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

Next up in my camera bag is my essential wedding lens.  The 70 – 200 2.8 IS lens.  I don’t know about you, but I cringe when I see a wedding photographer (or even more likely, the videographer) who feels it’s necessary to be in the couple’s private space all day.  They walk in front of the guests and stand right in front of the bride’s mom and dad to get “the shot”.  They feel they have to stand right in the middle of the aisle to get the kiss.  They practically dance with the couple during their first dance.  A wedding day is filled with so many intimate moments.  It should be the bride and groom experiencing those moments together.  Not the bride, groom, and the photographer.  With a telephoto lens, like the 70 – 200 2.8, I can be out of the way and still get “the shot”.

One of the biggest compliments I’ve received was when a couple came to meet with me about shooting their wedding.  They had been guests at a wedding that I shot.  They didn’t even realize I was there until the reception.  They were so impressed that I had gotten such great shots without even being seen by the guests.  That’s my goal!  Don’t get me wrong.  Sometimes if you’re in a big church or it’s a huge wedding you will have to get a little closer even with the 70 – 200, but you still don’t need to be totally intrusive.

I have this lens on my camera for the ceremony and during the reception for toasts and first dances.  The lens is very versatile since it’s a zoom lens and it covers a good range.  The “IS” in the lens stands for image stabilization.  If you’re going to invest in this lens, I wouldn’t try to save a few (hundred) bucks and go without the image stabilization.  With a telephoto lens like this you will need it!  The IS will help a lot in getting a tack sharp image.  Especially when shooting in low light situations and no flash (like a church).

A lot of photographers will use a lens like this for their family and engagement shoots.  I choose not to because, well, I’m lazy and I don’t like to lug it around.  It’s a pretty big and heavy lens.  But, the results for any type of shoot with it are great.

Here are some moments captured, very non-intrusively, with the 70 – 200.

For my everyday shoots (engagement, family sessions, etc.) I carry my Shootsac.  The Shootsac is great, but it only carries 3 lenses and maybe your keys and chapstick.  For weddings I need something more substantial.  In addition to my Shootsac (which I carry the lenses that I know I will need right then and there, plus my phone and extra batteries) I also use the Airport Airstream Roller from Think Tank.  I love this bag for some many reasons.  Let me count the ways:

1)  It fits in the overhead compartment on airplanes.

2)  It has a lock.

3)  Not only does it lock, but you can also lock it to something.  That’s rad when you’re shooting a wedding and you need to leave it for a few minutes.  As someone who is super paranoid about getting her gear stolen, that’s cool.

4)  It has a special compartment for my laptop that can also be locked.

5)  The dividers inside the bag can be rearranged.

I’ve just about outgrown this bag, but will be upgrading to the Airport International next.

And if you order through this link to Think Tank, you get a free gift with your order over $50.  How rad is that!  You can get an awesome gift like the Pixel Pocket Rocket, which is my fav!

This week (and maybe next) I will be doing a feature on all the equipment I carry in my camera bag (and Shootsac) with explanations of why I use it and examples.

First up, the 100mm Macro.  The Macro lens isn’t a necessity, but it sure is a lot of fun! If you’re shooting weddings it is the lens for shooting ring shots and details.  I have used it on some newborn sessions, but honestly, it gets so close it kind of scares me.  Too much detail in a person isn’t always a good thing!  I use the Macro for ring shots, jewelry, and detail shots at the reception.  Here is a shot from my wedding yesterday of the Bride’s Grandmother’s crystals that she wore.

I love ring shots.  Always something fun to do if a reception is dragging a bit.  Here’s one of my favorite

It’s just a great lens for capturing the really small details that you really want to focus on and isolate.  At weddings it’s sometimes the small details that mean the most.  Here is a ring that was the Bride’s Grandmother’s engagement ring tied to her bouquet.

There is a newer version of this lens that I’m dying to get my hands on!  Looks beautiful!  But, really for as often as I use this lens (not very often) it’s just not worth the money at this point to buy the new one.

I’ve had an old point and shoot sitting in my desk drawer for sometime and had been thinking about letting Brayden play around with it.  After seeing this story I decided to go for it.

The camera is a little too big for his little hands and he has a hard time holding down the button long enough to get the camera to focus and the shutter to release (especially inside).  And he likes to put his fingers on the lens, which drives me bonkers!  He’s only dropped it once and it’s still in working condition.  He has fun with it and I like watching him ask his subjects (toy snake, flowers, Hauggy) to say, “Cheese!”.

Here are two of his “masterpieces”

When can I start using him as a second shooter?  Maybe when he turns 3…

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Offer ends Friday, July 2nd!

***  I’m busy working on lots of shoots over on the DrewB blog this week so I asked my friend Julie from Joy’s Hope to do a guest blog on Mom*tog.  I hope you learn lots from her story!  ***

I hope that all of you amazing and wonderful Mamas had a beautiful and relaxing day!  Until I became a Mom I never realized exactly how hard it was going to be.  Sure, I figured I would be tired and I knew it would be a lot of work.  But, you never really appreciate all that your own Mom did for you until you do it for someone else.  So, thank you to my amazing Mom for:

-  Waking up in the middle of the night to take care of me.

-  Holding me while I cried.

-  Playing with me while I was happy.

-  Teaching me everything I needed to know.

-  Kissing my boo boos.

-  Dealing with me during my difficult times (okay ,difficult years as in ages 10 – 17).

-  Reading the countless notes I dropped from the top of the stairs.

-  Being my number one fan.

-  For all the times you put my very thick hair in sponge curlers to make sure I had the perfect curls.

-  Not disowning me whenever I packed my suitcase and hid it on the side of the bed and threatened to run away.

-  Stealing Anthony Rapp’s name card in London and the poster from the subway.

-  For being an awesome soccer mom, softball coach, and Brownie leader.

-  Sticking up for me when I needed to be stuck up for.

-  And for being the best Grandma to Brayden.

Mom, I appreciate everything YOU sacrificed to make me the person that I am today.  Thank you for always loving me unconditionally.  I love you!

And the winner of the Bloom Workshop Silent Member spot is…  Dana Fowler!  Congrats, Dana!  The ladies from Bloom will be in touch!

And the winner is…

I’m so excited that random.org picked one of my favorite commenters Elizabeth, from Kentucky Mama, as the winner of the very first UNmanual!  Congrats, Elizabeth!  You should have a copy in your inbox!

The UNmanual is officially for sale!  You can purchase your own copy here!

I’m taking a break from the giveaways today, but I promise you will not want to miss tomorrows giveaway!  It’s value is over $500!  Exciting!

Thank you for the overwhelming response to the UNmanual!  Over 480 comments yesterday!  I hope to see all of you new commenters here again!