the story about how i get to be a tester for sesame ellis actions

By on April 30, 2011 in personal, reviews and product work

i’m going to warn you right now. this is going to be a very long, very wordy, very picture heavy post. i’m going to review something really awesome too.

you know how i wrote that whole “oh what a transformation this past year has been” post? you know how i write like, 10 posts like that a month? this is going to be kind of like that. because it was just about a year ago, when i bought my first digital SLR (as opposed to the film ones i had learned anything and everything on) i did that thing where you sit and get sucked into photo blogs for hours at a time. hours people. i really mean it. it was at about that time that i stumbled upon the amazing sesame ellis/rachel devine. i immediately loved her. her ‘about me’ section was hilarious, i never use capitals, and in her picture she’s nursing. bad ass.

when i look back at the blogs and tutorials hers is one of the few that actually really taught me something. she occasionally included stats on photos she shot on her blog. sometimes, i would put myself in a similar lighting situation and just match my settings to hers and adjust as needed. it really gave me the extra boost i needed to learn shooting manual. and the other thing is this. if you look at a bunch of photographers online, i feel like there is a thick concentration of photographers who heavily edit their photos. and in the beginning, i wondered if that was the way to be successful, or wondered if it was what all people wanted. but when i stumbled onto rachel’s site it was really refreshing. she preaches getting the best shot in camera and not to over work your photos or date them with editing trends and popular props. stay true to the people in the photos, to the light and the natural moment. she is originally a film photographer, and is actually starting to work with film again, which has been really interesting to watch. and has really sparked my own interest in going back to film as well. but that’s for another day. what i love about her work is it stays really true to her film roots. and the idea that back in the day, we didn’t have photoshop or any of this other editing technology. you got what you got out of camera, more or less. she’s always sold actions but i rarely had the extra $$ to get them. so basically i’ve just tried, through a lot of trial and error, to keep that philosophy. to try and get the best shot in camera. to really understand light and how to use it. i want my photos to be timeless and capture the reality of the people in them. and i’ve learned a lot about that from her.

in an unexpected twist, i noticed one day when a rachel devine (who is american born living in australia with her husband and three SERIOUSLY gorgeous kids) commented on my good friend jule’s (american born living in australia with her husband and SERIOUSLY adorable son finn, who i met online) status. turns out they are close friends. what are the chances? i think rachel’s a total celeb, jules gets to have easter dinner with her. but i digress.

recently rachel has been talking about releasing a new set of actions. i was really, really excited to see them. i knew rachel was recently more inspired than ever by film and i guessed these actions would really be a reflection of that. she talked about needing testers and i was all, omgpleaseme. so i tossed my name on the list and figured i probably wouldn’t hear anything. then she posted a blog using some of the actions and mentioned she was getting closer to release. just out of curiosity i commented on the blog and asked if she had already sent the actions out to testers. much to my surprise, she responded and asked if i would please test them out for her. a year ago, i was not a photographer that rachel devine would ask to test actions and not because she didn’t know me.

i haven’t been given the full set yet, but what i have gotten so far i LOVE. the more i use them, the more i get to know them, the better i can navigate which action for what photos to convey what mood. i rarely use an action at full opacity and i always freshen up the image in ACR first. the actions are perfect, subtle, and give your photos just a hint of film nostalgia that i go weak in the knees for.

for starters, i picked a totally random, not great shot, of jack. just to show the different actions.

sooc image

ok, because that’s what every tester does. but then i figured, i should really put the actions to work. i’m sure rachel thought perhaps that i’d take adorable pictures of well styled little children. the truth is, my two boys are going through a simultaneous “i hate looking at your camera or taking part in your photography” phase. so the best i could come up with was our day trip to the farm. where the most cooperative subjects were live stock.

we spent an embarrassing amount of time with the baby chicks. ok. i spent an embarrassing amount of time with the baby chicks.

then we headed to the barn to see some sheep, a donkey and some goats.

and finally, when he couldn’t fight it, i took one solitary picture of leo, looking at a bunny.

i am so glad to have these actions and i can’t wait to get the rest of the set. the thing i love the MOST about these actions, is that they allow me to be me. i’m not buying these actions to buy someone else’s style or look. they are right in line with my editing philosophy : less is more. they compliment and boost my photos in just the right way. i’m not sure of my audience, and if there are budding photographers out there interested in which actions i used and how much etc. but if you are a reader who is interested in more technical nonsense around here, please say so in the comments!!!

you can check rachel out on her personal blog here! and on her teaching blog, beyond snapshots with her partner peta mazey, here! thanks rachel!!

xo isabel

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april showers

By on April 24, 2011 in personal

happy spring to you friends. it’s coming…i hope.

you know what this picture makes me realize? i’m sick of the snow in my header. time for some spring cleaning, eh?

xo isabel

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happy earth day

By on April 22, 2011 in families, kiddos, personal, portraits, Uncategorized

lots of little earthy tidbits popped into my head when i thought about writing today. a day like today has me taking a look at our life, at our footprint, at our waste. ironically, our power went off for an hour and a half this morning. i am glad no one but my family saw the embarrassing, frantic lunatic i became. my husband, the electrician (ha, yea) said there was nothing he could do and i swear i reacted like he told me his new passion in life was snakes and that he was bringing home a 9ft. boa constrictor whether i liked it or not. shock. horror. it was bad folks, bad.

but, we did play with playdoh, my most hated childhood pastime. i’m learning to get over it. the point is, we sat in a room together, lit by the sun, all together with only the sweet sounds of two playdoh high kids. oh wait, wasn’t i supposed to be going somewhere positive with this? all the time actually, i am thinking about the ways i’m falling short. the things that i really feel deep down are important, that i just can’t seem to implement. somehow buying locally seems way more expensive, as do farm shares, and then i know if i had all this fresh produce in my house, i either wouldn’t know what to do with it or it would sit in the veggie drawer until someone noticed a smell. when i think back to the kind of grocery shopping i did when we had just jack, when we were still so young, when we were still shell shocked. it was terrible. TERRIBLE. but we still aren’t eating enough fresh produce, we are not cooking enough dinners. i just can’t seem to find the balance in it all. and top it off that i just despise the kitchen in this apartment. i have all these dreams for our new place. all the junk we’ll abandon, fresh, living, growing, green plants all over the house, a kitchen with light. a girl can dream. and then i’ll feel inspired and motivated and happy. this will surely solve all problems.

no. but we do have this dream of one day owning a little old house on a good patch of land. and we’ll build a chicken coop and have chickens. leo requests frogs, pigs, sheep and a cow too. i’d be happy to just start with chickens.

but until these dreams can come true, i need to make more of an effort now to try and find a way for what’s important to me to be a part of our lives. and keep apartment hunting.

in line with earth day, i’ll be photographing the great cloth diaper change for the diaper lab in Somerville. tomorrow is also my husband’s birthday. being the lovely assistant he is, he’s offered to come along to be my right hand. a man who will spend his birthday with cloth diapers. ladies, i am lucky.

and finally. we spent a day this week with our friends who are family, Leah and Milo. they are so earth friendly. every time i leave from a visit with them i wish we could move to a tucked away little cape house. with a nice garden, plenty of room to sun dry cloth diapers, and there are so many great local farms around them. they are also my most outdoorsy friends. my kids are always guaranteed a nature walk with Stellapuppy when we visit. the cape has so many amazing trails. again. want to move. i wish the two year old had been a bit more cooperative so i could have like, taken a few pictures of the amazing swamps we walked through. instead, he insisted on being carried and then walking and then being carried and then walking. 30+lbs folks…make up your mind! however, if miss new england would get her act together and grace us with some damn warmth that would probably help the whole being outside thing.

we started the day hanging out around the house, letting babies nap and nurse. while the big kids pretty much experienced love at first site. the adorable little girls are courtesy of new to us friends. Avery is the gorgeous blonde bopping around with my big kid and Evan is her gorgeous little sister.

then, we packed up and headed out for our walk.

and when we returned, we were cooked delicious macaroni and cheese with broccoli and headed back to boston. add this to the list of things milo does now, he eats!

look at how he goes in for the kill. this kid knows his way around food.

thanks for playing Milo!

and cheers to the next earth day. as with new years resolutions, i always hope to incorporate more of these things that are important to me in my life with my family. what earth friendly habits do you resolve to add to your life?

xo isabel

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mother’s day minis – success! | boston family photographer |

By on April 22, 2011 in families, portraits, session specials

i’d like to go ahead and pat myself on the back for just a second. when everything wrapped up and the last session was done just before noon on sunday, my husband said to me “hey! you told 6 families you’ve never met to meet you at a playground and they all came, they all found us, and they all had their pictures taken. no one was late, no one got lost and no one fell in mud!” true the last statement was an unfortunate concern due to an entire night of delightful april “showers” between saturday and sunday. but, we powered through, and no one fell in any mud.

i really loved doing this. the families were all so different. one with a newborn, one with a first born and one with her teens. it was fun to talk to all these people, either commiserating over a current shared stage, or reminiscing my boys’ newborn days or even remembering back to when we had just jack. and really, i swear, social situations like these are not my strong suit, but i’m so glad i went for it, and i really look forward to doing these in the future. thanks to everyone who came out and shared their beautiful families with me!

i love this picture so much. i asked each set of parents to get together and for most they said they couldn’t remember the last time they were photographed together. everyone was so sweet and giggly.

this last family was just beyond sweet. and this little girl was happy the entire time, showing off her walking skills all through the big forest. i also need to point out, her eyes. i know some photographers do the thing with the eyes. i will tell you that i wouldn’t even know how to do the thing with the eyes, even if i wanted to. these eyes are legit, 100%, true blue.

so, all in all, i’d say it was a success. i can’t wait for everyone to get their beautiful prints. and i am really excited about incorporating this into things at furie photography!

school vacation is kicking my ass and i feel a cold coming on. it’s off to thursday night tv for me.
xo isabel

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