Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with Susan Stripling in her home in Brooklyn. It was such a cool experience and I learned quite a few things from the day! We kind of got stuck with some not so great weather conditions to shoot in, but we tried to make the best of it. After an information packed sushi lunch, we had a really adorable couple come out and show us what they got. They were just about the cutest people to photograph! So into each other! Here is what I got for the day! This posts image uploader is having a mind of its own today, so I am giving my thanks to Susan now rather than the end of the post!!!
Enjoy and Happy Friday!
~MEG
This is Susan!
I am a sucker for body language shots…
I think this my favorite image from the day!
Susan opened her home to us,which was very cool of her, and I snagged her “Patience” dish to grab this ring shot! I think that about sums up one of the finer ingredients of a sucessful marriage! ;o)
I woke up this morning to a really cool email letting me know some of my ring shots are featured on ROCKTOGRAPHERS blog today! It is a blog/site dedicated to displaying creative ring shots from professional wedding photgraphers from around the nation. It is such a cool thing to see my pics on there for thousands to enjoy! I hope you take the time to check it out! You can view the post by clicking on this link ROCKTOGRAPHERS but below I gave you a sneak peak of one of the shots that was featured! Yippppeeeeeeeeee!
Enjoy!
More pics to come soon as I just got a new studio sample book in yesterday from Leather Craftsmen and I can’t wait to share the images with you! It is a beautiful book!
Have a Happy Thursday!
~MEG
This pic is just enough to give you an idea about what was involved with Kelly’s portrait session today! ;o)
A fun pair of blue water proof wader boots!
We froze our Batookuses off! ;o)
More to come soon!
Happy Saturday!
~MEG
Okay…So I have the updated information regarding the indoor Day After Session at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford. I have spoken with the theater and found out some good news and bad news!
First is the Good News…They have an opening in the Belding Theater, the newest theater there (which is beautiful), on a Saturday, February 7th.
Bad news is it will cost us a bit more than expected. ;o(
So I have put together some options as to the length of time / number of photographers who will be joining in.
The cost of the rental is $250 per hour and an additional $20 per hour to have someone from the theater watching us (mandatory)
So here are the options I thought would best suit our photographic needs/pockets.
2 hours, 2 couples to shoot, 2 groups of photographers (to make it easier so we won’t be bumping into each other and getting into each other’s shots)
The cost of this would be $540 total and I figured out the cost per photograhper based on the number who will join us…
10 photogs…$54.00 per person for 2 hours
15 photogs…$36.00 per person for 2 hours
20 photogs…$27.00 per person for 2 hours
And to rent the theater for 3 hours would cost a total of $810 (3 hours of shooting, 2 couples to shoot, 2 groups of photographers)
10 photogs…$81.00 per person for 3 hours
15 photogs…$54.00 per person for 3 hours
20 photogs…$40.50 per person for 3 hours.
I know this is a tad bit more money per person than originally expected…but there is a great deal of people that are definitely interested and the Bushnell is more than happy to accomodate us for the time that we will be there. So I want to know what your real honest opinions are on whether or not you feel the amount is worth it. If this is out of everyone’s budget…and believe me I completely understand, then please let me know and I think we can maybe arrange something else to keep the group shoot something that we can do together, but in a different location that orinally planned.
Ps…I personally feel if everyone is still interested in doing it at the Bushnell that the three hours would be the better choice so we don’t feel rushed and we get out of it what we were hoping to.
Happy Tuesday!
MEG
Filed under: business
This is always a pleasant surprise! My site is currently down and will be until tomorrow morning due to a faulty Automatic Renewal system in which didn’t automatically renew my domain name! Yippeeee! Life is Grand! So in the mean time…clients (and anyone interested!) can enter my site by using my old domain name, www.meganlabarbera.com
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Hope you are all having a better Monday than me!
P.S. Since I am working on being more positive—on a happy note I cleaned my camera sensor myself last night and it is spanking clean! WoooHoooo!
Happy Monday!
~MEG
Someone has asked me about my off camera lighting set up that I use for receptions so this post is about just that!
First off, I by no means can take any credit in thinking up the idea…as it is something that I had researched from other’s blogs and talked about with some local photographers from time and time again. Finally I am putting it to use. I originally noticed the lighting on Jessica Claire’s blog last year and she had posted a whole entry on how she sets it up…so to alleviate you the pain of researching it yourself in her older posts…I will just relay what I do in this post…
You will need 2 Pocket Wizards…yes there are cheaper versions out there…but seriously, if you go cheap you get cheap and when you are working a wedding where clients are paying you, you need the good stuff! So Pocket Wizards are reliable and just down right cool.
Then you will need a second flash (always good to have backup!) and set the flash to manual…
I use an Impact lightstand with an extra small Photoflex Soft Box on it to diffuse the light. (can buy it as a kit at BandH for pretty cheap…the pocket wizards are what you want to spend the mula on though)
I set it up by the DJ or Band so it is out of the way but in a good spot for me…and I shoot away! You have to play with it a little before getting used to it…but it is always good to experiment and try out new stuff when you have some more relaxed time at the reception…The result is some very nice directional lighting, rim lighting, and of course, some flair too!
Good luck!!!
The final result…
Happy Thursday!
~MEG
Next week is the next PB&J meeting being held at Peter Oberc’s house in New Milford…Peter has been very kind to put together a free seminar for us photographers/Lightroom users who are looking to strengthen their skills behind the scenes and lighten their editing load a bit. There will also be a demo on the RPG Key System for Lightroom and of course…Beer and Pizza!!!
So if you are free next Wednesday evening please make an appearance and stop by to chat and learn with the rest of us photographers!
Where: Peter Oberc’s house in New Milford…please contact me through my website contact page or contact Peter at his web address…for directions by clicking here!
When: Wednesday July 23rd.
Time: 6:30pm
Hope you all can make it!
Happy Wednesday!
~MEG
Click here to read up on some reviews!!!! I love cameras.
Could this be??? FX-format with the high ISO performance of the D3 and the size of the D300????
It may be too early to tell…but rest assured…I will find out!
Happy Tuesday!
MEG
ps….Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
This caught my eye this morning as I went to go check my email and I got sucked in like a vaccum to see if photographer was listed amongst the top 10 sexiest jobs in 2008…
You can see for yourself the top ten sexiest jobs and they are listed right below…one of which I am proud to say is “Photographer”. I have to say it is kind of sexy…but I am not so sure I look that sexy when sticking my but way up in the air to get that perfect shot or falling over chairs or coming back with grass stained jeans and sweaty armpits from a shoot. But apparantly some find that sexy!!!
This was the The Top 10
Firefighter
Personal trainer
CEO
Bartender
Nurse
Photographer
Pilot
Surgeon
Cowboy
Soldier/Military
check it out for yourself…you can read the article here…SEXY!!!!
Happy Thursday!
~MEG
PS…food for thought…which is sexier??? CANON or NIKON…
I would have to say NIKON ALL THE WAY!!!! hehe!
I think some of you probably have beat me to it and have accounts here but for all of you out there that are as sloooooooooooooooooooowwww as me…there is a great resource site out there for us photogs in the business. ProPhotoResource.com is a great site with tons of articles by the best of the best in the industry. I got the link off of Jasmine Star’s blog (because I am a stalker of hers ;o) and I wanted to read her article on how she relates to her clients while shooting. That is a BIG thing for us photographers, to be able to be in the frame of mind for shooting while still carrying on a conversation that keeps our subjects happy, free, fun and feeling themselves in front of this black piece of equipment that we push in front of their faces!
So I think if you haven’t checked it out yet…YOU SHOULD! Best thing is it is free to sign up and get an account, which is necessary to read any of the articles in full. So don’t worry if you are trying to be frugal, you don’t have to pay a cent to enter! Just give them your info, which I am pretty sure you have to be a professional with a legit site and all.
Happy Saturday!
Off to finish an album….FINALLY!!!!!
