Brittany, it was great meeting you! I hope you have a fantastic graduation and good luck in college! And now we know where the infamous grafitti wall is... even if it was just around the corner!
As always, a few of my favorites-
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Brittany Senior Portraits, Hotel Roanoke (Schaffer Photography)
Brittany was an absolute joy to work with! After family portraits at Hotel Roanoke, we headed downtown to have some fun taking senior photos! Brittany was so fun and bubbly, it made for such a relaxed portrait session. Her senior portraits turned out beautifully. I don't think I could have taken a bad picture of her if I tried :)
Brittany, it was great meeting you! I hope you have a fantastic graduation and good luck in college! And now we know where the infamous grafitti wall is... even if it was just around the corner!
As always, a few of my favorites-
Brittany, it was great meeting you! I hope you have a fantastic graduation and good luck in college! And now we know where the infamous grafitti wall is... even if it was just around the corner!
As always, a few of my favorites-
Bolling Family and Baby Portraits, Schaffer Photography
I had such a great time photographing the Bolling family last weekend. I have known Stacy for about 7 years now. We go waaaaaay back when I met her starting my long career of 8 years working as a veterinary assistant at a local vet hospitals. We only got to work together for a few weeks before she left for the job she has now. And then 5 years later, we were back to working together just now we are working at a research laboratory. Roanoke really can be a small world sometimes! It was great to see her again with her beautiful curly hair. I hope I'm not the only girl with straight hair that envies funky, pretty and cool curly hair :)
The Bollings became parents about 7 months ago and so far they seem to be fitting right in. They asked me to come take a few family photos and lots of their little girl and I was ecstatic to! As you can see, baby L is absolutely adorable! Here are a few of my favorites from last weekend-
The Bollings became parents about 7 months ago and so far they seem to be fitting right in. They asked me to come take a few family photos and lots of their little girl and I was ecstatic to! As you can see, baby L is absolutely adorable! Here are a few of my favorites from last weekend-
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| How beautiful are her eyes!! |
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| I think she loves her crib :) |
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| Happy family and baby!! |
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| I am way too cool for you... |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The SPCA Pet Project, Schaffer Photography
To all of my animal loving fans and friends,
If anyone knows me, they know that I am an animal lover of the utmost extreme. I truly have a bleeding heart for animals of all kinds, so Schaffer Photography is putting together a coffee table book to raise money for the Roanoke Valley SPCA (http://www.rvspca.org/). I am selling pages for a coffee table book with each page costing only $50. Each page will feature a photograph of your pet(s), their name, your name and a description about your relationship together written by you.
With your donation, you will also receive a brief pet photography portrait session from Schaffer Photography for use in the book! All pets welcome!! After the portrait session, you will receive a CD with 5-10 watermarked pet images in 72 dpi (resolution), which is perfect for sharing online and printing at sizes less than 8x10. I will be booking pet portrait sessions through the end of the summer so the photo book can be finished by September.
After the book is finished, you will have the option to purchase a copy for your personal coffee table for an additional $70. Fine art prints will also be available for purchasing after the portrait session. I encourage everyone to participate and help out our four legged furry friends when they are unable to help themselves. The SPCA is a certified 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that relies completely on donations to care for thousands of homeless or unwanted animals in our community. This project is fully sponsored and endorsed by the Roanoke Valley SPCA.
If you are interested in participating, please contact me to schedule your pet photography session. Thank you from Schaffer Photography and all of the animals at the SPCA!
Tips for Choosing a Wedding Photographer, Schaffer Photography
I would say photography is one of the most important critical parts of any couple's wedding day. If not the most important. And not just because I am a photographer! After all, you spend a great deal of effort planning all the many beautiful details that will make up your wedding day. When your wedding day is over, most of what you will have left to remember your wedding day by is photographs. And hopefully they are great photos that capture all of the emotions and little moments along with the details of your wedding for you to look back on and remember for years to come. So, I thought I would write a few tips on choosing a photographer for your wedding!
1. Fits your style.
First of all, you need to know your personal style! Take a look at lots of wedding photos. What do you like and what don't you like? Why do you think you like or don't like those things? Some couples like traditional photography where many of the photos are preplanned or posed. Or do you like more unexpected and candid shots(photojournalism)? Or a mix of both? Knowing what want in a wedding photographer will help you narrow down your top pics from a sea of many photographers.
2. Fits well with your personality.
Your photographer is going to be with you for one of the most important days of your life. You want the personality of your wedding photographer to fit in easily with you, your husband/wife to be and your bridal party. You don't want them get on your nerves! Some of this has to do with style as well- candid photographers will more than likely try and stay in the background, unnoticed to capture truly candid moments as they happen. More traditional photographers will plan photography opportunities through out the day.
3. Has experience and can prove it.
Wedding photography experience is crucial. Knowing the flow of a wedding and being technically proficient is so important! What will happen if the shooting conditions during your wedding are less than optimal? Will your photographer know how to compensate and adjust to make sure that your wedding photos still turn out well? What if there is a hitch in the order of the wedding ceremony or someone is running late- can your wedding photographer roll with the punches?
A great way to get a feel for a photographer's experience is to ask for references or check for memberships in professional organizations. A few well know photographer organizations are the Professional Photographers of America "PPA" (http://ppa.com/), Wedding Photojournalist Association "WPJA" (http://wpja.com/), or Wedding and Portrait Photographers International "WPPI" (http://wppionline.com/). Many professional organizations require that a photographer submit a portfolio before being accepted which is a great way to gauge a photographers technical abilities and creative aptitudes. All that being said, some photographers can't afford to have certain certifications, so don't overlook a great photographer just because they don't belong to a professional organization. Having a wedding photographer with a sound technical knowledge and experience will definitely pay off and you will be able to see it in your photos. If you find several photographers you like, don't hesitate to contact them and set up an appointment. Good photographers book a lot of times over a year in advance, so don't wait!
4. You can afford.
There are a lot of wedding photographers out there. That being said, there are definitely some great ones and definitely some bad ones too. Not all wedding photographers are created equally. In the wedding photography (and real!) world, you get what you pay for. This can be a sensitive topic to many couples and I'm not saying to take out a second mortgage on your house to pay for a wedding photographer! But, it might be worth it to try and cut down a little on other areas of your wedding so that you can afford more to put towards a photographer. A good professional photographer will be worth it because they will have a good solid technical photography knowledge, know how to keep organized and calm during the craziness of a wedding, can direct people well to get good photos, have a great artistic and creative eye to capture unique shots, be able to make you feel comfortable while taking photos, and so much more.
5. Archives your wedding images.
Yes, you might have been given a CD full of your wedding photographs, but what if you lose it or it gets scratched? Will you be able to contact your wedding photographer 5 years from now and purchase another CD? It is important that when choosing a wedding photographer that they backup your images! Ask the photographer exactly how they back up your images and if they use two sources (just in case one crashes).
Of course, there are certainly other things to consider when choosing a wedding photographer. I have just listed several of the biggest. Remember to have fun planning your wedding, even when choosing a photographer!
Choose a photographer that:
1. Fits your style.
First of all, you need to know your personal style! Take a look at lots of wedding photos. What do you like and what don't you like? Why do you think you like or don't like those things? Some couples like traditional photography where many of the photos are preplanned or posed. Or do you like more unexpected and candid shots(photojournalism)? Or a mix of both? Knowing what want in a wedding photographer will help you narrow down your top pics from a sea of many photographers.
2. Fits well with your personality.
Your photographer is going to be with you for one of the most important days of your life. You want the personality of your wedding photographer to fit in easily with you, your husband/wife to be and your bridal party. You don't want them get on your nerves! Some of this has to do with style as well- candid photographers will more than likely try and stay in the background, unnoticed to capture truly candid moments as they happen. More traditional photographers will plan photography opportunities through out the day.
3. Has experience and can prove it.
Wedding photography experience is crucial. Knowing the flow of a wedding and being technically proficient is so important! What will happen if the shooting conditions during your wedding are less than optimal? Will your photographer know how to compensate and adjust to make sure that your wedding photos still turn out well? What if there is a hitch in the order of the wedding ceremony or someone is running late- can your wedding photographer roll with the punches?
A great way to get a feel for a photographer's experience is to ask for references or check for memberships in professional organizations. A few well know photographer organizations are the Professional Photographers of America "PPA" (http://ppa.com/), Wedding Photojournalist Association "WPJA" (http://wpja.com/), or Wedding and Portrait Photographers International "WPPI" (http://wppionline.com/). Many professional organizations require that a photographer submit a portfolio before being accepted which is a great way to gauge a photographers technical abilities and creative aptitudes. All that being said, some photographers can't afford to have certain certifications, so don't overlook a great photographer just because they don't belong to a professional organization. Having a wedding photographer with a sound technical knowledge and experience will definitely pay off and you will be able to see it in your photos. If you find several photographers you like, don't hesitate to contact them and set up an appointment. Good photographers book a lot of times over a year in advance, so don't wait!
There are a lot of wedding photographers out there. That being said, there are definitely some great ones and definitely some bad ones too. Not all wedding photographers are created equally. In the wedding photography (and real!) world, you get what you pay for. This can be a sensitive topic to many couples and I'm not saying to take out a second mortgage on your house to pay for a wedding photographer! But, it might be worth it to try and cut down a little on other areas of your wedding so that you can afford more to put towards a photographer. A good professional photographer will be worth it because they will have a good solid technical photography knowledge, know how to keep organized and calm during the craziness of a wedding, can direct people well to get good photos, have a great artistic and creative eye to capture unique shots, be able to make you feel comfortable while taking photos, and so much more.
Yes, you might have been given a CD full of your wedding photographs, but what if you lose it or it gets scratched? Will you be able to contact your wedding photographer 5 years from now and purchase another CD? It is important that when choosing a wedding photographer that they backup your images! Ask the photographer exactly how they back up your images and if they use two sources (just in case one crashes).
Of course, there are certainly other things to consider when choosing a wedding photographer. I have just listed several of the biggest. Remember to have fun planning your wedding, even when choosing a photographer!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Going Yoga-ling
One of my coworkers and friends wanted to enter a contest from a local yoga studio, Uttara Yoga Studios, to win some free yoga lessons and workout gear. One photo could be entered per person into the contest and it had to be Roanoke themed. My friend asked me to take her photos in exchange for a girl's night out at Wonju Korean (which has amazing food if you haven't tried it!), so I agreed because I am a sucker for free food. Especially really good free food!
My friend was such a good sport- we took these photos last weekend after a hard days work shoveling gravel and dirt as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. I think saying that both of us were tired and muddy would be a bit of an understatement. And it was quite chilly outside last weekend. My friend was super tough and a great model because you would never know in any of her photos that it was cold and windy outside.
I loaned her my winter jacket which she would wear while I set up and got my photo framed and camera ready. When we were ready to shoot she would throw the jacket off and pose like a pro! After I got the photos I needed, I threw my jacket back to her and she would quickly zip it closed. These photos turned out beautifully- I couldn't have asked for any better! Now the only question left is which photo should she enter into the contest!?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Crandall-Gear Wedding (22 January 2011)
I think it was almost fate that I photographed this wedding. When I met the bride for the first time at a local coffee shop, we instantly started chatting and talking about many of our common interests. After hearing that the ceremony location was at the church where I went to elementary school, I was so excited! That might not sound earth shattering to you, but my elementary school was VERY small with only about 50 students at any time and it had closed down many years ago, so photographing this wedding was going to be nostalgic for me. It definately was! In a good way. It was great to be back at Grace Academy. I have to say everything seemed a little bit smaller than it did 20 years ago when I was a student, but for the most part things remained unchanged even down to how the classrooms smelled. It was truly wonderful and I had a blast photographing this beautiful wedding. This wedding was an absolute joy to photograph! Thank you Jaimie and Evan!
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| One of my favorite photos from the wedding. What a piercing gaze! |
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| The bride getting ready |
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| The groom before the wedding. Love the bow tie! |
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| Just a few tears before the wedding after the bride sees her dad. Most of her bridesmaids were her sisters, so everyone was crying. Such a sweet family! |
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| Having a laugh during the ceremony |
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| The kiss! |
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| Beautiful portrait of the bride |
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| Another one of my favorites! I love, love the determination in the bride's face! |
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| My FAVORITE photo from the wedding |
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Cheyenne baby portraits
Cheyenne was my very first all baby shoot! I was so excited to try something new that I had never done before. I wasn't sure how it was going to go and I was very nervous, although I don't think anyone noticed (hopefully!). I definately did lots of research on the internet before for some pointers when working with little ones. I found some amazing suggestions along with some really bad ones too! Some of the best ones were: Get down on the baby's level. Don't use a flash. A warm baby is a happy baby! and Let mom help you out. Luckily mom was is a good friend of mine who I have known since middle school!
I have to say as nervous as I was before the shoot, the photos of little baby Cheyenne turned out beautifully! I learned a lot along the way too... From baby Cheyenne's photos, I have gained some experience and a lot of confidence for my next baby shoot!
I have to say as nervous as I was before the shoot, the photos of little baby Cheyenne turned out beautifully! I learned a lot along the way too... From baby Cheyenne's photos, I have gained some experience and a lot of confidence for my next baby shoot!
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