BluElla Photography

Leaf me alone!

January 26th, 2012

Sometimes on a chilly, overcast, winter day when you are walking from the zoo to the car, there are piles of lonely, unsuspecting leaves waiting for you to play in them with your kids. No one cares that they are not dressed to the nines or your son’s foot long hair is not combed. No one cares that the leaves only contain the crunchy, brown remnants of what was once blazing reds yellows, and oranges. What is important is the fact that I had my camera with me to capture memories of me with my sidekicks acting a fool on the ground. It’s also pretty important that I got a picture of me with my super cute new scarf on. Wait…I think I just said I take my kids to the zoo in dirty clothes without brushing their hair. Mother of the year award…2012.

Tags: Sacramento baby photographer, Sacramento Children Photographer, Sacramento children's photographer, Sacramento family photographer
Posted in Clark Family Diaries, Family Ties, Let Them Be Little | 9 Comments »

A Spanish Love Song…

January 20th, 2012

What are the odds that a handsome man from the Spanish Basque country would meet a beautiful Spanish Basque girl from America? Pretty darn good as this union is living proof. The groom’s family traveled from their Spanish hometown located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It is customary in the Basque culture to have the mother of the groom step in as his best man. The spirit of the day was something to be bottled and cherished forever as these two families celebrated the joining of their loved ones. It’s funny how joyful celebrations tend to break language barriers and how wine, music, and laughter can bring people together in ways no other situations can. The bride asked me to specifically capture this wedding photo journalistically and capture the true essence of their day. This was the kind of event that left people filled with a renewed sense of energy and appreciation and I am super lucky to have been a part of it.

I have to give a shout out to my amazing husband who 2nd shot this wedding for me. He is super proficient behind the lens and has shot a ton of film in his lifetime. It was a blast having him by my side as my shooting partner to capture different perspectives. Thanks babe!
Venue: Hotel de Anza (Amazing place to check out if you’re in the San Jose area)

Florist: Array of Flowers (Note the amazing floral touches…these guys know their petals)

Music: 8 Track Massacre (Ok…these guys are THE wedding band. They rocked the house. Look them up. Follow them. Become a groupie. They’re that good.)

Enter the love…

Tags: Sacramento Wedding Photographer, San Jose Wedding Photographer
Posted in Knot Tying | 19 Comments »

White Balance Beach

January 16th, 2012

Playing with white balance can be a fun thing to do with landscapes as there’s no need to be concerned about getting correct skin tones in camera. If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, you can Google white balance or check out a link such as this one here which should explain the basics. If you’ve ever taken a picture of people and they or their surrounding areas are orange…white balance is off. If they or their surroundings are blue…the white balance is off. You get the picture. Pun intended. Using white balance on your camera is not always trustworthy and your camera can and will change temperature settings from picture to picture. You will find much more consistent color when you understand how to assess and use the correct white balance settings. Enough of my ramblings…now for some images. Ever since I was a little girl, I have never been able to get anything straight so you’ll see my horizons are a tad crooked which is ironic as crooked horizons are one of my pet peeves.

Q: So why didn’t you straighten them in Photoshop Jo?

A: Because I was lazy.

All images are SOOC (straight out of the camera) with zero editing so you can truly see how the different white balance settings can affect the colors in your image. One day I will attempt to do this with skin if I can ever get my one and two year old models to sit still long enough to change settings. Maybe in about 5 years.

All the images below are shot with a Canon 16-35mm wide angle lens at 16mm with the camera secured on a tripod.

All settings:

F10
1/30
ISO 100

And to close out this post, one of my little wispy, pigtailed, baby girl against the setting sun of our favorite beach. Happy shooting!

Posted in Clark Family Diaries, DSLR Basics | 7 Comments »

Sugar and Spice

January 5th, 2012

I’m continuing to play catch up on blogging fall sessions and smile every time I look at the images of these two sisters. I feel so lucky to have been able to catch their beauty, personalities, and gorgeous porcelain skin while having a heck of a good time as well. The personality explosion at this stage of toddlerhood paired with the enamored looks from little sister made for a heartwarming and rewarding afternoon.

Love that little “Cheerio” mouth!

Awww…

I adore the goofy giggle here.

Tags: Sacramento baby photographer, Sacramento Children Photographer, Sacramento children's photographer, Sacramento family photographer
Posted in Family Ties, Let Them Be Little | 23 Comments »

Just the two of us…

December 27th, 2011

The union of these two beautiful people happened in September but I just had to play catch up and blog some pics from their wedding day. I kept this post intimate…just the two of them. A few things to note before browsing.

1. Keeping the dress clean was a big time priority to the bride.

2. The skies were actually that confused. It was glorious, with menacing clouds and sun fighting for real estate in the sky. No fake skies here folks.

3. Random fact. It costs the same amount to dry clean a clean dress as it does a dress that’s swam in the sea. Be brave brides…be brave!

Tags: Sacramento Wedding Photographer, Wedding Photographer Sacramento
Posted in Knot Tying | No Comments »

Shop till you drop!

December 13th, 2011

I recently had a chance to shoot product for Tots and Teapots, a children’s and maternity boutique in the central valley. I’ve been meaning to get this post out for months but they just launched their new website so it’s perfect timing! This store is gorgeous and contains some of the most unique and beautiful children’s clothing I have ever seen. Not only do they have exquisite clothes for tots, the upstairs section of the store is a quaintly styled tea house where you can reserve tea parties for your little ones. Some of the lines featured in this post include Jet Setter, Sara Sara and Fore. Visit their site here to see the latest in fashionable children’s and maternity clothing. Enter the voucher code “SANTA” for a 15% discount on all orders until Christmas. Happy shopping!

Posted in Product | 2 Comments »

Year One

December 3rd, 2011

My baby girl turned 1 on Thursday. While I would normally dread a December birthday, since she was born on the first, her special day will not get lost in the holiday shuffle. So what’s so special about December 1st besides the day I gave birth to the final piece of our family puzzle? Well, it’s the day our Elf “Baxo” comes back from the North Pole to stalk their every move and be a complete Christmas tattle tale. Elvis named him…don’t ask. It’s also the first day we get to dig into the Advent calendar and fight over who gets the daily chocolate. Very religious I know. So how the heck do you celebrate a first birthday with a creature like Blu? Well, her favorite things are food, baths, and balloons. I wish all the birthdays of the future were this simple and easy to please. For risk of sounding trite, where does the year go? How do they grow SO fast? This time around I wasn’t in such a “first baby cloud of confusion” and truly did cherish and treasure every moment. I also want to mention how photography has truly allowed me to capture the little everyday events in our lives that many may consider trivial. We have a canvas sign up in our house that reads, “Enjoy the little things, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” The actual author of this quote has been debated but no matter who it is, I wholeheartedly agree.

Favorite activity #1…eating. I let her help me make her birthday cupcakes.

Baxo honored the exact time of her birth one year ago. 11:41 a.m. One of the two best minutes in all of my life.
Favorite activity #2…bath time!
I think this may be one of my favorite pictures of my babies taken thus far.
Or maybe this one. I don’t even care that it’s awkardly tilted or that I chopped E’s fingers or that he has to wear a privacy patch.
Favorite activity #3…balloons! She’s a tad excited. I didn’t actually achieve the look I was going for. Next time, twice the amount.

Love her!

Chunka chunka burnin’ love. She’s got her winter coat ready.
The only time back rolls are completely adorable.

Party time!

Happy first birthday baby Blu!

Posted in Clark Family Diaries, Let's Party! | 1 Comment »

Fall Family Selfies…

November 21st, 2011

I love fall. Everything about it. The crisp weather and the smell of the heater first being turned on after a long hiatus. Breaking out my winter coats and sipping pumpkin spiced lattes in my slippers. Colorful falling leaves and the glow of the holiday season illuminating new memories about to be made. Friends gather and cheer is shared in the forms of decadent food and a variety of mixed spirits. It is a season for random acts of kindness and giving. By far, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. Immediately following the New Year, I routinely fall into a post holiday depression knowing it will be an entire year before I can belt out holiday tunes while burning a plethora of pine and pumpkin scented candles and carrying out traditions with my children. I am a bonafide holiday loving freak.

Now that I am completely off task, what I came here to share today was an experience I had attempting to get fall photos of my family. I was getting insanely jealous of all the photos I’ve been taking for other families and kids and was desperate to get some of my own family…with ME in them. Being behind the camera all the time is awesome. Except for the fact that there are NO pictures of me with my own family. I really don’t want the kids to look at our family albums in the years to come and wonder “where was mom”? I know us mothers cringe at having photos taken of ourselves as we never feel we look quite as beautiful, skinny, young, yadda yadda yadda as we should. I gave up caring how imperfect I was long ago, but golly I want to be in some pictures with my husband and kids! As a photographer, I long for the days when I can fly to West Virginia and have someone like Lisa Lucky shoot my family photos, but for now, I relied on my self timer and tripod to try to catch some memories that included the 4 of us (sorry Dodger, maybe next time).

Herein lies some problems. My remote chose not to work consistently so I was stuck with having to set the self timer and RUN to meet the rest of the clan in the hopes that for 1/250th of a second we could all be “photographable”. That’s my new word. Setting the camera manually means that if I got all my settings perfect and miraculously made it to where my family was positioned, the image would be perfect. Click click yes! Ahhhh…..no. You can’t believe how fast a toddler can fly off the handle into meltdown mode or how quickly an 11 month old can rip her hat off her head revealing bed head pigtails or how my husband can move just a few inches throwing off the focus. Back to the tripod. Again and again. And again. I don’t care if my kids don’t look at the camera as long as I am capturing a memorable moment. What does bother me is when my toddler has rebelliously buried his face in his vest and looks like the headless horseman. To end my rambling, here’s what I got. Not near the vision I had in mind but with my precocious little ones…I know well enough to go with the flow and hope for miracles. If you are a mom with a camera and are never in any pics…go take some NOW! Set the timer and run! You’ll be glad you did. Happy holidays everyone!

My family- 2011

And for your viewing pleasure…some outtakes. Shot in RAW and completely unedited and out of focus so don’t judge.

Posted in Clark Family Diaries, Family Ties | 3 Comments »

Thank yous…

November 7th, 2011

Since it is the time of year for giving thanks, I though I’d dedicate this blog post to thanking all the people out there who have taken the time to recognize my work lately. This past month has been an exciting one for BluElla Photography as several of my images were recognized by various photography sites. Of course it feels great when clients and fans comment on your work, either via the net or in person, but there is a little something special when other photographers and photography sites take notice and proudly display and/or comment on your work. In photography, seeing, manipulating, and using light is the basis for creating the art that begins in your mind. Whether natural or artificial, knowing what light will do to your subject is imperative to enhance the visual point you are trying to convey. Photography has made me look at light in such a different perspective that it would be impossible to go back to the way I saw life before. I see it, dream it, envision it. It sometimes has me wanting to pull over on the side of a busy freeway and put my kids in a magical pocket of it (don’t worry, safety first…just sayin’). With that said, some of my images last month were recognized for their use of light and I must say, it feel pert-eee good to have masters of light pointing to my work. When it comes down to it, I use the word “photographer” as a general word for the person behind the camera but I strive to be for all intensive purposes, an artist first and a photographer second. Special thanks today to all of you who believe in my art, especially those who have sought me out to make some for you and your family.

The image below was featured on the Clickinmoms’ page and is one of my favorite pieces for many different reasons. The serenity and solitude portrayed in this image is a calming reminder to slow down and enjoy the little moments in between. I love how he is all but alone with the birds on a virtually “humanless” stretch of beach. If I were to give this one a title, I would call it “He Who Walks With Birds”. A full blog post from this day coming soon. Be sure to be on the lookout for the sequel to this image titled, “He Who Chases Birds and Honestly Thinks He Can Catch Them but Melts Down Because They are Too Fast”. A 24×36 canvas of this one is currently en route to my bare wall home and I couldn’t be more excited.

Processed with Clickinmoms’ Paparazzi Preset. Come check out their amazing presets here.

This image was featured on the Lemonade and Lenses page for their theme {sunflare}. Ahhh…who doesn’t love a heavy dose of hazy sunflare to make an image magical? With a gorgeous bride and a beautiful palomino horse (ok can’t forget the handsome groom dude too), this image was just beauty in itself. Add a little (ok, a lot) of that glowing ball of gas and a fairytale was created.

The image below was announced to be the winner of an Unconventional Light Contest through CM. They paired with the ever amazing and pocketbook sucking camera store Adorama for a wonderful prize and I was thrilled to be the lucky recipient. I will forever remember it as the first “award” I’ve ever received for photography. I quote “award” because I truly feel that I receive an award every time I give someone a beautiful image of themselves or their family. Making people happy with my art is truly the most amazing gift I’ve ever received and I hope to keep on giving the gift and receiving the “award” for many years to come.
A little about this image. When the contest was announced, the photo had to be taken within the time frame the contest ran. It could not be an old image which I personally appreciate as it gives the contestants something to focus on. This shot was not a “set up” but rather a lucky catch during just the right time of day. The light streaming in through the blinds and reflecting off the breakfast nook wall with parts of his backlit hair had me running for my camera. I liked him in the lower 3rd left corner of the frame as it gave the power of the light a chance to dominate the composition and provided just the right amount of depth. Thank you CM and Adorama for choosing my image!

Thank YOU all for your continued support on my journey…you keep me going and striving to become better.

Posted in Personal, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Color Cast Blast!

October 25th, 2011

Scenario:

Casual photo opp of your daughter with your good friend’s daughter locked in a moment you’ll never duplicate… well…because toddlers don’t take direction well and 10 month olds don’t take direction at all.

Problem:
Though there are limb chops and some blown areas of hair, I’m not concerned about that as I’d rather have this image of our two daughters showing some love with a missing part of her arm than no image at all. What does concern me is the color casts on both of them. They were sitting a few inches from a patch of grass illuminated in full sun. Full sun plus my mom’s emerald green grass equals weird skin color casts that drive me bonkers!

Original Image (SOOC…straight out of the camera). See how cute it is…no way I’m deleting this one!
Analysis of the image shows some yellow spots on parts of their faces and hair and a white balance issue. Never fear…color cast blaster is here!

Notice the yellow patches from the sun meets grass on the areas indicated by the arrows. There are other minor ones in this pic but I’m going to focus on the big daddies for now. I know that there are not yellow spots on my daughter’s ear, hair, and neck and I know that Molly’s hair is not neon yellow.
The first thing I did was adjust the white balance by using the dropper in ACR over a gray area of the concrete. There are many ways to fix color casts in a photo but I’m just going to briefly explain how I did it in this particular pic. In PS, I used the hue/saturation adjustment layer to reduce the yellows and invert the layer while painting back the adjustment layer with varying opacity until it looked better. This greatly helped reduce the casts and made the photo a whole lot more realistic looking.

Adjusting the white balance and reducing the color casts were the main issues I wanted to fix in this casual, personal shot. Additionally I bumped the midtones in levels a tad and did a slight curves bump to add a bit more depth. Skin looks normal now as does their natural hair color. We’ll save the neon yellow hair for Halloween here folks.
So here it is…less than 2 minutes from an “ok” photo to a keeper! Color cast blast signing off…

Posted in Before and After | No Comments »