Studio Headshots

I recently took some fun headshots for a friend I know through the Boynton Beach Chamber.  She said she hadn’t had a picture taken in years and was not too excited to have it done, but knew it needed to be done.  We decided on some casual studio shots, where she could relax with a little music playing, and hopefully enjoy herself!  I knew immediately that she was much more photogenic than she thought.  We got a lot of great photographs that day – here’s a few of my favorites!

Back to Basics: Apertures/F-Stops, Shutter Speeds and ISO’s

This is a great article for anyone wondering how to get a little more control of their camera and most importantly….get off the auto setting!

via Back to Basics: Apertures/F-Stops, Shutter Speeds and ISO’s.

Wedding Photography – 21 Tips for for Amateur Wedding Photographers

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via Wedding Photography – 21 Tips for for Amateur Wedding Photographers.

Photography Marketing | The Social Media Money Formula

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via Photography Marketing | The Social Media Money Formula.

Katie Smith Photography News

What a fantastic week I’m having, and it’s only Wednesday!  Monday was  a day of getting stuff done…tax stuff that is.  I am fairly certain I will be able to turn all my tax papers into my CPA in just a few weeks – woohoo!  Gotta love tax time!  Yesterday I attended Entrepreneur Magazine’s Growth 2.0 conference in Miami.  It was an amazing day surrounded by other business owners networking and taking classes on sales, networking, social media and branding!  My favorite new term for the day you ask?  Bizper post!  Thank you to Starr Hall www.starrhall.com for the technique as well as the word!  I’ve been bizper posting since last night!  This morning was a fantastic goal setting seminar at the Boynton Chamber, followed by a meeting with a client about putting together her wedding album!  She’s been married 6 years and still has no album – I will be taking care of that for her…EVERYONE needs a wedding album, unless you’re not married, duh.

My girls from high school are coming for a girls weekend this weekend!  Can’t wait!  Fortunately my weekend photo shoot is at the beach so I won’t feel guilty about leaving them while I go off to work!  I’ll be practicing a new technique – HDR.  Ben is going to have to be my lighting assistant for this shoot but that just gives him an excuse to go to the beach with me so I’m sure he won’t mind!   I’ve been doing lots of research on HDR and really find it pretty interesting, so let’s see how it turns out for engagement photos.  Never hurts to try to techniques and learn new photo skills!

Did you check out my updated website?  What do you think of the updates?  www.katiesmithphotos.com

I have been uploading some food and wine shots to my stock sites and am getting some approved, yeah!

www.canstockphoto.com/katiesmithphoto

http://shutterstock.com/g/katiesmithphoto

Hopefully more approvals to follow!

American Wine Judging – West Palm Beach, Florida

This past weekend was the tasting and judging of the American Fine Wine Competition.  Over 20 judges swirled, sniffed and sipped 10’s of wines of every color over the two day event.  There will be a gala in March pairing all of the winners with fantastic cuisine, specifically prepared to match the wines!  For more information about attending the event or becoming a sponsor contact Shana of 4G Marketing at www.4gmarketing.net

Monthly Update – January 2010

Ok, so my idea of weekly update has since turned into a monthly update and I’m about 2 months behind!

2010 has already started off with a BANG for me!  January was full of website updates, which in turn has led to higher search engine placement (or whatever you call it, I’m not that techie…yet!)  and best of all, more photo shoots!  This week alone, I have booked 2 events, a maternity session, headshots AND a modeling portrait session!   Very excited for big things in 2010!

I’ve also joined a new book club, “Novel30’s” a great group of 30 somethings reading fantastic books.  January was “The Measure of a Man” by Sidney Poitier and Feb will be “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole.  March is my month to pick and I have already selected one I’ve been wanting to read for years but haven’t gotten around to it yet….”Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Enough about me – now on to a photo tip.  The below tip was originally published in my e-newsletter in December ‘09.  If you haven’t already done so, make sure to register for my newsletter!  It’s published twice a month and has great photo tips, as well as a coupon!  You can sign up on my website here – at the bottom of the page!  www.katiesmithphotos.com/contact.html

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….

It’s a great time of year to take photos that you are sure will provide you with a keepsake of special moments with family and friends.  There are so many sparkly, colorful things to photograph and you hope for the perfect, artistic, outdoor shot that will bring forth a deep and happy Ho, Ho, Ho when you look at how beautifully your picture turned out.

But your Ho, Ho, Ho can easily turn into an Oh, no, NO without a few tips on how to take outdoor photographs that you’ll want to frame rather then using them to sop up spilled eggnog.

So as my holiday gift to you, here are some simple steps to make sure you take pictures that keep on giving, long after the holidays are over.

1) Try to take photographs in the “Good Light” if you want shots that capture the season’s decorations.  The best time to shoot pictures of lit trees, houses or any special evening events, is twilight.  Too bright of a sky will wash out decorative lighting and too dark of a sky will blur the lights in the photo.  Start taking pictures at sunset and shoot in one-minute intervals until the sky is completely dark.

2) For outdoor shots with people, be aware of the sun’s location.  Frontlight will give you the best lighting if you are taking photos of people outdoors.  This simply means the light is behind you but in front of the subject.  With more experience, you can experiment with backlighting (sun is behind your subject) or side lighting (sun is to the side of you) but the simplest way to get a good photo of your friends and family outdoors, is to take the picture with the sun behind you.

3) For daytime, outdoor, artistic shots, the best times to photograph are two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.  Although still bright, the sun is not as high in the sky and shooting during these times will create a  softer light.

Following these tricks of the trade will increase your chances of creating those memories of the moments that only come around once a year!

You can do it, so get out there and start shooting!

Royal Palm Beach Florida Wedding

Carolina & Josh tied the knot at a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony in Royal Palm Beach, Florida in November.  The ceremony was fantastic – wonderful singers and a beautiful couple!  The reception was also outdoors and was amazing!  The lights made the dining area and dance floor really sparkle!  The family partied way into the night, long past my bedtime!  Congratulations to the happy couple!  I’ll see you at Carbone’s Restaurant in Boynton Beach – great food! 

Holiday Photos 2009

Here’s a sample of some of my favorite holiday portraits that I took in November and December!  It was so much fun taking all these photos.  Some of the kids I have been photographing since they were born and I just love being able to watch them grow right on camera!

Rotaract Halloween Party

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The Delray Rotaract Club recently had a Halloween Party at Boston’s on the Beach.  There was a good turnout with some great costumes and fantastic prizes….although I was a loser – no prize for me   I guess my costume of a photographer wasn’t quite creative enough.  I better start thinking about next year’s costume now or else I’ll end being another photographer!    Suggestions are always welcome!