Jess and Seth's Classic Philadelphia Engagement Session

On Sunday I had the opportunity to photograph a couple I've known since college (they've been dating for seven years and I was so happy to hear they were engaged!), first with their Great Dane Penny at a nearby park and then we headed down to Center City, Philadelphia for some classic Philly engagement shots, from the steps of the Art Museum to hopping a cab to City Hall.

Penny was a fun challenge. At 120 pounds, she was such a handful that Seth brought his dad and sister to help keep her focused, along with lots of treats. I had to laugh going through my photos later because you can see his sister holding her in place, then slinking off to the side of the pics and then you can actually see Penny walking off camera to get the treats they were hanging over my head. And I love that sign.

I don't know if I'm being too hard on myself (probably not) but while the lighting was great that day, I feel like I'm still not editing my photos to get the effects I really want to. I try to lighten, and sometimes I end up losing information or details. I try to darken and lose the details to the shadows. So then there comes the shadow highlights and then again sometimes I overuse. So I'm still trying to perfect my own editing and shooting style, but I'm definitely headed in the right direction and getting more experience. 

Apparently none of this bothers my clients though-so maybe I am just nitpicking. Word of mouth really is one of the best way to find new clients, I'm already getting more and more inquiries!

Most importantly, I'm really learning what I love to shoot. I LOVE engagement shoots, they're so much fun! At the risk of sounding cheesy, I love the opportunity to really get creative shots that capture a couple's relationship and personality. And I love their reactions when I show them their pictures. Jess said she actually teared up when I sent her the one of the two of them kissing outside City Hall. 

2014 Copyright Christine Nicole Photography

Alexis and Shawn's Kohler Park Engagement Shoot

These were taken not far from my house, at Kohler Park, which is my fiance and I take our dogs for a beautiful walk past the fountain pond to the dog park further back. 

 

Alexis, who is super adorable by the way, had to guide her fiance a little through being a good photography model but I think they did just fine once they started to ignore the camera. 

Aaron and Amber's Gun Club Engagement Session

It was a beautiful, sweltering summer engagement session for Aaron and Amber. Armed with sunscreen and some makeup (the heat made it necessary to reapply several times) we trekked through a local park and their gun club in Eastern, Pa.

Aaron and Amber were a very goofy couple to work with, airing on the side of natural and preferring not to "pose" their photos. Which, I just realized, is ironic because my favorite shots from the day are actually the ones we had preplanned. Later I'll have to upload some of their more playful photos but for now, here are some of my favorites.

Aaron proposed to Amber a few months ago while fishing out on a dock on Lake Galena of Doylestown's Peace Valley State Park.

Allie and Max's Travel Themed Merion Tribute House Wedding

On Saturday, my future sister-in-law (my fiance's sister), Allie, got married at the Merion Tribute House. With the temperamental April weather, we weren't sure what the day would bring but it ended up being a gorgeous day! Everyone looked amazing and while I was not their professional photographer (they ended up going with the same studio as Evan and I) I was able to take a few photos of them.

I've been so busy lately so hopefully tonight or tomorrow I'll be able to add a few more but I couldn't wait to post what I had so far!

Beautiful Allie outside the Merion Tribute House, Philadelphia, Pa.

Is it possible to be an impatient perfectionist? I know these don't have my  watermark and I still want to make this photo even brighter, but at the same time I just couldn't WAIT to post them because everyone looked so beautiful! And there's a technical issue with the photo of them kissing and it really bugs me but I'm hoping no one else can spot it... 

Messing around with Instagram

New Lens at the Horsham Dog Park

Brought my new 70-200 mm telephoto lens to the dog park this morning and got a few fun shots of the boys in the snow. 

He got a donk.

Ferocious.

Run Wally!

Getting My Head Back in the Game

It looks like I may be going a few weeks without eating but I'm ok with that because I've just made a huge investment that I've been putting off for a few years now.

Camera equipment!

I've always been a strong advocator of the belief that the camera equipment doesn't make the photographer. And maybe it's got to do with more of a lack of strength on my part but I've always tried to travel as light as possible, the fewer the lenses the better. But over the past year or two of working with my kit lens, the 18-105 mm VR Nikkor, I finally began to admit its drawbacks in certain shooting situations and I miss the luxury of being able to rent out this equipment from the Communications building or really any paper I've worked with.

So I did my research, read the reviews and this is what I came up with:

Nikon 70-200 mm F2.7G ED VR II AFS Nikkor Telephoto

Nikon AFS NIKKOR 50mm f1.8 G 

Nikon SB 700 AF Speedlight

Between work and the dreary freezing cold weather (we were just out of power for three days due to an ice storm) I've had a hard time getting motivated. Lately I've felt like I've been pulling myself in all sorts of different directions and I need to focus a little more on what really matters to me.

So I've come up with a few ideas to stay on top of myself.

• Get the right gear (check)

• Get organized

• Continue to educate self

• Leave the iPhone at home!

• Look for (and create) opportunities

It is so hard to stay motivated during the coldest, darkest time of the year. But even now, there are opportunities (cough beautiful snow shots) that I need to be making more of a conscious effort to take.

DIY Quotes on Canvas

I absolutely love wall art, especially wall art you can read. So our two year anniversary is tomorrow and I thought I'd make him something special, a DIY canvas with the lyrics to our first song (to be).

It turned out so fantastically I decided to post a tutorial.

Supplies:
Spray paint (you could really use any paint but this is what I went with)
Scrapbook paper
canvas
vinyl letters
glue (I used gorilla glue but I would like Elmer's would do fine)
scissors
cardboard


Step 1: Cover canvas in scrapbook paper. I chose bright music note paper to pop against the reddish brown paint I chose.

Step 2: Cut out vinyl letters, position the letters on the canvas the way you want them before peeling off the paper and sticking them down. Oh yeah, don't forget to trace a heart and cut that out with the cardboard.

 Step 3: Take canvas outside and spray paint thoroughly until you cannot see the canvas/paper. (This is my friend, she also made one for her boyfriend.)

 Step 4: Allow to dry. This took only about 10 minutes for my canvas. 

Step 5: Here's the fun part, carefully peel off the lettering!

Oh yeah, remove the heart too.

And viola! Better and more personalized artwork than you could find in your local Bed, Bath and Beyond.

And if you really want to get into it, you can do what I did and put the song on while you make it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y