Playing with the camera

Laura gave me one of her Canon 20D bodies a few weeks ago and I've been having a lot of fun learning all its features and abilities. One thing I had never done with a digital camera was try long exposures at night so after digesting the manual everything I could on the 20d I was dying to go play with it. I packed up the tripod and went looking for this scary tree I pass on the way to a friends house.

So here's what I got.. please, tell me what you think. I shot the tree at 5s f2.8 and probably should have put the ISO higher than 400 but I wanted less grainyness, might try to noise ninja it.















This one of Laura isn't great cause she cant stand still long enough but I shot it at 6s f2.8 again I was so busy playing with the other features and trying to focus on the tree in zero light I left the ISO on 400. Has a cool chidren of the corn look (well maybe soybean) but you get the idea.

Laura and George

Laura and George had to reschedule with us a few times but what luck with the day we finally ended up on. This past Sunday (the 26th) we had amazing weather. Really not like NJ at all on the last week of the month, it was 60 degrees and higher.. really!

So we took some great shots in Princeton which is probably Laura's favourite place to do engagement sessions. You can get Roman pillars in one shot and have an English cobblestone path in another. Plus who doesn't love squirrels? They are nearly tame enough to get them into the shot with the couple.. but I'm sure Laura would have something to say about that.

If you're lucky you might even get to see one of Princetons rare black squirrels.. but I was told thats not what I was there for and to hold some bags. I'm so getting into trouble for posting these.

Rittenhouse Square round 2!

Laura and I did another engagement shoot here on probably one of the best nights. We actually caught them putting up the Christmas tree and lights which for me was a new experience. Just ask Sofia when we were in NYC for Photoplus I had told her we were gonna go look at the tree in Rockefeller center before it was decorated... Really I had no idea it wasn't a real planted tree! Laura soon told me I'm not SMRT and that they bring a real tree in for the holidays.




After we went for some food and met Laura's friend Joy Moody another talented photog with a mean cat. Must be a trend going on around here, we have one too! No its not Steve.. he's pretty awesome! Evil incarnate goes by the name of Moggy I'l try and get a pic to prove it later.

Puerto Rico

Laura and I are pretty lucky when it comes to having places to go. Being an ex-pat from the UK we have places to stay in Europe and most recently my father moved to Puerto Rico which is one of the most amazing places I have been so far. Too bad it took us 3 years to finally get to go see his new place. Trust us... we heard enough about our long overdue visit to last us a while.

It's been awhile since I've had to travel and I almost forgot how straining it can be on your system.. poor Laura had to suffer from a pretty severe cold for the whole trip. Thank god for Zircam.. without it I'm sure she would have missed all the great sights and hiking trips, which pretty much means I would have missed them all too. We also had a couple we are great friends with tag along too so we kept momentum going and did way more sightseeing than we would have done alone. Dave and Alison were also scouting locations for a possible destination wedding so we took every opportunity to capture them at their favourite places. So if your planning a destination wedding Laura and I would really like to see Italy, Germany, Fiji, Hawaii.... you get the idea. :)

Here's one of Laura and I in front of Old San Juan's Miracle Gate




















found this lil guy getting a little sun in the morning













Here's one of Dave and Alison at El Yunque waterfall

Becky and Steve Engagement

I've always tried to associate peoples names with either someone I know or something similar, keeps me from having to play that game we all do when we wait to hear their name again or go with the old "hey you's" Well Steve is an easy one for Laura and I... we have a cat called Steve, but thats a story for another day.

Laura and I shot some engagement photos for Becky and Steve on Oct. 26th. We went to nice park out near West Chester and were lucky enough to get some great shots in before the sun went down. Believe it or not.. these are my shots.

Hello

Things have been pretty hectic here lately so I'm gonna fill in for Laura. Hi I'm Paul her husband and welcome to our lives....

Laura and I actually have been doing a lot of engagement shoots, but I don't want to overshadow some great Fall weddings we got to shoot together. So let me introduce Christine and Michael. They had a really colorful wedding on the 27th of October, it did rain a bit but no one let that get in the way. If fact.. umbrellas added to it.

Why I don't pay my husband!

As I mentioned earlier, Paul has started doing weddings with me. Its been great, but there have been a few issues/adjustments...

Like, what he gets paid. Honestly I think he gets great pay - love, attention, time with me, etc..... :)

But he was thinking something slightly different...

So as we were doing an engagement session with this great couple, Jenny and Gino, the topic came up. We were discussing with them what a "fair rate" would be - and they of course took my side! As we were shooting, I asked the couple to look at my camera instead of my husband's, and Paul (jokingly!) said - "Yea, I don't have any film in my camera anyway!" And Gino says (with perfect comic timing!) "THAT is why she doesn't pay you!!!"

:) Laura

Bad blogger-girl!

Here I go again... I get busy and I neglect my blog! But I'm going to make up for it right now! Lots to cover - its going to take a few entries though....

Julie and Mark - 10/23/06
Philly NIGHT-TIME Engagement Session....

Shooting at night is always interesting - you have to pick an area with good artificial light, bring your own light, etc... But this session was easy - I had a great couple (who suggested Logan Circle - note to photogs: Great location for night shoots!), and I had a great helper - my husband!

My husband Paul has always loved photography, and has experience in corporate and more recently fine art photography, but never really expressed an interest in weddings. One day he decided to come along, and now he is hooked!





Julie and Mark are planning a February wedding - I can't wait! Winter weddings are such a nice change of pace! :)