Monday, August 31, 2009 - Photography
Makin' My Monday! (The ShootQ Edition)
I
f you're a wedding photographer, the chances are you've heard of ShootQ. And soon, I'm sure, I'll be able to safely assume that if you're a wedding photographer - you're using ShootQ. Quite simply: it's a 'no brainer'.
I've been a happy ShootQ user since February of 2008. The monthly investment is small and back in February of 2008 I'd have to say that it was a close call as to the value of ShootQ vs. my investment. But still, it did what I wanted it to do - mainly, organize my pricing and packages online so it was easy for potential clients to see what I offered and hire me - and so I stuck with it. What I didn't anticipate was how the good people at ShootQ would keep updating the software, updating the user experience and interface, and turn this little piece of online software into something virtually essential to my business. It's kinda like this: If you're a photographer you need a place to host your images online to show your clients and to sell prints AND you need ShootQ.
The way ShootQ keeps everything organized is amazing. So much better than trying to do it all with your calendar, your email client, some kind of task-manager or whatever else you might be trying to piece together to make it all work to stay on top of everything. ShootQ does all that - and more!
Want to send that inquiry you just received your pricing and package information? ShootQ does that.
Want them to be able to send you a list of what they would like in a custom collection? ShootQ does that.
Want them to be able to hire you with a 'click'? ShootQ does that.
Want them to be able to sign the contract online? ShootQ does that.
Want them to be able to pay their deposit online? ShootQ does that.
Want them to be automatically notified when it's time for the next payment due? ShootQ does that.
Want them to have their own 'Client Area' where they can view a workflow list and see where you're at in getting everything done for them? ShootQ does that.
Want to be able to look at a graph on a timeline and see how much $ you should be receiving in the next few weeks, 6 months, or year? ShootQ does that.
Want to track your referrers and see where those leads are coming from? ShootQ does that.
Want to manage all of your vendor and client relationships and find their info, and the related shoots, with a simple click or two? ShootQ does that.
You want to know something crazy? This list is just the beginning! Here are two more...
On the go and want to send a 'to do' item to ShootQ so you remember it later? Send ShootQ a tweet.
Want $10,000 to fund your dream project that raises public awareness about an important social, environmental, or economic issue? Shoot Q does that too.
You figure it out yet? Yeah - 'no brainer' indeed.
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ShootQ isn't paying me anything for saying all this - I just want you to know what's 'Makin' My Monday'. It's ShootQ!
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Thursday, August 27, 2009 - Weddings & Clients
Wedding at Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center - Aimee and Shawn
S
aturday I had the wonderful privilege of photographing the Denver Wedding of Aimee and Shawn. I had been looking forward to this Indian Wedding all year because I just love it when a wedding is filled with so many special elements AND I love it when a wedding is filled with Aimee and Shawn! :) They are two of the most beautiful people, inside and out, and I believe it comes through in every photograph of them.
Here's Shawn...
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And Aimee... (She suggested that she could make a 'heart' with her Henna covered hands. How CUTE!)
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The ceremony took place at the Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Denver - yeah, say that one three times fast! I've been here a few times now and every time I walk in my jaw drops like it's the first time.
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Watching Aimee laugh her way through the entire 1-hour ceremony was one of the happiest things I've ever witnessed at a wedding!
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At one point, family and friends began to come forward and throw flower petals at the happy couple.
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Once again, Aimee thought this was hilarious!
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After the ceremony we headed over to Wash Park for a few photos with the wedding party. I snapped this one as the Limo left the church.
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Remember all those flower petals? I swept them up and brought them all with me to hand out to the wedding party with this photo in mind... Fun times! :)
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An incredibly beautiful couple makes a Colorado Wedding Photographer's job SO easy! And you know, I really believe that every couple I photograph is beautiful - but it's the SMILES that take it to a whole other level!
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While we were at the park I just had to get this photo. The bouquet was so unique, and having all the bridesmaids covered in Henna for this Indian Wedding was so special - I thought something like this would be fun...
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After our time at Wash Park was up, Aimee and Shawn headed over to the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center to prepare for their reception. It was time for a little wardrobe change...
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And HERE THEY ARE!
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The Hyatt in Denver does a marvelous job with weddings! (Special Note: This hotel prepared the food for nearly 400 guests in attendance I'd say. Having been to a few weddings and eaten the food at a number of hotels I've just got to tell you that this was far and away the BEST hotel food I've ever had at a wedding! And calling it 'hotel food' might not do it justice. This was better than most of the catered food I've had. Seriously. It was delicious!)
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One of the main features at Aimee and Shawn's wedding was the Denver Taiko drummers. They rocked! If you want your party LOUD and full of energy, give these talented people a call!
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Did I mention energy?
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And then a bunch of Aimee and Shawn's family and friends performed a few dance numbers. It was quite a night!!
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But nothing could top the dance of Aimee and Shawn, our Bollywood Beauties. :) Thanks to Jolynne for shooting this one with me and grabbing this image!
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I love this photo of the Mother-of-the-Groom and the Mother-of-the-Bride gushing over Aimee's Indian garb.
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Congrats you two! Have a great time in the Bahamas!!
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treasure this day forever
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - Weddings & Clients
Cielo at Castle Pines Wedding - Katrina and Jesse
I
feel so fortunate that I was able to photograph a second wedding this year at the all new, and beautiful, Cielo at Castle Pines. It's a great place for a Colorado wedding, and can you believe that when Katrina and Jesse chose this site as their place to get married, it was still in the 'computer modeling' stage? And Wow! It turned out spectacular!
Katrina and Jesse's wedding was a celebration full of joy! Katrina was all smiles - except when she was getting her veil on (that's serious business you know!).
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Ok, here's that smile! :)
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And Jesse was all fidgety with anticipation as he waited for Katrina to come down that aisle...
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There were smiles all around!
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A Colorado wedding at sunset, on a hillside filled with trees, surrounded by family, friends, flowers, and sunbeams. Wonderful!
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I think this is my favorite image of the day!
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Afterwards we took a few minutes for photos with the wedding party.
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And the newlyweds.
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How sweet is this!? For some reason it reminds me of their engagement session...
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Katrina wanted to make sure to get a photo of Jesse with her flowers. :)
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And then it was time to begin the celebration! (I think having your reception at Cielo at Castle Pines is where this venue really shines! And before I forget (like I ever could) I want to thank Jolynne of Jolynnephotography for shooting this wedding with me!)
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I LOVE this photo of Katrina!
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And then they were off to Italy! Hope you're having a blast you two!
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treasure this day forever
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And before you go - check out this slideshow. Katrina and Jesse chose to have me set up a photobooth at their wedding.
Click play to see some of the fun...
Click play to see some of the fun...
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Monday, August 24, 2009 - Photography
Makin' My Monday! (The Totally Rad Edition)
O
k, real quick... I'm in the thick of my busiest two months of the year here and while it might have crossed my mind to skip today's edition of 'Makin' My Monday' I know that there are about 7 people out there waiting for it and I didn't want to let you down! :)
I fear that for regular readers this is no new news as I've mentioned my love for the 'Totally Rad Actions' a bunch of times on my site - but let's just go ahead and make it official. Doug Boutwell's Action Sets are definitely Makin' My Monday. And if you're a wedding photographer or a portrait photographer - I encourage you to check them out!
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I use these actions constantly! The only other things I'm using currently are Jesh De Rox's Colorshift set and Kevin Kubota's Magic Sharp. Besides that I do it all with the help of Doug 'The Photoshop Genius' Boutwell and his rad actions!
From set one, here is what I use on a regular basis:
Grainstorm
Boutwell's not-so-magic Glasses (Every Image! I find digital to be 'flat' and this sure helps!)
Warm it up, Kris
Banding Aid
Boring Old B&W
Cinnamon Toast (recently, a lot!)
Boring Sepia
Pro-Retouch (Especially for HS Seniors!)
And from set two:
Lux (soft)
Flare-Up (golden)
All of the 'Get Faded'
Burn-Out (90% of my images)
Highlight Separator
Punch-Out
...and I used to use Claire-ify a bunch but now I find I'm turning to Jesh's 'Day' or 'Morning' for this now...
Coming SOON (like, today!?) Doug is releasing a new plug-in tool called 'Dirty Pictures'. This plug-in deals specifically in the arena of photoshop textures. I used to really love textures but I found it very time consuming and there were always a couple of things about using textures that made it very complicated. Well, I watched Doug's 7 minute video on his Dirty Picture plug-in this morning and he's proven his genius! Seriously, if you know anything about textures, have any interest in using them, have used them in the past but found it difficult, etc. watch the 7 minute video and I just about guarantee that you'll be giving Doug your money very soon!! For me - I thought I was done with textures, but now, after watching what he's come up with - they might just be making a comeback to my post-processing toolbox! (As a side-note: if you visit this link you'll see that there is a contest right now where if you blog about 'dirty pictures' you can win a free set. I want you to know that I missed the deadline and I'm not in the running. I tell you that because, even more importantly, I want you to know that I am a huge fan of Doug and TRA and I don't say this constantly because I'm trying to win a prize but because I'm a believer!)
Totally Rad Actions are Makin' My Monday!
...and just because it's always more fun with photos - here is a 'Before and After'!
Before I used any Totally Rad Actions:
From set one, here is what I use on a regular basis:
Grainstorm
Boutwell's not-so-magic Glasses (Every Image! I find digital to be 'flat' and this sure helps!)
Warm it up, Kris
Banding Aid
Boring Old B&W
Cinnamon Toast (recently, a lot!)
Boring Sepia
Pro-Retouch (Especially for HS Seniors!)
And from set two:
Lux (soft)
Flare-Up (golden)
All of the 'Get Faded'
Burn-Out (90% of my images)
Highlight Separator
Punch-Out
...and I used to use Claire-ify a bunch but now I find I'm turning to Jesh's 'Day' or 'Morning' for this now...
Coming SOON (like, today!?) Doug is releasing a new plug-in tool called 'Dirty Pictures'. This plug-in deals specifically in the arena of photoshop textures. I used to really love textures but I found it very time consuming and there were always a couple of things about using textures that made it very complicated. Well, I watched Doug's 7 minute video on his Dirty Picture plug-in this morning and he's proven his genius! Seriously, if you know anything about textures, have any interest in using them, have used them in the past but found it difficult, etc. watch the 7 minute video and I just about guarantee that you'll be giving Doug your money very soon!! For me - I thought I was done with textures, but now, after watching what he's come up with - they might just be making a comeback to my post-processing toolbox! (As a side-note: if you visit this link you'll see that there is a contest right now where if you blog about 'dirty pictures' you can win a free set. I want you to know that I missed the deadline and I'm not in the running. I tell you that because, even more importantly, I want you to know that I am a huge fan of Doug and TRA and I don't say this constantly because I'm trying to win a prize but because I'm a believer!)
Totally Rad Actions are Makin' My Monday!
...and just because it's always more fun with photos - here is a 'Before and After'!
Before I used any Totally Rad Actions:
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Recipe:
Claire-ify @ 20% (to lighten it up a touch before I start making it darker)
Punch Out @ 50%
Shadow Separator @ 40% (to bring out a little of the detail in his tux)
Get Faded (Summer) @ 20%
A little bit o' Yin/Yang
Boutwell not-so-magic Glasses @ 15% (to give a little shape to the digi-flat world)
Burn-Out @ 50%
And after resizing for the web I used 'Sharpen For Web' this time instead of Kubota's Magic Sharp.
Claire-ify @ 20% (to lighten it up a touch before I start making it darker)
Punch Out @ 50%
Shadow Separator @ 40% (to bring out a little of the detail in his tux)
Get Faded (Summer) @ 20%
A little bit o' Yin/Yang
Boutwell not-so-magic Glasses @ 15% (to give a little shape to the digi-flat world)
Burn-Out @ 50%
And after resizing for the web I used 'Sharpen For Web' this time instead of Kubota's Magic Sharp.
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This new image would look ridiculously rad as a metallic print, don't you think!?
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Thursday, August 20, 2009 - Weddings & Clients
Wedding at Lionsgate - Vanessa and Craig
F
amily.
It might be my favorite thing about a wedding day. Seeing all of the family come together to celebrate the start of a new family. Seeing all of the friends, who might as well be a part of the extended family, come together and join in the celebration.
At Vanessa and Craig's wedding this past weekend, there was a lot to celebrate, and a lot of family to witness and cheer. Regular visitors might recall their Denver engagement session which I posted here - where I got to meet Vanessa and Craig and the other beautiful member of their family, Lilly. What a joy to be able to spend the day with them again - on this grandest of occasions - and photograph all the beauty of this new beginning.
Here are a few of Vanessa getting ready...
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Dusty Volkel joined me on this one and captured this great image...
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Vanessa was so happy and SO ready to get married and celebrate!
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Can't wait to photograph Lilly's wedding!!
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Don't want to leave the boys out!
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I've done lots of weddings at the Lionsgate Dove House - but this was my first time next door at the Gatehouse. I've said it before and I'll say it again - their facilities are beautiful, but it's their staff that is extraordinary. LOVE working with the great people at Lionsgate!!
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Vanessa and her Father.... I believe he has a few sons and Vanessa is his only daughter. Can't imagine what this must have felt like for him!!
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Lilly was a part of the ceremony as well (and so was the makeup brush!)
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Could they be any happier!?
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Huge wedding party - and so much fun!!
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Let the celebration begin!
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All of the sudden this Michael Jackson tune started to spin, and the ladies took over the dance floor. Vanessa owned it - so cool!
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Can you tell Craig was excited!?
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Congrats guys! May all your days be filled with the joy you felt on this day!
treasure this day forever
treasure this day forever
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Monday, August 17, 2009 - Photography
Makin' My Monday! (The 24mm Edition)
W
hen I first started out in Wedding Photography I used my 70-200mm almost exclusively. I'd zoom in tight for those great portraits, intimate moments, and for those candid shots where I could be far enough away that those in my frame had no idea I was pointing the camera their direction.
But as I grew as a photographer in both talent and experience I discovered that my preference of lenses began to change. I began to develop a love for the wide angle lens as you can still capture those great portraits, intimate moments, and candid reactions - however, with a wide angle lens you can also capture the scene around the subject. This is very important to a truly great photograph because the scene, or the setting, gives the subject a place in which to exist and it helps to tell the complete story of the moment!
I tried the 16-35 for awhile but I discovered that I have a personal dislike for contorted bodies at the edges of the 16mm frame. Those of you who've shot with this lens know exactly what I'm talking about. It doesn't bother some people, and good for you if you're in that camp, but it really bothers me to see the human shape curved over like a crescent moon and so I found myself never going wider than about 24mm which seemed to be the sweet spot where I could go as wide as possible without creating that awkward curve.
So, eventually, I sold the 16-35mm on craigslist and picked up the 24mm f/1.4 L. It was love at first sight! I would say that I had this lens on my body for 65-75% of the time while photographing weddings here in Colorado, and probably 90% of the time while photographing Denver engagement sessions. As a wedding photographer, and a wedding photojournalist, it is my job to tell the story and the 24mm is the best tool I have for doing just that.
As a side note, I'd say that using the 24mm for engagement sessions became more an issue of style than story. How do you do a closeup of two people in love with a 24mm lens mounted to your camera? Well, you've got to get in there close! :) As a byproduct of 'going wide' I find that I become much more involved with my subjects and the shot I'm trying to create. For me, it's just so much more fun to run forwards or backwards, bend down, stand on my tiptoes (or any nearby object) and engage my entire body in creating the perfect shot - not just my fingers wrapped around a zoom.
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The 24mm f/1.4 L lens is Makin' My Monday!
PS....
I thought of 3 things that might be of interest concerning this post.
1. It was kinda exciting when I went to Jesh de Rox's workshop at WPPI in Vegas in 2008 and heard him say the exact same things about the 24mm lens that I'm saying here. It's always nice to know that you're not the only one!!
2. Most of my experience has been with a 1dmkii camera which has a 1.3 crop factor - making the 24mm focal length effectively 31mm. Now that I'm shooting with a 5dmkii the 24 is actually 24 and this has taken some getting used to! In fact, I may not be as in love with this lens as I once was. But before I discount everything I just said about this lens I would say that I'm still figuring things out regarding this 'new' 24... It's kinda like we're back to dating again... :) And now, because of all of this, my curiosity for the 35mm has grown immensely!
3. There is an all new 24mm lens now available. Oh how I wish I could swap mine out for the new version!
PS....
I thought of 3 things that might be of interest concerning this post.
1. It was kinda exciting when I went to Jesh de Rox's workshop at WPPI in Vegas in 2008 and heard him say the exact same things about the 24mm lens that I'm saying here. It's always nice to know that you're not the only one!!
2. Most of my experience has been with a 1dmkii camera which has a 1.3 crop factor - making the 24mm focal length effectively 31mm. Now that I'm shooting with a 5dmkii the 24 is actually 24 and this has taken some getting used to! In fact, I may not be as in love with this lens as I once was. But before I discount everything I just said about this lens I would say that I'm still figuring things out regarding this 'new' 24... It's kinda like we're back to dating again... :) And now, because of all of this, my curiosity for the 35mm has grown immensely!
3. There is an all new 24mm lens now available. Oh how I wish I could swap mine out for the new version!
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Friday, August 14, 2009 - Grads
Mountain Range Senior Pictures - Rachel
W
hat a great senior session!
Through every wardrobe change, and every change of scenery, Rachel was rockin' it! From what little I know about Rachel, she's a lot like this session. She a little bit country and a little bit punk, a little bit sports and a little bit dance...
She's a little bit of flowers...
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...and a little bit of sun.
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A little bit of 'urban'...
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...and a little bit of 'classic' too!
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We had a great time running around and capturing every look and mood we could. If you'd like to see some more, start the slideshow!
treasure this day forever
treasure this day forever
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