How To Give A Good Wedding Toast

We have all been there. The time of the evening where someone from the wedding party attempts to make an entertaining speech about the newlyweds; only they fail. Miserably. We have been on the other side of the coin as well where we are so moved and inspired by a speech at a reception; our feelings get the best of us. Tears, laughter, and joy overcome us.

New Horizons in 2015!

There is something awesome about setting goals and changing things around in your life with the dawn of a new year. Resolutions are made, memories are rekindled, and we set our sights on new accomplishments and horizons. I have done quite a bit of self reflection towards the end of 2014, and was able to uncover a lot.

I took a deep look at my strengths and weaknesses and it wasn't that there were necessarily surprises that I uncovered, but there definitely were items that made me think, "what are you doing about this Josh? You know this to be true and you are letting it sit there." I saw that some of my strengths were working with people and coincidentally one of my weaknesses was taking the time to build up my relationships. One of my strengths was serving people, but one of my weaknesses was going above and beyond to serve someone. As I reflected, I realized the sad depravity of our generation. We have lost our drive. We have become complacent. We have accepted that doing the minimum amount required is satisfactory, and what's worse, we are OK with that.

Choosing Memory Cards – Photography 101

The answer to this question really is a simple one. What type of memory cards does your camera take? That really is going to dictate what type of memory card that you are going to get. Whether that is CF or whether that is SD, it doesn’t really matter. They both serve the same purpose. Now depending on the limits of your camera in terms of FPS (frames per second) in conjunction with the style of photography that you are shooting, you may want to consider the speed of your memory card.

Lens Focal Length | Photography 101 Santa Clarita

There are several factors that make up a lens. We have been learning about the aperture, zooms vs. primes, etc. However one of the basic principles that comes to mind when choosing a lens is the focal length of that lens. Is it the lens for you given what you are shooting?

How Google Works | A Guide to Effective SEO

So for all of you business professionals out there who are looking more and more at how vital a website is to your business, this post is for you. Yes, even you wedding photographers can benefit from this knowledge! One of the most important things that you can do for your business is to establish an online presence. The first step to climbing that monstrous road, is to understand just what it is that makes search engines (in more specific terms, Google, as they are the most used search engine online currently) work. So here we go!

Photography 101 – Lenses

The Ultimate Debate – Zoom or Prime?

Back when I first started my photography business, one of the things that I started to do (and still do) is look at the work of other photographers. Sometimes, there is no greater inspiration when you are feeling completely uninspired as artists than to find your inspiration in others. One of the things that I found myself noticing more and more, and desiring more and more for my photography was certain degrees of depth of field. I LOVE it. I can’t seem to get enough! And there are photographers that utilize this tool so well and organically, it inspires me like no other.  

iOS 7 - Advancing Photography for the Consumer

Holy Cow! Every year phone technology gets better. The apps, the call capabilities. Apple really struck one heck of a movement when it comes to really putting a lot of tools in the palm, literally the PALM of your hand! This has meant a lot of interesting things for industry professional. There are even "Photoshop" like apps that allow you to edit your photos and really create some compelling editing on the phone!

I was recently out with some friends who posed the question, "do you ever think that wedding photographers will become obsolete?" I really thought about it for a second and there are some great points to pay attention to here. You have a camera on your iPhone that can take 8MP photos and for most people who are posting just to their Facebook or creating a smaller than 8x10 print, that is more than enough! I remember the days when the camera I used for weddings and headshots as a young professional Santa Clarita photographer was 8MP! On top of that, these photo editing applications make things extremely easy to edit photos! CRAZY!

I looked at my friends dead in the eye and said I honestly see where you are going with this, however I don’t believe that wedding photographers will ever be replaced. Why? Think about all that you are paying for. It takes more than a good camera to take a good photo and those skills are something that you will never be able to learn in a day. It takes years of experience to really hone the skills necessary to be able to adjust your camera settings just by looking at a scene in a split second. Or to see the light in a scene and know just how to reposition your subject to get that right lighting, and framing, and composition. Knowledge is really what is missed out on.

So in an ever changing world where technology is becoming easier and easier to use, photographers appear to be less and less needed, but the truth is, the experience that you receive from a true professional completely outweighs the benefits of a nice phone. And THAT experience is the exact same reason that you hire a Santa Clarita photographer for your wedding, and your anniversary, and your maternity photos, and your family photos, and your life events, because life is worth more than just a simple phone photo. Life memories are worth capturing in their BEST light. So let's Shed Light....

Sorry... I just had to say it... My verbal jargon was on a roll!!! Cheers!

iPhone Headshots! | How To Take Stellar Photos On An iPhone

Taking a Good Photo on a Budget

Let me preface this by letting you know that this article is geared towards business professionals. I happen to work with lawyers and attorneys and is astonishes me how little attention they give their professional headshot. One thing I always tell them is that if you are going to take a photo yourself, at least take a good one!

So you do realize that a good photo can be the difference between actually booking a client and not booking that client right? I figure that we should start there because this simple truth is the basis and foundation for this article.

Photography 101 - Composition

So you got the lighting just right? Did you remember your distancing? Where you using off camera flashes or not? Did you put the memory card in the camera? Did you happen to forget to take the lens cap off? Oh you did??

Don’t worry.

That one happens to me ALL the time. Seriously, at least once a shoot. I am not joking!

But if you have gotten all of those things taken care of, and your subject is actually in frame, then it is time to do your job as the wedding photographer and get that shot. Go on take it! Oh but be careful. Where is everything positioned in your camera? Is it where you want it to be given the mood you are attempting to achieve? If not, then…

Photography 101 – Metering

Welcome back to the camera pen everyone! I hope you all had an AWESOME memorial day! I know I certainly did. Went to the beach with my wife and family and just relaxed…

Camera Metering Modes

But now it is back to business. This week I wanted to talk about a very interesting topic that I don’t think gets touched on a lot and that is Metering within the camera. Back in the days of film, you had to have a separate light meter to do the job. This light meter would ultimately take in the amount of light that was hitting your subject and spit out your shutter speed and aperture that you would need on your camera to give you an optimum exposure. A LOT has changed since then. These digital light meters are now built into the camera! If you are shooting on any kind of DSLR, then you have come into contact with the light meter.

Full Frame or Cropped?

What Camera Do I Buy?

So you have decided to take the plunge into this crazy game of photography, and the first thing on your mind is getting a killer camera. But with so many options, choosing the best one for you can be a daunting task! There are so many different avenues that I could go down with the different specs on cameras and comparing and contrasting particular models, but I will save that for another post. I want to focus this on 1 aspect you need to consider when looking at a camera: cropped or full-frame?

Photography 101 - What Is ISO?

What the Heck is ISO?

I’m glad you asked! Welcome back for this week’s lesson on ISO (or ASA as some of you older folk might know it as) and what a blessing or a curse this can be for your photography. In simple terms, ISO refers to the Film Speed. No not how fast your film runs or the frames that it takes per second. This is Film Speed.

Photography 101 - Shutter

How does shutter work?

I have always enjoyed the intricacies of aperture and shutter speed when it comes down to your photographic elements. I like the math and the inverse nature that two completely opposite components can go hand in hand together to make something magnificent.

Welcome to this week’s Photograph 101 episode from your friendly Santa Clarita Wedding Photographer on the topic of shutter speed.

Photography 101- Cameras & Intro

Photography 101

Everybody has been there. You are browsing on the internet or Facebook or your favorite blog. Perhaps you are reading some content. Then WHAMO! You are struck with a visual beauty that you can’t take your eyes off of! Is it the color? How is the subject positioned? How do they get the eyes to just “pop”? How do they do that background thing? To any novice photographer, I am sure that these are the things that pop into your head when you see a photo.