Cheers to the future. Here's another shot of my most favorite client looking a little less miserable:
Being faced with major life decisions makes me feel like this: So yes admittedly I sometimes classify picking out a lip gloss color at Target as a major life decision, but it has been an exciting, promising and confusing day. Cheers to the future. Here's another shot of my most favorite client looking a little less miserable: Stay tuned for some upcoming shoots that I am super excited to share!
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There is a story that floats around the photography world that goes something like this: A chef met a photographer at a photoshoot and said "wow, your camera takes such great pictures"...the next night the photographer ate at the chef's restaurant and said "wow, your stove makes such great food!" As I have learned over the last year or two, an expensive and high-tech camera does not automatically produce great images. It's definitely a good start but photography requires a combination of good composition, knowledge of camera functions and (in my opinion, most importantly) post-processing. When I first started taking pictures I became frustrated easily by the lack of color and light in my photographs. While I initially thought there was something wrong with my camera or lens, I quickly realized that 100% of the images I was seeing on other photographer's websites had been digitally enhanced by Photoshop, Lightroom or both. Insert Photoshop actions. LIGHTBULB. I invested in a set of Photoshop actions from Totally Rad Actions (TRA). Here they give you shortcut fixes to everyday issues that allow you to brighten, darken, warm up, cool down, increase contrast and even apply vintage, funky, or dream-like filters to images. There is a crazy trend nowadays for the Wes Anderson inspired, Etsy, crafty, vintage looking photos. I like the style, but I also liked cargo pants in 7th grade. My point? I prefer a bright, warm, colorful, timeless image. Editing photos is where a photographer's real style comes through...and, while I'm still discovering mine, here is a step by step run through of how I currently edit most photos: Remember Stacy?? This is one of my favorite shots from John's BBQ. Here's how it all went down... There you have it....my editing process. Some may love it, some may hate it but it's my style and I'm stickin by it.
I hope this didn't bore you to death. I am still learning and am in no way an authority on such things but figured it could be interesting. At the very least, maybe it gave a little peek at the amount of work that really goes into editing and enhancing digital negatives after sessions or weddings. It can be very time consuming adjusting each picture and a consistent workflow is absolutely essential (I'm still working on that part)...but it's something I genuinely enjoy doing. Class dismissed! I braved the heat with "the usuals" yesterday at John's for a bbq. I took 823 pictures in 10 hours (hi, my name is cat and I am addicted to my shutter button) so narrowing it down to a bloggable amount was a little tough.
5 or 6 years ago these peeps were just "Joe's friends" to me...now they are "our friends" and I love them all <3 Nothing more awesome than coming home from work and discovering that BOTH my new lens and shootsac were delivered early! That's the good news.
The bad news is on a Tuesday night, with no cool clients around, I was forced to test out my new swag on my typical weeknight surroundings. Not the most technically-sound photographs of all time, but hey, isn't that what "playing around" is for? Joe had just bought a blender and an abundance of fruit so I documented the blender, the fruit and Gillies (of course) watching it all go down. Later we headed out for a walk just as the sun was setting...absolutely LOVED taking pictures sans-flash with the new 1.8 lens. Very relieved to have a low-light solution in the bag. Considering the cost, I am giving this lens a double thumbs up...As for the shootsac, so far so good. Tomorrow is Friday, and life is good. First of all, on a personal note, since I don't want to fall into the trap of being "that person" who calls my muy muy pregnant sister every 5 minutes saying "anything!?" "anything!?" I play it super cool when I talk to her but seriously ANY SECOND now I will have a new niece! Can't wait to meet this little lady and take 5,000 pictures. Casey G is going to be a timeless older brother, AHH so excited!
Second of all, you may remember my disappointment in my last post concerning my lack of pictures from Kaitlin's wedding. I have tried a few different camera bags over the last year and haven't really been thrilled with any of them. To take the "lugging" factor out of carrying my camera, lenses and accessories both personally and professionally, I took the plunge today and ordered a ShootSac. It is apparently "the" bag to have and it comes with a variety of super cute covers (hint hint Santa Claus). I am still a little disturbed at the price, but hopefully this thing will live up to the hype. I hope you are all having an absolutely FABULOUS weekend. Cheers! I'm more than a little bummed out at the miniscule amount of pictures I have from Kaitlin and Chris's wedding (none, technically)...maid-of-honoring doesn't really flow with lugging around my gear.
However, I did get a few shots of the bride-to-be getting her hair and makeup done with her girls before the ceremony. I guess it's better than nothing. Congrats you two! Much love. Made the trek to Jersey yesterday for Danny and Kathy's engagement party. Lots of fun celebrating and meeting Kathy's family. Little Bridget Dunbar and Ella Groom also made appearances and I couldn't resist snapping some shots of the adorable little ladies. Enjoy!
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