Earls Session

I met this G O R G E O U S couple earlier this month. I must have said "you're so darn cute" a million plus times within that session. I couldn't help myself. I mean, c'mon. Just look at these images. Don't you agree? Mr. Earls was only on leave for four days, and they went from engaged to having their happily ever after in that amount of time. They tied the knot and I couldn't be any happier for them. By far the best couple I think I've ever met thus far.

Best wishes Mr and Mrs!

<3 Jennifer

Mommy and Me :)

For those that missed it on Facebook, I've posted about my mommy and me mini sessions. One lucky local that enters in my giveaway will win a spot for the event free of cost. I look forward to meeting new clients, and seeing old ones again. :)

Mommy and Me Giveaway

It's been months since I was able to host a giveaway for my fans. When I first started doing photography, I tried to host as many giveaways and contests as possible to give to those that truly deserved it. It's that time again!

This giveaway will run from March 15th, 2013 to April 13th, 2013. The winner will be chosen via the Rafflecopter Widget.  The contest is not administered or endorsed via Facebook, however you are required to like all participating vendor's fan pages. 

The winner will be announced on my blog on the 14th of April. The winner must contact me at simplystroble@gmail.com within 48 hours of the contest ending. If no contact is made, a new winner will be chosen on April 16th, 2013.

These items are great for any mother for mother's day. Ease her worries with these awesome prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Food for thought

I know many of you whom I meet in person or that contact me via email inquire about doing a photo session. However the majority of you put it off because you either want to lose weight of some sort, want to do your hair, whiten your teeth, go shopping for newer clothes, etc. It's common for those to focus on what's on the outside, instead of the true beauty of what photographer's capture in a photo: warmth, love, and happiness. Please, don't ever let this detour your future photo session with me, or with anyone for that matter.

You all mean something to someone, and each day that passes is one you can't get back. If something were to happen to your best friend, spouse, or parent, wouldn't you wish you had photos of them to cherish? To reminisce in the past and their memories. 

Personally speaking, my mother is my culprit. She dodges any camera pointed at her. She refuses to be in front of it for any reason. In the 22 years I've been alive, I recall seeing her in three photos. One of these images was on her wedding day, the other when I was approximately 18 years old and we were dealing with my grandmother's passing, and on my wedding day.

I won't go into too much detail right now, but my mother is struggling. I tell her each and every day that I would love to photograph her now. I'd love to capture the love between her and my father, whom she's been married to for over 25 years now. I'd love to capture the love both of my parents have for my son, so that when he's my age he has these images to adore when they're gone.

Each and every time I've asked her to get in front of the camera, she's made some reason to post pone doing so. For anyone still reading this, I would love to hear feedback. Please leave your experiences, and possibly leave words of encouragement for my mother. Hopefully if this gets shared enough, maybe I can finally get those images! <3

Here's to hoping!

Photog: Grace Baltic

Fans and friends, meet Grace of Grace Baltic Photography. I met her through a local photographer group online, and couldn't be happier. She's funny, she's pretty, and definitely photogenic. We met up and hit it off. We were laughing, and giggling about all things photography. She's new to the scene, and I shared a tip or two to help her out. After all, photography is all about networking. We all need a support system!

These are all the lovely images I got of her in our spur of the moment session. The park was PACKED with other photographers, and people. I almost turned around because I didn't think there was any parking available! I'm glad things worked out the way they did. :)

Last but not least, the expression every photographer gets at the end of the day when they realize they have more albums to edit then they can count.

R+K {Mother & Daughter}

I've had the pleasure of being Reilly's friend, and had the golden opportunity to use my new flower halos. Oh we went into the "woods"!

The rest is history. Enjoy!

What gets under my skin

You know what irritates me? Well I'll tell you but first you need some back story.

I started pursuing photography and all that in entails about 3 years ago in 2010. At first it was all about my camera. I wanted to shoot crystal clear images. I wanted to shoot images with vibrancy. Most of all I wanted images I could be proud of. So, I studied. I studied long and hard with stacks of books surrounding me at the library. I read terms like "depth of field" and "aperture". I was like "Is this book in English?". It was, but at the time I was shooting in Auto mode, and poorly at that. After finally getting comfortable with my terminology and how to work my camera, I upgraded my equipment. Then I began the process all over again. I wanted to master my equipment. After all, that's the only way I'm going to truly create the art I wanted to display.

In 2011 I experimented with editing programs left and right. At this time my photos were getting better but were still pretty horrible. I had no idea what I was doing to my images but I guess in my head I thought I was being "artsy" and just slapped an action or two to the image and called myself done. WRONG! If I could go back in time to correct myself, I would. Any who... later this year I gave birth to my son Keagan. He inspired me to do even better than what I could currently do.

In 2012, I studied more, and searched for talent that would help inspire me. I found favorites of mine that I look up to. I'll save those details for another blog topic some other time. In 2012 I realized I needed to change the way I do things. The way I market, the way I package, the way I organize. Everything, everything needed to change. So it did! Photography isn't something you can just "pick up" and run with. It takes practice, tons of it, to really truly be a photographer. Things are constantly changing with the new fads and such, and one should always learn to adapt to these changes. I personally like lifestyle shots. These types of shots aren't posed. It's that glance mom gives dad when he's "wooing" her, that silly face their child makes when being tickled, it's the love the client shares with me and my camera by just being them. However, not all clients are that comfortable in front of the camera. DOH! I hadn't thought of this before, and realized what do you do when someone is so utterly awkward in front of the camera? Well... you try to pose them until they relax enough to do their own thing. After that eye opening experience, I researched poses, and tried time and time again to make sure I remembered them when the time came. It was shortly after this, I dealt with someone who had never been in front of the camera before. I set her in a basic "pose" and just spoke with her. I got to know her more in depth and therefore could make her laugh and move a certain way. Metaphorically speaking, I was her puppet master. It made for great shots because she had a great time. Once she relaxed I got all those lifestyle shots I wanted without having to tell her "straighten your back, turn your head, and now smile". It was already there.

I could go on and on about my experiences but let's jump ahead to current times. I've busted my butt and scratched my head far too much to get where I'm at today. Too much information in books and too many client interactions to just cheat my way to the top.

It's come to my attention that there are actual "photographers" out there that like to steal other photographers work. That's right. STEAL. I'm not sure if they know this but it's copy right infringement.  This is the part that irritates me dearly. After putting a lot of hard work to get where I am today, and by all means still needing more to learn from, it gets under my skin when someone decides to advertise brilliant work as their own. WHY?! Why can't they suffer and struggle like all of the great ones did when they first began. Sure, their work is probably horrid, but guess what?
MINE WAS TOO! 

In this day and age of digital photography, and social networking, people can fake talent all they want. It's turning the industry into one big joke. How is a client supposed to know any different between true talent and one who has stolen a collection of images from various photographers and slapped a watermark on it.  Luckily, I haven't been a victim of this that I'm aware of. I'd like to keep it this way.

All I'm saying, is it's not right to do so. If I were that client, I'd be really pissed if I paid for high quality images and got someone who had no idea what they were doing.

Enough said. If you're still reading this far, thank you. :)

Since you stuck around I'll show my horrid progression shots