This seems to be the summer where my photography has really “taken off” – I shot almost the same number of weddings this year as I have in the past 5 years!  Wow!  I never thought that I would be this busy with photography, but I’m loving every minute.

The whole point of this blog – to thank all of you who have stuck behind me as cheerleaders, giving this amateur a chance to grow into a part-time professional.  My business is entirely based on referrals – thank you for recommending me to your friends and family.  You are all amazing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

First of all, there’s no more film to change.  I can shoot over and over again without having to worry about having enough film with me to capture everything.  Without 24 precious exposures to worry about wasting, I can click the shutter to my heart’s content, confident that I can take 10 pictures to get that perfect shot.  A photographer once warned me to still take the care to work towards the perfect photo rather than 10 less-than-perfect shots.  Amazingly enough, I find myself still taking the time to evaluate everything in the frame before I shoot – much like I did with film.

Secondly, and this is the big one – instant viewing.  I can catch it instantly if someone’s eyes are closed or if something just isn’t lined up correctly, and I can fix it right then and there.  I went home from the wedding on Saturday night, not wondering in agony if the shots looked good, because I already knew that they were awesome!

I walked away from the wedding feeling confident and fulfilled.  I was reminded why I love being a photographer.  For the amount of stress that I build up on my shoulders in the few days and hours leading up to the event, it’s all worth it when I see the finished product.  This is my best wedding shoot, by far, and I think it’s all because of the new digital medium – and investment well worth it.

On a side note, I was looking through albums of my previous wedding shoots, and I realized that this past Saturday, June 2, 2007 (my first digital wedding shoot) was the 6th anniversary of my very first wedding shoot.  What a great way to celebrate!

Some of the photos from this most recent wedding should be up on the site fairly soon, as soon and I get done with the editing phase

I have been having lots of fun experimenting with my new digital camera, and I love it!  I just posted some new pictures in my portfolio from my first outing with the camera.

In an effort to make the portfolio easier to view when I add new projects, I’ve created a new main album called “Fresh off the Film”.  When I post new pictures, I’ll place them in this album first, so the new stuff is easily accessible without having to sift through all the albums.  I hope this makes it more user-friendly.

Enjoy!

The main and obvious difference is that this camera is digital – an important step for my photography.  I have always been somewhat ‘old school’ when it comes to photography.  I LOVE my film cameras and I always will, but I knew that for my photography to progress, I needed to go digital.  By being able to shoot 400+ shots in a single day, I’ll be able to deliver a better finished product.

There are many other differences and new features that I’ll be exploring in the coming weeks, and I am excited to take my photography to a new and deeper level.

By the way, be sure when you’re looking through the photos, to look through all the pages in an album.  In many of them there are multiple albums.  Enjoy!

On another note, I have a little equipment update.  I am hoping, within the next four months or so, to be advancing to a digital SLR (single lens reflex – the opposite of a point-and-shoot) camera.  I’ll still use my film camera a lot, because I tend to be ‘old school’ with that arena, but there are so many more things I can do with a digital format, including taking more shots which leads to a better final product.  I have waited quite a while for this because I told myself that I wasn’t going to just get any old digital camera, but one that will be an investment and produce superior results.  I am so excited that I can hardly stand it!

Thanks for visiting!