This is Jamie and Max! They were one of the first couples to hire us after our write-up on OffBeat Bride and we were really happy that they wanted us to photograph an engagement session with them also. They both said they weren’t always comfortable in front of a camera but I think the photos definitely don’t show that, and hopefully Leah and I captured more than just nicely posed shots. With any couples session, what you’re really aiming to capture and convey is the connection, and more importantly, the love that two people have for each other. On top of that, we also aim to infuse the shots with some mood.

…

(all of that yarn was actually there already – left by someone… so we threw it into the shots.)

I think you can tell from the behind-the-scenes video that we had a great time! We photographed this session about a week and a half ago – and the creek water was REALLY cold – sadly, one of Leah’s boots wasn’t as waterproof as she had hoped, but Jamie and Max had no problem standing in the cold water for however long it took to get some fun shots.

We’ve got shoots lined up all weekend and our first Email goes out on Monday – sign up if you haven’t already – because we’re not posting them to the archives until we’re at least a month in, and I’ll always keep that month of lag time between when the Email went out, and when it gets posted to the archives for everyone else to read – and we’ll probably throw in a discount or five just for our friends who’ve signed up.

Hey. It’s Thursday. Let’s. Go.

We get a lot of questions about our photos. How do you take them? Where is the light? What type of camera do you use?

Sadly, people don’t realize that when they ask us a photography question, they’re in for an excited stream of consciousness flow where we tell them everything we can in the span of 2 minutes.

We have a light here! And Here! And over there! We had to slow the shutter speed down to 1/30th and f/1.8 because man, the light in there sucked. Oh, and I had to use a tracking maneuver + the McNally kung fu grip because they kept moving AND it was dark in there!

So yeah. You could say we like making photos. A lot. Times Infinity.

But we can’t keep what we know to ourselves ’cause that’s no fun and we want our friends (you!) to have as much fun as we do.

So we’re starting Email by LeahAndMark.com – it’s our weekly email where we send out tips and tricks and other ideas. Basically – things that are rolling around in our heads that somehow help us make our photos – and that we would otherwise keep to ourselves for fear of embarrassment. I mean really – there’s a huge section in my head devoted just to DIY photography gear made from parts of things from IKEA. If you’ve ever thought that your gear was pretty low-tech and even ghetto – I’m pretty sure that I’ve made and USED something way, way worse – in public, and for an event. Trust me. Very few things stop me from trying/doing whatever I think it takes to get the photo I have in my head.

Check out our video!

Those were just a few of the sessions we photographed during our 10 hour photo shoot last Tuesday while we were in Phoenix.

Even from this short video you can tell that our setup isn’t fancy. We have some $10 flashes from ebay (they pretty much have two settings – On and Off), an umbrella, and then models who’ll struggle through my not so great posing ideas until we get to something pretty awesome. Couple that with some know-how-to-use-my-camera stuff and you’re pretty set.

Of course – that’s all gear talk.

You probably don’t have ‘gear’. You might not even have a DSLR. It doesn’t matter – because according to the stats office, something like 98% of DSLR owners never get off the automatic setting.

Automatic is where mediocre lives and if you’re using it – it’s one of the reasons why your photos aren’t exciting.

And Leah and I are all about making photos that we find exciting.

Honestly? Our learning curve was pretty steep. It wasn’t until last year that we seriously picked up our cameras and ever since then we’ve been running. Hard. We know a lot and there’s still so much to learn. We’d like you to sign up for our weekly Email so we can give you a few of the things we’ve picked up, and throw some random ideas at you – because we’re ALL ABOUT IDEAS – and we’re even more all about fun ideas.

Our first email will go out this coming Monday, March 22nd. Although we’ll continue to post pictures and stories to our blog – our Email will tell you how we really made the photo, what we were thinking – but more importantly, some methods you can actually use – no matter what camera you have.

Sign up and be our friend!

In about an hour we’re leaving for Phoenix, Arizona. We’ll be there for a week and we planned way too many things into the schedule. You can blame me for planning a very busy ‘vacation’. Leah’s on spring break this week so we’re visiting my family and all of our friends (as many as we can see!) + we’re shooting all day on Tuesday.

It’s changing by the hour – but right now there’s only a 30% chance of rain and really it takes 100% chance of rain for me to cancel – and even then… I don’t think I’d cancel this time. Too much work has gone into coordinating these sessions and as long as the models are willing to be out in the rain – I’m willing to shoot.

We had a packed weekend (when don’t we?) – with a newborn session, an engagement session, and then an exhibit event at Young Blood gallery! New stuff is on the works including our email newsletter where we tell everyone how we make photographs. Seriously.

See you this week and if you need anything, let us know.

Athena’s Warehouse is an Atlanta-based non-profit group that provides low-income high school girls with prom dresses. Our goal is to show both girls and women that females can empower each other through personal support and public service. Our icon, Athena, embodies strength, equality, and heroic endeavor; she is accompanied by an owl that marks wisdom. She is our urban version of a fairy tale ending.

We collect cocktail dresses that are in good condition year round. We appreciate your support in helping students who are unable to purchase their own attire.

Okay. I’ll be honest with you – it’s easy to gloss over their mission statement and think “they give prom dresses to underprivileged girls” – yeah. And it’s easy to place that waaaaaay down on the list of ’causes’ that should be supported. I mean, there are lots of truly serious problems in the world and at first glance, giving girls prom dresses hardly seems like it’s anywhere near the top of the list.

But stay with me here – the reason why the work that Athena’s Warehouse does is important, is because of it’s core ideal of empowering young women. In America we have a different understanding, or rather – nearly complete lack of understanding on the true and long term benefits a community receives by simply, empowering their women – especially adolescent females.

Now – there is ‘Absolute Poverty’ and ‘Relative Poverty’.

Absolute poverty being what exists in the third world where they don’t have basics such as clean water and food.

Relative poverty is essentially extreme income inequality. We have a lot of relative poverty in America. While there are clear differences between the two types of poverty – the fact is that in America it’s very difficult for many people who are living in conditions classified as ‘relative poverty’ – to be able to overcome or ‘get out’ of relative poverty. Only recently have we really started understanding that relative poverty can be as detrimental on a psychological level as living in absolute poverty. (maybe I should type ‘poverty’ one more time… oh look, I did.)

There is a ‘Girl Effect’ movement going on – which focuses on empowering young women in third world countries on the basis that there is a ripple effect that ends up vastly improving the living conditions of the communities involved.

Of course it’s a pretty good leap to say that giving prom dresses to young women empowers them and helps to ease the effects of relative poverty for those particular young women.  However – having volunteered at Stand Up for Kids every week for a year – I know that there are many students who have home lives that are far worse than anything we imagine – and yet they somehow continue to make it through high school.

As an adult it’s easy to apply a coat of cynicism to the whole idea of prom – but for so many high school girls – it’s still a big deal and not being able to go because you couldn’t afford a dress is… well it just seems like something we can realistically help with and at the same time make some young women very happy so they can go lead productive lives and save the world. Well – at least the happy part is true.

And we’re all about being happy here at LeahAndMark.com

Now. It might seem like Leah and I support every good cause out there – but we don’t. We obviously can’t help every charitable organization that approaches us ’cause sometimes we have to eat and sleep and watch Weeds or Dexter.

However – when Kim of Athena’s Warehouse wanted to hire us to photograph their charity event next Friday March 12th, we were totally up for that. Sadly, Leah and I already had plans to be in Phoenix at the time. So then Kim asked if we could photograph the young women as they volunteered at Project Open Hand. What? Photographing two non-profits at once?! That’s awesome and efficient!

So we took photographs, we’ve posted them on our blog, and now you know all about Athena’s Warehouse, you totally want to donate your old cocktail dresses, AND you want to attend their charity event next Friday at the StudioPlex lofts. Right? Right.

Hey. It’s Friday. Have a great weekend. We’ll be in Phoenix all next week – and it’s a packed schedule.

Check out the rest of the photos of the girls of Athena’s Warehouse at Project Open Hand. Click Here.

Click Here for the Preview Gallery.

Our friends Zack and Rachel just had their first baby – an adorable little boy named Adam.  In spite of the haze and delirium of the first few weeks of parenthood, they invited us over to meet their new addition and take all the photos our hearts desired.  Pretty awesome, huh?  Little did they know that by opening their home to us, they were also inviting Mark to completely rearrange their furniture and deconstruct their newly set-up nursery.  My polite GRITS-ness (Girl Raised In The South, y’all) was not totally ok with this arrangement.  I cringed and apologized to Rachel as we hauled the armchair and changing table out of the nursery and into the living room.

She laughed, shrugged, and said it was fine.  I don’t know if that was the sleeplessness talking, or if she really meant it, but one thing I’ve learned after the past many months of photography with Mark is that when he gets a vision of the shot he wants, there is absolutely no stopping him.  None at all.  It is futile to try to dissuade him from his pursuit, as I discovered when he hauled our friend Addy on his back down a steep, gravelly hill to a creek bed.  It’s best if I just hush up and move the furniture.  So move it, I did.

And I’m glad I did.  Because I’ve also learned that when Mark gets a vision of the shot he wants, he usually gets that shot, and it’s usually something pretty awesome.  Plus, not only did I get to move furniture, I also got to move Baby Adam, and that means I got to hold Baby Adam and smell his precious, lovely baby-ness and touch his soft little baby skin, and Baby is a drug I am totally addicted to at the moment.  So I got my fix, and Mark got his.  And Adam was a jolly good sport the whole time we clicked away with our cameras and moved him from one position or piece of furniture to the next.

So, congrats Zack and Rachel!  Adam is a handsome little man and we look forward to more photo shoots with your beautiful family.  Maybe some outside ones, so we don’t rearrange your whole house.  (Also, I hope we put your nursery back together satisfactorily!  I think we might have put the changing table back in the wrong direction…)

Click Here for the Preview Gallery.

It’s hard to see how much a little effort adds up overtime – especially when you’re talking about donating amounts as small as $25.

We started lending three years ago but things really picked up when we decided to donate 10% or $25 of all photography proceeds (whichever is greater).

As of today we’ve helped to fund 48 loans all over the world.

The collage above is made up of photos of each person/community to whom we’ve loaned money.

The default rate so far? Zero. 0%

In the three years that we’ve been doing this, no one has ever failed to pay their loan back.

Thank you to everyone who’s hired us recently and if we haven’t already notified you as to who your money went to help, we will let you know soon.

Click Here for the STIR IT 28: Atlanta Photo Gallery

I was fortunate enough to photograph STIR IT 28. Below is the event description by Bren Herrera (one of the key organizers):

…two other bloggers, Chrystal over at The Duo Dishes and Courtney at Coco Cooks, and myself have organized what we love to consider a phenomenal campaign to bring relief to the island that suffered a deadly earthquake, leaving 200 thousand souls, dead. This is our way of giving back: Through our craft of cooking and hopefully filling the gap of the basic essentials they are lacking.

……ATLANTA, being filled with diverse art and food, will represent STIR IT in an indescribable way! As the host (wearing kick-ass L.A.M.B heels),  I’m proud to entice you with some of the delicious tastings the chefs and bloggers will dish out this Sunday!

WARNING: Photography Geek-Speak up ahead.

This was actually the first occasion where I was able to try out my new DIY photo gear which consisted of Velcro + Wooden stick. We don’t have studio strobes but we do have 15+ flashes and triggers – what we arguably lack in power, we can make up in flexibility and light configurations.

Without arguing flashes vs. block strobes – with our new, yet-to-be-patented velcro + wooden stick invention, we can aim the light in many different ways and shape it however we want, bouncing light off in different directions for slightly different nuances and gradients. (ha, I will not be writing the sales blurb for Velcro + Wooden Stick – we’ll hire professionals for that).

What made this event a little more challenging is that there were essentially three rooms, each with different light conditions.

Zone 1 being a long corridor with one side well lit by windows and the other side mostly just a dark wall.

Zone 2 was even darker with no real usable light except bounced light from the doors and far windows in Zone 1.

Zone 3 had… mood lighting… (which means that if you’re strictly a ‘natural light’ photographer, you’re shooting at f/1.4 and a shutter speed of 1/30th – and good luck with that).

What’s our general rule? No on-camera flash. Ever.

(okay, 99.999% of the time – that’s for you six-sigma fans out there… oh yes… I am more than just a photography geek).

Like my fancy light schematic? I know. Impressive huh? The lightning bolts are where I put the flashes – and then the arrows show where I moved them at some point. Down in Zone 2 I had to move the flash over closer to the doors – because although there was still light outside, it wasn’t coming far enough into the room – and there isn’t a bright wall in that spot – so I ended up bouncing the light off of a big stand-up poster that Montaluce Vineyards had setup right in that spot… and it worked as you can see in the very top photo.

I was really impressed by all of the hard work that went into organizing this event + the number of chefs that came out and participated. Bren did a really great job of pulling this together and I think everyone had a great time.

Check it out! The Gallery.

We know we’re pretty fortunate to have so much photography work – really fortunate considering how many ‘photographers’ that are out there these days. There’s a lot on the schedule for these next few weeks thru the end of March – more photo shoots, a workshop, and even a trip to Phoenix, Az. – and that means… lots and lots of photo editing. So while we don’t have any complete sets to show – here are some quick edits of our works in progress…

Family Portrait with the Swartz Family:

(remember, don’t tell anyone that I actually do like to photograph children with all of their running around craziness)

Stir It 28: a Benefit for Haiti

And then finally Zack and Rachel’s newborn baby, Adam:

(I very much like the pets participating in this photo).

Hey. It’s Monday. A week full of editing and then some more awesome photographing this upcoming weekend.

Woah, it’s been a while since we’ve posted.  Especially since I have posted.  What has been going on?  For starters, my internship got super crazy busy after the earthquake in Haiti.  School started back – my final semester! – and that’s been busy, too, although it’s definitely been on the backburner.  I found my birthmother – and sister and brother and grandparents, etc. – so that’s been awesome and crazy, too.  And our awesome photography business has been growing and growing.  Some dear friends visited for a week, too.  Feasting and photography and fun times ensued.  Oh, and then it snowed and I took a Circus Arts Fitness class, too (tons of fun).  Whew!  I think that’s almost everything I have been doing instead of blogging.

Since life has been rather all-over-the-place lately, this post will follow suit.  First thing on my mind:  Earthquake Aid.  Usually, when a big, huge disaster happens somewhere in the world, there is a large outpouring of aid.  For the most part, humans are compassionate and well-intentioned – we want to help when bad things happen to others.  Unfortunately, too many people don’t really know the best way to help, and the ways folks try to offer aid actually complicates the aid process, and can even cause harm to those in need of assistance.  This TIME article sums it up nicely: Doing Good Badly.  I know giving money doesn’t seem like the best way to help – but let me assure you, it is.  Not all of us have money to give – in that case, just send your thoughts/prayers/good wishes.  Please please please don’t send your old jeans/canned goods/expired medicine/golf clubs.  I have worked at so many nonprofit agencies and you would seriously be amazed at the crap that gets donated.  Nonprofits are not recycling centers.  They are not landfills.  Do not clean out your closets and then make yourself feel better about your consumerism by dumping all your old junk at the nearest shelter/boys and girls club/international aid organization.  As someone who has to go through all that when my time could be WAY better spent elsewhere, I am begging you – unless an organization has specifically requested the exact item you are donating, don’t donate it.  Sell it on Craigslist and give the money instead!  (And if no one will buy your “gently used” item, or if you don’t think it’s fit to sell, that should also tell you something.  Trash/recycle it!  Don’t pass your stuff off to a nonprofit to dispose of.  I promise you – if the stuff isn’t fit to sell, it is going in the dumpster.  Please save us the time/money and take it to your own dumpster.)

If it’s any consolation, I can totally vouch for CARE and the great way they use the money that gets donated.  Out of all the nonprofits I’ve worked at, I’d say that CARE uses its resources in the smartest, most effective way possible.

As for finding my birthmother, that’s a whole separate post for a whole separate day!  I will indulge you with a photo, however.  =)

That’s us.

Oh, and then I got to hold babies!  First, I got to hold James’ adorable nephew, Fisher….and take an insane number of photos of him.  This kid LOVES the camera!  Seriously!  Everytime he would hear the click of the shutter, he would look up and gaze into the lens.

And then we went to…um, a Super Bowl Party (marriage involves compromise, ok?  I am trying to be a good wife.  Plus, there was lots of yummy food and it was also our friends’ housewarming party, so I went! OK.  But don’t put football near me any other time of the year.)… anyhow, at this party, there was a 3 month old baby.  And her parents let me hold her cute, sleeping lil self.  Man, I love babies.  Why do I love babies so much?  I don’t want to be one of those crazy baby-loving women.  Oh well.

Oh, and I also stood on a chair and took pics of the other party guests.  I love how holding a camera makes it seem not so weird that I’m standing on a chair in the middle of a party.

And then I spent this weekend doing fun stuff with my favorite Valentine.  This included watching a bazillion episodes of Weeds, a trip to the International Farmers’ Market, baking a cake, and dinner at a nice French restaurant.

I love Mark.  I love our life.  The End.

Click Here to view the Preview Gallery:

I know. It’s been a while since we last posted – but we’ve been working hard!

Last Saturday we shot this photo shoot with April. She’s actually a music artist and is working on some new stuff that should be out in a few months. You can hear some of her older works HERE.

Our friend Zack came along to help us out on this shoot. We were on the top level of a few parking decks – and because it’s been so windy lately I haven’t been able to use the ‘umbrellas’ – this time I brought Zack along so that he could hold them in case the wind picked up.

Even though Leah and I moved up to Sandy Springs back in August, I was still driving down to Inman Park/L5p/Cabbagetown for photo shoots out of habit – those were the areas that I really knew and where I felt comfortable – so even though it was across town, I would still drive down there.

But I figured that I should probably find some areas closer to us – and I don’t think there are as many photo shoots going on in the Sandy Springs area. At least not ones that aren’t in some kind of suburban park that looks like… so many of the photo shoot/portrait sessions shot out here in the suburbs… of course we do live in Sandy Springs and it’s like… really suburban. (We live here ’cause we’re awesome alright?!?!)

And it’s not as if I have much time to ’scout’ locations – so I just tried to see what I could see from my daily commute – and from the freeway I could see these glass buildings, and their parking decks. So yeah, it might take some searching, but I think I can keep finding different cool locations – even up here in the suburbs.

Click Here to view the Preview Gallery:

Click Here for the SteamPunk! Preview Set: (This isn’t all of the photos – just a small subset – I’ll finish editing all of them this weekend.)

Last Saturday we shot two events – SugarComa and then the Mechanical Masquerade: a SteamPunk Ball. The ball was put on by the Syrens of the South – they’re a burlesque troupe and they also provide classes – which is partly why you’ll see a bit of burlesque in the preview photo gallery.

For those of you who aren’t up on your fandoms, Steampunk is:

a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.

And even though I’m generally past my days of Cosplaying – I still very much appreciate and admire the work that goes into any good outfit/costume (since you know, it’s at the point where people don’t consider these ‘costumes’ anymore – and try their hardest to make it their daily wear – whether it’s SteamPunk or Lolita fashion.)

Consistently good photography is often times all about making decisions – which is why you’ll find many photographers shooting on full manual – because we want to control as much as possible with our photos – which means we’re making snap decisions just as everything is going on. Fortunately, with a portrait booth you can make many decisions ahead of time. I decided that instead of the usual ‘old-timey’ look that waaaay toooo many photographers choose for SteamPunk, that I would go with glam. As much as possible – well, in this case it means LENS FLARE Everywhere!

Because some of these people put A LOT of work into making their outfits and pulling pieces together – and they should get photos that show that off and not merely just ‘capture’ a flat image. At least that was the general grand idea in my head. Execution of that idea is… always different

Fortunately I had help – Leah and our friend Paralee (of SpanishDict.com fame!) came along and worked the event with me. In fact, Paralee shot half the time and once I decided on a light setup and put everything in place, we just switched back and forth as to who would shoot the portrait.

Now the thing about portraits and working with people who aren’t used to modeling/posing – is that once you have your lights setup, much of the burden of creating a ‘good’ photo is actually on the photographer. Because it’s at that point where it’s the photographer’s job to direct the subjects into not only ‘good’ poses, but something interesting. Or else your photos end up on Awkward Family Photos. (Working with professional models is different because it’s more of a collaboration between the two since the model actually needs to know how to model.)

(I will admit though, I use the ‘Dodge This’ shot from the Matrix way too often – but come on, it’s always fun)

And while photographers will often blame the clients as to why their portraits were bad (or worse, boring) – the photographer really has to do everything within their power to make it happen and just ‘get the shot’ – the ones who don’t make excuses are usually the ones who always get ‘the shot’ – no matter what – even when the subject was difficult to work with, somehow a professional will still get it. Right? Right. – by the way – fortunately everyone at this event that let us shoot them was extremely easy and fun to work with.

Um…. go off on tangents much?

Hey. It’s Friday. Awesome.

Click Here for the SteamPunk! Preview Set: (This isn’t all of the photos – just a small subset – I’ll finish editing all of them this weekend.)

Click Here for SugarComa Photos:

Last Saturday morning I photographed the a.m. SugarComa tour.

Organized by The Broke Socialite, SugarComa is a tour of some of Atlanta’s finest bakeries. Essentially 30 people hopping into four brand new Cadillac SRX’s and criss-crossing Atlanta to devour some awesome sugar specialties. Sadly, I was only able to shoot the a.m. tour since Leah and I were scheduled to shoot a SteamPunk Ball later that evening. Still – SugarComa was considerably awesome.

It was an interesting event in that most of the attendees were a mixture of hyphenates: PR – Marketer – Blogger – Cook – Baker – Mother – Teacher – Photographer – Stylist – Foodie – Freelancer – Writer – Author – Columnist – Editor – Etc. Seriously – the case can be made that some of the people have ALL of those descriptions on their resumes. Yeah. Not only that, but this was also a full-on Twitter event. Before, during, and after each stop the attendees would twitter various ummm… tweets? Yeah. Check the hashtag #SugarComa on Twitter and you’ll see them all.

Now with the obligatory disclaimer (this may be cheesy) – I’m honestly always impressed by full-blown-all-out-passion. Whether it’s B-boys all over the world, a deaf percussionists teaching people how to listen, or Kristen Hard of Cacao. When she describes how she ventured off into the jungles of Central America in search of cocoa beans – along with the part where it’s unheard of that a woman do this – along with the very real risk involved – it’s difficult to not be impressed if not inspired. I was also fortunate enough to be riding along with Shameeka The Broke Socialite herself, Helen of Tartelette and her friend Bina. I say fortunate because these women are very passionate about living with intention – whether you consider their careers, their art, writing, cooking, or raising their children – they go all out – and it’s always a good thing when you’re around that kind of energy.

I think it definitely helped with our portrait booth later that evening at the SteamPunk Ball.

Hey. It’s Tuesday.

Click Here for SugarComa Photos:

Also! Here are a few links to blog posts (and Photos!) by other SugarComa attendees:

Bakerella: SugarComa!

The Transient Pod:

We are shooting two events this weekend:

Sugar Coma presented by

and

Mechanical Masquerade: A SteamPunk Ball presented by The Syrens of the South.

Even though it seems like we photograph everything under the sun – which is why we don’t have one of those sentences that goes:

“We Specialize in weddings, family and children portraits, model portfolios, headshots, events, food and product photography – in a natural photojournalistic style.”

Yeah. We just photograph what we like – which for the most part is People Photography. So it feels like it’s been a long while since we’ve shot any events even though it’s only been a few weeks ( MensWear Fashion Show)

I’ll be honest with you – I pretty much enjoy photographing anything except parades. If you ask me to photograph a parade I’ll zzzzzzzzzzz fall asleep on you. For some reason I just… eh, no parades okay?

But I digress… a lot. So this Saturday we’re photographing the morning Sugar Coma tour and then that evening we’ll be shooting the SteamPunk ball AND we’ll have a Portrait Booth setup there as well (much like but different from this one at the Indie Craft Experience) – with a backdrop and everything – I know, it’s like we’re professionals or something

So we’re actually pretty excited about photographing these two very different events on the same day. I’m excited because I’ll probably bring my lights and try different things and do run-and-gun strobist stuff that will either work or fail miserably – but that’s partly why we shoot events – because we like to think that our event photography will look different from other photographer’s event photography… even if we’re wrong about that (opinions vary) – it’s always what we work towards.

On a different note, our write-up on OffBeat Bride was posted last Tuesday and the response has been considerably awesome. The number of weddings we’ve booked this year has jumped and we’re even flying across the country for a few of them. We know we have a lot of work to do – but it’s nice that the response to our photography has generally been favorable. We’re really surprised and appreciative of everyone who’s been supporting us and taking a chance on us since we started this endeavor back in August – really, thank you.

If you haven’t checked it out yet – here’s our write-up on OffBeat Bride – they say nice things about us – Click on the Picture:

Hey. Have a great rest of the week.

Samantha is in her freshman year of college and she’s studying opera – she’s going to be an opera singer (maybe I should do the whole positive reinforcement thing and say that she is an opera singer.)

I was referred to her father by a friend who’s a vendor at one of the local farmer’s markets that we frequent – it’s always a high compliment whenever someone actually refers us to their friends… especially since up to that point, I hadn’t ever done any headshots. Not real ones anyway. So I had some of that nervous excitement since this was a ‘first’ – and I didn’t want to screw things up. These are for submitting applications to various opera workshops – serious stuff – and generally conservative headshots are required – so no crazy light with lens flares!

Of course – these photos don’t show everything. They don’t show the part where I forgot some of my gear – some seemingly very important items. Once I got into the house and put my stuff down, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my shoot-through umbrellas – they soften the light and make it… better. Sure I laugh now – but at the time I was FREAKING OUT in my head. I can’t shoot her with bare flashes! They’d have to be like 5 inches away from her face and even then who knows!

Of course you can’t let the clients see that. Ha! I did go back out to my car and checked to make sure – and then freaked out some more while I stood there in the cold.

Oh well… I’ll just have to… make this work… and then I walked back inside.

Now – we have a portable backdrop and setup for portraits – but I opted to try to do this without pulling out all the gear. The room in the photo below basically had the only white walls, and this small spot where Samantha’s sitting was IT. Yeah – it’s a narrow strip of real estate but fortunately these were just headshots so it didn’t matter.

Note: At this point I was still freaking out in my head and just really hoping that this would work.

Since I didn’t have my light diffusers – and I wasn’t going to put the flashes right up to her face – I brought out two flashes and aimed them at the wall and ceiling. You can’t tell from this photo, but on the wall to the left (our left) is a window letting in light. I didn’t want any of that so I just upped the shutter speed and closed down all ambient light – all the light you see in these photos is from my flashes only.

Look at the above photo – doesn’t exactly scream ’perfect setup for professional headshots’. I have one light there aimed at the wall and then one on the right side angled up at the ceiling.

At least I’ve learned not to use a wide-angle lens for portraits (ha… I probably did that far too long…hey, I know better now!) – so I threw my 200mm on and stepped back about 10 feet. Yeah. A couple of things really worked out – the white wall, the proximity to the corner (better bounce) and the fact that this room opens across the entrance and into another room – so I could’ve stepped 20 feet back and had room to spare.

After the first few shots – I knew this was going to work and that’s when we really started.

Click Here for the Preview Gallery.

In case you don’t live here in Atlanta and you haven’t heard – it’s really cold right now. With the daily highs around 30 degrees, we’re freezing (hey, it’s the South, we like it a little warmer alright?) But of course that doesn’t stop me from shooting outside! (Although after this weekend, I definitely have to wear my parka next time.) Still. This past weekend was a great way to start off the new year. Three photo shoots and all of them different. A model portfolio shoot, a headshot session, and then this couples session with Paralee and Aaron.

We met up at Piedmont Park at around 4pm – the temperature dropped down to the low 20’s at that point and there was a slight wind to help make things even colder. Awesome.

The best part of this past weekend was definitely the clear sky, and the brilliant sun. Even though it was freezing cold, it wasn’t rainy and it wasn’t overcast – we had too much weather like that last year (even though it did get us out of our 4 year drought.) Still. With the setting sun and clear skies – we were losing light fast, and I wanted these photos to have a different look than your normal outdoor portrait session in Piedmont Park (it’s a popular location.)

Aside from all of the other considerations (composition, wardrobe, energy) – it’s all about light and how you control it. Sometimes you want the orange cast from a setting sun, and sometimes it’s just too orange. So you make adjustments if you know how. Add light, take away light, redirect light – and do it in a manner that the energy of the moment isn’t lost and your people can move around a bit. Because this isn’t a model shoot where you can take 6 minutes to set up a single shot. You’ve got one. So set up your lights, find a setting and make sure their faces are lit. Then Shoot.

Once you’ve got the cool shots with whatever additional lighting you want, everyone can really relax and start to move around more within the natural ambient light and then it’s just up to you the photographer as far as direction, composition and camera settings. Each photo shoot is different and making adjustments on the fly is the fun part. It’s a constant tweaking of settings and turning dials, along with paying attention to what’s going on, composing the shot and re-directing action. ‘wait, do that again, hold, put your hand there, look over my shoulder, now right into my lens, smile, don’t smile, jump, walk at 3/4th speed, laugh…‘ yeah, shooting with us is a bit run and gun because we always want to keep the energy up, and hopefully it translates into the photos – even when they’re in a still pose.

Here’s to a great 2010.

Click Here for the Preview Gallery.

Click for Photos.

Just a short quick post before the year really starts. Things get busy fast and it’s easy to get behind on the blogging. We had a great New Year’s Eve with friends and we’re really excited about 2010. It’s going to be awesome, and as wild as 2009 was – (getting married, graduating college (finally?), moving (again), and really taking photography seriously) – 2010 is set to be insanely great.

So make your list of goals/wants/intentions for 2010 and stick it someplace you’ll see it everyday so they’re always there in front of you. Remember, your brain doesn’t know the difference between reality and make-believe, so why not choose to make your brain believe a better reality of your choosing. It works, trust me. You are a mind with a body – not the other way around – and they work in that order.

Lets. Go. All. Out.

Click for Photos.

We’ve been ‘donating’ to Kiva.org since May of 2008 (see here).

For those who have no idea what micro lending is, the main concept is that in developing (third world) nations, the people who need loans the most, are unable to get them because they do not have the credit/collateral and banks just don’t give loans for less than $1,000. Sometimes as little as $100 will make all the difference in the lives of an entire family – from generation to generation – simply because they got that small initial financial assistance that enabled them to break themselves out of the prison of extreme poverty.

If you think about a situation where they’re surviving on basically pennies a day (in American dollar terms) – a loan of $5 all of a sudden makes their life exponentially greater – and gives them the chance to continue raising their quality of life.

We’ve decided that we need to give more.

We’ve also decided that we will donate $25 or 10% – whichever is greater – from every portrait session or wedding to Kiva business owners.

Here is our Kiva Lender Page.

… and now for something totally unrelated:

Talk to us about your wedding or portrait session:

]]> http://leahandmark.com/2009/12/27/kiva-org-micro-lending/feed/ 0 http://leahandmark.com/2009/12/23/glorious-light/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=glorious-light http://leahandmark.com/2009/12/23/glorious-light/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:39:21 +0000 mark http://leahandmark.com/?p=2821

Click to see the play time Gallery.

When I grow up, I want a studio with big north facing windows.

Molly up above and her sister Sydney were the flower girls in our wedding back in May. Leah babysits them whenever she can and sometimes I come along because they’re wild and crazy and fun and it’s always nice to see me. (ha!)

Anyways – I haven’t really seen them since the wedding and so much has happened – like the part where I starting really photographing people. They also had two friends over and in total Leah was watching four children (with the help of her college roommate Arianna who is Sydney and Molly’s aunt – got all that?)

Still. Back to the light. Last Sunday was a generally dreary and cloudy day – and then the sun broke free for a few hours late in the afternoon. Just in time for me to take a few shots while the kids were playing.

… kids are easier to photograph than adults.

Click to see the play time Gallery.

Click here for the Preview Set.

We had a lot of fun yesterday. This family hired us to photograph their two children (and a little bit with the parents) – and even though the weather wasn’t the most cooperative, we knocked out a really great session. More and more I’m… really enjoying photographing children and families and… the normal family photography jobs (the ones I honestly used to think were boring.)

I mean, clearly I like photographing people and then you combine that with the very real challenge of photographing active children running around – and it turns out to be much harder than you think to produce a decent set of photos all at a consistent level of quality – as in, not just a handful of good usable photos and 100’s of unusable photos that you blame on ‘the kids moving too fast’ or ‘not making a good face’.

Add to those factors – our own goal of delivering different photos – because we move around. A lot. And we don’t like to give 3 versions of the same photo just because they’re all clear. Different shots, different angles – different photos – no real padding to the set just to up the numbers.

Honestly? We don’t really give estimates on the number of photos we’ll deliver – partly to cover ourselves – but mostly because we’re confident that we’ll just ‘get the shots’. That’s what we’re paid for right? No excuses. In fact, if I ever felt like we totally blew a portrait session and all out sucked, I would give the money back and not deliver a set of sub-par photographs.

In the end, photographing families with crazy kids is awesome for me. Why? Because I shoot full manual it’s a constant challenge of settings (I just can’t seem to like shooting on aperture or shutter priority/auto.) Not only camera settings, but then also composition, focusing on the right area, moving around for a better/different shot, managing the moods of the children and giving them ideas on how to move, where to go, where to look – and the whole herding cats atmosphere. It’s awesome and crazy and difficult and fun. Yeah. All of those.

Click here for the Preview Set.

It’s strange to think there might be someone, somewhere, walking around with my same features.  I’ve never really looked like anyone in my family, and I was always ok with that – in fact, it’s hard for me to imagine looking a lot like someone else.  And I don’t know if I actually do look like her, or if we just happen to have a similar build and hair color.  But having this information makes her seem more real… there really is someone out there who gave birth to me, and I have no idea who she is.

But as I begin this search process, it’s so important to me that my parents – the ones who raised me and the ones I live just around the corner from and the ones I love so very much – that they know I’m ok and that they know how much I love them.  I’m fine, regardless of the outcome or what new information I discover.  And the reason I’m fine is because I’ve grown up with such a great family.  I don’t feel incomplete.  I don’t feel I’ve missed out on anything.  And even if it turns out I’m a genetic carbon copy of someone else, there are still so many parts of quirky, awesome me that are this way because I was raised by them.  The love my parents gave me is such a huge part of me.

Also, I can’t stop listening to this song, and I think everyone should hear it.  Even if you’re not adopted.

Love Like You – Juliana Finch

I was born at the tail end of summer and
I was born without a father or mother and
had to find my own way

Upstream like Moses in a basket
I found this palace without even askin
And I’ve been lucky since that day

Even though I always knew I was different
I still got treated like a baby sister
And forced to play basketball

I think you worry that I don’t feel complete
But I got everything I ever needed
And you’re the reason for it all

But do you think I’m wandering
Do you think I’m lost, do you?
Searching for some long lost roots

Yeah I know she’s out there
A woman with my eyes and my hair
A man who smiles the way I do
But I love like you

I haven’t always done what I oughta
Been twice the prodigal daughter
But I think we’re turning out ok

You did the best that you possibly could have
And it was better than anyone else would have
So all  I’m really tryin to say is

Do you think I’m wandering
And do you think I’m lost, do you?
Searching for some long lost roots

Yeah I know she’s out there
A woman with my eyes and my hair
A man who smiles exactly like I do

Yeah I know she’s out there
A woman with my voice and my hair
But I love like you

You can listen to Love Like You and more of Juliana Finch’s music here: http://julianafinch.com/music.html