Over the past 3 years we have experimented and worked very hard at defining our style and look. Shooting in so many different areas we found the we most enjoy shooting nature type settings. Whether it be out in the woods, out in the country, or some wide open field, it is who we are and what we love. I also found that I was most attracted to colors like pastels and neutral coloring. I just love the way it looks soft and simple behind the lens.

I will release more material as it keeps arriving. We have only received the bag tags so far so once we get everything in I will share the new promo work!

First off, if you remember last year I created an action called “Sassy Pants“! I got a lot of great reviews and responses to the new action so I created another one! I’m still working on the name of it so for right now we call it….Sassy Pants 2! ha! Here are some examples of Sassy Pants 2:

I’m so fond of this new action and cannot wait to apply it to our new look for 2011!!

The logo…this is a tough one for us. We sat down for a few hours and really thought about who we are, what style we want to reflect and what target market bride we want to attract. After all said and done we came up with an awesome logo that not only reflects Jared and I personally but will also attract the type of bride we want to shoot! Its perfect in every way. Our release date for our new brand is set to be launched by March 1st!!! Get ready for a bangin’ new face lift peeps!!!!

I would love to hear your thoughts about the new action! Leave me a comment below or shoot me a personal message on Facebook or at Contact@jacobusphoto.com

STACY AND NOAH!!

We will be emailing you two shortly to set up ordering your free 16×20 print!!

If you got married in 2010 get ready to get as many friends and family members involved to be able to win a FREE 16×20 ($100 value)  print of your choice!

Monday, 1-3-11, we will release the contest pictures and voting will open! Yay! Im really excited! Last year was a big hit and Im hoping for an even bigger turn out this year! )

Random shot of me and Jared opening our Christmas jammies!!

Craig asks:

Hi Rachel,
How the heck do you get an image like that with the bridesmaids. Really awesome, natural, but kinda surreal at the same time. Do you offer advice or have an action set for post process you have for sale, as I don’t think I have seen you selling advice. But well done, very impressive. I shoot pretty well, but would like to have a consistent style, but those sort of shots are what I aspire to do, like you have in your kit, so no better person to ask.

I think the picture Craig is referring too is this one:

Blessings
Craig

This shot was fun, these GIRLS were fun. The positioning was easy I told them all just to gather around and get to a place where they could all see me. Once they gathered into this position I told them to freeze. Because, well, it looked B.A.

You are correct my sir, I do not sell advice. Yet. Maybe come 2011 I will host a workshop but for now Im free advice. I process all of my images through Lightroom. I honestly would be lost without it. I also shoot RAW which allows me to be in more control during the processing process ha! I do have an action,Sassypants, I use for SOME of my shots but honestly 90% of the images you see on my blog were processed in Lightroom and then very little sharpening added through Photoshop. I find your consistency will be a lot better when processing through Lightroom. I would hate to process all my images through Photoshop. Bleh. I don’t sell any actions or presets at this time. But, maybe in the future!

Kristin asks:

Rachel, who is YOUR favorite photographer?

I get asked this question a lot! I definitely have my blog roll of daily checks! Here are some just to name a few.
Jasmine Star
Jose Villa
Bobbi and Mike
Tanja Lippert
Leo Patrone
Gabriel Ryan
Jessica Claire
[b]ecker

I would have to say my favorite out of all of them though is Jose Villa. He shoots all film and I just absolutely love the look and feel of his art.

Tiffany asks:

I’ve been doing a lot of research on which camera to purchase and think I’ve narrowed it down. I think I’m going to buy the Canon 50D. I’m on a budget, and want to get a nice lens…do you have any recommendations?

Tiffany, I have to say Im a huge fan of prime lenses. 50mm 1.2, 35mm 1.4 and 100mm 2.8 are some of the only lenses I use. But, with being on a tight budget I highly recommend investing in a 50mm 1.4 for your first lens. If that might be a little too high in price check out the 1.8. I honestly can shoot an entire wedding with my 50mm 1.2 and maybe switch out during the ceremony.

Karen asks:

I was wondering if you went to college to be a photographer, and if you did, where?
You inspire me so much. I had almost forgotten that it was my dream to be a photographer as a kid, I got my first camera when I was only 8.
I do have a couple of more questions, but I don’t want to bug you
Thank you so much

First of all, no one bugs me with questions. I LOVE getting asked questions and it makes me feel so wonderful knowing I inspire you. I have to say, I started out in college for nursing. My first sight of blood and I was swaying back and forth like I was standing on a rough watered sail boat. That was my last day of college. I, technically and artistically, am a self taught photographer. I just read book beyond book to get my first knowledge. I second shot for a few photographers and then took off on my own. I highly recommend reading these two books when starting out. Digital Photography by Scott Kelby. I read mine so much the pages are literally not attached anymore. And then Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I carried these with me everywhere and studied them beyond belief.

Amy asks:

I’m so conflicted. I want a website, just so that I can have a portfolio. I do not know when, if ever, I will feel comfortable accepting money from people. Can you look at my pics and tell me how I can make them better/give me some tips? I want to take it to the next level, but I honestly just don’t know how to go about doing it. when did you know you were good enough?
Practicing is all I know to do.,,….
Any other suggestions?

Amy, the choices on websites are endless. We currently have a Bludomain website but have recently purchased an Into the Darkroomwebsite for our new and upcoming brand. These can get to be a tad expensive if you are just wanting to show off your portfolio. I recommend starting out with a Blogger Blog, if you’re not looking to make money just yet, to update your friends and family on what you’ve been up to. The leap from taking your photography from a hobby to a money making machine is definitely a tricky situation. But, you can be the worst photographer EVER and still charge people money. And MAKE money at that. Its all in how you perceive yourself. You have to make your client and your subject feel like you are worth what you charge. And you need to believe you are worth it as well. My advice is to start out low and casually keep building your price. Your first paid shoot will feel weird, awesome and new all at the same time. When we first started out our portrait sessions were free for a month (to build portfolio) then anything after that was $50. I felt like I was over charging because I was definitely not as good as “so and so”. But you ARE worth being paid. Not everyone can be an artistic photographer.

I hope atleast one person took away information from this blog post that helped them out. I would love to answer all the questions in one blog post but Im going to leave more for another questions post in a couple weeks!

A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.  ~David Brinkley

The photo on the left displays what comes Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC). The photo on the right displays Sassy Pants. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments!

We are so excited to start using Sassy Pants on a regular basis!! It gives the images exactly what we feel it should!

When we shoot weddings that do not have coordinators we will help in constructing a time line of the day with the bride. This enables us to be on the same page as the bride and the rest of the wedding. Its important for us because we then know how to structure our shooting.

I attended a workshop a little while ago in New York City and the host of the workshop, Lawrence Chan, created a user group for all of the attendees. We usually have a topic to talk about and one of the topics was on questions that brides should have answers to. One of the questions was:

• What will help the photographer in getting great shots for the big day?

One of my favorite responses was from Shannon Kelley of Shannon Kelley Photography. She wrote:

“Remember the photographer when planning your wedding.  Think about the lighting at the reception and let them know. Make sure to talk about the time line of the day and set enough time aside for pictures, and enjoy the day!”

Her answer really sums up all that needs to be done by the bride:

• Keep the photographer in mind when planning
• Know that extremely low light does affect the photographer
• Go over the time line with the photographer
• Budget enough time to get what you want
• Most importantly, ENJOY THE DAY!

Budgeting time for great pictures is just as important as hiring a great photographer. It doesn’t matter how amazing your photographer is if they dont have any of your time. Get a solid time line down and you will have nothing to worry about! The only thing left to do is have fun at your wedding and cherish the moments.

Here is one of Shannon’s eye candies! Enjoy!

Fogging is a good one to end with. I’m all fogged up! I’m a foggin’ bloggin’ fool. Some days I sit behind my computer….like today…and try to come up with crazy, funny, INSANE stories to tell you. But really? My life ain’t all that INSANE! Its normal, average and sweet. Bitter-sweet at times. But mostly sweet. I woke up today in an abnormal way. I usually rise at 7:00 a.m. on the dot, pee, weigh myself (obsession of mine) make coffee and then patiently wait on facebook while my delicious cup of joe brews. But no, today was different. I woke up to Jared nudging me. Over and Over and Over. “Hey, wake up! Nyquil knock you out?” Yessss I moaned as I rolled back over to hide under my pillow. “Can I get you anything?” Yessss I moaned again. Coffee would be super. He quickly got up, peed, and made coffee. I remember laying there wondering what the time was. I rolled over to grab my phone and read 10:45 a.m.!! Panic ran through my mind….Church started 15 minutes ago!! Crap. I quickly got up, peed, poured myself a cup of coffee and sat behind my computer feeling exhausted. Whoa baby…I’m sick! Headache, sore throat, running nose, aches, bleh. I take my first sip of coffee and nearly drenched my computer in disgust. I love Jared, but he is no longer in charge of making my morning coffee! I’m sure all you die hard dark brewers out there would have loved it, but I almost hurled. Just kidding, it wasn’t THAT bad, just bad enough I had to make a new pot.

Jared and I had a little fun with lighting yesterday before my photo shoot for a Make Up Artist (her blog post comes this week). Here are the head shots we did for each other. There are more of me because Jared wasn’t exactly photo shoot-ready!

By the way, ABC check was a huge friend of mine today! I was a little embarrassed to see all of my misspelled words!!!

                The next day Jared and I were leaving for church camp.  He was on the media team and I was just tagging along for extra footage, I mean, I no longer had a sissy camera, I was HOTT stuff. I felt powerful and in control and IMPORTANT carrying my new little toy.  Know the feeling? I wanted everyone to see that I was a photographer and I meant business in the photojournalist act.  This exciting feeling of people taking me seriously in a passion of mine was addicting. During that week I got to spend time learning new technical things such as- how to expose when in the shade, in the sun, in a dark lit room and capturing action shots with some motion blur.  I was on cloud nine being able to indulge in my creativity, exploring different angles, different heights and even some dangerous situations that at the time I thought made me look cool- but now I realize I could have gotten hurt. Nothing major, just hanging off sides of cliffs, tree limbs, standing on rooftops, moving truck beds. Yup. I was super cool. But despite all the effort, my images were still just average, just ok, nothing special. At least in my eyes they weren’t. Now in my Mom and Dads eyes…that’s a different story. But, I craved more. And more. And MORE. I wanted to create images that came from some of the industries best such as Becker, Jasmine Star, Jessica Claire, Mike Colon, Bob and Dawn Davis….the list goes on and on.  Why was I not able to get the same things they were? What was it? Photoshop? Better Equipment? Artificial lighting? WHAT?

             Having that kind of drive, that kind of craving for more, drove me crazy! So, I decided to blog stalk them. I checked 10-15 different industry leaders blogs everyday, twice a day sometimes even 3 times a day. Trying to figure out what the heck they did to be so amazing. Becker, who I am eternally grateful to, started this amazing online networking site. [b] school. I highly recommend it if you are just starting out and want genuine help and advice from others who are paying it forward.  The people on there were so quick to help with any questions or concerns that we had! Business issue? Helped. Technical issue. Solved. There was no information that anyone was holding back.

            Helping others is exactly what I want from my career. Whether it be my clients who I try very hard to please and take care of. Or my new photographer friends who want help in creating in their camera what they are seeing in their head. Now, don’t get me wrong, photography is not a cheap business to get into. But it is worth every penny when a bride or client calls you and is close to tears praising you for your ability to capture the day beyond how they remember it. Each detail that took hard work to create will be forever remembered.

50mm 1.4.   ISO 200   f/2.2   1/400 sec

50mm 1.4.   ISO 200  f/2.2  1/320 sec

85mm 1.8.   ISO 320  f/2.0  1/250 sec

50mm 1.4.   ISO 640  f/1.4  1/1000 sec

85mm 1.8.  ISO 250  f/1.8  1/800 sec

The only job where you start at the top, is digging a hole.   -Anonymous