Behind The Edit

Oh how I've missed you!

Recently, I had the privilege of photographing an amazing mamma-to-be. I am pretty sure she was glowing in just about every photo! That may have just been the harsh lighting talking, but it still made for some great finished photos.
I have decided to share my processing line for one composite from her photos. Please keep in mind, when I set out to process this photo I did not know I would be sharing it with you lot. So, lets see how this turns out, I am optimistic!

I learned how to screen shot for this post. Your welcome! :)

I started out with this decent washed out shot of my preggers blowing bubbles. I knew I wanted to save the image somehow, especially with her looking right at the bubbles she just blew. I also knew the lighting, coloring, and amount of bubbles were not what I was attempting to achieve in this shot. So time to change it.

My first step in this edit was to grab some extra bubbles from another photo from this session. The pose was the same but the bubbles were arranged differently. Once I added them to my final image, I needed to be sure they blended in with the wall and coloring of this photo. After erasing a lot of the brick from the pasted bubbles, I figured they blended pretty nicely. But alas, still not enough bubbles for my taste.

So, I found another photo of the same pose with yet another different bubble pattern. I added those bubbles to my final photo, and proceeded with a lot of erasing and blending. Once those bubbles were looking their best, I knew I was done with the bubbles. But something still had to be done about the lighting and coloring.

As always in a washed out photo, I used a layer of level work to bring up some shadows and lessen the over abundant highlights. Sadly, this shadow work cannot quite fix what I was too preoccupied to realize during the session.

So, I added a little dimness to the brightness attempting to overpower the photo with a layer of brightness control. Now that is more like it. But something still seemed off about this photo's coloring.

My chosen color scheme for this photo added a blue and orange tint the image. Adding just the perfect pop to the bubbles and my beautiful model as well.

I even made a little animation for you! What do you think?

For some reason, when I try to upload the finished image it adds a neon green shade to the pavement. As that is no good, you will have to find that image on our Facebook page. 

Please, let me know what you think of my first "Behind The Edit" post. All constructive criticism is welcome! Talk with you later!

Pregnancy Galore!

Why hello there! And how are you today?

  As you have likely already gleaned from the title, today is all about pregnant women! It may not seem photography related, but I assure you it is! I have a rather large event coming up that includes an awful lot of pregnant women in one place.

  I started by putting a very loosely worded add out for a pregnant model for a project I had in mind. It was also that same add that taught me the importance of tight wording in my adds. I had so many responses, it was impossible to tackle a single session for them all, not to mention all of my time and money going into this and getting little to nothing in return. So after talking it over with a few other photographers, I realized I needed to be more in charge and not just say yes to everyone that was interested.
  I ended up with two dates of maternity mini sessions. The first of which had three sign ups and the second of which has six sign ups. Well, the first session has come and gone. And with one cancellation and one no show, I only had one woman. I was disappointed at first, but boy was it worth it! The pregnant mamma and her ten year old daughter were quite and treat. They photographed so well and were so fun to talk with.

Ta Da

  Now this Saturday is the daunting yet exciting time. I am so vastly nervous but my I am too giddy to contain it too! Now it is on the the prep, which for me means many things. I will look back to this time last year when I was scouring Pinterest for ideas for my own maternity session, and looking at dozens of pro and amateur photographers and their work. Wish me luck!

Weather Permits

Hey ya'll! What do you think of the short time between posts? I think it may even become a regular thing! :D

  Sometimes, weather makes an outdoor photo session seem impossible. I am here to tell you that doesn't have to be the case! There are always ways to make the most out of a bad situation.
  For example, a little rain never hurt anyone right! If it comes time for your session and you find it raining and wet outside, there is still a way to save your the day. Dress warmly and grab an umbrella for each person in your session, be sure to grab your rain boots too! The rain is a reason to get out and play, not reschedule your session for another day.
  Snow is even more fun to play in! Don't sit inside and watch the snow fall, get outside and showcase all the snow fun your family can have. Get prepared with your warmest clothing and grab your mitts, then you are ready for some chilling fun! Don't cancel your session. Instead, let me capture the love and fun in the memories you are making.

Have you ever cancelled a session due to weather? Do you think you still would have, given this new encouragement? Which poor weather session sounds the most fun to you?

I look forward to hearing from you soon! Have a wonderful evening!

Inspiration

Hello Darlings! It is so nice to be writing to you again, Lord knows these past few weeks have been full!

What do you do when you are lacking any remote inspiration to get a darn thing done? Me? I write a blog post about it!

Having a large project coming up this week, I already feel drained on every remaining subject. So when I realize it is time to update this forum, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a single cohesive thought in my head. And that is where you find me, on the couch with a good blanket and my laptop, attempting to glean any inspiration I can from the many photography blogs I find. While I have found and created several ideas for future posts and future projects, nothing screams "tackle me today!". So I sit and I stare and I stare some more. Then it hits me, inspiration! My inspiration is the lacking of inspiration!

What are you when you don't have inspiration? A blank canvas! A clean work space! An empty vessel waiting to be filled! So today I am embracing being a blank canvas, a clean work space, an empty vessel waiting to be filled. I will let the beauty of life fill me, let the events of today clutter my work space, let today's emotions paint me! I know it all sounds a little hippy like, but that is exactly what we all need from time to time. What better way to fully experience the day and enjoy what it has in store than by starting out empty.

Where do you get your inspiration? Feel free to leave a comment or show me on Facebook!

Playing in the Park

Hello Shutterbugs! How are you lovelies doing today?

A couple weeks ago I had set myself up for a wonderful day of exploring new locations with new models as well. I had a total of seven sessions set up, five for Saturday and two for Sunday. By the time Saturday morning had hit, life had efficiently gotten in the way! Four Saturday sessions had cancelled and both Sunday sessions as well. As you can imagine, I went into my only session a bit bummed. Thankfully, I was about to meet an awesome 11 year old!

Upon meeting Angel and her mom I got the impression that they were both a bit shy. Little did I know, I little talking would open them right up.

She doesn't look too shy, does she?

I had no idea just how much of a blast I was about to have with this girl! With every pose I cam up with, she thought of one to truly represent who she is. She was so fun and energetic, I was hardly able to keep up with her. Wherever we walked, she was immediately striking a pose and cheesing it up for the camera. It was great!

High Flying Girl

The session with Angel was well worth a day out. By the end of my time with her I was happy she was my only model. She made our time a blast, and I would not have changed it for the world!

Be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook Page for Angel's full gallery coming soon!

What to Wear & What Not to Wear

Hello My Pretties!

We recently put out a poll on Facebook asking for blog post ideas. Even offered a prize for the first person to answer. As the first and only person to answer the call, Christi here is your post!

What to wear and what not to wear for family photos!

As a photographer, I have seen first hand the effects of no involvement (on my part) in the outfit coordinating. I have seen a family that matches far too much and a family that had no coordination at all. On the other end of the spectrum, I have also seen families that hit the coordination nail right on the head. Thanks to each of those experiences, I now like to give a little heads up to each client with some tips and tricks on planning a families outfits.

I am going to start of by sharing my Pinterest board with several different articles I love to look at when helping plan out the outfits.

Next, I would like to let you all know that color is your friend! You can wear color during a session without taking any attention away from you or the other subjects. I love when clients add pops of color to their outfits and really rock it.

These are all beautiful examples of color coordination

But, where there is ease in color coordination there is also the horribly wrong way to do it. Some colors don't mesh well with certain peoples skin tones, and some don't mesh well with each other either. One rule of thumb you can usually stick to, if you don't like your reflection you will likely not like the you in the photos as well. Also, neon color usually do not blend well in photos. 

One huge (and when I say huge, I mean HUGE) photo rule to stick to. NO WHITE SHIRTS! Of course a family of white shirts can be worked with, but it washes out pretty much everything else in the photos. There is usually no way a white shirted photo subject can look as great as they would in another color. 

No White Shirts Please

Bonus! Hair props (for the ladies) and styles, scarves, jackets, and shoes are just as important as the rest of the outfit planning! Do not forget to coordinate them with your outfit and the weather in which you will be in. 

Speaking of weather, come back next week for the low down on photography and the weather.

Do you have any what to wear or what not to wear tips? I would love to read them! Feel free to comment below. 

Until next time! 

Instagram

Hello to you from me!

Recently, I have been taking classes on marketing via social media. During the information overload, one thing plainly stood out. I really need to take charge of my social media. Enter in Bubble Fish Photography's Instagram account!

At work on the teen love session!

I was actually sort of psyched to have that taken and posted. I may not have the best self image, but it is nice to show myself doing what I love. 

If you would like to follow Bubble Fish Photography on Instagram, search natalie_bfp! I look forward to seeing you all on Instagram!

Ooh La La

In the spirit of Valentines day, here is some smexy photos for you!

Smexy: adj. meaning fun and sexy. Developed by yours truly!

I started doing boudoir sessions four years ago as just a fun at home thing. I had no idea how to set up the session or the outcome I was looking for. After inviting over a cute friend who was up for anything, I decided to tackle my first boudoir session.

Isn't this smexy?

I put up a white sheet in front of a sunny window. The snow outside helped bounce even more brightness into the window and to my model. Her spunk and fierceness really helped me to relax and have fun with the session. I could not have asked for a better client to work with on my first boudoir session.

Then, December 2013 happened! Wow, what a ride! I had started out putting a special pricing event out there for a Christmas photo book of boudoir images. I got my first booking within ten minutes of my post, sadly they also canceled rather quickly. While I reveled in my pity party, I had no idea the response that was to come! Within 24 hours of the post, I had 6 bookings for boudoir sessions in my home! And oh my goodness I was in for a treat!

All of the sessions were so much fun. And now, looking back on the two instances, I cannot believe how far I have come! 

The next dream I have is to tackle a couples boudoir session! If you'd like to help with that dream, let me know! 

Happy Valentines Day!

Pinteresting!

Aloha!

Recently I have been going through a social media marketing course for photography businesses. It has been so informational and eye opening. One of the courses had to do with using Pinterest. I am a big Pinterest user for all things (do-it-yourself projects, recipes, photography inspiration, organization tips, ect.). But, this course focused on using it to market and share my work as a photographer. I already had a board on there devoted to my work, and I thought that was all that was needed. (If you are unfamiliar with Pinterest, get started HERE!) Boy was I wrong! There were certain was to display photos that had more of an effect on how the viewers can see the images, there were certain no-no's (like hash tags), and even more rules to what you can and can't pin!

So, I got started on creating Pinterest worthy images!

Teen Love

As my first attempt goes, I think it went rather well! And it just happened to be my reveal of this session. My second collage was far too easy and I am still so in love with the session.

:) Bridal :)

After the bridal one, I started digging in my old sessions. Like my first wedding (2010)!

:D

After reminiscing on a very fun day, I knew I needed to diversify on the type of sessions displayed in my Pinterest collages!

Horses

Over time, I hope to have a collage made for every session I have done. And yes, it will take quite a chunk of time. If you would like to see the rest of my Bubble Fish Photography board, click HERE!

Riding Around

Hello Lovelies!

I have not accomplished as many animal sessions as I would like (if you'd like to help me remedy that, just let me know!), but this one was so much fun! This also happened to be my first time up close and personal with horses. I could not have been more excited, despite the freezing temperatures and the mud.

It was a day I had not expected to spend all of outside, but it was well worth it. A friend of a friend had a small ranch with a large group of horses. It took a small amount of time for my nerves to slow down enough to really see the huge beauties in front of me. There were so many horses that it was impossible to focus my lenses on just one. The group of them stampeding was a wondrous sight to behold! It was as close a scene to the wild as I had ever seen.

The owner of these horses was kind enough to show off some of his riding skills. It was a complete blast to watch and mind blowing to imagine doing. The way the gentleman dictated where his ride galloped with such ease was amazing to see.

He even rode his giant through a pond to give me some amazing action shots! Not only was it freezing outside, but the wind at his speed was enough to render and ear ache. We had no idea just how deep this pond was until both rider and horse were chest deep. Thankful for the beautiful shots, there was no way I could ask for more!

But, I had no need to ask for anything. My very impressive client decided it was a wonderful time to break in two new mustangs! With a new resolve against the cold (after all, it wasn't me that just dredged through incredibly cold water!), I climbed atop my stoop and dove for my zoom lenses. Now this was a process that really amazed me! The mustangs continued to attempt escape despite the dozens of failures that proceeded that next try. They had so much fire in them, I thought the rider would never rope one. But, he had a new resolve of his own. He continued for far longer than I would until he finally roped one!

And now, it was time to go in for the day. The warmth lead to a great feeling of accomplishment and excitement to see what would come of our day in the cold.

What did you think? Do you have a pet that you would love to capture in photos?

Fun-ing it up with a Bride

Hello! Welcome to the first post on Bubble Fish Photography's blog!

Over time I have experienced plenty of fun photo sessions. Bridal sessions can be some of the most stressful but also the most fun! My last bridal session has to be one of my most inspired and oh so fun.

Caroline and Aaron

I was completely blown away when meeting with my new clients. I was not expecting such a laid back, fun, and beautiful couple. After changing into their incredible getup, the three of us got to walking around and scoping out the perfect spot for the first photo.

After the first pose, it all fell into place. I could not have imagined how fun and exciting the session would be. Every time we starting walking, we stopped seconds later to capture another look of love or hand holding. And the amount of comedy and fun this couple exudes was amazing. They were all for any pose I could think up. And when I would draw a blank, they were right there to inspire me with more!

Now, these two people together made for an incredibly fun session. But I have to say, this bride has got to be one of the funnest to work with. Not many brides want to get you talking or add to the conversation to keep it two sided. That was not Caroline by any means! This woman was a blast to walk and talk with, and was game to climb through anything to get a perfect shot. Her spunk and fun emanated from her in every smile, every pose, and every glance.

How fun is she?

I am so grateful to have these two lovebirds modeling for me. It was a great session and a wonderful way to spend a summer Saturday morning. To check out Aaron and Caroline's gallery check out Bubble Fish Photography on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/BubbleFishPhoto

What would be your ideal fun session?