Contest for a free session!! ~ Ottawa Family Photography

Ok, so we all know the havoc that they Icelandic volcano is causing all over the world. I'm really glad I'm not trying to get to or from England right now, as I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be for people!! But, a volcano can result in some amazing images. One of the sites I love to surf is this one from the Boston Globe: the Big Picture. Each day features a major news story and tells it through some pretty amazing photographs!

I was taking a look at it today, and thought if anyone out there can call me and properly pronounce the name of the town mentioned in image #4, and I quote:

“A car is seen driving near Kirkjubaejarklaustur, Iceland, through the ash from the volcano eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier on Thursday April 15, 2010.”

They will win a free family session and digital images. Honestly. Free session and digital images. And, yes, I know 'exactly' how it should be pronounced so just try me... :)

Reminder of my Spring Special ~ Ottawa Family, Newborn and Baby Photography

There are only 17 Days left for my spring special!! 15% off everything at Christine Denis Photography and add an additional 10% if you join me on my Facebook Page or Twitter!! You can use this opportunity to book a session for a later date, and if you book by th 30th of April, the discount will still apply when you purchase your prints after your session, no matter when you have it!! E-mail me for more info: info [at] christinedenis.com

Christine Denis Photography Facebook

www.twitter.com/ChristineDenis

Temporarily Off-line

So if you've noticed a short absence in my blogging lately, it's because my computer's hard drive crashed on me, and what I mean by crash I mean totally died!! I'm not sure why this happened, I guess it had had enough and decided to just quit! So I'm waiting for a new computer to come, one that have a new hard drive, faster and more processing speed, which will be nice for working faster and more efficiently!

So in the mean time, I'm shooting and having to download my images at my parents place, I'm so thankful they are so close and willing to help!! And hopefully I will be back to posting pictures sooner than later!!

I think I'll now prepare a post about backing up data and the importance of it!! ;)

Great Canadian Photographer #3 ~ Christine Melenhorst

I'm so happy to present to you my March Great Canadian Photographer: Christine Melenhorst, the founder and owner of Love Bunny Photography right here in Ottawa! Not only is Christine an accomplished photographer of weddings, maternity, babies and families, she is an amazing knitter of the cutest baby hats you have ever seen, check out her store here! Now, I proudly introduce to you, Christine!

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? Where do you live?

I am originally from Ottawa, but I lived in Victoria, B.C for a couple of years during high school. Currently I live in Metcalfe - south of Ottawa.

How long have you owned an operated Love Bunny Photography? And how did it all begin?

I am going into my fourth year of business. I started LOVE BUNNY Photography while I was still working full-time for a local home builder. I have an eclectic education background which includes interior design, and I have found that both photography and design have many elements in common, so it was an easy transition. Also, after I had my first son, I wanted to capture every moment, so my love for photography became more dominant!

Who has been your biggest influence in your photography?

My biggest influence in photography has been my grandfather. He passed away when I was 18, but left us with so many wonderful photographs. He was an avid amateur photographer and took some of the best photographs. I love sitting and looking through the albums of photographs and the moments he took the time to capture.

How do you describe your style?

My style is just that - my style! I feel like there are so many overused words to describe peoples photographic styles. I donʼt feel my work is so unique compared to others, but I think itʼs me and my personality that makes the difference. I just love what I do, and I hope that comes across in my work.

Do you have a studio? Do you every work with strobes?

I donʼt have a studio and choose not to work with strobes or studio lighting. All of my sessions are done on location using the available light. I do own an SB600 flash that I use for wedding work when the interior locations are dark.

What has been the best workshop, book, course you have ever taken, that you can say vastly improved you and got you where you are today?

I have taken few workshops, but I do own numerous photography books. Last summer I had the opportunity to attend the Red Leaf Workshop and it was wonderful. It can be re-energizing to sit with contemporaryʼs and hear their thoughts on photography. It helped me to see that there is no big “secret” to photography, itʼs about how we see situations and to capture them creatively.

When did you start kitting those beautiful and cute little baby hats?

The hats!! I actually started knitting to save myself a bit of money on props and to keep my hands busy at night so I wouldnʼt snack! Itʼs turned into a bit of a side business, but I really enjoy it.

Do you blog stalk? If so who is your favourite to read?

I am a blog stalker - I can admit it! I have tried to be selective about who I stalk, or else I could be on the computer all day. My current favorites are:

Carrie Sandoval - http://capturedbycarrie.com/blog/
Elizabeth Messinaʼs Kiss the Groom - http://www.kissthegroom.com/
Simply Bloom Photography - http://simplybloomphotography.com/blog/
Lori Dorman Photography - http://loridorman.com/blog/

What is in your camera bag? Nikon or Canon or other? Of what is in that bad, what is your favourite item?

I shoot with a Nikon D3 and love my prime lenses. I have the 50mm f1.4, 35mm f2, 105mm f2.8, 24-70mm f2.8, and 70-200 f2.8. Of all of them, I use the 50mm the most especially with the newborns, but I definitely love the 35mm when I am working with couples.

What is the most popular item you sell to your clients? What is your favourite item for yourself?

The most popular products I sell to my clients are prints and coffee table albums. The albums are a great way to showcase photos from both a, maternity session and newborn session, or to showcase a variety of photos from a family session. My favorite products are canvasʼs that I had done of my boys - the one indulgence Iʼve made for myself!

Are you married? Kids? Pets?

I am married to a wonderful man, that has supported my change in career, and also takes care of all of my business accounting! We have been married for 9 years and we have two boys, aged 4 and 6. Currently, we have 3 fish!

What is your ideal “date night”?

Date night - whatʼs that again?!! An ideal date night for me would be going to a great restaurant and being able to talk without being interrupted every two minutes!

If you had a free day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?

If I had a free day to do whatever I wanted, I would probably snuggle up with a good book and some good movies and just relax.

Are you working on a personal photography project right now? If so, what is it?

My personal photography project is just remembering to capture my own family! For the last two years, Iʼve been trying to have a family session of my own, but it just never happens! So hopefully this year weʼll be able to get it done!

What is your favourite drink? Food? Restaurant?

My favorite restaurant is Flying Piggyʼs on Bank St. I enjoy all food really - Iʼm not too picky! And and good glass of white wine is always nice.


And in closing, here are some of Christine's favourite images she wanted to share:

Thanks so much for the interview Christine! Happy knitting :)

For more on Love Bunny Photography visit:

Facebook Page
Love Bunny Blog
Love Bunny Photography Website

Pink and the will of a 2 year old Girl

My daughter is 2 1/2 and is fully into her "Pink" phase. Everything she wears has to be pink, and she has to put it on herself. So I let her dress herself, because I love to see how proud she is when she comes to show us her outfit. Backwards socks and underwear aside, she is pretty good at it. The other day we went for a little adventure - I was just checking out some locations for summer shoots and they were just exploring, and here she is in all her pink glory! (BTW - this is the Wakefield Bridge.)

Spring is in the air!!

Just a little something to brighten up your day!! (I know, I know - it's a fall blooming flower, but the colours are just so bright and fun I had to post!!)

My Baby Girl is Growing!!

Madison is already 6 months. Time if flying by and I can't see to keep up! She's growing out of her clothes, talking to me now in her little babbling way, smiling more and more and almost ready to sit on her own. I so wish I could stop time, but until I figure out how to do that, taking her picture is the best I can do!

Some Tips for Getting a Sharper Image ~ Ottawa Children Photographer

I love learning and I also love to teach people. I learned a lot about photography and Photoshop on my own, taking workshops, but mainly from seeing an image that inspired me and trying to figure out what technique was used to get it. Sun flairs, bokeh, back lighting, and sharp images are some of my favourite things about photos and I am constantly trying to master the techniques to capturing these things in my photography.

Before I go into my photography tip, if anyone ever has a question regarding anything, and you can ask them anonymously, visit me here on this cool question answer site:

http://www.formspring.me/christinedenis

First off, what is a sharp image? For me, being a children photographer, it's that image that has the eyes 100% in focus, even when you zoom in to 100% in Photoshop.

My baby looking less than impressed to model for me!!
Recipie: 50mm 1.4, ISO 200, 1/160th

Here is the "before shot", not the best image, but the eyes were in focus SOOC (straight out of camera) - which is the most important thing!

Can you "fix" it in Photoshop to make them sharper if you didn't get them sharp in camera, unfortunately NO!!

Is it hard to get perfectly sharp images? YES, it's the most difficult technique to master because there is a lot at play to affect the sharpness of your image. I can admit, that of the hundreds of images I take maybe 10% are in focus. I'm constantly trying to improve that percentage, but it's hard!!!

So what are the tips for getting a sharper image in camera? (note that doing all this is going to help you get a sharper image, do you HAVE to do them all - no, but it's fun to practice!!)

1. Focus on the eyes, specifically the iris of the eye - or at least the thing that is most important for you to have sharp!

2. Use a fixed lens. Fixed lenses are always going to be sharper than zoom lenses by nature.

3. You need good glass!! the higher quality glass the lens has will give you a sharper image, and will, of course, cost more!! Luminous-Landscape gives a good overview of the different types of lenses for Canon users.

4. Light - in order to get those sharp images, you need great catchlights in your subjects eyes, so position them properly to maximize the catchlights giving great depth and sharpness in the eyes.

5. Shoot at the "sweet spot" for your lens. Generally two stops up from the bottom. So for my 50mm 1.4, I always start shooting at 2.8 then move down from there. For zoom lenses it's a bit different, so experiment with where the sweet spot is on your lens. For my 24-70 mm 2.8L, I've found that I get the best results at 50mm 5.6.

6. Don't shoot wide open, anything below 1.8 makes it super hard to nail that focus. When I shoot at 1.4 to get that nice blurry background, often one eye is in focus and the other is not, that is how shallow the D.O.F is.

7. When shooting wide open, toggle your focus points as opposed to locking your focus and recomposing. Toogle to the focus point that falls right on the eye and shoot. Repositioning can cause a slight change in the distance between your subject and the camera, and will throw the locked in focus.

8. ISO matters. It's hard for us shooting up here in Canada, when we only have "good" natural light for maybe 3-4 hours in the day. And even still, I am often forced to bump my ISO up to 400, which causes noise in my Canon 50D (unacceptable noise in my books, but I'm not able to do #9 yet!!). You want to minimize the noise as much as possible, this means shooting as low as you can, meaning 100 ISO when you can.

9. Invest in a better camera. Higher quality cameras will give you higher quality images. Even when you've got everything above bang on, and you compared two images side by side, one from a top of the line camera and another from an entry level SLR - you will see the difference!

10. Sharpen things up in Photoshop. While you can't "fix" an out of focus picture, you can enhance one that is bang on sharp in the camera, with the Unsharp mask or High Pass Sharpening.

11. Avoid camera shake and motion blur when shooting. Ensure your speed is at least 160th or 250th for this, light permitting!! Oh and don't drink copious amounts of coffee before a shoot - like I do!! :) A killer for those macro shots!

12. Practice, patience, and more practice! Trying to remember everything all at once is really hard, so work on a couple of these techniques over and over, until they have become second nature to you, then learn some more!!

Again, I'm happy to answer any questions I can, and I'll sometime post the detailed answers on my blog, just visit me at:

http://www.formspring.me/christinedenis

Good luck!

Kids + Winter = Colds + CHEO

I must say that before kids I loved winters. The more snow the better. The skiing, the skating, the beautiful crisp days were the best. Now with 3 little kids, the struggles of putting on winter clothes (especially for a defiant 2 1/2 year old), the whining once we are out that they each want the blue sled and the ultimate weeks of colds is really wearing us down! The girls caught a cold and the daycare last week and had to stay home, and ultimately passed it onto the baby, and now she has developed Bronchiolitis from RSV, and resulted in an 18 hour visit to the Dr. and CHEO. Apparently there was an outbreak of RSV over the weekend and as a result the Emerg. was filled to the capacity with babies who couldn't breath and kids with the Norovirus flu that is going around! After we checked in, they were quick to move us to the RSV room and so began the 14 hour ordeal for Madison of an oxygen mask with adrenaline medicine every 2 hours, 2 suctions and Tylenol. Unfortunately it's basically a cold that enters there tiny little lungs, so nothing can really be done.

So I apologize for my absence - I am here, just so tired so not really here!! I have more pictures to post from two session I did before this hit us, a Valentines day special and more but I may not get to it until tomorrow! In the mean time, stay healthy and winter will be over before we know it! :)

Christine

Why invest in newborn photography and what to think about when considering it ~ Ottawa Newborn Photography

Recently I had these questions jumping around in my head because I’m often asked about newborn photography and why it’s such a big deal.

Basically, for me, it’s capturing a very sentimental event in parents’ and children’s lives; and it captures a period of our children’s lives that really only lasts for a few short weeks. Newborns are unique because they possess the characteristics of how they were while in their mother’s womb, but they only possess these for about 10 days. The “curl” and the ability to fold them up into a tiny ball, the purity of their skin, the sleepiness, and the tiny size are what we want to remember forever, because it really is a fleeting moment in terms of the life of a child.

When we seek out and choose a wedding photographer, we want to find the best fit possible to be present and capture the best images possible on one of the most important days of our lives. It only happens once, so you want to choose well. I would argue that the similar is true when choosing a newborn photographer, because your baby will only be like that for a short time, so you want to choose well.

So what should you consider, when thinking about investing in newborn photography?

1. First thing to consider is likely going to be your budget. There are options our there for everyone’s budget, from the $30 package at Loblaws to the $3000 package with the most talented high end pro photographer. So start with a ball park of what you are willing to spend for the whole thing – from session to prints.

2. Next thing to consider is style. What style of images are you looking to capture? Natural, posed, with props, textured, black and white, colour etc. There are a variety of different styles out there, so think about what you envision hanging on the walls in your nursery after your prints arrive.

3. Personal fit of the photographer, many photographers have blogs and you can get a sense of who they are by reading their blog posts. But the most important way to get an idea of how a photographer relates to their clients is to ask for references, or ask around to friends. Many of them have probably invested in a professional photo shoot in the past and may have someone to recommend.

4. Your willingness to travel mere days after giving birth. Find out if the photographer you are considering will do on-location sessions or only studio sessions.

5. Print products offered. Some photographers and studios, such as Loblaws and Walmart will only offer a few print size options; custom photographers can provide designed products such as storyboards, custom album designs and image boxes. It is also important to find out if the photographer will sell their digital images, and at what price.



In closing, regardless of what you decide, whether you hire a custom professional photographer, bring your baby to a studio, or just take the photos yourself, remember to take many photos in those first few weeks, because before you know it, they are all grown up and you’ll have those images to look back on and cherish!

My work at HUSH ~ Ottawa Family Photographer

A while back while I was still pregnant with my baby girl, I walked into a very cool fashion boutique in Ottawa called HUSH. I was immediately attracted to the style of clothing they offered, the AMAZING locally made jewelery they offered and their wonderful (and very stylish) staff. I also noticed that their walls were a little bare and inquired about hanging some of my work and not only were they open to that, they suggested having a photographer come in and do "mini-shoots" one day for a special event. And, alas, the Halloween Mini-Sessions were born. Now, I'm proud to announce that my work is officially up on their walls, beautifying their children's clothing section!! Thanks so much to Angie and Alison for trusting me and valuing my work; and thanks to my little models for being so cute!! :)

Thank You

A special Christmas ornament from my parents

We had another wonderful Christmas here in Chelsea, surrounded by family and holiday cheer! I definitely ate too much for Christmas, but I like to use the excuse that I'm allowed because I'm still nursing! It seems to work and my conscience doesn't question me :)

I wanted to thank all those who supported me though my first 6 months of following my dream. I learned A LOT from each and every one of you, I gained invaluable knowledge from each and every shoot, and met a lot of really amazing and fun people! Every time I'd return home from a shoot, two things would go through my mind - 1. Can't wait to download the images and see what I got, and 2. I really wish I could have spent more time chatting and learning about your lives, because the time we spent together just wasn't enough! (although, I'm sure all you new moms out there couldn't wait to get rid of me so you could sleep - I understand!!)

I'm looking forward to 2010 , excited about the opportunities and possibilities to grow in my photography and in business. Keep a keen eye on my blog as I have some pretty sweet deals in the schedule. A few hints are:

• Launching of my Facebook Fan Page where I'll be posting specials for various shoots or products.
• Model Searchs for portfolio building and mentoring (AKA - free sessions and images!!)
  
• An amazing Mother's Day Promotion that includes a complimentary pass for the Nordic Spa here in Chelsea! (honestly heaven on earth!).
• Monthly contests
• Photography Workshop for Moms!
• Fall "Early Bird" booking deal - fall is the busiest time of year, so there will be an incentive to book your spot early!
• Second Annual Halloween Minis

And much more!

Happy New Year to you all, stay safe and sleep well (that's for the babies!) and see you in the next decade!

Love
Christine

If you were thinking of booking....

I just wanted to let all those out there who were thinking of booking a session with me that as of October 1st, I will be introducing a new pricing structure. I have recognized the need to bring myself in-line with the industry standard and particularly with the Ottawa market for custom photography. I feel that my new pricing is reflective of my quality of work, my attention to detail and most importantly customer service, while still being competitive in the Ottawa market for custom photographers. I encourage you to visit other Ottawa area photographers and carefully select them based on their quality of work and style.

Since the new pricing structure will be begin on October 1st, I will honour the current prices displayed on my website for all those who book with me before October 1st.

For those interested in learning more about custom photography, and the work involved, please visit this site: Why Custom Photography? She offers a great consumers guide for custom photography.