Wednesday, September 30, 2015

LIFE + MY IPHONE

These past couple of weeks I have been bringing my work with me to Starbucks to get away from the distractions of a cozy home.  I sit here - bejewelled sweater, bun in my hair and a venti toasted graham latte (it's amazing!) by my side - working away on upcoming blog posts, editing and catching up on my emails. 

Life lately has been a series of weddings, friends having babies, road trips, goodreads, writers block (like today), many firsts and learning to be a better business owner.  

Here's what else...

Loving the fact that my sister got a kitten #yayforkittensnuggles
Ferry rides.  On and off the island.
Visiting Victoria for the first time!
Shooting my first wedding on  my own!
Doctor Who
Sleepless nights (which may or may not be related to the latter)
Really wishing I would've gotten up early enough this morning to wash my hair
One Direction
TWO of my friends having babies.  I was in both of their wedding parties last year (one as a bridesmaid, the other as the maid of honor) and they both welcomed the most beautiful baby girls to the world.
Pumpkin wine
Visits back home
Photography workshops and new friends

And if my iPhone could tell you what my life has been like as of late, it would look a little something like this...


Find me on Instagram!  Happy Wednesday!

Monday, September 28, 2015

PUMPKINS, SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE

Fall is here people!  That can only mean one thing...Pumpkin Spiced EVERYTHING!

On Friday, my sister and I made our way over to Coastal Black Estate Winery in Black Creek to grab a couple bottles of their limited edition Spiced Pumpkin wine.  In hindsight I am only slightly embarrassed because we left early enough to get there right when it opened, thinking there would be a huge line-up - because really, why wouldn't there be - to be the only ones there.  I guess the general public just doesn't share our enthusiasm for all things pumpkin once the leaves begin to fall.

I was a little disappointed when I realized I had forgot to bring my camera with me when we left, so my iPhone had to suffice.  I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were tourists from the amount of pictures I was taking.  We didn't really care though.  We were getting pumpkin drunk when we got back home anyways ;)


YAY!  We finally got our wine.  Three bags.  We ended up going back the next day in fear of running out too soon.  This is going to be the best Fall EVER!


After we got home I made sure to grab my camera and take some shots of these beauties before we scarfed them down.



And for the grand finale.  I think they should highly consider using this in their ad campaign for next year.  They would sell out so fast.  Srsly ;)


Pumpkin on, friends!

Friday, September 25, 2015

EASY + PRETTY WEDDING HAIR

The weather here on the West Coast can be some what sporadic at times.  If you live here, you would know what I am talking about.  Raining one day, scorching hot the next and not to mention our frequent wind storms just to stir things up a bit.  All that aside though, this truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world and I wouldn't want to live any place else.

Anyways!  The reason for all my talk of the weather - besides my long life wish of being a meteorologist - wedding hair.  Or more specifically wedding photographer hair.  When I dress for a wedding, my goal is to blend in as a guest so not only am I worrying about what to wear, my hair needs to be on fleek as well...and this is where this post comes in handy.

When doing my hair for a wedding day most of the time I like it out of my face and off my neck so I have been souring Pinterest for some cute wedding-worthy hairstyles to try and I thought I'd share them with you, because, well, I love you guys and I think we should all look fabulous together!  So whether you are a photographer, guest or heck! even a bride, check out these super cute hair ideas down below!

1. Messy French Twist via Oncewed


2. Romantic Side Braid via Oncewed


3.The Low Knotted Bun via The Freckled Fox


4. Easy And Pretty Updo via Anne Sage


Do you have any go to hairstyles?  If so I would love to see them!  Leave a comment below.  I am always on the look out for new things to try :)

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

CLAM BUCKETS, WINE + A BEST FRIEND

So Saturday was my last wedding with Adina until NOVEMBER!!! and I am feeling a flurry of emotions over the whole thing.  We decided to have a slumber party because we're cute like that ;)  I don't even want to think about how it's going to be in November with our last wedding together; right now I'm just taking each day as it comes.  This year has been a total whirlwind for me - it is the year everything changed.  Laughter and tears, triumph and defeat...I feel like I have conquered the world, and at this point, there's nothing that can stop me.  It can only get better from here, right?!

I arrived in Port Alberni early Saturday morning so I wouldn't get stuck in traffic from the annual Port Alberni Toy Run - another reason why you should look into local events as well as the weather for a wedding day! -  so we decided to go out for an early brunch at the Clam Bucket to start our day off right!  And in all seriousness, if you haven't tried this place out, do it!  I promise you won't be disappointed.  After our delicious meal, we were off to document Amber and Keith's wedding for the majority of the day and had a blast like we always do.  We finished the day off with a glass bottle of red wine and lots of laughs.



We woke the next day with plans of getting LOTS of work done, but we decided spending the day in our pyjamas looking at pictures from all the weddings we shot together this year was a much better idea.  We did take a little break to be the guests of the most special birthday party for one special little girl's Imaginary Friend.  It was the most perfect day with the most perfect company.  As I drove home later that night, I couldn't help but think of how ridiculously crazy this year has been.  And the best part of everything, I've gained a best friend.

Monday, September 21, 2015

ONE FRAME : UNEXPECTED MOMENTS

Sometimes in life we have it all mapped out.  What we want to do and what we need to do to make it happen.  But sometimes it's those in-between moments that really surprise you.  The ones that are unexpected - those if you blink too soon you might miss it moments.  The ones you can't get back.  This is one of those moments.  This was one of my favourite images from Samantha and Alex's wedding, and I am just wondering now why I haven't shared it yet.  It reminds me to never take the camera away from my face.  It also reminds me that I should take my camera with me more often.  For those unexpected moments that present themselves.  Unplanned.

50mm  f/2.2  1/800  ISO 320


Friday, September 18, 2015

MY FRIENDS, LIFE IS PRETTY GREAT

I've developed a taking to bringing my work with me to coffee shops around town.  It's too easy to get distracted at home where there is always one more thing I can tidy, one more show to watch and unlimited kitty snuggles.  When I leave the house, all I have to focus on is work and it's amazing how much you can get done when you're not being constantly distracted by silly little things.  And I get to drink yummy things while I work.  Who wouldn't want that??


I am currently in the middle of shooting three weddings with Adina in one week!  Yes, you heard me right.  three.  But as crazy it is driving out and about to spend the most special day of these people's lives with them, I love every little bit of it.  As I sit here and work on upcoming wedding blog posts, it's hard to not feel an overwhelming sense of joy.  And as of right now, life is pretty great my friends.

Happy Friday!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

FAQ : POST PROCESSING BEFORE + AFTER

I'm not sure how it happened that I started becoming the one people wrote to with photography questions - I am still new at this and feel like I am still learning as I go - but I am happy to help in whichever ways I can...even if I feel slightly unqualified to do so! ;)

Shortly after posting Samantha and Alex's engagement session back in June, I received the following message, Hey gurl! Great work you've been doing lately!!! Can I ask what action/preset you use? I love it!

When I started my business just a short year ago, one of the first things I did was browse the interwebs for actions and presets that would define my brand and push my business forward. For those of you that don't know, actions and presets are formulas that you install either into Photoshop or Lightroom that help to help increase workflow and offer consistancy thoughout your images. With the click of a button you can change the clarity, contrast, brightness, lens correction, sharpening, etc of your images to give them the look and feel you so desire.  So when I began my search, I knew that 1. I loved the look and feel of film and 2. I wanted to enhance my photos without greatly altering the look of them.  I want photos to have a natural, fresh feel and ensure that years down the road, they still look like photos.

After months of searching, I came across Totally Rad Actions and fell absolutely in love with their Replichrome I: Icon collection.  Honestly, this collection offers so many great presets that I could go nutso crazy with all the options and forfeit consistency, but I have found one - the FUJI 400H - and tweaked it to fit my style and brand and I stick to it.  And just an FYI, Totally Rad is having a Surprise sale this week so now would be the perfect time to invest in their presets and actions if you wanted to give them a go :)

From a few recent shoots I’ve pulled some before and after images to show you exactly what this looks like…



Here is a photo from Samantha and Alex's engagement session.  As you can see the top photo is quite flat and missing that little something extra.  Once I applied my preset and a few temperature changes, the image was brought back to life.  Just.Like.That.



Same thing with this image from Nicky and Chris's elopement at the Long Beach Lodge Resort in Tofino.  The image on the left is straight out of camera.  I brought it into lightroom (pictured below) and with my preset applied, you get the image on the right.  It also received a slight temperature boost.  All of that in a matter of seconds.  Pretty amazing, right!?



I hope that helps someone out there and if not, send me further questions by emailing, commenting below or posting on my Facebook page and I’ll try again next time!  Asking other photographers questions was a big part of my learning curve and I just so appreciate how the photography community comes together and helps one another along.  Happy Tuesday :)

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

CONFESSIONS

I have a confession to make.  I started drinking coffee again.  I know what you all are thinking, Julie, why?  After all that hard work??  I'm weak I tell you, weak!  I totally get it, but I swear, it happened on accident!



It all started in the beginning of summer.  McDonald's started their dollar drink days and I found myself innocently buying a iced coffee.  Flash forward about a month and a half, I realized that iced coffee is still in fact coffee.  I know, right?!  Somewhere in my naive mind I seemed to have missed that fact that just because there is ice in it doesn't mean it isn't coffee.  Talk about embarrassing.  So what do you think I did after this new found discovery?  I kept on drinking them.  I couldn't help myself...they're just so dang good!  

So here we are, six moths after I decided to quit coffee for good, and I am back where I started.  It could be worse though.  Doctor Who could be cancelled and where would we be then?