I was totally inspired. . .

When I went to the workshop in March, and then again when I got together with some of my photography friends where, discussed direction in photography and shared some ideas about things we are learning. It never ceases to amaze me how amazing all the artisistic people are that share this photography community. Truly amazing people! I myself have a continued flow of ideas come out of me that I can not even possibly get done with out a babysitter, house keeper, and personal driver! Take this blog for instance. It is totally LAME and unsinpiring. . . . blah. And only because I am in the process of recreating another blog and website that will better display my vision. So it will be AWSOME soon! And I also apologize for the lack of posting. I will do better.

This weekend I am shooting a wedding in Tahoe on the beach and I also have about 5 sessions that still should be blogged!

And I still have NOT posted anything about the NICHOLE VAN WORKSHOP. . . .

so here they are right now.

Nichole was amazing, she was nice friendly and totally real. Every detail of the workshop was planned out from the AMAZING FOOD to the tiny button flowers and magnets she made for the workshop book & name tags!!! {details make me happy!!!}

I also met an amazing group of women.

The day Nichole taught us lighting techniques, we shot with some beautiful models who were troopers!!! we shot till dark and I got so many amazing images.

here are just a few.

This was shot with two alien bees of camera lighting triggered by a pocket wizard attached to my camera. So amazing to get that sunburst and exposure perfect for the back ground and have my subject perfectly lighted. This shot is almost SOOC!!! just a little color boost.

natural light

natural light

natural light

alien bees

natural light

this one is with someone holding my external flash off to the side with a remote trigger attached to my camera and to my flash.

(can you believe she can jump like that....in HEELS??!!!

I was so excited about the things I learned and get to implement into my photography. I have even seen a big change in my sessions since I have been home.

Thanks for looking, have a wonderful weekend! ~ K

For photographers and anyone thinking about becoming one...

Hello blogger world! and fellow photographers.... I know you share my sentiment when I say I love to take pictures! I love to learn and to meet people and create some art with images. It is my favorite! But you also know if you are a photographer that our clients have so many options when it comes to photographers because everyone has a good camera these days and wants to "be a photographer" which is totally GREAT!!! live your dreams and be AWSOME!

But it is a lot of work, just like any other business. It's hard work!!! I have a dear friend who is an AMAZING photographer, she is so gifted. Jess wrote a great article on her blog about photography and her experience in the photography business that I think EVERYONE should read, SO if you have some time and are interested in a great read..... go to the link below.

Go here to read an article by JESS

This is my favorite pic of my three kiddos taken by Jess.... LUV IT!!!

Helpful hints for photographers

Hellooo! I am so fortunate to have so many photography friends and to be able to learn from so many inspiring people. In turn I also get a lot of inquiries through emails, about my photography and for some helpful tips etc. I love to give back to the photography community and love to see others achieving their goals and dreams. So I have decided to post one of my emails to an inquiry and share with all of you.

You may know all of this, you may not..but in any case it will help you know a little bit more about me as a photographer! If you read this please leave me a comment....cause I really love to hear from my fellow bloggers! :)

question:

Dear Keri, I stumbled upon your blog one time and I fell in love with you great work! You are such an amazing and talented photographer and you pictures make me smile. I studied photography for about a year now and I am starting my own freelance photography business in my area. I just have some questions about the whole photography business and I hope you could give me some pointers. My questions are: 1. What are some of the equipments for portrait do I need to invest in to get such beautiful pictures as yours? 2. What kinds of equipments would I need to bring to a wedding should I ever shoot one? 3. What kind of post-editing software and actions do you use? 4. If you have any tips on shooting portraits for family and kids, please feel free to share. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my email and it would be really helpful if I could get some feedback from you. Thanks again! ~S ANSWER: Hi S, Thank you so much for your sweet comments about my photography!! alright, so I am going to let you in on a little secret. I do not even consider myself a " super professional" photographer. I actually really started my business only 2 years ago and 3 years ago I was doing it for FREE just to build a portfolio. I have to admit that it has come a very long way since then. which I am so blessed and grateful for. I would love to answer your questions though, because I have learned so much from other photographers and love to give back to the photography community. #1 lets talk about portrait photography. depending on what kind of shoot I am doing I will bring different things. I take extra memory cards, an extra battery, my external flash, a tripod and my lenses. Which are 24-78 2.8 (this is the lens primary lens that I use for most of my work). A wide angle lens. A 50mm 1.8, and a zoom/macro. Just in case I need any of them. I also will bring props such as couches, chairs, baskets, stools, old suitcases, blankets to sit on etc. These things I collected over time. Try to look for free things that you can paint, or are just ugly and cool that would look great in a photo. I also do a lot of my newborn photos in the homes of my clients and so to get the black and white back grounds I make sure and bring a black flannel/or jersey knit sheet. I will tack them up or use big clips on chairs etc. I do not have a ton of professional equipment so I improvise. I do not do any studio lighting in my photos and have not invested in that yet. Everything I do is natural light or a combo with my flash if I need it. But if you can get a handle on your lighting you can do about anything. #2 Weddings... wedding are another story all together. you want to make sure that you are UBER prepared for a wedding, cause you know you can't to a "retake" shoot. Have an assistant go with you to carry your bags etc. I always ask them for a list of the shots that they want for sure. This way I do not miss anything and they get what they want. I take this list with me and have my assistant make sure that I don't miss anything. I take all the same things to my wedding sessions as my portrait sessions. But not all the props. A lot of photographers have a kit that they take with all possible needs and I think that is a good idea I will take snacks and water too. If you have a back up camera it is a good idea to take it just in case. Here is a link to a helpful post on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/weddingphoto/discuss/72157616396957860/?search=what+to+take+a+wedding #3 post processing and editing.... Well, here is another surprise. up until one week ago I have not been using anything fancy. I just got an imac and CS4. (both of which I am scared of hahahahaha!) SO I have been using my pc with an external hard drive. And photoshop elements 6.0!!! for the past 3 years!!! yep, can you believe it? the bottom line is that I have studied and studied photoshop techniques and played around with my own photos until I have achieved the look I want. Also I do not use actions. O.K. Iied, I do use one action but not always. I use powder room from coffee shop actions, when I need some skin softening, so mostly just on the babies. I do use textures that I have created as well as some from Nichole Van (http://www.nicholevan.com) who I Iove and a few from betharmsheimertextures.blogspot.com. Mostly I have searched and joined sites like ILP (ilovephotography) Clickin moms and flickr. These sites have proved invaluable for me as I have learned mounds of things and been inspired by so many wonderful and talented photographers. I have also been to photoshop and photography classes through my local college, and taken seminars from sandy puc, as well as a bunch of online seminars, and i am going to be doing a workshop with Nicole Van in the spring ( which I am very excited about) Simply put I am an insomniac with a passion for photography and I can not get enough!!! I feel like I have a lot to learn and I need to get my business running a little better. But that is how we get better is, by always learning and wanting to be better! The reason I decided not to use actions is that I figure if I know how to do it myself, then I can create my own look and stand out and then maybe create some for others some day :) #4 tips.... I have developed my method for shooting families and kids over time. It is super important to remember that things do not always go as planned. I think the one of the most important things I learned from one of my seminars is to be confident. Even if things are not working out like you thought. Family sessions seem to be stressful for everyone. Just getting everyone ready, picking out outfits, getting there and then having the kids scream or not want pics is STRESSFUL!!!!!! but that is what makes it fun and patience combined with confidence is the key. I like to tell the parents not to have expectations about the kids behavior, and to let me do the directing with them. This way I can talk to them and let them get comfortable with them and then I can get them happy instead of stressed and in trouble. Also go to some seminars, or purchase on line mentoring, or go to a workshop. I have learned a ton from these. I also like to ask the client what their vision/style is and then depending on how many are in the session and the location I think of poses and I try to do something original and do diff. angles etc. in each session. talk to the kids about what they like, Dora, Diego, their favorite toy etc. Sing songs and be silly. Make the family comfortable and remind the parents to look at the camera and let you work with the kids. I find that a lot of times I will have good pics of the kids, but then one of the parents are looking/talking to them and it ruins the pic. Another thing is getting sharp in focus pics with groups..... are you ready? this is crucial. your Aperture needs to be correct. So for groups it should mimic the number of people in the group. If you have 5 people it should be at a 5.0 ish. etc. Learn your manual mode and lighting!! super super important for saving yourself hours in photoshop. above all have fun find your style and your passion and run with it. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions. I would love to share!!! Luv, Keri

How to make your back ground BLACK in a photograph

I have been asked a lot of questions, And I thought it would be nice to share a little of those questions with EVERYONE and make this a learning experience for all. I HIGHLY believe in giving back. I have learned so much from other photographers and if I can help anyone else it would give me great happiness.

alright well first of all I do not have a studio and all of my photos are done with natural light. even the "in studio" looking photos. I would love studio lighting, but I do not have it, and currently do not have a place to do it. As most photographers who are starting out. Also I wanted to say that so you will have the guts to try this out even if you are in your living room.

So what is the secret? is there one? no not really, most of it is just basic camera mumbo jumbo...so here it goes.

Metering is the tool that gets this done. When you look through your cameras view finder you will see the little lines that go from left to right? that is your in camera light meter. It is a fantastic tool that every photographer NEEDS to use. If you have a hand held meter you may use that as well. There are a lot of metering modes. I usually use spot metering as it gives me the ability to pick what I want to meter.

I do all this in manual. I highly encourage you to shoot in manual. To meter for a black back ground you should get in close and meter off of the baby (or persons) skin. set your shutter speed, ISO, and aperture so that your line is in the middle. {In a Canon} to far left and you are underexposed, to far right and you are overexposed I think Nikon is the exact opposite. Back up focus and shoot. Ignoring what your meter is saying now because it will change and go crazy.

Now what a bout the black ground? I have used many things... mostly black cotton jersey sheets that have been thumb tacked to the wall!! (I know classy right) I did build a wood frame (well actually Dear hubby did) that I wrapped black fleece like fabric I got at walmart and that worked Awesome, as it never had wrinkles and was portable. If you are doing natural light it is best to set up in a room with good non direct sunlight. Closer to that window or door is best for directional light.

Of course photo shop is a huge help in this area as well. sometimes in the black pictures, it's just not ALL black and if you do any kind of cropping or clipping or enlarging of the black areas there may be lighter areas that you may not see on your screen, but will show up in printing. I usually do a layer mask and darken the back ground and then mask and erase the areas I want black.


Alright so grab your kids or anyone who is willing to sit still for a few moments. (even if it is just a baby doll) and try this out! GOOD LUCK and Let me know if this was helpful to anyone as this is my first true attempt at trying to explain things like this at all.

Luv, Keri

Free texture!!!!!!

Hi everyone! So I just wanted to give a little something back. I can not even begin to tell you how I have been inspired by other photographers and also been the recipiant of so much generosity. Especially with photoshop and cute and creative freebies from all the great forums I am a part of. I LOVE the photography community. Even if you are not a photographer and you have photoshop or another program you can still use this too! here are my before and afters using the texture I created:

The texture is basically a picture I took of some rusty metal and then I layered and brushed until I got this final result!





So how do you get these kind of results from a jpeg texture? if you do not know, this is what I did... first you do ALL the adjustments you want done to the picture. Then just drag the texture onto the picture to make a new layer. It will completely cover up the picture. Select that layer and choose OVERLAY. it will most likely make your people look crazy if you are using it on a portrait. So do a duplicate layer of the origional portrait and drag it above the texture so the texture is sandwiched. Then you can erase the parts of the top layer so the texture shows through in the places you want. Layers can not be done wrong. You can get all sorts of different looks by choosing soft light, hard light, or adjusting the opacity etc. So just play around and have fun. If you do use this it would be fun to see the pictures you use it on so leave me a comment and a link to see your creation! :)

here is what it looks like: there is a link at the bottom to copy full resolution.




Link:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3296384129_73620e5f89_b.jpg