NE Florida Pro Photographers Posing Day

A couple of weeks ago when we had our superfun, girls-only photographer's meetup, Lyndsay and I chatted a bit about setting up a date for us all to get back together and practice posing techniques, as well as learn some new things. I'm willing to put together/host the next date, but I need a little input from you guys!

I think we deducted that we're all mostly portrait and wedding photographers, so I think it would be great to get an actual couple together to model for us, especially with the 2009 wedding season right in front of us! I'm sure Jess and I could talk to some of our past couples from Jess Cumbie Photography, or do any of you have any SUPERHOT couples that you've shot in the past and know would be down for it? OR I can head over to Model Mayhem and scout some people, but I think we're probably better off with past clients, since they've obviously been similarly shot before, and the brides most likely still have their dresses.

I'm interested in keeping it somewhat small again, maybe limiting the group to 10 or 15 photographers so as not to overwhelm the couple, and it would be a pro-only day. (I know, we still need to put together something for the fledglings, too!) The main focus will be practicing posing and interacting with your subjects, and it's a great time to try out some new poses you've been wanting to try. I'd love for it to be very hands-on and group-oriented, for example, everyone getting in there and posing the couple at least once or twice in their own style. I think Sundays work best for everyone right now. So how is Sunday, April 19th for you guys, if we can find a couple to model before then?

I'm also interested in putting together a Lighting Day to practice lighting techniques and learn or invent new ones. Would anyone else be interested in that as well?

Leave your comments and let me know what you think! Looking forward to getting back together with you all real soon!

North Florida Professional Photographer's (girls only!) Meeting

Saturday morning I headed up to Jacksonville to meet up with Lyndsay from Pink Coffee Photoart and four other area professional photographers. Lyndsay organized a morning for us girls to get together and walk around downtown Jacksonville, chat about our loves and hates with work, and have some fun getting creative and shooting each other in whatever random cool places we could find. I can't wait to see what the other girls got! It was great to get in some "girl time" for a change and I made some new friends.



Me, Adrienne of Lovebyrds Photography, Ginger from Ginger Dupre Photography, Lyndsay (our fearless leader!) from Pink Coffee Photoart, Stephanie of Stephanie Lynn Photography, and Jess.









Ginger was feeling a bit under the weather so she didn't model much but shot a bunch (after she got completely lost downtown before finding us!)



My favorite shots of Stephanie:







(bet you can't guess why that one ended up black and white! ha.)



Favorite shots of Adrienne:







And lastly, my favorites of Lyndsay!











(Yay for making pink light with some insulation sheets I found in the halfpipe!)

Canon photo gear for sale!

Something BIG is coming up and I NEED to sell this gear. If you know someone that might be interested, please feel free to pass along my contact info... I'll be happy to email photos to you of any of these items, or you're welcome to stop by and take a look at it. I am located in NE FL but I will ship anywhere. Email: taraphoto@gmail.com Phone: (904) 631-4791

Canon Digital Rebel, body only, $200 OBO. I finally upgraded bodies so I never use this one anymore. I'm the original owner, purchased it brand new in 2004. Has some minor wear in the paint, but overall it is very clean and in perfect working condition. One battery included. Has 12 different exposure modes, including full manual, shoots in both JPG and RAW formats, PERFECT camera for someone looking to make the step up from point-and-shoot to a DSLR! Or as a cheap backup to have on hand if you need one in a fix! You never know.

Vertical battery grip (BGE1) for Rebel DSLR, $50. Virtually brand new, I got it in April and upgraded my camera over the summer so it was only used off and on for a couple of months. Holds two batteries to double your shooting time without having to recharge your batteries or swap them out with fresh ones. Makes shooting a vertical photo just as quick and comfortable as shooting a horizontal. I SWEAR by these things! LOVE it, just doesn't fit the new camera so I no longer have a use for it.

Canon EF 75-300mm lens f/4-5.6, $100. Original owner of this as well and rarely used it. It'll do someone else more good than me. Very clean, no scratches on the glass. Great all-around lens for nature and sports, some fashion/portraiture/weddings as well if you can't afford the 70-200L! ha!

Wednesday, 9/3/08 pt. 1

Yesterday I mentioned I was working on a little thing for Jess and I to use at weddings. I got so busy shooting a squirmy little subject today that I didn't have time to do any real test shots with it, and I just now completed mine. I have something in mind for tomorrow's post though that will incorporate this little mod!

I present.... the BT snoot!



Now, nobody else knows what BT means except Jess and me, so we'll keep that our little inside joke for now. I'll just say the BT is in red for a reason, and the glitter is more of the joke. ;) I'm going to make Jess one as soon as she picks out her Velcro color! I forgot to take a photo of my Velcro, but I chose pink!

This was super easy and quick to make, and offers a natural vignette or a spotlight effect, depending on your flash power, how tightly you have it closed, and how far down (long or short) you have it on the flash head. The Velcro closure enables you to adjust the size of the opening on the end, allowing you to control the spread of light on your subject. All in all, it cost roughly $10-12 for the supplies to make two of this size, including the letters.

New goodies!

My personal quote in my senior yearbook from high school says, "Life is like the mail. Sometimes you just don't get it." (Ironic that I saw this in a tiny corner of an ad in a surfing magazine when I was like 16? ;) ) I always liked getting stuff in the mail when I was a kid, though it was few and far between. What kind of mail does a kid get except letters from pen pals? So it was always extra special when something cool arrived, like a package from my great grandma with homemade cookies and peanut brittle! Nowadays I get mail, but it's rarely exciting, never tasty at all, and usually a depressing bill or some junk mail. So you can imagine my excitement when today I got TWO cool things in the mail!

First, my flash upgrade, the 580EX II!



Then, a little treat from Etsy! I'm an DIY addict and I love Etsy. The other day I happened upon a listing for these way cute Coincards that look like little mini lens caps. They are a tad bigger than a quarter, and hold only limited information, so they are great calling cards. I had NFC Photography and the url to my Flickr account so clients can take a coincard and know where to go for their photos.



They even came with a tiny clear case!

Athena

Not much to say about this set. Still trying to get used to the buttons and functions on the new DSLR and Athena was the only willing test subject around. For some reason, before when Jess handed me #2 (her backup) at weddings, I didn't have to think about anything. Now that I actually own this one, I find myself constantly wanting to experiment with it. A Canon is a Canon is a Canon, but I guess I'm just easily amused with new, expensive toys.

Speaking of new and expensive, I fortunately have a boring day job that allows me to do whatever I want, including read the paper (how 'bout that Mom, I'm paying attention to the news!), and I happened upon this article in USA Today this morning.
I'd been wondering to myself for what seems like forever, when will they come out with a DSLR that also shoots video? Not that I use video often... I have a nice video camera and no charger for it and just haven't bothered to pick one up... but looks like Nikon finally did it.



And I loved how they just had to mention in there that rival Canon announced this week that it is introducing the new 50D in October! I haven't done much research on it myself, but from what I've heard so far it's not a far cry from what I have now except it's supposed to have improved low-light shooting quality. I just can't believe I just got this thing a few weeks ago and they announce this!



Anyway, onto the photos of Athena before I start thinking about a trade-in. :)

She jumps on top of the pump house when she's had enough of Piglet biting her ears and ankles. Pig's too short to reach her here so she hangs out until Pig wanders away.











No diffuse glow in Pshop on any of these. Was shooting with a Sigma lens that's really soft. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it bothers me.







And a couple of the little (errr big) rascals together. Pig is such a goof. I think she looks like a cat here!



It was tricky, but she managed to climb up to Athena. Athena didn't mind though, she greeted her with a smooch.