Yesterday a client and I were talking about style. Photographic styles have changed so much in the last few decades, that everyone seems to have a different expectation of what a successful picture will look like. Often, within the same family, one person will want a formal shot, others envision something candid.

It's such a personal thing. Some of my favorite photos from my childhood are the least scripted ones. I guess that's why I shoot the way I do. When I look at a photo, I want to feel what it was like in the moment, rather than just see it .Yet, often in the more candid moments, we don't look our best (or maybe we do, but someone doesn't!).

And now there is this trend of styling shoots, which has updated the classic studio shot to something more unique and artistic. Yet your baby never actually spent time in a pumpkin, now did they (not knockin' the brilliant Anne Geddes, but, you know)? All I know is that I am so happy to be a part of this vibrant, evolving world of creating personal art for the everyday. It's a great gig. I kind of can't believe that I get to spend my days thinking about these things. Great gig, indeed.

So, what's your favorite type of image? Is it in a studio, with everyone looking at the camera and perfectly posed? Is it laughing in a park, or on your couch, capturing an everyday moment with your family?

How i Got the Following Photos

Placed subjects in the right spot and light and let them do their thing. In fact, I think Rachel was holding her infant Helene in this spot first, while Rowan was off collecting flowers. The baby started crying, so Russ took her out of the shot, and Rowan brought his mom a little yellow bloom. 

Placed subjects in the right spot to take advantage of that gorgeous rim light, and put Danielle up on a few steps, since Peter is 6'4". Let them do their thing. 

Same steps, seated, facing the other direction for more fill on their faces, posed. 

Posed. I don't know, doesn't every baby look adorable in a basket? 

Posed little Catherine.

Posed. 

Certainly not posed. Little Ella Rose giving the stare-down to Jen :) She was a little sleepy this day.

 Not posed. John actually holds his daughters this way...in the most perfect "Dad" grip....and Catherine actually had her hands like that. 

Put Sam in the spot that I wanted, and she struck her lovely look all on her own. 

 A little happier Ella Rose. 

 Posed on a white backdrop. 

Posed. For three frames. Then the twins were off and running for the rest of the shoot! 

This is a really bad scan of my one of my favorite wedding photos from my wedding (see, this was way back when before digital). Eleven years ago, Juan and I married on Canandaguia Lake, NY in a small afternoon celebration.

I am looking out of the window at Juan and his brother, standing along the lake edge, waiting for the guests to be seated. 

I remember looking out of the window, and feeling that gorgeous window light streaming in. I knew would love this shot, so just sort of waited there for way longer than what would be considered a normal glance out the window :), until my photographer saw it too and took this picture.

As I've been teaching these photo classes over the last few weeks, I've begun to remember how powerful just basic light sources are. Just a simple window can tell the entire story when it's used right.

more soon - svg

I was just working with a client, finishing up a shoot of her 8 month old, the last of her six children. She said to me "I had no idea you couldn't print photos taken on a Smartphone!" She had been documenting her baby's first year with her phone camera, with an assumption that you can print the images to be high quality, frameable pieces. She was so devastated to realize that upon printing, she had almost nothing useable from the previous year. Have you ever done this?

When I got my first phone, I did the same thing. Taking photos of camping trips, friends hanging out, casual experiences, it seemed as if the quality was passable. Once on my computer, however, it was obvious that most were out of focus (due to camera movement, that little thing is hard to keep steady, especially when handed off to a stranger to take the picture!). The low light resolution is terrible, and dynamic range limited.

The quality difference came into clear focus once again (pun intended) yesterday, when my husband and I were at the White House for a fourth of July celebration.

Here's an image taken with the iPhone:

And the same image taken two minutes later (with hat and sunglasses on), in the same location, with my SLR. Not a great image (it could use a little fill flash, yes?), but still leagues above the iPhone image.

The best camera is the one you're willing to carry with you, and sometimes, that's the one in your pocket. But if you're willing to invest a little into a good point and shoot, or a consumer-level single lens reflex (SLR), you'll be able to build a collection of photos of your family and friends that can last a lifetime.

If you have questions on camera selection and use, sign up for my summer photo classes (only 4 spots remain): http://staceyvaethphotography.blogspot.com/2012/06/its-not-about-gear-photo-classes-just.html

For those of you who have been to my shared studio space in Mt. Pleasant, DC, you know that I do wall art for Past Tense Yoga Studio. Every year, I create a new exhibit, and we auction off the previous year's work and donate the proceeds.

This year, I wanted to create something a bit more abstract, to reflect my personal style and love of color, as well as to create images that you can really meditate on while practicing yoga. The first year I did images of the west coast from my travels, the second year, I created a water theme from images from around the world, and this last year were simple flowers and shapes from the garden.

Here's my favorite image from the incoming collection. The exhibit will be up next Friday, the auction from the outgoing collection is going on now. Stop by Past Tense Yoga Studio (3253 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC 20010) to put in your bid if any caught your eye.

These pieces are always for sale, at any time of the year, as well. Just give a shout for more information.

It’s Not About the Gear Photography Classes

10am – 12pm

July 28, August 4, August 11

I get one question more than any other:

Q. What camera should I buy to take good pictures?

A. It's not about the camera. Not to say that a high quality camera and lens selection aren't important. Of course they are. But the fundamentals of photography are housed in the ever-expanding instincts and knowledge of the photographer. Buying the $7,979.99 bike that Lance Armstrong rode to win the Tour de France may make riding a little easier, but I ain't winning the Tour on it.

Join us for a summertime photo class series to learn how to use the camera that you do have to its fullest capacity. The foundation topics we’ll cover can apply to shooting people, landscapes, abstracts or anything else you can dream up.

Part 1: Settings. A focus on moving your camera from program settings to all manual. We’ll discuss camera settings and answer all of your questions. We’ll view some successful and not-so-successful images to illustrate the impact of making different setting choices.

Part 2: Composition. Have you ever taken a picture of something gorgeous and inspirational; only to view it later and say “it looked so much better in person?” The compositional choices you make as a photographer determine the visual impact of the final product. Learn to compose your images to create the image you intended.

Part lecture/part shooting.

Part 3: Lighting.  In this class, we’ll discuss natural light techniques and put them into practice on location. Minimal lecture, mainly shooting.

A digital SLR is recommended, but not required for this series. Please bring all lenses that you have, a digital memory card, and a charged battery.

Stacey will roam throughout the group during the workshops to view your images as you shoot, and answer your questions.

This series is intended for the novice to intermediate photographer.

$60/per class or $150 for the full series.

To register, email: info (@) staceyvaeth.com with which date/s you will attend. You will receive a Paypal invoice for your session fee.

I'm not exactly sure what I did in a past life to be so blessed as to have this creative gift.

When I first contemplated moving from an office job to an interactive, creative, physical job, I had rewire my brain. There were a lot of "truths" that I had never challenged, because, well, they were true to me.

These were those things:
1. Career success = sitting behind a computer from 9 - 5 (at least).
2. Ultimate career success = managing a team of people.
3. Making a living from an enjoyable and creative endeavor = eternal poverty and struggle.
4. Working on your feet or with your hands isn't real work.
5. If you were meant to be an artist, someone would notice your gifts and tell you so.
6. If it comes easily to you, it's a hobby, not a job.
7. Work is not fun.

I read a book called the Four Hour Workweek (highly recommended - terrible title, great lessons), and while I currently work the Forty-Eight Hour Workweek, one thing the author said sticks with me: The worst job is one that is just tolerable. If you hate your job, you're motivated to change. If you're happy with your job, you're in a good place. If your job is just tolerable, you'll marinate there forever, without the fire beneath you to go out and find what really fills you.

Before starting Stacey Vaeth Photography, I was in the wrong field. I was in many perfect jobs, for someone else. In most of my jobs, there came a time of working there wherein the clock ticked by, minute by minute. I waited till the end of the day, dreaming for my life to begin when I got home. Envisioning the run I would go for, the painting I would paint, the garden I would plant.

I would get home, exhausted, and turn on the TV and turn out the creative light within. And wake up the next morning and do it all again.

Inner searching on my own and with friends, I began to redefine my "truths". This is what I came up with:

1. The happiest I had ever been at work included: working on a farm; stocking the shelves at a grocery store; being a plant lady (watering plants around town); and being a Peace Corps volunteer. In other words, physical jobs that kept me on my toes. Physical work is where it's at, for me.
2. There's a lot of talent in the world. You have to be your own advocate.
3. You'll always be better than some and worse than others. You will not arrive on the creative scene with it all figured out. Do it anyway, despite possible humiliation.
4. People want you to be happy and to succeed.
5. Work is where we spend the majority of our waking hours. Until we figure out how to have the four-hour workweek, those hours should not only be fun, but should be fulfilling.
And the big one:
6. God doesn't give gifts away easily. We're each here with something to share with the world around us.

I was doing the job that paralleled my idea of what success was. I was doing the job that my peers were doing. My gift from God of creativity seemed too fun, to easy. By doing a creative job, I would be selfish and lazy. This sounds harsh now, but this was what I thought. When I finally understood that by NOT doing what I was given as a gift, I was doing wrong. I was denying myself and those around me of something that could have been.

So that's where this company and my current life began. Every day that I get to make new friends, capture true emotions and important moments and share those with others. What a blessing. Now, back to work behind my computer :)

Some pretty pictures from this weekends' mini sessions to reward you for reading this far.

I get two questions a lot:
1. What camera should I buy to take good pictures?
2. You mean to tell me you don't bring your camera on vacation?!

In answer to number one, it's not about the camera. Not to say that a high quality camera and lens selection aren't important. Of course they are. But the fundamentals of photography are housed in the ever expanding instincts and knowledge of the photographer. Buying the $7,979.99 bike that Lance Armstrong rode to win the Tour de France may make riding a little easier, but I ain't winning the Tour on it. One of my photography teachers here in DC, Zaid Hamid, at the time used just a 50mm lens and a camera about three iterations older than mine. And mine was the least sophisticated of everyone's. And he could still shoot circles around all of us.

The best camera is the one you're willing to carry with you. The heavy Nikon D3 with a 400mm lens ain't gonna take very good pictures on my vacation because it's sitting in the closet at home. Shlepping a monster like that through the airport as my carry-on and treating it with the love and attention of a newborn baby is not my idea of kicking off a relaxing week away.

Which brings me to question number two. There are instances when I bring my camera body and a few select lenses on vacation. Back in a 2010 trip to Europe, I brought my camera body, an 85mm 1.8 lens for portraits and street scenes, and a 14 - 24mm 2.8 lens for landscapes. I thought about what types of images I wanted to take from that trip, and packed the bag accordingly.

But sometimes, I just want to sit on a beach chair and read from my Kindle. I don't want to think about getting up at 5am for the best light, or missing dinner for the perfect twilight shot. So on these types of vacations, the only camera I am willing to bring with me is my iPhone. Which I did on last weeks' trip to Antigua, West Indies.

Where, ironically, it was 15 degrees cooler than here in DC.

more soon,
svg

Last week, I had the pleasure of working with my glassblowing partner, Kri, and a number of her friends on an experimental photo shoot. I was playing with some new gear and some new shots, and they offered to be our models. Many, many thanks to: Kaarin Moore, owner of Closet Caucus for her wardrobe styling, Irina Gerasimova for makeup, and DC Glassworks for donating the space.

Thanks also to Kaarin for this video of the making of the above image.
More from the shoot coming soon!
-sv

Stacey Vaeth Photography 3/13/11 Video 1
from Kaarin Moore on Vimeo.

The Washington City Paper has added Best Photography Services to their annual reader poll!

Vote for all your favorite businesses this year!

 

Vote Stacey Vaeth Photography for Best Photography Services - Best of D.C. 2011

You may also vote in as many categories as you like.

Stacey Vaeth Photography Turns Three!

When I conceived of this business idea in 2007, it felt like the most far-away, impossible dream ever. But once I committed myself to making a go of it, it seemed like the world aligned to support me in making the idea a reality. Thanks to each and every one of you who have encouraged me along the way. And to my clients, you're not only what keeps me going, you're who keep me inspired. I've loved working with each and every one of you and look forward to working together for years to come.

Here's to a great 2011!

Last week was Stacey Vaeth Photography Retro Week, or so it seemed around here. All of the clients that came behind my lens last week had been there at least once before, for some, it was their fourth time around.


For all of you thinking about doing the October 29th or 30th mini sessions at the studio, here's a sneak peek of what you can expect! We just did our first fall mini sessions on September 11th, and what a joy!

Lots of fun expressions, animal crackers and laughter, as usual. Hope you can join us - register today!

 

Hi all,
If you are a client of Stacey Vaeth Photography, keep reading, because there are a lot of new announcements at the end of this post. If you're just here for the pretty pictures, here are a few favorites from this week. Both of these clients returned this year with their first or second child. It's always so fun for me to see how kids and families grow over the years. To play a role in capturing family memories is an endless honor.

Okay - on to the announcments! We're at the beginning stages of rolling out our new product lines and offerings...and first up:

1. Print on Metallic and True Black and White paper, or add White Borders. Metallic paper is a silvery, shiny paper that really lets colors pop! Not recommended for images with a lot of white.

2. To view your images in Black and White, choose this option and the image will be converted for proofing purposes. 

3. Print your wall art (8x10 and up) as Premium Prints. When printing this large, you'll really notice the additional love and care added to your prints. In addition to printing the image with the finish that will suit it best, we'll also add in all retouching and artistic finishes to take your image from Great! to OHHH WOW!

4. Fees. We're now being charged a hefty fee to store our images online. Subsequently,  your images will be online until their expiration date, and a fee of $40/month will be assessed for each extension requested. If your gallery expires and you still want to order prints, just set up an image consultation with us to order your images. If your gallery has already expired from a session prior to this change, you will receive one extension free of charge.

5. Holiday Cards and Sessions: Book now. We're getting full for the fall! 202.276.2481

6. Vacation - We're resting up for the busy fall season, and spending a much needed week in the mountains. We'll have a skeleton crew from August 25 - September 6th. If you need print orders fulfilled prior to September 15th, please order before August 24th. Appointments should be made before August 25th. Appointment requests received while our offices are closed will be booked in the order that they are received.

That's it for now, more soon!
-Stacey