night who were telling me I should blog about this. I loved being part my high school yearbook team and helping conserve the memories from the years I spent there. I was known by my peers to have a camera in hand at all times. You just never know when the best picture opportunity may come and so I got some great pictures published. Having children ignited by passion for photography once more. I wanted to document everything about my children, so that I may remember the everyday things when they are grown.
So to answer the question. I see more similarities in psychology and photography than differences. They are both an art and they both impact people's lives. There is some science to both, but you can approach them differently depending on the situation. I love to think that I'm making a difference and helping people document important events/periods in their lives.
Life is short, so document it.
Faria Munmun - "How did you become a successful photographer/entrepreneur?"
To be honest, I'm not sure how to answer this. Success is subjective. When I started photographing people I just wanted to take pictures, but quickly realized that to stay in business I needed to become more business savvy. After all, I was spending so much time away from my family that I needed to make it worth it for me. I love doing photography, but I love my family more. I will never get back what I miss out on. Melissa Jill just yesterday tweeted "Don't start a photo business unless you enjoy business. Less than 20% of your time will be spent on photography if you want to be successful." That said, also take care of your clients! My business is word of mouth, meaning my clients refer other clients. I don't ask for this, they do it because they loved the experience they had with me.
Sharon Cherry - sent me an email with questions about doing a birth and I thought I would share my answers here. To check out the Birth post click here.
Having delivered three kids of my own, the last thing I wanted to do during a birth was have the flash going off. I thought it would be distracting for everyone including the mother and doctor. I was already in the market for a new camera a couple of months ago and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the d700. I already had the 50m 1.4 lens which works great in low light. These two things made the shoot possible. Most of the time my ISO was between 3500-5000 and I shot at 1.4 most of the time. This could not have been done on my d5000 or even the d300, ISO quality is just not there.
As far as when to go to the hospital, I asked Trisha to let me know when she was 6cm. I determine this because I knew it was her 3rd birth and the hospital was close to me. Though she assured me many many times that her labors are long and I would probably be waiting, that wasn't the case this time.
How to price a Birth session is hard. You really don't know what you are in for. When I was in labor with my first child it probably took me about 8 hours to get from 6 to 10cm. So, I'm still working this out.
Thank you guys for asking questions! If you are reading this post and you would like more posts like this leave a comment. I would love to do another one!
Marco Samardzija -
"What made you want to do photography, since you got a degree in psychology. To me, they are opposites. One is an art the other is a science."
In 2004 I got a BA in Psychology at ASU. (Go Devils!) When I started college I was a pre-business major. First year of college I took Psy 101 for one of my general credits.
I didn't think it would change my life.
The class was interesting, but I wasn't going to change my major because of it. Then, the following semester I took a Social Psychology class from Professor Steven Neuberg. It changed my life. As a pre-business major I was not having fun learning about economics and what not, it was work to understand it. Psychology was different. I wanted to go home after class and read the textbook just like any other good book out there. I loved it! Professor Neuberg made it fun and interesting and I just couldn't get enough of it. So, I switched my major! After graduating, I worked for The Child Crisis Center as a Healthy Families representative... in other words I was a social worker for the AZ Healthy Families Program. It was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I loved thinking I was helping to make a difference in people's life. Getting people to trust you with their problems and open up wasn't easy, but over time I felt the families I worked with trusted me and allowed me to help them.
On the other hand, I've always loved photography since I was a little child, as a matter of fact I've been published... (ha!) ... in two of my high school yearbooks. I laugh because I was talking to some friends last night who were telling me I should blog about this. I loved being part my high school yearbook team and helping conserve the memories from the years I spent there. I was known by my peers to have a camera in hand at all times. You just never know when the best picture opportunity may come and so I got some great pictures published. Having children ignited by passion for photography once more. I wanted to document everything about my children, so that I may remember the everyday things when they are grown.
So to answer the question. I see more similarities in psychology and photography than differences. They are both an art and they both impact people's lives. There is some science to both, but you can approach them differently depending on the situation. I love to think that I'm making a difference and helping people document important events/periods in their lives.
Life is short, so document it.
Faria Munmun - "How did you become a successful photographer/entrepreneur?"
To be honest, I'm not sure how to answer this. Success is subjective. When I started photographing people I just wanted to take pictures, but quickly realized that to stay in business I needed to become more business savvy. After all, I was spending so much time away from my family that I needed to make it worth it for me. I love doing photography, but I love my family more. I will never get back what I miss out on. Melissa Jill just yesterday tweeted "Don't start a photo business unless you enjoy business. Less than 20% of your time will be spent on photography if you want to be successful." That said, also take care of your clients! My business is word of mouth, meaning my clients refer other clients. I don't ask for this, they do it because they loved the experience they had with me.
Sharon Cherry - sent me an email with questions about doing a birth and I thought I would share my answers here. To check out the Birth post click here.
Having delivered three kids of my own, the last thing I wanted to do during a birth was have the flash going off. I thought it would be distracting for everyone including the mother and doctor. I was already in the market for a new camera a couple of months ago and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the d700. I already had the 50m 1.4 lens which works great in low light. These two things made the shoot possible. Most of the time my ISO was between 3500-5000 and I shot at 1.4 most of the time. This could not have been done on my d5000 or even the d300, ISO quality is just not there.
As far as when to go to the hospital, I asked Trisha to let me know when she was 6cm. I determine this because I knew it was her 3rd birth and the hospital was close to me. Though she assured me many many times that her labors are long and I would probably be waiting, that wasn't the case this time.
How to price a Birth session is hard. You really don't know what you are in for. When I was in labor with my first child it probably took me about 8 hours to get from 6 to 10cm. So, I'm still working this out.
Thank you guys for asking questions! If you are reading this post and you would like more posts like this leave a comment. I would love to do another one!
Tuesday, March 8
The Pro Lab vs Your Local Printing Place - Mesa, AZ Photographer
Don't think pro print labs make a difference? Think you can take that disc to Walmart or Walgreens and get the same quality??? Check this experiment by Wendy L White Photography. If you are a previous client, a future client, or if you've ever hired a photographer. Photographers spend so much time making sure the image is perfect for printing. You are already paying for their editing time so why get less quality?
Thursday, February 24
Wedding & Portrait Photographers International Convention 2011
I've been MIA this past week due to the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Convention in Vegas, it's an annual convention. I was hoping I would have time to blog while there and even brought my computer to do some editing, but alas there was hardly any time to do anything other than attend the convention and sleep. I decided to bring my husband, Tyler, as he is truly my rock and support. I thought it would be nice for him to learn some of the business side and some of the technical photography stuff. But I was blown away by his eagerness and excitement to learn. One of the nights I woke up at 3 in the morning and he was sitting up in bed writing. I asked him what he was doing and if he was going to get up with me in just a few hours to go class. He was so cute and said he had so many great ideas and his brain was racing and thought it would help to write them down. Then he even woke up at 7 to attend class.
I've felt so blessed to be able to attend WPPI could not have been done without the help of both sets of grandparents! Here's a list of some of the photographers' classes I attended, classes where from 1.5-2 hours long!
Dane Sanders
Jerry Ghionis
Tim Meyer
Jason Aten
Craig Heidemann
Scott and Adina Hayne
Cliff Mautner
Doug Gordon
Joe McNally
Bob and Dawn Davis
Sarah Petty
Gene Ho
Jasmin Star
Kevin Kubota
Tamara Lackey
Kenny Kim
Kay Eskridge
Lori Nordstrom
My brain is on information overload! But I'm very excited for my business and photography and what the next year will bring! Can't wait to start experimenting with techniques and tips I learned.
I also got to meet other great photographers from all over the globe and talk to them about their tricks and tips. Everyone there was so friendly and open! For 6 days I focused completely on photography and the industry. I felt like I was in a bubble and time stood still. It was a great experience.
Unfortunately, Ashley, our youngest, had a 104 degree fever for 4 days while we were there, and our other kids were also sick.
Of course!
That's just how things roll!
So, late Wednesday night we decided to make the trip back home to get Ashley to the pediatrician. Turns out she had an ear infection. Poor thing! I was bummed that I missed two other classes that I'm sure would have been great. But there's always next year! Tyler said he wants to go next year which is so encouraging to me. So here are some pics from our trip, we didn't get to hang out in Vegas, because we were so busy with everything going on at WPPI and we were hoping to get to go out Thursday night since we would get done a little earlier, oh well...
Kenny Kim- He was awesome an had some great tips!
Lori Norstrom, I saw her speak at the trade show at WPPI and decided to attend her class. She was also great! I wish I would have taken a pic of every speaker, but I only took these two. :)
View from our car!
View from a friends hotel room at the Cosmopolitan...
We got to attend the trade show as well, lots of gadgets and fun stuff. I had to try to contain myself and not go crazy buying everything in sight! I just bought two thing. Yay!
Tyler and I stopped and listened to some music. Thinking of adding music to our site! If you have an opinion on either way would love to hear it! Either way, we are thinking of doing slide shows with music!
We got to see our friend Tim for all of 5 minutes, but it was fun!
Self portraits...
I've felt so blessed to be able to attend WPPI could not have been done without the help of both sets of grandparents! Here's a list of some of the photographers' classes I attended, classes where from 1.5-2 hours long!
Dane Sanders
Jerry Ghionis
Tim Meyer
Jason Aten
Craig Heidemann
Scott and Adina Hayne
Cliff Mautner
Doug Gordon
Joe McNally
Bob and Dawn Davis
Sarah Petty
Gene Ho
Jasmin Star
Kevin Kubota
Tamara Lackey
Kenny Kim
Kay Eskridge
Lori Nordstrom
My brain is on information overload! But I'm very excited for my business and photography and what the next year will bring! Can't wait to start experimenting with techniques and tips I learned.
I also got to meet other great photographers from all over the globe and talk to them about their tricks and tips. Everyone there was so friendly and open! For 6 days I focused completely on photography and the industry. I felt like I was in a bubble and time stood still. It was a great experience.
Unfortunately, Ashley, our youngest, had a 104 degree fever for 4 days while we were there, and our other kids were also sick.
Of course!
That's just how things roll!
So, late Wednesday night we decided to make the trip back home to get Ashley to the pediatrician. Turns out she had an ear infection. Poor thing! I was bummed that I missed two other classes that I'm sure would have been great. But there's always next year! Tyler said he wants to go next year which is so encouraging to me. So here are some pics from our trip, we didn't get to hang out in Vegas, because we were so busy with everything going on at WPPI and we were hoping to get to go out Thursday night since we would get done a little earlier, oh well...
Kenny Kim- He was awesome an had some great tips!
Lori Norstrom, I saw her speak at the trade show at WPPI and decided to attend her class. She was also great! I wish I would have taken a pic of every speaker, but I only took these two. :)
View from our car!
View from a friends hotel room at the Cosmopolitan...
We got to attend the trade show as well, lots of gadgets and fun stuff. I had to try to contain myself and not go crazy buying everything in sight! I just bought two thing. Yay!
Tyler and I stopped and listened to some music. Thinking of adding music to our site! If you have an opinion on either way would love to hear it! Either way, we are thinking of doing slide shows with music!
We got to see our friend Tim for all of 5 minutes, but it was fun!
Self portraits...
Thursday, January 6
Baby Brody
Here's another session from last month! I know I've mentioned I love newborn sessions before, and I wanted to say it again... I love newborns! lol I just love seeing them and holding them. They always smell so yummy! They are fun to pose too. Brody did make me work for his posing. But that's okay, I love a challenge. :) So here are some of his pictures....
Tuesday, January 4
Editing: Before and After
I thought I would share with you my before and after editing work. Since I started on this journey I've realized that not only did I need to learn to use my camera to its full potential, understand lighting(blah, blah) but that I also had to master software editing tools. Not that I have mastered these and not that Photoshop will "fix" a picture. Many photographers would not show their before and after pictures to clients let alone potential clients. It's like asking them to get undressed. Yike! However, there are still many that do and will and I always enjoy seeing how they do it. Trying to figure out how they do it, it's fun for me.
The first picture is a picture straight out of camera with NO editing! The second one is edited.
The first picture is a picture straight out of camera with NO editing! The second one is edited.
Wednesday, December 1
Madison - Phoenix, AZ Photographer
I just L.O.V.E. newborns! This little baby girl slept the whole time and I just love how all the pictures turned out. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)