ap·er·ture

n. 1. An opening

2. a. A usually adjustable opening in an optical instrument, such as a camera or telescope, that limits the amount of light passing through a lens or onto a mirror.b. The diameter of such an opening, often expressed as an f-number.c. The diameter of the objective of a telescope.

A lot of photographer’s get asked “how do you make the baground blurry?” – the simple answer is correct manipulation of aperture.  The focal area changes when the f/stop changes, the smaller the number, the shallower the depth of field (area in focus) – the larger the number (smaller aperture) will give a greater depth of field.  Aperture and Shutter speed work side by side with the light you are dealing with in a manner that can be described as this:

 Light – How much, for how long? In this case of aperture, we are talking about how much.  The smaller the number, the larger the aperture – thus letting light splash on your sensor of your DSLR, and also changing your focal plane.

Since the main lady in my life is turning six and a half, she gets to bring a treat to school (which in itself has been a fiasco – more below).  I thought these delectable desserts would be an interesting opportunity to explain a bit how all that jazz works out.  Starting at a wide open aperture on my 50mm lens, notice the background and forground (of the sprinkles) change as the numbers change.  The main focus is on the BLUE top sprinkle.  The first three are subtle in change, but notice you can see the rows of cupcakes clearer by the third photo… and the sprinkles clearly in focus by the last image along with a more in-focus background.

Cool, huh?

Another example on a lid full of confectionary pretties – you can see clearly where the focus falls and where it misses.  Some people like to use other tools (I think google picasa ranks up there) to give a faux ring of “blur” versus natural bokeh from a wide aperture – however there is an extreme difference in slapping a blur over an image and mastering what apertures to use, and when.  While all this cool focal stuff happens, it’s all a matter of the light hitting spilling into your camera’s sensor (film!) and creating more or less splashing of that light.  Many photographers love these wide apertures for indoor photography, when they opt not to use a flash source; letting all of that light in is luscious!  But balancing the fine line of keeping what you need in focus and using available light in a dim situation is a must!  Can you see why it can be tricky to use a wide aperture to shoot a close-up headshot? It is so very easy to end up with simply the eyelashes of ONE eye in focus and lose the rest.

Give it a try!  Play with those other options on your camera if you have them – see what you get!  Please note this is just a jott down of a few things about aperture.  There are so many good books that go into lots of detail, if you would like a list of a few, please let me know! Anything Scott Kelby is pretty much amazing!

Now for the little story on the “half birthday treat” – K’s birthday is at the end of August… so she either meets or doesn’t meet the first week of school.  Well this year, she missed it – so she gets a “half birthday” day to bring a treat in, a nice way for the summer birthdays to have their day (I’m pretty sure it’s done like this everywhere!).  This day had been looked forward to since her actual sixth birthday and when it finally came, school was cancelled due to snow. The next day? Cancelled, too. Then comes the weekend. So, these are our second batch of treats and I hope they are well enjoyed =)

I boldly avoided these amazing smelling sweets by the power of drinking a lot of water before baking (smile) – so I know how hard it is, and apologize now if this enticed you to go on a sweets binge – however, we all deserve one every now and then – so go bake something! =) I don’t typically say that following newborn posts, because it either A. relieves baby fever or B. creates it!

Just a little something fun for your day, and now you know all the flicking and clicking of buttons and wheels on my camera means something and isn’t just useless fumbling. *wink*

Side note – I’m booked in FULL for JULY 2010 and AUGUST 2010.  March, May, June (after the first full week), and September are open. I know this seems far in advance, doesn’t it?  I cannot even belive it is MARCH!

Happy Monday Everyone – here’s to hoping SPRING is on the way! PLEASE!

xo

dani

To start with…  I suppose, like the ones that were actually supposed to be mailed, I could have shared this with my readers BEFORE the Holiday Season, huh?

Hour Christmas was filled with bits of Toy Story, Hamsters that crow for some reason…

…and a sweet piece of vintage that was GOING to be mine on ebay at all costs (unfortunately!).  I remembered playing with a garage exactly like this as a kid at my Grandmothers house – hours of it, with my cousins. 

When I took it out of the original box it just blew my mind!  This thing is pristine – straight from the seventies – high quality goodness… ahh!  I got E. the 2008 version of this last Christmas and it was a hunk of JUNK like most toys now-a-days.  The bell dings, the elevator works no matter which way you turn the handle ( just like I recalled!) – it’s just a blast.  It’s the first thing the kids go for when we have little ones as visitors.  Doesn’t that take you back a little?

That’s about as far into my personal Holiday photos that I’m going to go But they are all in good fun.

Over my vacation I had the pleasure of photographing the S. family, who were in town from Tennessee staying with family the week before Christmas to visit

This little miss – right before I was winding down got suited up by mom in her cutie pie tu-tu – lollypop in hand, makes me love it so much.

Dad plays the guitar and the kids really dig it

Okay, onto other news!

You can now find two brief PDF guides that are current at my portfolio, or by accessing them below:

www.danielleluc.com/guides/sessionfee

www.danielleluc.com/guides/prints

There are a few minor changes in the way proofing will go this year, and each will give a brief detailing of general investment and expectations.  I’ve never had anyone question it until now – but as far as “delivery” – in terms of my business, this means your boxed items and presentation.  You will be asked to pick up your prints when they are available, however if I will in your neighborhood or if you are absolutely unable to swing by, I understand and will do my best to bring your purchases to your home.

As of this year, I will NO LONGER BE PHOTOGRAPHING SENIORS.  I’m begining to find my niche and where my abilities side best, and Senior Photography just simply isn’t one of them   I need to be able to put my heart and mind 100% into what I do, and I know there are plenty of amazing photographers out there in the area who can photograph seniors very awesomely   Sorry for any inconvenience this causes to anyone.

Fall Mini Sessions will also be available to my 2010 regular clients for the first selection.  Mini’s will proof 5-10 (I have yet to decide on this as of yet) images.  I get a lot of first-time clients for mini’s and they end up being  just as much work and almost the same amount of proofs as a regular standard portrait session (I cant help it!) – so this needs to be adjusted, so that each and every family that books is allocated time and talent fairly according to investment.  There will potentially be a standard mini available throughout the year, but this, too, as of yet is undecided.

A few new guidelines with what happens to your unordered images – at the end of the week long proofing, any UNORDERED images are discarded.  Any digital files on my harddrives that prints were ordered from are cropped to 8×12 format and will be stored on my harddrive at that time.  Should you wish to be able to order other prints  in the future that weren’t ordered from in your initial ordering session, you will need to consider a digital collection so that they are available to you for…ever! For example, should you decide you do not want to order any of image number 4, 16, and 18 – and you decide at a later date you wish to reactivate your gallery to order, those images will not be available – as only the ones you have ordered from will be present.  This cuts down on me adding undesired images to harddrive space.  This isnt typically an issue as Digital Collections are of huge demand at this point – but it is in effect for 2010 and beyond.

In likeness, the same goes for web images. Web images (facebook, myspace) are available for any ordered image.  You will be unable to obtain a web sized image for any unordered portrait.

I thank you all for your understanding in some of these changes!

Full pricing and wedding catalogs are available upon request, should you have any other inqueries for 2010 that are not answered in the above PDF’s.

Once again, thank you ALL for such an awesome 2009 and I’m just squealing inside with delight over starting my 3rd year, and the BEATUFIUL BRIDES that are awaiting this season!  Which brings me to one more thing:  THERE ARE NO MORE AVAILABLE BOOKINGS FOR WEDDINGS IN 2010 and JUNE AND JULY 2011 are currently booked.  If you are looking for 2011 – now’s about that time.

Okay, goodnight and glad to be back!

xo

dani

 The mini-sessions for 2009 are now CLOSED. If you are interested in booking a regular session, feel free to get at me:)  THANKS EVERYONE! Can’t wait!

(First things first, the winner of the photobox is the comment from “ALI”!  Congratulations, Ali!  I will be in touch re: your freebie!  Second, it was terrible for me to know that so many people would be let down if K. didn’t pick their comment number… sooo… second number K. picked was from “Jackie” Congratulations, JACKIE! You win a free framed 8×10 in a lovely white Malden frame!  Everyone else that entered will receive their choice of a $50 coupon toward the purchase of a photobox OR $10 off the purchase of a set of wallet books.  If you are interested in claiming your $50 or $10 coupon, please email me for the code or for details!)

It’s that time! Fall mini session scheduling has arrived. These are the perfect quickie session to get a few snapshots in and an updated family photo for the holiday card season.  This years mini sessions will consist of a choice at two locations: a more fun and poppy urban feel using downtown locations and a softer more natural feel consisting of a more toned down location here in Fremont. I have one in mind, but cannot totally confirm until I see if there is super duper fall beauty or not! 

*All 5:30 sessions are downtown (unless you request otherwise)

*All 6:00 or 6:30 sessions are at another location (unless both reservers on a 6:00/6:30 date choose to switch to a downtown session)

This year’s mini sessions are $40 (*regular sessions are $150 with a $75 print credit) and include the following:

- ONE 20 minute session

-  1 5×7 and 8 wallets (same image)

AND

- choice of either ONE 4×6 sized digital file for holiday card use (additional files can be purchased for $25 each) OR a customized boutique holiday card purchased through me – with $5 off your card order.

Holiday Boutique cards are double sided and sized 4×5.5 or 5×7 and printed on pearl press stock paper.  Choose 1-2 images for the front (depending on your chosen template), and add a mod collage of your images from your mini on the back… or, if you’ve had a session with DLP this past year and would like to include some of those images from that session, we can mix those in the collage, too! 

Here’s a sneak peek at this year’s theme cards – merry and BRIGHT!

Space is limited as I am only doing a few of these.  You may purchase your spot today by clicking below on the appropriate date.   I will try to come back and remove the buttons of the full dates, however once they are sold, they cannot be purchased a second time.

PLEASE SELECT THE “BUY NOW” BUTTONT BELOW THE DATE YOU WISH TO PURCHASE YOUR MINI SESSION FOR!  If you do not have paypal, you can still pay with paypal. Just follow the instructions.

Sept 26 at 6pm

Sept 26 at 630pm

TAKEN

Sept 27 @ 530pm

 TAKEN

Oct 3 @ 600pm

Oct3 @ 630pm

TAKEN

Oct 18 @ 530

Oct 20 @ 530pm

TAKEN 

Oct 24 @ 6pm

TAKEN

Oct 26 @ 530pm

Onto some lovely-ness… Meet Jessica & Craig.  They are getting married in september and I’m super excited for their wedding.  We finally got around to the engagement photos the other day (they come from afar) and we had one of  THEE most perfect days to do it. 

(sorry in advance for the heavy branding… I facebooked these so the couple could preview them as I was unsure of the blogs return date!)

These two are loads of fun (you might recognise miss J from a prior session with her sister and brothers) and we got some great images.   Thanks guys for such a nice time!

Anywho, I’ve got a session tonight with a bundle of little kiddies so it should be good time (I’m yawning already… I know I’m going to be tired after this one!   I’m so happy to be back and settling back in.

ALSO: There was some confusion on my website about my availability. When my site was transfered, it reverted back to some old info.  I am currently closed for June, July, and August 2009.  I have two spots remaining for September and am booking into October.  Mini-Session Details coming soon!  Please contact me if you are interested in being put on a contact list for those… or you can wait for the annoucement

Again, please leave a small note in the comment section if you are able to view the blog in its entirety, I’d be grateful.

xo

dani

 I’ve got some major busy-ness coming up – including a fabulous weekend!  I am shooting a wedding at the German Village in Columbus, OH this coming weekend for an awesome couple.  I will get to spend the day with the couple and their treasured family and friends and attend their sunset wedding.  It sounds luscious and I’m so exctied!  We have some other activities planned family wise and I’ll let in on those a little later on

Also, to give everyone a heads up  – in the coming week(s) or so, you may notice for a period of about 12 hours that my sites are not accessable – I am switching  Hosts to take on PickPic – a premium online ordering system.  Part of my changes includes this easy to use shopping cart feature that I know you will all just love.  This will X the commonly used paper ordering system (that I absolutely do NOT adore).  My current shopping cart is not so fabulous and I’ve chosen more often than not, NOT to use them.  PickPic will give you the option to see your images in a plethora of crops and tonal changes (view a color image in BW).

So, if you visit and the site or blog is down, please come back within a day to re-visit!

Looking for a september appointment? Holy Moly, time is NOW!  Looking forward to all the fun stuff, a better update soon – I promise. Oh, and there was a beautiful Canon 5d Mark II waiting for me when I came home! Who had the best anniversary/birthday EVER?  That’d be me. This sucker took near perfectly noiseless shots in my dark (tv illuminated) living room at a whopping ISO 6400!  And the noise was better at 6400 than either 40d at 1600 – I’m amaaaazed.  Not that the half of you understand why that’s impressive, but for those of you who do – Here’s an “e-towel” to wipe the drool off your chin

xo

dani

Good Monday to you!

I will be out of the office for a week – if you email me, please do not expect a personal response until the weekend or monday.  You will recieve an autoresponse full of what will be hopefully helpful info, however. The next few days will be spent Celebrating my birthday and our wedding anniversary, with many fun things planned with and without our lovely kiddos.

Here is my favorite photo from our wedding – actually taken by a paramedic friend of ours!  It was taken just after we exited the church, on the back of FFD’s 1928 antique fire engine.  Just thought I would share for fun

Meanwhile, you may email me as usual if you would like to be updated on some big time changes here at DLP!  A few things that have changed include the flat rate session fee – there is now ONE session fee for any type of session with me.  The fee covers my time and talent, and also includes a print credit to be used at the time of your order.  Those of you already on my books who have already signed a contract are NOT subject to these changes, only new bookings.  Prints will also be coming from a new colorlab and are now at new set prices as well.  I believe in offering the highest quality possible for your artwork and appreciate your continued patronage and support! 

The press products keep rolling in and contine to stun me with awesomeness.  As noted above when you enter the blog, there are two Press Printed specials going on right now!  I promise you will love them!

You may, at any time (includcing while I am out of the office), email me at dani@danielleluc.com  (or use the blog contact form) and request the NEW .pdf Danielle Luc Photography Investment, Session, & Product Catalog – which consists of a link to a quick downloadable PDF file that will load on your PC.  Here you will find all of the new pricing and session details, and also images of all of the new press products.  Per your request for this while I am unavilable, it will still be automaticly sent to you.

I am currently accepting very few remaining in August and am booking into September.  I have had a few requests for Fall Mini-Sessions, but will be re-arranging that a little this year to make it a little more relaxed and private – as it was not a favorite for many of the kids last year!  If you are interested, please let me know.  Info for the Fall Mini’s will be going out more than likely in August.  This season has been very busy so far and I’m enjoying seeing all of the kids and families returning from last year, and meeting all of the lovely new people I’ve been so lucky to come into contact with.

Weddings are booking up for 2010 already – so if you are interested, the time to contact me and book your date is NOW.  Currently booked and unavailable wedding weekends in ‘10 are July 31 and October 2.

And to leave you with a little something to refresh your summer-on-the-brain-ness….

…a little of my two – E. loving the water and K. on her new (beach cruiser!) bike.  Her knees were hitting the handlebars of her old one and it was time for the training wheels to GO.  She’s a champ.

I’m biased, but I love those two images

Hope you do, too.

Enjoy your week, talk to you all soon!

xo

d

(little Alexa and her family need all you’ve got in your heart right now.  Stop and leave a message for them if you can)

Session Openings & Updates regarding:

April,  May, and June of 2009 are now CLOSED to new bookings. Should you wish to be put on a waiting list for a cancellation, please e-mail me.

**MATERNITY AND NEWBORNS: YOUR SESSIONS VARY FROM STANDARD PORTRAIT SESSIONS – IF YOU ARE EXPECTING AND ARE DUE IN THE ABOVE CLOSED MONTHS, PLEASE STILL CALL ME TO DISCUSS YOUR E.D.D. AND SEE IF WE CAN WORK YOU/YOUR  NEWBORN INTO THE MIX**

July = wide open.

August 2009 has ONE opening remaining.

September 2009 has TWO openings remaining.

I will be out of the office and/or booked full on:

The week of JUNE 7th from Sunday the 7th until Sunday the 14th.
The weekend of JUNE 19-22.

Saturday JULY 25

The weekend of AUGUST 1 & 2.

The weekend of SEPTEMBER 12 &13.

The weekend of OCTOBER 9-12.

Saturday OCTOBER 17.

I will poll eventually to find out if there is any interest in the Fall Mini Sessions again – I know last year we struggled a bit with the short time frame/unhappy kids.  I haven’t decided if it’s going to be anything anyone is interested in – therefore, I have left October off the list until I have a better idea of whether or not the requests will be more for full sessions versus a mini.

((hint hint :  seniors, time is NOW to book if youre waiting for the paint to dry *smile*!)

As of 10/08 all sessions were announced to be pre-paid to hold your date.  Now, in the event someone books and does not pay their session fee and the date becomes available, I will make the announcement here if I am unable to fill it with anyone on a wait list.  The dates will be given on a first come/first served basis.

Thank you for your continued support/patrionage – I am amazed and grateful every day and will never take that for granted.

Looking forward to working with you =)

danielle