how to be my favorite client

One of the biggest reasons I love my job so much is that my clients are downright amazing.  This year,  in particular, I've been able to meet and work with so many wonderful, creative, fun people who just seem to "get me".   I love it!  I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and I realized that all of my "favorite clients" have a few things in common.  In no particular order, I thought I'd share them with you in case it helps you to plan your own session :)My favorite clients:

- Give me input.  I love hearing your ideas and working with you to style your shoot!  If you want something super creative, let's brainstorm about it together to come up with something awesome.  My favorite clients know who they are and what they want, even if they're not sure how to get there.  That's where I come in!  Don't worry if you don't have specific ideas -  I still want your input :)  Who are you?  What do you like?  What makes you happy?  What do you dream about? What's your favorite color?  One of the best compliments I can get after a shoot is hearing, "Oh, that's so HER!" or, "You captured their personalities perfectly!"

- Email me.  I'll be honest here - I hate the phone.  Especially in the summer (which is my busiest season) if I don't write something down, I can 100% guarantee that I won't remember it.  Most of the time, I'm usually not around my phone because I'm out shooting.  I can't return your phone call at 1am, but I can return your email at 1am.  And there's a good chance I will :)  Email ensures that we're on the same page, and especially if you have questions about pricing, packages, or scheduling, please please please email rather than call - that way, if I have to look something up, I can make sure I have all the necessary information before talking to you.  If really feel more comfortable calling, that's totally fine,  just be aware that you'll probably always get voicemail in the summertime :) Same thing goes for texting - if you're running a few minutes late the day of your shoot and want to let me know, texting is awesome!  If you want to place an order or schedule a session, please email me.

- Have fun during the shoot!  Relax.  Joke around.  Make faces.  Take vodka shots if you have to (not you, high schoolers ;) Laugh. Tell me funny stories about your life.

- Are prepared. Come to your ordering appointment with a list of which aunts and uncles need which size photos, etc.  This will save us both so much time and help the whole process go a lot more smoothly :)

- Love your session?  Let me know!  I'm a big "word person" and I live off of your compliments, blog comments, and sweet notes.  More than once, my entire day has been turned around by a well-timed encouraging message from a client.  Thank you!  I need it, I love it, and it means more to me than you'll ever know.  You guys are wonderful!  I am so lucky :)

And here's one quick image from an incredible engagement session with two of my new "favorite clients" - Shalisa & Nate brought me a heart-shaped record.  Because Nate is the best DJ ever.  I can't wait to share the rest of this great session with you guys!

Q&A : wedding photography by the numbers

I talk a lot about how much I love my job, and it's all true!  I get to meet amazing people, shoot beautiful details, and spend time with people during some of the most important moments of their lives.  That doesn't mean that it's easy, though.  I shot two weddings in a row this weekend and now I am absolutely and thoroughly exhausted - it's definitely a full-body workout :)  In case you're tempted to quit your day job and become a wedding photographer, or you're just curious about what it's like, I thought I'd break it down for you by the numbers.  So, here's how my last 48 hours was measured:Weddings : 2

Images shot : 92GB worth

Weight of my Canon 5d Mark II with 50mm 1.2 L lens and 580 EXII flash : 4.8 lbs (according to my bathroom scale :)

Weight of my Manfrotto 190XDB tripod (with the 701 HDV video head) : 6.1 lbs

Weight of my shooting bag: 3.2 lbs

In my shooting bag (an old leather messenger-style laptop bag) : other lens, batteries, pens, hairbrush, business cards, pocket knife, safety pins, breath mints, phone, lipstick, protein bars, screwdriver, tampons, lens cleaning cloth, lens cleaning pen

Weight of my Dakine Reload waterproof camera bag (with everything else inside ): 21.8 lbs

Total weight I carry with me : 35.9 lbs

Hours on my feet: 23.5

Energy drinks consumed : 4

Days it rained : 2

Number of concerned fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, and fathers-in-law who said the exact phrase, "Better hurry, it's gonna rain!" more than one time while we were shooting: 6 (I counted!)

Needless to say, I woke up this morning feeling like I ran a marathon. With the flu. While getting hit by a semi.  But I'm happy, and I STILL love my job :)  I can't wait to post some images from this fabulous weekend!

I had another recent question come in about my lighting.  I use natural lighting whenever possible, and I'm lucky enough to have a studio space with natural window light coming in from three sides!  I never use a flash when I'm shooting babies or children because a) it's disruptive to the baby, especially if we're trying to get them to sleep or calm down, b) older kids move pretty quickly and any flash needs a bit of time to recycle, and c) the light sensitivity of the 50mm 1.2 means that I'm never in a situation during the day when I actually need more light. I do have some old studio lights that I rarely, if ever, use.  I'm not even gonna link to them because I'd have to go find out what kind they are - that's how little I use them.  When you start getting into the world of studio lighting setups, you have to start worrying about color temperature a lot more.  I love the way skin tones look in natural light, and I'm reeeally not a fan of how skin tones look under 99% of studio light setups, so I just don't even go there.

That being said... if I'm looking to create some added drama and want to get creative with supplemental lighting outside (or inside a venue), I LOVE my Lowel iD video light.  It's dimmable and what you see is what you get, which is super helpful with composition.  It's also less disruptive than a flash if you're trying to be a little more subtle, although it gets hot quickly and isn't as powerful, but in most situations, that's okay with me.  Before I decided to make the switch to Canon, I was using a Nikon SU-800 commander unit to trigger my SB-600 speedlite units.  The visual effect was AWESOME, but it's all line-of-sight communication, which seemed to be a problem in more situations than not, and the trigger range was less than I had hoped for, so although I had fun playing around with that, it quickly dropped out of my setup.  Now that I'm shooting Canon, I'll probably be investing in some Pocket Wizards soon :)  Yay!  Oh, gear... there's always something to buy.  Okay, that's probably enough nerd talk for now.  I'll end with a quick sneak peek from this weekend- congrats to Theresa & Jason and Christian & Heather!