You asked, I attempt to answer!

For real, thank you for all of your questions! I can only fit so many in one day, so I’ll get to some today and save the rest for a not-too-distant-future blog post.

Eric asked…What are your thoughts on Instagram for newbie photographers?

What are my thoughts on Instagram for new photographers? My thoughts are that Instagram is awesome for ANY photographer…not only for self improvement, but for business as well. I noticed that I was producing images from my little phone that I would have never thought of or tried with my big camera. I was seeing things from outside my normal portrait photographer’s frame of mind. That’s because 1) my phone is always with me and available, and 2) there are no right or wrong images in Instagram. It is our own personal artwork. With clients, you have pressure to produce certain images or looks, no matter how lifestyle or photojournalistic you may be. As silly as it sounds, Instagram has helped me to see things differently, and because I am technically limited with a phone, I pay attention to the details that are most important in photography, like light, angles, and composition. As far as for my business, I can use Instagram to announce contests, new sessions on the blog, workshops, favorite recent images, and network with other photographers, clients, makeup artists, hair stylists, etc.

Stacy asked…What is your secret to tack sharp images?

Goodness, so many factors can go into achieving a tack sharp image. What do I do? Here is my combination…elbows locked in at sides (to reduce hand held shake), lowest ISO as possible, no lower than 1/200 or 1/250 when working with children, I use both focus/recompose method and back button toggling, and I shoot in Single Auto focus (AF-S), except for when subjects are in motion and I shoot in Continuous Auto Focus (AF-C).

Heather asked…What lens do you use to get eyelash, baby toes, fingers, and ear pics?

Unfortunately, I don’t own a macro lens, but photograph tiny baby details with my 50mm 1.4 and I also use Kenko macro extension tubes. But, if I did get a macro lens, it would be the Nikon 100mm 2.8 macro lens.

Donna asked…I am in the beginning stages with a Canon EOS Rebel….I really want to learn about manual settings, and what I should start with.

I am a huge advocate of shooting in manual! By switching to manual mode, you are telling your camera exactly what to do, instead of letting it decide your settings for you (for example, in aperture priority mode, you are choosing the aperture, and your camera is deciding what shutter speed to make a proper exposure). So, the first and most important step in shooting manual would be to fully understand the three components that make a proper exposure…shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. If you are in the beginning stages, I highly recommend this book by Bryan Peterson, “Understanding Exposure.” After that, I suggest trying different combinations of those three to create proper exposures in different lighting situations. For example, f/1.8, 1/400, ISO 200 and f/16, 1/200, ISO 2400 in the same lighting situation may both be properly exposed, but they look different, depending on what you are photographing and how far away you are from your subject/object/scene. Lots and lots of practice and it will become second nature.

Carolyn asked…I need advice for starting a photography business, and how to find clients when you’re just starting out.

I am a huge believer in NOT opening shop until you are technically qualified. What does that mean? That means you could do an entire session and produce  30-40 images that are TECHNICALLY correct (lighting, exposure, composition, focus). Don’t stress about the creative aspect, that will come with time. Because, when you are ready to launch that website and announce that you are in business, you have to be 100% confident that you can give your clients quality images every time. So, if you have a goal to open a business, in say, 8 months, you should be portfolio building during those entire eight months. You want to attract a higher end market, so set your end prices high (when you open business), but offer a special portfolio pricing. Let clients know of your end pricing, but if they book you now, they will receive that special pricing. If these clients love you during portfolio building, they already know your end pricing and will be fine paying it later. Ideas to help spread the word…do free sessions (word of mouth is your best business), trade sessions with those who will talk about you on social media, offer discounted sessions on local Mom internet boards, do a giveaway with a local business. Good luck!

Kristen asked…Do you have any opinions on telephoto converters? If so any suggestions for a Nikon D7000 with Nikon 200mm lens or a Quanta Ray 70-300mm lens.

I don’t have a lot of experience with telephoto converters, but we have rented this one for our 70-200 lens, and were pleasantly surprised at well it worked and how SHARP it was!

Trina asked…What camera/lens would you recommend for shooting “flat” products (ie. frames, stationery, books)?

Goodness, I am no expert in product photography, but have used my 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 lenses and they worked beautifully. I would stay away from wide angle lenses for this :) As far as cameras go, any SLR camera will do, as long as it can perform well in lower light at a high ISO, if needed.

Maki asked…What’s your absolute favorite lens that you use majority of the time?

I am a lover of lenses! But, I would have to say my all time favorite is my Nikon 85mm 1.8. And my Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 as a close second. And then my Lens baby and Nikon 70-200 2.8 as really close third placers :)

Jennifer asked…What is your approach when you are shooting clients in a new environment? What do you do first (how do you find the light) and how do you work around obstacles?

This isn’t something that came naturally to me at first. After a lot of shooting, and camera settings becoming second nature, it was easier for me to go into a situation, and look for two things…ideal light, and a clean background within and surrounding that ideal light. I get asked a lot about my indoor sessions with kids, families, and newborns. When I go to someone’s home, I ask to look around, and I literally scan their entire house to quickly find areas that are “clean” (not a lot of background distraction) and have nice light. And then I will work within those 2-5 areas I found. Often times they are very small areas (doorways, windows, couch, bed, hallway, stairs, etc). But, if there isn’t a lot of light, or I really want a certain spot, I just pull out the old flash and go for it. I think THAT is the trick. You have to be confident that you can walk into any situation and feel comfortable knowing that you can either find the light, or create it if needs be. Jennifer, you asked about the zoo session in particular, in which that location was FULL of background distractions. Again, I had to choose carefully as there were people, signs, and other things everywhere. Light first, location second. We just walked through the zoo, and shot along the way in areas that were people free. And then, of course, it’s sometimes fun to use those background distractions as part of some of your images (as seen in polar bear image below).

Artisitc Inclinations asked…how do you feel about helping out new photographers who ask you for tips? Does it annoy you?

Giggle. But, no :)

Kim asked…When editing, do you feel it’s important to see a consistent style of editing when you skim all the shoots on your blog?

I don’t think editing has to be the same from session to session, but I DO think it is extremely important for all images within a session to be edited the same. I learned that early on, when I printed pictures for a collage on my wall (all from the same session), and there were different color treatments throughout the collage. Needless to say, it was FUGLY.

Hello and Happy Monday internet friends!  A few questions as of late…

H asks…I was wondering how you get such crisp images.  While I realize a big part is correct camera settings, I was wondering if you do an sort of sharpening on your subjects.

The best chance of getting a tack sharp image is to use a tripod.  But, the truth is…I use a tripod 1 in every 452,352,446 times I pick up my camera.  It’s just not me…I have to be moving around everywhere.  So, yes, you are correct…your camera settings do play a part.  A lower ISO and carefully chosen shutter speed will definitely help with getting a sharp image.  As a general rule, try to keep your shutter speed above 1/125 and if you are photographing a moving child, 1/250 or higher is a good rule of thumb to minimize blur from hand shake.  You can absolutely achieve a sharp image with any lens, but it is true that nice “glass” makes a world of difference in the clarity and sharpness of an image.  As far as sharpening while post processing, I do use a general Kubota sharpening on most images after the image is processed.  Oh…and don’t forget to sharpen for the web!  This makes a huge difference in how crisp an image looks when it is on the web.  I use Kubota’s web sharpen action for this one.

L asks…Do you use actions and what are your favorites?

I do use actions…a combination of my own as well as others.  I am a huge fan of Kubota, Totally Rad, My Four Hens, MCP Actions, Brenda Acuncius actions, and Lilyblue (most of which are fabulous sponsors for our workshops, by the way)!

E asks…Do you ever find yourself using higher ISO’s in low light rather than setting up flashes?   Do you get a lot of noise at your higher ISO’s?

Yes, I absolutely raise my ISO if needed.  Deciding whether to use natural light with a higher ISO or flash depends on the situation and the “look” I want to create.  I am a big advocate of creating my own light using flash if needs be, but there are times such as weddings or the following image in which I need the image to be lit naturally and a higher ISO is required.  If I had kept a low ISO in this image, my subjects would have been black silhouettes, with very little detail.  My two cameras (Nikon D700 and Nikon D3s) do allow me to shoot at a high ISO with very little noise.

M asks…Do you shoot RAW or JPG?

A couple of years ago, my answer would have been half and half…weddings RAW, portraits JPG.   But, in the past year, I switched to 100% RAW.  Love it!

T asks…I am somewhat new to photography and am obsessed with it, but I am already feeling the need to quit before I even start.  I have two children  and can’t even think of keeping up with shooting, editing, emailing, ordering, and everything else!  I know you have four children, how do you do it???

Ahhhh, the never ending quest for balance.  I think many people DO quit because there is a lot of pressure as a working parent from home to try to find that balance between work and family.  For me, it was all about deciding exactly how many hours and what days in the week I wanted to work and and STICKING WITH IT.  I learned to say no.  Seriously…simple, but it saved my sanity.  Another saver?  I outsource…a lot.  It’s all about keeping what you love and getting rid of the rest.

And…a few more images from my recent shoot with the little one from above…

I have recently decided that I will be posting an faq at random times on my blog. Now, before you roll your eyes and assume I think I am a photographic genius who feels the world wide web should be flogged with my opinion, hear me out. The truth is that I get emails daily with questions regarding photography. Everything from equipment to lighting to processing to working with children. Sometimes, it’s definitely hard to keep up with the emails. I absolutely love hearing from people and am happy to answer questions, but I felt this would be a way to answer those questions once, rather than several times. In no way do I think my advice or opinion is perfect, but it’s the way I roll and hopefully a person or two will get something from it.

K asks…What camera do you use and would you recommend it to others?

My main camera body is a Nikon D700 and I am IN. LOVE. with it. I always use a backup camera with me at all sessions and weddings, and my backup is a Nikon D300.

J asks…What are your favorite lenses to use?

I admit it. I have a huge obsession for lenses and always have two or three on my wishlist. However, there are a few that I adore and use all of the time. I always shoot with two cameras (mainly because I am too lazy to change my lenses). For weddings, I mainly use my 24-70 2.8 and my 70-200 2.8. For portrait sessions, I have my 24-70 2.8 on one camera and either my 50 1.4 or 85 1.8 on my other camera. All lenses are Nikon brand.

E asks…Do you ever find yourself using higher ISO’s in low light rather than setting up flashes?

Of course! It absolutely depends on how I want the “look” or the mood of the final shot to turn out, but I have no problem cranking my ISO up if needed. If I don’t have lighting equipment with me or really want to use the natural light available to me, I will use a combination of a wide aperture and a higher ISO to achieve a proper exposure or desired look. My D700 handles noise very nicely even at a high ISO.

E also asks…I am in the beginnings of navigating photoshop, but have also heard about “lightroom”. Have you heard of or used that program before?

Um YEAH. I am in love with Lightroom. While my post processing workflow is a whole separate conversation for another day, Lightroom is absolutely essential for me in my post production process. After a session or wedding, the first thing I do is import my images into Lightroom. I then sort and organize the images using color coding and ratings. I will then do all of my basic editing in Lightroom. As far as editing, a lot of my images never leave Lightroom. The others that need a little heaver editing will be pulled into Photoshop to finish them up.

J asks…Do you back up your pictures?

A big old HUGE YES! I am one of the unfortunate souls who has been victim of a severe hard drive failure.  I was lucky enough to get 90% recovered, but not without serious grief, worry, time, and money.  I currently have all of my original and edited images on a main drive, copies of all edited images on second drive, and use Carbonite (an online backup service) to back up everything on the second drive.  Carbonite automatically backs up my images, documents, and other data files online from my second drive.  I also archive old sessions to cd.  Um, yeah, I’m paranoid.

I repeat and repeat again…make sure you have some kind of way of backing up your images and data.  Regardless of whether you are a photographer or just have all of your documents and family pictures on your computer, no one is immune to a hard drive failure.

M asks…I am a beginning photographer and want to learn more!  Do you recommend any good photography books?

My photography book shelf is full.  And I mean FULL.  When I was starting, I couldn’t get enough…needed to know more…craved more and more information on photography.  I love “The Digital Photography Book” Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Scott Kelby.  An industry standard  (for very good reason) is “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson.  And, of course, your camera manual.  Seriously.  I have read my manuals inside and out and has by far been the best source of information for learning my equipment.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions that you would like me to address in the future, feel free to email or leave them in the comments at the bottom of this blog post.