Best Camera [is the one you have with you] | iphoneography in Denver

My mind is expanding in SO many ways right now, taking an incredible creativeLIVE three day course on women's portraiture (I have so many new photographer crushes! Sue Bryce, how funny, sexy AND inspiring can one woman be?!)

But I had to take a moment on our lunch break to share this composite of iphone shots from my commute this morning in Denver. Incredible light, lovely spring snow. Textures were incredible everywhere. Just beautiful!

Photography Studio | Top 10 Tips for Success

With a desire to start the year with a positive outlook, Sandy Puc just began a great discussion thread on LinkedIn asking people to think about the Top 10 things they believe contribute to a successful photography studio.  

I love taking the first week of January to revisit goals for my photography business, and so was inspired to take a moment to reflect on my overall strategies for success. In no particular order, here are my Top 10 (ok 12) things I have observed over the years which motivate me every day.  Some I live with confidence.  Others I am still working to make wholly mine. What would YOU add?

1. THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE: Make booking, scheduling, delivering, and of course, shooting the photo session a memorable and fun experience.  Inspire referral business through existing clients.
2. SMILE: Yes, you. Genuinely. Smile!! On the job ... and at the proverbial coffee shop (can’t even count how many clients I’ve earned with this philosophy).
3. INSPIRATION / EDUCATION: keep reading, networking, attending seminars and workshops, and staying abreast of current trends, and try new things based on what inspires you.
4. GOALS / LISTS: keep both business and personal, and self-impose deadlines for non client driven ones. If you keep pushing back a deadline, ask yourself if the item should really be on the list (if so: do it! If not, remove it or put it on a separate back-burner list).
5. MARKETING: Schedule regular activity and think outside the box to market yourself creatively (in print, in person and via social media) Your website should reflect your personality. And especially when you’re starting out, don’t show every photo, show only your BEST photos!
6. COMFORT ZONE: Push it! Often! Shoot new material.  I love to use my phone camera to shoot personal projects even on days when I'm not shooting for clients.
7. PRICING: Review cost of business and package pricing annually and always communicate clearly and confidently with clients (unless you happen to love negotiating -- which I decidedly do NOT -- printed materials with pricing menus help tremendously).
8. MONEY: Fall in love with the business side of what you do. This is still my biggest challenge. I had to finally design myself a beautiful system of spreadsheets b/c the available software systems were all too dry for me. May sound silly, but it works for me. Find what works for you.
9. CONTRACTS: Know and continually update your contracts to stay on top of constantly changing on-line world (especially if you work with digital files and licensing). Educate your clients about copyright laws, and gently educate clients that they are investing in your talent, creativity, instinct and vision, NOT paper and ink.
10. GRATITUDE: Be grateful for the fact that you get to do what you love for a living! Remind yourself of this simple and amazing fact when times are tough.
11. ACCEPT CHANGE! Don’t attach to old ways of doing things and don’t be afraid of learning new tricks. Let go of fear, take chances, dive in...
12. TAKE DANCE BREAKS. Often. Crazy ones. They are immeasurably good for the spirit. Not to mention sore, over-worked eyeballs.

On Interstellar Dance + a New Website | Architectural, Wedding, Portrait + Product Photography, Denver

Winding my way through the breathtaking back roads of Colorado a few years ago, I was lost in a favorite tape-set of mine called "Canticle to the Cosmos."  (wait, I just typed the word "tape-set" -- there's a possibility this may have been more than a few years ago) 

On this particular trip, following a spectacular autumn photo shoot at dawn, I was somewhere near Great Sand Dunes National Monument when struck anew by the words of cosmologist Brian Swimme.  He spoke passionately about exploding supernovas, black holes, violent asteroid collisions and entire galaxies hurdling through space toward each other on an inevitable course toward an interstellar dance of destruction. 

My attention was sparked deeper still as he paused to reflect on the poignance behind the chaos.  It turns out that each of us are comprised of certain elements which are produced ONLY in the most fiery explosions of giant supernovas.  We thus are, quite literally, made of stardust.  On top of this gift of elemental life birthed solely through the most destructive of universal events, Mr. Swimme suggests that there is a more poetic gift in all of this destruction as well: the gift of pressure.  A positive pressure... the pressure to LIVE, to love, to observe, to experience.  A pressure to appreciate what it is to be human at this moment in time.

So... why am I talking about this in a photography blog?  Partly it's an attempt to find perspective and hope amongst the backdrop of recent events in our more immediate universe.  Maybe I just wanted to use the phrase "interstellar dance" in a post announcing my NEW WEBSITE.  Either way, if you happen to find resonance in Swimme's perspective, I hope it inspires you as it has for me!

With a renewed vigor for grabbing each precious day and living it to its fullest, here's to each of us remembering -- today and every day -- to make it count! 

Carpe Diem.

a glimpse of my new homepage!  Come VISIT!

Capture Philosophy | PHOTO TIP 02: Creative use of Foreground

Dynamic photos draw us in and give our eye the space and reason to move around inside the frame.  Layering a composition with simple foreground, middle and background elements can add a great deal of interest to an otherwise flat photo.  As such, many photos can be dramatically improved through the implementation of some simple but creative compositional choices.

While this may sound like a simple concept, finding the right foreground element can have a profound impact on a finished photo - from grounding the image with a sense of scale to framing and/or highlighting a subject.  In fact, often in the search for a great foreground element, you can discover a whole new subject for a photograph you hadn’t previously envisioned.  It’s a great exercise to explore your surroundings and find new inspiration.

Here are a few examples using a variety of different subjects:

01 | Draw your viewer into the photo with a compelling foreground element which directly leads into the photo:

Great Sand Dunes National Monument + Denver Art Museum © Jennifer Koskinen

02 | Find foreground elements with which to frame your subject:

Bridal Veil Falls, Telluride, CO + Denver Art Museum © Jennifer Koskinen 

03 | Ground the photo by highlighting a strong foreground element in a composition that might originally have been about the background (these "discovered" opportunities often make for more personal photos of iconic locations):

Bridge Railing to Town Park, Telluride CO + Maroon Bells Wilderness, Aspen CO © Jennifer Koskinen 

04 | Relate the foreground to subject matter, highlighting, echoing or strengthening the subject itself:

Sculpture outside Denver Art Museum + Chalk Street Drawing at Telluride July 4th Celebration © Jennifer Koskinen

05 | Create symmetry, layering and balance:

Driftwood at Maroon Bells, Aspen CO + Private Residence, Telluride CO © Jennifer Koskinen

06 | "Work hard and you’ll get lucky"
Often great foreground material will present itself when you are open to seeing it; the audience member who pops up right in front of you with a perfect hat and hand gesture; a butterfly on a flower when you're already on your belly in the grass; a handful of autumn photographers so perfectly set they could have been staged; and lastly of course, drifting fog makes for a lovely and precious foreground that can only be discovered when in the right place at the right time:

Mountainfilm Symposium + Butterfly on Valley Floor
Photographers in the Sneffles Wilderness + Wilson Peak Above the clouds
Telluride CO © Jennifer Koskinen

SUGGESTION:

The next time you are out shooting, take some extra time and move around to find interesting foreground elements with which to frame or draw the attention towards your subject.  Play with your aperture as well (last month’s tip), and see what kind of results are yielded when you focus selectively and/or blur your foreground or background elements... experiment with color and composition, and most of all, have fun!

Happy Shooting :)

MDP Newsletter | Issue 01

You are invited to check out Merritt Design Photo's first newsletter, and please click to join our mailing list for future issues!

Desire to Inspire: FEATURED!

Thank you Kim at Desire to Inspire for your feature on my work today!! Your blog has been my favorite one to check almost every day for months now!

Architecture + Weddings ...

Architectural Photography + Wedding Photography...

... May seem like an odd combination, but each represents a soulful connection to the world around and within us. I suppose, for me, they each represent one of the more significant milestones in our lives - iconic dreams that we hold from childhood - each of which brings us to a new phase of our lives. The photography of each, if executed well, allows a viewer a glimpse into someone else's dream space...

This blog will celebrate both - beautifully designed architecture and joyfully lived weddings - as seen through my camera (currently my beloved Canon 5D).

It is every bit as different an experience to photograph each as you might imagine... Architecture (for which I have an undying love following a Master of Architecture degree and several years in the design profession) will sit for you unflinchingly while the light plays its magic within and around the spaces, and generally, you have many chances to get the shot the way you want it.

In stark contrast, each moment leading up to, during, and following a wedding ceremony is beyond fleeting and as such, work as a wedding photojournalist is hugely weighted with significance, but when I start to watch the images emerge as I edit the shoot, it is unimaginably and profoundly rewarding to know that these moments are captured forever.

Sensitivity above all else, followed by patience and passion for the subject matter are required for both genres of photographic work, and I find both to be among the most satisfying work I could ever imagine being lucky enough to do!