Headed Down County Road 101

I spent all day charging my batteries, cleaning my lenses and trying to get into the sounds of County Road 101 by listening to all of their songs on their website. My cousin, Dwayne Holt, is the bassist and I wanted to make him proud and take the best photographs I could of them playing in the Silver Spur Club at the Pasadena Rodeo. I knew they had a pretty good following and recently won Fan Favorite at a local Battle of the Bands Show.  These pictures had to come out perfect!

As we drove south in the middle of rush hour traffic I was getting more nervous as the minutes passed. What if they hate the pictures? What if my lenses aren’t good enough, what if I am not good enough? UGH! I was giving myself a headache. My husband did what any husband would do. He reached over and turned on the radio to drown out my pity party. At least that did take my mind of the nerves a bit. He patted my leg and told me that everything would be fine. Like always, I just really wanted these pictures to be fantastic. 

For you photographers that want to know what was in my bag that night, I had my Canon 5D Mark II, the extra battery pack with the two Canon batteries, my flash (just as a back up), my Canon EF 50mm 1.4 and my Canon EF 24 – 105mm 4.0 L IS. Now why didn’t I have a 70 – 300mm 0r a 70 – 200mm. Well that is simple….I am broke and can’t afford to even rent one.  So, I took what I had and was going to make the best of it. By the way ladies, all of this fit into my teal hobo Kelly Moore bag. LOVE that purse/camera bag. I was able to fit my keys, inhaler, eye drops, paid meds (because my right eye is still jacked up), ID, phone and makeup. It is a fantastic bag!

So, when I got there I was introduced to the rest of the band and they are super sweet guys and a pretty good looking group. They are all married with families but hey nothing is wrong with a little eye candy right!? They began to set up and I started to get a feel for what lens I was going to use. The place was pretty dark and my 4.0 wasn’t cutting it. Thank God my Canon has a good wide range of ISO so I could crank it up without a lot of noise showing in the pictures. I mainly used my 50mm 1.4 since I could open it up more without using the flash. I had to get clever for the 4.0 to get the close up shots. I had to take the pictures when their yellow and orange lights would flash. That is the only time I had enough light to use that lens. But hey, it got the pictures that I needed. 

So all in all it was a great night of good music, good food and good company. I hope you guys enjoy these shots. I love photographing bands. I have now added into my budget enough money to rent my 70 – 300 and I plan on being able to buy it in about a year. I refuse to buy anything on a credit card so I am saving up for it. 

To see the full gallery click here:

 XOXO

Kimberlee Peterson

CEO/ Emotional Accord Photography

Why I shoot in Raw and not RAW

I have been taking a Creative Live Photoshop Class with Lesa Snider dealing with Photoshop CS5. However, in doing so she made some valid points on the Raw vs. JPEG controversy we see. First let me say I love how she finally set the record straight that Raw is NOT an acronym it is just a word i.e. a Raw image. So I will refrain from yelling RAW at everyone and sounding like I am growling at them! 

 

Lesa made some great analogies when comparing JPEG and Raw to baked goods. She said, and I am paraphrasing here, that JPEG’s are like the already baked cookies. You can’t do much to add to it or change the cookie itself. You can frost it or put sprinkles on it but you are limited on what you can do. Meaning when you shot JPEG the camera is already doing some in camera correcting (or what it thinks is correcting) for you. It is probably changing the vibrance and doing some color correcting. So, once you pull this up in PS you can adjust the settings but you do not have full control since the camera has pretty much done corrections for you. Going back and trying to change the picture with all of the settings pretty much means you need to scrap that cookie and start again. 

 

I am a HUGE control freak…yes me..I see all of you out there smirking at me like this is no surprise lol. I can’t help it, I see how I want an image to be and I like to make that image come to life in PS. So bringing up Lesa’s analogy again, she said that shooting in Raw …not RAW… is like having the raw ingredients to make your batch of cookies. So now there are multiple possibilities to changing the batch of cookies. You can make it with real butter or that light stuff, or you can add nuts or pull the nuts out or add chocolate chips…yummmm chocolate…okay sorry back to where we were.  So even though when you upload your Raw photos they may look dull and lack that luster you wanted you can quickly bring it back to life the way you want it in PS.

I did recently accidentally photograph a session in JPEG and I did notice a huge difference. Thank God my lighting was pretty accurate and I didn’t have to do much to the pictures but it could have made me a very unhappy person. 

So the moral of the story is if you want that complete control over your images Raw is for you. If you think your camera has it down, then JPEG is for you. I will also add that shooting Raw will allow you to photograph in high resolution maintain the integrity and the quality of your original picture.

On a side note to the side note: Always save a PSD of your file before converting it back to a JPEG. This goes for if you photograph in Raw or JPEG. Having a PSD will give you a back up to the Raw file that maintains the original quality of the picture. So if you need to go back and change anything you can see your full menu in PS and change what you need to. I also think that you should keep a recipe on each photo you do. If you ever want to go back to that photo and know what you did, step by step, to get there it is all written or typed out for you. 

Okay so my eye is getting better and better and should be back to its old self very soon. Thank you for all of the concerns. I love my clients!

XOXO

Kimberlee Peterson

The Romantic Comedy Photographer

www.emotionalaccord.com

Fall Line Up and I Shot My Eye Out…

Okay I really didn’t shoot my eye out. It is more like my daughter took the eraser end of a dry erase marker and erased the top layer of my eye. I was diagnosed with corneal abrasion. This happened at Evie’s first birthday party that she has been invited to. Craig thought it was so adorable that she was acting like the marker was her magic wand. Let’s forget the fact that Evie has no clue what a magic wand is and the fact I had already asked him to kindly take the marker away before she poked her eye out. I decided in the sprit of the party to not be THAT MOM that is constantly chasing after her husband and her child. So once the ER doctor gave me some numbing drops to take my mind off of the pain and back onto what just happened. I decided I will always be THAT MOM chasing around her husband and her daughter making sure they both stay out of trouble and from harming anyone else.  One of my clients’s had a similar horrifying story and told me a piece of great advice. She said, “Daddies are the reason that babies have Mommies”! Hilarious but SO TRUE!

Yesterday, I had a follow-up visit with my regular ophthalmologist to make sure I didn’t have to wear a patch. Did I mention that they day I went to see him was Talk Like a Pirate Day! The irony was all so surreal to me. The doctor came in read the story that the medical assistant had already typed out into his system and turned to me and asked, “So what eye did this happen to”? My response, “Not my shooting eye, Thank God”. He looked at me very puzzled and confused. I never got around to explaining that I take pictures with my left eye and it is my right eye that was injured. However, I did get the best care in the quickest time ever! So basically my eye is fine and starting to heal already. He gave me some gel eye drops to help keep my eye moist to prevent further damage. I was home in time to start watching the Fall line up.

Usually I am a little let down by the new shows that have been coming out, but this season is different. I have The Playboy Club, Pan Am, Up All Night and so much more. I am looking forward to watching all of these new shows and gaining some inspiration for my pictures from them. 

So I am off to watch the New Glee and to drink my glass of wine. Have a great night Y’all!

XOXO

Big Announcement and Little Miss “R”

I have been meaning to write this blog for a week but these wild fires are keeping us all on our toes. I am sandwiched in between two major fires. I am lucky that I am twenty miles away from both. Please keep all of the families that have lost their homes in your prayers. This community has really pulled together to help each other out and I have no doubt this will continue in the weeks to come. 

For the big announcement, I have been thinking about my business and how chaotic everything has been. I really would rather slow down and take my time with each session. So, I am now only doing maternity to one year old pictures as well as doing engagement, bridal and weddings. These are the two categories I am most passionate about. I will book one session a week so that I can take my time with each client during the session and post production as well. In a few months we will be revamping the entire website bringing my clients a more clean and classic style.  I appreciate all of my clients, friends and family for sticking by my side as I live out my dreams. 

To end on an even happier note, here are a few pictures of Little Miss “R” from this past weekend. Her clavicle was broken so I kept her on her back and swaddled. Once she was sound asleep and wasn’t moving around as much, I was able to capture some of her without the swaddle. Even though she must have been in some pain she didn’t show once sign of it. She was a sweetheart to work with and had the most adorable pouty face I have ever seen. Her big sister, who is two years old, was so proud to show her off and made sure I was not going to hurt her baby sister. I hope everyone enjoys these pictures as much as I do.

Have a great night

Kimberlee Peterson

CEO Emotional Accord Photography

Never Leave Home Without It

No silly not your camera, but that is a given. NEVER leave home without your camera. Act like that camera is your right hand. However, this time I am talking about your business cards. I will be the first to admit I hate walking up to people and saying something like, “I am a local photographer in the area. If you are anyone you know is looking for a portrait session, please keep me in mind”. It sounds corny and they always look at you like OH NO what is this person trying to sell me on. On top of that, what if they say the dreaded, “No thank you” and totally reject me.  Well here is where I tell you that we need to put on our big girl or big boy panties.

Part of the business is being rejected. Let’s face it, not EVERYONE is going to like our style of photography or editing. That is okay though because there are plenty of people that will like our style. We just have to find them. Plus if they hear a friend is looking for a photographer, they already have your card and will hopefully hand it off. It has taken me MONTHS , yes months, to get the courage to say that simple sentence and hand out my cards. However, I have been selling lots of baby items on Craig’s List and every time someone comes to look or buy an item, I hand my card out to them. I show them my pictures of my daughter proudly posted on my wall and 100% of the people that have seen her pictures say they love them. They could just be saying it to be nice, but I don’t think so.  That brings me to another point, if you aren’t proud of your photography, how can you expect anyone else to be. Post your pictures on your walls, desktops and walls of phones and ipads.  This is a great conversation starter. 

So where do I get my cards? Look I am broke B-R-O-K-E. So I am on a budget for my business. I refuse to put my business in debt so I only order with the money I have in my account. The only place I have bought my cards from is vistaprints. They usually have specials and I can design it and get them pretty fast.  I order 250 and I try to give all of those away in 2 to three months. Now don’t go wasting them just to get rid of them. Put them to good use. Give them to your hair dresser to pass out, nail salon, friends, family and yes I even hand my card to the check out guys and girls because a lot of them are Seniors in high school. It is like passing out flyers. Not everyone is going to call you but eventually you will get someone that bites. When they do and when they fall in love with your photography they will tell their friends and family. When it comes down to it, the business cards are just getting your foot in the door. Your pictures will be your best advertisement and bring in the most customers. 

If you have any funny rejection or embarrassing stories, please post them below. It happens to everyone and once you get through one of those nothing seems to bother you. Like when I gave my card away to another photographer lol. But hey, we are good friends now and share ideas for our businesses. 

Home Sweet Home

I know as soon as I have people come over, rather it is friends or family, they always want to see the room we live in. Just a brief recap for the people reading the blog for the first time. My daughter has Sandifer’s Syndrome, which means her reflux is so bad she has body spasms from it. They almost look like small seizures and are often misdiagnosed. If you want to see what they look like click here and you can see my daughter having a few in the ER. Anyways, it took over a year to diagnose it, going through a variety of testing. She is doing much better now and has almost outgrown it. However, the medical bills were piling up and I had to quit my full time job to stay at home with her.  So, we rented out our home…our first home that we had only been in two years and moved in with my mom. Now I am very happy my mom allowed us to do this. This meant I could continue to stay at home with my daughter, have a roof over our heads and get caught up on all of those bills. We are actually doing the Dave Ramsey FinancialFreedom at home course and that is helping a lot. Since both of my little brothers still live at home as well, my husband and I converted the garage into a small loft. It has a sink, a closet, a door and a window. We put A/C in there and made sure to weather proof the floor. I think by 2013 we should be back in our home and this will become my new studio. Her medical bills started at $60,000 and that is with insurance. We also got behind on a few other things because if you don’t pay those doctors they can refuse to see you.  I was going through pictures and found a few of when the construction first started and the finished product. In the pictures my daughter was only six months old and she is now fourteen months old. So, welcome to my home!

When to just set it on Program and let the camera work for you

Sorry I have been MIA lately. My father passed away August 27, 2011 from cancer. I had to take a leave of absence from school with no penalties.  My father served in the ARMY from 1967 to 1969. He was in Vietnam at the age of 18 – 19. He was in the fourth infantry division and also was a tanker. I knew his wish was to have a full military service.

When we got to the Houston National VA Cemetery I was surrounded by family that I haven’t seen since I was a little girl. My father left when I was three and had been in and out of my life since. He was there for major events like graduation from high school and my wedding, but I never received calls on birthdays or holidays. He had a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome which affected his entire life after the war. When 10:00 am approached we all got into our cars and had a funeral procession to where they would hold his service. It seemed to take forever and fly by at the same time. I kept looking at the casket in a little bit of shock that my father was in there. I was waiting for him to open it up and climb out and say, “Gotcha”. Of course that never happened. While listening to the minister talk about my father I would have brief flash backs of fishing with my dad, remembering the day he left, remembering him walk me down the aisle and all of the funny stories he would tell me as a child. I was in no condition to shoot pictures this day so this left my husband to do this daunting task for me. I typically could tell him about where to set the camera manually, but today I was just not in the right frame of mind. So, I set it to P or Program and let him do his thing. 

This made me think about other times I do use P or Program to snap some pictures.  If I am doing an actual paid shot I always shoot in Manual. However, I usually keep my camera sitting out on my table set to P. Why, because I have a toddler that refuses to sit still for a second. So putting my camera to P allows me to capture those brief moments without fiddling with the settings. If I took the time to do that, I would have lost that moment.  At my father’s funeral, I wasn’t thinking straight and didn’t want to risk losing the shot because my mind wasn’t focused. So, set it to P and make sure I can capture the day. Of course setting the camera to an automated setting will not turn out as well as manual, but I can fix some of those things in PS later. For instance, the images were way too cool so I just warmed them up with the Florabella actions. I also used the sharpen and defog action from Florabella. Other than that, I increased the blacks and lifted the midtones in a few pictures. I typically don’t use color fill on b/w pictures but there was one I thought made a statement that I posted below. 

Basically, if you are ever in the position where setting your camera to manual will cause you to lose your shot, just set it to P and roll with it.  There are a lot of photographers that won’t agree with this, but I got my shot and you be the judge of how they came out.

I want to add that my hubby is in no way a professional photographer. I am very happy with the pictures he took of this day for me. Thank you Pumpkin xoxo.