The Daily Blog-Day #1

1/6/2014

A new photo from Brian's Magritte Meets Dr. Who in the Snow photoshoot...December 2013 :)

Aloha! So I've decided to start blogging daily Monday through Friday, with specific topics for each day. I hope you'll continue to follow me on Facebook but also join me here since I'll be moving more towards the blog format in 2014. That means a few sneak peeks of my photo shoots on Facebook, with the rest of the featured photos on the blog.

My blog format will be as follows:

Inquiring Minds Monday-where I ask you, my readers, questions at random. :)

High Tech Tuesday-where I discuss the more technical side of photography & give tips

Wedding Bliss Wednesdays-talking about-what else? Weddings and sharing pics

Strike a Pose Thursday-tips about modeling, posing for the most natural photos

Fanciful Friday-a smorgasbord of topics, vendor love, random pics

So to kick today off right, I have three questions for you. Please feel free to answer here on the blog or under the blog listing that I post on Facebook.

1. What is your personal favorite kind of photography to look at? Weddings, portraits, avant garde art, nature landscapes, pets, etc.?

2. What burning question do you have about photography? It could be technical, artistic, editing, business queries, etc.

3. What is one of your resolutions for this new year?

Things to look for this week: more sneak peeks of Paige & Bobby's winter wedding, and next week: the long awaited blog post of Kimmie & Phillip's October nuptials!

Many thanks for reading and Happy Monday!
McCall :)

4 Comments

Mandy :)

1/7/2014 06:13:15 am

1. I love pictures that capture the essence of the subject so informal portraits - ones that get real smiles, real expressions, real interactions of the people - where the emotions between them are palpable not simply posed prettily - does that make sense :)
2. No burning - just enjoying loving on you and supporting you from afar :)
3. My resolution is to FINALLY lose these last 30 pounds. I know I can, just need the right motivation!

McCall

1/7/2014 07:35:23 am

Candid photos are among some of my favorites, too, but I find often that the client doesn't love how they look unguarded...bad angles, not showing their full face, etc. It's great to have a good mix of posed pics and then the candids, so there's a variety and a little something for everyone. That said, my very favorite photo is from a newborn session where the new mom & dad were posing on the sofa with the baby when the feeling left out gigantic black lab leapt onto the lap of the dad and licked his face...everyone is shocked and laughing at the same time and it's the perfect family photo. :)

Thank you always for your love & support...I couldn't have gotten through these last 2+ years without it.

I thought you looked at a perfect weight? THIRTY more pounds to lose? That seems a lot...you look gorgeous now. But I know you are smart and healthy and doing it all the "right" way, so when you're at the right weight, your body will know it. Go, girlie girl! :)

dave warner

1/7/2014 07:34:25 am

1. Pinup. Landscapes. Food. Street photog. Surreal as a strong 5th choice.
2. Photographically I'm interested in how much u prepare and how you prepare for a shoot...and then how much you do onsite vs. In post processing. I love how you use the sun and always like to see how you use front and backlighting as well as lens flare.
3. More shoots. Better shoots. Better shots. Improve as an artist and a technician.

Thanks for the blog...good stuff!

McCall

1/7/2014 07:45:32 am

You love pin ups and never bought a pin up calendar??? I'm shocked! :)

To answer your second question...my prep time varies from shoot to shoot. You've probably read my prepping for a wedding blog from a few months ago (September to be exact)...where it takes days to properly prepare. For a styled shoot, often the same thing. For a regular shoot (feel beautiful, engagement, family, etc.) I generally spend about 2 hours the night before ...first hour is spent cleaning and checking my gear, making sure everything is in working order and packing my shootsac for easy access, putting the location and client contact info into my phone, planning my functional yet stylish outfit, etc. and then spend that second hour writing notecards with possible poses/ideas. I rarely look at the cards again, but just the act of writing down all the things I want to get from that session helps me remember it in the moment.

I have a rule about post production...if it's not technically beautifully straight out the camera, it gets tossed. I feel that you can't use actions or presets or tools in LR or PS to "fix" a bad photo. So it has to be perfectly lighted, exposed correctly, the color has to be good, etc. right there. I use my post tools to do special vintage tints and washes, to remove blemishes or other cosmetic things, take out a pesky car from the background or a photo bomber, etc. Occasionally I'll have to use some brightening and warmth tricks to enhance a photo if the weather didn't cooperate and the couple was hoping for something nice and sunny and what we got was gray and rainy.

I practiced forever learning how to manipulate light...poor Brian, spending hours in fields and forests and indoors and on the water to figure out every situation and how to make it work for me and the kind of photography I wanted to do.

On occasion, I go out and take shots of pure sunstreams and light flares to add them to my photos after the fact...sometimes if we get that gray and rainy day I mentioned earlier, I use my own work to layer on top of the photo to make the day appear prettier than it was. That's one of my favorite tricks of my trade, so shhhhhh. :)

Best of luck on your goals. Just make sure that even though it's time consuming and sometimes frustrating, to keep loving what you do. Love and passion will make your work beautiful. :)

The Daily Blog-Day #1

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