Of course, when I started studying photography I shot film for a few years before the digital revolution. When I switched over to the, revolutionary at the time, Nikon D200, I didn’t realize how much I started to rely on the instant feedback the camera gave me. So when I picked up my film camera, popped in a roll of film and brought the viewfinder to my eye, I felt very strange. I realized that I can’t just start snapping away and check the results instantaneously. I had to meter the scene, select my shutter speed and aperture, manually focus the lens and only then take the shot. There were only 36 exposures I could take. That was it! After asking a couple we had lunch with to pose for me, I felt very insecure all of a sudden.

What if the film is messed up? What if the camera back is leaking light on the unexposed film? What if I didn’t get the manual focus set right? Then I started thinking, how can you EVER be sure that you got the shot you wanted on film? I don’t think I could handle waiting a week or two before I could take a look at the photos I took.

That’s when I realized how much I could grow as a photographer if I shot film more often. Here are some lessons I learned from my experience shooting film for the first time in the last 6 years. These carry over to digital photography as well and I hope you find some of them encouraging.

1. Know your stuff. Instant feedback, while very helpful for the most part, can be a crutch when it comes to really knowing your equipment and settings. So often instead of thinking “Oh, my light meter shows that the scene is too bright, let me decrease my shutter speed by 2/3 of a stop,” I just scroll the shutter wheel to the left a bit. I spend less and less time looking at my light meter to see what is actually occurring in the scene and more of just looking at the instant feedback on the LCD screen. Not that there is anything wrong with doing that, but ask yourself, do you really know your stuff even if you didn’t get to see the results right away? I think that you will build more confidence when you start relying on what you know in your head which in the end will make you a better photographer.

2. Slow down. Another reason I felt so uncomfortable shooting film with a manual focus len is because it took me much longer than usual to get the settings ready before I could start shooting. I had to actually stop and think about every move I was making. Again, there is no way for you to see what the results are until the film comes back from the lab. And on such an important event as let’s say a wedding you cannot afford to make mistakes. By slowing things down I was actually able to think more about what I was doing as well as enjoy the process of photography even more.

3. More substance and less fluff. With only 36 exposures in a roll, you can’t afford to just keep taking photos of the same scene and hoping that one of them will turn out. I found that I was more intentional with what I was shooting and had a clearer vision of what I wanted to capture.

While I am not planning on switching over to film anytime soon, I am very excited about using it more often in my personal work and possibly incorporating it at times with our business. I’m also eager to see the ways in which it will continue to grow me as a photographer.

Photographing Bolivia has been an incredible experience for me. I was stretched creatively like never before and as a result I left inspired. Inspired to explore other aspects of photography. While my previous post, Bolivian Portraits, focuses on the people that I interacted with, this one explores the context and environment that I was in. Enjoy this photographic journey into the heart of Bolivia.

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Bolivians generally are very religious people. As a  result of Spanish influence, catholicism became the main religion. However, much of it is mixed with pagan beliefs. For instance, while many people call themselves Christians, they also worship Mother Earth, or “Pachamama” as they call it. One of our drivers would stop the car before entering a town, open the car window and toss, as a sacrifice to “Pachamama”, a few coca leaves and some alcohol. He told us that it was a sacrifice for permission to enter a foreign town.

And this is what the church looks like inside. I was so happy when I saw this woman walking down the aisle.

We were walking around La Paz one evening, looking for some souvenirs, and stumbled upon this walkway. I love the cobblestone!

Then Sergio took us to an amazing restaurant where we witnessed traditional dancing along with some psychedelic lighting.

Then there was a 9 hour drive to Salar de Uyuni — the quinoa capital of the world. Along the way I saw a number of Coke signs, each with a different twist. I love this one.

I have to share this image with you, not because it’s a great photograph, but because it was one of the highlights of our trip. This is our hotel room in Palacio de Salar. The entire hotel is made out of salt. And I mean everything. Walls, ceiling, beds, tables, chairs…all made out of blocks of salt. Yes, i did lick the walls. You might wonder why would they do such a thing? Answer — this is the only building material in the area.

It’s just salt and water for miles. There is virtually no vegetation or wild life in this area. It really is a thing of beauty.

The piles above are the result of this guy’s work. Once the water drains, a truck will come to pick up the salt and take it to the processing facility. I never knew that this is one of the places where edible salt comes from.

I fell in love with llamas! To me they are among the funniest looking animals on earth. We saw hundreds of them hanging out by the roads. We also ate them on a daily basis, usually twice a day. How do you not get sick of eating llama? Here is the variety : boiled llama, fried llama, dried llama jerky, freeze dried llama, llama steak, llama soup and llama omelette. Add a bit of quinoa to that and you have a nutritious and healthy meal!

Harvested quinoa stalks are left out to dry in the sun before it is threshed.

If you look close in the image below, you will see our two cars parked below at the foot of the mountain. yes, We walked up this puppy at 13,000 feet elevation. I’m not gonna lie — I never felt so out of shape before. Lack of oxygen is one of the main reasons you get headaches if you are not used to the altitude.

Salinas de Garci-Mondoza was one of my favorite stops along the way. Some of my favorite shots are from this town.

While I was in Bolivia, Candace wrote this post about why I brought an instant camera with me. In the previous post I shared a photo of this woman and her baby. I am not sure if this woman has ever had her picture taken, but I hope that the picture I had the pleasure of giving her, will remind her that she is beautiful.

If I had to pick one photograph from the entire trip that I was most happy with, it would be this shot below.

And this one would be number two.

I had the pleasure of getting to know some wonderful people over the course of this trip. There were six of us plus two drivers that spent this week together. I want to give a shout out to all of them and thank them for their optimistic disposition even during the most difficult parts of our journey. Tim Bellio and Laurie Scanlin of Keen Ingredients kept me laughing all the time. I know that your expertise and advice will help Bolivian quinoa growers and producers work more efficiently and produce a higher quality product. Patricia Green who wrote Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood and her husband Ian Green are some of the coolest Canadians I have ever met. I loved hearing about your love for each other even after 16 years of marriage and two kids. And of course, Sergio Núñez de Arco of Andean Naturals — my friend, room-mate and quinoa importer extraordinaire, thank you for making this trip possible for all of us!

Bolivia is a beautiful country. Its rich history is fascinating and its people are friendly and hospitable. This was my first encounter with South America and I have to admit that I am in love. Both the country and its people have captured my heart and I cannot wait for a chance to go back and explore more places, eat more llama and hang out with the natives. I took many images over the course of 5 days. But as a portrait photographer the most exciting aspect of the trip for me was getting to be with the people and taking photographs of them. I narrowed them down to 18 just for this post. These are some of my favorite portraits of Bolivians. I hope you enjoy!

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Our first day in La Paz fell on Labor Day. The streets were mostly empty and there were hardly any cars on the roads. As we explored the city, we stumbled upon a huge procession of dancers and musicians who were celebrating the holiday.

In downtown La Paz near a church I saw this guy.

This lady was waiting for a bus in one of the towns we passed on our way to the quinoa fields.

My first portrait of a quinoa farmer family. These 8 people all live in that little hut behind them. As we drove up to their home we saw a dead llama and a dead sheep sprawled out right in front of the house. What you see in this image is practically all that this family owns. Some llamas, a few chickens and sheep. The only source of income they have is from selling harvested quinoa to the local cooperative. This family left a huge impression on me, because I saw how happy they were with having so little.

The grandma let us inside their home, something that even the drivers who come to these parts often never have seen happen before. We were welcomed because we were the ones who made it possible for them to make a living by buying quinoa from them.

This time of year is quinoa harvest season in Bolivia. As we drove passed the fields, we saw another family gathering the crop.

And here is the whole family to whom this plot of land belongs.

I love this image

A woman removing chaff from quinoa.

Mother and daughter taking a break before getting back to work.

We arrived to a small town where we were greeted with a music and dance. Sergio got to speak to the tribal leaders and their families about how their hard work helps people in the US be more healthy. This little old man came out hoping to make some money by selling snacks. His features are amazing.

This is probably one of my favorite images.

We had the opportunity to visit a local school in one of the towns. Here are a couple portraits of the kids.

I took this shot on one of the last days of my trip in El Alto, Bolivia

I am going to end with one of the portraits of mi amigo Sergio. He was a blast to hang out with and his love for people, food and laughter made this difficult trip a pleasure. Thank you Sergio and Andean Naturals for bringing me along and giving me the creative freedom to do what I love!

This is David Jay’s story retold in my own words. It’s a story that led him to take steps towards freedom. David Jay takes the steps to live freely and he created a business that helps others learn to embrace freedom in their own life as well. Freedom is something that he loves talking about and it’s an underlying passion, it seems, in everything he does. But there’s something else he’s passionate about – sharing. A few years ago, we first met DJ on his Freedom Tour. Last night, we ventured into San Francisco for his Pass Tour that he really could have called the Sharing Tour. I think one could argue that sharing leads to freedom. That was the underlying message of the evening to me. And I am more than excited to embrace such an idea.

Promise Tangeman started the evening by sharing her gift – the process of creative branding. She was just as friendly and sweet as she comes across on her blog. It was great to finally meet her and learn from her in person. Next up for the evening were the amazing Jody and Zach from Gray Photography. They were the first two people that welcomed us that night. They were there to share their specialty of “courting their clients”. I was intrigued the entire time and I couldn’t seem to write my notes quickly enough. And last up was David Jay who was there to share about PASS which is all about sharing pictures with your clients while giving them the ability to also share them with their friends. I’m telling you – the theme for the evening was SHARE.

I walked away from this evening thankful to be a part of the Showit family. Our website is hosted with Showit which gives us the ability to design our own website without having to know or learn website coding. Talk about freedom! I love being a part of it because I know that they have my best interests in mind. DJ is the “chief” of Showit and you can see his heart through all aspects of it. Showit sincerely cares about their clients and you can really see how much while attending the PASS tour.

San Francisco was only the second stop on the tour. You gotta check out one of their stops near you. PASS is going to be an incredible tool that will not only benefit our business, but will do so, because it is designed to benefit our clients. And they are who we care about!

Our friend’s company, Andean Naturals, hired him to photograph the new quinoa harvest, the farmers and the quinoa processing plants for some new marketing materials. It is such an awesome opportunity and we are both very thankful to God for it.

Do you know what quinoa is? I’m surprised how many people have never heard of it. It’s really good for you, so go to the grocery store and pick some up.

The incredible thing about this opportunity is that Vitaliy has always wanted to go to another country, be immersed in the culture, and photograph the people. And he’s going to get to do just that. In the process, he is hoping to photograph and give a picture to the person who possibly may never have owned a picture of themselves, or at least not a recent one. To accomplish this, Vitaliy purchased the Fuji Instax 210 before he left. This thing is a beast! It’s huge and definitely not conducive for traveling. But he’s hoping it will be a blessing for at least a few people while he is there.

Hopefully, he’ll share some stories with you after he returns. I’m off to enjoy the week with my mom.

Happy Tuesday!

For all the photographers out there, you must check out Jose Villa’s new book. If you are a fan of his work like we are, then you must get your hands on it. And for anyone who loves to look at pretty things, check out his photography. Everything he does is simply breathtaking.

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And this recommendation is for everyone, photographer or not. Go hang out at A Subtle Revelry. Victoria Hudgins is an event stylist, freelance designer and online DIY editor. Her blog will inspire you creatively and make you want to throw a party immediately. And in case that’s not enough for your creative juices, check out her new free online magazine. Love it!

When they called to ask me to teach the workshop, I tried to convince them that it wouldn’t be weird at all for Vitaliy to attend the Women’s Retreat to teach the workshop. He’s the pro, not me. I’m just his student. His pupil. His wannabe. Believe me, you want him, not me.

They didn’t seem to like the idea. So it’ll just be me. But I call it “Our First Workshop” because everything I’ll be sharing, I learned from Vitaliy.

Here’s to jumping into things that scare you. Anything you’ve been holding back from? We can jump in together!

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Here’s my teacher. He’s cute and always gives me a kiss after class. Don’t tell.

Around this same time, Teresa Halton was very gracious to let me tag along to some of her weddings and help her with anything she needed. After a couple of weddings, she asked me to pick up the camera and start shooting. At first my hands would shake as I would try to recall how to shoot in Manual mode. But with each time, I became more comfortable and started growing as a photographer. Even today, having been in business for over two years, I cannot say enough about the importance of second shooting and why I continue doing it. Here are five ways that you can benefit by second shooting for other photographers.

1. Increase your confidence. Picking up a camera and starting to photograph people can be very intimidating. Especially when it comes to weddings. Just reading about wedding photography cannot adequately prepare you to actually shoot weddings. The more you assist experienced wedding photographers, the more confident you will become in the environment.

2. Freedom to shoot more creatively. This applies to me more today than it did three years ago. When I am not the main photographer at the event, I have the freedom to look at things from a different perspective. Of course, my first and foremost responsibility is to photograph what the main photographer needs, but after that I am free. I don’t need to worry about whether I got all the formal photos or where Uncle Bob is at the moment, I get to look around and capture moments that I otherwise may have been missed. This helps strengthen my eye and better prepares me for my own weddings.

3. Grow in your photography skills. The more you pick up the camera and shoot, the better you become at making pictures. It’s as simple as that. Do you have a free weekend? Why not keep shooting even though you don’t have an event that day? Ask a fellow photographer if you could help. You will not only be doing them a favor, you’ll be improving your skills simultaneously.

4. Build relationships. One of the most valuable things in growing our business has been getting to know other photographers and vendors in the industry. When I second shoot, I’m able to build my relationship with the main photographer, as well as, work with DJs, event planners, florists, etc. that otherwise I may not have met.

5. Fosters humility. Photographing for someone else is very different from photographing your own weddings. You don’t get to call the shots and you are basically there to help the main photographer with whatever he or she might need. No matter how long I’m in business, I want to have the heart of an amateur (a person who engages in an activity for pleasure rather than financial benefit). I never want to think I’ve made it, but rather always have a heart to learn and grow.

Here is a random selection of my images from a wedding I second shot with Teresa Halton.

Bride & Groom: Jay & Lydia
Date: March 12, 2011
Location: Kohl Mansion

I’ve been wanting to capture this shot for a while, but I haven’t had a dark enough room to do it in. I love the dramatic light here.

And here are Jay and Lydia getting to see each other for the first time. I love this moment!

Charles Dickens and wedding rings — mmmmm, tasty combo.

This last image might need a bit of explanation. I saw this couple hanging out during the cocktail hour and they looked super cuddly. So I asked if I could take a photo of the two of them. It was just a spur of the moment idea and we had a blast! I just love seeing people in love and showing affection for one another. The reason I was able to get this shot was simply because I had the freedom to do so. What are you waiting for? Go take pictures!

Though I love clothes, hair and makeup – I am by no means a fashionista, nor have I ever claimed to be one. To be honest, before I met Vitaliy, you would rarely see me in a dress. Falling in love had an interesting effect (one I’m thankful for!) on my wardrobe, but that is an entirely different post, but one possibly worth writing about one day. For today, I’d like to present a few reasons why it’s important to go all out for your pictures.

Photography is a financial investment, why show up in your sweats?
I have seen a few shoots done at home where not dressing up looked absolutely appropriate. In fact, we did a session where the couple wore pajamas at home. But unless the session is meant to have this feel to it, make the time to shop for something special for your photo session. It’s so important to look and, more specifically, feel your best when you arrive to have your pictures taken. It’s not every day that you have your picture taken, so it’s ok to dress like it. Because I don’t dress up and wear a lot of makeup every day, I was afraid that doing so for my pictures would appear that I was trying to be someone other than myself. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Though I may not dress up every day, if I needed to look extra special for an event, this would be exactly how I’d look. And having your pictures taken is such an event. I’m so happy I didn’t give into my fears and play it safe.

Details, Details, Details
After two years in the business and doing a lot of research, when couples incorporate special details into their session, it always sets them apart from the rest. It can be something as small as adding a necklace to an outfit or adding those killer shoes you’ve been eyeing. It can be choosing that red dress when you would normally wear black. It can be scouting for a killer location rather than choosing the neighborhood park. You can incorporate things you love like a set of old movie theatre seats! Ahem! It’s all about taking the time to add a little creativity to your session. And talk with us, we’re more than happy to come up with a brilliant concept for your pictures. That’s precisely why we’re in a creative industry.

Wow, this post has proven to be a little longer than I had anticipated. So to keep your attention and make sure you’re still enjoying yourself, please enjoy the following.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Think of it as a date! And more like the ones toward the beginning of your relationship.
We all remember the first few dates. You know, the ones where you planned what you were going to wear the minute he asked you out. Your room looked like a tornado because you tried on every piece of clothing in your closet. You narrowed the outfits down, then shared your top three choices with your best friends until you finally had it – the outfit. With “the outfit” picked out, you then spent a little extra time on your hair, added a little more mascara and blush, and one extra spray of the perfume. Yup, then you were set. That’s how you should approach your photography session. It’s our goal that the two of you will fall more in love with each other by the end of your time with us. So approach it that way! You want to look as good for him as you did on that first date – nah, even better! Wow him!

Professional makeup or not?
I came home from having my makeup done and almost cried. I would have cried but I didn’t want to smear my makeup. I was so not used to it. I thought I looked like a clown. Vitaliy assured me I must be looking in the wrong mirror because he did not see what I was seeing. I had a feeling that I was wrong. So I decided to trust him and go with it. I promised myself that I would go outside of my comfort zone on these pictures and I knew that if I took the makeup off, I would be reverting back to the same old, same old. I knew these pictures, and Vitaliy, deserved something special. I’m so happy I listened to him! I probably should try that more often. Maybe. Professional makeup just looks better on camera. It’s amazing how something as little as that can go such a long way. I know some photographers that require you to have your makeup professionally done. I don’t want to be that black and white about it, but it is definitely one of my top recommendations for your pictures. There are some girls who can do their makeup well enough that you would think it was professionally done. But if you’re not one of those girls, like me, than just go get some help.

One of my favorite brides used to email me every few weeks to update me on the details of her engagement session and then her wedding day. I loved reading each email for two reasons. One, because I love getting to know my brides. And two, because it let me know that she cared about her pictures as much as I did. Every photographer’s dream!

To continue in the lesson for Sarah, we decided to share a little bit about our post processing. Sarah, we hope this is helpful for you and for anyone else who might be reading. I’m thrilled to welcome the amazing Vitaliy Prokopets to the blog today. If you like today’s post, please leave Vitaliy a comment. I’m trying to convince him he should blog more often, but it might be more convincing if it comes from you guys. Let’s give him a warm welcome!

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Some of the readers have asked me technical questions in regards to how I process the images. I am a firm believer in getting it right in the camera. But unlike some purists out there, I have no problem taking the image into Photoshop and making quite a few adjustments until I get the exact look I was going for. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the image needs to look amazing when you capture it. No amount of Photoshop skills can replace an acute eye and a solid knowledge of your camera settings and lenses. But to me, the process is not over until the image has been “finished”. As a student of photography I know for a fact, that throughout history, most great photographers used intense darkroom techniques in order to get their images to look just the way they wanted them. I think the same process applies today. The image is not “finished” unless it has undergone at least a minimal amount of manipulation to better communicate your vision to the viewer.

I wanted to share with you three of the images from a recent photo session that we posted on the blog. For all of you photographers out there, I hope this helps you understand my process and why I go about editing the images the way that I do.

This image of Sarah that I took a couple of weeks ago is one of my favorites from the session.

Let me explain how I got to the image you see above. When we arrived at this location one of the first things that stood out to me was the tall grass. Anytime I get a chance to shoot in it, I do. I love it! As soon as I started shooting, I tried to shield my lens from the sun hitting the front element. This is almost an immediate response that I have if the sun is in front of the camera and I am getting an intense flare. Usually I want the image to be sharp and properly exposed. Maybe once in a while I like some flare, but not to the point where it makes the whole image washed out. I moved around Sarah to try and get rid of the annoying flare. This is what I was getting at first.

50mm f1.4     ISO 200     f2.2     1/1600

That’s a pretty nice image, right? I was happy with it, but not thrilled. As I moved a bit to the left and the sun hit the lens again, I finally saw it. Sarah looked almost ethereal as the light filled the lens and created this soft and quiet mood that I just loved. Why was I trying to get rid of the flare? Probably because that’s what we are usually taught to do in order to get that sharp and contrasty image. As I took the shot, I knew that this was it. Although the image did look washed out in the camera (see below), I knew that in post production I could add a tone that would communicate the same kind of mood that I felt at that moment.

50mm f1.4     ISO 200     f2.2     1/1250

For this image I brought down the exposure 1/2 a stop in Lightroom. Then I brought it in Photoshop, added yellow and orange tones and played a bit with the contrast. The only way I was able to do it without spending a ton of time editing is by using actions that really help speed up the whole process. I use the following set of actions on a regular basis: Totally Rad and Colorshift. One thing to keep in mind about actions is that almost none of them can be used in the same way on every image. Over time I have developed customizations and I never use the action as is without tweaking it and getting the exact look that I want. Actions are your tools, just like your camera and lenses that help you get the job done. On the above image I used a variation of the action called Color of Summer from the Colorshift set. Also notice that on the straight out of the camera image there is a little white strip of light in the top left corner. I didn’t see it in my viewfinder at the time so I had to fix it in Photoshop. But most of the time if I can fix it while shooting, I will do it just to save time later on.

I really love the shapes and the texture in this next one.

Dan and Sarah are both artists — Sarah is an Architect and Dan is a Graphic Designer So they scoured St. Louis prior to our arrival in order to find the coolest places to photograph them at. This image was taken at an old burned down church in downtown St. Louis. I simply loved the shape of the windows as well as the ivy that was growing all over the walls. Unlike the image of Sara above I didn’t know that I was going to turn it into a Black & White. The before and after images look like this.

70-200mm f2.8     ISO 200     f2.8     1/250

I felt that the original color image already looked monotone so it only made sense to convert it to a Black & White. I recently attended a seminar with Vincent Versace and he really inspired me to convert more images to B&W. He said that the amount of detail that is possible to see in the B&W image is unparalleled to color. That is why some of the most intimate and compelling images that stick in our minds are Black & White. In the above image, I first cropped it just a bit to have a perfect symmetry. Then I removed the pipe that went across Dan and Sarah’s feet because I thought it was distracting. Next step was to convert the image to Black and White, enhance (sharpen) the detail on the walls, and add a warm brown tone to it. I think in the end the image looks much more interesting and helps the subjects stand out a little bit more.

My last example is of an image that has the least amount of post processing done out of the three.

The light was perfect, the background added a little more interest to the frame and the expressions are amazing. It was Candace who had this image in her mind and I simply executed her vision on this one. As you look at the original image below you probably won’t see the need to change anything. But my philosophy has been that by playing with color on every single image adds a little spice to it. I feel that doing that really helps my images look fresh and more editorial. Here is what I mean.

70-200mm f2.8     ISO 500     f2.8     1/200

I tweaked the contrast just a bit and ran the action called Lux (soft) from the Totally Rad set and changed the opacity down to 25% to minimize the effect. I feel like often times photographers go all out on post processing and that is when the image suffers from too much contrast or crazy color. Most of the time I like subtle changes. It’s like with good design, sometimes simplicity can be more effective in communication. I hope that by now you can see what a “finished” image looks like to me. Some images I don’t spend much time on in post production because I like the way they come out of the camera. Other ones I spend a bit more time on if I really had something in mind while taking the image or if I decided that it could look better if I tweaked it. It really all comes down to your own voice. What do you want to say with your images?