Introducing: Life Thru the Macro...

Throughout a young girls life, she receives more than enough advice, from reliable and unreliable sources alike, on who she should marry before she makes her final decision on 'the one'. While looking at a series of pictures that I found of Nate, a few pieces of that long forgotten advice came to mind:

'well grounded'...

'stable'...

'both feet on the ground'...

'down to earth'...

Grandma's favorite idiom might have been 'get your head out of the clouds,' but I prefer living my life with someone whose limits, dreams and goals well surpass the 'clouds' and even the stars.

It seems daily, I find myself MORE and MORE involved in the world of Nate's photography. For a long time now, Nate has been trying to get me to do a 'column', if you will, on his blog that would showcase a more intimate view of the details of our lives. Being his wife and best friend, I hope to show the side of Nate that I see on a daily basis. There is much more to him than can be seen strictly through the pictures that he takes. My view is the reverse of yours... I experience him first and his pictures second, while in juxtaposition, his blog uses his images as an expressionistic vehicle to represent himself, but that is not strictly who he is.

So here begins a Monday tradition: once a week I hope to create a link between what you see and what I see, even if my job is showing the gritty details. But honestly, sometimes only a Macro lens can make something as imperfect as our lives, look so beautiful.

My Gear!

I've been debating on writing a Frequently Asked Questions post, and probably still will in the future. But since 90% of the questions that I receive on my blog or through email/twitter are about my gear, I decided to finally give in and do a gear post. I debating about writing this post, because, well...I just really don't have THAT much gear. I don't feel like I need a TON of gear, and I don't like to feel over-encumbered or weighed down, so it works perfectly...for me.

SO! My camera bodies. I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D300, a little less than 2 years ago, which now serves as my backup camera.

The lens you see isn't an AMAZING lens, and I rarely, if ever, use it on an actual shoot. BUT, it's a PERFECT travel lens if you want to go light. It's an 18-200mm 3.5-5.6.

My first lens was this little tiny 50mm 1.8. I rocked that thing for over a year before purchasing my next lens (18-200 above), and I fell in love with prime and fast lenses. I LOVED learning on this lens and HIGHLY recommend getting away from the kit lens, and playing with this one, or the 1.4 (further below). They're both super affordable.

I now shoot with a Nikon D3s as my primary camera, and I LOOOOVE it. I love shooting with only natural light, and this camera allows me to shoot in the craziest of dark circumstances without the need of a flash. LOVE IT!

Also shown is the 50mm 1.4, and the 70-200 2.8. Love both of those lens, but 95% of the time, the 50mm 1.4 is on my camera. I remember after I bought the 70-200, I took it with me on my an engagement shoot and wanted to use it so bad. I started with it, but kept switching back over to the little 50. Don't get me wrong though, the 70-200 is a ridiculously amazing lens. But for me and my style, I shoot with the 50mm the majority of the time.

On wedding day, I carry everything around in my Shootsac (shown above), which I'm a huge fan of, even though my brother calls it my man-purse. And that's honestly pretty much it. Crazy huh? I also have the SB-900 flash, and fire it off-camera wirelessly with the SU-800 mounted on my camera. My next lenses I'll buy later this year, are the 24mm 1.4, the 85mm 1.4, and probably the 105 2.8 macro. I'm a huge advocate of renting or trying out a lens before you buy it.

When I travel, I carry everything in a Pelican Case, and I know it seems like EVERYONE uses ThinkTank cases. But I loved the protection the Pelican Cases offered, and I've LOVED it. Again, for me, it's worked perfectly.

Here's a picture I grabbed with my iPhone of what it looks like when I travel, or on my way to a wedding (I'll leave the Pelican case either in the car close by, or a secured room with a few extras just in case I need them).

Here's a few other random facts about the way I shoot:

-I shoot about 50% of the time on Manuel, and 50% of the time on Aperture Priority.

-I shoot on 8 GB cards, and LOVE it. The D3s has two slots, so I can shoot 16 gigs before having to change cards (about 1300 raw images).

-I shoot in Raw.

-I edit in Aperture 3 and occasionally will open an image in Photoshop CS5.

-I don't really use reflectors (unless I'm using the diffusion panel part to shoot a flash through to soften the light...but even so, I don't do this too often).

-I also have a Westcott Umbrella that I like to experiment with for evening portraits, but agian, I rarely use it on an actual shoot.

-I shoot most everything at 1.4, unless I'm within 5-7 feet from my subject, then I'll bump it up to 2.0'ish to make sure it's sharp. (Obviously I don't shoot big group shots like family formals at 1.4. But most everything else I will)

-I use Kelvin white balance 100% of the time.

That's all I can think of for now, but please feel free to ask me questions through comments and I'll try to answer each one.

Lastly, I KNOW that there are many of you out there that totally disagree with me on many things. "I can't believe he uses Aperture...I can't believe he doesn't use the 70-200 more...that he doesn't use flash...that he shoots in RAW...or doesn't use Manuel 100%, or uses 8 gig cards...I would never shoot someone at 1.4...etc". I know! Everything above works wonderfully FOR ME, so take it with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own methods and things that jive well with their style, but this is how I shoot and what I've grown accustom to. That being said, I am ALWAYS seeking to learn new things and become better and better, so I'd love to hear how you shoot or any recommendations!

Carlo and Amy Jo - Round TWO!

I seriously love this couple. I could photograph them week after week and never get bored. As long as they could put up with my dumb jokes, my WAY overexcitement over gorgeous lighting, and of course my "wandering" open left eye. That dang left eye. And you know what, they probably could, because they're just some pretty awesome people.

About a month ago, I was fortunate enough to photograph their engagements, which can be seen on this post. Minor problem...the shoot could only last for about 45-60 minutes because of some crazy scheduling. Carlo plays football for Boise State (woohoo!!), and was juggling multiple practices, team meetings and team dinners he had to attend. They had a few shots in mind of them in their Boise State gear that they wanted, so I promised them that we'd get together again soon, and finish their engagement session.

This session was so much fun! We started with the Boise State gear, and then worked in one other outfit as the light started to vanish.

HUGE thanks to Carlo and Amy Jo for putting up with me a second time around. They are getting married in May in this beautiful church and I couldn't be more happy for them. You guys rock!

Shooting with my wife.

Alright!

I didn't want to dwell too much on this on my previous post, because I didn't want to take away from how amazing Natalie and Brian's day was, and how incredible they were, and are. It truly was their day, and their post. They did absolutely awesome.

But seriously, I feel like my wife rocked it. Hold on, let me back up. Ever since attending Jasmine Star's workshop, and meeting her husband JD, Luisa and I have played with the idea of shooting together. There are a lot of successful photographer husband and wife teams, like Chris+Lynn, Gavin Wade, Jasmine and JD. Seriously check these guys out. They're beyond awesome.

So Luisa and I thought we'd at least give it a shot. And I'll be honest, I was nervous, and so was she. Let me rewind again. I think the last time Luisa took pictures of something was last Christmas, up in the mountains, taking pictures of some hawks on our way up to a cabin.

I gave Luisa a little training pep talk a few nights before that went just about like this: "Okay, here's a 50 1.8. I want you on 'A' mode, at 2.8 pretty much the entire wedding. You see this button? This is the exposure compensation button. If you want your picture brighter, hold this and move the dial this way. If you want it darker, move it the opposite way. Got it? Good." Then I just told her to take a LOT of pictures, and try and experiment with every angle. And that's it. Off she went.

Long story short(er), she did amazing. At times it was hard, for sure. I think especially for her, not really knowing if I was going to like what she was getting. She felt like she didn't get anything good for me. Well...she was wrong. To be honest, some of my favorite images from the wedding...are hers. And I LOVE that.

For example, here is one of my favorite shots of the wedding. To me it shows true emotion and love, a couple privately holding hands and sharing their love together, just before the Priest performs their marriage. I LOVE it.

And just because I couldn't include every great shot of hers in my last post, here's a shot she got of the adorable ring bearer.

Now I don't know exactly where we'll go from here, nothing is in stone. I can teach her the camera mechanics and f stops and shutter speeds and ISO levels etc...she can learn that in time. But I do know that I LOVE her images, that she has an AWESOME eye, and that we love working together. With the many exciting new beginnings happening in our lives right now, here's one to add to the list. ; )

Brian+Natalie Wedding

I had been looking forward to this wedding for quite a while. First, Brian and Natalie are some super cool people, and they have amazing families (that LOVE to dance). Second, they were getting married in the most beautiful church: St. John's Cathedral in downtown Boise. It was my first time shooting a wedding in this beautiful cathedral. And third, ever since attending the Jasmine Star workshop, my wife and I had played with the idea of her becoming my backup shooter. This wedding, was her FIRST wedding, and I think she did pretty dang amazing, but I'll let you judge for yourself.

The day started with Brian and his groomsmen getting ready at the Grove Hotel, while Natalie got ready at St. John's.

All the men were VERY lucky to have Brian's best friend and Best Man to be there. He was dressed within 15 minutes, and somehow ended up having to help everyone get ready. I think I have pictures of him helping each groomsman with either a bow tie, or cumber bun.

Brian and all the groomsman are from Boston, and have the accent to prove it. So when Brian's brother started to practice his reading for the ceremony, he didn't get much further than "Hark..." before everyone was laughing. "Hahk...!"

In the meantime, Luisa was capturing some gorgeous shots of Natalie getting ready with her Mom and Sister.

She then took Natalie into the cathedral to get a few of just her.

Natalie's sister was smiling at Natalie all day.

Brian decided to walk to the church from the Grove, along with his Groomsmen so we could get some shots along the way.

The guys wanted to go for an Abbey Road type picture. They even all tried to convince Brian to take off his shoes and be like Paul McCartney.

I was following the men entering the church, while Luisa was inside getting Natalie's best friend and Mom's reaction to the men arriving.

Another shot of Luisa's.

The Cathedral just before guest started to arrive.

Boutonnière time!

I LOVE this shot Luisa got of Natalie's Father.

Brian's Father was the nicest man. It was honesty such a pleasure to meet him.

Natalie and her Father going down the aisle.

Luisa's perspective:

I LOVED the Church.

A few of the Groomsmen watching from the side.

I love this picture of Natalie's sister, smiling at her.

Luisa grabbed these pictures from her angle.

My angle...

After the ceremony, we had a chance to take a few pictures of Brian and Natalie around the cathedral.

We then walked to their reception at the Hoff Building a few blocks away, taking a few pictures along the way.

And now the party begins!

First dances...

And I learned that these families know how to DANCE! Wow! I've never seen a wedding like this. It didn't take four or five songs, to get two or three people out on the dance floor. No, it took ONE song, to get EVERYONE out on the dance floor. The reception was honestly a riot. I was laughing and smiling the whole way through.

Thanks so much Brian and Natalie for letting my wife and I capture your incredibly amazing day. You guys are awesome!