Erik Hornung Photography

Engagements: Sheri and Michael

2008-08-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is Sheri and Michael - two very outgoing and exciting people to be around. My assistant and I had an incredible time hanging out with them at the golf course for a couple of hours and getting some amazing photos. The golf course is Pioneer Meadows, and it's where Michael proposed to Sheri - a perfect spot for two golfers.

I love these photos below. They show exactly what their personalities are like without words. Enjoy.

Thanks Sheri and Michael for inviting us along!

I love this photo so much. I hope they blow it up huge!

Wedding: Michelle and Nathan, and other things

2008-08-19T20:47:00.001-07:00

Here I am again with some more action from this past weekend! Saturday was Michelle and Nathan's wedding day. There is a little back story to this one. You see, I used to work with Michelle way back in the day, at least ten years ago (give or take a few years). We worked at this joint called 'Congo Bongo', one of those kids fun centres where they have games, ball pits, climbing walls, and host birthday parties. When I think back about that place, it sure was a disgusting smelly dust pit. It sure was a sweet job though! I operated the bungee trampoline (yep they trusted 17 year olds with that high risk job) and was eventually upgraded to "party planner". Michelle was a cashier and party planner. Anyways, the company went under (not suprising) and was converted into a church (not suprising), and we all went our separate ways. Last year I shot Robin and Shaun's wedding and Michelle and Nathan were guests. This is how I came to shoot their wedding on Saturday!

Michelle and Nathan are two cool dudes. Their family is awesome as well, and were very welcoming into their home. We arrived early which gave me plenty of time to get some detail shots before michelle had her hair done.

The flowers for this wedding were provided by the amazing Kimberly at Best Buds Flowers. Now listen all you brides getting married next year, you have to stop in to her shop in Oliver Square (104 ave and 117 st) and see what she can do for your wedding. Her flowers are amazing, and the photos below prove it.

Have a look at a few of my favorite photos from Michelle and Nathan's wedding day. Remember, you can click an image to see a larger version.

An amazing arrangement!

I love this shot I took peeking through the railing on the second floor.

Her shoes. Always have to get a photo of the shoes. Details are my favorite photos to take.

The girl in the middle, her name is Sam, and she worked at Congo Bongo with us back in the day. I remember her being very mischievous!

This photo is just awesome! Later on in the evening she actually had to teach everyone how to do the macarena.

I usually cringe, sigh, and pout when I have to do a fountain photo. People always want photos in front of fountains no matter how ugly they usually are, and the majority of fountains out there are ugly! Especially that water pit thing with the torch in it at the Legislative Ground. Eww. Anyways, this fountain was beautiful, and the light was tasty!

Finally, a photo with Nathan in it! If I have to make the decision between the pretty background, or the nice light, i'll always choose the nice light. You can barely tell that's a garage in the background, but the light sure is great isn't it?

One of my most favorite photos ever.

The bouquets were a work of art.

Michelle, busted!

(disclaimer: their might actually be no alcohol in the flask, but just water instead. Also, the photo might actually be a setup and not portraying the actual events correctly.)

(disclaimer for the disclaimer: the photo above was completely set up , and Michelle is a good actor. Michelle is not an alcoholic.)

Fashion Show and ING Marathon Weekend - Meet these two people!

2008-08-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Meet Joe. He's 3:15 marathon runner, a father, husband, math teacher, future brother-in-law, and just an all around good man. Congratulations to Joe for finishing todays ING Edmonton Marathon in exactly 3 hours and 15 minutes, and placed 13th overall.

Joe and his son George celebrate.

George, Joe and his wife, Colleen.

Meet Kathryn Neuman. She's a fashion designer, university student, english major, and friend. This afternoon was her very own fashion show which took place at Maggie Walt Design. Her entire collection is created by her very own hand. Congratulations to Kathryn for putting on this wonderful show of her incredible work!

Below are a few photos from the show. This was the first time I ever shot this kind of gig, and for the most part did a decent job despite the challenging lighting and just the fact I have never shot a fashion show before. I basically had no idea what I was doing and just winged it. Aside from the challenges, it was so much fun using the available light.

This first photo is Kathryn after the show.

These next couple of shots is Christian Morneau. He performed the "half time show". It was a spectacular performance! Christian is actually one of the final ten contestants in an international talent contest. He's a local edmonton performer, and deserves your votes! You can vote for him here, http://www.mtscproductions.com/vote/6104vote.php.

I have another post coming soon this week about two more cool people! Stay tuned!

Craig and Lyndsay's Wedding

2008-08-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I shot my cousin Craigs and his fiancee Lyndsays wedding out in Nordegg, Alberta. The entire event took place out at their family horse riding ranch. Check out a few shots from the day below! Remember, you can click the photos below to see a larger, more easier to view version.

Melanie and Ben's Wedding

2008-07-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

My latest wedding this weekend took place on Friday in Ponoka, Alberta. Take a look at a few photos from the day below.

Elisa and Tyler's Wedding

2008-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

And finally, I have finally had a chance to put together a few photos from Elisa and Tyler's wedding in Bonnyville, Alberta. I have been to more small Alberta towns in the last 3 months than I have in my last 27 years! I just shot a wedding this weekend in Ponoka, and next weekend I am shooting my cousins wedding in Nordegg, Alberta! At least the out of town weddings keep me away from the Legislative Grounds.

Here are a couple photos from Bonnyville. Greg tagged along to second shoot with me that weekend and did a fine job! I included one of his shots below - second last - a fantastic candid!

Finally! Danielle and Greg's Wedding

2008-07-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, I found the time to put together a new blog post! I've been so busy this last three weeks I haven't been able to blog my weddings as soon as I would like. I'm pretty positive there are engagement sessions that I haven't even blogged at all either - no offense to those clients who haven't been posted, i've just been busy. With so many out of town weddings recently it really eats up my editing time.

The photos below are from Danielle and Gregs kick ass wedding a couple weeks ago. The ceremony and formals took place at the Devonian Botanical Gardens which is always a nice treat.

There are only a few photos down below, and I cheated by including two of the same photos I showed Danielle and Greg on the day of their wedding.

I might decide to post a few more shots from their wedding soon, but you can also look forward to photos from Saturdays wedding from Bonnyville.

Enjoy!

Friday night engagement shoot!

2008-06-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hey blog readers! Tonight I headed out to shoot some engagements photos for clients of mine who were actually pointed my way by a client of mine from a couple years ago. Scott, if you're out there I owe you dinner! It turned out to be a quick shoot, but as usual, those who have been photographed by me will know that a little physical work was still in order. My liability insurance probably doesn't cover me when having my clients tiptoe on unstable rocks along the north saskatchewan. But I do it anyways.

Below are a few photos. I didn't have enough time to go through any others as I am working on editing another wedding at the moment.

Thanks for visiting!

Here's a shot of my photographer in training, Erin. We arrived an hour early to go over some things and mess around with our cameras. Check out her website in progress at, www.secretagenterin.ca.

Melanie and Bens Engagment Photos

2008-06-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I headed out to Menaik for Melanie and Bens engagement photo session. The locations was Bens family farm, which is where they will live their life together when married. Melanie and Ben were a lot of fun to photograph, and because they practiced before hand it made my job a lot easier.

I experimented quite a bit with my two new lenses, the 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.8. On a few photos I also experimented with a little sun flare which i'm really started to like the kind of look it gives - that low contrast california sun drenched look - aka Abercrombie/American Eagle.

Take a look at some of the photos below and remember you can click each photo to see a larger version of it.

Kaeley and Davids Lac La Biche Wedding

2008-06-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

Friday night Lindsey and I made our way to Lac La Biche, Alberta for Kaeley and Davids lakeside wedding. When shooting out of town weddings I always worry about these small towns. You never know what to expect. Lac La Biche turned out to be a charming small town, and the wedding locations was stunning and suited the very laid back bride and groom.

The first image below was pure luck. We had decided to grab some breakfast at Squirrelys Restaurant before we began our day at the Salon. A last minute decision, and lack of time led us to A&W where we accidentally found this sign. No word of a lie, this is not a fancy photoshop job where the letters were added in.

Take a look at a couple more photos below. I encourage you to click the image to get a better view.

2008-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Victoria Day everyone!

This weekend I officially kicked off my wedding season with Emily and Michael's wedding. We started off at Avanti Hair Salon and ended with the reception at the Derrick Golf and Country Club. The days flowers were provided by Kim at Best Buds Flowers, and if anyone can tell me who was responsible for that wedding cake I need to know! With a thirty-degree day in May, it wasn't a bad day to get started!

Below are a few teasers from the day. Sometime in the next two weeks i'll be sending out another notice to a gallery of the entire day.

You can click the images below to view a larger version if you like. You should be able to get a decent 4 x 6 print from the larger file. Just remember to tell people who took the photo!

Sometimes my accidental photos turn out to be some of my favorites. This photo was taken at Avanti Hair Salon when they team of girls were attempting to attach the veil.

With a couple this good looking and bright and sunny day it makes my job so much easier!

The simple cakes are always my favorites, and this one was definitely one of the best tasting wedding cakes i've ever had.

Photo:Lindsey, Baby George, Mothers Day baby shoot

2008-05-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

This Saturday my pal Erin took Lindsey and I out for some engagement photos. She wanted the practice and we needed photos. Once I get them, i'll post a link to them here on my blog. I was toting my camera around that day so I took a few shots of my Fiance, Lindsey and later in the day I took a few photos of George as well.

Last year I shot Greg and Lyndsays wedding, and this year they asked me to photograph their four month old baby boy Graham. I don't photograph babies all that often but for the most part I think they turned out great!

Sunday at the park, and other bits....

2008-04-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we all headed out to the park in Colleen and Joes neighborhood. I had my camera in tow, of course, and took about 100 shots or so and this is all that turned out. I've come to learn that this always seems to be the case for me when it comes to shooting babys. Babies and kids have very unpredictable timing. I had also just finished my Sunday long run and wasn't all that into it as well.

------

I've begun training for the Calgary Half-Marathon on July 6th. Training is going well so far, even though I goofed already on my training schedule. I ran 8 miles on Sunday when I was only supposed to run 6! I also missed todays easy 2 miles. Linds and I both fell ill to food poisoning. I'd rather run another 8 miles than go through what I went through all day!

------

The NHL playoffs are quite a bore this year. To keep myself excited I am following and cheering for the Penguins, seeing how many wins in a row they can get. I'm sure that one they lose, i'll care less about who wins the cup.

------

If you haven't already, pick up the The Flight of the Conchords new album. It's a super fun album to listen to. One of those albums you play when you want to listen to something unintelligent, but intelligent enough to not be embarrassed if other know you are listening to it.

------

On a final note, Saturday is Lindseys birthday, and we will be celebrating it at Cook County Salon anytime after 9P.M. So come on out! Anyone and everyone!

This...and that...

2008-04-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Some of you might already know, we have cancelled all of our Telus services. Even our telephone service. It's really too bad, I mean, they had a good product going for them - telephone service. But, thier customer service and their billing practices just bite. They even continued to bill me for service even though I had all my services cancelled.

Anyways, nothing makes me happier than to whine about Telus, but I know no one truly cares about my hate for Telus, but the point i'm trying to get across is you can no longer reach us at 430-9781. We're using our mobile service in the meantime. Anyone use Shaws phone service? Any good?

-----

We have a new member of the family - his name is Woody. He's a monofunctional robot, which means he's a robot who has only one function [or purpose in life (HE IS A LIVING BEING!)]. His purpose? To vacuum. He vacuums for us regularly. We go out for dinner, he stays at home and vacuums and puts himself away when done. No complaints either! And I don't have to feed him! I don't even have to plug him in because he does it himself! He's much better than the average slave, or for some people, their children. Woody is a Roomba made by the iRobot company - check it out.

-----

Wedding planning is hard, and we still have 14 months to go. We were able to settle on a venue, The Old Timers Cabin, which I am very excited about. Our next big task is developing a guest list. If we actually manage to do this, without family disowning us, I promise to give up drinking for life! After the wedding of course.

-----

For the photographers out there, I won a Shootsac created by the extremely talented Jessica Claire. Basically it's a slim, easily accessible bag to carry lenses that doesn't look ugly. I'm looking forward to putting it to work my next wedding.

-----

The weather is finally starting to shape up, which means I finally get to work off the winter flab. Running season has begun! I picked up a new pair of Asics Kayanos to give my feet a nice pillow to run on. I'm debating whether or not I want to run a big race this year. I have a lot on my plate this spring and summer. I'm considering signing up for a half marathon, even without training, and just winging it.

-----

If you need some new music to listen to, I have a few suggestions. Definitely check out Regina Spektor, specifically her album Begin to Hope. You wont regret it, I promise. It's on iTunes, I just checked.

Don't buy the new Jack Johnson album. It's the same typical Jack Johnson sound, but boring.

-----

Movies to see? We just saw Juno a couple of weeks ago, and last weekend we saw Run Fat Boy Run. Easily the best movies i've seen this year. Don't pass 'em up!

-----

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Photos from the Muttart Conservatory

2008-03-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks! I spent a couple hours at the Muttart Conservatory this afternoon giving a friend some lessons on her new camera. We also spent a little time taking some shots for fun. Again, I practiced with the macro lens. Also, I put my new Shootsac to use for the first time. For you 'togs out there, check them out at www.shootsac.com. I'm looking forward to using it at my next wedding. It'll sure make keeping my lenses on me a lot easier.

Anyways, check out todays photos!

Macro shots

2008-03-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

I walked over to the neighborhood bakery early this afternoon and took my camera with me hoping that I could find something along the way to practice my macro lens with. For those who don't know, a macro lens allows you to focus very close to the subject, allowing you to magnify the subject. Anyways, Edmonton is very nonphotogenic right now - all brown, wet and gross. I took about 6 shots while out - here is three of them. You can click the photo for a bigger view if you like.

New website, among other things...

2008-02-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today my new website has finally hit the internet. What a confusing ordeal it is to go through when changing website hosting services. Internet propagation, name server identification, IMAP email settings. I'd rather have done my 2007 business taxes all over again. Anyways, the change is worth it. Getting away from my previous nickel-and-diming, unfriendly and script based customer service is probably what it feels like getting out of a lenghtly prison sentence. Finally. no more $15/call to tech support. I can't wait until the end of next week, when my contract with Telus Communications is over, and can finally kick their nickel-and-diming, unfriendly and script based customer service to the curb. But, i'm sure i'll be put through to their customer retentions department where i'm sure a perky and overly friendly robot (human maybe?) will do everything they can to keep my as a customer. Then, i'll proceed to run through a list of reasons I want out, after which they'll likely tell me it was actually my fault certain incidences happened, but reassure me that they still value me as a customer and offer two more free video-on-demand rentals if I stay with them.

Anyways! Check out my new website! It's cool, and has music too!

I hope none of my clients work for Telus.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Engaged!

2008-02-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

It was simple, really. All I had to do was walk out into the middle of the soccer field, get down on one knee, ask the question, get a response, and depending on that response i'd either walk back to the players bench or back to the dressing room and home. Well, I ended up walking back to the players bench, so i'm pretty sure she said "yes". And that's about all I remember. All my concentration was on not tripping, getting down on a knee, asking the right question, and saying something romantic. Well, all I remember is making it to the center line, being down on a knee and saying something like, "so?", and then walking back back to the bench. Anyways, my overall objective was accomplished even though I wasn't as suave and cool as i'd pictured it in my head. And now i'm happily engaged!

Erik

Take Note: Notables!

2008-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a really long time since I have made a post, and to be quite honest, it would have been even longer if I wasn't actually given the following reason to make this post.

I needed to pick up some stationary this afternoon so I thought I would give Notables a try since I was in the area. Now, I remember being in this store once before, miserably dragged along by Lindsey as she looked for scrapbooking materials. The more I think about it I clearly remember me saying, "screw this store, i'm going for a brownie at Starbucks!"

Anyways. This time I went to shop under my own volition. What a place! I never thought I could be so excited about stationary supplies! If you're looking for cards, card making materials, photo albums, and the like, everything you find here you probably can't find at many other places.

If you're one of my bride-to-be's, this should be the absolute first place you look for wedding invite, thank you cards, guest books, etc.

Aside from all their cool stuff, customer service goes a long way these days. Good, honest, sincere customer service is almost impossible to find anymore. You'll find it at Notables, though! I ended up being a typical annoying customer: I didn't have my wallet out and ready to pay, I put my pinpad information in wrong the first time, then decided I didn't want one of my items, and had them double check the price of another item. Normally i'd get fake kindness, a subtle guilt trip, and some eye-rolling action. The customer service was genuine and sincere, and comfortable. If this store were to sell garbage, you know, garbage from dumpsters, i'd probably buy their garbage just because their customer service is so great.

I only recommend things and places i'm serious about, so I hope my clients understand that i'm very serious that they need to check this place out before any other for ideas and supplies.

You'll find Notables in the highstreet district, somewhere around 125 street and 102 avenue. Their website is www.notables.ca

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Years at Kicking Horse

2008-01-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Lindsey and I spent our New Years Eve long weekend in Golden, B.C skiing and snowboarding at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort with friends Chrissy, Mitch, Jenelle and Patrick.

For Christmas Lindsey spoiled me with a new snowboard, bindings and boots. It's my first snowboard, and the weekend was my second time ever on a board. I hooked myself up with a private lesson the first morning out which gave me a foundation to work from, and as you'll see in one of the photos below I'm still working on that foundation!

Aside from the slopes, we spent a large portion of our time whining about being sore. Most of it coming from me as I spent another chunk of my time on my caboose. Golden is a small dingy logging and railroad town, and didn't provide much entertainment other than hanging out at a pub or watching television at the Motel.

On New Years Eve, Lindsey, Jenelle, Patrick and I had an amazing dinner at the Cedar House Restaurant. The joint was a gorgeous little establishment nestled up on the mountain side, keeping a safe distance from the town of Golden so as not to tarnish it's apparently world renowned reputation. I dined on duck and tiramasu. Lindsey had cod and creme brulee. Jenelle a vegetarian curry vegetable dish, and Patrick had chicken splendid/supreme.

Most of the photos below come courtesy of Lindsey. She held on to the camera most of the trip because I was too afraid of falling on the camera and destroying it.

A nifty photo Linds grabbed through the front window on our way out of golden Tuesday morning.

Lindsey and Jenelle posing with the bleeding horse that the owner didn't seem to give a damn about.

Me, posing with the horse that wasn't bleeding.

Lindsey and I with the mountains behind us.

Me, feeling dejected and defeated again after my umpteeth fall in a row.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Another nifty view of our surroundings. I think Linds took this at the top of the gondola ride.

Jenelle and Pat - good shot Linds!

Lindsey took this one during a run with Patrick. I guess this run wasn't for the faint of heart. The little speck at the top is Patrick inching his way down.

Lindsey being a nut!

Patrick and I at the day lodge.

Patrick and Jenelle on the gondola.

Chrissy and Mitch back at our motel room.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

This year I spent christmas eve with my family, and christmas day with Lindseys family. With two babys kickin' around, and it being their first christmas, there were sounds off camera shutters going off all day long. I took a few shots myself and posted them below. I figured out how to give one of the photos an old school vintage look.

I was spoiled to the max this christmas. Linds decked me out with a new snowboard, binding, boots, and tickets to Xavier Rudd at the winspear. Friday night we are heading out to Kicking Horse in Golden, B.C where I will snowboard for my second time ever. God bless my fanny!

In the photos below you will find George with his two ultimate Christmas gifts he got from his grandparents - a red wagon and a vintage sled that Grandpa Ross pulled apart and refinished. He did an incredible job, and judging by Georges expression he appreciates Ross' hard work.

The girl baby is Madeline, Georges second cousin. She was adorable. I imagine her parents needed to rent a U-Haul to take her gifts home.

Until next christmas....

Chrissy and Rascal

2007-12-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday I had the ultimate incredible joy of getting out of bed at eight in the morning, to shoot photos at nine. I was shooting photos for friend Chrissy and her dog Rascal. It was cold and crisp - not ideal photo shoot for a poodle. You will see below that (without my permission) he used my equipment bag as a barrier between his ass and the ground. Since the two weren't properly dressed for the weather the shoot was quick, and not a lot of shots were taken. Take a look of some of what was had below.

Swidgen the Kitten - Jarrods Birthday

2007-12-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Friday night Lindsey and I showed up early to Jarrods birthday to visit before his actual party began. We both wanted an early night for both of us to nurse colds. As always, it was a pleasant visit, and I managed to grab a few shots of Jarrod and Esthers new kitten, Swidgen (yes way). I caught him at playtime, and I had a short attention span, so this is basically all I got, and another shot from the iPhone, which i'll post as soon as I figure out how to get it from iPhone to the Mac.

Isn't it adorable! And look, no santa clothing!

You know Christmas is coming when...

2007-11-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

...people start dressing up their animals in Santa clothing!

My sisters wanted some photos of Nigel taken, with and without the costume. You can tell he's not impressed with the situation, and I only wish I could include sound effects within this post for the full effect.

Anyways, regardless of Nigels happiness, I was able to practice some shallow depth of field shooting with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. Check out the shots below.

Doesn't fit? Get Ideal Fit!

2007-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, family, and clients!

I'm throwing out some advertising for my pal Chrissy Ramstead who has just started up her own small business, Ideal Fit! Personal Fitness and Lifestyle Coach (or is it training?). I know that by just reading that sentence already makes some of us sweat, but i'm sure once the holiday season comes to an end we'll all need to help buttoning up our pants again.

She's now taking new clients. E-mail me and I will put you in contact with her.

Jenn Sharpe and Mike Carlsons Engagement, Something new...

2007-11-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Some of you might have noticed, some might not have. A few posts ago I had announced Jennifer Sharpes and Mike Carlsons engagement here on my blog. Little did I know that it was supposed to be kept a secret because they wanted to tell everyone themselves. I didn't know this and I ended up announcing it to the world. So, I had to quickly edit the post and edit their engagement out as if it had never happened.

Well, now they've told everyone, so now I get to tell everyone! This time though I have a photo to post as well - but it's just one photo of Jennifers ring. It's a very special ring, a ring which Mike had suffered many trials and tribulations putting together for Jennifer. Check it out below!

Again, congratulations Jennifer and Mike! I look forward to shooting your wedding in the Okanagan!

On to other news. I will be trying a new system next year for giving my clients and their friends and family another way of obtaining photos from their wedding. At the moment I give all my clients a DVD with all their wedding photos in full resolution and completely edited. They are welcome to use the DVD to make prints for their family and friends, etc. As of now, I will also provide clients with an online web gallery where clients and their friends and family can view the same photos and order prints straight from the gallery. This will cut out the hassle of getting image files or asking for prints from the Newlyweds.

The only downside to this is that the per-print cost is considerably more expensive than having the newlyweds obtain prints. So, other than the convenience aspect of this new system, why on earth would anyone want to order prints online? Simple, 100% of the profits from all online print orders are donated to charity selected on behalf of the clients, or to the Stollery Childrens Hospital by default.

Lets hope this system can raise a few dollars for those who really need it.

My online store front can always be found at http://www.printroom.com/pro/ehphoto/

That's all for today! Happy Tuesday!

Requests...

2007-11-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Me again...

I've been getting requests to see some more photos, but I just don't have anything new to show! So what I am going to do is this. I just completed all my post processing for the trashing of the dress shoot I did at wizard lake, as well as Danielle and Gregs engagement photos. There are a bunch of new photos in both those shoots that haven't been shown yet. I'm very excited about both shoots - they turned out very well!

The links to the two galleries are:

http://www.erikhornungphotography.com/dgenggallery/

and

http://www.erikhornungphotography.com/lclakephotos/

Happy Wednesday!

Life, Before and After...

2007-11-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

Hello party animals!

Damn, this week is awesome! It's been a real relaxing couple of days so far. I've been able to get twelve straight hours or photo-editing time in each day this week so far.

The more time I spend in our new old house the more and more I begin to love it, even with all it's flaws and annoyances, and all the extra maintenance that goes into living in a house. Being able to have an office, rather than the living room/dining room to do all my work in.

I love my home, I love Lindsey, and I love my job. Right now i'm a happy camper with no complaints!

With that all said, I have a bit of a different angle to tonight's blog post. Lately, other photographers, clients, and readers in general have been asking me questions like, "what camera settings do you use to get your backlighting", "what photoshop methods do you use to get your unique color and lighting?" and etc.

Those are tough questions to answer. Firstly, as far as what aperture or shutter speeds i'm using will vary depending on the situation. Most importantly, people need to understand that there are no magical settings on a camera to get "backlighting". You actually need to understand how light behaves, and how that behavior at a given time will affect your camera settings. Those are lessons i'm just not capable of getting into.

On all my Canon camera I have all the in camera processing set to zeros. Thats right, I have sharpening, contrast, saturation, and tone, turned all the way down to zero. I do this because I don't want my camera interpreting what the image should look like. I want to take care of all that myself in post processing.

If a professional photographer is shooting with film, they have a wide variety of films they can choose from to get a certain look they might be after. For example, if you're taking portraits and you want a low contrast, slightly unsaturated looking photo you might choose Kodak Portra Film. If you're looking for photos with high contrast, bold colors with lots of pop you might choose Fuji Velvia slide film. High contrast black and white photos? How about some Kodak T-Max or Fuji Neopan.

With digital, I want to go for these certain looks and I don't want my cameras "brain" interrupting my vision. My style tends to lean towards high contrast, bold and bright colors with warmth, and glow.

As far as photoshopping goes, my workflow is pretty simple. I really don't do anything I couldn't do in a dark room with film. Below I will use a photo of myself that Lindsey actually took of me, with my guidance. The photo turned out excellent and is perfect for me to use in my example below.

This image is straight out of the camera. No processing has been applied to this photo at all. You will notice that this shot is greyish in tone, very little contrast, and the colors unsaturated. The photo is perfectly exposed, however it doesn't reflect the lighting or mood of the actual moment. In this photo it seems like it was shot on an over cast day, however it was actually very sunny and bright out.

The second step in my work flow is to process this photo in my RAW image (google it) processor, Adobe Lightroom. All I did was increase the saturation, bump up the contrast a little, and increase the exposure. Already, it's a very usable photo, but it hasn't quite reached my style yet.

After I process the RAW image file, I export that image into photo shop for a few more adjustments. I will use photoshop to add warmth to the light, adjust the curves to a very slight 's curve' to give it a little more pop, and then maybe a little more sharpening. Usually in wedding portraits I will do some minor touch-ups to the face. This photo here is probably a little too warm for my tastes but it gets my point across.

Hopefully that answers some questions.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Into the Wild, Ikea Sausage, Leeland, Denver Pitbull euthanization.

2007-10-28T20:32:00.001-07:00

I just have a few more things I want to blog about that I neglected to blab about in my previous posting today.

Lindsey and I saw the film, 'Into the Wild' Friday night following an incredible dinner at Happy Garden, a chai latter at Muddy Waters, and then two glasses of wine at Dacapo. It was just like a first date, except there was no talk about what we like to do in our spare time or what our favorite food is. Mostly just making fun of other patrons. Of course i'm kidding.

Anyways, Into the Wild was incredible. Hands down Sean Penns best film, and Dead Man Walking in tough to beat. A very well told story, great cinematography, and very emotional. Everyone needs to see this movie, and even though it's Oscar worthy it's a shame it will doubtfully get any Oscar nod whatsoever. To go along with the movie, the soundtrack is equally as perfect. The entire soundtrack was scored by Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam).

Go see it. I promise you will like it. I believe it's only playing at the Garneau. I don't know if this is an independent film or not, but it's message is worth your $10. Anyone who cares about the environment and societal issues, this movie is for you.

Aside from an incredible movie, Ikea breakfast sausages are awesome. I only dream of cooking sausages as good as those by the talented Ikea Breakfast Chef. Breakfast for two, for $7.16 is just so awesome.

Our good friend Lee was thrown into the hospital this weekend. A serious infection of some kind. Damn those. He doesn't know this yet, but he's getting a pink card, one of those musical kind that sings 'I Will Survive', for scaring the begeebers out of us. I think the card is meant for breast cancer survivors, but my point gets across. I assure you Lee doesn't have Breast Cancer. He's doing good now though, but he'll be sticking around the U of A hospital for a little longer just for precautionary measures. Go Lee! Hot nurses...come out a real survivor!

And to finish off this post that no one is probably going to read, my Utah pal, Molly Wald, just got back from Denver, Colorado shooting families with Pitbulls. Apparently Denver doesn't allow pitbulls, and if you are caught owning one you take the risk of having it taken from you and euthanized immediately. To bad we can't euthanize some humans that quickly - O.J Simpson for example. Check out her photos from Denver at http://www.mollywald.com/.

*Take note, this entry is being post without Lindseys blog-entry-editing prowess. I apologize for any incoherence.

Around the house...

2007-10-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

So, i've basically been spending every waking minute editing my last bunch of weddings and engagement shoots from the year for the last bunch of weeks. I can't believe how far behind a simple move put me - it sucks and I feel terrible. I had to take a break from wedding photos, so I grabbed my camera and took a few snapshots around the yard of the new house. I didn't get a lot because it was so cold, and because I hadn't showered or combed my hair today I didn't want the neighbors thinking Yeti moved into the neighborhood. Here's a few of the shots below. I really love the contrast between the textures and colors. I love our old house (although Bob Villa would be nice to have on speed dial), I love the personality, character and charm our old house has - something I miss amongst the new houses these days.

Baby George, no more facebook, new bed!

2007-10-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made the effort in throwing Facebook out the door. After it finally sinking in that facebook really caused no improvement in my life whatsoever I deactivated my account. That's right, you can actually deactivate your account! And best of all, when you do so, you get to tell facebook why you are deactivating your account. It felt SO good to choose, "I don't find facebook usefull". No longer will I be invited to install the latest facebook apps, or have to reject friend invites from people I once loaned a pencil to in Junior High.

It feels good. Reeeaaallll good.

We have a new bed! Most of you probably know this because we can't shut up about it. It's like sleeping on a cloud. Of course no one cares, but it's a Sealy Posturepedic Bermuda Plush Hi-loft bed. It's awesome. I want to charge people to have naps on it to pay it off, but Linds thinks thats a little gross.

This weekend I shot some photos of Baby George, his Mom and Dad, and Lindsey. Below is a shot of George, the king of not smiling for the camera.

Moved in and ready to get our lives back together!

2007-10-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Hello!

You might have instantly noticed the change in my blogs appearance. I am making the transition away from my .mac website hosting as it expires at the end of the month. This means I had to find new place to store and create my blog. Blogger.com seems like it will work out well, and the added benefit is that I will be able to edit and create posts when not at home.

Most of you know that Lindsey and I have been in the process of moving into a house. Firstly, I would like to thank all my clients for all their patience and understanding. Last night, I think Linds and I finally reached the point where we can finally start putting our lives back together and actually begin enjoying our new space. It's amazing how time consuming it is putting furniture together, installing proper shower heads (!@#$ !@#$%!), unpacking, cleaning, repairing, , and hanging curtains.

The thing I hated the most about this move? Flatheaded/slotted screws!! I understand why the actual flathead screwdriver is still around, but why is the screw still in use? The screw is beyond annoying to use with the screwdriver sliding out after every turn. When we have robertson and philip type screws there should be absolutely no need whatsoever for the flathead.

Anyways...

On the first day of our move, I had squeezed in Danielle and Gregs engagement photos in the afternoon. They brought their pooch Raffi along as well who I was able to include in a few photos as well. And yes, he is named after the Oiler. However if Raffi the Oiler is ever trade, then Raffi the Dog will then be named after Raffi the childerens singer. The day couldn't have been any better, and I think we caught one of the last colorful days of fall.

Danielle and Greg didn't know it but I was experimenting every now and then with extreme backlighting and lens flare. I especially like the last photo of the bunch. Shooting straight into the sun, exposing for the faces, and most importantly, using the crappiest and cheapest lens I own - the 50mm f1.4. With any of my pro lenses I wouldn't have been able to get that unique sun faded/flare and washed out vintage look. It kind of resembles an American Eagle ad photo.