Winter Wedding ... BLOGGED!!! (Boston, MA)

Anne Marie and Brian's amazing winter wedding got blogged on Emmaline Bride... 

Click HERE to see the post. It's amazing! Just saying. 

Photography Class, NH

Yesterday it was my pleasure to spend a couple of hours with Debbie and her amazing family. Knowing that Debbie loves photography, her husband Michael asked me to work with Debbie as a surprise present for her birthday.

(Pretty awesome present - Michael!) 

I have taught photojournalism at Franklin Pierce College and worked with second shooters in the field - but one-on-one mentoring was new to me...

...So... I brought all my lens, book, magazines and my computer with some sample photos.

Debbie and I had a blast.

We talked about everything from leading lines to aperture settings. 

Debbie already had a great eye. I think in the end what she needed was someone to tell her she HAD to start shooting on manual and someone to answer her thoughtful questions.

I also gave some "assignments" for the rest of the year.  

Spending time with Debbie got me thinking - I should do this more often. 

On April 14th, BCV will host an in-house posing workshop.

Based on how that goes I am thinking of running a Back-to-Basics Workshop this Fall. 

If you might be interested in attending or know someone else who would be let me know...

From Debbie: "Thank you Amanda! And I loved the experience and enjoyed meeting you. Love your passion for photography. Truly inspiring and motivating! I'm now carrying my camera everywhere and shooting only on manual. And...starting my own photography blog. Thanks for the instruction. It will definitely improve my technical ability, allowing it to more closely align with my passion and desire to capture what I see as beautiful." 

Blogged: Hi-Fi WEddings

Totally honored to have Maggie and Jeff's wedding blogged by Ashley at Hi-Fi Weddings!! 

To see the full play list click HERE!!

Editing... Totally Rad, NH Wedding Photography

There are soooooooooooooo many ways photos can be edited. 

You can make them black and white. 

Retro. 

Give sun flare. 

Make people glow. (Gag!)

You can make only a portion of a photo color. 

The options are seriously endless. 

Because of all these options I thought I'd share with you some of how we edit at BCV. 

The most important step is to start with a strong image. I call it: "editing in camera." Make sure your settings are right, your focal point is where you want it; I even crop in camera. The reason is this - I do not believe you can make a bad picture good no matter how much work you do to it in Photoshop. 

My grandpa used to say, "If the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?"

That said, you can make a good picture good-er (HA!). And, you can have fun doing it! 

Marina - is our lead editor. (On a side note I seriously think this is how she got so good at shooting ... seeing all my mistakes!) 

Anyway, Marina used some "Totally Rad" actions - plus some of her own creativity and imagination to take this photo I shot of Danielle - to a totally RAD new level. 

I thought I'd share it with you.

Straight out of Camera:

After Editing:

Recipe:
-Curves to brighten

-Dirty Lovin (Texture) -- Eraser tool on bride

- Oh snap!

-Get faded (Autumn)

-Get faded (winter)

-Lux (hard)

-Sharpen THIS -- On eyes and hair piece

-Grandma's Tap Shoes

-Slice like a ninja (Sharpen)

Welcome Baby Tessa - Virginia Family Photography (Film)

These photos represent another self imposed challenge. 

I gave myself only a film camera (400 speed) and a 50mm lens.

The resulting series of images represent our family visit to Jake's sister in Virginia. 

We were blessed to meet baby Tessa. 

And I was double blessed to watch my very strong husband lose himself in the tiny embrace of a baby. 

 Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing 

so gentle as real strength.

Saint Francis de Sale

 

Maggie and Jeff - The Met, RI Wedding

Whatever our souls are made of, 

his and mine are the same.  

~Emily Brontë

Photographers: Amanda and Marina