Contest l Free Forum Memberships!!

Hello all!!

We are thrilled to announce that we have made some changes to our website, the biggest being a revamp of our forums!  We wanted to make them more user friendly, and easier to navigate for our awesome members and our new host has made that possible.

And of course to celebrate, we want to give our readers a chance to win something!!  We didn’t want to do one of the run of the mill “comment on this blog and random.org will choose the winner” type of  contest.  All photographers love a good before and after, and that’s what we want to see! 🙂

We want you to show off your processing skills, along with your in camera skills.  Post your best before/after shot on our Facebook Page or link us to them in the comments here.  Entries are due by May 25th, and will be judged by our staff members.  We are looking for images that are rockin straight from the camera, and beautifully enhanced by processing.

We will select FIVE winners who will receive free one year access to the forums.  We have tons of info in there, as well as one on one help from our staff, and also a special facebook group for our forum members to connect even easier.  We would love for you to be a part of it, so get to posting those images!  We can’t wait to see them! 🙂

A Quick Posing Tip!

Hey everyone!!

Photography season is in full swing, and the staff is hard at work at our business, hence our limited presence around the Blog lately.  We hope to share some tips with you, and some photos to show what we are all shooting as well, during this busy season.  We will blog as much as possible, but bear with the us this time of year – it’s a busy one!

Now onto the tip – when posing females photographers often run into the question, what do we do with the arms?  We dont want them hanging awkwardly to the side, or held stiffly behind the back.  The keys is to make the subject look comfortable.  You always want a slight bend in the elbow, as it keeps the arms naturally away from the body and makes the body flow nicely, showing off curves.  You can see here that Haley has a natural bend to her arm, and her hands are tucked comfortable in her pockets.

 

 

She’s very relaxed and at ease.  Looks much better than if her arms were stiffly at her side huh?? 🙂   I hope this helps, and keep an eye out for the next issue where I’m planning a whole article on posing tips!

~Holly

Featured Portrait Session – Yoli Finger Photography

We are super excited to be able to feature a session that was modeled after the Breakfast Club! After all…we think that’s a pretty cool idea!  Today’s session was shot by Carolyn at Yoli Finger Photographer. I’ll let her tell you a little about herself…

 

My name is Carolyn Finger and I’m the photographer at Yoli Finger Photography. Alot of people ask me how I came up with that name. Yoli is actually my middle name and Finger is my married name!  I’m a military wife and a stay at home mom to two kids.
Ive always loved art and photography; as a teenager i always had a disposable camera with me.  When i had my daughter I went picture crazy, and also with my son. In 2010 I wanted to do something that was going to make me happy, so I started to go through pictures that I’ve taken on trips and thought I had a talent. So in March 2011 i opened up Yoli Finger Photography. Over the months I’ve met some really great photographers who have helped me – one of them is one of my best friends and is still giving me advice to this day.  She was the one that gave me info on how to go to school. It’s very important to keep learning on what you love to do.  I’m very thankful for all my friends, family and clients that stand behind me on what i love to do,and I love the fact that I’m able to show my creative side in the sessions that i do. Im also thankful that I get to work with some really talented vendors that make things for my shoots.  It’s pretty amazing!  I also wanted to add that I wanted to give back so I’m volunteering for two non-profit organizations Inspiration through Art and Preemie Prints. I can’t wait to take pictures of some amazing strong families. If you would like to take a look at my work please stop by my website www.yolifingerphotography.com.

 

Carolyn also answered a few questions about this session for us!

 

Can you tell us the inspiration behind this session?

I love doing themed shoots so I asked my clients what they wanted to see next.  One of my good friends from high school was listing some movies and the one that stood out was the Breakfast Club. I thought it was a great idea plus I’m a big 80s fan.

What camera and lens were used?

Its my very first camera – a Canon Rebel T2I and the lens that does not leave my camera is my 85mm.

Why did you chose this location for the session?

When I kept thinking about the shoot the one thing that popped in my head was a library.  I started thinking about my library from high school;  I liked the style of it, and not to mention that I only been in there once all four year of high school.  It was pretty hard to get a hold of someone in charge, until I was told that I had to talk to the Vice Principal.  I sent him a email, we went back and forth for a bit,  then he said the magic words “of course you can use the library.”  I was so excited that my shoot was finally coming together.

 

Now onto the images!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to leave Carolyn some love in the comments, and email us for your chance to be featured here!

 

Featured Portrait Session – Lifelong Impressions

How lucky are we to be able to feature another styled shoot?!  Have I mentioned that I love these?  This were taken by Shannon White, of Lifelong Impressions Photography.  Here is a little bit about Shannon, from Shannon:

Hi! I’m Shannon White of Lifelong Impressions photography. My interest in photography kicked into high gear at the age of 5 and has never faded. As a teen, my high school allowed me the privilege of studying photography all four years and that is the extent of my formal education. I still remember those great dark room days watching images come to life in the chemical baths. To this day when I smell those chemicals it makes me hungry.  Maybe it was all those days in the darkroom as a teen just before lunchtime. My professional career began with weddings and studio work just out of high school. I continued to photograph weddings along with having a ‘day job‘ for the next 15 years. Since moving to Raleigh, NC and switching to digital photography my focus has shifted to family photography. The wonderful feedback from clients is the ultimate professional reward. It is amazing to see images I’ve created gracing the walls of homes knowing they will mean so much now and in the future.

My husband and I met at my house! This comment always raises eyebrows. It was so nice of my roommate to invite him over to our place. He has an amazing eye for photography though not much interest in being a photographer. After many years of infertility my husband and I were successful in becoming parents to boy/girl twins {age 3} and the coolest surprise baby {9 months}. We have a great time being hands on parents and I capture around 800 keeper images a month. We love to spend all of our non working hours together and work in as many vacations as our schedules & finances will allow each year. Our kids can knock out a full day of travel by plane or car without missing a beat.

When we asked Shannon to share a little about the session here is what she had to say. 🙂

This session was an impromptu session while on vacation. We were driving near my parents home when I spotted a great barn. I talked to the owner who gave us permission to shoot there. Yay, we decided to do it the following morning just before we headed home. Back at the house I wandered around in search of items to use for the session. Wardrobe. Check. Being on vacation we also had very few wardrobe choices. My son was stuck with normal summer boy garb while my daughter ended up with a funny eclectic mix of styles. Props. Check. After gathering up items that could work for the makings of an impromptu tea party I presented them to my step mom for permission to use them. After a word of caution for the big urn handed down from great grandma, she granted permission. Next I grabbed a basket and some scissors to clip off some bunches of hydrangea flowers growing in abundance next to the fence. My baby sister and I loaded everything into the car with the big kids and headed out into the Hotlanta {Altanta, GA} muggy afternoon heat.

When we arrived I quickly pulled out the items we brought and set up while my sister entertained the kids in the cool car. We got them out and my happy little kids were instantly turned into uncooperative kids when assaulted by the sticky heat. Out came the fruit snacks and some water to distract them. I excitedly led them over to the set up where we added the fruit snacks and water. Just after backing away to frame a shot the twins got excited about a bug that landed in Maddie’s water. Thank you bug!

They talked, ate a few fruit snacks, switched sides and Blake came up with one of my favorite images by putting the metal strainer on his head. We had another little meltdown so we switched gears and brought out the umbrella. While my little man ran off with the umbrella, Maddie rolled her eyes. She drank a little more then stood up to gave me my favorite image of her. She’s pulling her mouth just like my grandma does, one strap is off her shoulder, her still babyish hands cutely hanging down and one foot lagging behind.

They came back to eat some more fruit snacks then he presented her with flowers. She aspires to become a princess when she grows up so saw this as her due. From there we changed it up by unfolding the giant world history book using the buckets and flowers to prop it up. They ran around and even managed a good hug turned painful falling tackle in their excitement. A few pouty faces, another hug, some clean up and we were back to it with the umbrella as our main prop.

Almost all of the images captured were with my 50mm 1.4 Nikkor lens on my Nikon D700 camera. I also used my cool 20mm 2.8 for a few.  When processing the session I wanted some dramatic warm B&W images and a vintage to shabby look for the color images. Most of the processing was done in Lightroom 3 with only the textures added in Photoshop. Textures are not something I normally use so this was the perfect opportunity to use my personal session to learn on.

Thanks so much to Shannon for sharing with us!! Now onto the images. 🙂

Shannon was also kind enough to share with us how she printed and displayed the images.

Thanks so much for checking out today’s featured session.  Be sure to leave Shannon some love in the comments, and check out more of her work at http://lifelongimpressions.com/

Featured Portrait Session -Vaughan Photography l Styled Session

Styled sessions are always great to see.  The viewer feels like they are a part of the subjects world and gets wrapped up in the story as it unfolds.  We are thrilled to feature one such session today!

Holly Vaughan, photographer at Vaughan Photography, services Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana, including historic New Harmony, Indiana.  She also offers online and in person mentoring sessions to other photographers.
Holly shoots Nikon and loves utilizing her prime lenses. Her favorite places to shoot include practically anywhere with pops of color or attitude, such as fields, old buildings, or downtown areas.

Holly is the only female in her family, surrounded by her husband and two precious boys. Below she answers a few questions about today’s featured session.

~Can you tell us what camera and lenses were used for this session?
“The entire session was shot with a Nikon d90 and a 35mm 1.8 lens. The 35 was awesome for being wide enough to capture the whole scene, but with just a few steps I could close in on the details or headshots.”

~It is January after all – what was the weather like that day?
“We have had a mild winter so far. On the day of the session it was mid 40’s to upper 50’s. It was chilly, especially for Haley, but we worked and shot as fast as possible. The whole thing only took about 30-45 minutes.”

~Where did you find all the props for the session?
“Everything that you see was from either my house or their houses. We borrowed some stuff from grandparents since we were going for a vintage theme. You’d be surprised what you have in your house that will work for props!”

And now for the photos!  If you would like to see more of this session, check out Holly’s other work, or contact her about a booking check out her website at http://www.vaughanphotography.com!

Thanks for checking out our feature! We have many more lined up in the coming weeks so be sure to keep an eye out to get to know some amazing photographers. If you would like to be featured on our blog click the “About Our Magazine” link above to find out how!