Niagara Networks

Hello all

I missed my blog post yesterday as we were getting a few things organized here at the studio and because Bryan and I attended “Niagara Networks” which was a networking event through the local Chamber of Commerce. I got to meet a lot of really great people and am looking forward to some of the ideas that came up with certain connections. I realized just how important it is to meet people in the community and get your name out there. So not much to blog about today – spent most of the day in the office – sorting and organizing promotional material as well as working with Brianne on a product catalogue that we are developing. This will make ordering a lot easier for our clients and hopefully stress free for me too!

I had hinted that I would be updating the website and dividing the two aspects of my business before the end of April but alas May is here and I am only a little bit further ahead. I will keep working on it and since it will take me longer I will make sure to include some of the May weddings that I will be shooting. I am looking forward to a full season and can’t wait to share the images with you.

31 more things almost equals 101

So today I will attempt to add another 30 items to my list as well as cross off a few that I have completed

1. Go on a Wednesday afternoon picnic with my husband and my dog

2. Teach Freddie (my dog) to roll over

3. Go on a trip to Europe

4. Shoot a destination wedding

5. Go on a roadtrip – destination unknown

6. Have lunch or a real conversation with a photographer I admire

7. Make my mind up about having children

8. Buy a new house

9. Set up a home studio in said house

10. Smile more

11. Get my photo taken at least once a month for the next six months ( I never take photos of myself as it’s something I hate)

12. Do a portrait session with my family Completed April 13th – To be displayed in a blog post shortly

13. Do a portrait session with my husband (We don’t have any formal photos since Christmas 2003 unless you count our wedding photos)

14. Participate in a workshop

15. Attend WPPI again but do the Business Institute and Master classes as well

16. Get my business to go in the direction that I want it to with the clients that I want

17. Make sure that this time when I attend WPPI – I go a few days early so I can photograph all the landscapes I want

18. Do at least 5 seniors sessions

19. Donate my time to a local cause using my photography skills

20. Tell my husband one thing that I love about him (that’s different from the day before) every day for a month

21. Be a second shooter for a photographer I admire

22. Plan something great for our wedding anniversary

23. Spend more time with my mother

24. Take my little brother back to Canada’s Wonderland

25. Take my 19 year old brother out to a bar for drinks just the two of us

26. Give everyone of my bride’s a little gift to thank them for the gift they have bestowed upon me

27. Join the chamber of commerce Joined April 24th

28. Donate more money to charities or donate more time

29. Buy lens, end and body caps for all my gear and actually keep them without losing them for an entire wedding season

30. Lose 20 pounds before the end of the year

31. Go out dancing with my best friend Stella’s – April 25th

32. Have a get together with all my brides for the upcoming season

33. Get a few new backdrops for the studio

34. Create a really great mother’s day and father’s day gifts

35. Recover the panels in the office

36. Participate as a vendor in a local bridal show

37. Try thai food

38. Get together with some friends from out of town and catch up

39. Photograph a “first peek” session before the ceremony

40. Become a member of “Now I lay me down to sleep”

41. Deliver all of my brides and grooms their photos online within two weeks of the wedding

42. Quit pop – for good this time (don’t laugh it’s a serious addiction)

43. Swim in the ocean

44. Go fishing (haven’t done this in a long long time)

45. Add 10$ to a savings account every time I complete something on this list

46. Get my full G

47. Take a photo that represents each of the words in the 100 snapshots challenge ( http://thaumaturgise.wordpress.com/101-things/pictures/)

48. Go camping at BYNG

49. Go camping in Algonquin

50. Print some of our wedding photos to hang in our living room

51. Learn conversational Spanish

52. Learn conversational Italian

53. Take Freddie to puppy obedience classes

54. Take a tropical vacation

55. Learn how to snorkel or scuba dive

56. Take photos from the top of a mountain

57. Ride in a helicopter

58. At least three times in this period – push past my fear about something – and climb over the wall to do it anyway (ask me more if you’d like to understand this)

59. Research one new thing I’d like to learn a month – whether photography related or not (and blog about it) for six months

60. Go kayaking again – somewhere picturesque

61. Be a little more risky

62. Get regular pedicures this summer

63. Get regular massages this summer

64. Get signs made for the office

65. Install the fixed phone in the office so that when I lose power on the portable I can still answer calls!

66. Prepare flyers and promotional items for the bridal show

67. Plant the garden in the backyard

68. Dress Freddie (my dog) up for Halloween in a doggie Halloween costume

69. Change phone companies

70. Launch portrait site

71. Blog a video once every two weeks

72. Create an official charging station in the studio

73. Enter 5 photography contests

74. Shoot a “wear the dress” session in my favourite place in Ontario

75. Create a standardized logo file with my logo made to fit samples, envelopes, letterhead etc…

76. Get my hard drives under control

77. Finish MD photo book

78. Delete old and unecessary facebook messages

79. Order new business cards

80. Book a wedding out of province

81. Teach a basics course on how to take better photos

82. Finish office reno

83. Finish this list

84. Get glare free glass for all of my frames

85. Clean out my car – top to bottom and then get a car wash that includes the inside of my car

86. Order sample prints for comparison

87. Create supplier pricing binder & customer pricing binder

88. Order new batteries and charger

89. Go to bed on time more

90. Read more Bukowski

91. Take a cooking class

Not bad – it’s so weird to put together this list and try and think of all the things that only need to be done but that I want to do. It kinda helps put things into perspective. Only 10 more items to go – I’m going to really think about these and make them worth it.

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Not normally but I have had a pretty fun filled weekend so I am kinda worn out today but I heard a really funny joke last night on a television special and it made me think of today. I hope I tell it right as it really is funny, unless of course your a police officer and if so I am sorry

“Everyone seems to hate rainy days, I don’t understand why – I love rainy days. Those are the days that I run red lights and don’t stop at stop signs on purpose. Why – do you ask? I just like making the police officer stand in the rain to give me a ticket – I mean it’s my money shouldn’t I spend it in ways that make me happy?”

It was a skit done by Kevin James (i think) shown during the Just for Laughs special. It’s not really a joke but rather a monologue but still funny just the same. This past weekend I went up to Guelph to visit some friends, had a rousing game of Cranium (seriously the best game ever) and then went out to a country bar for the first time in my life. It was definitely interesting but I really wish I would have brought my camera as three of the four of us ended up riding the mechanical bull Guelph is such a pretty place and on Sunday we also took a drive through Fergus. If you ever get the chance to go through there then please do. It feels like you have been transported back through time or flown across the pond to England

Getting away for the weekend was a nice break and one I am not sure to get again for awhile. Next weekend starts the season off with my first wedding of the season. Unfortunately I won’t be able to post the photos as the bride and groom have requested internet privacy but I am looking forward to it all the same

Hopefully you are all well and rested after the weekend and are enjoying the rainy day as much as I am Just remember that after a good rain like this the blooms start to really come out

We were in the news!

Ok sort of – Here is a link to an online article http://www.miltoncanadianchampion.com/arts_and_entertainment/article/164062 the article is a direct reprint of an article in Niagara this Week. We were approached by the Welland Museum to volunteer our services for the day and take the winner of a contest for the day on a shoot or a day in the studio. The contestants will be divided into the two categories under and over 15 and they will submit photos about what they think Welland is about. I look forward to seeing who the winner is and spending the day with a young budding photographer

Song lyrics – smells, sounds and tastes

Isn’t it funny that in photography we are always talking about recreating a moment so that you can keep it forever, but it’s not just photographs that make us remember. It’s the smells, the sounds and sometimes the taste associated with different times in our life that can remind us as well. One of my favorite lines in a book is from “The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” (by Rebecca Wells – amazing read – definitely should read this if you haven’t. Rebecca portrays emotions with similes the way no other author I’ve ever read does) and the main character was talking about her mother and she says (of her mother) “She used to say she could taste sleep and that it was as delicious as a BLT on fresh French bread” This is just an example again of how we associate things of joy with tastes, smells and sounds. I was actually thinking about this today as I drove to my friend Jayme’s house as during the drive a particular song came on and it reminded me of how much I love my husband. Then I thought about this and remembered smelling the same perfume that I wore during my wedding day and it brought be back. Nothing brings me back to my childhood better than the smell of cotton candy or that three colour neopolitan taffy. I can actually imagine the store just up the street where my friends and frittered away all of the change we could weedle out of family or got for our birthdays. When I hear wind chimes I think of the years growing up going to the cottage every summer and spending the whole day in my bathing suit, when I smell bonfires I think of camping trips gone by and roasting marshmallows. I think I am going to make it a goal of mine this wedding season to associate something with each bride and groom – perhaps a song and then play it on their wedding day to remind myself of why I am so happy to be there and what it is I like about them Sorry for the ramble – I tend to get all introspective and emotional after talking with Jayme I enjoyed visiting her this afternoon and it was nice to be around someone who has such a positive outlook – while still being realistic So to leave you for the day I will leave you with the lyrics to the song that touched me on the way to her house …

“Easy Silence”

When the calls and conversations
Accidents and accusations
Messages and misperceptions
Paralyze my mind

Busses, cars, and airplanes leaving
Burning fumes of gasoline
And everyone is running
And I come to find a refuge in the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Monkeys on the barricades
Are warning us to back away
They form commissions trying to find
The next one they can crucify

And anger plays on every station
Answers only make more questions
I need something to believe in
Breathe in sanctuary in the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Children lose their youth too soon
Watching war made us immune
And I’ve got all the world to lose
But I just want to hold on to the

Easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me

The easy silence that you make for me
It’s okay when there’s nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay for me
The way you keep the world at bay

Another great quote from Rebecca Wells – Divine Secrets “We all have our best guides within us, if only we would listen” I am going to try and listen more to myself and less to the negative voices on the outside

So tired .. but happy

So I don’t have photos to post today as I spent the whole day editing, sorting, printing, ordering, and doing general catching up. Today though I really got a chance to be thankful. This time two years ago I was in a job I disliked strongly (very politically correct vs what I would really like to say) and dreading waking up every day. Here I am having just put in a 10 hour day today and I have to say – I have really enjoyed myself. The time really flew by because I was having fun. Running your own business isn’t easy but it’s worth it to do what you love. I am thankful to my husband for being so supportive of this leap and let’s cross our fingers that both of our businesses continue to do well in the future

News!

OK so I told you I would let you in on something new yesterday and well I have been sick with a cold – despite that (and the black eyes I have right now) I am posting the surprise today so here goes. I have made a new purchase that will allow me to communicate in new ways with you This ….

… is my new flip video camcorder. It’s not amazing super high quality but it is just right and absolutely portable enough for me to create videos for my blog as well as for my website. If you can pardon the sick face here is my first attempt and an explanation for why I wanted to do this

Shooting assignment with Brianne . . .

So when I took courses through Niagara for Photography, one of the greatest things that my teacher taught us was these tools for composition that would help us develop our photographic eye. So being that it was so beautiful today Brianne and I went out so I could teach her about some of these tools. Most photographers know these already but perhaps if photography is just a hobby for you then you’ll be able to pick up some tips on how to take better photos. Here is the challenge I gave Brianne . . .

Shoot photos with these guidelines in mind…

1. Vertical composition depicting strength
2. Horizontal composition depicting tranquility
3. Rule of thirds
4. Something for it’s colour
5. Unbalanced composition
6. Balanced composition
7. Something with texture
8. Something smooth
9. Subject in the distance framed by the foreground
10. Leading lines
11. Diagonal composition
12. Repetitive pattern

Here are a few shots that I took and an explanation of why shooting with a particular rule can help make a better photograph.

This was my example for leading lines – the line of the walkway takes your eye to the right and down through the photo. Using leading lines helps direct your eye to what’s important and can be used to take the viewer on a journey. Using this technique for a portrait shoot or at a wedding might mean placing the Bride and Groom halfway down the walkway. This can help create a metaphor or just create a pleasing line of sight to the subject in the photo.

Using horizontal and vertical composition, photographers can convey two kinds of messages. Vertical photos have a tendency to depict drama and place importance on the subject. Horizontal photos have a more calming and relaxing feel – they then to include more of the scenery. This photo is a perfect example as to this rule as it’s a very relaxed landscape and includes the sky, trees and the water so you get a sense of being there. Had I shot this photo vertically the importance would have been put on the tree and the sky and it would have drawn attention to the height of the tree – creating some drama. So depending on what you want to show in your photo using vertical or landscape orientation can help create a feeling.

Using a wider aperture you can take things that are in the foreground and use them to frame your subject or create a bit of a pattern surrounding your subject. In the case of the photo of Brianne she is framed by a budding tree but yet she is in focus. Then the danger sign in the photo above is framed by the fence that keeps us from getting to it. It’s hard to see but in both cases it creates interest, whether through an interesting pattern or by giving the viewer a sense of voyeurism. I use this sometimes on a wedding day to depict a moment of intimacy between the bride and groom – in fact if you look at the photos of Jaime and Kara – i used this technique during their engagement photos and I find it just makes the whole photo look more romantic.

Just like when most people get dressed in the morning they have to consider whether or not certain clothing colours that they are going to wear will match; so does a photographer have to consider if the colours in the background match and compliment you and your clothing. Learning to look at light is a hard thing for a photographer to do but you can simply improve your photos by considering the colours that are included in the photo. If you know two colours do not look well together then change your composition to separate them. If your not sure then look at a colour wheel – it will give you a good idea of what colours look good together.

These are just a few examples of some of the things to keep in mind when shooting but there is so much more. I encourage you to question yourself when you see a photo you love what it is about the composition that you like. Analysing other photos and practicing different kinds of compositions will help you develop your eye. So the best advice I can give you is to get out there and shoot, shoot, shoot!

Kara & Jaime – e-session

So last post I explained how I met Kara & Jaime and how I came to be their wedding photographer but perhaps I didn’t emphasize quite enough just how excited I am to shoot their wedding. Today I shot their engagement photos and despite the sudden humidity, had a blast. These two are obviously head over heels in love with each other and definitely didn’t need any prompting to be romantic. Check out a few shots from today . . .

I love how protective Jaime looks of Kara here – and she looks totally in love and at ease

I love that the blooms are just starting to come out

Helped make this shot more romantic and made it more symbolic

I think this is my favorite shot of the whole session

It pretty much sums up exactly how they are

I love the little giggle!

Thanks again you two and can’t wait for June 14th

Got a little something . . .

Ok so Monday will bring some new but I went with a friend and got a little something today . . . Can’t wait to show it you since (if you read this blog) this will be a little something for you too That’s if you like peering into my mind, which can sometimes be a scary place Details to come Monday

pssst are you thinking to yourself right now “She’s just posting this teaser to use it as a blog post and knock one off the list” Well that’s a terrible though and what’s even more terrible = your right

Have a good weekend everyone!