As you all know I photographed Ashley & Billy's engagements a few weeks ago. Well I was processing the photos and adjusting the colors and on my screen they looked great, exactly what I wanted. I got them printed and they don't look nearly as good on as when they were on my screen. Now I have encountered this before but never to this extent. At first I thought that it was the printing but later found out that my screen is lying to me.

I have never been a fan of using pre-bought actions because I feel that it creates lazy photographers, but I am beginning to rethink my argument. I think that it helps photographers get what they want and have a truer color balance regardless of the screen. Below are some of the pictures I took, I'm not sure how they will show up on your screen but they look good on mine. I am going to process these same pictures using actions and see what the difference is. I will post those results once I am finished.

It has come to my attention that I use the word amazing to much in my posts. After further inspection I have to come to the realization that this is true. So in an effort to expand my vocabulary I will not be using the word amazing for quite some time. Instead I will use the above words in the title and others in an attempt to make my blog more interesting and less repetitious. I have noticed that I use other phrases and words in abundance, I will also aim to come up with new material and extend my glossary.

I finished Ashley & Billy's engagement pictures last night, I think they turned out pretty good and Ashley seemed to enjoy them. Things are crazy at work right now, but I will try and post them later tonight. Her bridals are coming up on Sunday, I am wicked enthusiastic about shooting those. I will let you know how it goes and post some after the PP is done.

So I have been informed by my amazing wife who I love so much, that this weekend will be a no cell phones or computers weekend. We do spend quite a bit of time on both of these amazing electronic wonders, so she.. I mean we, decided we are going to spend time together this weekend and not let these modern miracles get in our way. She's right though. Having a weekend that will be just us sounds great right about now.
So because I love her so much and keeping her happy is my main goal (and probably the smartest thing for me to do) I will not be posting for the next few days.

Have a great weekend

Mallory and I are sitting in the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I see the most amazing suit ever! Professor Slughorn is wearing a brown 3 peice tweed (at least I think it's tweed) suit. I turn to Mallory and say

j5: That suit is amazing!
MAW: seriously?
j5: Yeah! You put a light blue shirt and a blue and orange paisley tie with that and that suit us bomb as hell!
MAW: that suit is hideous!
j5: what is wrong with you? I'm gonna call Brad and see if he can make me one
MAW: that's fine, I'll just tell you how ugly it is every time you wear it!
j5: oh! Maybe I can get a matching fedora?!?!
MAW: ... What's a Fedora?...
j5: .... Seriously?...

We have been arguing ever since whether tweed suits are in style and whether I could pull off that look. So I am bound to prove her wrong. Below I have posted a picure from the movie of the suit I am talking about. I am also going to find a similar suit, the shirt, tie, and fedora that I am thinking of. Please post below and let me know what you think. If I am wrong I will gladly eat crow and admit defeat. But until the. I am right as rain.













This is exactly what I am talking about! Amazing! I want this suit!






I'm not 100% sure if this tie would work, but you can at least see what I'm talking about


-- Post From Lisa

These are some of the photo's that I took before the engagement shoot I did on sunday. I got there early and wanted to play around with the wide angle lens I had rented. Mostly just screwing around and having some fun. Enjoy





As most of you know I have a preoccupation to ties, I dont get to wear them as much as I would like, so I have began wearing them more frequently. I have found that when I am dressed nice, at least when I photograph, I feel more comfortable and it helps me not stress as much, so I have started wearing them when I shoot. It does make it quite hot when I am out in the sun, but to me its worth it.




I can't decide if I like the color or black and white version better.

It's only in the black of night that we see the stars.


-- Post From Lisa

So I just got back from shooting Ashley & Billy's engagement photos. I think they turned out pretty good, and as always it was a learning experience. I rented a 12-24 lense from pictureline and it was the smartest hing I did. It is a wideangle 2.8 lense which gave me awesome depth of field. They are a very good looking couple so try were very easy to photograph. I will post pictures as soon as I get home and process some of them.

So I have found that with every shoot I do I have certain rituals the night before and the day of. I have always wondered if other photographers have rituals when they photograph, or if they show up and start snapping? The night before I get all my equipment ready and clean off all of my cards. I look through the Internet for photos similiar to what I am shooting just to get ideas, not I'm not sure if this is because I am still an amateuar but I like seeing other peoples ideas, it helps my creative flow). And the day of the shoot I always stop and get a Dr. Pepper and I always try and dress nice because i feel like I shoot better when I feel good. Ok so maybe these aren't rituals but it's what gets me in the zone. Let me know what you do to get the creative juices flowing.


Here is one of the shots from sunday. I will post more when I'm done processing them.







-- Post From Lisa

"In order to succeed, your desire for success
should be greater than you fear of failure."

Bill Cosby said that and it hits home for me. My all time goal has always been to be successful, but I have always been afraid of falling short. Love this quite and I'm going to keep it in mind for the future.

Today was kinda of a "meh" day, nothing to exciting nothing to boring. I mowed lawns, rented a lense for the engagement shoot I am doing tomorrow and played with my iPhone a little more. I spent half the day with Mal, Barb, and Nicole and we had dinner with Ron at Firehouse. The food was excellent and desert was awesome! Fazzokies are the bomb!! Here is the second picture I have taken on the iPhone. I am liking Black and White more and more so you will probably see a lot of that for some time.

Daisey Mae was saying " don't touch me punk! I will cut you up!"

I know, I know, I said I would post everyday, but things have just been so crazy I haven't had a chance to! Wednesday night I was at work until 9 getting ready for our new machine, thursday I bought a new mower and had to mow 3 lawns (normally thats not very many but my feet really hurt so it seemed like a ton). And today I got new glasses and Mallory and I welcomed two new editions to our family.. We both got iPhones!!!!!!!!!!! I named mine Lisa (normally I name all of my computers, hard drives, cell phones etc. after girls from songs but in honor of Apples first computer I decided to name this one Lisa), I'm not sure what Mal will name hers, probably nothing because she think naming things is stupid, I think it makes it easier to keep track of everything.

Oh well. I am so excited to get this I have wanted one forever!!!!!!!! And I never thought it would be possible, but thanks to Ron it is!!!!!! Ok sorry for all of the exclamation points I am just really excited. So what does this mean for the blog? Well what I'm hoping it means is that I can post more often and that I can post more pictures. I hope that in addition to my professional photography (not sure that you can call it professional yet), you will be seeing some amateur photos live from my personal bubble. You'll get to see what I see!

Again I am pretty much talking to myself here because I only have one follower and she knows everything that I do anyway! So In honor of me hopefully posting a picture a day, here is the first picture from my iPhone, which is of me with my new glasses on, Hope you enjoy it.

I don't have much to say today, at least nothing is pressing on mind that needs to come out. I'm hoping that I can tie up some loose ends tomorrow, nothing is official yet but these couple things could be awesome! I'll keep you updated.

My diet is going pretty well, after doing some research I found out that my daily caloric intake should be 2900 so to lose weight I am trying to hit 1900. Today I think I am right around 2300, so a little higher than I wanted but I had a really bad dinner (Wendys combo meal). Currently I am at 215 pounds and hoping to get down to 180, I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Off to bed.

I was hit with some very sad news today. After dinner (which was very good if I do say so myself, quesadillas with steak, chicken, pepper jack cheese, and banana peppers. And I made it myself, and Mal actually liked it!) anyway Mal and I were watching a plethora of TV shows like we always do, mostly because I change the channel constantly, but were were watching "Runs House" and this is how our conversation went:

MAW: You watch the dumbest shows
j5: What do you mean?
MAW: Like "Runs House", you watch shows about people who aren't even famous
j5: What are you talking about?
MAW: Who is Rev Run?
j5: .... you dont know who Rev Run is? ...... Run DMC?
MAW: ....?
j5: ... Walk This Way?
MAW: .... oh yeah.. (in her best Steven Tyler voice) "Walk this way!!!"
j5: ...you know there was another group in that song right?
MAW: ...nope...

So after showing her the video she responds with:

MAW: Oh Yeah! They were one hit wonders right?

Now I love my wife more than anything, and that will never change, and I knew her taste in music was less than stellar, but come on! Not knowing who Run DMC is?! Now for all of you older followers of my blog and the younger ones (Which currently equal 0, because my lovely wife is the only follower) below I have linked the video that was ground breaking and revolutionary for its time.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmDzKR7Rfx8



It is a sad sad thing that our society has let our musical and lyrical standards drop to lows more drastic than the all time lows the current stock market is seeing. We value money, possessions, and "street credit" more than lyrical flow, mind blowing beats, and soul touching lyrics. What has happened to our world? Music used to be the one thing that transcended boundaries and spoke to all regardless of race, religion, or economic status. Thankfully there are still great musicians, music, and lyrics in this world, I just hope that music can make a resurgence in our society and that the important things will be revered and required of those that we spend our time and money on.

In the words of John Lennon: I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we pass the audition.

So I havent posted in a few days because things have been so crazy. On wednesday the 1st I shot Mindy's wedding and it was quite an experience to say the least. If nothing else it further cemented in my mind that I need better equipment and as always more education (which I don't think you can ever have to much of). I think the pictures came out ok, they are just going to take me a bit of time to correct. I will post some of my favorites from the wedding when I am done fixing them.

Thursday was quite painful for me. I have learned that I am about 6 inches to tall to stand straight up to take normal photos. This means that I have to "take a knee" to get the straight on angle I am looking for, which is all fine and great except for the fact that I am out of shape and haven't worked the muscles that it requires to do this in quite some time. Because of working these muscles so much I have been sore for the past couple of days. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. Has anyone else experienced this? Let me know, I would be interested to hear others experiences.





On Friday I purchased a lawn mower off of KSL before thoroughly checking it out. I mowed My father in laws lawn with it and learned that it was not worth the money I paid for it and I am hoping that the guy is going to give me my money back tomorrow when I go to see him. I also ordered my glasses and am very excited for them to come, I'll post pictures when I finally get them.

Saturday we went to The BEE's game with the McReynolds clan and had a lot of fun. The fireworks were awesome and the game was actually good to. I wish now that I had taken my camera with me, I am seeing this more and more that I need to start taking it places with me, I think I am losing out on some really great pictures due to my laziness.

So I made a decision today that because of my experiences at the wedding and seeing the picture of myself at the event that I am going to go on a diet starting tomorrow. I have not felt good about myself in a while and I am not happy with the way that I look so I have decided to go on a diet and start working out. Mallory is going to help me which I think is going to be awesome because I definitely need that help and the push to go to the gym. I am going to try and cut down to 1,000 calories and work out 5 days a week. I will keep you posted on how this works out for me and my progress with it.

In the future I am going to try and post every day. This is very therapeutic for me and I like looking back to see how I felt and what I thought. I have always loved literature and writing and have always wanted to write so I figure that this will also help me with that and help me get some good experience in expanding my vocabulary and working on my lyrical flow.

Sorry for such a long post I will try and keep them short and to the point in the future, or at least less rambling.