Photoshop skills....

I got those! hehe Well, I am working on obtaining them. Photoshop is it's own universe with an infinite amount of possibilities. So much so that it can be overwhelming but I am working on increasing my knowledge on the subject.

Here are some samples I finished today, Enjoy!

Increasing My Exposure and Spending Money!

I have spent the last few days really working with various sites to increase our exposure.

I have advertised on Atlanta Bridal for several years but am now increasing our presence on their site with various ads as well as being listed in their featured vendors (beginning in May 2009). I am in the process of revamping my brochure on My Atlanta Wedding (member since January 2008) and have recently purchased space on The Knot Georgia's home page for the next year!

I am really excited to see where this will take MyLife!

This is the ad that will appear on The Knot until I find or take a better image.

I am also in the process of submitting a wedding to a magazine and I am also beginning the process to submit weddings to The Knot, Atlanta Bridal, and Weddings Unveiled for their "real weddings" features! I will keep everyone posted on our progress.

Here is my new purchase! It is a digital balance card. I am planning to use it in conjunction with the light meter I already have in order to obtain even more well balanced light in my images! I will let you know how it goes! It is in route and should arrive in a day or two!

My light meter by Kenko. It is a great product for not a ton of money.

Here are a few more of my Party Booth (photobooth) trials. They are so much fun! I hope all my brides start to take advantage of this feature!

Photobooth? Phototag?

Input please!

I have seen a trend going across the wedding world for photobooths at the weddings. Often set up by the photographer. I am thinking of adding this to my services. I set it up in my studio today to try it out. Basically it is a backdrop about 5ft wide and 8ft high with a camera on a tripod and strobe (light). The people control their own photos and use a wireless remote to snap the photo. I think I can figure out a way to tether the camera to a monitor and have the images pop up so that they can be viewed immediatly but may just go on and try it out first without the monitor hook up. I do think people will enjoy it more if the images can be viewed instantly though.....hmmmm. Tricky.

My issues:

it takes up a good amount of space and often I have found that coordinators at weddings sometimes have an issue about photographers invading their space. The overall dimensions would end up being about 5ft x6ftx8ft(high). Too big?

Pricing.....it takes a few minutes to set up and take down, I would need someone to man the photobooth aka guard the equipment, and then all the extra editing from the images taken. People can take as many images as they want. They don't have to just take one they can take several so that leads to some additional editing time.

Would you want one of these at your wedding? What would you pay for it? I have a price in mind but I would love to hear from all my readers first :)

Here are my trial photos from today. Sorry....I am still in my pjs and without makeup :) oh well!

I am hoping that this would encourage silly, funny photos from all the guests.

Here is my phototag from Heather

The 4th photo in the 4th folder of your pictures

This is me and Big Nick Calhoun, he is famous around these parts and is one of my greatest friends. Nick comes to our house atleast 3 nights a week and it often seems weird and empty if he stays away too long. He is very smart and funny and maybe one day will rule the world. He loves Owen and is like an Uncle to him. He has even babysat him before just so I could go get a pedicure! No joke!

Nick is our: Chuck buddy, Guillotine and Risk opponent, Political dictionary, Philosopher, Playhouse helper, Food critique, and best friend.

I love you Nick!

Here are my tags! Have fun!

Lori

Laura

The McCrary Crew

Julie

New Kids and New Experiences!

On Wednesday night me and several of my girlfriends went to see the New Kids On The Block! We had so much fun. We screamed so much that I don't know how I spoke for the next two days! Many of us that went have been friends since middle school and remember the days of teen beat covered walls, puff paint, jelly shoes, and new kids tunes! It was unreal to be there, this had been the soundtrack to our preteen lives, memories almost forgotten. I was so happy to be there with my girls and can't believe it actually happened.


We were so close it was amazing. When they came down of the center stage you see here I actually touched Donnie and Joey! OMG!


Our new experience for the week was trick or treating! Owen wasn't even a year old last year so we spent the night passing out candy in 2007. This year, however, we went downtown to the fall festival and received candy from the local shops in our community. Owen ate 4 suckers while we were there and would not reliquish the pumpkin filled with candy for anything! It was cute.


My Little Superman!


We also had our family portraits made this morning by Heather! Thanks girl!

So needless to say it has been a crazy busy week with all of that and just our normal lives. Will we slow down? Not yet! We are off to my friend Jessica's tonight for another Halloween bash with the kiddies! Wish us luck!

Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend me and my girls went down to Jekyll for a wedding for a woman that is very special to me. My little Lori who's not so little anymore. We had a great time and enjoyed the sights, seafood and the freezing water!! I acutally worked too! I photographed the wedding :)


This picture is how I think of Lori (2004). Me, on the other hand was dressed up for an 80s party so please excuse the makeup and hair! :)

I taught public school as an art teacher for 6 years and one of the greatest connections I made during those years was with Lori, my student. Never did I think seeing her sitting in my classroom paisting and painting that we would become such great friends, peers, and confidants. I love her so much! I do believe that meeting Lori was worth all those days of stress, tears, and begging for art supplies.



This was Lori last Saturday!


I am so happy for the both of you, as I told you "twice" this past weekend! haha! I love the both of you and I am looking forward to the future and being in our 70s while still having our monthly cookouts!


Four girls, one hotel room, one bathroom, causes for extreme closeness! haha! Love you girls!


The view from our room (sunrise).

Heather's little girl....

I took some photos of Heather's little Mallory today. Here is my favorite! You can see a few more on my photography blog.

So cute!

Shooting like mad and a new website!

This is what I have looked like for a while now. I know that I am working like crazy but I must say that I love it. I am a work fanatic, I always have been. The weddings are going well, I still have a ways to go before a decent break. I just have 3 weeks left with my art history students so we are on the downhill slope of the quarter.

The best thing I have done lately is finish my NEW WEBSITE!! I am super excited about it! I just got it going live late last night and you may not be able to see it yet. It takes 72 hours to propogate. But you might! You may also need to clear out your cache on your internet or simply refresh the page if you have been there before.

You should go to a black screen.
I really love it!


Here is one of my favorite photos from last weekend. We got some really lovely ones yesterday as well. I will post a blog on my photoblog in a day or two.

:)

A day in the life of a wedding photographer

As I was going through the images from my weddings this weekend, yes I shot two weddings, I began to really think about what an unusual job I have. I really do love the act of shooting a wedding. It is a day that is always filled with joy and celebration. I never have a bad day, some may be more stressful than others but really I have a good time at all of them.


Here is a glimpse into my thoughts as a wedding photographer:


I imagine that I go to more weddings in a year than most people do in their entire lives (somewhere around 30 for 2008).


I am very organized and it is all business until the reception where I can let things unfold in front of me.



During the Mother and Son dance I always wonder what it will be like on the day I have to dance with Owen. The last act of him being mine alone.




I often feel invisible. I am in the thick of the conversations, laughter and celebration but do not take part in any of it. I am often not acknowledged and am given freedom to move in and out of the crowd. It is an unusual feeling, almost like watching a movie, seeing intimate moments of strangers without consequence.



I place increasing pressure on myself to be a better photographer.



Numbers of exposure times, ISOs, focal lengths and light outputs run through my mind constantly while shooting which makes it increasingly difficult to just let my self be creative.




I have a weird thing about photographing people taking photographs or looking at them. There is something about their desire to stop the moment forever that I want to capture.



I often dance as I am weaving in and out of the dance floor for those upclose party shots!


I will on many occasions sing along with the music.


I usually long for a martini but resist.


My neck aches after carrying 10lbs of equipment around my neck and on my hips for 9 hours.


I truly enjoy going through the completed photos, editing, and have a feeling of accomplishment when I see that one photo that captures the atmosphere of the whole wedding in a single shot!


I am lucky to have a job like this one. I am thankful for it.

Quick update!

Dustin came home yesterday! Thank goodness! I feel so much more at ease with him here.

I begin a 12 wedding marathon tomorrow that last until the last weekend of October! Wish me luck and that I keep my sanity! :)

Biting Nails and Sleeping Alone....

This week has been very busy for everyone I know! So here is the quick rundown!

Sunday, August 3, Dustin left for LA and won't be back until Thursday August 14!!! I am not too happy about being alone for that long. I think it is beginning to effect Owen and I can tell he misses his Daddy.


Tuesday I spent the day scurring around for a sitter so that I could rush up to the hospital because Heather was in labor. It was a hurry up and wait situation. I took my uber camera so that I could get some decent shots for her and in return I got some interesting looks from others waiting in the lobby! haha Really the camera is huge! ha


Me biting my nails in anticipation!



Owen also received a baby pool from his Papa!



I have been meeting with clients and booked 2 more weddings for 2009! I am also trying to resist purchasing the new Nikon D700!!! Ha! I have a weakness for new cameras!




Today me and Owen are off to his cousins birthday party in Thomaston and tomorrow we are off to visit with Heather!!!!

It has been a tad bit insane around here and probably more so since I have been playing single Mom all week.

Heather's Maternity Shots

I know almost all of you follow Heather's blog so I wanted to let you guys know I did her maternity shots yesterday! Check them out on my photography blog!

They turned out really great!

So Heather,
I am working on them!!! I promise!!! hehe I will have them all done soon!
Love you.

New Blog

I have started a new blog that is connected to my work website! Please go take a look!

Random Update...

Here it is in a nutshell:

I just finished teaching another quarter of art history at the college. There are talks of a photo program beginning in the fall and I am a candidate for the job so keep your fingers crossed.

I have shot 5 weddings in the last 7 weeks and have 3 more in a row (every Saturday) to come. So needless to say much of my computer time is spent editing instead of posting blogs and surfing myspace :(

As for our adoption news. We are at a slight stand still. My husband is worried about the ecomony and supporting two children and I am worried about age differences. We are accepting 14months or younger but I have it in my head we will be presented with a 14 month old. I don't know why but that number is just stuck in my head. Owen is nearly 17 months old and I would like them to be about 2 years apart. So the question is....When do we finish our classes that are required by the state? After our classes are done we could wait a day or months, there is no real timeline. Our social worker wants us to go ahead and finish the classes ASAP. She says that we could reject the presented children until we were ready.....uhhhh...I don't know that I can do that. I can't imagine being presented a child that needs a home and saying "Umm I think we will pass and wait for the next one". So I kind of want to wait until we are absolutely ready and then finish our courses.

So that is where we are.....


Here is a photo from last weekend! Enjoy! This one is for you Julie!


Me, hard at work on June 7

Memorial Day Party and a Dead Computer!

This past Sunday was the annual Memorial Day Weekend Pool Party! It was a lot of fun swimming and playing. There were many more children there this year than just a couple of years ago. Owen enjoyed the water. It was a bit cold for May here but once he was used to the idea of it, he was all over the place. He was climbing in and out, running off the edge and splashing like a pro.

I sat there thinking about how fast all of our lives have changed. I do miss the mixed drinks, partying into the night, and occasional activities people dare not mention the next day! haha!
Oh well! Running after a toddler maybe not as relaxing or adventurous as those days but way more fun!


On another note, it was discovered today that my computer has a fooping foop foop virus!!!!! Now I am OCD enough to back up my images when I get home from a photoshoot or a wedding but, I have been working on a wedding I shot over a week ago for atleast 20 hours and have yet to backup the edited images!!! FOOP! FOOP! FOOP!

We shall soon see if I have to do ALL that work over again! Keep your fingers crossed!

This may soon be the fate of my computer!!!!!
Foop!

Latest Computer Update:

Does this bride look peaceful and content???? She should! Why you ask? Cause I have the greatest husband/computer genius that saved her images from the evil Trojan virus!!! WOOOHOOO!

I am still going to have to purchase a new computer but atleast all my work was saved! Thank you to the computer gods!

Anybody Out There????

Today for some strange reason I don't feel particularly like blogging but here it goes.....


My life is extremely busy right now with work!!!! I have my own photography business, for those of you that didn't know that, and I am shooting 8 weddings in the months of May and June!! WHAT WAS I THINKING? I also teach art at a small college near my home two days a week. Any of you out there that have ever taught know that the work is always more than your scheduled time, planning, preparing, buying supplies, figuring out how the heck your going to explain the material so that it is understandable and at least a little interesting to your students.

So that is my life right now! Mothering, Homing, Shooting, Teaching.....BUSY!



I feel so overwhelmed I think that it isn't worth taking the time to blog...does anybody really even read this? So, just out of curiosity I want to do what many have done on these blogs before......ROLL CALL! Who is out there?