Mike & Cortney (St. Cloud Rock Quarries)

Mike & Courtney

Last winter I put out some posts about needing some couples to model for sessions. Courtney contacted me, and I met with her and Mike to discuss details. After a quick coffee date, I just happened to browse Facebook and saw that they had gotten engaged THAT AFTERNOON! That made the session so much more exciting. 

We decided to shoot in the Rock Quarries, which are beautiful during spring but have some odd stories and history. If I go there again, I'll bring Pepper Spray, and make sure I'm shooting during the week...too many people up there during the weekends!

I've realized that laughing, in photos, is one of the most unique and precious things in engagement sessions. When a couple giggles over an inside joke or starts to spiral into laughter because one of them blinked at an odd time or said something funny, they create a genuine connection that you can see in the photo. 

So anyway, Mike & Courtney are totally in love, and they're full of life and laughter. I'm so excited for their future together.

Cheers,

How to Take Simple Product Photography (for Etsy, FB, IG) With an iPhone

My mom started and owns Waverly Soap Company (if you haven't been on her Etsy page you should go there now, and treat yourself. Once you start with a good product you'll never be able to go back). Anyway, after yeeeears of experimenting with photos and backgrounds and filters, we've narrowed it down to a science. So I though I'd share what we do, because to be honest, I was mildly fascinated with how much we've progressed (in the photography department)...which now that I think about it, is totally my fault, cause I wanted to be the photographer. Wow. Please close your browser and stop reading about how awful I used to be at my current job. I swear I've gotten better at this.

So anyway, iPhone photos aren't the clearest but they work SO well for Etsy, Instagram, and Facebook.

I'd recommend starting with a starkly light or dark background or a VERY blurry one. And absolutely never ever use a printed background. Never take photos against scrapbook paper, or a wrinkly curtain etc. I've tried that (like a million years ago), and now I look back at those photos and they make me want to cry. And never, ever, add little accent things to the picture. You want people to notice your product. Not your pearl necklace or the random "accent" lily in the corner of the picture.

Also, the apple editor on your phone is a gold mine. And that's NOT because they added new filters. No, go past the filters and you can use that little editor to correct colors and lighting. I'd also recommend downloading VSCO for editing. That one is definitely my favorite for changing lighting/saturation/angles. I highly recommend taking photos that you think are "good enough" and adding some contrast. Cause 99% of the time they'll get better.

Since you can manage your Etsy shop an Facebook/Instagram from your phone, it makes so much sense to do photos like this with an app and your phone.
So anyway, I just wanted to share all that stuff with you all cause I thought it was pretty cool. And since it took us so long to pin-point what good product photos looks like, I hope maybe someone can be spared.
Mike & Cortney's session will be up on this weekend. So start getting excited for that!!
Cheers,

10 Things I learned...

After this weekend's incredible session, I thought I would share 10 things I learned from it. Quick FYI ,this blog is a bit like a journal/note-to-self, so this is literally my brain on "paper".
So here we go:

1. Partly cloudy weather = splotchy sunshine = weird bright spots on peoples faces and clothes. I think it's better to place people against the sun, so that you can edit bigger chunks of the image instead of a zillion tiny sunshine spots.

2. Pink is not the enemy. I used to hate ALL pink in photos cause it just seemed to throw the photo off and back into the 90s. Not any more. I have come to embrace pink some shades of pink.

 3. Know your expectations. Keep them low. Strive to exceed them, don't beat yourself up over not being perfect. #lifelesson. BTW, this session was more amazing than I could have every imaged it would be.

4. You are in charge of the photos. P H O T O G R A P H E R. Some couples will be super comfortable in front of the camera and some won't be. Respect boundaries. You can't change the couple and you shouldn't. Let them do whatever is natural for them. Colton & Kendra were super crazy into each other and totally relaxed in front of the camera. Which was fantastic.

5. Be helpful and bring blankets if it's cold.

6. Bring tons of extra battery.

7. Knowing your locations ahead of time is way less stressful and silly than winging it. I had no idea where I was going in Montana and it was so awkward to say (to natives of the area) "Yeah we maybe passed a field somewhere on the way up and we should stop back there". Thankfully le boyfriend knew exactly where we were.

8. No session is perfect. There's a 99% chance that you'll have a little glitch to deal with. For example, I dragged an entire bouquet of exotic greens to Montana...and now that I think of it, they're probably still on the kitchen table where I forgot them on my way out to the session. Oops.

9. Be thankful and stay humble.

10. Edit in a timely manner. Don't put that off and let it become a chore. Do it while you're still on a session high.

Alright. That's it. That's some of the stuff I took away from this session...along with a massive stack of adorable photos, a bigger love for photography, a sun burn, and plans to go back to the mountains soon.

Cheers!

Vacation

Heyo, I'm back! I was in Montana for the last few days, and along with being able to see the love of my life graduate college, I was able to do a styled session in the mountains. Which was awesome. And beautiful. And now I don't want to live in Minnesota ;)

Anyway, Matt set up this session (Wut. Yeah. I have the best boyfriend ever), and I was able to do engagement photos for Colton and Kendra in the mountains of Montana. Stunning scenery, beautiful sunshine. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day or beautiful couple. 

I was also able to get my spot on Forever Bride in tip-top shape! Thanks to Colton and Kendra I now have a Forever Bride portfolio and a beautiful looking page on there! That was a huge thing on my checklist. #blessed

TOMORROW, I will be posting the top 10 things I learned from this session. So stay tuned.
Cheers,