Jen Weaver Photography's Blogspot

BLOG AND WEBSITE NAME CHANGE

2008-06-11T14:27:00.010-04:00

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....

2008-06-10T21:58:00.003-04:00

Yes, I meant to do this!

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

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

2008-06-10T00:16:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-08T01:37:00.008-04:00

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

2008-06-07T01:45:00.003-04:00

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

Click HERE to see more.

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

2008-06-06T19:49:00.009-04:00

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

2008-06-04T21:26:00.014-04:00

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

2008-06-04T19:36:00.007-04:00

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

2008-06-02T23:24:00.010-04:00

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!

Camera Phone Sillyness

2008-06-02T19:49:00.011-04:00

Nothing new right now...been editing the candids from Erin's wedding and whipping through them as fast as my hands can move in Photoshop.

Since I don't have anything I feel like sharing at this second I was looking through some random pics on my computer and I just realized how many camera phone photos I take at Tiffany's hair salon.

Seems that every time I get my hair done there I snap photos while I'm sitting at the mirror or right after to capture my "new do"...it just made me laugh... I guess this is what I do for entertainment...take photos with any available camera? What's next a camera on my key chain? LOL.

Final Edits of Jo Ann With New Light Set-up

2008-05-31T18:50:00.004-04:00

This may be obvious but I just need to make the point...if not for anyone then for myself! Having the proper lighting set up makes all the difference in editing time!

I was able to edit 60 photos in such a short time today because I only tweaked MINOR things with each of the photos and barely had to worry about tweaking the lighting, brightness, etc. What a difference!!!!

Lighting set up (click the links to be taken to B&H's website for each item):

(2) Nikon SB-800 Speedlights shot through Westcott Umbrellas (Optical White 45 inch) attached to Bogen/Manfrotto Justin Spring Clamp with Flash Shoe on Bogen/Manfrotto Basic Light Stands.

Flashes triggered by Elinchrom Skyport Universal Radio Slave Set

Jo Ann and My New Lighthing Set-up

2008-05-31T02:40:00.012-04:00

Tonight I got to practice with my new lighting set-up that came yesterday from B&H. I'm still trying to learn what I'm doing right or wrong. If you have any suggestions, let know....

My test subject was my friend Jo Ann.

Jo Ann, thanks for being a great subject and willing to try all different poses and being patient with me when I was adjusting "things."

My favorite standing on a stool and look down shot...love Jo Ann's eyes in this one:

I Got My Lighthing Goods! Woo Hoo!

2008-05-30T01:42:00.008-04:00

I'm officially a "strobist" girl! LOL! I got my lighting goods today from B&H!

With Mike's help I officially fired the first test shots tonight with my new SB800s! Yee ha!

I still don't know what I'm doing but, heck, who does the first time you do something? Well, I guess I could read all of the books and articles I want but nothing beats just opening everything up, having someone help you set everything, and just "doing."

Yes, I'm one of those people... "directions? what are directions?"

Sometimes it makes life harder but that seems to be the only way I learn.... just jump right in and try things out. I don't think it's a bad way to be...sometimes you extend your learning curve a bit but it's fun just testing things and learning as you go.

I still have some more things to get Sunday when I drive into the city to go to B&H in person (and lose myself for hours) but once I get the rest of what I need I should be "good to go" for easy, portable, lighting!

Great suggestion by Mike! Thanks for your help!

Here they are!

Lucas got bored of my lighting excitement very quickly and decided to get up on the couch and take a nap. *LOL*

I know...blurry...darn P&S...shoulda put it on Macro...but you get the idea.

More regarding the lights can be seen HERE and HERE.

The Fam

2008-05-30T01:16:00.004-04:00

Erin and Noel's wedding...

Erin was interested in seeing some of the family shots to share with friends and family so I jumped over to a few of those tonight for editing.

Oh my goodness! Look at those eyes! Isn't he so adorable??

Click HERE to see more.

(click to view larger)

The shady area with the sun peaking through made conditions tough but I think these worked out well. I liked them natural color but also with a few actions thrown in.

I love little Ruby in this one with her hands behind her back. So cute and what a personality!!

More at Sunset

2008-05-29T00:05:00.008-04:00

More from Erin & Noel's wedding...

Click HERE to see more.

I love this one of Erin & Noel. I climbed onto the fence next to them with my camera (I know I'm a nut) to get them from a little higher up. I like how they are looking out into the field where the sunset was.

This is my favorite part of the whole night...so glad we had this opportunity. I'm taking my time on this set of photos since they are my favs and I'm doing multiple edits of each shot to give Erin and Noel a variety of effects to choose from. Normally I would only do one type of edit for each for something like this but since I love these so much I want to do a variety to see what works best.

Soon I will be done with this portion of the photos and will be moving onto the formal portraits after the ceremony, then the ceremony, and then the candids. The candid edits should move very quickly since they will mostly be in color and don't need a lot of editing.

More of Historic Griggstown, NJ

2008-05-28T21:12:00.007-04:00

I pass this spot everyday on my way home so I decided to take some photos for 20 mins on my way home.

I featured this area of Historic Griggstown, NJ back at the beginning of March in this blog entry and this time I decided to bracketed shots for HDR processing.

Below are my favorites of the day:

I love this one!!

I'm on the fence about these two. A LOT OF GREEN HERE!

While I was photographing one of the windows I snapped my reflection just to be silly:

To be even more strange I snapped a photo of my new hot pink shoes with the camera looking down my tripod. I love the shoes so I figured why not snap a shot? *LOL*

This is especially for *Bri* since I promised to show her them!

There are a number of others but this is all that I actually liked the results of. Sometimes HDR is hit or miss depending upon the lighting conditions.

If Only I Had this at the Wedding I Did Last Week!

2008-05-28T19:57:00.004-04:00

Nikon SD-8A Battery Pack

If you don't have one and you shoot a lot of events, where you use your flash for hours, you need one.

Click here to see it on B&H's website.

The Nikon SD-8A Battery Pack takes six "AA" alkaline, lithium or NiCad batteries. It can be used with the SB-11, SB-22, SB-25, SB-26, SB-27, SB-28, SB-28DX, SB-80DX, & SB-800 Speedlights, as well as the SK-6A Power Bracket. Total flash capacity per round of batteries is doubled, and flash recycling time will be cut by 60-75%. Batteries must be in place in the flash in order to operate.

I wish I knew about it last weekend when I did Erin's Wedding! It would have helped tremendously!

REVIEWS

I'll be ordering 3 of these to go with each of my SB800s since I will be using them for my portrait photography and having one for parties and weddings (If I ever do another) will be tremendous!

Thanks to my Photography Guru for the tip!

I Feel Special Today - Thank you!

2008-05-28T07:00:00.012-04:00

I feel very special today...the planets must all be aligning...(who am I kidding...I don't know what the planets are doing) but the fact of the matter is that I feel "special" today.

I must admit that I didn't wake up with that special feeling when I realized that last night I was so tired that I forgot to set my alarm for work! Luckily I woke up on my own! The other fun I woke up to was the fact that my eyes were still ON FIRE (or like someone rubbed sandpaper on them) from my allergies. I've NEVER had allergies like this in my life but they are in PAIN (could be the lack of sleep I give myself as well...but that's me! I'll sleep when I'm dead!)

It was another "glasses" day today and if you know me you'll know that I HATE WEARING GLASSES! Glasses and I are NOT friends...I have the lightest weight titanium frames I could get but I still feel them on my face all day long! I'm convinced my ears are uneven so one side of my glasses always irritates me more then the other and I'm constantly adjusting them.

Just call me The Princess and the Pea... because I feel every little thing....annoying glasses...tags in my shirt...seams on my socks! I know...I sound like a nut...but my mommy says I'm just "special" *LOL *.

Even though my glasses and I are NOT friends (and I avoid them like the plague) I waved the white flag at them Monday, yesterday, and today because I cannot put contacts in these sad eyes!

I had to snap this on my cell phone....my eyes are as pink as the shirt I am wearing to work today:

This is when I say "Saaaaaad Face"

Besides my sandpaper eyes and forgetting to set my alarm clock - I headed to work and was sidetracked by a detour that suddenly stopped "detouring" me mid-way through!!! I was actually LOST for a quick second until I realized I now had a GPS!! WOO HOOOO Magellan!!

I've affectionately named my GPS "Nancy." Nancy calmly (but curtly) talks to me and guides me to my destination worry-free! So, Nancy, got me to where I was supposed to be this morning but not before I decided to make a pit stop at Walgreens to get the best eye drops money could buy for these crying eyes. The Pharmacist recommended Zaditor to me. Of course when I went to the aisle it was the most expensive allergy eye drop they had on the shelf! Uggggg! But at least it had an instant coupon so that made *happy* (coupons rock!). I put them in when I got to work and felt a bit of relief but they were still pink as hell!

Throughout the day my happiness and smiles increased.....

*Smile #1*

Thank you to my personal "Cheering Section" for the awesome comments I received from my favorite daily blog readers on "Erin & Noel's" wedding photos. I was so nervous to do the wedding and I'm so pleased with the responses of my supportive friends. You made my day with your kind words.

Shout outs to: Sue (my Kentucky Bud), Julie (My Indiana Gal Pal), Mike (My Maryland Photography Guru), Heather (My Cali Gal Pal), Meleah (My New Gal Pal going through similar life's journeys as I am!) , and Gordon aka Gordy, Gord. Gord-o, G, G-Man, Poppy Seed, Work Dad, or just Oscar (My Trusty Side-Kick and biggest fan).

*Smile #2*

I checked my daily photography blogs and saw the Jason D. Moore featured my personal photography profile, today, on his blog - Jason D. Moore's Photography - Home of the Photoshop & Photography blogroll. That made me *smile*. I appreciate the feature Jason! It was good feeling opening the site today and seeing it.

If you haven't seen the profile yet, click HERE to stop by Jason's blog and read it.

Note: If you there is someone you would like to see as a part of the P&P
Blogger Profile series, please email
Jason with their blog’s URL. Also, be sure to check out the P&P Weekly
every Monday for news about this site and a roundup of what other Photoshop
& Photography Blogroll members are posting.

*Smile #3*
I got an adorable e-card from Julie to cheer up my day with a cow dancing to some club music. It's funny how hearing a dance song brought back some clubbing memories from college.. It reminded me that I need to go out dancing soon again.... it's been way too long... I wonder if I'm too old now! *LOL*

*Smile #4*

I checked my new friend Meleah's blog and she kindly ~~featured~~ *pimped* my photography blog on her blog (Momma Mia Culpa...Vodka Is Great, But This Isn’t Half Bad) with some very kind words about my work! Click HERE to read it.

Meleah is a single Mother, aspiring writer, professional Commercial Insurance Agent, and awesome blogger. Stop by and read Meleah's blog for a daily dose of witty words about life, love, and anything else that drops into her life (which she writes about so gracefully!)

*Smile #5*
My best girl Tiffany kindly featured a prominent link to my photography blog on her blog's (Tiffany's Epiphany) sidebar....including my business card pic...with a very kind caption above it.

Thanks girl! You're the bomb! *LOL*

*Smile #6*

My Photography Forum co-moderator and good friend wrote me a very nice e-mail today which I appreciated reading the feedback. Thanks George! *HUGS*

With the roller coaster I've been riding on for months it's nice to have a day where you may not have woken up happy but you ended up happy because of your friends and your personal cheering section!

I'd like OFF this roller coaster now. Why don't we take a trip on "Cloud 9" for once! PuuuuuuuuuLEASE!

Love you all!
*HUGS ALL AROUND*

Yesterday Was Hot...Today is Steamy!

2008-05-27T23:13:00.010-04:00

Oooooh la la...check these out!

You too were awesome to work with! Not too many people would lay in a field like this for me! :)

Erin & Noel are awesome! Click HERE to see more.

(I promise you'll want to click on these to view them extra large!)

Same one with a little texturizing!
(I like doing multiple edits of my favorite shots until I find the one that I think works best.)

A cool vintage action on this one...I can't get over how much I love Erin in this one!

Erin, You are marvelous!!

The soft feel of this version works well with how Erin is looking at Noel.

Another with texture:

I love this one and boy do I wish I had a photo of me laying in the grass while taking this!

This statement is going to get repetitive....but....more to come! LOL!

HOT!

2008-05-26T23:11:00.010-04:00

Oh my goodness! HOT! HOT! HOT! Look at the chemistry! They're steaming up my monitor!! :) *giggle*

What a wonderful experience to photograph Erin & Noel in such an amazing environment..sun setting...cool setting and fence... (that we later found out was an electric fence...thank god it wasn't turned on!! *EEK*) I feel so fortunate to have had this chance to get more photos of them two of them that were exactly what I was imagining for them.

Against the popular vote we love the power lines and they are staying in! This is the first time I'm saying YAY for power lines in my photography!

WOW - just love these next two...

(I think you're gonna want to click on these to view them larger!)

Playing with texture just to see how it worked..

Oh...I just love these two... (Hmmm...I think I'm going to be saying that a lot...I can just tell!)

Ok...so for this one...the flash didn't go off...it was dark except for the sky. I decided at the last minute not to delete it and try something different. I lightened it and then applied a rusty filter to it. I really thought that it worked very well to see their silhouettes like this. Such a beautiful moment!

And it wouldn't be Erin and I if there weren't some multiple exposures! Wish we had more time to think of something else...I guess it's normal to come up with something on your way home and say "OH I wish we did XXXX!!" but what can ya do...sometimes it's hard to think on the spot. :)

Memoral Day Good Eats & Good Company

2008-05-26T18:33:00.008-04:00

Today I took a break from editing and went to Tiffany's house for some Memorial Day "good eats."

To read more about the yummy dishes that we dined on, today, go to Tiffany's blog.

Then Tiffany & I decided to be really fun and exciting and proceeded to sit at the dining room table on our individual laptops like 2 losers. LOL!

Aren't we fun and exciting?

Tiffany's desert consisted of peach something or other with some espresso. Don't you just love the little cups??

More fun at A * DOCK

2008-05-26T15:49:00.004-04:00

Saturday night I headed back down to "A Dock" to hang out with Tara & Adam, Adam's brother & fiancé and a handful of the their friends.

They bought me special pink wine coolers - LOL! I felt so special *giggle.*

It was a beautiful day weather-wise and when it gets cold at night on the water we break out the blankets and this time Adam broke out a mini heather for me & Tara's feet..... *Awwww so sweet!*

I love how Tara's eyes look in this photo - shot with the Nikon 50mm

Adam entertained us by playing some songs on the guitar.

I swear I only had 1 wine cooler! LOL!

We got pizza delivered right to us at the dock. Adam said it makes him feel special that they bring it right to you there! LOL

I had a great time and will hopefully be back here again very soon!

Erin & Noel's Wedding Day

2008-05-26T01:10:00.014-04:00

For today's adventure....Erin's Wedding. It was a very long day but well worth it for me...

Erin is a friend from my photography forum and I told her I would do her wedding photography for her back in March. Well the days flew right by and today was THE DAY!

And what a gorgeous day it was --- 75 degrees!! What great luck Erin had!

(Don't I look sooo tired? LOL)

My sister and I left my house about 11:30a.m. and drove 2.5 hours and over 130 miles to Pennsylvania.

We started the day at Erin's Mom & Dad's house so I could take photos of her getting ready...She has a great family who helped her make this a very special day and they were so kind to me and made us feel right at home. We left a few mins before Erin to head to the reception hall to prepare for the ceremony.

Everything went so well and Erin looked so beautiful - her dress was GORGEOUS with a CAPITIAL "G"! I can see the love the Erin & Noel share by the way they looked at each other.

At the end of the night I asked Erin and Noel if they wanted to go over to the open field across the street to take photos in front of the sunset that was quickly fading. Erin is such a great spirited girl...that she walked all the way over barefoot, stood in weeds that were knee-high, and even jumped the fence for me in her dress (the funny thing was that my sister figured out how to unlatch the fence after she climbed it *giggling here*). Erin and her husband, Noel, (who was also a great sport) laid in the high grass for me so we could get some really awesome night shots with the sun setting.

I only edited a few because I really wanted to share something with Erin and all of your to see!

(CLICK EACH PHOTO TO VIEW LARGER!)

This was my first paid wedding and I can honestly say it went pretty smoothly. Looking at all of the photos now makes me wish we had more time for the formal shots but it's always tough when everyone is anxious to go inside for the reception.

The photos featured here are not your traditional wedding photos but they are sooooooo "ME"....and I really think they are sooooooo ERIN! (I'll show more traditional ones at another time)

SUPER GIANT ENORMOUS THANKS TO MY SISTER DARLENE for helping me all day long, running to the car a million times for me, supplying me with alternate flashes, batteries and cards, and letting me use her new D300 for an alternate camera (that thing is so heavy that my arm was turning to jelly!!)

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! =)

Business Cards - That's just too much pressure for one little rectangle to handle!!!

2008-05-23T07:52:00.001-04:00

Since I will be doing the photography for the benefit I mentioned in my last post I thought it would be best if I got myself some professionally printed business cards. That way Jo Ann and I have them available to give out at the event if anyone is interested in purchasing prints.

I went with a thicker cardstock with a gloss finish from 123Print.com which is a company that my friend found on the internet that she thought was inexpensive and she liked the results when she got them.

I had a really hard time deciding what to go with for the card. You're card should say so much about you all on one little rectangle...but I think that's just too much pressure for one little rectangle to handle!!! LOL!

If I did a landscape scene I knew which photo I would go with instantly but since I want to concentrate more on portraits/people photography I wanted a person...but even that was too hard to figure out.

Who would I feature? Would I want a customer or family member's portrait? Nah...to hard to decide. If I out a portrait photo of myself to show my portrait ability that would feel very strange/conceited (like hey, here's me!)... if I went with me with my camera that would be too...cliche? So, after laboring over this and getting advice from friends on my options I somehow I ended up with a photo of my own eye! LOL!

I guess it could mean many things if you want to get all deep:

*Having the "eye" for photography is very important
*The actual eye of the photographer is where all the magic happens when looking through the viewfinder
*We see "Life's Fleeting Moments" pass before our eyes
*It's part of a face and people are what I love to capture
*I have a pretty eye??? LOL Ahahahah - that's my favorite..I'll go with that for the reason!! (just kidding)

2nd annual The W Girls NYC "LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT" Bachelor/ette Auction

2008-05-23T07:49:00.003-04:00

I'm happy to say that I will be doing the photography for the:

2nd annual WGirls NYC "LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT"

Bachelor/ette Auction
Benefitting ChildSight and the victims of the Myanmar and China disasters through Save The Children

June 5th 7-10pm

CAIN Night Club in New York City.

Website: The W Girls NYC

The W Girls on Facebook

If you're interested in tickets to the event click HERE.

What you get: A great network of young NYC professionals, an hour of sponsored bar open bar featuring several top name liquor sponsors, drink specials until 10pm, a terrific GRAND prize raffle, all night access to Cain --one of NYC's hottest spots to party, and a chance to bid on one of NYC’s hottest Bachelor/ettes.

I've never done an event like this before so I'm excited to try something different. My friend Jo Ann is coming along with me to help and I thin it will be a great time!

Duty, Honor, Country

2008-05-23T07:46:00.006-04:00

Check out this slideshow: "Duty, Honor, Country" at http://weeklyphototips.com/

Scott is taking down his blog for the weekend and has replaced it with a tribute for veterans and he has kindle featured some of my very own photos in the slideshow.

Thank you Scott for doing this tribute! It turned out to be a beautiful moving piece!

HAVE A BLESSED MEMORIAL DAY!

"Give of yourself before taking of others"

Avon By The Sea & The Figura Sisters - Creative Edits

2008-05-23T07:45:00.000-04:00

If you know me....you'll know that I love to put a little twist on many of my edits. I always do the classic color edit but when I really love a photo I can't help but give it some kind of twist in Photoshop.

Below are edits I did last night of the Figura Sisters from our beach shoot near Spring Lake & Avon By The Sea, NJ. To see more from their shoot click HERE.

I look at the photo and try to imagine what "emotion" I'd like to evoke with the photo. Sometimes it's a simple B&W conversion with the levels tweaked on the darker side, sometimes it's an action where I lower the opacity so it's not as intense and other times it's a texture applied - just because I like to be "different." LOL! These edits are not everyone's cup of tea but I love them. It's my way of being creative even though I'm "on the job."

In the examples below you'll see quite a few of the Pioneer Woman's Vintage action applied to quite a few of these (I didn't leave the action exactly as it finished...I lowered the opacity on it.). I felt it worked with a lot of these. Maybe it's because they reminded me a of a jean company advertisement from a magazine...and the softened antique look worked really well.

(click to view LARGER....much better that way!)

The same antiqu action as above, lowered opacity, and then B&W conversion over it.

I love a great texture. You can really do so much with them. It's not for everyone....but it's definitely for ME!

I really like the tones on this one! It's an action that I stop a 1/4 of the way through and then I undo a few more steps to get this coloring. I also burned the sky to make it more dramatic. My kind of sky.....

Sisters will be sisters. I love this conversion...I burned the sky a bit here as well.

The antique action again but this time I barely lowered the opacity.

Another texture!

Simple B&W conversion...

And another texture!

Family Portraits at Farrington Manor

2008-05-21T23:11:00.005-04:00

When I photographed the "S. Family" Communion party I was given the opportunity to take some of the families outside on the beautiful grounds of the Farrington Manor and do family/children's portraits.

Even though the families had under five minutes each - I think I was able to capture their personalities in the selection of photos that I provided them.

To see all of the blog posts for the "S. Family's" Communion party click HERE.

Here are some favorites of each of the families:

(click to view LARGER)

Big Shout Out &Thanks to Mike Palmer

2008-05-20T23:13:00.006-04:00

SUPER BIG THANKS to Mike Palmer!!

We get by with a little help from our friends, right?

Well, in the world of photography blogs I've come across some great people who have been very willing to help a fellow photographer out when they need it.

Mike went the extra mile and took time out of his night, tonight, to chat with a "lighting newbie" (ME) about the whole world of lighting options out there to choose from.

After talking to him about where I am with my work as well as the options of strobes, umbrellas, soft boxes, off camera flashes, skyports, etc. I feel like I am in a good place with the decision I am going to make regarding my "portable" lighting set-up for on the go portrait shoots.

I'll keep you posted on exactly what the final consensus is when we get it all down on paper.

*Mike, I really appreciate you taking time out of your night to talk "shop" with me....I must have sounded clueless...so your patience with me making you re-explain things was great.

I'm looking forward to making a final decision, having a list, and walking into B&H to make the purchase! I'm so excited to have something for future shoots!

You Couldn't Even Stage Moments Like These If You Tried!

2008-05-20T23:00:00.001-04:00

Final photos to share of the "B. Family!" I've completed all of the work from their session with me.

Thanks to the B. Family for letting me spend a couple hours in your lives. You have a great family and you can tell by the interactions and love you see in the photos. Thanks for a great session! As I mentioned to "M" - this is why I do what I do!

To see all of the B. Family photos posted in the series click HERE.

(Click to view LARGER)

2 New Ones

2008-05-20T00:22:00.002-04:00

2 new ones of the "B. Family!"

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

How sweet is this?

I love this one of mom and dad!

Only a few more and the series will be completed!

The Sun's Rays...Just Makes Me Feel Good

2008-05-19T23:01:00.005-04:00

I don't think I ever posted these before...I may have...but I came across them again today and I love them...took it back in November 2007 on the way home from a friends house in Flemington, NJ.

The clouds and the rays of sun really get me every time I took at them.

Just felt like sharing them...

(click to enlarge...much better that way!)

The Figura Sisters

2008-05-18T20:29:00.003-04:00

Today I headed to Spring Lake/Avon by the Sea to photograph beach portraits of my College/sorority friend and her 2 sisters.

I arrived around 9:30am (hoping the sun wouldn't be harsh) and found an area that was almost exactly what they were looking for in terms of a dune, dune grass, the little fence, etc. It was perfect!

When the Figura sisters arrived they liked the spot I found and we got right to business. We were done in under 2 hours. I was out of the house by 8:30 and home by 12:30 (with an hour drive included in the time both ways!)

These are straight out of the camera...no editing yet. That means no cropping, or any tweaking! So...these will look quite different after they pick their favs and I'm done with them!

(Yes, I have problems narrowing down...but then I said why narrow down??? Variety never hurt anyone! Here are a bunch I liked from our various pose ideas)

(Click to view larger)

By the way....I'm so aware of the crooked horizons...I'll be fixing them in post processing! :)

More to come after processing!

"A Dock"

2008-05-18T01:15:00.004-04:00

Today I spent the day with Tara and Adam at "A Dock." It was a beautiful day with beautiful friends.

(click to view larger)

Adam was kind enough to take some of Tara and I through the day and I totally trusted him with my camera LOL!

Tara:

Adam with his wonderful Christmas present (the D40x) that I helped Tara pick out for him. Yay a budding photo enthusiast to talk cameras with! I shared some of my lenses with Adam to take them for a test spin. :)

Tara and I on "Monkey Business"

Tara checkin' out Adam's photos on the D40x and me showing them how well the sb800 bounces off the boat awning.

She's so lovely!

With a beautiful May day like this and a good time with friends what more can you ask for in life?

Oh, how bout a beautiful sky to end the day??

Reflections of Boredom

2008-05-17T01:09:00.004-04:00

You guessed it...when I'm bored and have nothing else to do I take self portraits (well, who I am kidding...I have too much to do...but I needed a break for a bit!)

So, out came the new Nikon 50mm 1.4 lens for some test shots indoors with no flash at 400 ISO.

No clones needed for this shoot! LOL I just took them in my room with the full length mirror..and the only light in the room was my ceiling fan lights.

I'm not happy with the amount of hot pixles I'm getting at ISO 400 but I'm not about to start worrying about that right now.

Here are my favorite "in the mirror" shots of the night. The first one is my top favorite:

Peter from my forum had an idea to merge the 1st & the 4th photos together to see what it would look like if my reflection was looking at the me that is looking at the camera. I think it puts an interesting twist on it:

Then I did some against a painted wall in my room. As usual the hardest part was focusing the camera on nothing. The 50mm made it even tougher than the 18-200.

Tonight was the greenest I've seen my eyes yet in a self portrait. Usually they're a lot more blue but I guess it was the brown shirt and the wall color that changed them. I'm not sure why I mentioned all these details LOL!

Anyway...these are the colored versions:

Then I converted them to Black & White using Itty Bitty Actions and applied a texture and I LOVE how they came out!

So that's me for tonight. I hope this inspires you to do something...anything at all with your photography when you're bored. When all else fails I say take a self portrait! :)

The Sweetest

2008-05-17T01:00:00.000-04:00

Sweetest edit of the day..."L" and "N" from the "S. Family" Communion party.

To see all of the blog posts for the "S. Family's" Communion party click HERE.

The Portraits

2008-05-14T23:48:00.004-04:00

"M" I just wanted to thank you for all of your kind words!

Finally! Some of the family portraits from the "S. Family" Communion party at Farrington Manor in East Brunswick.

I thought I'd post this just for fun...to show how cold it was that day but how brave everyone was to tough it out to get the shots!

To see all of the blog posts for the "S. Family's" Communion party click HERE.

(click photos to view larger)

You'd never know it was cold and damp feeling outside on this day!

I love how this looks in this brown tinted version:

Love this close up with "N" and Dad:

How beautiful are these two ladies! I did 3 versions of this but decided to show the antique version on the blog. I love the soft look of it:

As usual...more to come!

Family!

2008-05-13T22:57:00.004-04:00

Tonights editing consisted of the "B. Family." I finally had a chance to work on the entire family shots and I love them! What a beautiful family!

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

I love this one where littl "J." is crawling out of the frame! LOL!

What a precious moment!

Who can beat a great moment like this??

Dad & "J."

As usual...MORE TO COME!

Through the Generations

2008-05-12T23:29:00.006-04:00

Sorry all! I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to post and that's very unlike me! I don't like to end my night without a post and I've been slacking.

Guess this working 2 jobs can catch up to you (and life certainly gets in the way as well!)

This is a photo of N. and her grandmother from the from the "S. Family" Communion Party that I edited tonight. I thought I would share it. I didn't like the background so I replaced it in Photoshop. I thought the photo was so cute!

To see all of the blog posts for the "S. Family's" Communion party click HERE.

And a random sample of other adorable faces of the day:

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T17:46:00.005-04:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

To all the mommies out there...especially to the greatest mommy in the world ( mine of course!) I wish you a wonderful, special, lovely, beautiful Mother's Day!

Enjoy every moment of your special day!

Isn't she beautiful?

Three's Company

2008-05-07T20:48:00.003-04:00

I edited some additional photos of the "B. Family." What adorable siblings! This is where things got fun! :)

Little "J" was a fun challenge to get some photos of before he crawled away!

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

More to come!!

A Mix

2008-05-07T01:57:00.006-04:00

I got a few more edits in for a few sessions...

"S. Family" Communion

(Click to view larger)

"R. Family" Portraits

Sister Portraits for J&J:

Sisters JoAnn & Jessica

2008-05-06T00:31:00.005-04:00

I grew up with JoAnn and her little sis Jess...

JoAnn and I are still friends after all these years and Jess isn't little anymore. She's all grown up and they are both beautiful! I can't believe how much Jessica looks like Ashlee Simpson with dark hair.

Jess works for a band who is definitely going places and she's going on tour with them for her job with merchandising. So so exciting!!!

And JoAnn is my lovely photo assistant! I don't know what I would have done without her on the last 2 shoots!

JoAnn asked if I could do a photo shoot of the two of them after work today and I was happy to do so.

Some of their favorites (and mine too):

(click to view larger)

Sneak Peek - Portraits - "S. Family" Communion Party

2008-05-04T00:20:00.004-04:00

Below is a sneak peek of some of "N's" formal portraits from the "S. Family" Communion Party.

To see all of the blog posts for the "S. Family's" Communion party click HERE.

(Click all photos to view larger)

There will be more to come so check back soon!

The "S. Family" Communion Party and Portraits - The Details

2008-05-03T22:14:00.007-04:00

Today I had the pleasure of photographing the "S. Family" Communion Party. "N" looked so beautiful in her Communion dress and was such a wonderful model to work with for portraits.

"M" & "J" have a wonderful family and "N's" little sister "L" was also a sweet little charmer!

It was a beautiful party at the Farrington Manor in East Brunswick, NJ. The grounds were beautiful and the hall was surrounded by windows to enjoy the view.

The little details made the day memorable for the guests....

(Click on each picture to view larger)

19th Annual Civil War Reenactment 2008 - Neshaminy State Park PA II

2008-05-03T01:06:00.002-04:00

I needed a small change up in what I was processing so I edited a few from the 19th Annual Civil War Reenactment at the Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem. PA

To view prior posts from this event click HERE.

I really like this photo...my favorite part is the guy on the horse in the depth of field...for some reason I think it makes the photo:

Click here for: GALLERY WHERE PHOTOS WILL BE STORED

Please be sure to check back and bookmark the link to the gallery!

Can You Say A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E?

2008-05-02T23:59:00.002-04:00

Oh my goodness...how can you not love these poses?

I'm still working on the "B. Family." I have another Communion Party tomorrow so I need to kick it into high gear and get this set finished in order to start working on the next (and finish the my last set of family photos of my co-worker and her girls).

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

I usually am very particular about how I edit. For some reason I like to do the editing in order of how I took the photos. It keeps me from getting confused as to where I left off, etc. Tonight I decided to jump ahead and edit one of Mom & "J." because I thought it was such a sweet un-posed moment with the duck that helped keep his attention.

A Few New Edits

2008-05-02T00:01:00.002-04:00

I played with a few textures on these photos from the "B. Family" shoot. I love the first one most compared to the 2nd one. I'm not so sure about the 3rd one but I always think it's worth trying things out to see if you like them in the end.

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

Isn't this the sweetest photo?? I just love it!

The B. Family - Sisters

2008-05-01T00:01:00.006-04:00

The B. Family Continued...

I've finished all of the individual photos of "S." and now I'm moving on to work on the variety of family photos taken. I've been scanning through some of them preliminarily and I'm loving many of the moments captured.

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

Sweet lil "E." This was my "test shot" to start the day and it turned out to be a cute one! E was such a great poser! She knew just how to angle her head or turn with a shy little smile. So fun to work with! Mom and Dad even showed me some photos of her from when she was younger and she knew how to work the camera even at a young age! By the way, I love off center photos like this. :)

(Click to view larger)

A little bit of diffused glow here:

More sisters poses:

A "vintage" Photoshop action applied to this:

What a sweet moment!

OnOne Pro Phototools - Ummm...Can I Say Awesome!!

2008-04-30T22:35:00.005-04:00

Ummm...Mike...what can I say... except...THANKS! This is so awesome!!

Hey, all you photoshop effects lovers - go and download this free demo version of OnOne Pro Phototools software. If you're anything like me with your editing - you won't regret it (and you thought actions were great!)

Click here: http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=28

Thank You to My Photoshop Angels

2008-04-29T23:53:00.005-04:00

Julie & Cathy,

I felt I had to make a special thank you post to both of you for really coming through for me with my Photoshop issues this week!

Seriously - I really appreciate you trying to solve my issues and I finally have something I'm satisfied with!

You are both great friends and I appreciate your support! Having friends like you both that come through in a pinch is a wonderful thing!!

It's nice to know that you've "got my back" for something as important to me as my photography work is great feeling.

Thank you both!

The B. Family II (Communion Portraits Continued)

2008-04-28T23:59:00.002-04:00

More of the B. Family!

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

S. looking over at mom...I love moments like this:

Such a sweet smile...

The bow!! Such a beautiful dress - we wanted to show the wonderful details:

With the rosary beads from grandma:

Without the beads but hands in prayer:

So cute with the feet up:

And a quick candid of "J." What a cute face! I love the colors that mom chose for J. & E. to wear.

Definitely more to come soon!!

The B. Family's Sneak Peek - Communion and Family Portraits

2008-04-27T18:55:00.011-04:00

This morning I had pleasure of photographing The B. Family! M. & M. have the most beautiful family. Two very lovely & sweet girls (S. & E.) and their cute little boy (J.) who will be turning very one soon.

We had lots of fun and tons of giggles while taking S.'s Communion Portraits, a collection of "sisters" portraits, sisters with brother, the entire family, and a mixture of Mom with the kids and Dad with the kids.

J. was a little tired but we got him smiling with the help of his favorite quacking duck. (I might have to invest in my own quacking duck if it gets great smiles like we got from J. today!) I got a kick out of how he would slowly find a way to crawl off the backdrop after a few shot. At once point we decided to turn him around mid crawl and aim him back in the direction of his family. :)

We started the day out with some "detail" shots of S.:

(click photos to view larger)

And then we continued onto portraits:

Look at the beautiful long eye lashes!

I love the over the shoulder pose.

Vintage effect:

Also, a BIG THANK YOU to JoAnn for being the most wonderful assistant today! JoAnn, I soooooo appreciate you giving up your Sunday morning to let me a hand. You were such a tremendous help to me and I appreciate it! Looking forward to next week's photo assignment with you!

To see all of the B. Family photos posted so far HERE.

19th Annual Civil War Reenactment 2008 - Neshaminy State Park PA

2008-04-26T22:42:00.008-04:00

If I can give you any tip regarding your journey with photography - it's to get out there and try different things that you never thought you would..

It's like that old saying "You'll never know if you like it until you try."

Today my sister and I decided to try something different for a new photo opportunity. We attended the 19th Annual Civil War Reenactment at the Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem. PA.

(click all photos to view larger)

I found out about the event after I came across Michael Belgie's Flickr stream with Civil War Reenactments photos. I sent him a note and he kindly provided me with information about the event. We made sure we found him at the "headquarters" and said hello since I wanted to thank him for sending me the information.

The official event website described the day as:

The 28th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, together with the First Battalion of the Army of Northern Virginia, The Historical Society of Bensalem Township, The Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum, the Delaware Valley CWRT, and The Neshaminy State Park are sponsoring a Civil War living history weekend on the Spring of 1863 Campaign.

This weekend, we will be portray a portion of the Battle of Chancellorsville that took place on May 3rd., the day after Jackson's flank attack. We will portray portions of Archer's, McGowen's and Lane‟s Brigades.

News story
Brochure

This was something really "different & interesting" for me photography-wise. The history was interesting too. I never thought I would enjoy an event like this but I did. Everyone was so friendly and we enjoyed speaking with many of the participants.

Favorite face of the day:

I have over 800 photos (mostly taken with my 70-300VR -- which produced EXCELLENT results for me today!). Due to the fact that I have a few paying photography jobs coming up in the next couple weeks it's going to take time for me to sort through and edit that many photos I took today - but I created the gallery that the photos will be housed in when I finally get to them (and I promise I will!).

Here's one that made me smile...the irony of the modern cameras with the period dress...I had to snap a photo.

You can check this blog and the new gallery I created for this event, periodically, to see when the (over 800) photos are completed and ready for viewing.

Click here for: GALLERY WHERE PHOTOS WILL BE STORED

Please be sure to check back and bookmark the link to the gallery!

The "Brats"

2008-04-25T20:43:00.008-04:00

My friend Tiffany's mom, Donna, is learning how to make her own wine at The Grape Escape Winemaking School in Dayton, NJ.

She's calling her wine "Two Brats" and she wanted me to take some "bratty looking" photos of her grandsons (Tiffany's boys) to use for the wine label.

I thought the idea was so funny we we tried to do some "bratty" poses. Normally I would have cropped them more but I wasn't sure what size she would need.

These are my favorites of what we came up with:

Even thought D. (in the back) is out of focus I can't help but love M.'s expression here. They're great little actors!

And just one more...

To view them all click HERE.

Lakeside

2008-04-24T23:36:00.010-04:00

EDIT 4/25: When I got to work today on a different monitor I see that none of photos below look how they did last night when I spent hours working on them.

Ever since I darkened the brightness on my monitor I have had trouble with how my photos on every other monitor but my own. I guess I will have to brighten my monitor back to where it was and re-doing every one of the photos below because of the terrible halos on every photo that involves the sky (which is 98% of them).

I have so much to edit and it is really upsetting that I wasted a whole night on processing all of these photos and now I have to re-do them all.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original post:

I took some time to go to the part after work again. Today I gave the flowers and the macro lens a break. I brought my tripod with me because I was interested in doing HDR waterscapes near the lake.

I can't even express how wonderful the weather was today. I was so glad to be outdoors even if it was only for a little under an hour.

In order to get these you have to go on a little path through a wooded area and there are little great spots in between where I was able to stick my tripod and get different views of the lake.

These are all HDR shots with 3 exposures each:

(click all photos to view larger)

Next time I'll try from the other side of the lake. I only had so much time before I had to leave and there were a lot of people out and about at the lake so I was limited on what angles I chose.

Oh the reflections, the reflections!!

I made my way over across the street to another section of the park with a lake and got some more great angles!

This place is gorgeous and the afternoon light was perfect for these photos!

These are some of my favs of the day. I love bendy tree trunks!

Oh and while I was there 2 of the geese at the park had the nerve to hiss at me! LOL! So I hissed right back at them!

I always visit this place so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it from different perspectives soon enough!

Feel free to check out my entire HDR Gallery: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3868580_st8qe/1/284706791_saeNW

Bobbi + Mike

2008-04-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

I like to visit other photographer's blogs to learn new & exciting ideas and to get inspiration from others photographers.

I have a whole list of RSS feeds that I try to check daily and one in particular that I've really been enjoying lately is:

BOBBI + MIKE

This husband and wife duo from Indiana continues to amaze me each time I see their work.

Their website says: "a husband & wife photo team who love being in love, photographing love, and being loved. how lovely is that?!"

Take a look and I think you'll be impressed!

You'll love the personality that oozes right out of their blog!

And the Experiments Continue

2008-04-24T00:30:00.003-04:00

In continuation of this shoot...I experimented a couple more times with adding texture. You never know until you try things, right?

I like how they look but it's most important for me to see what the customer likes.

One more edit that I haven't shown yet...completely dodged out the background on this one. I'll probably experiment with textures on this photo as well tomorrow night. I need to download some more textures off of flickr to try with it though. I'd like a variety to present to the customer.

Check back for more from this series.

In Memory

2008-04-23T22:34:00.004-04:00

In Memory of my Aunt Angie who passed away this evening from Lung Cancer...

She's finally at peace now...

(She is pictured in the middle between my Dad and My Aunt Carol)

Building Your Blog: 10 things to consider when building your rockin’ photoblog

2008-04-23T21:16:00.004-04:00

"Natalie Norton recently authored a post entitled Blog Power: Why you should consider setting up a photoblog. This post is a follow up to that article. Here Natalie discusses 10 ways anyone can create a photoblog that will really shine!" (excerpt taken from the article linked below)

Click this link below to read Natalie's article on Digital Photography Shool blog:

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/building-your-blog-10-things-to-consider-when-building-your-rockin-photoblog/

Show Me the Texture

2008-04-23T00:20:00.004-04:00

Thanks to a suggestion from Julie I added texture to this shot and I love the results!

I grabbed the first texture I saw and tried it out...now I'll be on the hunt for the perfect texture to try this a few different ways for the family to choose from.

I love yesterday's high key version but that's very time consuming to get right with dodging so texture is a nice option as well....makes it look like I had lots of backdrops!

I love S.'s expression in this one (she's in the middle)!

Click to view larger

3 Lovely Ladies

2008-04-22T00:38:00.009-04:00

Aren't they the cutest Family???

I think so!

(click to view larger)

H., S. & J. were great to work with!

This is one of my favorites from their shoot!

More to come!

I love this photo

2008-04-21T23:31:00.005-04:00

I love this photo. I do.

Yes, it's a photo of me. I'm not being conceited...it's just that I really love this photo for many reasons. It's over a year old now and as many other pics of me that I always experiment with for self portraits I always end up going back to this one as a favorite. I even used it on my website Guestbook.

Maybe it's because it reminds me of a really good time in my life...a time when things were A LOT simpler. It was also the time when my photography passion IGNIGHTING! And then traveled full speed ahead!

The photo was a self portrait of me on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC. I was there with a good frend of mine, Lee, and we had a fantastic day walking around NYC. I think we walked about 6 miles in total from the time we left his apartment and then returned to it. We actually walked so much for so long that I was hardly able to walk on my left foot all week!!

The photo was taken with a point and shoot that I still own and carry with me in my purse (the Canon Powershot A620). The Powershot has the great screen that you can flip around so you can take self portraits and actually know what you are taking rather than turning the camera towards you and just praying you get yourself (and/or you and your friend in).

I love that you can see the Brooklyn Bridge in the DOF and the way the wind was blowing my hair backwards. Okay, I know...I'm getting carried away...

I've processed it many different ways when I was a lot less crafty in Photoshop and decided that I've learned a few more tricks or two so I re-processed it today. It works best in B&W IMO.

Well anyway, back to the story...

Lee along with my sister are the two people that helped me on the start to getting my journey with photography rolling. The "journey" as I like to call it started back on February 11th, 2007 when my sister and I decided we'd go out for "photo days." We continued to do so almost every Sunday for much of 2007. Lee and I had "key" couple of photo days as well in February and March of 2007 that were great for me. Who wouldn't love taking photos in one of the best cities there is! They both made it fun and exciting to spend the day out photographing anything and everything.

I'm glad this spark has ignited and look how far it has taken me... from a little point and shoot to actual photography jobs!

I love my hobby...I just do!

Featured on Epic Edits Photodump 4-20-08

2008-04-21T18:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Brain Auer of www.epicedits.com for featuring my favorite photo of all time that I've taken on his "photodump" from FLICKR.

See his blog post: http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/04/20/photodump-04-20-2008/

My photo is in the 1st column, 2nd to last row.

This shot:

Brian has his own Flickr Photo Pool - feel free to join if you're on FLICKR!

Office Inspiration

2008-04-20T00:52:00.006-04:00

Ever find yourself looking for photography inspiration?

When you can't think of what to photograph just look around you - the inspiration is there - you just have to SEE it! It doesn't always jump out at you, you have to experiment and take a risk.

Lately my macro lens has been inspriring me to try looking at normal objects differently. I brought my camera to work with my yesterday because I planned to go to the park after work (which I did).

I was changing the lens to get the camera during my lunch so I could be ready for macro shooting after work and I decided that I would play around taking a few macro shots at my desk. Well, it turned into a whole series... "around the office" (or shall I say Cubicle!)

100 Wonderful Photo Effects Photoshop Tutorials

2008-04-19T17:19:00.006-04:00

Take a look at this link if you're into post processing of your photos in Photoshop. The tutorials are great!

The creator of the list said "I gathered what I consider 100 of the best photo effects Photoshop tutorials available on the web."

Click HERE: 100 wonderful photo effects Photoshop tutorials

Thanks to Brian Auer at www.Epicedits.com for this link in his LINK ROUND UP 4-5-08.

On the Same Level With Nature - Up Close and Personal

2008-04-18T21:42:00.006-04:00

What a beautiful day! Seriously - it was so amazing outside today.

Too bad I was in the office all day (except for the few minutes I ran out for lunch and actually got to feel the sun on my face from the office to the car, the car to the store, and you get the picture!). The dashboard thermometer read 86 degrees and that was shocking to me!

This is the time of the year where I truly feel like I come alive. When I get out of the office at night it's like I'm "released!" and "full of the power of spring"!! On spring days like this I tie my hair back, roll down the windows, and open the sun roof when I drive. I can't get enough of that warm spring wind all around me. Don't you know that feeling??

Okay, sometimes I try to contain my true silliness on my blog and keep it to pretty professional "talk" but I think it's okay to post how something made you feel alive and how it inspired you.

Well...with that said...today the feeling was like ---> I wanted to find large open field and just run through it barefoot with my hair flowing in the breeze!!

Sound strange, corny, weird? I doubt it you'd think that...come on! admit it! I'm sure you've had visions of running through a beautiful open field, feeling the sun on your face, while your hair blows in the breeze (well skip the hair blowing in the breeze if you're a guy and you don't have flowing hair LOL).

This is the time of the year where it's not burning hot and you can feel spring physically and mentally (I think that's why they call it "SPRING FEVER" LOL!) and you just can't wait to be outside.

Unfortunately I wasn't dressed for the occasion for running through any fields with my "work clothes" and high heeled boots on LOL! (Imagine the site as I'm running and go tumbling down in my boots!)

So, I settled for another day of getting VERY Close and personal with nature by using (only) my Nikon 105mm f/2.8G VR AF-S lens and shooting some macros at the park I frequently visit on my way home.

Macro is a whole other world...you are literally a foot away from your subject, up close and personal and certainly on the same level with your subject. I wasn't perfectly dressed for this either - but did happen to remember that I have a spare pair of sneakers in my trunk and a padding thing to kneel on!

This session was even more fruitful then the last one in terms of variety. I headed over to the rose garden section of the park (this place is huge) and I set up for getting close to the flowers by lowering the tripod as low as it would go. I made a note to bring my Gorilla Pod next time and see if it can support the weight of this lens. It's hard to get close w/ a full size tripod so that option may work!

Most of these ended up being hand-held and required a lot of squatting! I guess you can say I am getting my workouts! Photography+toning the legs? Can't beat that!

Enjoy!

Vintage Processing

2008-04-17T23:59:00.000-04:00

I love how these photos of Amy came out with the Vintage processing.

I toned the opacity down quite a bit to get them to look like this:

I also love how this one turned out:

Previous posts of AMY can be seen HERE.
The entire gallery can be seen HERE.

More to come from this shoot!

Contemplating the Nikon Normal AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D Autofocus Lens

2008-04-17T23:58:00.000-04:00

I'm really interested in the Nikon Normal AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D Autofocus Lens.

B&H is out of stock on this lens right now (booooo!)

Features:

One of the most widely used autofocus lenses in all of photography. Fast enough for shooting in just about any type of light. Distortion-free images with superb resolution and color rendition. Weighs only 9.0 ounces. An ideal first lens, perfect for full-length portraits, travel photography or any type of available-light shooting. Accepts 52mm filters; HR-2 lens hood.

The reason I love it is because of the 2nd sentence. Fast enough for shooting in just about any type of light. This will be excellent for indoor photos at parties, weddings, anything where you'd prefer not to you use your flash when there is available light. A flash isn't a bad thing but avoiding the need with an awesome lens like this is a great thing.

Blog Power - Why You Should Consider Setting up a Photoblog

2008-04-17T23:30:00.003-04:00

Take a moment to read the latest article from Natalie Norton of www.natalienortonphoto.com regarding why you should consider setting up a photography blog of your own:

Click here: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/blog-power-why-you-should-consider-setting-up-a-photoblog/

Smiles and Giggles

2008-04-16T23:59:00.003-04:00

A few more edits of the Communion Shoot...What great & fun experience!

These are the last of the "communion related" photos from: this shoot.

I have other shots of the kids (casual) and some with mom from this session to edit later and they where a lot of fun to take as well!!

She's sooo cute! Who could resist taking a million photos of her - especially w/ those blue eyes and adorable smile!

And look at those brown eyes!

Great moment!

She finally warmed up to the camera:

And would could resist a twirl for the camera!

And a silly one when you just can't think of any more poses!

At The Park Today

2008-04-14T23:46:00.005-04:00

I stopped at the park for a little while on the way home today to capture the most beautiful day with a beautiful sky...full of amazing clouds!

I started with some HDR shots with my Nikon 18-200mm VR.

WHen I was here I felt like I was walking throuhg a Fairy Tale!

And then I switched to my Nikon 105mm f/2.8 AF-S Micro Lens to give it a run for it's money!

I'm trying to get the hang of shooting REALLY close with the lens to get that really abstract-y look for flower photography.

The hardest part was focusing on the flowers when the wind kept blowing (Grrrrrrrrr!) AND I was using a tripod! So many were sent to the recycle bin when I got home but these were the ones that I kept that I loved!!

The ones that appealed to me most today were the very abstract flower shots below. I just feel like they would make great abstract art pieces to hang on the wall.

A little more realistic macros for you:

What a beautiful day to be out and about! I need to go back though and keep practiing and practicing these abstract macros. The focus is the hardest part!

Today Was Going to be a Lazy Day

2008-04-13T19:34:00.008-04:00

I'm just so tired lately. I guess I don't get enough sleep as I truly need but I can't help it. There's just so much I want to do but so little time. So as I've said in the past "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

I was going to stay in all day but I decided to drive around the neighborhood and look at houses for sale. While I was out I decided to keep on driving until I got to a great little town called Rocky Hill.

I spotted this water tower with the clouds behind it and knew it would make a great tonemapped photo. The tower was at the back of a parking lot for a tire shop so I quickly snapped a few shots off from my car so that people didn't wonder what the heck I was doing. LOL.

As I was driving through Rocky Hill I saw an open field next to a small airport where I thought I would be able to capture the clouds so I got out of my car really quick with the tripod and did some multiple exposures and then ran back to my car.

When I got back home and pulled them up on my computer I saw something that I can't quite explain. Maybe someone else can tell me what I've captured here?? It was barely there the first exposure, it was larger in the 2nd & huge in the 3rd. Mind you I took these in the super fast frame mode (well that's what I call it when I hold down the button and take 3 in a row without letting go - LOL! Yes, another "Jen-ism") Then I took another photo right after these bracketed ones and it wasn't there... What is it? A ghost? LOL! I don't believe in ghosts but WHAT IS THIS??

(CLICK ON EACH ONE TO SEE THEM VERY LARGE)

And the 4th one with NOTHING there??

Man lives in the sunlit world
of what he believes to be reality.
But, there is, unseen by most, an underworld,
a place that is just as real,
but not as brightly lit.....
A DARKSIDE.

The dark side is always there,
waiting for us to enter,
waiting to enter us.
Until next time,
try to enjoy the daylight.

-Tales from the darkside

I took this amazing sight right after the ghostly photo:

Then I headed back to my house past the D&R Canal that runs through a huge portion of NJ. The canal has become one of my favorite parts of living where I do...there is always part of this canal nearby. Whether I stay 2 hours or 5 minutes I always seem to find something interesting photographically to capture.

I met 2 fishermen while I was there. The one in this photo asked me if I was a land surveyor or was I taking photos. I laughed when he asked me that because that was one I hadn't heard yet in my photo travels. I told him I was taking photos for hobby. I asked him if there was an easy way over to this great part of this body of water they were fishing at where the water was fast moving and he showed me a spot and offered to carry my tripod across this rocky part over the water but then I decided I better not. I was afraid of trying to get across the water on rocks without an "incident" (maybe if I had some hiking boots on...but no in my sneakers). A short time later I snapped a quick on if him relaxing while he was fishing:

I chatted with his friend for a while when I headed over to another great area while I took the next shots. He asked if I was a "professional" and I said maybe "one day" and he described his love of fishing while I described my love for photography.

His fishing area was set up a distance away from where his friend was and I thought about what an idependent thing most hobbies really can be. They were together but not sitting with each other and would yell over to one another every now and then and that was good enough company for them. I guess it's like being "alone together".

I love going out photographing with my sister but then sometimes I don't mind going out alone with my photography to really be alone with my thoughts. Time alone with ourselves is sometimes necessary. But then there is always the good company and being able to discuss the mutual love of the hobby and explore new places together.

3 exposures merged to HDR in Photomatrix and tonemapped:

I'm glad I didn't stay in the entire day. That's just too depressing to me. Getting out was helpful and I got some fresh air and some great photos!

Sisterhood

2008-04-12T22:23:00.013-04:00

How do people make it through life without a sister?

(click to view larger)

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.

Sisters are blossoms in the garden of life.

It was nice growing up with someone like you - someone to lean on, someone to count on... someone to tell on!

Sisterhood is powerful.

Sisters don't need words. They have perfected a language of snarls and smiles and frowns and winks - expressions of shocked surprise and incredulity and disbelief. Sniffs and snorts and gasps and sighs - that can undermine any tale you're telling.

A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams.

Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way.

MORE from this communion shoot posted HERE.