BLOG AND WEBSITE NAME CHANGE

JEN'S NEW BLOG
PLEASE MAKE A NOTE!

My business name, business website name, and blog name have changed.

New blog: blog.jenrinaldiphotography.com
New website: www.jenrinaldiphotography.com


PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS AND ANY LINKS ON YOUR BLOGS TO MY NEW WEBSITE & BLOG!


*The old www.jenweaverphotography.com will still work but it will direct you to my new website www.jenrinaldiphotography.com

I like this....

Yes, I meant to do this!

I know they are headless..but I just like it... and I especially like it with texture!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

That's the only title I could think of for this blog post. When I look at this cute little face and those amazing blue eyes I can only say "Awwwwwwwwwww!"



This little guy is my grammar school friend Nicole's baby. I took him at 2 months old (Christmas photos) and I wanted to take him again for his 8 month portraits.

I drove to meet them at Villanova University yesterday even though it was about 100 degrees. We desperately tried to find all the shady spots and I ended up getting so many great photo ops of baby and baby & mom.





Even grandma got in a couple shots and I'm so pleased how the 50mm lens performed for all of the shots!





There were so many that I love but I'm still editing them slightly and I may share more soon.

Breakfast....Ummm...No...Dinner at Tiffanys

Tonight I spent the evening at my best girl Tiffany's house with her and her friend Meleah.

It's always a great time at Tiff's. I had to photo-document the occasion because I had my camera with me (did you expect anything else from me?).

Tiffany cooked us cheeseburgers which we had to enjoy on white bread...no rolls! They were delicious!

Meleah's son:

It was about 100 degrees today! HOT AS HECK! So after burgers the boys played in the pool...

One of Tiffany's son's Dominick:

Justin spraying Dom in the photo above:

And then fanny made me a nice cold drink.

Hmmmmm...where is the recipe?

How many cups??

All the ingredients so artfully displayed..

What a fancy lemon squeezer thingy!

The final result of all of her hard work!

After dinner Tiffany figured out how to take a photo with my camera. I had to tell her to hold the camera like she's not scared to death of it and put your eye up to the viewfinder to take the photo!





Somewhere in between all the fun Tiffany ran out to the store and got a flat...and didn't have her phone to call us...she got home okay...and didn't let it ruin the night. Of course I had to take a photo.

I love Meleah's t-shirt!

Self-timer time!

Back up in Tiffany's room later Meleah and her Mac

Thanks Meleah and Tiff for a great night with some good company!

L-O-V-E

Couldn't resist sharing these beautiful moments before I went to bed:




Click HERE to see more.

Ummmm...Yeah...I Have Too Much Stuff!

I got my new rolling suitcase for all of my photography equipment today. And shortly after filling the bag to it's capacity...I realized....I have too much STUFF!

LOOK AT THIS SUITCASE! It's full! If I buy anything else I will have to start hauling my equipment on a donkey cart (as my pal George from the UK said).



And that's not the end of the equipment...yes, there is more! It's taken over the corner of this room. How many backpacks, cases, or bags does one girl need (apparently many!). The backpacks shown are not full but they do serve various purposes (depending up where & what I'm doing) so I have deemed them all necessary.

The tall bags in the back hold my backdrop "stuff" and my lighting/tripod "stuff" (all necessary as well).



Honestly, what you see here is very organized (organized being my middle name and all). I've actually helped myself tremendously to bring my traveling circus down to the rolling suitcase and 2 long bags (and a step stool sometimes) so this should make "on-location" photography a bit easier to handle all of the equipment. Thank goodness for "crossover" vehicles!!

I guess I can't buy anymore equipment unless I find more room for it..."hey wait! didn't that one bag have a little room left??" *giggles*

Sunday's B&H Adventure

Sunday I drove into New York City and visited B&H Photo NYC Superstore. If you don't know it - it's the photographer's toy store!

I always go on Sundays and for this visit I made sure I got there early because I wanted to ensure I had a parking spot in their parking lot. It's small with hardly any spots so I always get there at least a half hour before they open so that I get one. They guy said to me "1 hour limit and $100 minimum." I laughed at both comments. I knew I would never be an hour...not in this place! And I knew I was spending WAY MORE than $100.00! It worked out just fine.



The first thing I had to do was return a couple items from a previous shipment and I hung out on the sidewalk by the door while I waited for them to open at 10:00am on the dot.

After I was done I headed in. They have a ton of greeters at the door welcoming you like crazy. (I'm sure they like to make you feel special so you'll spend the big bucks! *giggle* Well they got me - because I emptied my bank account! I need to take up a cheaper hobby...this one is EXPENSIVE!

If you've ever been to Atlantic City or Vegas (or any casino for that matter) you may feel a very similar feeling when you're at B&H. Once you walk in you're in a wonderland where time stands still and you have no idea how long you've been wandering around the store. I always feel that way in A.C. (where you're not sure if it's an hour or 10 hours that you've been there!)

This time for me was even stranger because I made my familiar right turn and ended up in unfamiliar territory! Oh my goodness! They rearranged the entire superstore! I was LOST and unfamiliar in a normally familiar place! LOL! Such a tragedy! *giggling* I walked around aimlessly on the first floor looking for the Nikon station. After reading all the signs and aimlessly wandering the floors I realized I had to go all the way upstairs and around the bend to find the "pros."

Nikon is the first one you hit and there I found my favorite Nikon rep, "Gerry." He was talking to a soldier so I patiently waited to speak to him once they were done. I had my "list" (you always need your list or you will soon be overwhelmed) and you also need a plan of action in massive place like this (So I'm organized! Now don't laugh at me!) If I didn't want to spend 5 hours there (and not get reprimanded by the parking attendant...kidding) I had to have a list and plan of action (I was also meeting my friend Lee for lunch afterwards so I needed to move fast for that too).

I discussed a number of kinds of things with Gerry - from wide angle lenses, to battery packs, to backdrops, to carrying bags. I always enjoy talking to him because he's so helpful and honest. After I left Gerry I went on my journey around "wonderland." I started with the the wide angle lens I wanted. Gerry and the rep behind the counter both convinced me to go with the TOKINA 12-24mm (I hope I made the right decision). I tested it for a few shots while I was in the store...not sure what these test shots really even told me but I took them anyway LOL.



I decided to go with the Tokina based on my forum friend and the 2 reps from B&H's recommendation. I haven't taken anything with it and I got it yesterday (I know...surprising...but I just wasn't in the mood today).


After I ordered the lens I headed over to the "bag" section and ordered a Pelican rolling suitcase for photo jobs. It looks like carry-on luggage and has wheels and a detachable laptop piece which is an added bonus (I hope I like it when I get it). I'm so paranoid about bags because they never seem to totally satisfy me. I'm already up to 4 different camera type bags of varying sizes. The worst part about the amount of time I spent picking out a bag was the fact that the rep mistakenly didn't add it to the order properly and I never got it with my order yesterday. It was a blessing in disguise because I didn't go with the original one he showed me. The other blessing was that B&H had free shipping on this bag when I went to order it today (so I didn't have to worry about calling to argue an additional shipping charge with B&H).

After the bag selection I headed over to the used section with NO LUCK. I was looking for a used power pack or a flash meter. They had neither for me so back on line AGAIN to order the Seconic flash meter. Even though Gerry's didn't suggest it I also ordered one Nikon SD-8A Battery Power Pack. I can't afford a better one so I had to go with this option (especially for the charity event I'm doing tomorrow night where I will need all flash-all night).

Lastly I headed downstairs to the lighting section and ordered a GIGANTIC roll of super white seamless paper. It's so massive huge that it went from the back of my SUV to the dashboard. You should have seen it when I had to get it from from my work (where I had shipped it to) into my car. I can't even stand it up in my house...it has to lean... LOL. I'm not going to be taking it around with me to photo jobs (I'll have to get something smaller) but I want to have it at home for clients to come here. Once I clear out my spare room of some boxes I will make my studio there. Then clients will have the choice to come to me if they'd like. I can't wait to experiment with the paper and colored gels, etc!


I also ordered a Hakuba 400 Pro Series bag for my 2 light stands, 2 umbrellas, and my tripod. I filled it and it worked out really well and so far I am happy with it. My goal is to be very portable and not make a hundred trips to the car with on-location photo jobs. Now I will be showing up with a rolling suitcase with camera gear, a long bag with the backdrop stand, and a long bag with the lighting stands/umbrellas/tripod/backdrop and that's it! It should be great and save me time to have everything together and bring it in and out of the houses/locations quickly!

The lighting rep talked me out of the mini softbox for my SB800 and said that I'd be much happier with my Gary Fong diffuser. I DID NOT get a black backdrop like I wanted to because they just aren't large enough for what I want (that really gave me a sad face because I can't deal with my wrinkly muslin!). Back to the drawing board on a black backdrop (on the cheaper side...maybe a king size blanket).

So, all in all, the trip was good but slightly frustrating for an organized girl with a list! Everything I thought I would walk away with was changed up and I felt like I had to make a lot of split second decisions. I hate when my list and organization doesn't pan out like I expected but what are you gonna do!?!

Lee met me at the end, I paid for my items, and headed out to get an amazing parking spot right in front of the restaurant he chose for us (Borough Food & Drink) and I had the BEST cheeseburger with cheddar cheese (and fries) ever! It was excellent!

JuJu

More from Erin & Noel's wedding.

Lil "JuJu" is so super cute. I had to give him his own blog post.

Such a little man in his tuxedo!

It's all in the details

More from Erin & Noel's wedding.

Noel didn't see Erin before the wedding and I decided rather than going straight to the reception hall where he was that I'd love to get photos of Erin getting ready before he saw her for the big moment!

We went to her mom's house and I captured all of the little details that make the day so special...it's all in the details!