Borrow Lenses

Borrow Lenses is a company that rents out camera gear. They are the very best. My friend Lizzie originally referred me to them last year. I first used them when I did Brooke’s maternity session back in November. For that session, I rented the Nikon SB-900 speedlight and the Gary Fong diffuser. I may or may not have had to chase down the FedEx truck, but that’s another story.

BlissDom came around and I instantly knew I wanted to use them for the extra equipment I’d be needing. I immediately thought of Borrow Lenses because of their constant presence and interaction with me and others on Twitter, fast and accurate shipping, and the excellent brand new condition of the equipment I had rented previously. It started with one DM on Twitter and I inquired if they would like someone to represent them at BlissDom. Josh, a super helpful, friendly Borrow Lenses staff member, replied back and that’s how the ball started rolling.

It started with one simple DM on Twitter and a company who truly understood the new turn that marketing is taking. That is becoming so very important and I am so glad to have worked with such a fabulous company that understood that. I don’t know about you, but I value a company who is friendly, helpful, I can count on, has a very good social media presence, interacts with people through social media, and understands the new way of marketing. That company is Borrow Lenses.

Disclosure: Borrow Lenses sponsored some of the equipment I used at BlissDom as an Official Photographer. All opinions are my own. I promise. xo

P.S. FedEx has no idea whatsoever that I blogged about them.

Thank You

Blissdom Conference ~ Nashville ~ January 26-28, 2010 Today I am going to BlissDom to make sure the bliss gets captured in pixels and pal around with fabulous people. I am forever grateful for you lovely people, these opportunities, and this oh-so-wonderful job of mine. It’s the best ever and it’s made possible and wonderful by you. I could never thank you enough.

I’ll try to post snapshots during the week. Some posts will be iPhone photos via the WordPress iPhone app, videos from my iPhone or Nikon, photos posted on Facebook and Twitter via Instagram, and others will be shots taken with my Nikon. If something looks wonky to you, it’s probably the WordPress app. It tends to get formatting wrong sometimes.

I’ve got a pretty crazy travel schedule for the next few weeks, so I’ll be posting live from various places. I just wanted to thank you first. You deserve it. I could never, ever do this without you.

xoxo

Photography Tutorials: White Balance {Nikon}

The other day I posted about where I get my inspiration from and how I edit. If you noticed in the comments, Jenn posted the following comment wanting to know more about white balance. I’m sure that she’s not alone.

White balance is super easy! See? I’ll show you. (In crappy iPhone pictures, because I don’t own two snazzy big girl cameras.) This is a Nikon tutorial, by the way. Canon is probably very similar, but I know it can be confusing. I might have one of my Canon friends come in and guest post for y’all on that. ;)

White Balance Button

Pretty simple step, no?

Turn the Wheel

As a note, you’ll turn this wheel while holding the white balance button (pictured before).

Look at the Screen

See that little cloud in the box that the arrow is pointing to? This is the icon that tells you what lighting your camera is set to set the white balance for. (Did that make any sense?) Different white balance settings are represented by different icons. You can see photo examples of that here on the Ree’s blog.

Was that clear as mud or what? Feel free to post any questions you have about white balance or photography in general in the comments below. I’ll be more than happy to chat with you! :)

Pixel Happy | Sweet Shot Tuesday

Pixel Happy

That’s my awesome pixel happy cousin Tina. She likes take pretty pictures too! Her and her mom and sister flew in to visit. Can you believe we’ve never met before now? Me either. All I know is that they’re awesome.

Have you taken some sweet shot’s lately? I would love to see ‘em! Link me up with them in the comments or email them to me. I might even feature them here on the blog!

Graphic Designer Turned Photographer

I am a creative; not a coder. I have no idea the amount of times I told myself that (Twittered and Facebooked it, too).  I was stubborn and kept my graphic design gig going. I didn’t listen to the signs coming from my family: “Hannah, you are always on that stinking computer!” “I really need your help with the Boybarians, Lou.” “Just 5 more minutes and I’ll be off here.”

Finally I realized, “Hannah, you used to be a girl living life and blogging about it. Now you are a girl blogging and blog designing living life and snapping photos in between.” That was a hard blow to take. Then came my best friend Darcy’s post Unsustainable. Both of us were experiencing the same thing and here I thought that I couldn’t tell her I had to stop this madness and unsustainable schedule.

We Skyped because that’s what two geeky friends do [when they live 2 states and many, many miles apart].

I cried because I didn’t want to quit.

She helped me realize that I am a photographer with graphic design dabbled in. Not the other way around.

She has helped me realize my priorities.

That being said, I am no longer a full time graphic and blog designer. I will still accept the occasional graphic design or blog design job and training on that subject, but no longer full time. I appreciate those of you who have hired me and/or helped me learn so much! It’s been such a pleasure.

My Frontier

I told myself I needed my friends’ beach vacation. And you know, I actually did, but not in the way I thought. I needed it to realize this is my frontier- home. This is my domain.

All of this is:

My Frontier

These gorgeous Boybarians of mine:

My beautiful, dear sisters. (They won’t let me get too many photos of them.)

My awesome parents, I am blessed to have. (No photo of them, either.)

This:
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This:
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This:
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All of that is mine. And I am so, so very grateful. Even though it’s not a beach vacation, it’s my life. I love it. No beach vacation needed.

Sweet Shot Tuesday: Green Carnation

Green Carnation

Pretty flower, no? I think so too. Especially now that it is in digital form and won’t make me sneeze. So. Darn. Much.

p.s. This was linked up to my lovely friend Darcy’s Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Sweet Shot Tuesday – Aqua Mason Jars

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Aqua Mason jars sparkling in the sunlight on our big farmhouse table. One of the many simple joys that can get overlooked sometimes.

By the way, have you checked out the linky out at the host’s (my friend Darcy) blog? Woa! Tons of fabulous entries!

Photography Basics: Editing Photos

Always have a great shot SOOC (strait out of the camera). It will save you lots of time in the editing process. If you have a really great SOOC shot, you should be able to get by with your basic photo editing. If you have a bad SOOC shot, you will spend tons of time editing only one photo. In the long run, it is better to know your stuff and shoot right the first time. It will save you tons of time and you will get great shots!

Do you have a question about editing photos or a photography related question in general? I’d love to answer any question(s) you may have to try and help you out! Just hit the “Email Hannah” button at the top.

Photography Basics: What is aperture?

Aperture is the size of the opening in your lens when you take a photo. The larger the opening, the more light will get in – the smaller the openinging, the less light will get in. Those different openings are called f-stops.

small f-stop = large opening

large f-stop = small opening

Therefore, when you set your aperature, keep in mind the lighting. If it’s darker where your working, use a larger opening (smaller f-stop). If it’s brighter where your working, use a small opening (large f-stop).

Make sense? Have questions?