Featured on the Pictage Blog! August 22, 2009

I get e-mails fairly often from people who are aspiring photographers or who have recently decided to take their photography hobby and turn it into a business. I absolutely love hearing from people who have a passion and a desire for the art, and who are seeking advice and help and direction from other photographers.

When I started getting serious about my business and providing my clients with a first-rate experience, I began looking for inspiration from other photographers who had been there before me, who were willing to share, and who had a community-focused mindset. I was also looking for a company that could help me fulfill several different areas of my business, including professional printing, high-quality albums, and online hosting. I found both in one place — Pictage.

I’m featured today on the Pictage blog talking about these things and how the Pictage Forums were so instrumental to my development and growth both as a creative artist and a business owner. If you’re a photographer who is looking for a great company to partner with, I highly recommend checking out Pictage. They even have a new service for “Lite” members that is great for people just starting out.

Anyway, to read my post (which I highly recommend for photographers!), head over to the Pictage blog and leave a sweet comment. :)

(Reminder: I’m in New York City right now, enjoying life in the big city. I’ll be back next week!)

Operation Love Reunited Session in Kansas City July 9, 2009

I love doing Operation: Love Reunited sessions. It’s so great to meet families and soldiers who are going through a deployment. I got to meet up with this adorable couple for an OpLove session while the soldier was home for a few weeks on leave from Iraq. I am so glad it worked out — and I absolutely love the photos we captured!

You’ll notice that in OpLove photos, the soldier’s name is blurred out on their uniform — that’s for their protection and a new regulation from the OpLove organization. :)

We met up at Liberty Memorial in downtown Kansas City, which is home to the World War I Museum. It’s a really neat location and also perfect for OpLove sessions.

Okay, on to the cuteness. You know I love “series” shots, and that’s definitely how I shoot — several frames in a row to capture the in-between moments that really show off a relationship, personalities, etc. So to kick off this post, I’m starting with three shots in series that I love.

Don’t they look great together?

They were so natural in front of the camera, it was almost unreal. I’m starting to think they’re professional models disguised as normal people… :)

There’s nothing quite like the summer sun. I love how casual and connected they look in these.

Maybe my favorite:

I like the look in black and white, too. Especially the look on this soldier’s face! :)

I am a big fan of close-ups. :)

Red shoes = No place like home = Kansas. Brilliant idea! :)

Thanks so much for asking me to take your photos! I hope the rest of your deployment goes very quickly, and we’ll be praying for your safe return back home! :)

 

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

You didn’t know I was this cool… March 11, 2009

Well, now you do. :)

I take photos of other people all. the. time. But I hardly ever see photos of myself while I’m in “photographer mode.” When Chris Hsieh of La Brisa Photography shot Nick and Sarah’s wedding back in January with Jeff and I, he snagged a few action shots of us… and I have to admit, I laughed out loud (yes, I actually LOL-ed!) when I saw how crazy I look. Do I seriously make those faces all the time? No wonder you all are smiling so much in your photos…

Oh well, at least it shows that I’m having fun! :)

You can see more photos that Chris took from this wedding (including some cute ones of my husband!) on Chris’ blog.

(Notice how I’m not wearing a coat in the second photo — taken before the ceremony — and in the first — taken after the ceremony – I’m all bundled up? Yep, that’s Kansas weather for you!).

Thanks for the action shots, Chris! :)

Photographer Hang-out time with Sarah Jeanne Hill February 28, 2009

Today I got to have lunch and meet in person the lovely Miss Sarah Jeanne Hill, a photographer in Manhattan, Kansas, who is starting her career as a wedding and portrait photographer. Sarah is well on her way to having an awesome business with a great portfolio! She has been doing absolutely everything the right way — learning, learning, learning! She’s been shadowing our friend Chris Hsieh with La Brisa Photography since early last fall, and Sarah’s starting to shoot weddings for herself this summer! I was very excited to have some time to hang out with Sarah, share some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey, and encourage her to keep doing what she’s doing! :)

After a delicious breakfast-for-lunch, we headed back to my house to let my poor husband in (who I had mistakenly locked out of the house… oops!), and it turned into a great time to really show Sarah hands-on all of the things we had chatted about over our biscuits and gravy. :)

I was explaining to her how Adobe Photoshop Lightroom transformed my editing process, cut the turnaround time way down (meaning my clients get to see their photos faster — who doesn’t love that?!), and how easy it is to use. To demonstrate this editing tool and to show her a little bit of my post-processing workflow, we did an impromptu less-than-5-minutes portrait shoot in my office. 

Sarah looks just gorgeous for me asking her to get in front of my camera spur of the moment. :) So, Sarah, Lightroom makes the process easier, but YOU make the photos awesome!

And, some black and white processing:

My favorite… you can see her fun personality in this one! :)

Sarah, best wishes with your journey in photography! You are headed for such great things! :) 

Check out Sarah Jeanne’s blog and leave her an encouraging note! :)

#44: My photography hero August 13, 2008

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” — Dorothea Lange

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A few months ago, Jeff and I visited the Nelson-Atkins and checked out their photography exhibit. It is fantastic, for anyone in the Kansas City area. I’m pretty sure I had chills the whole time. Anyway, while we were there, I saw a print of Dorothea Lange’s famous portrait, Migrant Mother, from 1936 (pictured below). Since then, her images of the Great Depression have been seared in my mind.

So I’ve researched Dorothea’s life (1895-1965). What an amazing woman, who chose to spend her life bringing awareness to the plight of migrant workers, poor families and destitute farmers during the Great Depression. Her images are chilling and moving and capture life. The tough life – with its scars, pains, worries and hardships. Dorothea Lange was commissioned by the FSA to capture images of life during this time — and capture it, she did. Some of her subjects are now the face of the entire period in American history.

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“One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you’d be stricken blind.” — Dorothea Lange

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The photographs of Dorothea Lange are so revealing of human nature and the spirit of people that you can’t help but feel it. Really feel it. Looking at her images online is stirring enough, but seeing those black and white prints in person is amazing. I am really looking forward to diving into some biographies about her life, her work and the pivotal times in which she photographed human life.

I didn’t want to post her work here without having permission, so PLEASE check some out on your own. You will be glad you did. For an online resource with a sample of Lange’s remarkable work, check out this feature on The History Place. The site contains all of the original captions for her photos as they appeared in print.

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“While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.” – Dorothea Lange

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