photo of the day: inspiring me

Currently my head is spinning with last-minute details as we work to pull together this workshop, and these sit beside me, on my desk, and I love it.

photo of the day: perfect light

Someone asked on twitter the other day what one thing I would teach to young photographers if I could, and I responded without a second thought: look for good light. Which then brought the response: what exactly is good light. I was having a hard time defining it in 140 characters, and could only say: you know it when you see it. It's the light that smoothes skin, brightens eyes, rims hair, bathes everything in the golden glow that only actually exists in your memory.
It's the light you see here:



It's here, and here, and here. You can find it when there's harsh light, you can find it when you're picking up trash. The key is knowing how to look. (Yes, that's what we're going to spend an hour doing on Saturday. At least.)

at last! sneak peek for j&s

So when I first met with this couple, I knew J and I were going to be friends: she and I were both wearing primary-colored trench coats. It only got better from there!
The wedding for these two is going to be at an opera house, so for their engagement shoot they decided to take me back to where they got engaged: Alexandria, Virginia. I've posted a few of my favorite photos, and the full slideshow is at the bottom.

the engagement of j&s from Laura Dye on Vimeo.

photo of the day: nose kisses

The rest of these images will be ready soon (hopefully today), but I had to share this image. I lovelove asking people to kiss on the nose; there's something so intimate about it. You don't do nose kisses unless it's someone you really trust.

photo of the day: happy earth day

To celebrate Earth Day on my day off, I joined a bunch of Starbucks coworkers and picked up trash by the side of the road in Ocean City, Maryland. At the very end as we were headed back to the cars, I made the boys pose in front of this sign. They're being hams, yes, but I thought the message particularly appropriate for today.

photo of the day: sneak peek

I'm going to cheat on this one, and just give you the link to the rest of the sneak preview from Saturday's fantastic wedding. It's my birthday, and while the to-do list is somewhat the length of my arm, I'm going to take a little time off to celebrate the last birthday of my twenties. Here's to living a life you love, peoples!

sneak preview for h&t

This bride is a friend of mine and coworker: we are both employed by the local Starbucks. I shot their engagement photos last fall, and I was thrilled when they asked me to do the wedding photos as well. I discovered during their engagement that this bride looooves the camera, so I was looking forward to a very chill time together, and they didn't disappoint. There were so many details of this wedding that I just loved, and I especially fell in love with the butterfly theme that was carried throughout.


Someone mentioned that they love my shoe pictures. Um, you can tell what I love.








I got myself an assistant! He managed to take a particularly accurate (and therefore less-than-flattering) shot of me holding a camera.


The butterflies!










I saw this pink building by the side of the road and was all "Must! Use!"

a first!

So one of my goals for this year has been to lead a photography workshop, not necessarily getting paid for it. Well, it's happening. Saturday, May 1 I'm working with a makeup artist and event coordinator to create an amazing setup that we can then use to practice shooting couples, individuals, and details. The content will be geared toward people who already know how to use their digital SLRs and are pretty serious about getting better with their portrait skills, although they don't necessarily want to turn pro. Class size is very limited, so if you're interested, shoot me an email: laura at lauradye dot com. Can't wait to see you there!

the engagement session of m&t

This engagement session has been referenced in an earlier post, so I won't go into excruciating detail but suffice it to say: there were trials. But I love the images we ended up with. Jared started the shoot at a church out on Saint Luke's Road, so the first few images are his. We then moved over to a random nursery, and from thence to Pemberton Park. I posted some of my favorites and threw up a slide show there at the end. Because, well, I'm a sucker for sappy music.

the engagement of t&m from Laura Dye on Vimeo.

photo of the day: go team

I know, I'm slacking! The rest of the photos from this engagement shoot really should be up by tomorrow. For now, I love this shot. They have matching jerseys, and I was super-happy with how this came out.

photo of the day: public service announcement

So today we're going to add something to the collective knowledge base and I'm going to pass on a handy tip so you can avoid my rookie mistake. Here we go.
I talk all the time about changing your perspective, seeing things differently, looking for a new shot or angle. However. Turning your camera so it's crooked is not the answer. A BAD PICTURE IS STILL A BAD PICTURE EVEN THOUGH YOUR CAMERA IS AT AN ANGLE. If the photo is boring, turning the camera all wonkified isn't going to change that. Get a different subject, get rid of distracting backgrounds, whatever. Don't just turn your camera slightly and call it "arty." It's not arty. It's lazy.
Exhibits A-E:

This picture is about 8 years old and was taken with a point and shoot, so, um, I'm sorry. But seriously: what exactly does the angle accomplish here other than chopping off her hand? Expression is good, light is decent; make this a vertical and it would be frame-able. As it is, this picture is stuck in limbo.

It looks like the cake is about to fall off the plate.

See? Angle does NOT equal artistic. Nor does uber-crappy vignetting.

And again!

Gah! If I had walked in front of him a tiny bit so the background was filled with green and then turned it so the camera was straight, this image would be awesome. As it is...eh.

So I took all these pictures, ok? I just went and pulled them off my flickrstream. LEARN FROM IT, people. I've exposed my lameness (and there's more where that came from) and don't let this public humiliation be in vain. Straighten those cameras and make your subject the interesting part.

photo of the day: eyes

This is the last one from the shoot, I promise. But I love getting reeeeeally close to faces, and this was just adorable.

slideshow: portraits of marin

There are more images here than made it into the final cut for the shoot, but I wanted to show movement a little more. All pictures were taken at Winterthur Gardens in Wilmington, Delaware. Enjoy!

photo shoot with marin from Laura Dye on Vimeo.

le announcement!

I'm working on putting together a workshop for local photographers, and I'm going to need a couple to model for me. So if you want in, shoot me an email with a picture of the two of you. It should be a brilliant time! laura at lauradye dot com. You don't necessarily have to be married or engaged, but if you have access to a wedding dress, let me know. Can't wait to hear from you! Also: to stay updated on workshop news and such, hit up my facebook page. I try to avoid spamisheness.

photo of the day: soul

Sunday night a friend and I drove over to The Globe Theater in Berlin to see The OC Originals. This is a project started by Wes Davis in which very talented local musicians get together for an evening and share their original work. The slogan is "no cover and no covers!" It was an incredibly fun evening, and despite the fact that I felt like I was dying (the next day I came down with the black death--well, either that or the flu--but you know how it is) I managed to pull out a few images that I liked. Sadly, I cannot remember this gentleman's name. I'm completely blaming that on my illness.

photo of the day: I *heart* nerds

More outtakes from Saturday's shoot in Winterthur. I love these glasses so much; they're 3D glasses where the lenses fell out.