Exactly one year ago I did something spontaneous and crazy.  Well, not super spontaneous because I had been dreaming about it since they day I decided to become a photographer.  Exactly one year ago I signed the lease on my very first studio.  To say it was bad timing was an understatement.  I was pregnant with Kennedy, I was crazy busy with DrewB Photography and with Mom*tog.  But, I saw an opportunity to grow my newborn side of my business and I took it.

I was never really able to invest the time in that studio to make it what I really wanted.  I think maybe I knew in the back of my mind that I wasn’t going to be there for long.  I loved it and it worked for me, but I guess I just knew something better would come along.  Before I renewed my lease I decided to look and make sure there wasn’t a better space for me.  Low and behold I found the most PERFECT space.  It’s amazing.  AND it has EXPOSED BRICK!  That’s not something that you can find very easily in Orange County.  The building I’m in now is almost 100 years old.  It has character, charm, and gorgeous light (and a ghost, apparently).

Yesterday I went back to my old studio to pick up a couple of things that were left behind and I got so sad.  It was my first space and I loved it.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was mine.  I worked hard for it.  And it is fun to see your dreams become a reality.

I snapped these shots early the morning that we moved out.  The light wasn’t ideal (so don’t go Pinning these, people!), but I wanted to remember my first studio.

This is my client meeting area / hanging out area when I’m shooting.

I tried to have a cozy and kind of private place for moms to feed their babies.  This is the comfiest rocker.  It’s from Target and was cheap!

This is where I shoot my newborns (Kennedy says hi!).

And this is all of my props.  They are tucked behind a curtain, which you can kind of see in the first picture.

I wanted to go back and get a picture of me with the kids in front of my window, but my landlord took it down before I was able to do that  Here’s an iphone picture I took right after it went up last year.

I promise I won’t wait a year until I post pictures of the new place.  It already looks so great.  Everything fit perfectly, which I took as a sign that it was the right move for me.  Can’t wait for you all to see it!

In early December I bought myself an early Christmas / end of the year tax write off present.  I had been coveting the Canon 100mm 2.8 L Series lens for a while and I finally took the plunge and bought it.  Macro lenses are great for getting super, duper close up on your subject.  You’ll see macro lenses used a lot in nature photography.  It’s a prime lens, which means you can’t zoom in or out.

I’ve had the Canon 100mm 2.8 macro (the non L Series version) for a few years.  The only time I ever used it was for ring shots at weddings and it did it’s job.

The big problem with that lens is you basically need to manually focus it, which is fine when you’re shooting objects that don’t move.  It was a lot harder to use on things that moved, like my squirmy kids and the newborns that I’ve been shooting a lot more of in the past year.

The 100mm 2.8L is a totally unnecessary lens for most Mom*togs and even a lot of photographers.  It’s pricey.  But, I LOVE it.  It’s really fun, super sharp, and the focus is great.  My only complaint is that I wish it stopped down to 2.0.

I would highly recommend renting this lens if you have a new baby or even to capture the little details of older kids.  You’ll have a lot of fun with it.  The only problem is that you might not want to give it back!

PS  If you were interested in buying the 100 2.8L, there is a $110 instant rebate that ends January 7th!

Canon 5D Mark II, 100mm 2.8 L

F 2.8, 1/160, ISO 800

F 2.8, 1/100, ISO 1000

Who do you shoot for?  Do you shoot for yourself and your family?  Or do you shoot for your blog?  For other photographers?

It’s so easy when you’re starting out to obsess over other photographers work.  To wish you were someone else.  Don’t.  Trust me.  Been there.  Done that.  Don’t waste time comparing your work to that of other photographers.  Don’t strive to be like other photographers.  Strive to be yourself.  To find your own style.  Don’t be the next _______ (insert the name of big photographer here).  Be you.  Shoot what you love.  Who you love.

If you are a professional photographer, shoot for your clients.  Don’t shoot to get featured on some blog.  Tell your clients stories.  Put yourself in their shoes.  What would you want to remember about your family at that very point in time?  10, 20, 30 years from now they won’t remember what blog their session was featured on.  Or how many comments were left on their blog post.  But, they will be able to look back at the pictures you took for them and be able to remember the love they were feeling for their family at that time.

A few months ago I was inspired by these beautiful self-portraits that Lacey Meyers posted on Real Mom*togs.  On a trip to my local camera shop last week I finally bought a remote shutter so I could try some self portraits as well.  It’s hard!  Getting the focus and settings right, while trying not to wake a sleeping newborn is difficult.  But, totally worth it to be in a few shots with my kids.  I’m always behind the camera so it’s nice to have a few shots of myself as well (even if it’s with no makeup!).  95% of the shots were trash, but there are two good ones that I love.

Taken with Canon 5D, 50 1.2.  Camera set up on tripod.

F 2.0, 1/200, ISO 320

F 2.8, 1/320, ISO 250

It was a fun challenge and got me thinking out of the box!  Can’t wait to try more!

“Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is. Maybe it’s 20 people, maybe it’s 30 people, 40 people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your classroom, your co-workers. Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You’re letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have.” – Oprah Winfrey

As a mom, I want my children to be kind and compassionate.  I want them to understand the joy of giving and not just receiving.  I want them to know that one person can make a difference no matter how small or big their voice is.

I love helping others.  I love giving.  And I’m fortunate that you all keep coming back and reading what I have to say giving me a small voice in this blogging community.  I want to use that voice to do what I can to help others.

I’m not going to lie.  I was a bit disappointed with the outcome of Soul 4 the South.  When I did the math in my head I thought we could raise SO much money.  We could help SO many people.  If everyone who stopped by here donated $10 we could raise $20,000.  I realize that people are hurting now.  Times are tough.  But, $10 is skipping your trip to Starbucks twice one week.  Or bringing lunch to work rather than eating out.  Especially with the chance to win such great prizes.

And then my friend sent me some encouraging words and a link to this post.  It made sense.  I got over being disappointed and realized that whatever we raised was going to help someone and that’s all that mattered.

I didn’t quite realize how much until last night when I got an email from BeRemedy telling me how far the money we helped raise went.  How WE, together, with just small donations of $10 were able to help Nathan, a single Dad of four in Joplin recently diagnosed with cancer get back on his feet.  Every single donation of $10 helped.  YOU helped to change their lives.

So, know that whatever you give or do, no matter how small can add up to something big.  Thanks to each and every one of you who donated, helped spread the word, and to our amazing vendors for making this possible!  I’m happy to have been a small part of this and I hope you are too.

Question from Noel:

Do you ever cancel shoot due to poor light? Grey Grey skies?

Curious!

Grey skies?  I have no idea what you are talking about!  We have perfect weather and blue skies all the time in Orange County!  :)

The only time I cancel shoots is if it’s actively raining or if it’s super, super windy (if you’re from Southern California you are familiar with Santa Ana’s).  Or if there is a tornado warning.  No joke.  I really had to cancel because of a tornado warning once.  That same day a couple of people got struck by lightning.  I felt horrible because my client had already gone to get her makeup done.  But, the weather just got crazier and crazier as the day went on.  So, I called her makeup artist and told her that I would pay for my client on the date that we rescheduled.  It’s a small price to pay to not get struck by lightning

If I cancel a session I usually won’t be able to reschedule for awhile.  I’m typically booked about a month out and sometimes longer.  And if I reschedule how will I know the day I pick won’t be cloudy or even worse weather?  In addition, it could be cloudy at my house, but beautiful at the beach.  Or vice versa.  It’s just hard to know what the weather will do.

As a professional photographer you should be able to shoot in any sort of light that’s thrown your way.  Do I prefer to shoot with sun?  Of course.  I get sad when I have to shoot with grey skies.  But, I don’t control the weather!  That would be cool if I could though…

This past summer we had “June Gloom” from May through August.  Yucky, cloudy, and cold weather.  Not your typical So Cal summer.  It was depressing.  But, I wouldn’t have worked all summer if I would have canceled the shoots.  You just have to learn to work with what you have.  The great thing about shooting with overcast skies is it’s actually easier.  You don’t have to worry as much about shadows on the face and you have more options of where to shoot.  You’re not limited by the sun.

Today I was sad because it was super cloudy.  I checked weather.com a dozen times and each time it said “cloudy”.  I kept my fingers crossed that the sun would come out for my shoot, but as I was driving it didn’t look promising.  When I pulled up to our location the sun started to peak out.  As we continued to shoot the clouds disappeared and we ended up with this

If I would have cancelled I would have missed out on that yummy light!

Over the weekend I watched a documentary about Annie Leibovitz and someone said “Really great photographers can’t stop taking pictures.  They do it like other people eat and breathe.  Her whole life is a subject”.  That got me thinking.  I don’t take my camera with me everywhere.  Whether it’s because it’s too heavy, or I don’t want anything to happen to it, or the light won’t be right, or I’m just lazy, it stays at home a lot of the time.  But, I have my phone with me all the time.  It never leaves my side.  And while the pictures may not be the best quality or images that I will want to frame and hang up on my wall it would be neat to see if I could take a picture everyday.  And see what I come up with.  I just started, but I’m excited to see what I can come up with.

I’m using Project 365 app and will be posting each month I complete.  I got the new iphone 4 last week so I’m starting new with the pictures I’ve taken so far on that camera.  My favorite photography app so far has to be Hipstamatic.  It’s like having my Diana with me all the time!  I’ll be sharing more of my favorite photography apps soon!

Are you taking a picture everyday?

As parents of toddlers (and older kids know) getting your kids to pose for pictures is next to impossible.  Right before Brayden turned 2 he started saying, “No pictures, Mommy!” anytime I would get the camera out.  I would have to do sneak attacks to get any pictures of him.

We’ve been having some normal two year old issues lately.  Tantrums, using the word “no” excessively, and doing whatever I tell him not to do.  That got me thinking about using the tactic of reverse psychology on my kid.  And guess what?  It works.  Like a charm.  It gets him to eat.  It gets him to go potty.  It gets him to clean up his toys.  And it’s even how I get my hugs and kisses.  Last night I tried it out at the pool to get some pictures of him and, just like I thought, it worked like a charm again.  I’ve been doing this for about two weeks now and I’m really hoping it doesn’t wear off.  Please tell me it doesn’t wear off!

Here is, “Whatever you do DO NOT bring Mr. Turtle over here!”

*** All images shot with Canon 5D, 24 – 70 2.8 lens

2.8, 1/500, ISO 125

Here is, “Whatever you do DO NOT splash me!”

2.8, 1/400, ISO 125

And last, but not least, “Whatever you do DO NOT smile at the camera!”

2.8, 1/400, ISO 125

Last week I blogged about one of my favorite lenses, the Canon 16 – 35.  It’s a great lens, but like with any wide angle lens you will get a bit of lens distortion on the edges.  Nicole asked if I had ever tried the lens distortion tool while editing, but I hadn’t.  I didn’t even know if Photoshop had one!

Flash forward to this past weekend.  The good people at Adobe were kind enough to send me a copy of Adobe Lightroom Photoshop 3 to try out for myself.  As it was loading I was reading about all the new features and one of those features was a lens distortion tool.  It’s super awesome because you simply pick what lens you were using and it is fixed automatically.  The have most Canon, Nikon, and Sigma wide angle lenses to choose from as well as a couple of Sony and Tamron lenses.

Here is the original image taken with the Canon 16 – 35 2.8:

Here is the corrected image:

The change is subtle, but I think it looks great!  You can really see the difference when you look at the block wall in the background.  See how on the original image it curves up on the sides (on the top and bottom of the wall).  On the corrected image it’s just a straight line.  Pretty cool and it was so easy!

I’ll be doing a full review on Lightroom when I get to know how to use it and work it into my work flow.  But, I am really impressed.  Especially with the noise reduction.  Wow!  It’s amazing!

I don’t like flash, but it’s necessary for weddings.  I haven’t used a flash for a family shoot in probably three years.  For weddings, here’s what’s in my bag:

3 Speedlites (2 580EX and 1 580EXII) – I use one camera flash and two off cameras.  If you want to know how to use off camera flash I suggest you take the same workshop that I did this past Spring – Off Camera Flash workshop with JVS.  I went specifically for the wedding lighting, which was a very small part of the workshop.  But, it really helped me understand my Speedlites much better.

Lots and lots of rechargeable batteries – I think they recycle faster than normal batteries.  And it’s also environmentally friendly and more cost efficient in the long run.  Make sure you label the batteries with the date you bought them so you know when it’s time to eventually retire them.

3 Quantum Turbo Batteries (one for each flash) – Do you ever have that problem when using your flash where it will take one picture and then it won’t fire again for 10, 15, 30 seconds?  You end up missing the shot!  And that stinks.  With the Quantum Turbo batteries your flash will have extra power and will recycle much faster.  It’s a bit cumbersome and you have to wear it on your pants, but the new version is much lighter and it’s totally worth it to not miss the shot.

I love the natural look when using 3 Speedlites for the dancing shots

I don’t usually do a lot of off camera flash for portraits, but when you’re stuck in a dark casino you have to do what you have to do.  These were taken at the Wynn Las Vegas last year.

Off camera flash is also great for ring and detail shots