I've just come home from reluctantly being taken to see 300 & I'm almost speechless! WOW! Stunned & amazed... ok, and proud to be Greek! ;) If you don't mind a bit of blood, actually a lot of blood & violence, and haven't seen it yet, GO! See past the gore & you'll be watching cinematic art at it's finest.
Like many photographers, we have taken so many images in our personal time and sadly they sit on the computer or are burnt to dvd and no one gets to see or appreciate them.
I have toyed with getting some images off to stock photography libraries but don't ever seem to have the time to do so and I'm not quite sure whether it's worth all the effort. Instead, Paul & I have decided to sell some of our work ... that's once I find the time to work out the details! Hopefully soon!
Paul specializes in landscape photography, especially panoramics.
He previously used a large format camera but thankfully he changed it for his Fuji 6x17. I say thankfully, firstly, because we already have so much equipment to carry without having a large format camera to lug around and, secondly, because of the amount of time I spent waiting for him to take one shot!!
I have nothing but admiration for Paul's patience for the right conditions when it comes to shooting landscapes and a little envy at his technical skills!
Just a little shout out to Big Folio for their constant support...
Ever since I first picked up a camera, I loved to shoot people more than anything else. Don't ask me why because I'm not the kind of person that'll sit and think about the why's & wherefore's of such things, it's simply just how it is! Paul, on the other hand, prefers to go out with his Fuji 6x17 & shoot landscapes - the thought of getting up at dawn for the perfect shot doesn't do it for me!
Below are a few images from my personal work of Lefkara Village in Cyprus. It's a beautifully preserved traditional village which specializes in lace-making. When we eventually move to Cyprus, I'll definitely be taking some of my clients to these old villages for some shoots.
Here's Aris & Maria's finished wedding book. These guys definitely know how to party! Keep watching for the "day after" shots at the end of the slideshow...
(Before anyone says anything, yes there are a lot of photos in this one!!!)
It's been an entire day of retouch today and I'm going stir-crazy! This was one hell of a Greek wedding & a really fun "day after" shoot. The album pages are almost finished and it's looking amazing. The Graphistudio book is headed back to one of my favorite couples I've shot, Maria & Aris, who live in Cyprus.
Thirty-eight double-pages done & five to go. I'll post a few pages once they're all ready ... that's if my lil' strapped up, repetitively strained wrist holds out!
It's my parents' 37th anniversary in a couple of day's time. Funny how as a photographer you tend to shoot everyone else except yourself & your family - or maybe that's just me?!
My parents, Solon & Joanna, weren't sure what to expect when they had a photo shoot with me but they surprised me & themselves with some reasonably "fun" shots considering how conservative they usually are!
Congrats on yet another year!
White has become very popular as a background for portrait photography shot in a studio. Sometimes I've seen shots taken where the lighting isn't quite right and the background is a dull grey color or the floor is dirty. Other than keeping the floor clean and getting your lighting right in the first place you can always use Photoshop to fix it!
Open your image & open your Levels palette. Holding the ALT key slowly move the white slider (the one on the right!) in towards the middle. You normally only need to move the slider a minimal amount. You'll notice the background starting to "clean" itself! Don't go too far though because you will start to lose skin tones & other highlights. If you keep holding the ALT key whilst moving the slider you can see your subject starting to get effected too, at this point you've gone too far so back up a bit!! Click ok when you're happy with your adjustment so far.
Next, make a Levels adjustment layer (see set of images in collage below for screenshots) and move your black slider (the one on the left!) in towards the white slider. Now you can see where your background is dirty. Click on your background layer and using the dodge tool set to "highlights" & about 3 - 8% dodge the dirty areas. Once you've finished delete the adjustment layer & you should have a whiter than white background without having effected your subject matter!
Just wanted to say thanks to my friend Lindsey for my photo I've just uploaded to my blog (at the side). It's one of my favorites :) You are such a talented photographer, your images are so creative & working with you was a pleasure. We don't see enough of each other.... Hope you're all healed up!
"I've finally figured out what's wrong with photography... it's a one-eyed man looking through a little hole"! You need at least one good eye girl!
...I had to post at least one photo (ok, it ended up as a few photos) of JBJ on here! Sorry, I know it has nothing to do with weddings or portraiture but if I get it out of the way now, it shouldn't come up again later!
Plus I'm all excited because earlier today, I booked tickets to see The Police in September. Anyone else remember Sting saying he'd never play with The Police again? Hhhmmm... Whatever the case, no complaints here about the reunion! It may not be Bon Jovi but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless!
I've been chained to my Mac for the past few days designing a wedding album and today I just couldn't face my big screen any longer so I pulled out my D2X & my wedding dress for some photos! The sun was out and the skies were blue which, for the UK, happens to be a rare occurence! My dress, from Harrods, (had to drop that one in somewhere!) still photographs well considering it's 15 years old (yeah, yeah I have been married THAT long and no, I don't look old enough - heard it all before!). My favorite of the bunch from today is below...
Whether it's a small amount of retouching, tweaking of colors, a crop to make an image stronger or, in one case, the complete removal of an unwanted father(!), it's worth taking the time to make those images special. After all, clients want and deserve nothing but the best.
Misha Gordin is definitely not a wedding photographer. A portrait photographer? Perhaps... you decide...
Gordin's conceptional imagery is beyond anything my poor imagination would ever begin to conceive! Instead of taking the digital route, he has chosen the road less traveled and has proved himself to be a master of the traditional darkroom. Not one of his photographs are digitally manipulated and yet when you see them you can hardly believe this to be true. Take a moment to be truly amazed at this photograher's work - Misha Gordin website
Paul & I were privileged to be asked to photograph our nephew's baptism in Cyprus. I'm not a huge kiddy fan but this guy happens to be my favorite nephew (ok, so he's my only nephew at the moment too!). I delivered the Graphistudio album a couple of weeks ago when I went back to Cyprus and they LOVED it... of course!
(the last photo below is Paul with his younger brother, sister & mum)
A couple of years ago, I made a completely spur of the moment decision and quit my job as a regional art director for a large portrait studio. I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to do but a couple of weeks later an acquaintance called saying she was getting married in a month’s time and would I do her wedding photos. Knowing I’d need work at some point, my mouth said yes but inside I was cringing! A wedding photographer? ARGH! I’d shot a couple of friends’ weddings about 8 years earlier and I’d hated almost every minute of it and let’s just say that my idea of a wedding photographer wasn’t what it is now!
Shooting my first real wedding was a remarkable eye-opener and then designing a Graphistudio wedding book & showing it to my thrilled clients was such a pleasant rush. I love shooting weddings and being a part of such a happy day but most importantly I try hard to keep myself fresh & challenge myself creatively rather than become a “production line” photographer.
I guess I’m still a rookie in this particular field of photography but my whole perspective of wedding photography & photographers changed and I now appreciate how many truly inspirational and highly imaginative wedding photographers there are. The “old-timers” rock!!
After a couple of weeks of cropping images, uploading, deleting, editing & re-editing and a little html-ing our new website has gone live! It still needs a few tweaks here and there & plenty more photos but it's up & running smoothly.
A HUGE thank you to the guys at Big Folio for all their help & their amazingly prompt replies & support. I would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone that is wondering about signing up with them.
I would hardly claim to be an expert with Photoshop but after using for over 10 years, I'd like to think I know my way around the program. Having said that, I'm still learning new things and love to pick up other people's tips & tricks. I'll be posting a few of my own from time to time in my blog.
As I said, I'm still learning even the simplest of things and I often think to myself "why didn't I know this already"?! For example, yesterday I learnt a great way of centering drag & drop images.
Centering Drag & Drop Images
If you drag & drop a layer from one file to another it's often a little haphazard unless you have guides on your file. If you know you want to center your new layer on your destination file, drag and drop as usual but before you let go of your mouse press the Shift key and as if by magic the source image is centered on the destination image!
Ok, two posts in and still no wedding photographs? Here's some from a wedding we shot a couple of weekend's ago in London...
Ever thought where you'd be living or what you'd be doing if your responsibilites weren't tying you down to where you are? I'm having one of those moments!
As much as I love the UK (Paul will definitely disagree with me when it comes to the subject of loving the UK!) and I enjoy shooting weddings, there's nothing quite like sitting on the hill at Ho'okipa Beach Park, Maui, being burnt to a crisp by the sun and blown to bits by the trade winds whilst shooting windsurfing legends like Robby Naish or Jason Polakow.
That last photo below is Paul catching some air!
New month, new blog, almost new website (not quite ready yet), new husband... just kidding about the last one, definitely still the old one!
Introducing the three main characters behind this beauty of a Mac screen... Sofie (that'll be me!), Paul (the guy I wake up to in the mornings) & most importantly of all Tyson (our dog, about the only thing that gets me away from the desk - other than a wedding or two!)
Be back soon - once I get my head around this blogging concept! Seriously, a diary that everyone can read? Who's freakin' bright idea was that?
