Final Edits of Jo Ann With New Light Set-up May 31, 2008

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

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Jo Ann and My New Lighthing Set-up May 31, 2008

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:

www.jenweaverphotography.com

I Got My Lighthing Goods! Woo Hoo! May 30, 2008

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.

www.jenweaverphotography.com

The Fam May 30, 2008

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!!

www.jenweaverphotography.com

More at Sunset May 29, 2008

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.

www.jenweaverphotography.com

More of Historic Griggstown, NJ May 29, 2008

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.

www.jenweaverphotography.com

If Only I Had this at the Wedding I Did Last Week! May 28, 2008

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!

www.jenweaverphotography.com

I Feel Special Today – Thank you! May 28, 2008

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*

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Yesterday Was Hot…Today is Steamy! May 28, 2008

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!

www.jenweaverphotography.com

HOT! May 27, 2008

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.

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Memoral Day Good Eats & Good Company May 26, 2008

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??

www.jenweaverphotography.com

More fun at A * DOCK May 26, 2008

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!

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Erin & Noel’s Wedding Day May 26, 2008

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! =)

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Business Cards – That’s just too much pressure for one little rectangle to handle!!! May 23, 2008

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)

www.jenweaverphotography.com

2nd annual The W Girls NYC "LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT" Bachelor/ette Auction May 23, 2008

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!

www.jenweaverphotography.com

Duty, Honor, Country May 23, 2008

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”

www.jenweaverphotography.com