I love doing engagement sessions and I love doing engagement portraits in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The reasons are simple really. First I get to know you as a couple, no wedding stress and just us photographing in the environment. I’ve done engagement portraits at the standard Chrissy Field, Baker Beach and Ferry Building and unique places like a wine bar, cigar bar and Flora Grubb.    I get to see how you act and are with each other.  This is really important.  A lot of people don’t think them necessary and they certainly are not.  However, we get to learn about each other during this time.  You get to see how I work too and then know what to expect on the day of your wedding.  Then when I walk in you don’t see me as a stranger but as the photographer you trust, know will make everything right and have fun with!

I’m not about posing people in my images.  It’s actually just not my forte.  I also believe that if I just let you “be” as a couple the images will say SO very much more than some standard pose.  If you look at the images in this post.  Not one is posed.  Not one and bring your pets!  But anyway, I may have directed things a little bit and yes, I instigate!  But I want you to feel comfortable to be who you are.  I look for those moments that say something.  That make me feel something about you.   I think this is the way that when you look back at that day and like your wedding day you will be able to say I remember it all like it was yesterday.  Success!

I came across a posting on StyleMePretty that was totally unique.  If you aren’t aware of this site and are getting married you should surely check it out.  It’s a great resource of ideas and vendors that you know are reputable and should check out.  I had a wedding of mine posted on it for the wedding  theme of red, white and blue which was fabulous.

It was about two women who were both recently married and contemplating changing their names to their spouse’s last name.  They totally surprised their husbands and brought back the officiant that married them to have a “ceremony” celebrating the name change.  They included wedding photographs and many of their guests that had been there that day.  By incorporating all of these things they brought together all the best moments of the celebration of their weddings and kept the fun going in their marriages and with friends!

They women (remember the husbands were surprised!) went all out on the theme of “Maiden Voyage”. You do get that right?  Emphasis on MAIDEN!   The colors were yellow, blue and white and the theme nautical of course.  Their professional photographer did a great job of capturing the event, the people and definitely the details.

While they went all out on this idea you could do it with your own special spin in the backyard of your home and just keeping it intimate with your closest friends and family and a Do It Yourself or hire professionals to help you out with resourcing vendors and supplies.  DIY does bring on other issues like finding vendors, supplies and all the time it can consume.  I have come across many unique ideas when I’ve done DIY weddings but the common comment I hear is just how time consuming it is!  Remember this of all things though to be sure to research your vendors thouroghly before hiring them.  This is on you in DIY as a planner will be able to make great recommendations based on experience with them personally.

This is an amazing idea.  So many of my couples get married not deciding on the whole thing about doing the name change.  This is a great idea and one I’m going to be sure to pass on!

Here is my original post on my blog for the red, white, blue theme.

So I have been away for quite awhile and I hope you noticed!  I’ve actually been traveling in South Africa and just returned last week.  It was truly amazing and one of my most favorite trips ever.  I’m a total animal lover and spent time on safari but also at a monkey, lion, elephant and cheetah sanctuary.  This was the most amazing thing ever.  The people were so passionate about their jobs and the animals and were quite proud of their country and the conservation efforts that are being made.  We obviously have nothing like it here!  But here are some of my most favorite images and boy was it hard to get it down this far.  So I hope you enjoy a bit of my passion which are travel and animals and this was a lot of both!

This couple is hilarious.  I can’t say that enough.  Really I laughed so much during my 3 days with them and especially at the engagement session where I first met the groom.  He HATES his photograph taken so it was just fun to tease him and embarrass him to get him to just crack a smile.  But he took it in stride and said he actually did have a good time.  How was it going to go for him at the ceremony at the Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the ceremony, while I didn’t understand a word of it, was beautiful.  The ancient Hindu wedding customs and rituals are always interesting to watch and the colorful guests and family make for great images.  Next post is the wedding ceremony at Beaulieu Gardens in Napa!  Beautiful!

Why do you really need more than just your images on a CD?  Let me explain!  You won’t save money and you wont’ get the best that you deserve.

Since the dawn of digital I get asked a lot “I just want the raw files on CD”.   Well, if only it was so simple.  I once thought of this situation when I saw an advertisement for doing self-surgery and I think it was removal of a kidney!  My thinking is to leave it to the professionals and this is why…too much can go wrong.  I’m a photographer specializing in people so things like wedding photography, event photography and corporate and head shot portraits.  I wouldn’t imagine going in to an industrial commercial situation and say I know what I’m doing.  I definitely do not!

I recently got an email from someone who wanted engagement photos taken and wanted the raw files.  He mentioned he was a photographer but I saw he actually had another full time career.  So the dilemma for me is, as an artist, the image I take doesn’t end at just the push of a button and do I want someone else to not let me finish my process.  It’s a whole lot more.  I often run into amateur photographers who ask why I don’t do this or have that or tell me their Nikon is better than my Canon etc.  The best thing about photography is that there are a million ways to do it and all of them your way if you choose it to be that way.  But there are things that can wrong.

The process of being a photographer isn’t just about owning a camera. It is a whole lot more and I won’t even begin to discuss the business aspect of it in this post.   Experience, vision, education, tools, passion and creativity are all a part of it.  It starts with “seeing” the image. You have to see something, maybe manipulate it to make it better, make some technical choices and then perhaps change your mind again because it wasn’t right.  Oddly enough the biggest part of taking an image for me is getting my subject to connect to me and forgetting the camera.  Yes, you read that right.  I want us BOTH to forget the camera.  When the subject is in front of me whether for a wedding portrait during their wedding or acting head shots or a family portrait the camera is just a tool and believe it or not I mostly shoot in P.  Yes, you read that right too.  Once I have my basic settings and choices in equipment I use P or A and nothing else (this is in Canon I’m not sure about Nikon settings).  If I fiddle with the camera and try to think about technical things then my client can get restless, lose mood or feel uncomfortable.  If this happens the shot is lost and I have nothing anyway.  This is why you see emotion, expression and feeling in my images and not a perfectly posed, placed portrait.  Cameras today are built with a zillion different algorithms so why not trust them?

Once that part is done there is the post production which with digital is more complicated than film.  Developing choices in film can be made and then labs will still look at all your negatives and work with the color or adjust chemicals for a different grain or you can push or pull your negatives.  All of these processes lead to the final “image” that was in my mind’s eye when I pushed that button.  If you get the chance Google Ansel Adams and look at the extensive notes he did when printing his images.  They were never straight out of the camera and there was never just one print.  When I develop prints there are other choices that need to be made and all of this my artistic expression.  In regards to post production on digital images the process is all on your computer but those choices of intensity, brightness, color, filters are all the same thing leading again to my choice as my final image.  Here is a sample of images that about post production choices that made the images stand out and feel “finished”  Intimate Weddings, Documentary Weddings, Head Shots

So when you are choosing a photographer for your wedding or family portraits or even just head shots remember it isn’t just about owning a camera and while your friend is “into” photography it’s always best to hire a professional and trust them and let them do what they do best.  It is NOT about the camera and definitely not a good idea when it is your wedding and no chance for a do-over.  What about head shots?  You only get the one chance for that first impression.  Do you want to risk that to an image that isn’t finished?  Let’s be honest, will you ever make that album or retouch those photos yourself within the next couple of years even?  Most likely not!

While digital photography has brought cameras to the masses and some amazing pictures taken there is a big difference with a professional photographer.  Find the right one for you and you won’t be sorry.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me!

Ellie and Legs

Stephanie and Chris are just the cutest couple.  We had so much fun with them and their wedding party.  The laughs really never stopped!  The wedding took place at St. Peter and Paul in San Francisco and the Marine’s Memorial ballroom.  The flowers were by Dianna Vigil and the cake by Aileen Chang in San Leandro.    We had a great time shooting the portraits down by the arrow sculpture on the Embarcadero all in about 14 minutes with no time to spare!  It was  an amazing day and the photos live up to that.

Researching wedding photographers and making the right choice…

This time of year I get inundated with tons of inquiries for weddings by brides.  So many couples get engaged on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and most are on the internet quick!  I love to hear their excitement and enthusiasm for this new endeavor in their lives.  But it doesn’t take long either to hear brides say how overwhelming, time consuming and daunting the process is.  I absolutely understand!

The search for a wedding photographer usually begins with images the couple likes from websites, is narrowed down to who is in the budget and hopefully based on who the couple really like as a person and their work.  When you meet with someone and feel that click with a photographer that is huge!

Here are the steps I recommend in researching your possible wedding photographer:

1.     Start with reputable websites and blogs.  Some to check out would be www.weddingwire.com, www.yelp.com, www.theknot.com,www.stylemepretty.com, www.theflirtyguide.com.  If you are Facebook you can find lots of connections in this regard.  I try to keep my business page, Misti Layne, updated with new photos and news of what I’m doing.

2.    Look at photography associations like www.wpja.com, www.ppa.com, www.wipa.com, www.ispwp.com.  A good association will require a membership process and this means a photographer has been through a screening process.

3.    It may be tempting but stay away from craigslist and the like.  I’m a business person with insurance, rent, over-head and costs just like a normal business.  I’m constantly updating equipment and software and keeping myself educated.  You take risks with people who shoot on weekends or are just starting out.  Having a camera does not a wedding photographer make!

4.    Ask a wedding planner!  I really do recommend wedding planners.  They have the resources and the knowledge and will save you time and are so worth it!   Even having a planner for “day-of” wedding planning is going to be a huge relief and allow you to truly enjoy your day.

5.    Ask friends who love their photos and you like as well!  This is a great resource but as I said make sure they LOVED their photographer.

6.    Narrow down your favorite photographers based on their images.  The internet is a great resource but try to stay under five.  Having 16 favorite photographers is still overwhelming.  If the images make you react emotionally in some way like a tear or a laugh—keep them!

7.    Contact them by email or phone and ask about availability and pricing.  Does the email or conversation with the photographer feel right to you?  Keep them on the list.  A lot of personality can come through this way and if you don’t feel a connection or wary, take them off the list.

8.    Narrow the list down to your most favorite three; more than this wastes time.  If in that three you don’t feel the connection go back to some of the others but at this point you should have a good feel about them.

Next post will be the questions that are important to ask once you narrow down that list!  So stay tuned!

Wedding Photography, Arista Winery, Misti Layne Photographer

The world is a much smaller place now than ever before and travel photography is something that is no longer done by a few professionals. Black and white photographs, portrait photography of locals and documentary or editorial photography is something we all do now with even the cameras in our phones. I recently returned from a Middle East tour of Egypt and Jordan. Both places I had been dreaming about going to for as long as I can remember. I travel a lot and it’s my biggest “vice” in life by far. Learning from other cultures and experiencing different ways of life can only enhance yours in a better way. It was a wonderful trip filled with amazing places and lovely people. So here is my 10 point bullet list for travel photography!

I’ve always dreamed of seeing the Pyramids of Egypt and Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordan and finally made that dream happen this month.  It is an amazing place full of amazing people and just the best experience!  We had a very full 10 days but our tour director did a great job getting us around and seeing the most important things and learning a thing or two as well.  It’s a different world to be sure but we also share so many things and I walked away with great memories and many new friends.  A few marriage proposals too but alas I had to turn those down.   The Pyramids of Egypt were incredible and possibly the most amazing place I’ve ever been is Wadi Rum.  Truly breathtaking.

The people were so kind and fun.  At a mosque I was inundated by about 20 kids on a school outing who were asking me a bunch of questions and just as intrigued by me as I was of them.   I rode a camel that decided it didn’t want to go up the mountain but back home to dinner at a gallop but fortunately I was saved by my Bedouin who ran down to get him back.  That was fun!  But here are just  slight few of my favorites from an amazing holiday abroad to the Middle East.

Michelle and Dan had their wedding during my most favorite time of the year–Fall!  The wedding was at Arista Winery in Healdsburg, one of my favorite spots.  The cake was from Patisserie Angelica and the flowers by Dragonfly.  It was such a beautiful day.  The weather rained the day before and the day after but not that day!  The vines were a deep gold, the sky a beautiful blue and clouds made for perfect texture and depth.  It was my first time to meet them as they planned the day from New Jersey.  Their friends and family brought the East Coast to the West and made for a lot of laughs and memories.  All the best to you guys.  Come back and visit!