Another one of my regular families. Tyler is soooo mushy and growing up so fast. Nicole is also pregnant with her second child and due a few days before me. And her belly looks tiny compared to mine! Im jealous. ;-)
I adore these next two.
We were snapping a few pictures of Mom and Dad with "the baby bump" and Tyler decided he wanted in on the action too!
A beautiful family, even more so on the inside. Friends Andrea and Mark and their gorgeous daughter Ava, who is quite the H.A.M in front of the camera. And she is hilarious, so I tried to capture some of that personality while she was instructing her parents (and me) on what to do next in the shoot.
We moved inside for a quick M&M treat break. As most parents of toddlers know, rewards for good listening can work wonders :-)
I was so happy to see that Charlie and Kent's beautiful wedding from this past March was featured in the annual Most Beautiful Weddings of the Year special issue of The Wedding Chronicle. Couples can pick up their free copy at AJ's Fine Grocery Stores or at various wedding related boutiques and stores around the Valley. To see more images from Charlie and Kent's wedding, beautifully coordinated by Victoria Canada's team at A Bright Event, click here to see the slideshow.
Laura and AJ were married on Nov 8th in a beautiful church ceremony at Pinnacle Peak Presbyterian Church followed by their wedding reception at Grayhawk Golf Club. I always love photographing Grayhawk weddings because I got married there too, so it brings back such great memories! Laura and AJ's wedding was my last of the season and I think I'm going to miss shooting (weddings) until I return back in March!
I really enjoyed photographing their wedding. Laura was a little nervous earlier in the day (just normal wedding day jitters) but the cool thing was that that her quiet nervousness made for some pretty neat images during prep time. I loved their ceremony and that the Phoenix Boys Choir sang - which made for such a unique aspect to their day. And their reception was really fun - such a party!
Amazing light coming through the windows! Bride and groom time at Grayhawk
Now that is what I'm talking about! (Reminded me of my sister's Mexico destination wedding!)
This image is straight out of the camera. No post processing or actions applied. I love the surreal look to it.
Laura and her dad
AJ and his Mom (with a tear streaming down her face)
Thank you Laura and AJ for sharing your super fun and beautiful day! What a wonderful celebration for you guys and I was so honored to photograph it for you and meet your families and friends.
And a special thank you to my friend and great photograper Andy Andrews for coming along to shoot the wedding with me!
Click below to view the cards and pricing. All cards are customizable with text, lettering styles and in some cases the colors. You pick your favorite image(s), place your order and we design and ship to you within 5 days. All cards come with white matching envelopes. The last day to order your cards is Dec 6th. (You will receive them by the 10th or 11th at the latest.)
The following slideshow will show you a "gallery" view at the end of the show, so that you click on the individual images again for longer viewing. The first set shows our new folded cards, followed by the pricing, and the second set shows the flat 5x7 style cards that we have offered in the past, but includes new designs for this year. Click play on the image below to view all the different cards.
You can also view the show in an alternative web browser by clicking here.
We have been in full swing with holiday portrait sessions for several weeks now, I'm just behind on posting them! I'll start with the Hallums family. This was a super fun shoot because the boys really did their own things and were creative and adventurous and just fun. It's been several years since I photographed the Hallums, so it was super fun to see them again - and they have grown so much!
It's been awhile since I have answered any FAQ from you guys out there regarding photography. Niki sent me this email awhile back, so I apologize for the delay Niki! It's getting harder to answer many of your emails just due to the workload, but I'll try to get one up every month or two.
Hi, I found your Blog and absolutly loved your photo's. They are amazing!! Im only just starting out with photography. I was just wondering how do you get such amazing bright, crisp photo's outside without the sun glaring on them? Is it a technique you use, the time of day...I have no idea. If you have any tips at all I would really appreciate to hear them. Thanks so much, Niki
Thanks Niki! In addition to understanding how the fundamentals of aperture, shutter speed and ISO interrelate (too much to go into here) and really understanding your own gear, I have found time of day plays one of the biggest roles in how your photographs turn out. You often hear photographers speak of "the sweet light" or "the golden light" which is that hour or so before the sun sets, when the light is low in the sky very golden. That is the time I try to schedule the majority of my outdoor sessions, or my time with the bride and groom for their "portrait time" on their wedding day. The least flattering time of day for outdoor photographs is when the sun is highest in the sky. This varies during the season and year, but generally speaking, from 10 AM-3 PM (in the AZ winter) and roughly 9 AM - 4 PM (in the AZ summer), when the high sun creates more harsh shadows and is very bright, causing your subjects to squint.
When the sun is too bright to place subjects in, my favorite outdoor light is 1) diffused light which is not necessarily the shade under a tree on a bright day, though sometimes this is a necessity, but places with overhangs, courtyards, patio coverings, or other more shaded areas because the light is soft and generally even:
a) Inside a courtyard, not in direct sun. Late afternoon/early evening.
b) On a patio, under the roof covering, facing out to light source.
and 2) golden light in the last 15-20 minutes of direct sun exposure before it sets.
This shot was taken in the last 10 minutes or so of light, facing sun at approx. 30 degree angle. Meaning sun was setting just a few degrees off to her left (my right).
The beauty of that last 20 min or so of daylight-- when the sun is just above the horizon -- is that it also provides some neat opportunities for backlighting, where you can incorporate the setting sun into your photos, or use the light to create pretty highlights in their hair or silhouette them.
Above:) Shot probably about 20-30 min before sun actually set over the horizon.
Below:) Shooting directly into last minutes of setting sun
Above:) Sun is right behind them, but I moved off the right a bit, so that it would not hit my lens directly. I wanted this shot to be very golden and "moody." This was probably about 10 minutes before it went over the horizon.
If you are working with shaded areas in high sun, move your subjects to a place where the light falls off directly in front of them, or to the side of them. This gives you more exposure but keeps it diffused and not harsh. Think of your front doors open, and stepping just inside the door frame facing out, to the point where the sun leaves the face and body. To me, that is great light to shoot in, especially if the area behind your subject is dark and all the light falls off behind them.
Above:) She is standing in the door frame of her back patio door. I exposed for her skin, so that any ambient light coming from her house behind her would fall to dark. I intentionally underexposed the image by 1/2 stop or so she was my main focus. In post processing, I brought up the lights (her skin) a tiny bit and deepened the blacks (behind her) so again, the focus is on her belly and face, where my intention of the shot was to highlight.
Note: All of the above images were shot using manual settings so I have more control over the light in the final image.
And for the clearest, most crisp pictures in outdoor light, remember to keep your ISO as low as possible. I hope that helps!
I wanted to share some new "storyboards" we have created for clients in the past several months. I have been offering these for awhile, but haven't really ever shared via the blog, so I wanted to get these up in case other clients are interested in these as well, especially in time for the holidays. The beauty of these "montage" portraits is that they are completely custom designed for you, with your favorite images from one of your sessions with us, choice of text (names, quotes, family motto, you name it) and colors to fit your decor. They make the perfect gift because all you have to do is frame the final image!
These are all presented with a simple black mock frame for display purposes.
Storyboards are larger format prints ready to frame. The square ones do not come smaller than 10x10 and are recommended as 16x16 or 20x20. The longer vertical or horizontal prints are 10x20 or 15x30.
For more information on pricing and how to order, drop us an email. If you would like to order these in time for holiday gifts, all orders must be placed by Dec. 10th.
You will also notice a new category off the right called "Studio Products" in which you will see more featured items offered by our studio in the coming weeks and months.
Katie and Dario were married a couple weeks ago at a private home in Paradise Valley. Actually, not just any home, but one of the few original Frank Lloyd Wright homes that is still in its original condition with all the furnishings and architectural elements, and owned by the U-haul family, friends of Katie's family. Photographically, I tried to incorporate the unique architecture when possible since it provided some interesting lines and details.
They have a rather neat story. Dario is Italian, and Katie met him when she moved to Rome for 4 months to learn Italian- kind of like an extended vacation for her. When she arrived and interviewed at possible apartments to live in, since she did not speak the language, at one interview, she just sat there smiling (not understanding), while her "competition" from Sicily asked millions of questions. Since she was so smily, the girls who lived there chose her over the Italian girl, which turned out to be a nice twist of fate. Katie met Dario a week later as he was friends with these girls.
Their love grew quickly and by the end of her short stay in Rome, they decided that they would either break up or move to the same country to actually give the relationship a chance. So they rented an apartment in Rome, but when Katie came home to Phoenix for Christmas that year, Dario came with her to meet her parents, and they decided it would be better for both of their careers to come to America instead. Dario learned to speak English in something like 6 months and their love has grown into a beautiful relationship!
A sweet one I loved of Katie and her Dad, right after he saw her for the first time. I love these next two... the two doors, the light, the movement. I also think they provide a little symbolism for the day; how she is walking out of one door into another.
Watching Dario walk up to the house - and not wanting to be seen. :-)
Waiting with Dad right before the ceremony started.
At the ceremony, Dario's sister translated the vows into Italian since their parents do not speak English. Loved this sweet moment between Katie and Dario's Mom right after the ceremony. Katie is fluent in like 4 languages, so she speaks Italian perfectly!
I dont know why, but I really love this one. Just something about it to me, the feeling.
Some pretty details from the day. Each table represented a city in Italy and were handmade by her friend.
Congratulations Katie and Dario! It was an honor to spend the day with you and photograph your beautiful wedding.
Thank you also to Cristi Owen for second shooting the wedding with me. She has some images she took on her blog as well.
On November 1st, Kim Jarman and I held our second beginner workshop -- followed by our first intermediate workshop -- at Kim's studio in Mesa. We had 12 people for the beginner class, which really is the perfect amount for our format. I don't think we will ever have more than 15 people, so that we can keep in the portion of helping each attendee with the fundamentals. The goal of our workshop is to teach the fundamentals of photography -- basically how to take their cameras off of the automatic settings and practice shooting manually, allowing them to have more creativity in their photographs. We teach the basics of understanding light, aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and how they relate when shooting manually, as well as provide some hands-on lessons and examples, and share which lenses will provide the most bang for their buck as far as output of image quality goes. We also shared several shots that Kim and I have taken with the exact settings, lenses, time of day, etc., and provided explanation as to how we achieved the shot, something that the last workshop had specifically requested more of, and several commented this time around that those examples were very helpful. Nearly everyone said they learned quite a bit and got something (or a great deal) from the class, which is what we hoped for!
Here are some images from the day. A very special thank you to Gisele Holloway for coming to take some photos for us!
Here is the group!
In the afternoon, we held our intermediate workshop, which was the perfect size with 7 attendees. This really allowed us to spend some time with each of them, as well as for everyone to get in close and get some shots of their own of the models. The goal of the intermediate workshop was to go much more in-depth, build upon all the fundamentals by applying them in action, and really speak to the specific things that the attendees wanted to learn (posing suggestions, working with clients or putting people at ease, incorporating more creativity into shooting and understanding light better.) This workshop was VERY hands-on, with live models and an in-depth post-processing lesson in Adobe Lightroom. After our live shoot, we processed the images and then shared everyone's work - which was very cool to see what everyone captured during the day. Everyone did so great!! The feedback Kim and I have received has been astounding and we are so thrilled that everyone learned so much. Here is an email I received from Jenny a day later, who took our beginner workshop last July and attended the intermediate workshop this time:
"Thank you so much for putting on the intermediate workshop with Kim! I had so much fun and definitely learned a lot. It was so great to watch you and Kim work with clients and to see how you determined great places to shoot. I feel like my photography skills have already improved just by knowing more about how to look for good light and how to compose interesting photos. The Lightroom portion of the workshop was extremely helpful! Thank you for taking the time to sit with each of us individually to edit some of our images. This was extremely helpful and now I know so much more about Lightroom that I can apply to other photos I've taken. It was definitely encouraging to see others photos at the workshop and to learn from the way they take photographs and the way they edit them. Thank you again for being so willing to share your photography knowledge and expertise!"
Here is a how our afternoon progressed. After about 1-1/2 hours of class time, we went outside to shoot!
We started with our toddler model Noah, who has done some modeling in the past, so he definitely loved the camera.
Here is a shot that Lizzie got of me working with Noah.
And one of the resulting shots...
Then we photographed our family - clients and friends of mine. I was loving how their reds and blacks were popping against this wall.
Little Paulo was a good example for the class how many toddlers are very shy in the beginning. But like most, he also warmed up quickly.
Bianca however, loves the camera!
Then we did some lessons in "panning" the camera to capture motion. In this case, the kids running back and forth. Here are a couple shots I nabbed.
Lastly, we finished off with our adorable, married couple Christa and Donald. We had a little more time with them simply because they were last and we took advantage of the setting sun. Here are some of my favs from this little "mini session."
I loved the shadow on the wall from the tree!
Practicing with backlighting and sun flare.
Thank you, thank you to everyone who attended both workshops!!
I just wanted to post a quick note to say that we not slacking off here, just the opposite. The blog has been taking a bit of a back seat these past 2 weeks or so as we have been incredibly busy and working hard to get everything turned back around to clients. I have a lengthy blog post in the works about the great workshops last weekend, 2 more weddings to post, several family shoots and some new products/ideas coming soon. Thanks for bearing with us during this very busy time!
A detailed recap of our second photography workshop is coming any day -- maybe any hour --with lots of pictures, but I wanted to get some images up from little Izzi's (Isabelle) session a few weeks ago. She is my dear friend Kim's niece, and so, so adorable!
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