FAQ : Facebook Questions

I make no qualms about loving my Facebook fanpage friends a little too much…they're amazing! This morning I asked for their feedback in regard to today's FAQ post and they came back with a flurry of suggestions. I quickly grabbed a few questions and here's my response. Like always, these are merely my responses and I don't think they're right, awesome, or profound. If I can just help one person in the process, I'm honored.

Yes. I have plenty of advice. LOADS of advice. But it can all be summed up easily: Include in your bio everything that makes you different. All the things that make you, YOU. Write the bio for a prospective client to read, not for another photographer to read. Honestly, I'm drawn to and love bios on websites that are written in first person instead of a third person narrative (“I like Pinkberry” instead of “Jasmine Star likes Pinkberry”), bios that are funny, bios that make me feel something after I read them. Remember, you want prospective clients to capture a piece of who you are from your bio, not a piece of something you think they want to hear.

Yes, I calibrate my monitor. Actually a good friend, Ryan Brown, recommended EyeOne calibration after I started getting my albums printed and bound at Leather Craftsmen. Once my calibration was set up, I noticed a big difference in my prints.

Here's my post-wedding workflow:
Monday: Cull images (this just means I'm choosing the photos for the final edit) and choose favorites for blog and slideshow.
Tuesday:. Edit photos for blog and slideshow, and add a new photo to my website from Saturday's wedding.
Wednesday: Blog the wedding.
Of course, the culling takes the longest, but I actually like doing it. I like seeing where I can improve and get better in a post-diagnostic setting. I usually edit on Tuesday and complete the photos, but I prefer blogging in the morning, so I wait for a Wednesday sneak peek. The time it takes to write about my clients ranges from 10-20 minutes (sometimes my brain is slow), uploading photos takes just seconds using BlogStomp, and the Showit slideshow takes makes things fabulously classy and accessible. I hope this helps! 🙂

No, I don't use a custom white balance or use a preset. I simply shoot with a Canon 5DMII on Auto White Balance. And, yes, I just heard an audible gasp from thousands of readers. Yes, AUTO. I've used auto for years and it's treated me juuuuuust dandy.

I use Hill&Usher insurance and I have a $1,000,000 policy. Sounds fancy, eh? To be honest, most venues in Orange County require an insurance policy of this amount, so it's pretty much standard. I also have all my equipment insured because it's silly not to. My business is carried on my back at a wedding (okay, okay…carried on JD's back) and it's too simple to not take proper precautions for safety and assurance.

I actually blogged more about this topic in this post, but the only thing I started with was a Canon 20D and a 24-70mm, 2.8 lens. I rented all the gear I needed for weddings and you'll find out my reasoning for this decision in that post! 🙂

Well, I just don't use one lens to shoot a wedding. I will say, however, I used the 85mm, 1.2 and the 50mm, 1.2 the most throughout the day. Especially during portraits of the bride and groom, these were the only two lenses I used. JD used the 85mm, 1.8, the 50mm, 1.4, and the 70-200mm IS, 2.8.
I will admit the 85mm, 1.2 focuses much slower than the 1.8….but, dang, when the 1.2 locks in, there's nothing prettier in the world. F'real.

To be honest, New Zealand was our most favorite place in the world to visit. We've never seen such beauty and experienced such an amazing time together. I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. Ever.
Turn-off: Arrogance.
Turn-on: Humor and Intelligence.
How do we keep the spark going? Simply by feeding the flame. We spend a ton of time together. Some people think it's too much time together. And guess what? I don't care what people think! 🙂 JD is my best friend and there are days when I want to seep into his skin just to be closer to his heart. We communicate, we laugh, we're painfully honest with each other. This is how we feed the flame.

Oooooh, this is a good question. I learned a lot last year. A lot. Most importantly, I learned to say NO. To say no to weddings to maintain my sanity, to say no to ‘networking' events when I didn't want to go in the first place, to say no to working past 6:30pm, to say no to the fear that creeps up when I feel disconnected from work. I was so caught up in work–i.e., myself–that I wasn't focusing on what truly mattered: My loved ones. The more I worked, the less I liked who I was becoming. I still struggle with being a workaholic, but it's also freeing to create a balanced work/home life and that started by learning to say no.

Great question! My off-camera flash is triggered with a Pocket Wizard. I simply turn off the Transmitter when I don't want the off-camera light to flash. I love using a mix of ambient lighting, on-camera light, and off-camera lighting, but this doesn't mean I stick to only one thing for the entire ceremony.

Hope this information helps a bit and a special shout out goes out to my Facebook peeps for hooking me up with fodder….y'all are the bomb diggity!