senior portrait Archives

Feb

What’s in my Bag?

Over the years, I have had a few people ask me what all is in my bag. Well, here’s a list of what’s in my bag.

I started out shooting a Nikon D60, but have since upgraded to two Nikon D7000s. I do have plans to go full-frame one day (I’d LOVE the D4!), but for now, this is what’s in my bag. My favorite things about the D7000 are: its ability to shoot six frames per second, 39 focal points (I toggle; I don’t focus and reframe.) and the dual SD drive for instant image backup.

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Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Nikon D7000s

My zoom lenses are both Tamron. My big lens is a 70-200mm f.28 and the smaller one is 17-50mm f2.8. I use the 70-200 shooting all sporting events, and I use the smaller zoom when I want a wide range of focal lengths and switching out lenses isn’t a possibility. When I shoot football games, I use both of these lenses—one on each camera body. The bigger lens catches all the action on the field, and the smaller lens is dedicated to the sidelines and wide angle shots of the field. The same principles apply to a wedding ceremony: the bigger one for all the bride/groom action and the smaller one for wide shots of the church and altar.

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Tamron Zoom Lenses

I also have two Nikon prime lenses—a 50mm f1.4 and a 35mm f1.8. A prime lens is one that does not zoom. When you have a fixed focal length and you have to “use your feet” to zoom back and forth. I use the 50mm during all my bridal, engagement, family and senior portrait sessions. I only use the 35mm when spaces are tight and I don’t have enough room to use the 50mm.

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Nikon Prime Lenses

I have three Nikon SB600s for low light situations like wedding receptions. I set-up two strobes on light stands and one on a camera bracket. I never shoot with a strobe mounted directly to my camera body.

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Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Nikon SB600 Strobes

Nikon’s Creative Lighting System never worked well for me. I could never get it to fire from more than 20 feet away and even then, it was hit and miss. Nikon’s CLS needs a clean line of site. I purchased a system of one Phottix Odin wireless transmitter and three receivers which can fire up to 100 meters and performed well during this creative shoot.

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Phottix Odin Wireless Trigger System

I also have all sorts of other things like white balance cards, extra SD cards and extra batteries, light stands, flash brackets, light reflectors, bouncers and diffusers, tripods, monopods, and even a photo session survival kit, which I will tell you all about next week. The one thing I think I’m missing is a macro lens for wedding details. This will be my next purchase. Until next time, be positive, be happy, be healthy, and don’t forget to be photographed.

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I started Ata-Girl Photography Co. in 2010 and I am one of the premier San Antonio wedding photographers who is available for local and destination weddings. In addition to wedding photography, I also specialize in high school seniors and family portraits in San Antonio and the surrounding areas. I am a professional photographer who enjoys documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. When I’m not photographing a wedding, family or high school senior, I enjoy watching my daughter play softball, hiking, cycling and listening to Elvis!

Feb

Lighting Technique: Light Painting (Part II)

Yesterday, I wrote about photographing a dead oak tree and using advanced lighting techniques to light it up after dark. I can hardly believe this is the same sky in those images.

After Fred and I finished with the strobes, we decided to try another technique called light painting. This is a process where you actually use a handheld flashlight to add light to your image. Some photographers use it to draw images in their photographs (hearts, words, etc.), but I only wanted to try to light the images as evenly as possible.

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Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Light Painting

You need to set a really long exposure in order to capture the light. The exposure is usually so long that you can walk around in your image without being seen. You point the light at the parts of the image you want lit. You can direct the light from different angles and even keep it pointed longer at parts of the image you want to appear brighter.

These images were taken in complete darkness. We only had ambient light from the moon and stars. To capture these images I used a 25- to 30-second exposure. I would get positioned within the frame and Fred would use my wireless remote to fire the camera so he wouldn’t cause any inadvertent camera shake. The fstops I used varied from f8-f13 and my iso varied from 160-250. In a few of the images, you can see where I pointed the flashlight a little too long in places. To get even lighting, you have to concentrate on moving the light slowly and evenly across the image.

I think my first attempt at light painting was a complete success. I’m going to light someone’s church up like this after their wedding and I can’t wait.

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Feb

Lighting Techniques: Strobing (Part I)

I’ve had my strobe lights (flashes) for a while now, but struggled with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System. My D7000 is capable of commanding multiple flashes, but it is prohibitive in the sense that you have to be in line of sight with the flashes and it seems you can’t be more than twenty feet away. That’s very restrictive and doesn’t leave a lot of options for photographing a wedding reception, so I started researching. About the time I had my heart set on a Pocket Wizard system, Phottix Odins released a system for Nikon. Finally. They claimed their transmitters/receivers could communicate in excess of 100 meters. I saved my dollars and purchased a transmitter and three receivers.

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Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Natural Lighting: 1/80, f18, iso100

Now, I had to test them. My good friend, Fred, and I went out to some old, dead Oak trees just as the sun was setting. We assembled all the stands and attached all the receivers to the strobes. We then strategized where we’d place the strobes.

We waited for the sun to disappear behind the horizon—as my dear dad was starting to have a heart attack. Since we only had one transmitter, we were like kids on crack and we joked about it… swapping the crack pipe… erh… transmitter back and forth. After a few hits, or in this case, shutter button presses, we’d swap the transmitter to each other’s camera and fire away. We were on a photographer’s high!

All of the strobed images were taken with these settings: 1/250, f8, iso400 and with the exception of one image, were processed using only Lightroom4. I intentionally left the flash stands in the images so you could tell the placement of our lighting. The only adjustments made during the shoot were the placement of the strobes. Here are my favorite images from the night.

The sky is so dramatic it makes me want to get lost in the images. Since this shoot, neither Fred or I have admitted to having any addictions.

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Jan

Fame & Shame #11

Fame & Shame #9 was posted on August 28th; #10 was posted on November 1st–both in 2012! That means it’s been almost three months since I’ve posted a Fame & Shame and the last two were two months apart. And, that’s way too long! Time to get busy!

SHAME

Photo Challenges: Photo Challenges that take a year to complete deserve total shame. I am just about to the point where I am so sorry I ever started this project. I have resorted to taking almost every picture with either my phone or my point-and-shoot. I’m way behind with blogging about the themes. In fact, I’m so behind, when I do blog about them, I won’t even post them as new blogs. I’ll just put them in the queue of blogs in their respective time slots. For now, you can read what I have blogged about so far. I’m not convinced I’m getting the benefits I thought I would when I started this. On the bright side, I only have about five more themes to go before finally completing this monster.

There’s nothing else to shame today.

FAME

Plans, Tweaks & Concentrations: In order to progress my business and skill the way I’d like to, I have spent a lot of nights over the past 45 days or so writing a business plan and doing a lot of thinking. I have come to the decision that, moving forward, I will only photograph weddings, families and seniors! I will also shoot sports, as that is my first love, but it will continue to be a hobby. I will be turning down all maternity, newborn, baby, pet, and other jobs. As enjoyable as these other areas of photography are, I want to focus on my future!
Mentor Photogs: Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I will be meeting with an award-winning, international wedding photographer. He has generously agreed to sit down and talk with me about the wedding photography industry. I’m a little nervous about the meeting, but excited at the same time.
My Daddy! Last week, we had a pretty big scare when he decided to go and have a “coronary!” I had never really given this cliche much thought until it clicked with me in the heart hospital. My dad had a 99% blockage in his right coronary artery—he had a coronary! Thankfully, he was a trooper and he was in good hands! He walked out of the hospital two days later anxiously waiting to resume playing volleyball. I love you, Dad!

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Daddy!

Remember. YOU’RE GORGEOUS! (I’m leaving that line in from my last F&S. It’s an important message and it’s relevant!) Until next time, be positive, be happy, be healthy, and don’t forget to be photographed.

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Jan

Get the Most out of Your New Camera

With Christmas just passed, I’m guessing a lot of you received a shiny, new DSLR camera from Santa! Being the gadget freak that I am, I can imagine how much excitement this may have caused you! If you’re upgrading from a point-and-shoot, then this blog post is just for you. Here are a few suggestions for getting the most joy out of your new toy!

1. Shoot.

The first thing I always do with a new camera is take it straight out of the box and shoot. A new piece of gear calls my name so strongly I can hardly resist the urge. So, take it out of the box, assemble the lens, insert the memory card, and shoot. I must warn you to not throw any pieces away. The first SLR camera I got, I threw away all the lens caps. Once the lens was on the camera, I thought I’d never need them again. As your taking these maiden shots, familiarize yourself with the buttons, dials, lights, and switches. This will help when you proceed to step #2.

2. Read the manual.

Now that you’ve knocked a little dust of the camea, it’s time to do some formal self-instruction. Your manual has answers to most of the technical questions that you may wonder about later. As you read, follow along on the camera to make sure you understand what controls the settings and how to change those settings. Want to know how to turn off the focus beep? Want to know how to shoot in rapid burst mode? Want to know how to delete the unwanted pictures? It’s all in the manual. Even if this isn’t your first digital camera, it never hurts to flip through the manual. The better you know your camera, the quicker you can make decisions about what settings to use when taking pictures. This translates to better pictures.

3. Create a filing system.

Just a few days ago, one of my high school buddies posted a picture of her husband’s receipts he’d collected throughout 2012 for his tax return. Literally, they were wadded up pieces of paper placed in one of four “storage bins”—three ball caps and an aluminum pan. This is not the approach you should take to storing and organizing your photos. I create very specific folders for the events I capture. For instance, the file path may look something like this: C:/mydocs/pictures/2012/New Year’s Eve. I file by each year and then by each specific event so I can find things easily. I also use a tagging sytem so that on a whim, I can collect images of a specific person without the hassle of navigating through each and every folder. You can add tags to photos simply by using either Windows Explorer or Windows Photo Gallery Picture Viewer. Though time consuming, it is very helpful in the long run.

4. Use all the shooting modes.

Without knowing what an fstop is or iso is, it’s really impossible to take a quality photograph in the manual mode. But, you can learn. When it’s play time with your camera, turn the dial off of automatic. Refer back to your manual to know what mode P or S or AV refers to. In these modes, play with the camera’s settings to see how they affect the image. However, when you’re documenting something important, remember to put the camera back in the mode you’re most comfortable with. If you learn to make all the decisions for the camera, your images will be tons better. You can even use this simulator to experiment!

5. Experiment.

Take multiple photos of one object. Each time you take a picture, change the iso. Start with 100, 200, 320, 400… work your way up to 3200. See how this setting affects your photo. Now, place your iso back to 100, and begin changing your fstop or aperature. Start with 2.8 (or your lowest setting), then work your way to up f4, f11, f20 and so on, stopping on each fstop to see how this changes your image. Do the same thing with the shutter speed. Experiments, such as this, will help you gain an understanding what the settings do. Eventually, you will be able to make calculated and deliberate settings to creatively enhance your images.

6. Take your camera everywhere!

Going to the grocery store? Take your camera. Taking the kids to the park? Take your camera. Car wash, road trip, hunting? Take your camera. Put your camera in your purse, or your glove box, and take it with you. Once you get to know your camera better, all that’s left to do is shoot. Document whatever happens. Don’t worry about taking too many pictures… it’s a digital age! You can delete what you don’t want to keep.

7. Post process.

Discover the art of post processing. It’s amazing what only straightening and cropping can do to improve your images. I Heart Faces hosts a weekly Fix it Friday where they supply an image for you to post process. Not only can you practice your skills, you can compare them to other photographers who are editing the exact same image. Some of them also detail each step taken to reach the end result. This is a GREAT place to learn!

Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions about this article? If so, please feel free to give feedback in the following ways:

You can comment right here.
Like me and leave me a message on Facebook.
Follow and mention me on Twitter.
Follow and tag me on Instagram.

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I started Ata-Girl Photography Co. in 2010 and I am a San Antonio based wedding photographer who is available for destination weddings. In addition to wedding photography, I also specialize in San Antonio senior portraits and senior portraits for high school seniors in the surrounding areas. I am a professional photographer who enjoys documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. When I’m not photographing a wedding, family or high school senior, I enjoy watching my daughter play softball, hiking, cycling and listening to Elvis!

Jan

A Texas High School Senior & Early Graduation

By the time this posts, I believe the pretty girl I affectionately refer to as Breanus will be making last minute decisions regarding her trip to Australia! You know, things like: Do these boots match this scarf? How many moisturizers can I put in my carry on? How many pounds can I stuff in this suitcase? Will they actually weigh it? She won’t be finishing the second half of her senior year in high school; she’s already done that! She’ll soon be 8,000 miles away in the land down under! She’ll be living it up with two of her very good friends: TerrorLee and Gabs!

I’m not sure exactly what Breanna has planned during this month-long excursion on the other side of the world, but I do hope she has a safe trip and has lots of fun. Here’s a few shots from the second mini session of Breanna’s senior portraits in beautiful south Texas. You can see her first session here.

Click to see my complete senior portfolio.

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Jan

IHF: Best Face of 2012

I am pretty sure I haven’t entered a photo contest sponsored by I Heart Faces since 2011, but when I saw this week’s category, I knew I had to enter this one! This photo shoot was somewhat of a train wreck. I had two 10-15 minute mini sessions with seniors and I invited a fellow photog with me. When we got to the location, I realized I had left my memory cards in the reader at home. I had a backup but it was only a 64mb memory card and I don’t even know where it came from. With my D7000, I could have fit a total of about about 4 images on the card. Fred let me use his D700 without even flinching an eye and I wound up with this beauty!

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | I Heart Faces Photo Challenge Submission

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Jan

My Portrait Editing Process

As a photographer, I have two clearly defined obligations every time someone hires me to click my shutter button. #1-I have an obligation to implore every ounce of knowledge I have about photography and put it to go use making their portraits. #2-After the shutter button has been pressed, I then have to exercise everything I know about post processing to make those portraits look the absolute best that they can.

When images are straight out of the camera (SOOC), they are dull, flat and well… boring. I would never dream of turning over work to clients that is straight out of the camera. I have turned down paying jobs that have asked me to do this. I don’t ever want to give anyone reason to think that is a good representation of my work. Here’s an example. The image on the left is SOOC.

Ata-Girl Photography Co. | Editing Process

In the video below, you will see that I:

Smooth out bumpy clothing. Between poses, clothing has a tendency to become bunched up or bumpy and this is not flattering. An image can be made better simply by smoothing out this bumpy clothing. I use this same technique to make body parts appear slimmer and thinner, and believe it or not, I use it on thin people just the same as I do on curvier people.
Redness or discoloration. Men have a tendency to photograph very red in the face. If someone is a tad too red, I use Photoshop to eliminate the red hues in certain parts of the photograph. Color casts can also occur if you’re near a colored object—like a red car, or a yellow-bricked building.
Dark circles under eyes. Everyone, even toddlers, has dark circles under their eyes. I always take special care to eliminate or at least lighten these cirlces. This always makes my subjects appear younger, energized and refreshed.
Sharpening. Eyes are what gets my attention when I look at a photograph. So, I take special care to sharpen and brighten them up in all my closeups to better their chances at making a connection with the viewer. I sharpen all the women’s hair, eyebrows, teeth, jewelry, and other fine details in the photograph as well.

Watch the video to see me work!

You will not receive this sort of attention to detail from value photographers, like Sears and Wal-Mart. As far as hiring an independent photographer, your chances are 50/50 that your images will receive quality post processing. Buyer be warned! Not all post processing is quality post processing!

Each portrait image I take receives this special attention. I always remove any distracting elements from the background. It’s not shown in the video, but I also make adjustments to create contrast, vibrance and increase the depth of the photo. This removes all the flatness that the camera leaves behind. I generally spend five to ten minutes on each finalized photo from the portrait session. For reference, if your photo shoot lasts one hour, it will take me another three to four hours to post process the session—sometimes even longer. My aim is NOT to make an exact replica of a moment in time, but to create a piece of art that will hang on your wall.

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Jan

Photography Goals for 2013

Although I have have made lots of progress in terms of growing my business, there are many areas that I can improve on. Here is a list of some of the things I have planned for 2013 in order to get closer to my goal of becoming a self-employed photographer/artist!

Network. Network. Network. I will network more with professionals in the industry.
As much as I despise business operating plans, I will complete my very own annual operating plan for 2013. It will detail steps and goals needed to make the financial and artistic growth I need. This will be completed by January 31st.
I will be more disciplined with all the aspects of my business and not just the photography part. Taking pictures is the fun part! Post processing, blogging, marketing, planning and budgeting is not. I will make efforts to apply the same discipline to all these parts of my business in order to achieve success.
I will continue to learn and grow my skills and understanding of quality photography on a daily basis.
I will continue to document other people’s milestones, achievements and important events in a professional and artistic way!
I will continue to work on my own health and happiness! This will include gym time, camping and backpacking, reading, relaxing, time on both sides of the lens, music, spirituality, and much dreaming and planning!
I will try and keep my room clean and organized more often.

This isn’t a complete list, but these are definitely the highlights of my plans for 2013! God willing, they will happen!

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Dec

2012 in Review

This year was a great one! At the end of last year, I had five distinct goals for 2012. I didn’t meet these goals 100%, but I am happy with the way things happened to me this year.

I will be more committed to my health and happiness. I didn’t ride 2,000 miles on my bike. I barely ended the year with a total of 340. However, I did spend a lot of time in the gym and I did complete a century ride. I didn’t lose any weight, but I didn’t gain any either. This goal will definitely be a repeat for 2013.
I will shoot more weddings this year. This past year I was weddingless. I didn’t have an opportunity to shoot any weddings. I did shoot a Sweet 16 which, in a lot of ways, is similar to a wedding. Again, this goal will be a repeat for 2013. However, without shooting any weddings, I did complete more shoots. In dollars alone, my business grew by 65%.
I will not be threatened by other photographers. For the most part, this held true. There was a few instances that I questioned why someone would choose such-in-such to shoot their event or portraits. That may be something that continues to confuse me, but I will not let it bother me. I realize people will make choices for photography that do not make sense to me.
I will continue to grow, learn and improve my skills. This is absolutely true in every way. Every single day of 2012, I attempted to grow as a photographer. I read, watched, practiced, researched, or shopped for something that would improve my skill. The two most memorable was a photography workshop at South Fork that was hosted by I Heart Faces (Sue Bryce was there!) and a Sal Cincotta video workshop that I purchased from Creative Live.
I will get a backup camera. I didn’t even have to wait all year for this to happen. I completed this goal on May 2nd. I also added strobes, umbrellas, light reflectors, stands, remotes, wireless triggers capable of firing my strobes from over 100 meters, and memory cards.

Until next time, be positive, be happy, be healthy, and don’t forget to be photographed.

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Hi, I’m Tammy.
I'm a San Antonio-based wedding photographer for outdoor-loving couples who value real moments.

I am a San Antonio-based wedding photographer and I am absolutely in love with capturing the kinds of weddings where there are more hugs than handshakes, the dance floor rumbles all night long, and chairs are pretty much rendered useless after dinner. Whiskey bottles are passed around, most of the wedding party has been best-best friends since kindergarten, Grams is likely to lose her shoes and your partner is much more emotional than you are. These kinds of weddings are my jam!

Since 2010, I have excelled in helping each of my couples plan for one of the very best days of their lives! I’d love to share my very personalized wedding experience, my super-human organizational abilities, and my U. S. Army combat skills (when needed) with you too.

I want your wedding day to be as perfect as you do! I am all in with my whole heart!