I Have a New Blog!

Greetings beloved readers!

I have switched my blog over to Word Press because I have so much more control and options and most importantly to me I am able to make it SO much prettier!

So here is the link to my new blog
http://illuminephotography.wordpress.com/

and here is the link to the first new post
http://illuminephotography.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/lds-general-conference-and-fun/

It would mean the world to me if y'all could follow me over there {pretty, pretty, please}.

Also, I 'll be posting details about my headshot mini-session there soon and the spring mini-sessions after that.

THANK YOU!!!

March Lightplay {Utah Photography}

One of my goals this year is to play more with lighting and so I gave myself the assignment of doing a different lighting project every month. I am reading a really fun book The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally and sometimes I challenge myself to recreate something he has done but with my own twist, 'cause y'know, nobody likes a copycat. :)

The above photo was inspired by one of Joe's where he is shooting through a rainy window and while I want to play with that idea too as I was reading the section an image through blinds immediately popped into my head. Luckily I have kids who are always willing to help (or willing to be bribed). This is my daughter and we are just in my front room and I have a Nikon SB800 flash outside on a lightstand in Remote mode and I am using my on Camera flash in Commander mode to trigger it through my open front door. We took a bunch but I especially loved the repeating stripe elements in this one as well as the shadow on the wall and the downturned face that I feel makes your eyes travel through the photo instead of getting stuck on the subject's eyes.

Two Temples and a Holiday {Utah Photography}

I've been having a hard time making it to photograph my monthly temples before it get's black dark the last couple of months. I missed Oquirrh Mountain by about fifteen minutes but oh well, I will prevail! I tried to make interesting images anyway which is why I went more impressionistic (probably not a word) with the above image of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I didn't realize I'd done matching panorama shots for both temples until I uploaded these to blogger. Sidenote: both temples also have matching chandeliers {my favorite that I've seen}.


I don't know why I like the above shot so much, I just do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am standing right next to the fountain...I really like fountains.

I really like the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It's cozy, yet splendid.

I finished a wonderful weekend with a fabulous St. Patrick's day. My DH {darling hubby} knows how much I love St. Patty's so he took me to the Celtic Celebration at Peery's Egyptian Theatre. He also knows how much I love that theatre and bagpipes, which were part of the celebration. I am so spoiled! :)

Photowalk 2012 {Utah Photography}

A few weeks ago I went to the annual Photowalk event where some wonderful volunteers put together different lighting stations complete with models and you could practice these different set-ups to your heart's content. I have been invited in years past but this is the first year that I've gone (it's a rather long drive for me). When I got there the event was already in full swing and I made a note to self to arrive at the start next year instead of awhile into the event because it was PACKED!! There were about ten different stations and for the set-ups involving strobes you had to wait your turn to use the triggers so I knew I wasn't going to be able to hit every set-up. I wandered for a bit to get my bearings then headed for the continuous light set-up showcasing a gorgeous gent and a piano. Yeah, I would, I know.
I would go to a station and think to myself "What do I want to say here" and go from there. In this case I wanted a much more moody look. I know, I love drama, mood, theatre. It's just who I am. I felt there was a lot more light here than I wanted so I turned him around on the bench for more of a split light effect. I saw this set-up as very dark with maybe a beam of light from a snooted-off camera speedlight edging across his face, but that's just my interpretation.

Next I heard an announcement that there was a set-up next door with really dramatic theatrical make-up so yes, I made a beeline for that and though the wait was long it was definitely worth it. This set up was my favorite.

It was fun to find out that the model on the left is one that I have worked with before and really like. I didn't recognize her at first with all the make-up. Shocker, right?

When I walked back in to the main room there was no one at this station and I was tired of lines so I jumped in. It was also natural light so several photographers could shoot at a time so that was nice. It was challenging to get the shots that you wanted that day when you knew people were waiting behind you and you needed to be quick. You really had to visualize your concept while in line and work fast. I shoot with a tripod and that was tricky and slowed me down but I do NOT care what people think. I am very picky and I want my images tack sharp, especially the eyes. I tried to not use my tripod sometimes, like on the image above which was a grab test shot that of course ended up being my favorite and it's too soft which makes me mad at myself. The background on the above shot was a sort of teal blue which is perfectly fine but I personally loathe as a color so I knew I would be going to black and white which for some reason reminded me of a CK underwear ad so that's sort of the direction I went.

Next up I HAD to do the rock-star style set up. Too much fun! Again I went a lot darker that the settings that they had posted and then even darker in post production. It's just what I saw in my head.

*laughing* The above image was taken by Jeremy Nicoll, a fellow shooter, while another photographer was up. I was a "groupie" for several different people. It was fun being a prop and I'm always up for stuff like that. :)

I loved the tribal make-up and her outfit and props were killer. Once again I wanted to go a LOT darker so that's what I did. I guess it was just the mood that I was in that day. Maybe I just always see thing in terms of being on stage with a single spotlight. I don't know, I'm going to have to give it some thought.


Last, but most definitely not least, I had to hit the high key all white background set-up by David Terry if only just to say hi to him. There was only about five minutes of the event left so I barely made it and had to be super quick but it was fun and hey, this one isn't dark so I feel better. :)

All in all it was a wonderful, pure chocolate, sort of a day. I got to stretch the creative muscles and see a lot of my fellow photographers which is always nice. I also got to meet a lot of "friends" in person and that was fun. Will I go next year? ABSOLUTELY!!!

1,000 Stories {One Million Words}

This album is my 1,000 day photo project. I loved doing my 365 day photo project entitled My World. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself artistically and one of the best personally. I expected to be relieved when I completed it but I wasn't, I missed it terribly. I decided to start another daily project but I wanted it to have a different theme. I have always loved stories. I feel like I always have one or more going on in my head at all times and when I photograph I am always trying to tell the story of what I see and how I feel in my images so I decided to make that the theme of my new project. If a picture is worth a thousand words then I hope to record a million of them.

I decided to start on Leap Day because it's just a fun day and here is my favorite story so far.

I took this last night, it was my Grandfather's 86th birthday and my extended family was together to celebrate it along with St. Patrick's (we're Irish). My Grandparent's were enjoying a moment (I won't say quiet because my family is NOT) and I bolted for my camera.

Here is the link to my Boutique site where I will be posting all of my stories.
http://fineart.illuminephotography.com/1000stories


p.s. The file names are dates and times the images were taken. I like to remember both. Although my objective was to not explain my My World photographs I will be telling the stories behind these images more often.

The Fielding Family {Utah Family Photography}

"In the midst of winter I found within myself an invincible summer."

Isn't that a beautiful quote?

This is the Fielding Family and that quote was the theme that we built their session around. I can't express enough how much I love it when people put thought and meaning into their images. I think it makes for a much stronger emotional connection and brings more joy to the heart when you see your beautiful wall art in your home.

p.s. You have to notice that their color theme is Americana...get it?...summer??

This is one of my favorite locations, especially for this time of year and it has personal meaning for this family which makes it even nicer. The image above is my favorite from the session. This adorable little girl was a bit reticent about having her photo taken and she had a pretty tight grip on her special doll. In this image her mom has just tossed the doll into a snowbank in hopes of getting a shot sans doll. I'm sort of hanging over the edge of a bridge at this point and I had a clear view of the little darling's face and just held down the shutter. Priceless!

Utah State HEY! Aggies all the way!!

Just another reason I love this family! Most of them actually came straight from a USU game to our photo session. Sadly they told me that the Aggies hadn't played well but we just won't speak of that. ;)

By the end she was happier and can I just say that this little girl is loved and adored!

We had such a wonderful day. Thank you so SO much Fielding Family!

Miss Jillian in the Snow {Utah Photography}

I love concept shoots and I love pictures in the snow! Just fyi, a concept shoot for me is where I have a picture rolling around in my head and am finally able to put the pieces together and shoot it. It’s kinda like saying “Shave and a haircut….” and then when you do the shoot and see the final photos you get to sing at the top of your lungs “TWOOOOOOOOOO BIIIIIIIIITS!!!!!”

It feels good.

This beautiful girl is the lovely and talented Miss Jillian Tirado. She doesn’t have her last name on her fbook profile for me to double check so I sincerely hope that I am spelling it correctly. We first talked about this shoot ages upon ages ago. Originally we were going to do it in the fall. I had some idea of it being the last fairy of fall about to go to sleep before the winter but now that I see everything put together it works much better as a snow fairy, don’t you think? We wanted to start a little earlier in the day to get day and night looks but due to a small driving mishap we got started a little late. Jillian valiantly offered to postpone but she had done so much work on hair and makeup (did you notice the forehead jewels) that there was no way I wasn’t going to see what I could get. I am actually delighted with how they turned out.

I forgot to mention that this shoot doubled as my lightplay monthly photo project for February. I was playing with off camera flash and the sky. The sky part is hard to explain but see the lovely blue in the shot below? That's what I was trying to get on that shot. Just a little backstory: at this point in the evening it is so dark that I can't see Jillian's face through my camera viewfinder.


Luckily Jillian has agreed to play again so you will see more of her to come. I love being surrounded by artistic, creative people. Thank you Jillian!

p.s. Here is the link to the rest.
http://fineart.illuminephotography.com/jillian