A Typical Shooting Star Family Shoot

Here's another family shoot that was done last fall. I told you I was behind on getting things up on this blog, eh?  This family came all the way from Medford, Burlington County.  We started at the studio, here at Shooting Star in Salem County, South Jersey and then we went to a beautiful scouted location that is near my home.  I love all my locations!  These are scouted for their light, their elements. I love rustic, I love barn-styled shoots, I love nature!  

This has it all..  Plus, when shooting in midday sun... this place gives you protection from the harsh!  It's a win win!  I wanted to put together what a typical set or session looks like on here!I hope that you enjoy and really see what goes behind what I do!  There were even more images in the final product, but I wanted to put together a bit of variety as what a typical hour session entails.  I believe we went under an hour here.  Which is what I try to do! I know the kids are only patient for a certain amount of time!!The dog was also included in this fall shoot!  Well, because the furry babies are part of the family too!  

Daretown Lake NJ a beautiful family session with the dog.

The furry baby with his two sisters!

Two kiddos in the barn.

Sitting pretty in Salem County, NJ.

This shot was taken near our stream at the studio.

This one was a doll!!! These two sisters definitely have a love for one another!

The first family photo taken of the day! I love the furry baby included in this portrait!

Cuteness alert! I love this casual photograph!

The two beautiful sisters sitting on our garden stairs!

Time for a cutie close-up!

I love the black and white matte look!

The family and the fur baby!

Hanging out by the babbling stream!

This little one is showing me her little tooth that came out and what the tooth fairy brought her!

Mom and her two babies!

Just lovely, no words! Perfection!!

The furry baby needs to be included too!

Black and white matte shot!! =Classic!

What a classic beauty!

Bridge at Daretown Lake, Salem County.

Here's another family shoot that was done last fall. I told you I was behind on getting things up on this blog, eh?  This family came all the way from Medford, Burlington County.  We started at the studio, here at Shooting Star in Salem County, South Jersey and then we went to a beautiful scouted location that is near my home.  I love all my locations!  These are scouted for their light, their elements. I love rustic, I love barn-styled shoots, I love nature!  

This has it all..  Plus, when shooting in midday sun... this place gives you protection from the harsh!  It's a win win!  I wanted to put together what a typical set or session looks like on here!I hope that you enjoy and really see what goes behind what I do!  There were even more images in the final product, but I wanted to put together a bit of variety as what a typical hour session entails.  I believe we went under an hour here.  Which is what I try to do! I know the kids are only patient for a certain amount of time!!The dog was also included in this fall shoot!  Well, because the furry babies are part of the family too!  

This was a fun set to do! I am posting a lot of photos from this shoot.  I think mom got a total of 60 images from this!  That's how beautiful they turned out!I love adding a few artistic elements while keeping the beauty of the imagery intact.  My goal is to get everything perfect in camera so that I don't have to sit around and edit everything!  I think my total 60 images only took about one hour to edit, which in photography terms, is excellent!  Especially, with the imagery I was able to create with this set!I have written books and blogged about places to check out all around South Jersey, so I truly know all the cool and unique spots to photograph at!! FYI, we were the only ones here!  

There is also a lake here for those romantic shots that some folks adore!I truly treasure my clients!!! I go in with a great plan... and well, you see how the images turn out!  Plus, I am great with kids, having two little ones myself!!! I think that's a true difficulty that some photographers face these days, is connecting with the children!My goal is to provide a boutique-level of service!

 From start to finish!  I'm here to make the whole experience a fun and professional one!  I enjoy communicating with my clients and getting to know them prior to the shoot!  It helps in that everyone feels more relaxed and this in turn creates stunning images!  I don't know many folks who like to get their photos taken... Do You?I sure don't like my photo taken and I'm a photographer!  I have a very down to earth personality.  

I make our sessions fun, but with direction so that you get the most out of your session!I am gearing up for Spring and all the lovely families that have scheduled with me!! I purchased some great props and can't wait to utilize them!  I can't wait to see what this new year brings for me and for this new business!!! I love South Jersey and working with people here and I hope that shows through these images!!!We are also starting to see some blooming flowers here at the Studio!

 I can't wait to share it with all of you!  I love having a gorgeous private property as part of my accouterments of offerings!  Hope you enjoy these images and got to see what a typical session looks like!!!  And maybe got to know me a bit better? Trust me, you'll have a great time and I will make you laugh!  I promise!!!

Happy Shooting, my friends!

Dee

Behind the Scenes with Shooting Star's Post Processing!

Before and After Post Processing Editing.

The secret is out of the bag South Jersey! Photographers aren't just great behind the camera these days, they are often magical wizards when it comes to the post-processing department (meaning editing your photographs)!  I'm spilling a little beans at what goes on in my editing process.I am a firm believer in getting my photographs correct in camera. In fact, that's what I always strive for.  

I never want to have to later rely on Lightroom or Photoshop to "fix" my issues or problems. I go into every shoot with direction.  I know how I want things to go, what poses we'll be doing, and if using props, utilizing them to their full potential (I'm not the biggest fan of props, fyi.)I am not bossy, but I know how to give great direction and how to pose people to show them in their best light.  I think some new photographers don't know how to take charge of the situation at times and that can be a new and difficult learning process, especially how to photograph toddlers. They can often-times be the most difficult. 

 I went a little off-track up there, but a lot of these editing programs can sometimes make photographers lazy because they always have that in the back of their minds... "Oh, well I can Photoshop that out."  That's all fine and dandy, but It takes up too much valuable time.  I don't know about you, but my time is highly valuable and I try to utilize it to the best of my ability.  I'm a multi-tasker and I'm fabulous at it!  If you get it right in camera, you will only have to do minimal editing. It makes you a better photographer overall. Good images make for the best and final products. Also, it makes you more aware of details and getting things right as you are doing the session.The point I'm trying to make is, there is a dividing line these days.  

Are we photographers or are we graphic artists?  I've even seen graphic artists turn to photography.  Some folks are both... Some photographers are shoot and burners where they upload and hand over the images to their clients. In a sense, they are like myself perfecting it right in camera and they don't want to spend time editing. I consider myself somewhat of both.  

My goal is getting it right artistically in camera and then I try to "enhance" and edit it in post processing. I feel that as photographers these days you have to put on two faces in a sense. You need to be up to date, improve and perfect your skills, and know at least the basic Photoshop functions.  Hopefully, you can later expand on those functions where it is second nature... but you at least need to know what everything is, and what they do, when it comes to your editing software.  It's expected nowadays.  

 If you do not stay on top of your game, in this ever-changing very saturated career field, you'll be dust in the wind.The photography field is one tough market and we need to be on top of our toes. This is why during downtime, that I partake in new editing classes.  I also will take standard photography camera classes to learn new techniques.  This is what I admire in when it comes to photography and why I've always had an interest in it. You could be a professional photographer for over 20 years and still not know everything there is to know.Photography is a challenge and I was born and bred for challenges. 

  I started professionally in October 2014.  I registered my LLC, purchased insurance, props, took classes, figured out my cost of doing business, painstakingly chose the best photo processing lab by printing samples of my work, and I purchased numerous books about different aspects on photography, and they are presently expanding and taking over my library. I've studied up on new gear and purchased this gear and have seen myself grow in such a short amount of time.  I love that! I see the end result of hard work. 

 I am still not where I want to be and NEVER will be.I will always strive to learn from each photo session and make the next one better.  

I'm 23 sessions in from when I started in October (and I keep booking) and from what I hear with the veterans, that have been in the game longer than myself,  I'm headed off to an excellent start.  However, I've been a serious hobbyist for many years and have years of experience. 

 Improving myself and challenging myself, is just who I am and I always strive for the best customer service, product and photographs!

Before.

After.

I figured I'd write this blog post to share a bit into my post-processing and what I can do.  I do firmly believe that you need to learn how to edit and edit well as part of being a photographer these days.  

 I was able to otherwise bring this almost dark and useless photo back to life!  I exposed for the sky which made the subject a bit dark. This is a common mistake. Some actually prefer to do this, others will expose for skin tones (and my current process this is what I do now), but when you do expose for skin tones, you can also commonly "blow out your sky." Also, the sun was shining behind them which made their faces darker. This was harsh mid-day sun. 

I shot directly into the sun. Now, I use a reflector and by using the reflector it would have made this a perfect photo in camera.. But I didn't use it here.  See learning process!!!However, I was able to use my editing skills to bring this photograph back to a viable, useable and fabulous photo! It turned out to be one of my favorites from this session!  It's also another great example of why you should shoot in RAW. If this was a JPEG, I'd probably just toss this photo and deem it as unusable. 

 Here's another before and after. I always shoot in RAW, so things look a little funny right out of camera. That's just what those RAW files do, but if you look... my focus and the overall composition is great in this shot.  However, with a RAW photo, you always have to make adjustments. 

Before.

After… the firefighter.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this and a what goes into my post-processing. Most photographers, are skilled at both taking photographs and are wizards in the editing department these days!  

The top photographers in the industry can sometimes edit up to 5-6 hours to produce just one image nowadays!  Editing is a skillset just in itself and it takes a lot of patience... trial and error!  We are practically magicians these days and it's expected!!! 

 Happy Shooting, my friends!   -Dee

A Tisket, A Tasket... A Strawberry Baby In A Basket

Baby wearing a strawberry hat and in a strawberry basket.

Such a little cutie!

She wants nothing to do with this.

I got a leaf mom.

She wants out…

Now… she definitely wants out.

Photographing Babies

We've been having some very odd spring weather... Well I guess "normal weather" in what we see this time of year in South Jersey. Some days it gets hot out and up to 60+ degrees and then other days call for snow.I took advantage of the warmer weather the other day and I found a "strawberry" growing in our garden at Shooting Star!  The baby girl I worked with is 11 months old and we put a strawberry cap on her with a green diaper cover... put her in an adorable basket and magic happened!  She was such a doll to work with!The Shooting Star garden grounds are starting to come alive! 

Snowdrops are blooming, crocuses and daffodils are just about to bloom.  It's a beautiful site! In fact, we are hosting a weather here tomorrow... and yes, the weather is calling for snow... This will get interesting, but I think it will be a blast!  I love naked babies!  I know a lot of kids and young adults don't appreciate seeing themselves naked when they're older, but I think it captures the innocence and sweetness of them! Plus, I just adore babies!  I have two of my own and they'll always be my little babies in my eyes, no matter how old they get!

I have my first wedding shoot this weekend and will most-likely be in the snow and then Easter mini's this Sunday!  It is looking to be a very busy weekend!  I have also just ordered a bunch of new props for this upcoming Spring/Summer and will probably be offering outdoor mini's at one of my beautiful scouted locations next month!  I am so excited for what this year is going to bring!

I am also excited about our garden! We planted over 1,000 new perennials last year and I can't wait to utilize it for photo sessions!  I love that I can offer my clients that privacy... rather than going to a park and to be disturbed!!! However, my scouted locations also offer that privacy as well!   Give us a call!  We would love to welcome you to our garden and create lasting memories for you!

Happy Shooting, my friends! -Dee