Weekly Workshop 6 – Reflector and Asher

April 29, 2010 By 7 Comments

Yesterday I received my order for a “Lastolite 32″ Tri Grip Collapsable Triangular Reflector, Silver / White, with Built-in Holder.” Sounds cool and it is. It’s a silver and white reflector with a handle and its sooo very easy to use. I’ve seen Ed Pignol speak twice in the past two weeks and these are one of his tools for getting great exposure in his photography. I gave it a try and am very happy with the results.

Couple things that make it very nice:

*  Very satisfying “thwac” when you open it up. It goes from a little folded circle to large guitar-pick shaped reflector in less than a second.  Lucius (my son) loved opening and closing it.  You could hear Thwac-Fold, Thwac-Fold, Thwac-Fold for about 15 minutes in our house this afternoon.
*  Folds nicely first and every time – I was shocked that I got it back into the pouch so easily.
*  Handle makes using it a breeze – cannot figure out why there aren’t more of these.  Calumet – you gotta catch up.  Works fine for a single shooter (like I am mostly)
*  Great results – can’t say that it reflects light better than other reflectors but because it was so easy to use, I found myself using it throughout my shoot with little Asher.

I can definitely see myself using this again – especially with photographing children and families.  Will be a nice addition for working in the San Francisco Fog and in homes.

This week I worked with Asher and his mom Jennafer.  Asher has fabulous curls and its pretty clear that Jennafer won’t be cutting his hair anytime soon.  He is a great little guy – very determined to explore most everything.  And because he wasn’t so interested in staying still, the mobility of the Lastolite reflector was very helpful.  I could place it on his shadowed side or at his feet to add just a bit of light to his face and eyes.  Allowed me to snap a few shots before Asher moved on and then quickly reposition it.

I think it worked out really well.  Thanks Jennafer and Asher (and Daddy Paul who made a cameo).  Hope you enjoy the photos.

Blog link: http://jchandlerphotography.com/1770

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Huynh Family Portrait Session

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

On Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting Lia and David, their fabulous daughter Elyse and Lia’s mom (Linda) and sister (Jenny) for a family portrait session in the Richmond district of San Francisco.   Elyse is just about two, super cute and just starting to use her words.  David and Lia are clearly loving parents and Jenny is going to be Elyse’s favorite aunt in a few years.  But nothing beats the love of a grandmother.  So nice to see such a close knit family altogether.

We photographed around their house and in Linda’s fabulous backyard garden.  Of course the best part of any shoot usually comes towards the end.  No different this time as Elyse found a pair of fabulous high heels and started to walk around on her wobbly little legs.  Won’t be long until she is playing dress up with mom’s clothes.

Thank Lia and David for inviting me into your family.  I really enjoyed meeting you and hope you enjoy the photos.

Short collection below and the full gallery is here (password protected).

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Blog link: http://jchandlerphotography.com/1750

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Lucius’s 3rd 3rd Birthday Party

April 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lucius’s birthday is actually at the beginning of the month. But with our social calendar filled with trips and other parties, celebrating his birthday with his San Francisco friends wasn’t an option until this weekend. Good news for him since this was actually his 3rd 3rd birthday party. Tough precedent to set since he has been receiving presents the entire month.

Sue arranged for a fabulous party at the Bay Area Discovery Museum with 30 or so of our closest friends. Pretty amazing how everyone has kids now and how big they are. I don’t know how Sue came up with the idea but she brought all the fixins for painted plotted pants and it was great to see everyone go to town with the pots, the paint and the dirt. Curious to see how many plants actually sprout in the upcoming months.

If you haven’t been, the BADM is a great place for families and children (they even have hool-a-hoops for moms). We were in their playroom for two hours and just as the cupcakes started playing havoc with the kids, we went out to their huge play/learning area. So great to see all the little ones explore. And now they have a taco truck. This replaces a shockingly bad cafe and makes for a perfect afternoon snack.

All in all a very good time. Thanks to everyone that came. And apologies in advance because I wasn’t able to get pictures of everyone. Should have hired a photographer.

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Blog link:  http://jchandlerphotography.com/1730

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Weekly Workshop 5 – Flash and White Balance

April 22, 2010 By 6 Comments

This week I met Elyse and her beautiful daughter Rose.  We were going to meet outside but a cold spring rain kept us inside.  Fortunately, they have a wonderful home in the inner Richmond of San Francisco so it wasn’t a problem at all.  I continued my work with on camera flash and added in a white balance challenge.  A few days back I saw Ed Pignol speak at a PPGBA meeting (Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area).  He said that a key aspect of his photography (which is amazing with a capital A), is fine tuning the white balance.  He was the first photographer I heard say that he uses the manual WB setting predominantly rather then the camera presets (Automatic, Sunny, florescent, cloudy, etc).  I had never done that so I thought I would give it a try.  I am always looking for ways to improving results while reducing my post processing time.

Hard to say if it was the great light, beautiful little girl. wonderful house or the white balance fine tuning that produced the results but overall I was really happy with this approach.  Does require for greater awareness of surroundings and settings but that is probably a good thing.  You can see the light got green in the shots from her room (with the horse) where the walls were green, a bit warmer with the hard wood floors, a little cooler/bluer when she was looking out the frontdoor glass.   Next step will be learning the manual settings for different colors.  One big bonus was that post processing was much easier. One color preset to pop the colors a bit and then just a little exposure correction. As a San Francisco Photographer, I think this will be really helpful for shooting in different houses and apartments. Light can be so crazy in San Francisco with the ever changing weather.  Getting great exposure no matter where the house is and no matter where the family is in that house, will be very helpful.

Thanks Elyse and Rose. Hope you enjoy the photos.

And if you want to hear Ed speak this week, come to the San Francisco Smugmug User group meeting.

Blog link:  http://jchandlerphotography.com/1703

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Ultimate gift for the techy Mother or Father in your life

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This is the year that you can absolutely blow the mind of your techy mom or dad for their special day.

How about an Apple Ipad preloaded with images of your family.

Instead of giving them a photo in a frame, you deliver professional photos of you and your family in all the geek glory of the IPad.  Not only do they get the ultimate techie gift, but its also personalized to them.

Just imagine the look on their faces when they open it up.

Pricing starts at $400 + the cost of the Ipad ($499+)

Spacing is limited so don’t delay.

Ipad image from Apple

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Blake’s Birthday Party

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lucius’s nanny share buddy is Blake and Sunday was Blake’s birthday. Tia and Jeff booked Accrosports for the festivities which is just awesome.  Accrosports is a real gem in San Francisco is perfect for any children I know.   They have swings, trampolines, balance beams and all sorts of things to play on.  Definitely a great place for kids and families. Lucius loves the place – especially the rope swing.  We had a wonderful time and from all the little bodies running around, I assume everyone else did as well.

Of course, the only real problem is that Lucius consumed gobs of icing was jacked on sugar the entire day and late into the evening.   Just imagine that the cartoon where the parents are collapsed on the ground and the baby is bouncing off the floor, walls and ceiling.

Thanks Tia and Jeff.  Congrats on making it another year.

A few shots below and the full gallery is here (password required).

Click here if no slide show above

Blog link:  http://jchandlerphotography.com/1670

Blake's Birthday Party

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Caroline and Paul’s Wedding

April 12, 2010 By 5 Comments

First and foremost I have to say thanks to Caroline and Paul.  They took a chance with me on their big day even though we had only met for a few minutes (their engagement session was cut short by rain and crazy bad traffic).  And of course there was the little detail about the fact that I had never photographed a wedding before.  So needless to say come Saturday morning, I think I was more nervous then either of them.

But one thing I did know is that the two of them have a special relationship. That was clear in the short time that I met them last month and from the moment they arrived at the beautiful Robson Harrington House in San Anselmo.  Paul arrived first to set up decorations and the chairs (yes – that is the groom setting up the chairs on the day of his wedding).  For me the best part of the day, was seeing Caroline arrive later and break into tears when she saw the decorations that Paul set up.  “I can’t believe he did that” she said over and over.  For me weddings are about the little moments and I’m pretty sure Caroline will remember the monkey and the Buddha for quite a while.

The ceremony was short and sweet and a true reflection of Caroline and Paul and their relationship.  The room was relatively small so I didn’t get a chance to move around too much but I think the photos will show the feel of ceremony.  I really loved the toasts.  It was great learning about them through the words of their friends and family.

Overall their wedding was a fabulous day (In my opinion of course).  Caroline and Paul – I wish you the very best and thank you again for giving me this opportunity.

I hope you enjoy photos.  A sample below and the complete collection is here (password required).

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Blog link: http://jchandlerphotography.com/1511

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