The Blog | Adventures and advice from an euphoric wedding photographer.

Passion, Love & Happiness. I'm on a journey to capture these emotions from people who radiate their inner beauty and joy into my lens. I photograph because I adore weddings, a spontaneous lifestyle and meeting amazing individuals who will change my life. I hope that next unique someone is you.

FAQ: How did you get started in photography? I don’t know where to begin!

September 06, 2010

Well I can tell you it wasn’t love at first site. I didn’t grow up with a camera swinging from my neck professing my love of photos. In fact, it was quite the opposite. My mother photographed weddings and seniors quite frequently when I was a kid. My parents transformed our basement into a studio space, but to me it was the ultimate slumber party venue to whisper about boys.

It wasn’t until the digital camera hit markets in my late teens that I took up an interest in photography. My first real camera was a Nikon Coolpix 990 and to this day I still think that camera’s swivel design totally rocks. Instant image feedback and unlimited exposures peaked my interest, but because I was a computer geek I loved the fact I could tweak the photos with all sorts of tacky post-processing techniques. I mostly photographed my dogs and nature....but really just my dogs.

I attended college for medical studies, but took a photography class to escape my science schedule. (Maybe it should have been a clue?) We were required to shoot with film SLRs so I borrowed my mom’s Olympus which came with a detachable lens. Holy cow was that cool! But try as I might...I hated film. I disliked buying it, processing it and printing it. I learned the basic principles and how to shoot in manual, but as soon as class was over, I ran back to my digital camera on AV mode. Manual mode required too much thinking!

(Trying to be creative for an assignment due within a few hours. Oops.)

For Christmas in 2004, I flipped out when I opened a new Canon Rebel from my husband. It was the first amateur priced digital SLR sold and I owned one! Oh my goodness, I loved that camera and I took it everywhere, but it still was a toy. I never dreamed of pursuing photography as a profession, I mean how could I make a living off of photographing my cute pooches?

My mother loves telling this part of the story. In fact, I know she’s giggling with delight right now as she reads that sentence. In 2006, my mom approached me and asked if I was interested in second shooting a wedding with her. “NO WAY!” I said immediately. Weddings were not my gig. Nope. Nope. Nope. But I think you can guess what happened....I did go to the wedding and I loved it. After three years of accompanying my mother to wedding events, I took over her business in 2009 and renamed it Visually Deelicious.

(My favorite images at the time of my first wedding)

(We all start somewhere...haha)

If you are a newbie looking to dive into wedding or portrait photography, I suggest the following:

1. Buy a digital SLR camera. It doesn’t have to be high class...if you’re on a budget drive down to Wal-Mart and buy the cheapest SLR camera they offer or scope out craigslist for a used camera. You can probably snag a great camera for less than $300. The point is to practice with a camera that offers manual settings and a detachable lens.

2. Speaking of practice....practice a lot. Take your camera everywhere and don’t be afraid to shoot a ton of images! Wedding photographers need to be savvy in various locations and lighting conditions which only comes from experience.

3. Don’t be afraid to delete your images. I remember holding onto every digital file I shot whether beautiful or blurry. Learn from your mistakes then delete! Storing images can become expensive and there’s no reason to keep the image that would have been awesome if it was in focus. It’s not so get rid of it!

4. Lastly, if you’re serious about becoming a wedding photographer, find someone you can second shoot with and experience the crazy day in all its glory. As a newbie, don’t expect to get paid and be aware you will need to bring all your own equipment, but don’t be afraid to ask a local photographer or someone you admire if you can tag along for a wedding or portrait session.

Hey, writing this post was quite enjoyable! I hope this info has been helpful, feel free to ask me questions at any time.

Posted In:
For Photographers

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Workin’ The Off-Camera Flash

May 20, 2010

This one time at photo camp…

Well I’m not really allowed to divulge the secrets, so I’ll just show you a little of what we learned. The topic focused on off-camera lighting, a technique I absolutely love. Sure I admire natural light and still use it when I’m feelin’ it, but I just really dig dramatic lighting shots....and it ain’t easy!

This first shot was practicing the use of flash to look like natural light. I think her eyes are beautiful in this portrait, especially the catch lights, and yet it doesn’t look like artificial light.

Then we headed outside, thankfully on one of the days it didn’t snow! Our goal was to light a subject while maintaining a deep blue saturated background. I love blue skies!

This is my new buddy, Blake who was rocking it with his superman pose. This was in bright sunlight and yet the use of off-camera flash makes it look like dusk and much more intense. He’s such a natural… By the way, Blake’s wife, Danielle, decorates some beautiful wedding cakes so check out her website for inspiration!

Then the sun really began to shine, so what were we to do? Over power it with flash so the subject looked natural without ugly sun splotches on their face. Here’s Roberto (who by the way sports the most amazing upside down glasses I’ve ever seen when not in front of the camera, he seriously makes me wish I had poor eyesight) striking a perfect pose under our softbox. Afraid of direct sun shoots? Never again!

And of course I can’t forget Phil! I think this was the only time I didn’t see a smile on his face, but we both thought this photo made him look intense. Oh yeah!

It’s only been a week and yet I miss that goofy group of photogs snapping away in the middle of beautiful nowhere. If you’re interested in a fantastic value for photography training, check out Treehaven’s website and seriously, just book it!

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For Photographers

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Family Portraits at Treehaven, Wisconsin

May 05, 2010

I’m currently in Wisconsin right now attending my first ever photography training camp! And when I say camp, I mean sleeping on the top bunk, sorting my silverware in the cafeteria and being forced to rise at 7am for classes. This week long event started on Monday and our teacher, Neil van Niekerk, is having a fun time corralling all 20 of us in a group and answering our bazillion questions.

Here’s us acting like paparazzi around an adorable family.

That crazy chick in the front is my roommate, Tricia Muehlbauer of Personality Portraits , who is proud that she’s sleeping in the big bed beneath my rump and gets me in trouble in class by whispering jokes in my ear.

Of course the goal of this exercise was to overpower the strong sun with off-camera flash, but the kids weren’t too excited to be photographed by a mob of photographers so they resorted to running through the beautiful trees which surrounds the facility.

I was in my glory swapping lenses with new friends and was able to grab this precious shot of Hannah snuggling with her dad.

They were extremely patient with us all and this was just one session of the day! I’ll be posting the other two sessions when I get a free moment, but it’s like boot camp (with lots of adult beverages) and so I should try to head to bed to catch a wink before we do it all over again. I’m having a blast!

Posted In:
Baby / Children, Family, For Photographers

Tags:
Wisconsin

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Download all your Flickr images quickly

April 30, 2009

I came across this really simple, free and handy tool for Flickr users using OS X on a Mac. If you need to download all your photos or just a set to a local folder, Photo Grabbr is the tool to do it. Works great and fast!

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For Photographers

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Another new lens, Another glimpse of a Pirate

April 15, 2009

Per a friend’s suggestion, I bought a new Canon 50mm f1.8 II lens recently and as is tradition, snapped my first shot of my pooch, Pirate. Yes I know the photo isn’t the greatest thanks to my excitement and forgetting to lower the ISO from 800, but I still love this grainy photo after all. You would think these boys were enjoying a lazy Sunday morning, but it was a quick Wednesday cat nap after work.

Problem was, Pirate couldn’t get much sleep thanks to the sound of the autofocus on the lens. It’s incredibly loud and quite a disappointment. I can’t really complain due to its cheap price, but I find myself leaving it on manual focus, which drives me nuts as well because I’m not a fan of the placement of the focusing ring. Well beggers can’t be choosers and I have to say I was much more impressed with the images and their sharpness when I viewed them on my computer, so maybe I’ll hold on to it after all.

Phew, 3 new lens in 6 months? This wedding season is going to be awesome!

Posted In:
For Photographers, Pets

Tags:
canon - dogs - lenes

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