liz photography: the blog

I Heart: the happiest baby!

lizphotography — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:37:40 +0000

Whew! Things have been crazy busy since the birth of my best friend’s first child.

But GOSH, isn’t he sweet?? This is from his newborn session, on his 7th day in the world. On Thursday, he’ll be one month already. We can’t believe it!! Being involved in this little guy’s care (because I’ll be keeping him full-time when his mom goes back to work) has been such an eye-opening blessing for me. You’ll be seeing a LOT of this little fella in the coming months!

It’s Babies week over at:

Go check out some of the other entries in this week’s contest!

The M Family — Winston-Salem Newborn Photographer

lizphotography — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:20:26 +0000

Alright, time to unveil it — the first shoot from our new studio in downtown Winston! And luckily, little Hunter arrived JUST on time to take advantage of it! Look at this beautiful family!!

“Mooooooooom, what is that crazy circular thing she’s pointing at me??”

How is it possible they are ever THIS teeny tiny? He’s studying his mom.

And she’s studying him, too! Congrats, Emily and Gentry. He is AMAZING. Thanks for letting me capture this special moment in your lives!

The studio is working out just fabulously! We are now using a combination of studio light and natural light, via our gorgeous wall-height windows. Honestly, we just couldn’t have chosen a better location — private, quiet, and full of great southern light. We are now accepting books for Spring and Summer 2010. Click the BOOK A SESSION tab at the top of this page for more information!

Texture is tops!

lizphotography — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:00:15 +0000

And now for your viewing pleasure…

After being a little inspired by I Heart Faces’ texture contest a few weeks back, and being more than a little insomniatic last night, I played around with a few old photos and added some texture.

Girlie bestest/assistant Julie (the original is from last March, when I first opened my studio!):

Boyperson bestest/awesome-at-everything Jason (this is from February 08 and is still one of my favorite captures):

And… yours truly, from last May’s studio open house (props to Julie for taking my photo so well!):

And now for some kiddos! Drake’s newborn photo, back in the fall, and Rosa’s birthday balloon (from the last post):

I don’t have much else to post, since I’m taking a break from shooting until March/after the move. I’d love to get your opinions on these textured photos and how you think I might be able to use them as a product (with some perfecting, of course).

I love their love

lizphotography — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:53:04 +0000

I had not one but two amazing photo sessions this weekend. Snow/sleet and bucketfulls of rain on Friday almost prevented me from traveling down to Fairmont, NC to get to one of them, but I did make it safely on Friday afternoon. I got to test out my new 12 ft long, 12 ft high backdrop stand! It’s a breeze to carry around, as it collapses down to less than 4 ft and slips into its own carrying case. I am really digging it. It’s so nice to not have to borrow on anymore for on-location studio shoots (but a huge thank you to Ariel Perez Photography for letting me borrow his, as needed)!

One session was for my close friends, Hector and Danyelle, who are expecting their second child next month. If you’re a Browncoat, you’ll appreciate the name they’ve chosen: Bella JAYNE. We cannot wait to meet Miss Bella in late March, although, if she’s anything like her big sister, she might not arrive until April!

Hector and Dan are one of my favorite couples, as people and as parents. They were told several years ago that they’d never have children at all. Rosa, their oldest daughter, will be two on her birthday this Friday:

That just goes to show that modern medicine doesn’t always have the perfect answer! Isn’t she beautiful? She is one of the smartest and most verbal almost-two-year-old I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. Plus, she gives me kisses. Who can argue?

I also got the opportunity to take a few shots at Rosa’s birthday party on Saturday, which was also a baby shower for Bella. Here are a few creative edits from my snapshots. I really love the balloon one. It looks like she’s floating/dancing. Also, the balls in the ball pen were bright primary colors, but while roaming through my various presets, I found one that turned them pastel. Giant Easter M&Ms!

My second session was from a repeat client. She came to one of my special events in the fall and had Halloween portraits done of her daughter, niece, and nephew. She ended up booking me for a boudoir session, which turned out GREAT! We couldn’t get the book out in time for Christmas because of the rampant snowstorms, but we finished her sessions up yesterday and I sent the book to the printer this morning — what an awesome Valentine’s day gift for her husband! No photos to share from that one, though — we’ll let him be the lucky first viewer.

All in all, I’ve been super-busy lately, but I am relishing the fact that I don’t have any projects outstanding at the moment — everything’s in and delivery’s been done on all of the sessions from January. Now I can take a break and concentrate on MOVING!

Think less, post more

lizphotography — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:13:27 +0000

Wow, where did the week go? It’s been a busy one! The website is back up and running, with a totally new look. I’ve already booked my first session from it, as well, which is really amazing. I am also finalizing plans for where the studio will be for the next year — as soon as something’s definite, I’ll post some pictures and more info. I had a great shoot on Monday night, and did delivery on Thursday evening — she was really happy with the photos for her boyfriend back home. Maybe if I ask nicely she will let me post an example this weekend! Speaking of the weekend… the forecast is calling for massive amounts of snow. Eight to eleven inches, to be specific. I’ll be holing up with my computer and hot beverages and books… and if I can find the motivation I’ll start packing boxes for the big move!

Now, on to the real reason why I’m posting today… It’s Fix It Friday over at I Heart Faces! Their selection for today’s photo is just perfect, considering the forecast! Here’s the original image (note: not mine, but used with permission):

Not a bad one at all. I love high-key images like this. However, it just needs a bit of a boost…

There! Now it’s got that Liz style to it. Wanna know what I did? Well, I’m using Lightroom, my favorite image editing program. I played with the yellow hues to make her hair brighter and her coat a little less drab. I adjusted the following sliders:

Exposure +8
Blacks +20
Brightness -34
Contrast -25

I also painted a layer (with the adjustment brush) of higher exposure over her hair and face, at +1.43. I also added some clarity to her hair and certain facial features (my preferences are lashes and lips) at 100%. Little Mr. Snowman got a little lower exposure, so you would see his details, and the gloves got a little extra clarity. Cropped it square, and there you go! Got any further questions? Feel free to ask! Head on over to I Heart Faces, grab the file, and try it in your own favorite editing program — I’d love to see what YOU would do to make this photo even better!

Now, did the image NEED all of these little touches? Nope! But, making edits like this is what defines my style. I try to look at every photo I take and see the possibilities. It’s very likely that the photo, from my camera, would have looked very similar to the original. The most important part of this photo is the girl’s expression, as well as the subject of her gaze.

Break out those boots and enjoy the snow this weekend, Carolinians! Hopefully I’ll have some snow photos of my own to post at some point!

(Wo)man down!

lizphotography — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:27:03 +0000

Drat! The Lizphotography site is down! It’s my own fault, though. There I was, trying very hard to update my site and my image for the new year… and poof. Gone. I mean, no worries, it was a very basic and boring site, and I had another just waiting in the wings to launch. I hope my DNS catches up really soon, though, because I have a bunch of ad-space that I JUST launched, and I have another campaign for my hometown launching later in the week. Argh, I am no good with patience. I just keep hitting f5… f5… f5…

So, if you’re heading over to my site, please be patient with the error 404… it will soon resolve into a beautifully made new website where you’ll be able to check out my work from the past year and book your very own photosession. Just keep hitting f5!

*hmm, as of 7:40pm, the DNS seems to have caught up — the new site is live! check it out at www.lizphotography.com!

I Heart: texture!

lizphotography — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:29:11 +0000

Ahh yes, it’s that time again! The folks over at I Heart Faces are holding their weekly challenge, and the topic this week is (you guessed it) TEXTURE. It’s so hard to find a great face photo with texture, because when I’m making portraits I really like to focus on the face! However, I think this particular portrait, at an engagement session a few months back, captures both emotion and texture in a unique way. The shot was taken in/around an abandoned building, through the one window left intact. I think, if you look hard enough, you can find your photographer! The sun was setting at my back, so I got a lot of great reflections off of the glass without obscuring the couple. I’ve done a little creative editing with the colors in Lightroom, but the texture in this photo is all straight from the camera!

I Heart: this little face.

lizphotography — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:23:17 +0000

Throughout 2010, I hope to be posting MANY photos. Some of these will be contest entries, and some will be sneak peeks. Some may even be personal, who knows! This falls under the first category, and possibly under the third. There’s this great website/blogsite called I Heart Faces. I’ve gained lots in inspiration and information from it over the past few months. They have contests pretty often. Now, I’m not sure I really have any delusions of winning. Some of the photos submitted are amazinggg and I’m just not sure I’m in the same boat. But, it gives me something to post about, and gives those who’d LIKE to see my work that chance.

Next week’s contest theme is “Best Face Photo”. This is C, one of my little friends.

I took this photo on Jan 7, 2010, with my Canon Rebel T1i and 50mm lens, using natural light from a window. I edited it with Lightroom 2.

Wish me luck!

New Year, New Blog

lizphotography — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:57:50 +0000

Seems like a staple of the photography world is having both a blog and a website. The website [lizphotography.com] provides specific info on session costs and products and the like, while the blog is meant for sneak previews and ongoing “portfolio” updates. That said, I’m horrible at updating these things but I’m going to give it a try. I’m sure at some point I’ll find I have lots to say, professionally.

hello!

lizphotography — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:47:06 +0000

ok, so, this is my first official work blog. i’m not sure exactly what i’m supposed to write here, especially since there’s not too much going on. my business is in start-up stage, which means i am slowly but steadily building clientele and momentum. hopefully by summer, things will be in full swing. who i am? oh, by the way, i’m liz. my business is photography.

here’s what is currently going on:
*within the month, i’ll be moving to my new studio/home in kernersville, nc
*by the spring folly, i hope to have the studio completely set up and ready to accommodate any type of client at a moment’s notice
*by summer, i hope to have launched my senior spokesmodels into at least one area high school
*by the fall folly, i hope to have built enough of a client base and portfolio that i no longer need to have an alternative job (this is kind of silly, because i don’t have one now, but i hope to be living more comfortably by then)
*by next year, the botanical garden will be open and i hope to have launched my version of a one-room b&b that serves garden events

there’s a lot of work to do. i never imagined that i would turn my creativity towards business in this matter. a year age, photography as a career was not on my radar. my passion for it grows daily though, and i believe that i have the tools and ambition to be truly successful.

so, for now, i have no clue how often i’ll update this. i like to blog, to keep track of where my life is heading, and have been doing it pretty steadily since 2004. the next year of my life is pretty crucial. i can only press forward with the best of intentions, and pray for success.