Archive for the ‘Engagement Pictures’ Category

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The purpose of this post is to inspire people to take pictures wherever they want. Old stereotypes be damned.

Baker is what many might consider one of the Ugliest towns in the United States, boring and hot. Good for gasoline and some fast food. So I was excited to shoot some engagement pictures there. The couple traveling with me seemed to think I was just being goofy and playing a joke, (understandable) so we only took a few.

(Above) This is just outside of Baker… the mountains are certainly nothing out of northern Utah… not the typical vision of beauty. But it makes it strong and unique. Yeah I wish I had shot for more than about 2-3 minutes. I also wish it wasn’t 100 degrees.

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What’s the most distinctive thing about Baker? The tallest thermometer in the world.
So I convinced them to get out for a minute or two and shoot here in the middle of an ugly, empty, hot and dirty parking lot.

Looking back the iconic aspect of having the thermometer is cool but I’m such a fan of the colors and the sky. Made laying down on the burning hot ground worth it.

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Underneath a billboard for some shade… hoping to get the trailer park a bit more in the scene. I should have stoop up high on something to get more of the scenery.

The colors of this place are distinct in the pictures… you can’t really tell it’s late morning and almost 100 degrees. I actually like the way the color of this place is mid day.

NOT BAKER (Below)

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OK so we stopped several locations during our trip and this was mid morning outside of st. george off of some random street. The color and light was amazing when we passed by but we hit another location first and so we didn’t get back for about an hour. easily my favorite pictures of the event… even if I was excited about trying to make Baker look good.

I’ll do more spots in baker next time.

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OK so this post could be really long with lots of pictures… maybe you should just go see the gallery

I like to keep my pictures diverse so that they have a hard time choosing which one. They’re not choosing from a studio shoot where the only thing that changes is the expression or the lighting. Awesome pictures that could all equally work with entirely different moods and looks.

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Thanks marco for working so hard to get awesome lighting… It was a new element working with the small softbox but I’m starting to do it a lot more often. Not because I didn’t like it before, but because time is a little more open and I wasn’t lugging a bag around… it stayed in the car and we didn’t ever venture far from the car.

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From the moment I met this couple we were buds… we met at a bridal show and when I left I remembered them vividly and said to myself of all the hundreds of people I met today I hope that one couple gets a hold of me because their pictures would be awesome.

Awesome why? Because they wanted the best and because they connected with the photographer… me!

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Posted by ScottJarvie at 3 June 2010

Category: Daily Picture, Engagement Pictures

Tags: , , , ,

I beg to differ.

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OK so I guess I don’t here this too often these days since most people are realizing new ways to come up with new stuff.

Yes obey the rule usually, but when you got a handle on the typical reason why not to do it, then go ahead and try breaking it.

Try 14mm on a portrait… specially one where you want some landscape.
This isn’t the only one i’ve taken with this lens of people… I’ll do it often, but I really know my lens and what will be problematic.

Don’t rely on it… but play around.

I’ll also make sure to show off some portraits I’ve done with the fisheye that haven’t been the Jarvie Window

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So just finished a pretty awesome photo shoot. (Up in American Fork Canyon)

I skimmed some of the pictures real fast (there were a Ton)

I thought to myself I could put up a quick teaser.
That would either be very nice to do so they could have something ASAP long before their expectations.

Or on the other hand it could be very mean to give them just a small bite and leave them hanging for a while til the rest of them are done.

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So is it mean or nice?

I’m not really sure, I kind of just want to put these up so people can ohhh and ahhh and make me feel good about the pics.

P.s. Marco (one of the student-interns) came and assisted with lighting and took some pictures for himself. He learned lots about fun lighting and learned it’s all about setting stuff up fast in shoots like this. I made him work hard, but in the end I hope that helped him really know his stuff.

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(Above) I’m pretty happy with this picture because they wanted a picnic look and had these grand aspirations of the prototypical look, and when I saw this bright and yet rustic fence I thought this will be different and fun. They trusted me enough that their awesome idea would work in a grungy street in the middle of no where on a patch of here today gone tomorrow green grassy-weedy with a couple of surprise flowers. No big fancy set up needed… just plop down the blanket and basket and say, hey by the way we’re doing your picnic picture here now have yourself a little romantic moment while I lay down on this sidewalk.

A continuation

Last week I posted a teaser of some of the pictures I had taken at night of a couple in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Rest

Today I share the rest of the pictures taken throughout the day and throughout the city.

They get married in July in Idaho but she lives close to San Fransisco and I was already there doing a wedding, so he came down and we spent a few hours trying out dozens of locations throughout the city.

You want good pictures?

What makes for a great engagement picture session? a whole bunch of enthusiasm… and this couple certainly had it and it led to me trying out a bunch of new things. If a couple is good with “whatever” then that’s what happens, and if they want amazing and are willing to work for it, then that’s what we’ll strive for.

see the gallery of many many more pictures

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No… no one is a pilot… but we saw it from the freeway and all thought it looked so scenic… and we were right!

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(Above Right) – “Sitting on the dock of the bay -Watching the tide roll away - I’m just sitting on the dock of the bay - Wasting time”

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Recently I’ve started to take a lot more individual portraits at the engagement (and other) shoots.

Figure they (and parents and friends) would appreciate them.
The parents can put them on their wall next to their senior pictures and they can even use them on facebook if they like.

Why not… just takes a few seconds… kick the fiance out and see their personality by themselves not in their comfort zone with their love.

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Then I’m able to tag them as such and in SmugMug make a smart gallery that will pull all these shots into one album… like so

This is a little teaser of the long engagement session I did yesterday… this was the end of a long day. I didn’t mind because I don’t get to shoot in the bay area very often so why not take a little extra time and take a bunch of pictures all over the place. Now next time I am asked to come back and shoot around here I’ll know what to expect and have some great ideas.

There’s a reason why the end of the photo shoot is always the best pictures… often because the lighting is the most dynamic and also because when you take your best pictures you decide then that you’re about done and therefore the best pictures were at the end.

But as for all the other hundreds of pictures all throughout San Fransisco you’ll have to wait to see those I’m sure.

As well as all the travel pictures and the wedding I did on Friday.

So we got up at the point and there were a whole slew of photographers taking pictures… everyone had a tripod and one of the guys asked what I was shooting at. 1/13th at 1.4 and he wondered where my tripod was… um yeah my tripod were the two flashes sitting on the posts.

In fact to exagerate the point I litterally shook and moved my camera As I took the pictures.

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The recap

Let me write a recap… at the beginning…
In the post I’ll tell you that stretching yourself to handle any situation, and to even embrace them will make you a better photographer.
And not just stretching yourself in photography (more specifically locations) but stretch and expand your horizons in all you do.

Finding the good, finding the beauty is an ability that goes way beyond photography and as an aspiring photographer can even be developed outside of your actual photography

Get ready for a LONG post.

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SEE FULL GALLERY

I edit and upload in batches (First batch will have 61 – look for more later)

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Am I starting to like B&W more or is it just because the feel and the lighting and the mood of the day seemed to be better stated in B&W??

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OK so I can’t honestly remember the last time I was caught up on my editing.
I think it might have been February… but then again maybe it was last November.

And as of this morning… well I still am not. (Kinda)
I’ll always have something to edit.
I could a few road trips I’ve never touched or even Europe pictures (2006)

But as far as shoots I’ve done for money… well I think I’m pretty much caught up! Hurray.
And I think I’ll stay pretty caught up all the way until the christmas rush.

Here are pictures from the last shoot I did… get this… Friday (two days ago)
These were for an old friend Jason.
He grew up in Park City so that’s where we went.
This was the 3rd time downtown park city to do engagements… and I’m happy say we did all new places.
Park city has a lot of photographic spots to offer.

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FULL GALLERY HERE

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I specially loved how they were creating snow on the slopes and they were willing to go stand out in the field to get some… it was way cold there. (Much warmer downtown)

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Since they met skiing they’ll probably like this one.

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I love how in photography you’ll travel an hour just to get a picture of the sky.

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The mayor of park city was here and he offered to get them married right then and there. In the end he just gave them a free print.

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We were done but I just had to try out one last shot. Looking back i should have done more on this (meaning more poses to choose from)

The Rush is coming

It’ll be another fun and crazy christmas like last year, maybe just as much or more driving but with only 4-5 states.

Then a nice lull again to start getting on some projects that are long since needed to get rolling.

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This is Carissa and Jake

How Carissa became my first Intern

Carissa wrote me last winter asking to be an intern… at that time I thought it was out there and wasn’t really willing to commit to one person when I was having someone different come assist on each photo shoot. And i didn’t really see the place for an intern.
She was going to school in Indiana and was from Park City but wouldn’t be around until summer.

When school was over she came on a couple of shoots and then I had her come work on pictures… she got better and better and I was ready to make the plunge to let someone take over on the selecting and rating of my pictures.
She only had fridays and saturdays which were often days I was gone out of the state doing weddings but nevertheless I saw her progress a ton and get pretty darn good.

We made her a Blog and a Website 

Now she’s back at college and won’t be back until May and then getting married in June here in Utah.
In the meanwhile I now have 3 interns to replace all of her great work. 

She saw all my tricks and yet still had me go and do her engagement pictures… i guess that’s a pretty good compliment.

So for the above picture I had to play around and do something different on the edit.

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I loved the crazy skies that day… thanks to wendy who came to assist on the shoot…
(the new intern assisting on the shoot for the old intern… i love it)

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I had this one edited a little more regular… but I figured she wouldn’t mind another copy with a version more dynamic

Doing a virtual copy is a great thing in my opinion a lot of the times you can spend a while making a crazy looking pic and yet what they really wanted was a normal-er looking one. Let them see both… plus that lets them see the work you put into it… it didn’t just come out of the camera like that.

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It was fun shooting with another photographer friend David Terry who Carissa asked to come along. 
He was able to pose them a lot of the time and I would just steal the shots haha…
On the other hand I posed a bunch of them and I’m sure David enjoyed that. 

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The sky looked great that day and the old barn that carissa picked out was awesome.
Still don’t know if I like the phone post or not.

I love when people pick their own spots…

  • they’re more special to them (emotional connection)
  • I usually get to shoot somewhere new (add to repertoire)
  • My creative juices come out more when it’s somewhere brand new
  • If it doesn’t work it wasn’t my fault… haha

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I took these pictures July 3rd

Thought I’d post them to be seen… better late than never.
It’s a sign of all those from later in July and August to be posted some time soon.

See More after the Break (more…)

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

So this is part of the story of my jump into Photography as a career.

A big part of that was this couple.
I had no intentions to doing paid jobs.
I had bought the D70 with no intentions of making money.
Megan asked if I’d do their engagements… I looked at it as something fun to do.
If they didn’t turn out I told them (and we both understood) that a Real photographer could easily do them.

I can’t even remember which picture they originally chose on this shoot.
The photo shoot was in March of 2005 if I remember right.

Below was the result… above is picture i just re-edited yesterday. (A treat for the couple)

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

(Above) – In fact this is better than the original edit… i think I edited the above one a year ago.
Would be interesting to see all 3 versions I’ve edited.
The first editing program i had 5 years ago was photoshop elements

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

(ABOVE) – As you can see I’ve re-edited a bunch from the shoot.
Like i have my whole career I’ve always taken TONS of pictures.

THEN OTHERS CAME ALONG

Their wedding was 4 years ago. Wow how the time passes.

When other friends found out and saw what I had done for this couple they started to jump on the band wagon.
I had some natural ability, i was easy to get along with.
But probably the most exciting thing was that I cost almost nothing… haha
$300-400 i think was the first couple weddings. (I offered to do the wedding for this couple for free of course)
I stayed under $1000 for a while

EDITING

Looking back my way of interacting with the clients hasn’t changed too much.
I think it started off great since I took pictures of so many people I was very comfortable with first.
I was able to continue that for the years down the line. As I just learned to make the subjects my friends while I took the pictures… so i could goof off and have fun and connect with them.

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

I don’t think I would have even considered the picture below years ago…
But the re-edited one above looks rather fun edited.

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

Looks almost as if I had just taken this picture.

I’m also glad I had a great looking couple to start off with… i think that made things easier.
I didn’t feel pressured to come up with tons of ideas. They knew it was my first time… they approached me!

EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.EVENT DESCRIPTION: Engagement pictures for Megan Bourgeous and Drew White taken in various locations in Provo.

Dang JPGs are so much harder to edit… this took a while because on JPGs the colors are so closely connected… you can’t seem to edit the contrast and blacks without screwing up the colors.
I’m still not completely satisfied with the tones but am liking the trees in the background.

TO THE WHITE FAMILY

Megan if you’re reading this,  the originals of these new ones are online if you’d like to save them and have them.
Also I’ll be doing another Charity Shoot this fall… you’re invited… it’s on me!

OTHER OLD JOBS

I bet it would be interesting to go through and edit the pictures from my old jobs!
Probably a little fun…. but in the end I’m sure I don’t have the time.

There’s a business prospect in there somewhere… haha

WHAT DOES IT SAY

What should I think that many of the brides I’ve taken pictures of have actually turned to pursuing photography as a profession or at least a involved hobby.
I think it’s pretty fun.

MORE HISTORY

I hope to write a few more posts reviewing the past… i think it’s fun.
Was it helpful?
Any questions about the first couple jobs or that part of the history.
Many know the rest of the story of how I started getting into photography… I’ll get to that. When things around JarvieDigital start to slow down.

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These pictures were taken at the Garden park ward in SLC, Utah

I actually went assistentless for this one and did the whole thing with a light stand.
It’s kind of funny because for years I did everything without assistants or lightstands.

I hope I’m not chained to lights forevermore.

Anyway I thought it was funny.

See the Full Gallery

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So many of you know the trick but for the rest of you… go high f/stop for the star effect.

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More pictures after the Jump

Or just go to the full gallery

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I took these a little over a month ago… thought I’d share them.
The pictures were picked by my PA Adele.

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I did this photoshoot with a lightstand. Usually I have an assistant there to hold lights.
But this made me consider the location of the of camera flash a little more carefully since I’m kinda lazy.

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To view the full gallery go to http://jarviedigital.smugmug.com/gallery/8942464_jqBTB

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