Boo to You!

October marks the beginning of winter here in Alaska, but it also marks the beginning of the holiday season! I love the holidays!  It's a great reminder of why we take photos in the first place, memories.  All about slowing down the  every day and remembering special moments as well... here is part of how we celebrate Halloween! (we try not to make it too spooky)...

Scooping out the pumpkin guts is my least favorite part, so sticky.

 then you have to find just the right template (unless you freehand, if you do hats off to you!)

 We usually go through two or three of those tiny saws for each pumpkin, we need industrial strength saws..

almost finished

what do you all do with your seeds?

 we rinse ours off and bake them

add cinnamon and sugar and they smell heavenly

then all that's left is waiting for the trick or treaters!

Happy Halloween! Hope you capture some great memories of your own!

~Charlaine

Out of Practice

I recently did family portraits for friends and I felt so rusty.  I love taking pictures of small families and remember it being so easy.  I guess it is easy when you are using your camera daily and you are doing family sessions at least once a week.  I am a huge fan of using your phone for daily shots but I am losing my "skills" with DSLR.

It is now October and for the first time I have taken a picture a day.  I have never done that before and I owe that to my phone.  I just want to make it clear that I am very grateful for my phone photos.  Now that I am two months from successfully completely my first 365 project it is time for a new challenge.

So, I have decided to do 52 weeks with my DSLR.   

Here is my plan:

1. Read the manual to my 5D Mark III manual once more. 

2. Take my camera bag with me where ever I go.

3. Make a list of prompts to inspire me when I am in a slump

4. Post them on Instagram (I use Dropbox for all my photos so I can access them from my phone or computer)

5. Learn something new each week.  Pose, setting, editing, something.

It's a Process

A couple of weekends ago I decided I had better make some pesto or I would have to live without the homemade stuff until next summer! So I thought I'd document the process with my iPhone camera, for whatever reason, maybe to get the smell of garlic embedded on my phone case or accidentally drop it into the food processor...I don't know ;)

Then I thought about how my boys someday would want to remember the steps...yeah, that's it...if they ever wanted to make pesto for themselves!

So several shots later, music chosen, title added, ending, and a few clicks later the Flipagram app quickly produced the process of making pesto in a frenetic 16 seconds. (click on the photo and it should take you to Instagram to view) or here.

Chime in...like it, love it, have never even used Flipagram?? 

A couple of years ago I used an online service called Pummelvision that really did pummel me with about a thousand of my photo from a Flickr set. I think I saved it to Vimeo because it was to long to post anywhere else. That was a year long "process" in photography practice ;)

Just this week I saw that a teen friend I follow on IG posted a series of short videos on painting on canvas including steps, materials, and tips! Short video clips rather than photos...I don't like how I sound on camera (or how I look in front of it for that matter, but that's another post).

How do you feel about having your images flipping by at a quick pace set to music? Do you think there's a place for it? 

…Find your style and don't be afraid to show it!

What is your photography "style"?

Do you know? 

I have been photographing for 6 years now and it has taken me all of 6 years to discover my style of photography! I love to look at all styles from high end photography to photo journalism.  I have tried to take photos just the same as those photographers and usually...I end up saying "it's just not me"   As an artist, I have done the same...I can try painting like Van Gogh or zooming in on a subject and painting it the way Georgia O'Keefe would... but the same thing happens "it's not me"

So, I have finally figured out that what makes me happiest and what works best for me, is ME!

My own style is crazy, kookie! I am a mix of all styles with a twist of cheer! I am a cheerful person and my photos reflect that! I make my subjects laugh and try to make them at ease in front of the camera.  I offer them humor and I capture them in a more candid light as opposed to a stiff and posed manner. 

What is your style?  What works best for you?

...this wedding, I stressed over! I wanted to make it look "high end" or posed and I worried about my camera equipment and what others would say about my photos along with the lighting...blah...blah..

I got there and had little old ladies telling me to take pictures over here or there and to put "writing" or "poems" in the sky! gag me!

Needless to say, I had some pressure on me! But then I had to regain focus and remember what I do best!

These photos are just a few from the wedding I just photographed and I tried to capture the "special" expressions and moments that are more natural.  The Mother of the bride was gorgeous and so happy for the wedding. She was glowing with love!

This is one of my most favorite photos...I managed to catch a moment between a father and his son! After the wedding was over, everyone was staring at the bride and greeting her, when to the left...this was happening!  They shed tears and words (only they know) and I was able to catch this moment!

My bride and groom were so silly and fun to work with anyways that it was only right that we get them making funny faces and "bunny ears" on their flower girls!

These two wanted to get in on some photo action themselves so I pulled them aside and taught them how to make "eskimo kisses"  they loved learning! 

And...this totally sums up these two! They are so in love with each other and they were so willing to do any fun poses I put them in!  Best wishes to the newlyweds!

 So, whatever your style is, stick to it.  You are an artist and you should stay true to you when taking photos.  You may be the posed type and that is great, or you may be the more candid style.  Just go with what makes you happy and your work with reflect that!

The Sky's the Limit

When was the last time you tried something photographically you’ve never done before? I mean like underwater photography, free-lensing, aerial photography, or astro photography?

Yeah, I know some things are often out of reach. For my Alaska friends the Northern Lights are maybe within closer reach for you than they are for me? But they are on my "To Shoot" list!

On IG I follow nyonair – a team of “pro image-makers, motion content specialists, and production helicopter pilots” that take to the air over NYC for clients – yeah, a bit out of my reach for sure!

first editing attempt

Last month while on vacation near Yosemite National Park, the sky came within my reach as I attempted to capture the Milky Way. This is definitely not the best of shots but I wanted to share it anyway, because well, this is how we learn from our mistakes. We also share in our triumphs and in our work that needs more work. It’s humbling.

Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” Wow!

second editing attempt

This is not one of them (all the same frame, just different editing & sooc RAW). But I’m not discouraged. Remember the first time you tried to capture fireworks? The excitement? It was there that night. As soon as the 30 seconds were up and my viewfinder showed the faint Milky Way in the dark frame…I was thrilled!

But, I think my focus was off, I could have picked a better foreground, I think it should have been later into the night or early morning…blah, blah, you know all the things we think of after the fact. Then you get home and look at it while editing and it starts all over again…it’s so noisy, I have no idea how to get this to look good, etc.

SOOC

I was not working solo, my crew was chatty and wheeling a flashlight around…now I wish I had tried different exposures and settings. But I’m ok with just having tried, and I’m already thinking of when and where I could go try again now that I’m back home in MN.

So, what have you been up to lately? Have you had time to push your photographic envelope? What’s on your wish list of shots to try?

p.s. I follow a page on FB called "Yes, you can see the Milky Way", go there to see the wonderful inspiration that got me excited to try. Wowza!!

iPhone Photography and Apps

In the last couple of years cell phones have really improved the cameras.  That has created a little crutch for me.  I really neglect my DSLR.  I have suffered a little guilt over it. 

I have changed my view on this recently and decided to embrace my phone and the apps that are offered. My goal with photography has always been to express myself creatively.  I am going to venture to guess that I am not the only one that feels this way.  We can do this with our phones.

In all three of these photos I used the VSCO and Mextures apps.  It has been so much fun to see what I can create with them.

I'm curious.  What apps are you editing with?  What are your favorites?  Do you use editing tools?

Getting the nerves out!

I'm not sure if this will be an "inspirational" post or not, but I'd like to share my most recent experience because I think some may relate: 



Knowing that I had this blog coming up, and some pro-bono work at the end of the month, I brought my camera along with me for an afternoon at the park this past weekend. So, there I was clicking away at my children, trying out some different settings and making myself shoot entirely in manual. I was having fun (despite my daughter's lack of enthusiasm for the shoot) and totally in my element and comfortable. 

A nice family came up to me and asked if I was a professional photographer. I was confused at how to answer this one- what makes a professional? I don't do it for money, but I've come to know my camera pretty well in the past years and have taken a fair amount of portraiture sessions for others ...but of course I just say that I take pictures for family & friends, smile, and ask them if they wanted pictures taken. They told me that they had no pictures of their year old baby (I believe they were Amish so it shouldn't really surprise me but it totally did!) and asked if I could take one and mail it to them. Of course I was excited to do this for them and went about my work. During this photo shoot I was such a ball of nerves! I don't know if it was the fact that I wasn't prepared to take pictures for others that day or because I felt pressure since this really would be their only baby picture, or just basic lack of confidence in my skill...whatever it was, it was not the norm for me but at the same time it did give me a surge of energy! Afterwards, they were really excited to see the images in camera and even asked for some of themselves as a couple as well. 


When we were completely done, I practically ran to my car and it took me a bit to get back to my zen. I ended up having to wind down my day by taking some calming pictures of pretty flowers...phew, now I was back in my comfort zone! 

So anyways, after taking portraitures for people on and off over 3 years I still sometimes get pretty nervous, especially during the initial "icebreaker" stage. I'm attributing this partly to my personality- I don't really like to be 'front and center'; I'm definitely a more laid back kind of girl, (which I believe comes across in my photography), and partly to my limited experience. What I hope is that over more time my anxiety will recede so I can stop feeling like I'm "faking it" as a photographer and spend more time really enjoying the entire process with the people I am not familiar with. 

Does this resonate with anyone else here or are you all pretty comfortable behind those lens? Any advice for a rookie who hopes to overcome it one day? :) 

Thanks and have a great, hopefully sunny, week!