New Location, New Blog! www.rachelrufferblog.com
Hey everyone! It’s time that I’ve moved on from my humble little WordPress.com blog to a big girl blog! You can check it out at www.rachelrufferblog.com!
And in case you need a little enticing, here’s a quick screen shot of all its glory!
Cedar Falls, Iowa Wedding Photography Special!
Second big announcement!
In celebration of my own wedding in January and the move from Lincoln, Nebraska to Cedar Falls, Iowa following my wedding, I want to offer some pretty sweet special wedding pricing.
Here’s the scoop. All day wedding coverage currently begins at $1500, and complete collections (with digital images) begin at $2000. However, the FIRST FIVE Iowa weddings booked will receive the following collection (valued at $2000) for ONLY $1500:
- All day wedding coverage (generally a few hours before the ceremony to an hour or so after the formal dances at the reception)
- Online gallery for purchasing professional prints and products
- Complimentary 1.5 hr Engagement Session with online gallery
- Disk of images with print release and usage rights
- 10% off collection upgrades (albums, etc)
In case you’re like me and need a calculator to do even simple math (5+8 is what??), I calculated it out. That’s a $500 savings! That could get you an extra night on your honeymoon. Well, unless you’re going to Bora Bora or the Maldives where it’s like $2000/night. Tangent…
Obviously, this offer doesn’t just apply to Cedar Falls and Waterloo. This applies to Hudson, La Porte City, Vinton, Cedar Rapids, Waverly, Independence – all of the surrounding area and then some. Des Moines wants in on this deal? I’m game. (Travel fees may apply to areas outside Cedar Falls and Waterloo.)
Here are the details, though. Your wedding must be on or after January 21, 2012. The offer is good for only the first five weddings booked. Your wedding is officially booked when I’ve received your signed contract and retainer payment. This is strictly first come, first served. So hurry!
And since I so rudely didn’t introduce myself above, my name is Rachel. Scroll down for a picture of me. I love people. And photographs. And photographing people. A lot. Mostly because I love bringing out the beauty that I believe everyone has. (Sappy, I know.) If you’ve got some time, take a look at what my life behind the lens is like, read a bit about me, check out my wedding portfolio (which is in the process of getting a total makeover!!), and of course contact me if you have any questions or would like to book your wedding! Also, I love to get to know new people (and not just ramble to them…), so feel free to stop by Facebook and say hi. I swear it won’t be awkward. Everyone needs new friends when they move somewhere new, right?
See you soon, Cedar Falls!
Cedar Falls, IA Wedding Photography and Senior Portraits
**Edit: I’ve officially launched my new senior website, Rachel Ruffer | Seniors! You can check it out here, or by clicking the image below!
The first big announcement is here. Are you excited?!
It’s official. I’m marrying the love of my life in January. So that means the business will be moving to Iowa!
Starting in January 2012, Rachel Ruffer Photography will officially be serving the Cedar Falls and Waterloo area, providing contemporary wedding photography and modern, fashion-inspired senior portraits. I’m so incredibly excited for this opportunity, and I really think Cedar Falls is a great community and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. In the next few days I’ll be implementing new wording here on the blog, on Facebook, and over on the website to reflect the new business location to help get my name out in Iowa.
If you are from Cedar Falls, Waterloo or any of the surrounding area and stumbled upon this post, head on over and like my page on Facebook. You’ll want to be the first to hear about the SECOND big announcement later this week, as it may or may not be a ridiculously awesome wedding photography special, just for YOU – my new friends in Iowa.
Also, if you’d be so kind, if you know someone in the Cedar Falls Waterloo area, feel free to click on the “Share” buttons below :)
I can’t wait for January! Happy Tuesday!
Gear Review: Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM
First off, I should apologize for being so out of touch the last few weeks. I’m up to *HERE* in wedding planning and schoolwork, and so (shame on me) I haven’t been out shooting as much as I would like. I’m hoping things will slow down for a while after this coming week. Internet, cross your fingers…ready, go!
I wanted to take a bit of time to review my newest (and favorite!) lens. I bought the 28mm f/1.8 lens after realizing I needed a faster wide-angle lens. But if I’m being truly honest, I really just wanted a lens that produced results like my 50mm that I could use for every day life. NOTE: I shoot with the Canon 7D, so it’s not full-frame. If you are shooting full-frame, your results will be different (and wider) than mine, as the 7D has a crop sensor. That means the 28mm on a crop-sensor is *about* the equivalent of a 50mm on a full-frame sensor.
I found my 50mm was, although great for portraits, wasn’t so great for everyday life when I’m in cramped spaces inside or traveling. It was too tight. The only lens I had wider than the 50mm was my 18-55mm kit lens, which I only would ever use at 18mm if I HAD to, because the aperture is too small. Small aperture = no bokeh = not my fav. Plus it’s not as great in low light conditions. So I bought the beautiful 28mm.
What I love most about this lens is that f/1.8 is super fast, so I can get that incredible bokeh that I dream about at night. Also, because it has an ultrasonic motor (USM) it is SO quiet when it focuses. All of the lenses I own now are USM (finally!) and after coming from the nifty fifty (50mm 1.8) it is like I am in HEAVEN. No more clunking, whirling, or thrashing like the 50mm 1.8. Quiet. Unobtrusive.
This lens has become my walk-around lens of sorts. Anytime I take my camera with me for a trip or fun night out, I’ve got my 28mm on. I had it when we were moving my sister in to college, and was able to take this image standing relatively close to her. I would have had to be 10 feet away with my 50mm to get an image like this. It reminds me of images shot with a point-and-shoot, except with better bokeh, and I.LOVE.IT.
I even took it with me to the Nebraska State Fair. And if there’s one thing I love (almost) as much as bokeh, it’s sun flare. Gorgeous. (On a side note, I wanted to just scoop one of these little guys up and take him home with me!)
When I was considering buying this lens, I spent a lot of time looking on Flickr’s 28mm 1.8 group. Lots of inspiring images over there. I hope to do great things with this lens :)
Happy Saturday!
Goodbye Plastic Fantastic: Canon 50mm 1.8 vs 50mm 1.4
I remember speaking with Chris from La Brisa once about it. The 50mm 1.8 lens. He described it perfectly.
“That’s such a funny lens. When you first get it, it is the most amazing lens in the entire world. And then, not so much.”
He’s so right. It took me only a few weeks after purchasing my Canon Rebel and 18-55mm kit lens to realize I needed something better. So, for $100 (give or take), I purchased the 50mm 1.8. Quick and dirty. And BAM. My whole world of photography was opened up by beautiful bokeh, lens flare, and downright pretty images. But soon I realized…
It was loud.
It wasn’t heavy enough to be a good paper weight.
It clunked every time it tried to focus.
I had to shoot at f/2.5 or smaller if I didn’t want soft images.
I recently had the opportunity to upgrade to the 50mm 1.4, and WOW. Night and day difference. It feels durable in my hands. It’s nearly silent when focusing. The colors are fabulous. And I almost shot an entire wedding with it.
If you’re considering a 50mm lens, save up. Buy the better one. Heck, if you can, go straight for the 50mm 1.2L. It’ll save you disappointment in the end.
So goodbye, Plastic Fantastic. It was great while it lasted. We learned a lot together, and made a lot of great memories, but I’ve moved on. I’m moving up in this world, and I can’t have you holding me back.
And no, we can’t be friends.
Wedding Reception Lighting: CyberSyncs + Off Camera Flash
So, at the beginning of the summer, the scariest part about shooting weddings for me was the reception. Because it involved FLASH. As a lover of available light, I had no idea where to start. But Saturday night I shot my first SOLO wedding and I felt that the reception was the easiest part! Since I’ve (for the most part) overcome my fear of reception lighting, I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned.
After a couple weddings assisting Rik Andes (who has essentially become my mentor – YAY!) and seeing his setup in action, I asked him to hook me up with the same because I had no idea what I needed to make everything work. Through him, I was introduced to CyberSync, which are essentially the same as PocketWizards, but $100 cheaper. I know how confusing all of this lighting can be, so let me share with you what I’ve learned in the past couple weeks, and walk you through how to get the same setup (with all the credit going to Rik!).
PS – This is definitely just ONE way of going about it for off-camera flash (OFC), but I know Jasmine Star has a similar setup with PocketWizards. And I love Jasmine Star. So if it’s good for her, surely it can be good for me! ;)
This is my setup for a Canon EOS 7D. Sorry for those who shoot any other Canon body and also Nikon shooters – I am of no help to you! :(
- 2 Canon 430EX II Speedlites
- Westcott 28″ softbox with 8′ light stand and swivel mount
- CyberSync Transmitter
- CyberSync Receiver (battery powered)
- Hotshoe adapter (the 430 flash doesn’t have a place to plug the receiver in)
So here’s the basic light stand setup. I haven’t used the softbox at a reception yet because it’s quite large, and I just don’t know if it will put out enough light. I have the receiver attached to the flash with velcro. I was a little hesitant to put velcro on everything, but I used the actual Velcro brand, and it comes right off if it needs to. (This is the nice thing about PWs – they have a hand strap so you can just hang the receiver on the stand.)
This is a close up of the adapter. It’s basically just like the hotshoe on your camera, except it has a cord that attaches to the receiver. I believe the 580EX II speedlite has a place for the receiver to plug in directly, but I’m not sure. I know that this works for me, so that’s good enough, right? :)
The 430EX II flash doesn’t have a pull-out bounce card like the 580, so I had to make one. It’s attached with velcro (I should have gotten black velcro!), and there’s a strip of velcro on each of the three sides for when you’re shooting vertical, too. Again, the transmitter is attached to the flash with velcro, and plugs right into the side of the camera.
I’m still figuring out exactly how I use all of this combined to make images that I love, but here are a couple from this weekend’s wedding to give you a few examples.
Here, the OCF is directly behind the couple, creating a nice rim lighting, and my on-camera flash was set to ETTL (which is basically like automatic mode for your flash) and bounced off the card.
In this shot, I basically just moved clockwise in relation to above, so the OCF was to my left (and out of the shot) giving some side lighting. My on-camera flash was still set to ETTL and bounced off the card.
And here the OFC is just back/side lighting everyone in the shot, while my on-camera flash is exposed for the couple and bounced off the card (still ETTL).
So, I’m definitely not an expert on any of this, so if you have comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear them. I’d love to hear how you use/position your OCF to make beautiful images, too!
Happy Monday! (Did I really just say that?!)
***EDIT: Also check out my newest lighting post about mixing flash with ambient light!**
Happy Birthday, America!
It’s that time of year again, and I’ve already stuffed myself full of too many hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers. Oh, don’t forget all the pop, chips, and deviled eggs, too. I’m sticking with the excuse that calories don’t count when you’re celebrating.
We celebrated with fireworks on Saturday night, and of course I was right there with my camera. Between using regular techniques, and a new one that my friend Rik Andes wrote about for more abstract shots, I had a field day.
This is my favorite one. Party on, America.
Wedding Day Emergency Kit
Remember Jennifer Lopez’s movie The Wedding Planner? It’s like 10 years old, but I still think it’s one of the coolest movies ever. Anyway, in the movie, she has a ridiculous amount of “emergency” items for every possible worst case scenario that could happen at a wedding. Well, given that ever since I saw the movie I wanted to be JUST LIKE HER – and the fact that I’ve come across a few instances where it would have been helpful – I decided to make up my own little emergency kit for weddings.
I can’t take credit for this entire idea, as someone on a forum I’m a part of started the topic a while back. So I combined a lot of input from photographers, as well as completely raiding the travel section at Target (I love the travel section), to come up with what I’ve got. I’ve had it for two weddings now and have used it at both so far.
I got a cute, simple makeup bag (also from Target) to hold everything. This little bag fits perfectly into the front section of my Canon backpack.
This little kit packs a punch. It easily holds all of this.
Packed inside is:
- Lint roller
- Kleenex
- Mini first aid kit
- Hand lotion
- Bug repellent (I was skeptical about it, but I’ve already used it!)
- Sunscreen
- Clear mascara (to tame wild hairs quickly)
- Straight pins (for boutineers)
- Nail file
- Tide To Go pen
- Advil
- Visine
- Breath mints
- Compact mirror
- Bobby pins (in two colors to better blend in with hair)
- Wisps
- Safety pins
And, by standing some of the things up in the bag, it all fits perfectly.
I know I may never be fully prepared to take on every crisis that may occur, but I just love to be helpful and have some of the common things on hand to make the day run a little smoother. Happy Thursday!
Whoa, Nice Camera!
I’m sure just about every photographer has heard that meant-to-be compliment of, “That’s a nice camera! I bet it takes awesome pictures.”
Or how about when someone is looking through your images and says, “These are great! It sure helps to have a fancy camera.”
I never quite know what to say in those situations. It’s such a hard thing to explain in a couple sentences how it’s more about the photographer’s creativity and vision than it is about the gear. Yet so many people don’t believe, or understand, that. The SLR Lounge created a super fun video, and went even further than the F-Stoppers, to prove that, yes! It is!
You can see the before and after images here.
Thanks to Rik Andes for posting this on Facebook. Now, who wants to go out and try this at home??
Experimenting with Flash
This weekend I get to shoot a wedding with the awesome Chris and Brandi of La Brisa Photography. Yep. I’m stoked. I’m even more excited because I get to tag along to a couple engagement sessions and see them in action outside of a wedding. It’s going to be epic.
In preparation for this wedding, I purchased a Canon 430EX II after recommendations from Chris and my other photographer pal, Rik Andes. I’ve never done much with flash before, and obviously it’s a big deal at wedding receptions, so I went for it, and the UPS man delivered it this morning.
Of course, I had to start testing it out right away. But the problem? I have no idea what I’m doing. There’s a bunch of buttons on the back, but who knows what they mean. So I believe it was in automatic or ETTL or whatever, and I just started playing around.
My understanding from reading about flash is that unless you’re in a pitch black room, you want to meter for the ambient light, and use the flash as a fill. So, that’s what I did. There’s a big picture window left of camera, but the blinds are closed, so the light coming in is minimal. Why didn’t I open them? Good question. (By the way, that’s my dog’s carton of treats. I guess it needs to be refilled…)
These are all SOOC (straight out of camera). So then I turned the flash on, increased the angle to 45 degrees so it wasn’t direct flash and fired away.
Obviously it looks a lot better, but just because it’s brighter. I think it still looks a lot like direct flash and, in my opinion, it doesn’t look like how I want it to. So then I turned the flash around, keeping it at 45, and bounced it off of the white wall behind me.
I think that’s more what I’m looking for. The harsh reflections and shadows from the flash are gone, the colors are a bit more natural, and I really do think it still has a natural-light looking feel to it. Obviously adding some contrast in post will give it more of a pop, but basically, I like it.
Now it’s time to find out how to control it manually. Any suggestions would be great!
Happy Thursday!
Tumbr = Inspiration
I been a little silent on the blog, but I’ve been busy with school and life. Corey is in town this weekend and we’re trying to make the most of the time we have. So to keep you all occupied while I’m out tearing up the town, I started a Tumblr blog a while back, to accompany my Pinterest, to collect all of the words, videos and photos that inspire me. Here’s one of my recent entries, and you can check out the whole blog here.
Happy Saturday, and Happy Easter tomorrow!
Back to the Beginning
So, with all the hype about my first year of blogging (oh, wait, that’s just me celebrating??), I decided to go back and take a look at my very first three sessions. They consisted of my two roommates and my sister. Hey, I had to practice on someone.
They took place in February 2010, and I have to admit I was scared to go back and look at them. And even more terrified of posting some of them. I was afraid they would look horrible to me now that I’ve been learning and growing so much. When I first bought my Canon, it came with the 18-55mm kit lens. This lens had the widest aperture of f/3.5 at 18mm and f/5.6 at 55mm. I quickly realized (as in, after these three sessions) that was not what I was wanting. I wanted the beautiful bokeh that came from fast glass. So I rented the 50mm f/1.4 lens and fell in love (see previous post).
However, I think I learned some really great stuff in these three sessions, and although my style has changed and developed significantly since then, I’m still fond of these images. They bring back the excitement, joy, and drive that I had to learn everything possible about the art of portraiture. And as I continue to hone my skills, I get even more joy from finding myself within this big world of photography.
Happy Friday!
Featured: UNL’s Nebraska East Union Loft Gallery
It’s official. Saturday night I hung my first gallery.
Let me tell you, it’s pretty tough work. At least in terms of getting it to look evenly spaced and level. But with the help of my best friend, we did it.
My work is featured in the Loft Gallery at the Nebraska East Union for the month of April. There’s two parts to the gallery: a selection of my favorite images from the Nebraska Collection and a collection of photographs from events on East Campus. Many thanks go to Dean Steve Waller for helping me put together the CASNR gallery!
So, if you’re in the area, swing by the student union on East Campus. The gallery is on the third floor, right off of the elevator. It’s a very modest gallery. Not a lot of large prints, but I’m proud of it nevertheless.
Happy Monday!
Shoot Less, Shoot More
Sometimes I get this weird desire to shoot film. I haven’t shot film since I was a kid. And even then, I only had point and shoot film cameras. I’ve never shot a film SLR. But I wish I could. I’ve even seriously considered getting one of those fancy new Polaroid instant cameras. Because I want to shoot more day-to-day life. I’m so terrible at that.
There’s something about the look and feel of film images – I just love them. But more importantly, film forces you (well, me!) to get everything right in-camera or it’s wasted money. That’s the thing about digital. I can shoot until my heart is content. But that also allows me to make mistakes. Mistakes I shouldn’t make. Simple exposure mistakes. And then I’ve got two or three shots that are not properly exposed, and only one good shot. It gets overwhelming in post and then I let the images sit there. Forgotten. Like how it took me half a year to go through the images from my trip to Ohio last summer. Ridiculous. Isn’t digital supposed to make things easier, not to mention, faster?
So my goal? Besides printing more of my images (which I haven’t done yet), is to shoot less. Less frames, better shots. Less mistakes. But I really need to shoot more. More of life. More of family. More of happiness.
Shoot less. Shoot more.
And try my hand at some film photography (thanks to my auntie).
Pin Me – A New Obsession
I have a confession. I always secretly hoped that Corey (an Alpha Gamma Rho alumnus) would pin me before he graduated college. He didn’t. I was bummed.
But in the last few weeks, however, I’ve found a new sort of pinning that I’ve fallen in love with. Pinterest. It’s like a beautiful, organized digital bulletin board. Multiple bulletin boards. Surfing the web is even more fun now that I can “pin” images that I like, allowing me to remember forever. I even add my own notes or descriptions. You know, because sometimes I forget why I do things. Okay, most times.
Here’s a shot of what my boards look like. Some of them are pretty bare still, as I’ve only been using Pinterest for a week or two. But given the number of blogs I follow on Google Reader, this makes that super easy to tackle. (Just a note: you can’t pin things directly through Reader…you have to open up the actual post.)
If you want to check out some of the stuff I’ve pinned, my boards can be found here. Happy pinning!
Branding – Going Deeper
A while ago, I wrote a post about some of my opinions on branding. It dealt with more of the logo side of branding, and while that is an important part of branding, the other side of it finally clicked for me a couple days ago.
I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, Style Me Pretty, under the “destination wedding” category, of course. Skimming over any weddings that didn’t involve white sand and turquoise water (and only looking at the images and the first few words in the titles), I came across a beautiful seaside wedding that had this feel to it. It was familiar. But also not, at the same time. There weren’t any logos on the images, and I found myself thinking, as I came to some of the bridal portraits, that this wedding looked a lot like something Jasmine Star would photograph. So, naturally, I looked to see who photographed it. And guess what. She did photograph the wedding!
Now that’s branding.
It’s like how I can watch TV and see a commercial with a bunch of red things and almost immediately realize it’s a Macy’s commercial. Because red is their thing. Or how you can look at any mp3 player and immediately tell if it’s an Apple product or not. That’s branding. Being able to recognize something with out labels or logos. You can just tell by the feel, the style, the look of something.
Another photographer that has great branding is Chris and Brandi at La Brisa Photography. The homepage for my Facebook app on my Droid shows most recent images as thumbnails at the bottom. And I can almost always pick out which ones are his. From thumbnails. On a Droid. No words. No indication other than the image itself. Now that’s branding.
So what do my images say? Have I accomplished any type of branding? Do I have a definitive style that people can recognize as mine? Well, no. But someday, hopefully. Right now I’m just excited to actually understand the concept.
Trying Out Freelensing
Not too long ago I came across an article talking about freelensing. I thought it sounded like a cool idea, especially because, when used in moderation, I love the look a tilt-shift lens creates, and freelensing attempts to duplicate it. Obviously, it can’t do everything a tilt-shift lens does or there wouldn’t be a need for those specific types of lenses. Basically, the lens is not attached to the camera, allowing you to tilt the lens. This ends up changing the plane of focus, so it is diagonal and not what one would normally assume it would be. So the images that freelensing yield a dreamy feel to them.
I have really only figured this out for things that are close to the lens. Put distance between the subject and the camera and I can’t get the look I want. So who knows. I’ll keep practicing though :)
With the lens attached, the whole branch would be in focus with the building completely out of focus. But notice how the left end of the branch is in focus, with the building in focus in the top left corner of the frame. Then everything falls out of focus as you move right through the frame.
Similarly, look at the image on the right. Notice how at the bottom of the image, the grass behind the tree is in focus. Then as you move up, the tree comes into focus, and then as you keep moving up the image everything else falls out of focus.
This next is an extreme example, and is not to my taste, but I think it really shows the effects of the image perfect. As a straight on shot, if taken normally, her whole face should be in focus, and anything closer or further from the camera would fall out of focus.
These next two are more how I would use this effect. Our eyes are naturally attracted to what is in focus, so it’s easy to throw things out of focus that might not have otherwise been out of focus.
Happy Monday!
Why Gear Doesn’t Matter – and Why it Does
I have to admit, with winter finally just starting to ease up, I haven’t been shooting as much as I’d like. The cold brings about longings for fireplaces, hot chocolate, and warm blankets, not standing outside pretending that you’re not freezing your toosh off. So, what have I been doing with my time?
Not doing my school work, that’s for sure. I’ve developed a pretty nasty habit of procrastination, resulting in staying up until all hours of the night finishing things I need to get done. So what am I doing while I’m not studying accounting or management? I’m learning. Learning about photography: techniques, business, marketing, and all sorts of things related to this newfound passion in my life. I want to grow. To perfect my craft. To define my direction and style.
This is all made possible, mostly in part, by relationships. Relationships with photographers near and far. I have a couple close-knit photographers that I know personally, but a lot of the relationships I’ve been forming are online. Facebook is a great tool, but I absolutely love the [ b ] school community. It’s still in its growing phase, and a lot more will be implemented in the next few months, I’m sure, but even now, I’m completely satisfied. There are videos, images galleries, and my favorite: forums. I really like to spend my time reading about other people’s businesses – what they excel at, what they struggle with, how they handle different situations – you name it, it’s on there.
One that came up not too long ago was the difference between high-end camera equipment and starter gear. Now, I’m the first to admit, that I made a mistake when I was shopping around for my first dSLR. I went for the cheapest thing I could get my excited little fingers on without pausing to think about the long term. Did I realize I would outgrow this camera within a year? No. But I am in the beginning stages of upgrading (read: saving), so this topic really caught my eye. The question was whether or not it was okay for seasoned photographers to still shoot with “starter” gear. A ton of great points were brought up, but essential theme throughout was that the gear does not make the photographer. New gear should only be purchased when the current gear limits and prohibits the desired look.
For example, you can’t expect an 18-55mm kit lens to produce the type of bokeh that most photographers look for. In the same way, you can’t rely on a Canon Rebel to get a decent looking image in that extra dark basement (at least not my basement!). If those are the shots you need or want, then yes, you would want to upgrade your gear. But the biggest thing to remember is that having the best, most expensive gear won’t do you ANY good if you don’t know how to use it. Photographers have been making great images for decades and haven’t always had the Canon 1D or 5DMII. Yes, if you know what you’re doing, these camera bodies will make your images so much better. But you can’t just pick up a top-of-the-line camera, turn it on, and expect it to make magic. Aaron, a fellow [ b ] schooler, jokes: “Hey everyone, I just bought a paint brush and a paint pallet from Michael’s. I should now be able to paint the Mona Lisa right? But what do you mean? I bought the SAME brush Leonardo used.” While it’s a hilarious quote, unfortunately, a lot of people assume it’s the equipment that makes the photos, not the photographer. Rengie disagrees: ”You can give a disposable camera to a seasoned photographer and I bet you he/she can make better photos than an amateur with a hassy H4D.”
So, that is just my opinion. You may agree or disagree. But in other news, speaking of new equipment, I’ve always been impressed with the effects tilt-shift lenses produce. However, I don’t exactly have money to drop on one, and I don’t exactly understand Lensbabies. So, a while ago, I came across a technique that replicates this effect without having the specialty gear: freelensing. Then I forgot about trying it, and came across another guide yesterday, and decided to try it. So, here are my first couple tries. It’s super hard, but I’m determined to master it.
What do you think? Do you like the effect? Check out the freelensing flickr group – some of the images are amazingly dreamy. Happy Monday!
Facebook Profiles VS Pages
I posted this the other day on one of the photography forums I’m a part of. I totally don’t want to be accusatory or a Debbie-Downer, but I just want everyone to be aware and don’t want anyone to get in trouble or have their Facebook profile shut down and lose everything forever!
I’ve noticed photographers creating profiles on Facebook for their photography business, and I just wanted to gently point out that doing so is technically against Facebook policy and your profile could actually get shut down, causing you to lose everything…and I don’t want that to happen to anyone! I don’t personally know anyone that has happened to, but I have heard stories from other photographers I do know.
According to Facebook’s Terms and Conditions, under section 4 (Registration and Security) it says in #4 that “you will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain.” In the Help section, under the question “How are Pages Different from Personal Profiles”, it states that “profiles represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook.”
Also, by having a personal profile, and a second profile the is for your business, it is also a violation because Facebook does not allow you to manage multiple accounts.
On the brighter side, there’s some major positives to having a page versus a profile, especially with the improvements they added a few weeks ago. This guy outlines the reasons to have a page but I’ll summarize: 1) Terms and Conditions, 2) Limited to 5000 friends, 3) Search engines, 4) Promotions (although apparently FB has specific rules about those as well), 5) Insights and Analytics, 6) Advertising.
So, I feel bad writing this , but I just don’t want anyone to get in trouble and I feel like this not really a well known fact… Please don’t be mad for me pointing this out! :(
If you want to read about it yourself, check out Facebook’s Terms & Conditions, their Pages Terms & Conditions, and the Promotional Guidelines.
I like you guys and just want you to be aware! XOXO
And because posts are SO much better with an image…here’s a shot of some CRP grass that I posted on my Facebook page last night from my random drive through the countryside. I had to get out and clear my head from a few things, and apparently it paid off!
Happy Friday!
Printing and Our Digital World
We live in such a digital world. We can display our pictures on our computers, our cell phones, our TVs, even digital photo frames (which are SUPER expensive, did you know??). When I was growing up, I didn’t have a digital camera. I had a little film camera (not an SLR) that I carried around everywhere and took photos of everything. Seriously. I have yet to go through all of the prints I have.
Wait, prints?! What are those? Sometimes I wonder how many in the generation below me have actually printed some of their pictures. I’m sure it’s not an insane amount, but I am thinking that the number is getting smaller. Even I sit with images from my entire high school and college careers in folders on my hard drive that haven’t been looked at in years or ever been outside of the virtual world. I think the biggest reason is that we just want to be cheap. It doesn’t cost anything to store the images digitally. Until they’re gone. And then we realize.
It’s my goal this year to print more pictures. Eventually I would love to create photo books of my high school and college years, but for right now, that’s not really an option. So I will settle for large prints for my walls, small prints for my desk, and I will be happy. Because I can look at my favorite moments in life without having to switch on a machine.
I encourage you to do the same. My mama, every so often, goes through her files and prints out the major moments and puts them in those $1 photo albums you can buy at Target. She labels them “Spring 2010″ or “Ohio Christmas 2010″ and shoves them in a box. But I pull that box out sometimes. And I love to see the photos from when I was a baby or before my parents were married. They’re little blips in time that I am allowed to eavesdrop on. And I love it.
If you’re considering ordering any large prints for you living room wall, or any wall actually, you’ll want to check out this article first. It puts into perspective just how big that “large” 11×14 image will really be. I definitely recommend the MPix photo lab over somewhere like Walmart or Costco. Their prices are comparable, but the quality is so much better, and they have some cool products, too. They even have a department just for professionals and a lot of photographer colleagues use MPix exclusively.
I printed and framed this image of Corey and I for his desk at work. I wanted to keep it for myself, as I stared at it for hours, but alas, it’s gone. For him to be reminded of me in Iowa. To think of me, and smile.
Happy Printing!
Getting Inspired and Improving My Skills
There’s nothing like a little craft time to get your creative juices flowing. Except my craft time doesn’t usually turn out as “crafty” as I originally envisioned it. However, I’ve been working on a project lately that I’m super excited about.
My junior year of high school, right after I moved from Ohio to Nebraska, I enrolled in the school’s photography class. I’d always loved taking millions of photos, but hadn’t ever had any classes on it because, well, my school in Ohio didn’t offer any. I was overwhelmed and excited when we started jumping in to the information: rule of thirds, aperture, shutter speed, points of view, etc. All very basic but I was in love with it all. Some of it, like exposure, could really only be learned by doing, but other things, like lighting and composition blew me away.
I’ll never forget a project we had to do where we were required to go through magazines and find images that utilized a specific “rule” of photography. Shallow depth of field. Bird’s eye view. Motion. It was challenging, but looking back, analyzing the photos really helped me learn and grow in my own skills the most.
A major goal that I’ve recently decided I want to accomplish is that I want to step it up. I want to step up my game. Get out of my comfort zone. I don’t want to settle for the safe shot. The boring shots that I always get. I want to try and fail. And then try again until I succeed. A lot of the photographers I look up to get their inspiration from the fashion industry. And I think that’s why I love their shots. They’re different and edgy while still maintaining a classic look. So instead of passively looking at other photographers’ blogs (you know you do it too!), I’m going straight to the fashion/bridal magazines, tearing out images that inspire me or catch my eye, and analyzing them. That way, I’ve identified the little things that make the image great so I can then implement those techniques into my own style.
I’ve got a cute sketchbook that I’m sticking the images into and jotting down notes about it. I feel like I look at a lot of blogs and a lot of pretty pictures, but when it comes down to it, I never remember what it was that made them great, and I’m stuck with the same ideas I’ve been using over and over. By analyzing the lighting, posing, location of the photographer in relationship to the subject, I really feel like this will arm me with more ideas for different situations. Just what I want.
I wanted to give my little book a name, since I envision myself using it a lot, so I named her “Allure: the Lookbook.” I wanted to name her “Inspire: the Lookbook,” but the magazines I was looking in didn’t have the word “inspire” large enough for a title. So whatever. In fashion/photography, a lookbook is basically a fancy name for a portfolio. And that’s sort of what this project is all about – inspiration for my own portfolio. If that makes any sense.
Happy Monday!
Every Part of My Being
It took a lot of effort for me to push send. I was sitting on my parents’ living room floor writing an email to a local photographer whose blog I’d been following for a while. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to pick her brain, be her friend. But how do you say that to someone you don’t know without sounding weird. And, really, why would she want to meet me? Some little old soul trying to start a photography business like all the other wannabes out there? Luckily, my intro to entrepreneurship class has a project due later this month where you have to contact and interview a successful entrepreneur, preferably in the field you want to pursue. So there was my legit reason to contact her.
I sent the message, and she, Allison Garrett, promptly responded. She said she’d love to be interviewed and I had no reason to be nervous (I may have mentioned that I was. I’m so cool I can’t believe it…)! I was so relieved. She didn’t think I was crazy. So we set up a time to meet. Yesterday. And it was so unbelievable. She knows so much. And has so many clients. And she’s just great.
We chatted about everything, but mostly photography. We discussed her path to becoming a full time photographer, some of her practices and policies, equipment, legal issues, etc. I learned so much, but was also left with a longing. A longing to learn as much as I can. To get out there and gain experience. And confidence. In myself, and in my skills.
But mostly, I’m encouraged. That I was on the right track she was telling me. And encouraged by the possibility. The possibility that someday I can be in her shoes, talking to a college kid wannabe photographer who wants to succeed in photography with every part of her being.
A Photographer’s Resource?
Photographers! For a while now, I’ve been collecting information and internet articles from established photographers around the country. I got so sick of reading a great article and then forgetting where it was located when I really needed it again. So I started gathering my favorite FAQ articles and other resources into a private page on this blog so I can just click the link when I want to read the article.
I’m sure if I’m wanting to have this information in a singular place, other people might, too. And I know I read a lot of blogs and studied a lot when I first bought my camera a year ago (well, I still read a lot!). I thought it would be cool if other people starting out could use this to help them, and also for other photographers to post their favorite articles and FAQ stuff. It’d be a whole bunch of learning from each other. And making friends. Which, I love friends.
Anyway, I don’t want to look silly, so if this is something you think you’d be interested in me making public, I will. But if not, no worries. I will keep it as my own little guide and no harm done. But let me know!
Happy Wednesday!
*Edit: The page is now up and running and you can check it out here, or in the blog menu titled “For Photographers.”
