Lauren and Vlad

So with Lauren and Vlad's wedding coming up on March 20, 2010 ; I thought I would put up a few more pictures that didn't get as much attention when I first posted their teaser images. I am very much looking forward to shooting their wedding in Pennsylvania. Enjoy!

How to tell the difference between a Photographer and a "Photographer".

So it has occurred to me that with all of the digital cameras out there and photo editing software, many people now are calling themselves photographers. There is a large difference between catching a good picture of grandma at her birthday and being a professional photographer.

Taking all of this into consideration, I have decided to list questions you should be asking a potential photographer you are looking to hire. These questions are designed to differentiate between a "photographer" and a professional.

Some of you may be wondering why I would be giving away this "cheat sheet". My answer...... because I am a bride just as much as a photographer. I understand how important it is to have great pictures of your wedding day and your deserve them, whether I am the one to capture them or not.

So without further delay, I give to you.... the "Cheat Sheet".

The Questions:

1- What color space is your camera set at? - Why does this matter? I'll tell you why! There are two color space options for all digital SLR cameras. Those two options are Adobe RGB and sRGB. So what is the difference between them and which one is better? Well, Take a look at this diagram and make the decision yourself.....

The black outline is all of the colors that Adobe RGB recognizes and the white outline is all of the colors that sRGB recognizes. Which setting would you prefer? I would personally want the setting that covers more color, which is Adobe RGB. However, the default setting on all digital SLR cameras from the factory is sRGB. So if your photographer is truly a photographer, they would have gone in and manual changed this setting and therefore, be able to answer this question.

2 - What file format do you shoot it? - Why does it matter? It matters plenty! First we have to know what file formats photos can be created in. The most common are JPEG (which is what most point and shoot digital cameras shoot) and RAW. So what's the difference and what is better?

Well, a JPEG file is a compressed file. How do they compress it? Well, when your camera takes a picture in JPEG format, the camera decides what information is important and what is not. This information includes color ranges for example. So there could be a two blues that are a shade apart in the photograph, rule of JPEG file format says to make those two shades both the same color to save file space. JPEG file format causes your camera to throw out information that it deems "useless".

RAW format is exactly what it sounds like, raw! It is the digital form of a negative from the days of film. RAW files also mean larger files because unlike JPEG, RAW files are complete. The camera does not remove information from the photograph. The advantage to this comes into play when the files are read by an interpreter such as Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Lightroom. The photo editor has more control over changes in the photograph. Also, all of the color differences in photographs are picked up that you Adobe RGB setting recognized.

So which is better.... RAW file format. This also needs to be set by the camera operator. The default setting on most digital SLR cameras is JPEG.



Are there other questions you could ask to be sure your photographer is the real deal? OF COURSE! But these two questions will help you weed out the difference between the pros and someone who got lucky with a picture of grandma at a family party.

There are plenty of other things I could discuss with you on how to look at a photograph and know what features were original to the photograph and what was a Photoshop add on or correction, but that would take a long time! It also takes a trained eye to recognize it.

Most Importantly:
"P" mode means "Program", not "Professional". What do I mean by this? - Program mode on ANY camera is allowing the camera to make decisions for itself. It is not as smart as a person, nor does it know what you are trying to photograph. Different camera settings render different results. A photograph taken at F-22 has a different outcome than the same photo taken at F-5.6. What does that mean in lamen's terms? The objects in focus will differ. Bottom line, Program mode is pretty much the camera taking the pictures with someone to push the button. A photographer takes the picture, not the camera.

So please, make sure that you hire a photographer you are confident in. If you are interested in reading more on digital SLR cameras and photography techniques, this is the website I always refer to.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm 

Enjoy and happy reading!

Liz and Gary's wedding reception

Hello all! So lets see..... where to start. Well, Liz's mom Daren gave me a call back in September and told me about Liz and Gary. They were planning to get married in Aruba and having a wedding reception here in CT and Daren wanted me to photograph the reception. I gladly accepted and arrived at the Lily Lake Inn in Wolcott CT, which also happens to be where I am getting married next year! The room looked gorgeous and Liz brought along pictures to share of her and Gary's private destination wedding. It was strictly the bride and groom only in Aruba, which is the way they wanted it. They preferred to have a simple wedding with a family party at home. Instead of just one party, they will be having two! The groom, Gary, is from Ireland and not all of his family could make the trip to CT, so they will be having another party in Ireland in December. Talk about having a double honeymoon! Do you have room for me in your suitcase?

It was a very relaxed party with an "anything goes" kind of attitude. Everyone enjoyed themselves and even got some great dancing in after dinner. Here are the long awaited pictures of Liz and Gary's wedding reception. Thank you Daren, Liz and Gary for inviting me to be a part of such a great party!

 

Liz and Gary's Wedding Reception

Coming Soon!!

The Profeta Family

On Sunday I took family photos for Robert, Rebecca and Talon Profeta. We met at Waveny Park in New Canaan, CT and it was beautiful. I had never been there before but Robert and Rebecca chose it because of the grounds. It included a large mansion, ball field, pond, and rose garden. We had a few specific shots in mind which proved to be a little bit of a challenge because Talon had his own agenda. We managed to accomplish them with a little bit of creativity and they look wonderful!

 

 

 

This was one of the shots we had to be creative with. We wanted Talon to sit on the lower part of the hill and have Robert and Rebecca standing farther up the hill where they are in this image. Talon was not interested because he wanted to stay with mom and dad. The only other thing he wanted to do was run. So we told him to start by Robert and Rebecca and run down the hill towards me. I think the shot was a great success!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katie and Nick

On Saturday I met with Katie and Nick to take pictures for their engagement. Katie and Nick met me at 9am with coffee in hand. We started off on the playground at the Brookfield Municipal Center in Brookfield, CT and headed down the walking trail there. That particular trail heads underneath the highway so we decided to add to the graffiti that was already there, but with sidewalk chalk of course. We had such a great time, I can't wait to photograph their wedding in July.

 

 

 

 

 This image will be used for their save the dates. After Katie saw the text I added for Lauren and Vlad's photo shoot, she decided she had to have an image like that in her bunch as well.

 

We found this really interesting thought bubble that was actually already blacked out like it is here. With a little bit of photoshop, we were able to add some fun text in the bubble.

 

 

 

 

 

Nick was very proud of the ring he got Katie that he wanted to be sure we got some very good pictures of it. I think we did the job... What do you think?

The Putzigs

On Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing Jacquie and Karl Putzig. The wedding was held at Karl's parents' home in New Milford, CT. They had plans for an outdoor ceremony and reception complete with a tent, DJ and romantic lighting. Mother nature had different plans and about 30 mins before start time, the wedding need to be moved inside because it was pouring rain. The ceremony and reception were moved to the main living room, which in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful rooms in the entire home. It was a great day despite the rain and everyone had a great time. Here are a few of the many pictures I took that day. Enjoy!