My Epiphanie

Last year for my birthday I asked for a Shootsac, which I gratefully received. My Shootsac has been over my shoulder for every wedding and photo shoot since last August. Having photographed nine weddings now, I realized the Shootsac wasn't enough. At least not for weddings. I wanted something more. Something that I could put my camera into with a lens attached to the body. With the Shootsac you always have to separate everything in order to fit it in. So I would end up wearing my camera around my neck most of the day and putting it in my car just on the seat when driving to the next destination. And the Shootsac doesn't have any extra pockets for my personal things, like my wallet, keys, chap stick, and kleenex.

So I started my search for a new camera bag. I looked at Kelly Moore, of course, but wasn't in love with their design and the look of them. I wanted a bag that had multiple pockets, that could fit my camera with a lens attached and a couple extra lenses and all my other little knick knacks, and I wanted something that closed with a zipper, not a button or snap. Kelly Moore's closed with a snap (maybe there are some with zippers, I don't know, I didn't look into it too deeply).

Then I came upon this beautiful company that makes the most beautiful camera bags! Epiphanie Bags!!! Holy moly are they nice. I perused their bag options and instantly fell in love with Ginger, in black. I subtley, or quite unsubtley, emailed my family with a link to that page mentioning that this could possibly make a pretty wicked birthday present! Much to my surprise (or not ;) ) I received the bag on my birthday! And I'm quite excited about it!

I just filled it up with my camera and lenses and am ready to shoot tonight's engagement session with it over my shoulder. I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my Shootsac. But I think I'll still make use of my Shootsac for some portrait sessions, or for traveling, or who knows. We'll see. If it ends up sitting around, then I'll sell it. But for now, I will marvel in the glory of Ginger!

Here she is. She does have an over-the-shoulder strap that I attached after taking these pictures!

I love this bag. But I also love my new office chair. Best Ikea purchase ever!

This and That

Hi! It feels like I haven't blogged for a long time. I miss it! I miss your comments! I miss the connection! Hopefully I'll remedy that today.

I have been busy. Travelling, photo shoots, workshops, bettering my business in general. A few exciting things have been going on here in the last few days and weeks. Obviously I went to Australia and photographed an amazingly beautifully styled wedding; I photographed an adorable baby boy; I listened to a two day online workshop taught by Jasmine Star about starting a Wedding Photography business; I met one of my couples for their engagement session; I bought a new camera; I had another feature on a wedding blog!

See, busy!

Friday and Saturday were spent on my computer, for 8 hours each day I was soaking in endless amounts of information from Jasmine Star about starting a wedding photography business and make it grow. Very exciting and such a fitting time to hear that in my business (on the verge of booking my 12th wedding for 2011!)

On Thursday night I got a call that my camera was in! I drove over right away and picked it up. I now own my very own Canon 5D Mark II camera! So exciting!! I feel so much more legit now! =) I'm still getting use to it, it's got a lot more functions than my current Rebel XSi, but it's amazing! Its ISO goes up to 6400! Who needs flash when you have an ISO of 6400??!!! haha. This weekend's engagement session was my first trial run with the 5D, and I think it was good!

Another feature on weddingsinbc.com! Luna and Ayo's engagement session was featured in their Inspiration Room on Saturday! Exciting!

I HAD to use my new camera as soon as possible to test it out so I used my Girlie as my model again. Here are some pictures with my new camera and my 35mm lens which is even more heavenly on a full frame camera body!

Wedding Planners, Lenses and Amazing Husband- OH MY!

This has been a crazy busy week for me, thus far. I'm using every spare moment I have to finish editing Denise and Nico's wedding. In between that I'm being a mom, getting massages (not for pleasure, unfortunately, still trying to recoup from our accident!), scheduling meetings, and getting ready for this weekend's wedding.

This morning I had the pleasure of meeting a local Wedding Planner, Nicole Miller. Nicole recently started a franchise with Sweet Beginnings Wedding Consulting and Event Planning. I received an email from Nicole last week asking if I'd like to meet her and be one of her vendor contacts for future clients of hers. I was floored! What an awesome opportunity! Nicole found my website and loved my photos and I can't even tell you how amazing that feels. Another super encouraging part of my job!

After that I unfortunately had to go grocery shopping at Superstore. I try to avoid that place as much as possible. All I want to say about that trip is that I hate their grocery carts. Enough said. Anyway, when I arrived I got a text from James saying my new lens was in!!!!! So I tried to race through my list and out the store (haha, if you know Superstore, you know that "race through" is the most unlikely thing to happen there!)

I am now in possession of a Canon 35mm f/1.4 L lens!!!!!!! SO excited!!!

I had to try it out right away!

My husband. Wow, what a catch. I am seriously blessed to have this man in my life. Tonight I was especially in awe of him. Not sure if I mentioned this already or not, but James will be my second shooter this weekend at an out of town wedding. He's borrowing my mom's Canon Rebel XS and will be helping me out, which I'm very excited about.  I've been reminding him to practice. I want to be confident with him by my side, knowing that he knows how to work his camera and that he'll be able to get those extra shots that I want to have. I've been a little nervous about it. Not sure if he'd really been practicing and whatnot. Until tonight. I had no idea he was practicing as much as he has been!!! There were tons of pictures on the camera from him testing it out and figuring out different exposures and techniques. I was flabbergasted. For reals. Jaw dropped to the floor stunned.  He blew me away. I'm not sure why I ever doubted him. I just love that about him so much. So, thanks James! I'm SO excited to work with you this weekend!!! Maybe we'll be the next Jasmine Star and JD?! haha

Speaking of Jasmine Star... I'm currently watching some of her creativeLIVE workshop and am SO excited about it! I'm already looking forward to putting some of this knowledge to use this weekend!!! Can't wait!

Anyway, I'm going back to editing!

FAQ / Equipment

Again, I'm going to start this FAQ post off by saying that this is only my opinion and these answers are based on what has worked for me up to this point in my business. 


Reader Question:
What camera equipment do you have?


-Canon Rebel XSi camera body*
-Canon 18-55mm f/3.4 lens*
-Canon 50-250mm f/4 lens*
-Canon 35mm f/1.4 lens (Edited on 03.07.2011)
-Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens
-Macro lens/Wide angle lens*
-Canon 430 EX II flash
-Tripod*
-Reflector
-3 camera batteries
-4 8GB memory cards


The ones with a * beside them are from the original kit that I bought off Ebay. And I never have all of these things with me at the same time! (Except for weddings.) The flash has been lent to me from my mom and a few of the other smaller items I've purchased off Ebay for almost pennies.


Reader Question:
What lens do you use for Portrait Sessions?


My go-to lens right now is my 50mm f/1.8. I bought that lens off Craigslist about a week after I got my camera kit. I knew the style of photography that I wanted to do and the kit lenses just wouldn't get me the same result. The f/1.8 is very reasonably priced for a wide aperture prime lens. I've had a few issues with mine but I bought it used so there could be some damage to it that I don't know about. But overall it's been great! I also bring my 18-55mm f/3.5 lens with me incase I want some wider angle shots.

Reader Question:
For weddings, and any kind of shoot for that matter, do I need more then one camera?


I currently only have one camera body. There's no way I could afford to buy another camera right now (the next one I'm buying is over $2000! It' s the Canon 5D Mark II.) For weddings I can definitely see the plus side to having a second camera body on hand so that you can have 2 different lenses mounted at the same time and just switch back and forth (especially for during the ceremony). But that's not a feasible option for me right now. 


For Portrait Sessions you would only really need one camera. At least for me. So I make the couple wait 30 seconds while I change my lens? No big deal. So far, none of my clients have rolled their eyes at me in annoyance for taking time to switch my lens! 




One thing that has been great for me is renting lenses. I did this for the last 2 weddings that I shot and it was a great way to get a feel for the lens and to see if I like it or not before investing a large amount of money in buying one. I've rented from both Beau's and Leo's in Vancouver.


Having done this (renting lenses) I have now come to the conclusion that I love the Canon 35mm f/1.4 lens. That will be my next photography purchase for sure. I love the wider angle to it and the wide aperture. It was the main lens I used for the last wedding I did and I loved it. Perfect for low light situations. I'm not where I want to be in my camera/lens collection yet but I realize it takes time. This is not a cheap industry. But with time, and more bookings, I'll get there!


So, in conclusion, get what you can afford and practice as much as you can with what you've got until you can upgrade. 

The Itsy Bitsy Spyder

I made yet another purchase for my business today. I've noticed that when I look at pictures that I've edited on my Mac computer on my laptop, they look completely different. Not good. We tried messing around with the actual colour setting in the Mac itself and compared the colours to the ones that I got printed from the professional lab but it still wasn't quite right. So I bought the Spyder 3 Express Monitor Calibration thing today. Not sure what it does exactly but it looks like a little alien off of The Matrix and it supposed to go on my screen and make the colours perfect. Not sure what defines "perfect" for this Spyder but it should know. I think.

I'm doing a shoot tomorrow with a few other photographers that I'm really excited about! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and at least not rain for us!

Here's a look at last night's engagement session in Campbell Valley Park.

Website and Big Macs

Hi, I'm here! I know it's been awhile and I haven't been maintaining my daily post quota. BUT I have great excuses!!! The main one being that I have been busily working on my website and am proud to say that it's officially in Cyber space, for all the world to see! If you haven't seen it yet, then, first of all, you need to "Like" my Facebook page for all the current updates! And secondly, you need to check out this website ASAP!.....

www.vanessavoth.com

You'll notice on there (again, if you are part of my Facebook page you already know this) that I have a new logo and design overall. This is a HUUUGEEE thank you to my friend, Frances, of Frances Eden Creative who did all my branding and designing and I couldn't be happier with the result!

I also bought a new computer for my office. It's a Mac. I've only ever owned PC's so this is a huge step for me. It's like meeting someone from a different country for the first time and trying to learn their culture. It's not easy. Everything's different. I don't normally do too good with change but I'm embracing the Mac. I love the big screen. I love working with a mouse, my finger always cramped up using the laptop.

We also have all the updated and new software for this computer as well, since the programs I had were for PC, not Mac. But it's great! Still need to get used to all the new functions of the Mac and transfer all my files over, so things might slow down just slightly for a little bit. But once it's all done, I'll be working like rapid fire!

I just have to test the colour quality with my Professional printers again to make sure I'm calibrated with them so we don't get any funky colourings going on.

Anyway, I had a photo shoot yesterday with one of my high school volleyball coaches and her oh-so-adorable son!!!! Here's a quick Sneak Peek and it's the first photo with my new watermark (name) on it!! Thanks again, Frances!

Ode to the Shootsac

I used my Shootsac for the first time for the wedding on Friday. What a fabulous little bag! My only negative feedback about it is that there's no extra compartment for holding things like your keys, chap stick, wallet, etc. It'd be nice if the middle opened up as one big open bag part for all those little accessories we need to tag along with us.

But other than that, it was great! It made changing lenses so much easier. I kept the back over off the lenses for quick changes. Awesome. Here it is in all it's Baroque glory!

P.S. I'm writing this post in my new "office". It's pretty sweet, aside from the baby chatting away in the monitor on the desk beside me when she should be sleeping. Who knew this salon would be so multi-functional! It is a salon/wine cellar/storage/office.

Macro Magic

I made a new discovery with my camera equipment today! Turns out, I DO have a macro lens. (A macro lens is what lets you get all up close and personal with an object). I have a lens that came in the original camera kit that I ordered when I started my business. It's a wide angle lens but I noticed there was a detachable filter looking thing that said MACRO on it. Hm. Interesting. Today I finally tested it out, and wouldn't you know it, it works!

It doesn't fit on my 50mm f/1.8 lens but it does fit on my 18-55mm lens. I took some pictures of my wedding rings today to see what it can do and how it works, etc. (Our wedding photographer never did take ring photos on our wedding day.) Here's what I the outcome was, although they're not perfect. I still need to practice more with this new Macro lens and learn all the tricks.

I have a photo shoot tonight and my goal is to use my 18-55mm lens a lot. I hardly ever use that lens but I think I should. The reason I don't is because the lowest aperture level is f/3.5-4 which is narrower than I prefer. But, I do like the wider angle of it, opposed to my fixed 50mm lens. I'm debating getting a 35mm lens but that's why I want to play with my 18-55mm to make sure I would use the wide angle more if I had it. So, I put that lens on my camera body so that I have to start with it, and I'll switch out to my 50mm during the shoot.

This is going to be a busy summer. I now have 10 photo shoots booked in the next 5 weeks, and I know of a few more that I want to get done before the summer yet. It's exciting!

Enjoy your evenings!

Swingin' and Teeterin'

Last weekend James, Cheyenne and I went for a nice walk around the neighbourhood. We stopped by the local park to let Cheyenne swing for a while. She just loves the swings and it was a gorgeous day outside. A win-win situation. We also put her on the Teeter Totter (is that how you spell it??) for the first time, but she wasn't as keen about that.

I just love the way this picture turned out.

My husband took this next one for me.

I'll be MIA for a little while but will try to get a few pictures posted whenever I get around to it. My husband's family is planning on taking advantage of me while we're visiting, but in a good way! =) They've got lots of photo shoots planned for me and I can't wait! There'll be a Newborn session (mind you, my nephew is already 2 months old so it'll be more of a baby session!), a Couples session, a Fashion session, a Re-Live the Dress session (that's what I'm calling shoots where women want to wear their wedding dresses again but not necessarily trash them!), and a bunch of other random pictures I'm sure!

Oh, I also purchased some new editing tools from Kubota Imaging Tools. I've been playing around with it tonight and am SO excited about what I can do with my pictures now. Nothing drastic, but just small enhancements that totally make them come out the way I want. I'm still working on perfecting my style and I think these tools will aid me in that direction. At least a little bit!

I've also learned a few more things about my camera and I'm looking forward to trying out a few different techniques and settings during my photo shoots this week.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!

New Lens!

Ok, I know I just got 2 new lenses with my camera but I already knew which lens was next on my must-have list. I'm a big fan of depth of field in photography which requires a wide aperature. My lenses have an f-stop as low as 3.5 but I wanted one with an aperature of 1.8 or lower. These aren't cheap though. The lower the aperature, the more expensive they get.

Anyway, James and I were just looking on Amazon, Ebay and Craigslist to see what these lenses were going for at the moment when we came across "the one." Someone on Craigslist just posted a listing for his Canon EF 50mm f1.8 USM lens for $80. What?!!!! That's crazy! At Future Shop you could pick one up for $125.99. We were already looking at manual lenses on Ebay that we could buy an adaptor for, etc, but no need.

Soooo... James picked it up for me tonight! We offered the guy $75 and he took it. Now I have a lens that I am In.Love.With. I obviously played with it right away so here's a few samples of what I have to work with! I'm so excited that I get to use this lens for my photo shoot this weekend!

This is the picture James took when he came upstairs with the lens already on the camera. I'm pretty excited.

Thank goodness I hadn't loaded the dishwasher yet or I wouldn't have had this picture opportunity!

This one's for you, Jo!

Cheyenne's adorable shoes. I love how this lens really focuses in on what you want it to!

That's all for tonight! It's going to take some getting used to this lens because it's a fixed lens, which means it doens't have a zoom on it. I've never used a fixed lens before but I think I'm going to LOVE it!

Photo Field Trip

Despite the drizzling rain, my friend, Frances, and I went on a short Photo Field Trip today. I was going to test out my telephoto lens, which I've never worked with before, and she also had a new lens she wanted to test out. We quickly drove to a nearby alley and snapped a few shots, trying to get done before it really started raining. Anyway, it was good to see how the telephoto lens works and how close you can get to your subject and how not far away you can get! But I like having options.

Aside from playing with my camera some more, I found some good places for potential, future photo shoots. I've always been drawn to garage doors and grafiti, and bright doors among brick walls. Well, this alley had a little bit of everything! Here's a few pictures from today that I took:

Frances and her precious daughter.

One of the bright doors amongst brick walls that I love!

A pile of tires that would also be perfect for a photo shoot location.

Thanks for introducing me to this alley, Frances! I think I quite like it.

Now, when you're a photographer you don't often get many photos of yourself. But thankfully I wasn't alone on this field trip and Frances was able to snap a few of me "in action." Here's what we got, don't I look all professional? =)

                         

                

Check out that zoom on the telephoto lens!

                 

                

                

Frances wanted to test out her lens as well so I volunteered to model for her =)

Red to Green

I now am the owner of my very own Digital SLR camera! James picked it up from the states today! Unfortunately you have to wait so long for the battery to charge before you can start testing it out! So, I waited somewhat patiently (not really, though. I kept looking over and hoping the light would no longer be red but a bright, shining green). After about 2 hours or so it happened. The light turned from red to green and my excitement grew! I quickly grabbed my, MY, camera and inserted the battery. Next step, turn the camera to the "ON" position. Check. And now comes the fun part!

My house doesn't have the greatest lighting, especially at this time of day, but I've been clicking away, just getting a feel for the camera and seeing what kind of outcome comes from changing different settings. FUN!

Some of the equipment that came with the kit is definitely cheap looking, but whatever. It's a good starter set and we'll go from there! While I was oh-so patiently waiting for the battery to charge, I started organizing my hard shell carrying case. There's a large piece of foam made up of many small, foam squares that you can pick out to fit the form of the pieces that you want to insert. This was maybe the funnest part! Just kidding. But it was a good time waster, and also kind of stressful as I didn't want to pluck out the wrong square and thus ruin the entire foam-form-fitting ensemble. Alliteration much?

I may need to go on a photographic walk around the complex tomorrow to test it out a little bit more. For tonight, I'll take pictures of Cheyenne!

It's Coming!

James ordered my camera and accessories for me this morning!!! I'm so excited I can't even explain how excited I am!

Here's what I'm getting:
-Canon 450d (or Rebel XSi) DSLR Camera
-Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens
-Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens
-Pro 0.45% Wide Angle lens
-UV Filter
-8 GB SD Memory card
-SD Memory Card USB Reader
-Digital SLR Slave Flash (I think this is a cheap one but I can upgrade down the road)
-Deluxe Hard Shock Proof Carrying Case
-Padded Soft Shock Proof Carrying Case
-Deluxe Photo/Video Fluid Head Tripod
-Table Top Mini Tripod
-2 Protective Camera Lens Pouches
-2 Lens Cap Covers
-Camera and Lens Cleaning Kit
-LCD Screen Protectors

Pretty impressive kit, eh? We decided to go with a full kit because I will eventually need all of this equipment anyway. Just like when I started hair school, I bought the whole kit that was offered which including everything (well, almost everything) I might possibly need as I started my career in hair styling. It was just the basics pretty much but as time went on I purchased other items to add to my kit and also got rid of many items that I never used. Ever since I started working from home I've been able to condense and refine my stash even more. I think it'll be the same with my photography equipment. You have to start somewhere and then tweak your stash as you start getting your own style and figure out what you use and what you don't. I already know that I'm buying a new lens for my birthday!

Hopefully my camera will be here before the end of the month and I can start playing with it! Here's what my camera looks like: