Posts Tagged ‘Riverside Wedding photography’

Riverside Botanical Gardens Engagement Session

February 28, 2010

So has anyone else noticed that this is my 3rd post in 7 days!!! Can I get a little happy dance going!?!?! YAY!!!!  I actually have a few posts today… just playing catch up … but it still counts as a blog post… right! LOL!!

So over  a month ago I had a blast capturing Talisa and James’ engagement session at the UCR Gardens (… I know… I know… shame on me for not posting anything before).  They are such a sweet couple… two of the most caring people I’ve ever met!!!  Talisa is so shy and sweet… James – he’s a whole different story! James is a character and a half!!!!  He had Talisa and me rolling from laughter!  They really do balance each other out perfectly…

I can’t wait to do their wedding in October!!

UCR Botanical Gardens Engagement Session

Fun and giggly engagement session at the Riverside Gardens

Gardens Engagement Session

check out Talisa's amazing eyes!!!

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Say ‘Cheese’… pretty please?!?!

August 17, 2009

Ok… I want to talk about something super important in your wedding day – possibly the most important part of that one very special day.  Stress…

We all know (all of us girls who have had to plan our own weddings) that weddings can be very stressful.  I mean, if you think about it – most of us are not wedding planners.  We probably have never planned an event of this magnitude ever in our lives.  So all of the sudden we are expected to plan a full-scale gorgeous wedding (sometimes while keeping a tight budget)!?!?!  Seriously… it can make a woman a little nutty – especially if we still have to keep our jobs and every day responsibilities!  (hence… why I absolutely LOVE wedding planners… they are the angels of the wedding industry! LOL!!).  Needless to say… I understand all the stress… really, I do. 

So you have stressed out for months (sometimes even years) planning this wedding… agonizing over every little detail.  You’ve invested a pretty penny on gorgeous flowers, reception hall, cake, video/photo.. etc.  So after the wedding, when you’ve received your wedding photos (and/or video) –what do you realize? That you neglected to smile ONCE during your entire day!!!  OMG!!!!!  All of that money, all of that planning – and you have an album full of images where you look like you’re physically  in pain!?!?!

Girls… please… I can’t emphasize this enough – PLEASE…. ENJOY YOUR WEDDING DAY.

I always tell all of my clients the week before the wedding – do all the last minute stressing the last week, heck – do it the last night if you have to… get it all out of your system.  Go nuts trying to get all the details absolutely perfect if you must.  But on your wedding day – please just let it be… relax…. SMILE.  No matter what happens… even if things don’t go exactly as planned (Trust me, they rarely do) – just let it go.  You probably won’t be able to fix anything at that point anymore… you’ll just be stressing yourself out in vain.  Just let things slide off, and enjoy your day.  I mean, seriously… as long as you and the love of your life are tying the knot… that’s what matters the most.. that’s why you’re both there.  So if you said your ‘I do’s’ – then consider the day a success!  The rest is just icing on that wonderful cupcake!!! 

I’m not necessarily saying that you need to smile all day long… or for every single picture.  But even in pictures where the bride isn’t smiling… where it looks like she’s contemplating something – she is still glowing, and you can see the smile in her eyes… that comes from happiness and sheer joy. 

I can’t tell you how sad it is to see a bride that is so stressed out that she can’t even force herself to smile.  As a photographer… I wish I could give her some peace… something to smile about.  I know sometimes things can get stressful… and I always remind my clients to smile… relax… enjoy.  I sometimes even take them away from the wedding day ‘chaos’ during the bride and groom shots (away from family and friends) – because sometimes that helps to clear their minds.  Luckily I haven’t had any cases where nothing I do works, but I have been to weddings as a guest where nothing at all works.  Do you really want to see those wedding pictures 10 years down the line and only remember how stressed you were? 

Remember that even the most amazing photographer in the world can’t add that smile and glow to your face if you’re truly so upset. 

Enjoy your day… you’re there with your family, your friends, your love.  Relax, (maybe have a nice drink), enjoy the food, the fun… and SMILE.

 

Beautiful and glowing bride... notice how she's not smiling, yet her glow is beautiful

Beautiful and glowing bride... notice how she's not smiling, yet her glow is beautiful

 

Same bride... now smiling beautifully!!!

Same bride... now smiling beautifully!!!

 

Even though she's not smiling... she looks absolutely stunning!

Even though she's not smiling... she looks absolutely stunning!

 

without even looking at the camera, this beautiful bride just glows!

without even looking at the camera, this beautiful bride just glows!

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Just a little venting ….

June 15, 2009

I realize it’s been a while (well over a week) since my last post… I have been way over my head this week with ‘technical difficulties’… luckily I think I’ve fixed everything… but I just had to come into the blog and just vent!!!

So a couple of weeks ago Ana upgraded to a new camera… which is wonderful since it takes great images and it seems to be a great tool for her.  Notice how I said it ‘seems’ – since I haven’t officially looked at any of her images yet!!!  This little innocent camera upgrade is the root of my most recent migraine… not that it’s Ana’s fault, or even the camera’s fault – but I do have a bone to pick with the manufacturers.  Seriously… why is it that you buy one thing and then suddenly you have to upgrade on absolutely everything else too?!?! 

Ana got to try out her new camera one week ago… at a beautiful casual wedding we did (I’ll show you guys images of those as soon as I can).  So during the week I am trying to open up the images to do my grueling process of color correcting each individual image, exporting them to jpegs, touching them up, etc.  That’s when I realized I CAN’T open up or even SEE any of her images!!!!!! Instant migraine right there!!!!  I spent hours on google trying to figure out why (I could see the images in my own camera, so I knew they were there). By the way… thank heavens for google… it really saved the day!!.  As it turns out a new camera automatically means a new computer system upgrade as well (or at least system updates, which of course there weren’t any for my current version)… why the heck didn’t I know that?!?!  It didn’t even occur to me at all!  I use photoshop to do all my editing –and I love it.  I was perfectly content using CS2… it was simple enough to do what I needed (even though it doesn’t have all the thrills and frills of the new versions, of course).  Now I had to find the new CS4 to upgrade my system.  After finally resigning to the fact that I now had to upgrade my software, and possibly deal with learning a new system (all while in the middle of the busy wedding season!!!!)… I broke down and purchased it. I installed it the very next day.

So that’s where it all went downhill.  I went through the whole installation process – and several hours later, I had CS4 – and I was able to view and even open Ana’s images!! YAY!!! I was so excited… I even forgot about my migraine for a few moments!  So that evening I went to bed peacefully, and happily, thinking that order had been restored to my workflow.  Boy was I wrong!!!  The next morning I was ready to dive into work and get these images processed… right?  I tried turning on my laptop – and low and behold – windows wouldn’t even start!!!! CS4 crashed my windows!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! I was in tears!!!! 

Luckily I do know a little bit about computers – not enough to be in IT, but enough to know that I need to run a system check and maintenance.  So I ran the check and restored my computer to the last time it worked properly.  That was another turning point for the awful week I was already having… because that’s when my computer decided to delete portions of the work I had already done in the previous week (not related to the new images, of course) PLUS portions of CS4.  So now I had to redo some work plus try to uninstall and then reinstall CS4 so that I can continue working.  To make matter worse, apparently the Adobe people get paid a ton of money so they figured out a way to make the whole uninstall process a virtual nightmare and basically impossible.  You try uninstalling, then you realize it left a bunch of files in your system that prevents you from reinstalling again.  I mean it was THEIR program that messed up MY computer and I have to fix it!!! And they provide no help, guidance, or support – why would they?!?! At one point I couldn’t even click on anything on my laptop without a warning telling me that some files were missing – basically telling me that I couldn’t access ANY files at all!  UGH!!! 

Once again… google to the rescue…

After countless hours (over 27 hours to be exact) of google-ing, about a full bottle of migraine pills, and visiting an infinite number of forums… I finally found a couple of scripts to fix the problems, completely delete CS4, clean up the CS4 leftover files, and finally reinstall the software.  Of course, those of you who know a little about installing software, you know that all sounds easy enough – but it took me well over a day to do all of that!  I swear I am missing a patch of hair from the back of my head from all the hair pulling that I did!!!!

So after a week of basically not having a laptop … I am finally back on-line and back to work!  CS4 is officially working properly now (of course, I still have not turned off my laptop yet since the installation, so I’m crossing my fingers here).  Now I’ll be swamped trying to catch up to make up for last week’s work plus all the work that I had already done that my system decided to delete as well.  I guess sleep will be out of the question this week.

So the moral of the story – they really should warn you when you buy new technology.  I mean I know we all need to upgrade our equipment… but they should give you a bottle of pain pills with every new purchase… you know?!?! 

I’ll get back to work… and I’ll do a photography related post on Wednesday…

Walking through downtown Riverside in front of the musem

Walking through downtown Riverside in front of the musem

 

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So let’s introduce my 2nd photographer!

May 28, 2009

At weddings, having Ana around is great because we can save time and be more efficient with our time frames.  Usually during the formals Ana will take the guys (groom and groomsmen) while I take the girls (bride and bridesmaids), so that we can move along and get the bridal party off to the party ASAP.  She’ll also take different angles than me (even when we’re shooting the same pose) – which always brings wonderful surprises when I go into her images!!  It’s always great to offer a bride a new angle that she wasn’t expecting.  During the ceremony, you’ll find her in the front of the ceremony – capturing those candid emotional moments between the bride and groom; and during the reception you’ll find her by the dance floor, capturing the fun of the evening with the tripod.

Ana is my main 2nd photographer.  She is my right hand at most weddings.  Ana has been with Studio Eternity from the very first day.  Actually, Ana helped start the company with me.  We have known each other since 7th grade, and have been really good friends since high school!  Ana and I always knew we would do something together… we always knew we were meant to work together.  We both went to FIDM (she went as a Visual Designer, I went as a Fashion Designer – yes… I have a degree in Fashion Design as well).  So after FIDM we always thought we would open a boutique or start a fashion line or something of the sort, but I personally realized the fashion industry wasn’t for me.  I love the design aspect of it, but I was not a fan of the ‘industry’ and the personality you have to have to succeed in that world (those that know me, know I am definitely not ‘cut-throat’ or overly aggressive).  So I knew that wasn’t the field for me, therefore our boutique idea went up in the air.  When I was planning my own wedding, Ana and I thought we should start a wedding planning business, but that never really went anywhere (I’m not really sure why we never did).  So one day I approached her about the photography studio, and she was all in with me!  She has been my 2nd photographer since then.  She goes to most of the weddings I do (there have been a couple where she’s not available, but she’s there at most of them). 

 

Ana’s background in visual design has always been a great fit for wedding photography.  She has a great eye for detail!  It is this visual design background and attention to detail that brides always tend to pick up on – and she’s usually the person they’ll go to for advice on how things look and how to make their vision work.  She’s definitely in the right industry doing what she absolutely loves to do!

beautiful candid moment between the bride and groom - captured by Ana while I was taking their formal portraits

beautiful candid moment between the bride and groom - captured by Ana while I was taking their formal portraits

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Amazing lighting!!!!

May 26, 2009

Those who know me well know that I really like learning as much as I can about anything… especially about anything that I love – like photography!!! I’m always reading on the latest trends, getting inspiration by looking at the works of amazing photographers… I love just taking it all in!!!  I really want to grow more and more as a photographer, so I welcome any chance I get to learn.  I really believe that no matter what field you are in… you can never stop learning… you can never stop growing … unless you want to be left behind, of course.

So last week I attended a wonderful seminar (David Ziser’s Digital Wakeup Call Tour 2009).  It was such a great workshop! David is truly an amazing photographer, and I love his use of lighting!  The workshop was very interesting and super helpful.  The first half of it was about lighting, and David’s lighting techniques.  I am really excited about implementing some of the techniques that he suggested!  I know they will truly enhance my photography!!!  Some of the techniques he discussed are really simple, and really beneficial – and I’ll be implementing these immediately, of course (mostly having to do with how I bouncy my flash in indoor situations).  There were a couple of techniques that really inspired me but are a little more complex, and I am still trying to figure out how to implement them so that they fit within my own style of photography and within my own wedding-day-workflow.  I’m sure I’ll come up with something… for now they’re marinating in my mind… but I can almost see the vision.  I know that’s a really vague comment – I guess I should just admit I have no clue how I’m going to make it work… but I know I will!!!  The main goal is to get more creative with lighting, light sources, and back-lighting (which is David’s trademark style… his amazing use of back-lighting).  I have always tried to use light to create moods and I love using available light to show the feel of the setting, but now I’m going to take the next step by adding more light sources (and different light angles) to my photography! 

The second half of the seminar was about workflow and about marketing.  The workflow part of my business has always been pretty clear-cut for me… and most of what he discussed are techniques that I already have in place.

I did love to hear what he had to say about marketing… I would love to learn more about how to market myself.  I always feel like I’m not sure how to get my name out there as much as other photographers do.  I have clients that always tell me I’m like a little hidden treasure, and as much as I love to hear that they think of me as a treasure… I just wish I wasn’t such a ‘secret’.  I’m sure this is something most small businesses struggle with – so it’s always great to hear ideas from those photographers that have been in the industry for decades about how to get our names out there and how to market our brand.  I will be implementing some of his ideas on brochures, presentation, and client connections… but I’m most excited about his branding techniques.

I will definitely be implementing new branding techniques soon enough…  as Studio Eternity grows within the next year or so.  I guess I should give you guys a little update on our plans… Studio Eternity will hopefully be going through a great evolution by the end of this year (maybe into early next year).  It’s something I’ve been really excited about, and David’s workshop has given me great ideas about how to get it done.  We’re still developing our new business plan, but we are planning to expand the services of Studio Eternity by quite a bit by the end of the year.  By ‘we’ I mean Ana and I – and those of you who haven’t worked with me probably don’t know too much about Ana… I will introduce her a little more in my next post (promise), but Ana is my right hand when it comes to photography.  She is my 2nd photographer at nearly all my weddings.  I will be going into more details about what our plans are for Studio Eternity a little more within the next few weeks, and I promise to keep you updated with our plans for growth. 

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What to wear?…. What to wear?….

May 23, 2009

One of the first questions that I get from my clients is: what should we wear for the engagement session.  After-all, this picture will most likely be displayed right at the entrance of your reception hall, for all your friends and family to see… so you definitely want to make sure you look great! 

My first suggestion is to avoid floral patterns like the plague!!! It’s not that I’m personally not a fan of floral patterns, but they do tend to be very distracting in images.  Remember that you want the focus to be on you and your fiancé… not on what you are wearing.  So you might want to tell your fiancé to put his favorite Hawaiian shirt away for now.  Well…  I should mention that a Hawaiian shirt might be a great choice if your engagement session has some kind of theme to it… like if you were doing it in a Tropical setting – I can see it working in that situation.  Otherwise, loud patterns only tend to call attention to themselves, and away from your happy smiles! 

So what should you wear? Wear any solid colors… solid colors tend to create a clean look that will let the viewer focus on you guys.  A clean, fresh look can be achieved simply by keeping your attire simple. 

Do you have to match?  No… not necessarily.  I always recommend that you ‘compliment’ each other, but you don’t’ really need to be matching.  For example… if he wears a blue top, you would look great in a purple top.

Also take your setting into consideration… as well as the look you’re trying to achieve.

If you’ll be doing a beach setting –the typical attire would be jeans and a white shirt.  Even a white skirt with a simple top would look beautiful at the beach (imagine the soft simple skirt flowing with the breeze… !!!). If you’ll be doing a garden setting, pretty much anything goes – do you want to look trendy or casual? 

Don’t forget the shoes!!!  Keep in mind where you’ll be going when picking out your shoes.  You might want to avoid stilettos if you’ll be doing a beach setting.  You might consider flip flops, sandals, or better yet – walking barefoot! Trust me, more often than not, the shoes get tossed to the side at the beach… so I would keep the cute stilettos at home for the day.  Even at any garden, keep in mind the season and the possibility that there will be walking and there might be some mud.  In this case, ask yourself… could you handle a walk in stilettos?  Do you mind digging into the ground?  If so… then by all means – rock out the cute shoes!!

I have had couples head out to the beach all decked out –I’m talking cute summer dress and even a casual dress pants/jacket combo for the groom-to-be.   Let me tell you… that was a cute look for the beach.  It was a great juxtaposition… the formal attire with the casual beach- truly great!!!  Eventually it looked even better when the groom took off his shoes, rolled up his dress slacks, and carried his jacket over his shoulder – very modern!!! Loved it!!!! 

Remember – just have fun… be yourself… and be comfortable with what you wear!!!!  (but remember… just say no to loud patterns)

Romantic and sweet engagement session at Laguna Beach

Romantic and sweet engagement session at Laguna Beach

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Engagement sessions… where should you go?

May 21, 2009

So now that you decided to do an engagement session… where should you have it?

An engagement session can be done virtually anywhere:  the beach (the #1 place here in California, of course), a garden, a park, a modern building, an antique building, a university campus, a bowling alley, or even your backyard! I would say almost anywhere will work….

With that said… here’s a few things to keep in mind when choosing your location…

What look are you looking for?  Do you want something romantic? Something modern? Something sweet?
 If you want something romantic – you might want to stay clear of super public places.  Remember that romance requires a level of intimacy from you guys that you might not be comfortable with if you have a crowd of on-lookers.  If you don’t feel comfortable having a camera follow you around while you hug, kiss, caress, etc – then you add the fact that there might be a crowd just watching you… then you might want to stay clear of public places.  A beach can be crowded, but most people at the beach will stay in their own ‘space’ so that give you some room for intimacy.  Locally, I love Laguna Beach – it has a great combination of rocks and sand – for that perfect romantic look.

An even more intimate setting for amazing romantic shots would be a garden.  Most gardens won’t have too many on-lookers – which means that you’ll have a nice sense of privacy.  Gardens also usually offer a wide variety of wonderful and amazing backgrounds and photo opportunities.  Here in my neck of the woods, there are the UCR botanical gardens… which are absolutely beautiful and offer tons of different shooting locations.  They have wood benches, grassy areas, wooded areas, walking paths, a rose garden, a beautiful gazebo, and even more tropical areas as well!

If you want something modern consider a modern building as a good setting.  Even a modern office building (with great architecture) would be good.  You probably won’t be going inside the building – but if the outside of it has good lines and structure –then you have a perfect modern and sleek setting.  

What style of photography are you envisioning?
Do you want something classic and traditional? Or photojournalistic?  This is something that you should consider no matter what location you choose.  We all know that photojournalistic photography looks beautiful… but what most of us don’t think about at first is that it looks amazing because the personality of the couple truly shows through.  If you are outgoing, energetic, and love photography – then this is a perfect style for you.  If you are more shy, then I always tell my clients to start with a more traditional look (usually involves me doing some guiding), then as the minutes pass the couple will naturally begin to get more comfortable and therefore less guidance is needed.

The key to a successful engagement session is to be comfortable, be happy, and most of all, be yourself!!!!

Enagement session at the UCR Botanical Gardens

Enagement session at the UCR Botanical Gardens

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The Engagement session…

May 21, 2009

Should you have an engagement session? 

Well… if your package comes with one, or you can afford to get one – then YES!!!!  You should definitely have an engagement session.  Not to say that they are an absolute necessity… in all honesty, your wedding will still go on even if you don’t have one.  I actually never had an engagement session (although I wish I would have).  My husband is not a fan of pictures … I was lucky he even agreed to a professional photographer on our wedding day!!! (He wanted to just give people those cheap little table top disposable cameras!!! Don’t even get me started about those!!!!)  So since it took me long enough to persuade him to agree to have a photographer on our wedding day… I decided to not push the engagement session too much.  So… no engagement session for me. 

Why do I love engagement sessions?  Well… think about it… you’re going to be followed around all day long by your photographer… they will become your shadow for the day.  Would you rather that day to be awkward having this ‘stranger’ follow you around in your most intimate moments?  Or would you like to maybe meet them ahead of time so that you’re more comfortable with them?  It’s like if you needed to find a date for a huge family reunion … would you take a complete stranger? Or would you rather take a friend?  Of course, your photographer is not your date… but your photographer is going to be photographing some very intimate moments between you and your future husband… so of course you want to be as comfortable with them as possible.  During an engagement session you can take that time to get to know them… get to know their personality… get to know their style… and, best of all, get some cute pictures out of it! 

For the photographer… it’s great because they get to know YOU.  I love getting to know my clients, and seeing just how shy or outgoing they might be.  By the end of the engagement session I can make a mental note that a couple is really outgoing, or that they are really shy.  This little one-hour session will get me prepared for the day of the wedding.  I can also be prepared for when someone just can’t seem to keep their eyes open in a picture.  Yes … it’s perfectly normal and common –and it’s great to know ahead of time.  I can make sure to make them aware that they do tend to close their eyes – so that we can figure out if there is a solution (maybe not using flash, if that’s the reason).  Sometimes even knowing that you do tend to close your eyes a lot does enough to keep you conscious of it and you tend to do it less!

So what will happen if you can’t do an engagement session? 

You’ll be totally fine!

I have done many weddings where I’ve never met the couple until the day of the wedding (even a few where all the contracts/deposits were done on-line and through mail) – and they’ve all been successful and came out beautifully.  I do have to admit that, at first, most of those couples are definitely more shy around me and it does take a while to get them to open up and relax a little bit (more so than couples that do have an engagement session).  This is only a problem when there is a very limited amount of time for formals… when every minute counts.  If it takes 10 minutes to get the couple to smile … then it can be a little stressful.  But, luckily, I’ve never had such extreme situation yet.  I like to think that my easy-going personality is contagious… and most of my clients do tell me that I helped calm them down even when they wanted to scream.

Engagement Session at Malibu

Engagement Session at Malibu

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