A Peek Behind the Scenes

Hello Readers! I love it when photographers share pullback shots that show their setup. I am such a visual learner, so it helps me so much more to see a photographer in action, to see their equipment and setup, how they position themselves, how they hold their cameras, how they see the big picture that an image is created within. We hope it helps you to see us at work too. And bonus, it's just plain fun to put faces to those photogs you see and chat with online!

A few bits about our equipment: All of us on this trip shoot with either the Canon 5D or the 5D MK II. We used the Canon 85mm 1.2 L, the Canon 24-70 2.8L, the Canon 50mm 1.4, the Canon 15mm fisheye, and the Canon 70-200 2.8L. (Don't worry Nikonians, Denise and Sherry both shoot Nikon, so you are among friends!)

We used all natural light for the entire shoot at the Plantation. You will see in some of the pullback shots that we brought softboxes and lights, but we never used them. We used various reflectors and moved furniture to suit the light.

For the baby session, Megan used all natural light and no reflectors. Part of the session was done in studio but I didn't manage to get any shots of that.

For the warehouse/ night session we used one OCF, bare bulb, triggered either by the ST-E2 transmitter or an on camera flash. Using the infrared sensors allowed us to take turns at the flash without having to share pocket wizards. Have fun peeking! ~Alli

This is Megan at work, and the shots she got of this seriously handsome little guy:
This is a shot of Cindy and I shooting Cindy's daughter Melody, and the shots we got from this setup. Melody works for Elite Modeling Agency and is an experienced, very busy, super hard working model. We are incredibly lucky to have been able to get her for this shoot:
Below is a shot of Julie and I shooting Cindy, purty thing she is:

Cindy shooting the dancer. You can see more of those shots on Cindy's and Laura's blogs:
Candy took this shot of Julie, Cindy, Megan, and Laura shooting Melody on the plantation stairs:
ANd just a few more.....

Megan here.

Hi readers!! I am in the middle of editing a newborn session and I thought I would share some of the proofs with you. This beautiful little man was 10 days old. He was so good and so sweet. At 10 days he was just starting to wake up, so we had to wait him out for a few hours. It is tough for the babies because if we fiddle with them too soon without them being in a deep sleep then we have to go through the sleep process all over again. The parents of this cutie pie were totally awesome, his Mom is a nanny and she handled him like an old pro which made my job easier too. The father was just so excited and so in love, it was a honor to be there with them.
this was all natural light, we had a big picture window but direct light was shining in so I had the set up, (bean bag, heater, blankets etc to the right) I shot with 2 cameras, my 5D with my 50mm 1.4 lens and then my new 5D mark ii with a 24-70mm lens. with the light moving I was able to shoot between 200-500 iso to keep my ss up.
enjoy the pictures!!!

The Atlanta Pixel Chick Get Away !!!

As many of us that could make it gathered at my house in Atlanta and had the best time shooting pictures, watching eachother edit, talking equipment and motherhood and every other thing you can imagine :) To have friends like this who share so many common interest is one of the most wonderful gifts that God has shared with me :) I love these women so much ! They are the kindest, most giving and talented group of women you will ever meet. We will be sharing several images we took during the weekend just for fun !!


me , Cindy

Candy

Alli

Julie

Laura

Megan

Pixel Chicks get togethers....

Several of us met up this summer to go to a workshop with Heather Bookout. We had such a good time !! Plenty of learning went on and I had visited Heather's website and blog many times but meeting her was better than just seeing her pictures. She nad her Husband Ben are such special people. God is so good to put Good Talented people in my path to help me see what is possible :) My chicks do that for me everyday. We talk everyday on the phone, online and it is extra special when we get to actually see eachothers faces !!!!


Julie, Cindy and Alli :)


Cindy and Heather Bookout

Kodak Picture of the Day January 24,2009

Today has been a good day with a very nice surprise. www.kodak.com has a contest where they choose one image everyday to be the Picture of the Day. Many Chicks have recieved this honor and today was my turn :) This is my 5th Kodak POTD. It is displayed on their website as well as on a 3story billboard in Times Square.. How cool is that ?? I have been able to visit the city when one of mine was being displayed and it is the COOLEST thing EVER!! Hope everyone is having a great weekend !!!

The Importance of the Right Attire

When I first opened my business, when clients asked what to wear, my standard reply was: jeans or khakis, solid-colored shirts, no logos, stripes or bold patterns. I still think this is solid (general) advice, especially for large groups, but I have to admit, after awhile, it makes me yawn a little. In reality, I love color! I love funky patterns, striped skirts, wild tights or hats on kids and bright colors, ripped jeans or trendy dresses on teenagers…I love whatever it is that shouts: this is ME! I love those character-identifying pieces that give me a glimpse into the person I’m photographing – that show me their fancy side, their down-to-earth side, their wild or outrageous side, their funny side, their wistful side or even just their wishful side – something they wouldn’t normally wear but positively float in during our session.

These are the sessions I open in post-processing with a sigh of anticipation, wide eyes and a giggle or two of pure delight. And, more often than not, these are the sessions I find parents doing the very same thing when viewing their images later. The truth is, clothing can make or break a session. It can bring out true character, promote fun and laughter, bring color and light, or it can distract, overwhelm, or turn what could be a beautiful image into a flat, dull reflection. I didn’t understand this when I first started out. I thought by telling people to dress by a set of standard rules, I was obeying one of the basic principles of portrait photography which is: the subject is/should be the focus. While that’s true, what I didn’t realize is that clothing is as important to bringing out the character of the subject as the subject themselves. Therefore, in my opinion, clothing should be looked at as an extension of the person.

Again, with large groups, coordinated color or the old solid-colored shirts with jeans or khakis is a good rule of thumb to follow…unless you enjoy going cross-eyed while viewing a family photo of fourteen who all choose different patterned shirts to wear. But with babies, children, seniors, individuals or even small families – toss it out! Have fun! Be bold! Find out who your client is – what colors they love, what outfits they adore, what funky accessories they harbor in their closet. Have a list of recommended stores for shopping or for collecting outfit ideas. Encourage them to have fun too and help you create images that will color their world for years to come!

Below are a few photos from a recent session in which I think mom totally rocked the outfits and accessories.

Written and posted by Laura Stetser of Laura Lynne Photography.

Your questions answered...continued

Thank you again to all of you who have sent questions to be answered. These are the last 2 questions we will be posting for awhile, we have enjoyed this and we hope you have as well. Remember to check back from time to time because although the question has been answered, other chicks may add to the answers if they do things a little differently :) So you may get a few different takes on how to do things :)

Q: "I've been looking at all the websites and blogs of you pixel chicks, and my pictures just aren't measuring up. They are lacking that pop!... that 3D effect... depth...etc. Is this something I should be looking to Photoshop to help me with, or is it the lens? or maybe the light?"

A: (From Alli Gaulin) This is a super loaded question! There are so many factors that go into getting an image to pop. The most important factors are going to be light, exposure, clarity, and color. When you are able to create an excellent image straight out of the camera (aka sooc) then you can take that image into Photoshop and enhance color and contrast to give it an extra pop. My advice would be to read "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson and work toward getting the very best images you can SOOC. Then you can begin to explore different options in Photoshop that will help those excellent images pop right off the page.

Here is an example of an image sooc and then the final image. I shot this in open shade, the light was great, there was vibrant color in the chalk on the driveway, in her clothes, and behind in the green shrubs. But the image was boring as is, it needed some extra zing.

To get that extra zing here, I increased contrast slightly then added a soft light layer. After adjusting the opacity of the SLL to my liking, I then took the saturation sponge set to about 25% and brought out the blue in the pavement and further brightened the chalk drawings. This image was relatively simple to PP, but there are many methods that are more complicated and bring out color and detail in different ways. Just keep experimenting until you get the right combination for the look you are going for. It takes lots of trial and error, and remember, every image is going to be different, requiring different techniques to create that perfect pop.

My tech info for this shot:

Canon 40D

24-70L lens @24mm

ISO 200

F/2.8

SS:1/250th sec

Manual exposure, center weighted average metering

Q-How do you deal with customers that want to see on your camera's display the pictures you are taking? I had a mom try this while I was taking pictures of her daughter. I would snap away, then look at my display to see what kind of composition, lighting, etc I was getting, and she wanted to look at them with me. I really felt uncomfortable.

A-Hi this is Hayley. I have not ran into this issue, so I may not be the one who should be answering this, but I will give it a go. I think if you try NOT to draw attention to your LCD during the session that might help you. Checking it here and there is okay but try not to stop the session and draw attention to it. If you still have issues with it, maybe politely say something like The LCD does not really do any justice to the images and you would prefer that they wait to see them when they are proofed. You may also want to add that you don't want to miss any moments you could capture by stopping to show the images on the LCD. I have found that showing kids there pics on the LCD is a great way to engage them though in a session. Kids seem to love that :) Hope that helps a little, like I said, I have not encountered this, so I am hoping another chick will pop in here!!