Senior Session Stony Point, NY

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How to take the perfect family photo by the Christmas tree

I love getting the bokeh effect while taking the Christmas tree pictures. 

In the example above you can see how the aperture of your lens determines how big the bokeh will be, however there is also things to consider like distance from the subject, camera settings etc. 

Below you'll find a quick tutorial in how to accomplish an amazing family picture by the Christmas tree.

Family photo by the Christmas tree

Canon 5D Mark ii

50 mm

f/2.8

1/40 sec

ISO 1250 

Used Flash ( directed towards the wall behind me not towards the subjects)

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

• DSLR Camera 
• Fast lens ( anything with F 4.0 or lower)
• Tripod ( if you don't own one, use a high chair or stand anything you can securely place your camera on) 
• Flash ( if you don't have one that you can shoot the light up or back, then set the a high ISO 2000+ ) and don't use flash.

TECHNICAL SETTINGS

• Distance : Position the camera some distance away from the subjects (4 ft approx) and also away from the tree.

• Self timer: Set the Self timer on the camera. To prevent movement. 

• Aperture : Set the camera in Aperture Priority and choose a low aperture (4.0 or lower ): The camera will choose the shooter speed so don't worry about that.

• White balance: Set to tungsten or if you are using flash then set it to flash.
• 
  

Important Tip! Practice all you settings with a puppet or some object first before you call your family to pose, they won't look happy after 15 minutes of you playing around with the camera to get it right :). Other wise you'll get this...

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Do you want professional pictures for your family this Christmas ? I’d love to work with you. Contact me now to see if I'm available on your date.

Are you making a big mistake by hiring an amateur Photographer for your wedding?

I had a friend email me about this topic and I have to say I could not stop writing about it.

Before I became a professional wedding photographer I was a bride myself and like everyone out there I had a budget. I wish someone had talk to me about the importance of hiring professional photographer. Don't get me wrong my cousin ( who is a journalist ) did an excellent job with the candid photojournalist moments,  but I wish I had ONE ! portrait of me and my husband that I really loved. 

So if you are thinking of saving some money by hiring an amateur photographer please read this and then make your decision.

#1 You get what you pay for.

In photography this is specially true. Photographers who charge very low prices or nonprofessionals (friend with a nice expensive camera) invest less into their equipment, in their education, which means the quality of their work and service will be a less than ideal. 

They don’t need to charge more, because :

•  they don’t have the expenses of a legitimate business.
•  they are not insured or have back up equipment in case their camera breaks
•  they do not have the means to pay another photographer to cover for them, if for some reason they get sick or can’t show up to your wedding.

#2 You become their guinea pig

They are looking for couples that don’t mind the results, because they are getting paid so little. 

The truth is a lot of amateurs market themselves at very low prices to practice their craft. Is not that they are lazy or they don’t want to work hard but they can’t guarantee results because they don’t have the expertise. 

Do you really want someone to practice their photography in one of the most important days of your live?

#3 They can’t be a trusted advisers, because they are not experts.

Weddings are notorious events that never go exactly as planned, I would say you are more likely to win the lottery than have everything go with out any problems, so is okey to expect and plan for a few hassles along the way.

Photographers need to follow the timeline you have with the venue and even help you plan one long before the wedding day. This way you can have enough time for formal portraits with your bridal party, family and all the other important moments you request.

 If you hire someone who just is showing up and snapping nice pictures, they will not be able to prepare ahead of time and help you plan.

#4  Unique special moments come and go in a seconds.

 Photographers have to be very familiar with every important part of your wedding event and be prepared to take the photograph at the right time and right camera settings, because you can’t replicate those moments. 

Do you really want to replicate your fist kiss? All because the photographer’s flash did not go off or his memory card was full. Replicating it would be more like your second kiss right?

Bride and her father having a special moment is priceless

#5 They will be with you at all times during the wedding

 The photographer is the only vendor that will be with you that day more than your future husband.
 Photographers also will have to interact with your closest family and friend, be there at the most intimate moments and if he or she looks like they don’t know what they are doing, looks stressed or is being obnoxious to guest with cameras, this will make you and your guest very uncomfortable and it will show in your photographs recorded forever!

#6 Special moments are capture in mundane way

A professional photographer can transform the most mundane and challenging of conditions in to amazing photographs.  

A great photographer can make a budget wedding look elegant and charming.

We know how to work in all kinds of conditions. Just to name a few common ones:

• Bride is getting ready, is usually in a room full of chaos and in small hotel room. 
• A very dark church were no flash photography is allowed
• After the ceremony you come out to contrast sunlight at noon, causing everyone to squint. 
• You did not have a huge budget to get amazing decor but you want it to look nice never the less. 

These are very common situations in which experience professionals are prepared and know how to handle to capture amazing photographs. 
  

This wedding was not in a big venue, it was in the brides mother's home you could not capture a first dance so intimate and beautiful without knowing how to work the room to make the moment look amazing. 

The best advice I can give you, is that when it comes to budgets, you put priority on the things that are really important to you. And hopefully now you know how important photography can be on your wedding day.

Hope this helps :)

-Mariana

To see more of my work visit my website www.marianafeely.com 
If you like to receive more tips on photography enter your email on the right hand side of this blog.

5 QUICK TIPS ON HOW TO TAKE FUN HALLOWEEN PHOTOS

Snap the first pictures before they say trick or treat!!!

Take a cute picture of the kids before they leave the house. Maybe in the front porch or by the main door. This way you also snap a picture of your spooky Halloween decor.

Let it be a GAME

Try not to ask them to pose to much, this is a great time to capture the kids being themselfs. Instead of asking them say cheese, make it a game and tell them to act like their character. . Roooaarr like a lion or what does the Pirate do when he is mad! 

Don't forget the accessories

Some costumes have accessories, so make the most of them. Make sure you incorporate them in the photos and have them use them. Wands, swords, chains, capes !

Let it be Spookier 

Don't use Flash ! The little pop up flash most of the times ruins the photos. This is a great time to use your Aperture priority mode or manual mode in your fancy dandy slr camera. Make sure your ISO is set as to high over ISO 500+ and your aperture is wide 4.0 or less.

Let them show off their treats 

A last fun picture could be of them proudly displaying all the mountains of candy they've got ! 

Basking Ridge NJ Wedding Photographer

Breanna + Joseph Sept.14th 2013 Wedding

As soon as you walk into the Olde Mill Inn you feel transported to a villa in europe. This hotel truly has an old world charm. Now you may think this setting is for a small wedding, but trust me, it was anything but small. With a bridal party of 17 of their closest friends and families, Breanna and Joseph had started the party early on and it was going to continue till the late hours of the night. Everything about them was fun, it help that we had plenty of time for photos. They had a First look before the ceremony and they were all able to just enjoy the whole event. 

The most special part for me ( as a mom ) was to be able to photograph Breanna and Joseph with their son. He was part of the whole celebration and he even got to be part of the ceremony which was not intended, but just happened naturally and it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen in a wedding. That is what I loved about this couple, their friends family and everything surrounding them was all of happiness and enjoyment. 

Enjoy images from their wonderful day...