Setting your budget

Over the years, we have met and worked with many wonderful  couples preparing for the most important day of their lives. For most, this is their first experience, planning for a wedding. Understandably, they are sometimes sticker shocked, not realizing what all is involved to create the finished result. It is not uncommon to believe we are busy during the day of the event. We are seen moving around quickly, camera(s) in hand, creating beautiful portraits and capturing all the excitement of the wedding party and guests. What isn't seen, is the behind the scenes work. Better know as the workflow. This is hours spent at the computer, editing the images with Lightroom and Photoshop. Making every shot more and more beautiful. When I first started shooting professionally, almost 25 years ago. Most of the work was done in the camera, then sent off to the lab and they took care of the rest. Today in the digital era, photographers choose to do most of the work themselves. It's not that the labs are unable to (most will), but to add your own personal touch or signature to every image. In my next few blogs, I will talk more about the involvement of the photographer, and what you should expect. In the meantime, look at your wedding album as an investment in your love you have for one another, as your relationship grows,

Not just the Bride and Groom

A special wedding day is not just of the bride and groom. With many guests in attendance, they are sure to miss out on some of the events around them. This is where a second photographer comes into play. Just as a photographer shooting solo, they too are sure to miss out on special gatherings. We make it a point to have two photographers for each wedding event. I am always delighted at the reactions of the couple, when they see something, of which they had no idea happen.

Step by step workflow

I was recently asked, to explain how an image is processed. There are numerous ways to finalize a photograph. Advantages being, you can create many different looks from the same image. Below, you will see an image taken a few weeks ago.

Looks rather plain. No special effects or rendering. Not a bad photograph, but lets see what can be done, in order to make it look more interesting.

With Adobe CS4, we start by adjusting the exposure and contrast. This can be done many ways through Photoshop. I find, using the levels, works best, allowing you to fine tune your exposure. Notice the trees tend to stand out on the second image.

Step three, we used a Photoshop plug-in. Plug-ins are similar to "Actions", meaning that they automatically preform a series of adjustments to your image. The only difference, is that they are preformed through a secondary program. This particular plug-in, brings out the detail. You will notice the water and trees have more detail, than the above image.

Plug-ins are a great addition to your work flow. My favorites include Onone Suites, Topaz Labs and Auto FX Software, to name a few.

I hope you find this interesting. The next time your viewing photographs, look closely, and see what effects they used. Feel free to contact us with any questions, or for classes in image workflow.

The start of something new

Welcome to our very first Blog. I must tell you, I am not much of a writer. I'd rather tell a story visually. At the age of 10, I was first introduced to photography by my Great Uncle. He gave me a Kodak Duaflex II camera. I was in love! This camera was around my neck, everywhere I went. As I grew older, my dad, who had an interest in photography, taught me about F/stops, shutter speeds and ASA settings. YES...ASA, now known as ISO. I know, I am probably showing my age, but my desire for photography has never changed. I could bore you even more, but just want to give you some of my background history. As you can see, I did not wake up one day and say "Hey...I want to try out being a photographer." It has always been my passion.

Dan Swain