karina_a

<p>Thank you for your reassuring replies. I promise I am not obsessing HP - though you did give me a good laugh too; but just wanted a reality check after my colleague mentioned they don't post images, and because I know recently I have wondered about whether I should be posting images of my own DD on Facebook, and then that got me to wondering where you draw the line. There is a bit of media discussion in Australia (where I am from) at the moment, about thinking about the digital footprint legacy you are leaving behind for your kids, and I just thought it was worth considering these issues thoroughly before uploading, as once photos are out there, they cannot be taken back, so I want to make sure that whatever decision I make is well thought out. You have given me some good food for thought. Thank you!<br /><br /> </p>

<p>Hi there,<br /><br />I have been offline for a while, and it is lovely to be back. I am not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this question, but I couldn't find a forum for baby and children's photography, and given that I used to hang out in this one, I thought I would try here...<br /><br />I am currently setting up my website for baby and children's photography, and am umming and ahhing about what I feel comfortable including. Most children's photographers I know include lots of photos of naked babies or semi-wrapped babies (and clothed older children), and upload new ones to their blogs all the time... And that is what I was planning on doing... Until a colleague told me that she only has a couple of photos on her website, and that she works on word of mouth, and emails a link to her password protected portfolio if they are interested, as she is uncomfortable sharing photos of kids online.<br /><br />So now I am totally confused about how I feel about this. On the one hand I feel like this could seriously hamstring my business (although she doesn't find that to be the case), and on the other hand - I can see her point.<br /><br />What are other people's thoughts and feelings on this (not from a legal perspective - I of course would get model releases if I am going to upload any photos), but from the point of view of how comfortable we are with online photos of kids, and naked babies... Am I being paranoid? Or is it good to keep these things more private for the families.<br /><br />So confused! Thanks in advance!<br />Karina </p>

<p>Blimey! Thanks for the warning! I am currently building a Wix site, and had missed that. Between these and Facebook - honestly - so cheeky!</p>

 

<p>Dear Harlan,<br /><br />I have just logged on after a while offline, and so am deeply saddened to hear this news. I am so sorry for your loss, and especially two such immense losses so close together. I just wanted to say that Nadine was so incredibly helpful to me for a number of years as I was starting out in photography. She put so much time and care and heart into helping so many of us, and I am so incredibly grateful. Thank you also for your lovely message. I too think the prize idea is a lovely one.<br />Holding Nadine and all of you in the light.<br />Warm regards,<br />Karina Andjelic-Lane</p>

<p>Thanks so much everyone. My husband ran a memory test (Rember) and everything was ok. The file still shows up the same in other programs, but a backup file seems to be normal. There may be something in the suggestion that the hard drive may be going bad - we have terrible luck with hard drives and have had a number of them go on us over the years. We do have backups (we keep three). I will pass on that info re verification to hubby - thanks Andrew.<br>

Thanks again for your help everyone!</p>

<p>Sorry - Don't know why the photo is not displaying - the file is small enough and I included a caption - I will try one more time - perhaps the file format is not acceptable.</p><div></div>

<p>Whoops - the file must have been too large - will try again:</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I am wondering if anyone else has problems with corrupt files in Lightroom? We have now for the third or fourth time had a file become corrupt in LR. It is nothing to do with uploading from cards etc as it always happens when the files have been in LR for some time. This time it has only happened to one file, but in the past it has happened to several within the same folder at one time. This time I actually watched it happen - one minute the photo was fine, and the next minute it was corrupt. When it is corrupt it doesn't say it is corrupt, but appears corrupt with funny pink lines through it as in the screen shot below. Googling brings up other people with this problem, but no solutions. Anyone found out what this is and if anything can be done to repair it, and how to avoid it? I am editing a wedding, and whilst I have backups it does not inspire confidence to have photos corrupting before my eyes.<br>

We are currently using LR 2.6, but will upgrade soon to 3. <br>

Thanks for the help! Have a great day : )<br>

Karina </p>

<p>Hi everyone - haven't posted in a while, but have been lurking and enjoying everyone else's posts.<br>

 

<br />

I am interested in using a site like Smugmug or Zenfolio - for two purposes - as a method for couples to share photos with their friends quickly and without hassle, and to help guests to order photos from weddings (so they aren't bugging the B&G for copies etc), but there are two things I am uncertain about:

<br />

<ul >

<li>I am in Australia and most of these sites tend to be in the US with labs in the US and UK. This makes postage both expensive and slow to Australia. Does anyone know of any Australian sites, or sites with partner labs in Australia? I haven't been able to find any so far.</li>

</ul>

<p>Secondly:</p>

<ul >

<li>I usually prefer to print (and recommend to my couples that they also do this) at a pro lab that prints in AdobeRGB, and format the files accordingly (as obviously the colour is much better than sRGB); however all the photos I put in galleries on the internet I put up as sRGB files, as obviously the Internet isn't colour managed, and AdobeRGB files look flat on the net. So I always have two separate sets of files - one for printing at pro-labs (AdobeRGB), and one for the internet and printing at minilabs (sRGB). If I were to use Smugmug/Zenfolio etc, does that mean I would have to start being ok with my clients getting sRGB photos? If so - have you guys been happy with the results compared to what you would get at pro-labs printing AdobeRGB? </li>

</ul>

<p>Thanks so much for any thoughts you might have and have a lovely day : )

Karina

</p>

<p>Whoops - sorry Nadine - forgot it was too large. Take 2:</p><div></div>

<p>I also find it good insurance to make sure I get lots of candid portraits of the male while they are chatting to friends so that if the formal shots are too rigid I know I have shown them being more relaxed as well. Again this one is 4 years old and I would do things differently now, but I was happy that he looked relaxed and happy. Also these pics have been exported out of Picasa as I don't have my backup drive connected, but you get the general idea. I like everyone's ideas of looking at fashion mags and Hollywood portraits for ideas - will follow that up myself.</p>

<p>Hi Tina & Cliff,<br>

I'm not sure how much help I can be as I am an amateur and look for inspiration on this front too, but I will throw my 2 cents in. I have had issues with posing men also, but have found that if they can lean in some way they are more comfortable.<br>

This wedding from four years ago was the first one we shot as primary shooters, so isn't the best example of our work, but I am including it as the groom whilst being a very lovely guy, was extremely uncomfortable around the camera; so while this may not be an amazing photo, I was happy that he looked comfortable, relaxed and happy. </p><div></div>

<div></div>

<div></div>

<div></div>

<p>Hi Sergey,<br>

Sorry about the late response - I have been offline for a while and only just saw this. <br>

Albums Australia specialise in this style of album. I have printed one such album with them (I do really like the combination of both styles in one album), and it was totally stunning. The quality was exceptional, they were very easy to deal with and extremely helpful, and if you need it their free album design software is very easy to use (but they also accept your own PS designs). They post anywhere in the world, and I believe have regular customers around the globe. Promise I don't work for them - I was just very impressed.<br>

Best of luck,<br>

Karina </p>

<p>Thank you so much all of you for the wonderful information! The net has been down so I couldn't get on to thank you until now, but I really appreciate all the effort - you guys are fab! <br>

Thanks and have a great weekend! : )</p>

<p>Hi there,<br>

I am new to this forum (usually hang out in Wedding and No Words) so hello and thanks for your time, and please be gentle ; )<br>

I have what seems to me to be a stupid question that I feel I should know the answer to, however I have searched widely (both on the net and PNet) to find the answer to my question with no luck so far, despite watching many tutorials.<br>

I decided I wanted to learn how to use textures, and through tutorials I have the basics, however, there seems to be one glaring omission that none of them discuss, and that is how to selectively use the textures on some parts of the photo and not on others - eg: in the photo I am working on I don't particularly want the texture on the subject's face. So I assumed I could just invert the layer as I usually do (Command I) and paint the layer onto the parts of the photo where I want them to be. But strangely when I invert the layer, the photo goes all sorts of weird colours and does not behave like it normally does when I invert a layer so I can selectively paint it on. <br /><br />When this happened I realised I was way out of my depth, however no tutorials I can find talk about selectively painting on textures - they only talk about changing the blending mode or opacity, and assume you want the texture to cover the whole photo.<br>

I thought it was going to be so easy : (<br>

Any ideas? Sorry if this is a really stupid question! I am great at the bits of PS that I know, but there is a universe of stuff in PS that I don't know, and this one I can't seem to find info on anywhere.<br>

<br />Thanks again for your time!<br />Warm regards,<br>

Karina : ) </p>

<p>Just my 2 cents - I like sloppy borders when they are done well, and I think the ones here frame the shots nicely. I don't think they are pretending to be film, just framing a shot, and I find it aesthetically pleasing and it draws my eye into the shot. Of course if I am printing a lot of shots I make the sloppy border very subtle so it doesn't feel like overkill, but it is fun to do the odd one a bit more boldly.</p>

<p>Hi Chris, You're welcome. I am sure I will get help from you at some stage also. It's all about sharing, and it is a great community for that, which I am sure you will contribute greatly to. </p>

<p>Re the confidence thing: you should be proud of your work - as I said, it is lovely. I only wrote what I did because you said you wanted to take a journey with your work (as we all do - we are all always learning and growing - well hopefully anyway), and so I was brainstorming with you, and not because I felt your work was not good (I know you weren't referring to my comments, I am just saying this because I do think you should be very confident). Perhaps one way not to have your confidence shaken is to be proud of what you do (which you should be!) and from that position, see your process of asking questions or opening yourself to new possibilities as simply being on the journey (like all artists) of always refining your vision. That is something any artist will do for the rest of their lives as part of the act of creating, and not something that means you are 'less than', or a snapshot-shooter. Framing it like that to yourself may make it easier to be able to bounce around ideas with colleagues such as people on this board, without letting the process decrease your confidence. You take much more than snapshots, so never think that! You are a colleague chatting to colleagues about the journey - that need never shake your confidence. You will contribute as much as you learn I am sure.</p>

<p>PPS: Thanks for sharing Faith's website - her work is stunning. I will have to stick with what I first said - with her (like all my other fav. top pros) - it is not any fancy PS tricks that are making her work shine (although she definitely has good solid non-trick PP that gives great depth, colour and tonal range, and just a handful of photos with 'effects' which as Nadine says, is the way to go), but rather all the other things I mentioned in my way too long post, and also what we were saying about finding a way to be close to the action whilst encouraging the intimacy and joy to come through.</p>

<p>PS: we have the 70-200, but I must say that apart from one of us (I shoot with my hubby) using it at the back of the church on a tripod during the ceremony, it never comes out. I mostly use the 24-70 as well as a wide, and the 50mm 1.4 for detail shots. That's just me, but just so you know - it can be done with what you have. I find if you make your energy small and warm and remind them to pretend you are not there when you are getting candids you can get pretty close to people (apart from the ceremony obviously) without ruining the ambience. </p>

<p>Hi again Chris. Yeah - Stephen is right - lots of the magic usually comes from the happiness and love in the couples eyes and mouths. Lots of people do experience that always having to rush along problem. I have been told by long-term shooters that it really helps to set up expectations in the initial interview - ie: to let them know that of course you will fit into whatever they need for their day, and get good shots with the time you have, but that if they want more intimate couple photos that they will need to schedule a good amount of time for that to happen. </p>

<p>I found in the few weddings I have shot that if you do have a tiny bit of extra time you can take them away from everyone else (very hard to look all romantic when everyone is looking on), hopefully find a lovely background, and tell them just to pretend you are not there, and catch up with what happened that morning and in the ceremony, and that is always a great time to get intimate shots of them being romantic and loving as well as having some laughs - because it is the first opportunity they have had to stop and relax after a hectic morning, to tell each other the stories of their funny, silly moments that happened in the morning, to relive the beauty and romance of the ceremony, to have a hug and steal some kisses. Then when you have a good amount of shots of them ignoring you, you can get a few of them facing the camera, but by this time they will be relaxed with each other and a bit more 'dreamy'. If they instantly go stiff, you can ask them to relax back into that lovely energy they just had with each other. </p>

<p>With some couples who don't naturally relax in front of camera I got them to sit together with their bridal party and have a coffee or champagne somewhere close by (after the family formals were taken and everyone else had gone off), and it was easy to take photos of the couple relaxing while they were laughing with friends, and stealing kisses - I used the 24-70 for this, which was plenty long enough to give them that intimate space and still get the shot. My wedding photographer did the same thing, and the best couple shots from our wedding, as well as the best bridal party shots were taken at this time, because none of us were aware of the camera, and we all felt so warm and fuzzy. I realise often this time is not available, but can often be made available if people realise early on that it helps them get the photos they want. The couples we have done it with have thanked me many times after also and said it was their favourite part of the day because they got to relax and really 'be' with their partner and also their bridal party for the first time and really the only time in the whole day, before they get swept up again by duties. If there's no time for a sit down somewhere, we found even a brief walk in a bit of greenery whilst ignoring me for most of the time got great candids and set the mood up more intimately for some more 'face the camera' shots.</p>

<p>PS: Typo: I should have said 'how you could make them 'LESS realistic'. </p>

<p>One other thing I will say and then I promise I will shut up ; ) One of the things I love about Marc William's photos (and others of his level) is that they look Classic to me. When I say classic - they capture something of the archetype of wedding and love, and they are timeless. There are many ways they do this, but to be brief one of the keys is that they focus on the subject and the shapes and lines, and not the clutter around - and there are many ways they do that (DOF, composition, leading lines etc); but looking at his gallery and thinking about what makes each photo look 'Classic' and therefore not so 'realistic' - or to my mind 'mundane' would be a word (without in any way saying your photography is mundane - just meaning less 'every day') might be a good exercise - and is one I have found very useful on this subject. For my 2 cents - the post processing he and others do is one of the things that helps, but is by no means even number 10 on the list.</p>

<p>Hi Chris,<br>

Thanks for your answer - it makes it a bit clearer what you are after. Esp when you say:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"the problem with my photos is they look realistic"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I just had a look at your site and there are some lovely shots in there. Just my 2 cents (keep in mind I am a relative newbie to weddings, but I do shoot a lot for myself, and try to be creative, so think I may have something to offer, and keeping in mind you asked for comments on your photos and how you could make them more realistic): Your shots are lovely, but if you are concerned that they look too realistic, I totally get what you are trying to say - when I do travel and street photography, I am trying to shoot every day things, but to give them a bit of magic, or probably more correctly - to find the magic that is already contained within them. Also approaching a wedding or baby shoot - I am looking for something to show the emotion, magic, epic/iconic/classic/otherworldly aspects - because a wedding is not just a series of mundane events - it contains many layers - emotional, iconic/symbolic (it is a symbol both of the love and relationship of the couple and their family and friends, but also an archetypal level of 'LOVE' if that makes sense - something deeper), magical: 'wow I have been dreaming of this moment for so long and in my mind it has taken on magical and epic aspects, and now it is really happening and the photos will have to try to show all the deeper levels to the next generation etc'; Beauty: brides work quite hard to get everything organised to look as good as they do on the day - and want to see the results in photos, but also it is important to translate the inner beauty of the people involved. </p>

<p>There many ways to try to achieve the above, and I am not saying I am there in any way yet, but when I see the work of people who are, some of the things they are doing - apart from having flawless technique - are:</p>

 

<ul>

<li>Shooting from different heights, angles and distances - to find the magic of that particular shot (whilst your shots are lovely, they are perhaps not always varied enough from this perspective, which means not finding the sweet spot for that shot - when you are often front and centre (in terms of the plane of relationship between the camera and the subject), things will look more realistic. I would have liked to see shots that were much closer in - more detail shots - and then some that were much further away and showed the people in context with the surroundings - which hopefully are stunning, and if not then you can find something stunning somewhere nearby).</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>Using shallow DOF to highlight the subject, simplify the image, get rid of clutter, increase creativity and add a bit of magic.</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>These two above things are what I say to friends who ask "how can I make my photos look less like snapshots" when they are about to go travelling - vary your view on all the 3 dimensions until you see the magic in the subject, and think about the DOF that will bring attention to the subject and magic to the shot).</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>Looking for amazing light opportunities, and when they are not there, creating them - beautiful light on faces, stormy clouds, gorgeous window light, and if none of above available - then really well-achieved fill light.</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>Having great tonal range (both in camera and in post - your B&W shots were lovely, but the tonal range made them look flat and did them a disservice - the whites weren't clean and the blacks were dark grey - maybe do a search on Marc Williams recipe for 'creamy B&W conversions. Also your coloured shots also looked a bit flat to me - which I think was your post-processing letting your shots down, and they could be really great if you improve that. Again - I really found doing short courses, or even using online tutorials in Lightroom and PS really helped me with this. (Aplogies if you are already a post-wizz, but you were asking how to achieve photos that didn't look so 'realistic', and I really do think tonal range is key in this. Having a decent S curve can really make photos that look more snap-shotty and flat (as most digital photos do just straight out of camera) can really help them to pop. I reckon just making some basic contrast adjustments in LR would really improve the flatness, and also keeping in mind the medium you are exporting to (using sRGB if you are exporting to computer or minilab, and whatever colour space your lab is using if you use a Pro lab - hopefully they are using AdobeRGB or ProPhoto - when I wasn't aligning my colour space to my labs or my output unit, my results were very flat. Also - if your monitor isn't calibrated - that will also create a world of pain. Another thing I found really useful for learning to improve my post and make it more creative was to purchase some Action sets, and then rather than just using them (which can make your work look like everyone else's) I used them to learn how to approach making Actions, and increase creativity, and then started to make my own. Jeff Ascough has a great set of actions you can purchase for not very much, and you may find they help you to start learning some of these steps. His B&W conversions are gorgeous, and his 'Botox Baby' if used very delicately and without overkill (very easy to overkill blur and look cheesy) is great for smoothing skin-tones and using in other parts of the photo to give an 'otherworldly feel' - or you could play a little with making your own.</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>A lot of your shots seem to be taken at the ceremony or reception where you can always of course take great shots, but if you want to get creative and do the sort of shots you have used as an example, you may need to ask for time with the couple between ceremony and reception to go somewhere with an interesting creative background as in the shots you chose, and where you have more time to be creative.</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>One of the things I notice about the really great photographers is they really shoot the relationships well and show the emotion - you may well have lots more shots that are not on your website, but looking for some more candid, non-setup emotional moments may help too.</li>

</ul>

 

<ul>

<li>As well as good basic house-keeping post-processing, the pro's I like are able (selectively and without overkill) to use creative post-processing - selective blur, selective darkening, changing saturation/vibrancy to give a particular look, and again - damn good B&W conversions. And they know when to stop - there is a fine line between creative and cheesy. And again - often you can achieve the magic in LR just by adjusting the curves, without having to add any fireworks in PS.</li>

</ul>

<p>Anyway - I have gone on somewhat - sorry! But these are just my thoughts as to some of the things that might help your photos look less realistic, and give them a bit of sparkle and magic. Take it with a grain of salt as I am an amateur, but one who has thought long and hard on these things, and tried to do what you are doing myself (and still am).</p>

<p>Again - compliments on some lovely photos, best of luck, and look forward to seeing some of your journey as you work with your vision. PS: Sorry if I have said anything that didn't make sense - I am supposed to be organising a dinner party and got side-tracked thinking about this and won't have time to re-read or edit this or I will be caught with no food to feed people ; )</p>

<ul>

</ul>