When the Cat's Away...

No, just no.

I am a little annoyed this morning to find out that while focused on my pregnancy concerns and newborn, my kindness has been taken advantage of and it has reflected poorly on our photography here at Akelis Studios.

Why is this such an issue?  Because I love every one of my photos for the story they tell, the success for each model as their portfolio grows, and the happy couple who can share those memories for years. This means when somebody disrespects the subject of a shoot it is a reflection of how they feel about that person, that story, or that couple.

Life is messy and imperfect at times.  We learn from making those mistakes and it makes us better people in the end.  Splashing around in a pond or a pool is the only way to really learn to swim.  Scribbling is how we start learning to draw, even our greatest artists started with just a box of crayons and some free time to color.  

Unfortunately, mistakes in business can ruin chances of working with a great client or getting recommendations for future work.  I will be emailing and calling all impacted by the recent issues personally and take this time to apologize for the behavior and comments of an unprofessional nature.

Pinterest Ate My Soul

Oh the horror!

I have avoided joining Pinterest in a non-business aspect for as long as I could.  I'm obsessed with looking up wedding gowns if I'm not in the studio or at a wedding, so I've taken care to avoid the easy way to feed that need for flowing girly gowns.

Unfortunately, I am once again on bedrest after giving my doctors a heart attack by almost having a heart attack while in for what should have been a routine exam.  A friend sent me a note suggesting I check out "that site with the pictures" because I was fretting over how to plan a combined nursery for the toddler and newborn... and so I have fallen into the void of Pinterest.

I promise to come up for air and share things now and again, including the super cool news that we have a new camera on the way!  (this is almost as exciting to me as the new baby)  I have had to admit my poor darling has outlived her use as a primary shooter for weddings, and so she is being retired to the hands of my second shooter to live out her days as a studio and occasional wedding clicker if something goes wrong.

I am also happy to be the one back at the keys doing the emailing.  When you request info or contact us for a consultation, it is now "Akelis" herself answering the emails.  Normally it is Tanya doing this while I am out in the studio or running off to photograph a bride, but when all I have to do all day is edit images and play on Pinterest, it makes sense I be the one you hear from.

Models and local brides looking to perhaps do something a little different should check back at the end of this month for an open casting call.  I will be updating and creating new gallery displays for images in the near future.  Boudoir subjects can expect to hear from me soon if we want to share your lovely shots and had not previously obtained approval.  Couples booking for the up coming season of weddings can expect to be splashed all over the web as I find new ways to get your lovely mug out there.  And as always, recommendations from friends about using a photographer are always welcome as brides have so much to plan and do!

-Jeannine-

We're Back

After an impromptu vacation from being a responsible adult while we had family medical needs, I am back now, and ready to apologize for my disappearance with the sharing of some great things.  Namely, images from training my apprentice today.

The Busy Season

Wedding season is a wonderful time of year.  I honestly love getting to be a tiny part in the memories of a lovely day.  My time behind the camera is a reward for all the hard work I do on week days and all the hours of editing that it can take later.

It looks like August to September has been a slow month for wedding bookings, so I'll be offering more deals around that time for couples that need to book and any brides that would like to try boudoir.  Until then, I think I'm going to do some new floral photography when I don't have weddings to test out color works too.  Between weddings, wings, and flowers, I think this blog is beginning to look decidedly girlish.

Earth Day & Spring Blooms

The flowers starting to bloom in front of my door.

My "day job" has eaten up a ton of time this month.  I agreed to take on extra hours when a co-worker left unexpectedly and we needed to fill the gaps in the week.  The income certainly has not hurt, but it makes time to shoot harder to find.  With the grass growing and the snow all gone, flowers have started to appear on the little patch of green between my front door and parking space and this makes me want to shoot even more.  Spring has such wonderful light for catching the natural world. 

Taken to show the new dye and make-up purchased 
from my "other job" at LUSH: Handmade Cosmetics.

To go with the change of seasons, I changed my hair color again.  This time going darker and working with the shorter trim I have now.  My skin has the wonderful pink glow that means my fragile balance between too much sun (I'm a lovely Victorian alabaster most of the time) and not being able to resist going out into the garden has shifted to the sunny side.  I think over the next few days while I am home it will get worse.  I plan on spending much of my time outside starting the long task of preparing my garden and playing with the tiny monster boy.

All this and planning out a photo shoot for the little man's birthday.  I avoided Easter photos with him but I cannot escape that his second birthday is coming and as a photographer mommy I will have to think about what to do for this year.  Two years is a hard age to shoot as he wants to run, giggle, fidget, and generally be a crazy little boy.  His favorite object at the moment is his blue kickball, and I suspect that will appear in this year's photos as well as the "guitar" he so enjoys (my husband's old PS2 controller) and his favorite shoes ever (my gardening boots).

Check back soon for wedding shots and some great wildlife items from a trip to the rescue and rehab center for injured animals!  Tonight I leave you with a look at one o my favorite parts of spring... baby things!  These kittens are from our neighbor's most recent litter of fluffy toe nibblers.

The North Remembers

I have been neglecting this blog as I deal with some difficult family situations lately.  Honestly, it is more that I am just not keeping up with it while I work out a way to get my family through a rough patch. I need to get back to work on this blog and make sure that I am not ignoring my updates. 

We live in Maine, an area always covered in snow in the winter.  When I was in middle school a serious ice storm came through and caused saplings along the road to my family's house to become curved from the extended period under the weight of the ice.  They now make arch over the road and the snow looks beautiful on them.

What I would like is the chance to share more wintery images.  For that reason... I am sharing these until I finish editing the next batch of wedding and portrait works.

Good Bye To 2012

Hell to a happy 2013!

The holidays are gone, and I cannot say I am sad to see them fade into memory.  I always feel drained after Christmas and this year was no exception.  By the time Christmas day arrives I have been covering so many holiday parties and weddings, that I write "sleep" on the top of my list each year when family asks what I want.

With the trees no longer covered in lights it is time for planning the next big holiday for photography... this time for adults!  I am talking here about Valentine's Day. 

Boudoir is always a popular gift for that special somebody and this time of year just increases that focus.  This year I am going to work on planning boudoir sessions without having to drag a ton of equipment out for each shoot.  I am working on changes in how I light and draw focal lines so that everything can be done with just a simple standing light and portable flash.  My ideal would be to have a set-up that can be set or packed in under 5 minutes and prepared to shoot at any location.

I also count this as my time to start focusing on bookings for late spring weddings.  These brides tend to book a little later in their planning and I want to make sure they are not ignored.  Being a budget bride and knowing how hard it can be to plan an elopement without feeling that you have nothing to share... I will be rolling out new offers for small events.

Keep an eye out for the announcement of new packages.  The goal is to produce three new ofers that can work for couples planning a weekend get-away elopement, all the way to the grand bash that every princess dreams about for her wedding day.

Playing with Perspective.

New Hampshire's White Mountains.

Just playing with perspective and lines.  I felt this was not my best, but cannot get those wooden beams and lines out of my head.  Honestly, I like perspective images like this because they force the eye to adjust over and over to understand what it is they are witnessing.  It drives my husband crazy that i will take these over and over to feed my collection with more and more distortions and revisions.

Clarence Fahnestock State Park, Putnam County, New York.

Chuang-yen Monastery, Kent Lakes, New York

Chuang-yen Monastery, Kent Lakes, New York

Portland Headlight, Fort Williams Park & Lighthouse, Portland Maine

Finsh What You Started

I have spoken at length about doing limited post work on images to maintain the quality of the photo.  I have also spoken about making sure to share only what you love and what most fit's the client's desire.  While I believe in doing limited "fixing", there is something to be said for making sure the best quality of image is supplied.  I rarely give clients a truly unedited look into an session or shoot. 

Normally I will remove blurry, under-lit, or otherwise poor images and crop some when there is something out of place.  I believe in deleting without mercy when it comes to making the call on what should stay after a shoot with a model.  Their portfolio is what will get them work, and anything that is in the portfolio is a reflection of my thoughts and process.

This is a perfect before and after of images done with a lovely model just last month.  She sat with me after the shoot and we selected out favorites while removing those that did not make the grade. Out of 73 images shot, we had just 23 that made the final selection to see what would be done in editing.  From those 23, 17 made a final debut on the CD emailed to her for adding to the portfolio she worked to compile, and I believe five are currently on display.

I wanted to talk about this because of the recent release of images or the American Olympic Team.  These were taken at an event with a limited amount of time to work with each subject, but I feel that much more could be achieved if simple technique and a little editing was applied.  This is the article from Solstice Visuals that I first viewed when a fellow photographer posted it on a forum for industry professionals and hobbyists.

Outrage Over The Photographs Of The United States Olympic Team

 This "outrage" from the photography industry came from the awkward posing, off putting cropping, poor backdrop choice, and just blogging choices made in posing and details.  When viewing the first collection I believed perhaps this was taken by a student or amateur photographer and displayed without time for editing.  At this time, I believe that there was inexperience and a lack of post work.  There are signs of a dirty lens, poor alignment, poor lighting, and very little care for the backdrop that could have been solved by just pulling down more of the paper roll after ripping became evident.

For comparison I wanted to include this second link, with images from the same person (image #6) other photographers taken at the very same event.  While obviously not all fit the same aesthetic, a huge difference is visible in the lighting quality and time taken to create a finished product.  Even the final image, one that is in a very unfinished format, shows some real promise as a "behind the scenes" moment.

Olympic Portraits, Part I: American Athletes

From this second group I see images that have been polished and finished without an overload of retouching  to remove the quality of the image.  I try to keep a similar quality, but understand the desire to prove that post work is not always needed.  What needs to be focused on is keeping images pleasing and avoiding sloppy work.

Photography as an Art

Hiking purgatory chasm in 2007 while at JWU - taken with my pocket camera by a friend.

I remember being a teen, well some of it.  I remember thinking my parents knew nothing about the world, and that I was always going to be as cool as I was in high school.  And then I grew a brain and moved on.  I was told I could not march with my class at graduation because I had taken too many alternative courses for home schooling and did not meet the number of requirements for a diploma from the high school that had once told my parents I had no hope of ever going to college.

Macro Photography of college landscaping post rainstorm - my "artistic" period in 2005/06.

Three months later I started college and held a 4.0 GPA and a part time job in a huge city.  I relaxed by taking photos with a little P&S (point and shoot) at the school stable.  I excelled in business classes and learned skills that make running the studio much easier, but never really thought much about photography beyond taking some fun images.  I remember thinking that the exhibits in the art school across the street where a joke at times - I still have no idea how a toilet seat with a sledge hammer wedged in it is supposed to make me "feel" something or than confused.

I take my photography seriously only in how it is something that can always be improved upon.  I don't claim it needs to be an expression of the world, just that it should capture something worth a second look.  I certainly don't feel the need to go ruining perfectly good toilets just to make a pretty picture.  

I say this because I think there are some pieces of "art" that are not always worth sharing.  I don't think it is fair to go charging a person hundreds of dollars for images of their family taken with a pocket camera that you claim makes you a professional.  I also feel that there is something to be said for trying to hone your craft before going to charge.  I may not used the most advanced camera out on the market, but I do use advanced lens attachments and take the time to practice with them before using them on paid shoots.

Macro Photography from the New York Botanical Gardens in 2010.
This was taken as part of the test images for my back-up camera.

I enjoy taking photography of the natural world to relax.  On occasion I even sell prints of the rare shots that I am comfortable sharing with others.  I take portraits seriously though.  If I am paying a model, or being paid to make something that a client will hang on their wall, it had better look like it was worth the money they are paying for my time and services. 

I write this today as part of a a warm up to my next post concerning the photography of the American Olympic team that has been covered on Reddit and other major sites.  I will post an analysis that I have been working on later, but this is partially based on those images, and partially on a comment from a friend on her social media about how it seems becoming a "photographer" is the new thing to do.

You Look Smashing!

Earlier this week my son turned one.  I was agonizing over what approach to use for his cake-smash photos because I wanted to capture the entire event without going too artistic and loosing the quality of the moment for the sake of one or two images.  After having to fight my instincts as a mother, I went for a bold color choice in frosting and made an effort to really light the area at an insane level so I could ensure that every little detail was visible.

 

The boy was an amazing model yet again, really getting into the moment and giving me some wonderful expressions in his wild celebration.  The start was just a little timid, poking the frosting then looking at and licking his fingers.  For a moment I even thought he was going to go Godzilla on the poor cake and belly flop on it in some sort of mini pile-driver.  He got his feet, hands, even his bottom into the act when he sat on the cake at the very end.  

 

Thankfully it was followed by a bath since we have a full bath with tub at the studio, but I got stuck with the epic clean-up while my husband simply took bath duty.  The hardest part of the whole event was getting the little man to bed that night after the amazing sugar rush.  Thankfully he did nod off around one in the morning, but by then I was already to tired I was debating if he would ever have cake again.

Directions In Photography

I do not claim to be the world's best photographer. I have spent years learning and teaching others, but I will never claim to know everything about my craft. I shared a blog recently about being humbled and shaken when a peer gave a scathing comment on my request for advice, and I still find myself looking at work sometimes saying “I should have moved just a smidgen to the right” or “I wish I waited just a second longer so his eyes would be slightly more relaxed from the last flash”. These are the worries and thoughts of a typical photographer, and may have been distilled perfectly in a quote a fellow photographer made in a forum I was once reading:

A GOOD DAY FOR ME IS REMEMBERING TO POINT THE CAMERA IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

This is a man who has his work in Vogue, Elle, and a million other places I can just hope to achieve in my lifetime. But his words have more meaning when you think about how a photographer is actually doing their client a service by freezing a moment in time.

Expression is huge, but only lasts a second. Shock and joy on the groom's face as his bride comes into view, or that warm candid moment when the Mother-of-the-Groom gives her son a kiss with tears rolling down her cheeks because he is all grown up; these are all something you can only capture just as they happen. These are true moments of candid photography. I need to be on my toes every moment at a a shoot so that I can capture the perfect image.

Perhaps even more so than weddings, working with children requires almost inhuman speed and attention to detail. I am talking about this because it will be a vital part of my shooting tomorrow and is weighing on my mind. Tomorrow is my son's cake smash sitting. Cake smash photography is a quickly growing avenue for child centered studios because of the honesty and silliness it embodies. To make it simple, a toddler is placed on a bare backdrop with a cake or cupcake in front of them and the photographer documents the following chaos.

I was introduced to the idea while working for a chain studio that absolutely forbid it because they kept a strict policy against food in the camera room. When I moved on the the studio chain, where I was responsible for training newer photographers, it was something very warmly welcomed. Now that my own studio is open, I am more than open to doing this kind of work and will soon begin looking for a local bakery to coordinate our efforts.

My son is a perfect test subject for the studio. He is constantly in my advertising and I have begun to market him out to infant and toddler talent agents because his aptitude for brilliance in the camera room could honestly make him a good deal of money to put aside for college. I also use him to test out new concepts and techniques, something I do often in an attempt to grow as an artist... but as a mother I am facing some worry that I will dislike the results.

What I want to do is really intensify the images tomorrow by choosing a stark white backdrop and a bold shade of blue-green for his cake. Next is where I am reaching my point of tension, because it is a huge risk as well. What I want to do is use a very tight depth of field and play with a slight distortion in focus. My goal is to change how we see the moment and bring out the “dirty” part of the experience.

Unfortunately, cake-smash is the kind of photography where one cannot simply “reset and try again”. The child's reaction will inherently be different because they understand that they have absolute freedom in that moment. As a mother, I want these images to be something my family can cherish just as much as myself. As an artist, I want to take advantage of this ideal opportunity to advance my skills as a photographer.

I will make the executive decision tomorrow as my husband places our boy on the subject mark. Once I can review the images I will post a selection and allow the results to be seen. But for tonight all I can do is take the advice of my photography hero and just hope that “my camera is pointed in the right direction”.

Never Too Old

I am always surprised to hear clients tell me they were embarrassed to inquire about boudoir because it is "something for young women".  I am not really sure why we need to limit ourselves to having fun only when we are in our teens and twenties.  Most women wait until they are twenty-five or older to start a family or even get married.  

I myself was twenty-five when my husband proposed, and he was about to turn thirty that year.  We are by no means "old", but we did wait a longer time than many traditionalists would like women to think is normal.  I only point this out because I still have a long list of things to do in my life, and not one of them is something I have to complete while I am "young".

I am writing this today because I think beautiful women will always be beautiful when they are proud of themselves.  Success in life is something to be proud of; a good relationship, changes in habits to loose significant weight, or any other reason you can think of can be a fantastic reason to have photography of any kind.  I may do mostly boudoir, but I always suggest even a simple portrait to show off that happy glow.

So the next time you want to say "oh, I'm too old"... remember that experience can be far more sexy than innocence in the right circumstances.  And feel free to laugh at anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

Courage Comes In Many Forms

Tonight I want to speak to the shy girls thinking “I could never do that”. This is for all of you how tell yourself that you are not thin enough or tall enough or pretty enough to do your own boudoir shoot. I'm going to share where I get my own strength from, and some other things about where you might be able to find the courage to try this for yourself.

I absolutely love when a client comes in and is so secure in their skin that they are willing to really play to the camera while they wear next to nothing. I really adore when I can have a model sign up for a shoot thinking they want to keep their images personal, and end up signing a release at the end because the beauty we captured is just too perfect not to share. To all the models out there waiting to have a shoot like that, those moments are only achieved through a comfort in who “you” are as a person.

That strength and courage is a marvel to me. I feel that I am blessed to share in those moments of beauty and power when a woman can express her sexuality without shame. Inside every one of my models is a fire that will engulf anyone foolish enough to pour on some gasoline. They are rebels, rule breakers, free spirits that are proud of the female form with which they have been blessed.

These woman should be an inspiration to so many more girls and women. They are proud of their curves, proud of the stretchmarks on their belly and the baby that left them there. They are proud of the scars, the piercings, the tattoos, all the things that make their body unique. They are brave, and as a woman, I envy them for their courage.

When I look in the mirror today, I see a very different body from the one I remember. One year post-postpartum, I still see stretchmarks and a line of discoloration on my belly. I am heavier and less than pleased about how the weight is still not leaving even with a very controlled diet and more exercise. I look at the changes and have to tell myself that I am still the same woman that was a model years ago. At this point in my life, I could not pull off the kind of self assured and almost defiant sexuality that is needed to make those shots work.

My history is a long one when it comes to body image. I was raised by parents and close family friends that always made sure to teach their children that all bodies are beautiful. I remember going skinny-dipping back in the days when parents would not be hauled off to jail just because their kids did a nude cannonball into the river behind their house in the middle of the woods. I remember never being ashamed of wearing shorts to school even though I always had skinned knees and bruises on my legs from climbing rocks and riding horses. I even remember being teased because I developed early and the other kids were looking for any reason to be cruel, as preteens are want to do. And I remember suddenly learning serious body modesty when a boyfriend began to force his thoughts on how I should dress, wear my hair, and apply make-up. Working with horses, swimming on my college team, and jogging at the gym to clear my head all helped to keep me in shape but I never really thought about diet and exercise in terms of how “sexy” it made me. I never really thought about having to make myself attractive until it was something that reflected on my other-half.

At the same time, I would love to have my own boudoir shoot as a gift for my husband. He is my lovely right hand man and gives me “a man's perspective” when I find myself struggling with a shot or concept. He has given me courage to take what I thought would be a flop, and make it into my favorite for the entire shoot. It is because of that nonjudgmental support that I continue to work on pushing through my own blocks and boundaries to achieve something better.

I believe that the best models are those who can give themselves permission to let go; the ones that loose themselves in the moment and stop thinking about how silly they look to people not aiming a camera. Perhaps that is as much about being willing to live life for the moment as it is about getting a great photo. I can think of a few snapshots taken of me that are my favorites because they have an aspect of candid beauty that can never be recreated. It is images like that which I hope to find in every shoot.

In all honesty, I really hope every morning to simply have the camera pointed in the right direction. I have faith that with the camera pointed at the model, and a comfortable and supportive environment in the studio or on the set, magic really can happen.

Colorful Thoughts

Sorry for the long break in posting. No excuses, I was simply too busy with other things to sit down and write out anything that would be worth reading, and I don't believe in doing something if you are not going to give it a full try. I will be sharing some of the work I have done over this period of silence, as well as a story that can help newer photographers based on my own simple mistakes.

Today we will be discussing color theory. I understand that this has been mentioned many times previously; but today I will be breaking down what exactly it means and how to use this knowledge. All of this is in an effort to help you with your color choices for clothing or accessories before a photography session and when thinking about how to edit an image in your post-work.

This is the color wheel. I know it appears to be just a bunch of colored wedges, but this diagram is actually one of the best tools ever invented for artists, designers, and fashionable dressers the world over. It is also one of the few “non-photographs” I have hanging in my studio. A clear teaching/working print hangs over my desk along with post-it notes stuck all over the place giving insight on using the colors in some dyes, editing programs, and how to white balance to best take advantage of a color if it will appear often in a session. Actually, the one I use is a bit more complex, but just as effective:

If you think back to primary school, we learn there are three primary colors. We remember that red, blue, and yellow are the basics and from those all other shades and combinations are born. Now, look at the wheel. Do you see only thee colors? Do you see just six colors? No. Even in school we learn that there are at least three more colors we can make by using the primary three; from red and blue we get purple, blue and yellow give us green, and yellow with red brings us orange. Those are joined by white - the sum of all colors, black – the absence of color, and brown – the muddled combination of three primary shades in unequal parts.

Here is what we don't learn in kindergarten... some colors make others appear brighter or stronger just by being near them. Now that I've dropped that bombshell on you, I would like to refer you back to the color wheel image above. Notice what colors are opposing on the wheel. If you draw a direct line across the wheel you will find the polar-opposite is based on that theory.

Fantastic, there are opposite colors... now why do you need to know this? Well, I am getting to that part. But first I'll give you a task: Draw a line from GREEN, across the wheel to the color it most “sets off”. What do you find there? You should be looking at RED. Yes, red and green are opposites here too. Actually, that is exactly why they are used on traffic lights in that way. Now run you finger or eye around the wheel counter-clockwise and find the “mid-point”. Now does it make sense why we use YELLOW as the “slow down” signal?

By now you are sick of me talking about traffic lights and want to know what, if anything, this has to do with your photography. Well, think about hair and eye color. Blue eyes look wonderful when the skin around them as a slightly bronzed look. Make-up companies have been using this fact to sell “color kits” for years, so why not make the same connection in your work?

One benefit of photography as a medium is that color theory can actually be applied very simply. We can coordinate with a model, make-up artist, wardrobe director, or any other person who will have input in the shoot based on a simple formula. Think of it as color algebra. You take the two colors from the wheel and select the actual unique tone that will make the highest impact to create exactly the image you seek.

( RED + GREEN ) = BEAUTY
TONE

For now I will leave you this real-life example, flaws an all. The model in this photo from over my recent break has a lovely tan and it is set off even better when posed against the rolling waves on the beach. We both felt that the chilly water and my soaked jeans were well worth the beauty of this natural and emotive atmosphere, and the colors agree perfectly with a little tweaking. In fact, I am still in the process of choosing my final modifications.