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I'm so excited -- the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine is finally out featuring photos from my team's trip to Tanzania this summer! For those of you who are new to my blog, I travelled with 15 photographers to Tanzania last July where, among other things, we did a two day fashion shoot to raise awareness for Thirst Relief International. Two models from South Africa were flown up and 6 gowns were designed specifically for use in the shoot by top designers Ines Di Santo, Amy Michelson, Adele Wechsler, Angel Sanchez and Jenny Packham. The models, gowns and location were all incredible and the 15 of us were all in photographer heaven shooting away with our long lenses so we could all "get the shot."
I love how the 11 page feature came out! This wedding magazine is one of the classiest out there and I feel so honored to be able to say I've been published in it! Here's the cover (not from our shoot): |
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| I took the top shot on the right page but unfortunately they got a couple of the photo credits wrong, including this one. Oh well -- I guess with 15 of us submitting photos it was bound to happen! |
| I also took the small photo on the right side of this spread (scroll below to see the image larger): |
| I love the shot on this page that Jim Davis-Hicks got of 7 of us all shooting lions on safari with our long lenses. My small noggin is circled. I also was given credit as a contributor to the article because I did a little write-up that they pulled information from for the final article. Super-cool! |
Last summer I wasn't able to share any of my images from our model shoot with you because we had to hold off on posting them until the issue came out. But now I can share with you some of my favorites! I had so much fun working with these models in Africa. They were absolutely fabulous and you just couldn't take a bad photo of them.
This is the one that was chosen for the feature: |
| And here are some other favorites: |
| I went back and forth and just couldn't decide between these two: |
| I just love the feeling of this one: |
| It's always interesting to see which images editors pick for their publications. With so many great shots submitted from 15 photographers, I didn't envy Grace her job of selection. But I'm stoked with how the feature turned out! If you'd like to pick up a copy, you can find them at Barnes and Noble or at many places wedding magazines are sold. |
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Today I'm continuing a new series on my blog for photographers call "Behind the Image." In addition to the topics that I get questions about and address on my F.A.Q.s posts, I often get asked about what went into creating specific images. As you know, I love to share info and so that's exactly what I'm going to do in this series. So as you browse through my blog, if an image catches your eye, feel free to ask me to feature it in an upcoming "Behind the Image" post.
The image I've chosen to share about today was shot at David & Katie's wedding in Kauai in June of 2009. Whenever possible I like to take a scene setting shot like this that shows the bigger picture of where the reception took place. This type of shot really helps to tell the story and is great for inclusion in a couple's album.
In Camera:
This image was shot in RAW with my Canon 5D, on manual, with a Canon 16-35mm 2.8 lens, at a focal length of 16mm, f2.8, 1/6 of a second & ISO 1600. The key to getting this kind of blue sky is to take the photo half an hour after sunset. If you take it any earlier, the sky is too bright (In fact, I probably did take this photo a little too early but was still able to compensate by underexposing in camera and post-production). If you wait later the sky goes black. I always have my assistant set an alarm on their phone so they can remind me when the time comes to take this shot because I'm usually busy with a million other tasks at the time. As mentioned, the shutter speed I used for this particular shot was 1/6 second. In order to capture this effect at this time of day, you need to use longer shutter speeds that make hand holding the camera difficult. I used my in camera meter to determine what my shutter speed should be and then set it two stops faster in order to underexpose and make the colors in the sky even deeper and richer. Then I set the camera on the ground and proped the lens up on my foot or a rock or the lens hood -- whatever I had available at the time to get the composition I was wanting.
This is the image straight out of the camera: |
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Post-production:
I opened the image in Camera Raw in Photoshop and made a number of adjustments including lowering the exposure even more, lowering the temperature a touch and upping the tint quite a bit to get this effect: |
| Then I converted it to a .jpg and used the clone tool to take out the distracting red spot in the grass. I also used Kevin Kubota's X-process Combo at around 18% opacity. I use this customized action on all of my color images. This is the final result: |
| Let me know if you have any questions! |
| I'm so excited to be participating in Arizona's upcoming Bridal Bootcamp! The Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa has teamed up with some of the most stylish & knowledgeable wedding experts in The Valley and I'm so honored to be counted among them! This day is guaranteed to help brides take their wedding planning to the next level. If you're a bride, no matter where you are in your planning process, you will have fun learning tips and tricks from these well known pros. You will be able to mix and mingle with nationally recognized Event Planners, Make-up Artists, Designers, & Chefs. Here's a list of those who will be there: |
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Learn to unleash your glam side on your wedding or simple ways to personalize your ceremony and reception. I personally will be sharing some tips for getting the most out of your engagement shoot. So grab your best girl, your mom or your sweetie and get your tickets now! Space is limited for this event! Tickets are $50 for you and a guest.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Registration 11:00 AM.
At the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa
Purchase tickets by clicking here!
I hope to see you there! |
I just got back from a trip out to Florida to visit some of my family. It was a tough trip in many ways. Besides my family dealing with the aftermath of my aunt's death last summer, my grandmother is progressing with Alzheimer's. It's really heart-breaking to see her going through this and it was tough for me to navigate the waters of trying to care for her but not make her feel belittled in any way. She seems to be in denial about how affected she is by the disease. I also felt an overwhelming amount of helplessness. There really is very little I can do to help my uncle and cousins through the loss of their wife and mom. And there isn't much I can do for my grandparents during this time either besides pray. But it was good to be there for a time.
While there I got the opportunity to take photos for my cousin Cady and her boyfriend of three years -- Branden. These two have been through a lot together and seem to have a really solid friendship. I've enjoyed getting to know Branden a bit over my last few visits. We kept the session short because it was in the 40s, but we spent some time walking around the Dunedin harbour and old town areas. Here are a few of my favorites from their shoot: |
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I gotta say, in my humble opinion, I had a stroke of genius with this one.
You may recognize this cute family as my sister, her husband Josh and my two nephews Noah (9) and Elijah (8). They are notoriously my most difficult portrait clients. As many of you know, Noah and Elijah both have Autism. They are super-precious boys that I adore but getting good photos of them is a challenge. Noah is pretty into it. He's kind of like most kids -- cooperates fairly well but gets tired of the camera quickly. He's usually a trooper but it can be tough to get a natural smile out of him when you're asking for one. Elijah is still non-verbal and pretty much doesn't respond at all to any coaxing or attempts to get his attention when my camera is in hand. He has one heck of a sad face when he's not a happy boy. And the most challenging thing about photographing him is keeping him in one spot for very long. If I'm pointing a camera at him, he's running the other direction. So this equation adds up to failure with any attempt at a traditional family portrait.
Enter the creative aunt who also happens to be a photographer.
When I found out that Natalie got a bike for her birthday and they also picked up a tandem bicycle that Elijah can ride on the back of without pedaling, a light bulb appeared above my head. Elijah loves anything that moves him through space -- shopping carts, cars, bikes, swings, his pop-pop Jack's shoulders -- get the boy moving and he's a happy camper. Also, a family photo shoot on bikes solves my problem of containing Elijah. He'll be moving but at least I can have some say about which direction.
We got the whole family on bikes and just as I suspected, the shoot was our lowest-maintenance yet. Usually Josh and Natalie have the toughest job and are completely exhausted by the end of a session. But Josh ended up being a very happy camper because we were done in 20 minutes and he didn't have to do anything but steer and pedal.
Here are some of my favorite images from our super-quick, creative, low-maintenance, genius bike shoot. I love this shot of Natie. Of course she'll think she's smiling too big but I just think she looks adorable. |
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| Noah is super-cute and had so much fun: |
| A number of times he would look over at Natalie during the shoot, wave and yell "Hi MOM!!" |
| I'm amazed at what great shots I got of Elijah. I never once called his name but as you can see in these photos, he pretty much looked at me and smiled each time they passed. He was having the time of his life and I must have just caught his eye as he flew past. |
| One thing Elijah loves even more than moving through space is being up high. Part-way through the shoot he must of thought, "Now, moving through space AND being up high -- that would be the best combo EVER." He proceeded to climb up Josh's back AS HE WAS PEDALING and sit on his shoulders. |
| After riding back and forth for 20 minutes in front of my camera we made one quick attempt at a traditional shot and it came out pretty well: |
| Yay! I'm so glad that I was able to capture the boys at this difficult stage of their lives (photographically speaking) looking so natural, cute and happy! |
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