Essex Photographer Wins Award

Well, you remember Felicity and James, right? If you don't, just read my previous blog. So I loved the images so much that I entered one in a Kubota Imaging Contest on Facebook. I decided to enter the one that the bride and groom said was their favorite. I almost always use a little Kubota Action on my images to at least give them an extra pop, something to set me apart from other photographers. I know my actions pretty well now, so when I'm going through the images I spot almost right away what action I'd like to use on them. This one had lots of landscape around it and I wanted to make it a bit more dreamy, romantic and pull the couple out from the background a bit more. I gave it an action called theEdge, which enhances details and takes away some of that digital haze. Then I used Deep Forest, which gives an image deep, rich colours and glowing shadows. I finished it off with an Edge Burner. I like the Edge Burner action because it gives a vignette feel and pulls the viewers focus toward the central image.

There were 6 winners, and I am grateful to be one of them! I'm not sure what the prize is, but it's from Silverback Imaging, so I'm betting it's pretty good. Silverback is a company, oddly enough, based in Denver (where I'm originally from!) and helps photographers with post production. Post production is something that many new photographers overlook or are inexperienced with. It is vital, however, in the digital age. In the film days, photographers had to know their film, their gear and their meters inside and out. We had to know what was happening when we took the shot. There was no guessing. If we got it wrong, it was very hard to save the image. Digital means that photographers can now figure it out as they go along. It's cool, don't get me wrong, but you end up loosing a lot of really great shots while you're getting it right. This is another good reason to stick with a professional photographer when you want a special event documented. We won't loose those precious moments. We might charge more, but you are paying for experience and our style of photography, something we've honed over many years.

But I digress. Perhaps what I'm leading to is that my prices may be going up soon, so book before they do!

Here's links to those interested in Kubota Actions or Silverback Imaging:
http://www.kubotaimagetools.com/
http://www.silverbackimaging.com/

Here's the winning image, before and after.