Shelley Dee Photography

Monday, August 26, 2013

Wedding Albums {Your Wedding Story}Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Portrait & Wedding Photographer...Shelley Hohe

After photographing a couples wedding day, my work does not end there! I go home and cull through all the images which takes quite some time. I want to make sure I am picking out the best photos to tell a couples wedding story. Once I cull and edit all the images I cull once more for what will go in the wedding album. The wedding albums I give my couples are not just an ordinary album you buy in the store and place pictures in, it is a gorgeous leather bound book filled with photos mounted to each page. It's more than just a photo album, it's the couples storybook of images in which I creatively design on each page. I put so much heart in to each album I design that when it comes to delivering the album to my couple there is nothing better than doing this in person. To see the look on their faces when they open their albums for the first time is like watching a toddler opening a present and being surprised with their favorite toy. It brings me so much joy to make my clients this happy and excited. I am just so thankful that I get to do something I love and to be able to share this with others is such a blessing!!!

The photo albums I design are Destiny Albums by Bay Photo Lab....they really are gorgeous and come with a beautiful case to keep your album dust free and safe. Here are some photos of a recent wedding album I designed and delivering the album to my clients....my new friends!!!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Monday, August 19, 2013

Decorating Your Work Space {Mondays Must~Haves} Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Portrait & Wedding Photographer...Shelley Hohe

About a week ago I stumbled upon this amazing website called Olioboard which is an online site that you can decorate a room in 2D and 3D. This is a must have for those that love to decorate and I must say that person is me. If I wasn't a photographer, this might be something I would love to do as a career. As a matter of fact during career week in high school I decided to work with an interior decorator and I shadowed everything she did from decorating spaces to staging model homes. I had so much fun!

One room I have been slowly working on is my photography office/work space which will also double as a homeschool room. We have a huge extra room downstairs that is just a homeschool and game room right now, but there is enough space for my office to be in there as well. I just want the room to flow without dividing it because I am constantly in-between teaching our kids and working on my business.

So far I have purchased a complete organizational set from The Container Store and a few decorating items from Homegoods, Michaels and some local antique stores. I am in need of the bigger items such as a few desks and chairs for all of us. Right now our kids do their studies at a table with all their supplies in a shelving unit. I will be getting rid of the table in the middle of the room so it will be more open and replacing it with desks along the wall for them instead. As far as my office space I want my desk away from the wall so I will be looking out into the room, keeping an eye on our kids :)

Here is my Olioboard I designed. It's only the side of the room where my office space will be, but I love how I was able to envision what the space can look like with the pieces of furniture I have been wanting.

To the left of the green chairs is the other half of the room which will have a few

desks lined against the wall with some book cases. I might even do something like this...

and here is my complete desk set I purchased from The Container Store...

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Choosing a Location {Outdoor Photo Session} Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Portrait & Wedding Photographer...Shelley Hohe

When a new client contacts me in regards to a photo session, one of the first and most important questions I ask them about is LOCATION! Being that I prefer shooting outdoors taking advantage of natural light it is so important to make sure I pick a location that will capture the best light at the best time. Once my clients share their interests with me whether they love the country, the city or the ocean as far as a backdrop, I go on a search for what they are wanting.

Depending on what time of day it is I start to look in areas where the sun will be setting or rising. I always like the sun behind my clients so it is really important to make sure the sun will be in the right spot at the time of their session. One tool that can help is The Photographers Ephemeris! I use this for every session I do, because it shows me exactly where the sun is rising and setting at the exact time. If you don't have this downloaded I would highly suggest it.

Secondly I want to make sure the locations I choose have a variety of backdrops. If the session takes place in the country you can finds some nice barns, vineyards and beautiful open space with rolling hills. If you are doing a city/urban shoot, look for neat buildings, bridges and alleys. For park like settings you can go to a bed and breakfast, they always have such beautiful gardens and gorgeous Victorians. If you are going to a place like this, you always want to call ahead of time to make sure it's ok. The last thing you want to do is get kicked off a property in the middle of your session.

This doesn't always happen, but I like there to be an option of shade. Especially with my morning sessions, just in case the sun gets bright really fast. Trees are awesome because they can act as a shade between your clients and the sun. You can also get some amazing Bokeh and sun flares with having trees in the background! I also like to make sure there is some type of seating whether it's a bench, fence, steps and if all else fails make sure to suggest for your clients to bring a blanket that matches their attire for them to sit on.

Here a some photos at a few of my favorite locations I tend to bring my clients to quite a bit. I just love how each of them offers so many possibilities.

This first location is located at a bed and breakfast in the Sonoma Wine Country...

This was a senior session...

Same location a few months later for a maternity session

See how I was able to capture the bokeh and sun flare by using the trees as a shade...

My 2nd favorite location is in the country of Marin County...

Here is an engagement session I did...

and here is a recent family session at the same location...

I hope this little bit of information on choosing a location is helpful to not only my clients but to other photographers who are looking for the perfect backdrop for their next photo session!

Lifestyle, Portrait & Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties

415.827.9646 ~ www.shelleydeephotography.com

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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Photography Coaching Sessions {Now Available} Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Portrait & Wedding Photographer...Shelley Hohe

After moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area (where I grew up), I have had the wonderful opportunity of reconnecting with a friend I went to school with from elementary to high school. Since moving back I have had the pleasure of photographing her family twice. The first time I photographed her family she asked me if I have ever thought about teaching other moms or new photographers on how to use their cameras. At first I thought I was not qualified to be able to teach others, but after really thinking about it I thought why not. I love to teach...I have been homeschooling and teaching our twins from kindergarten to junior high and I love photography!

I remember what it was like when I first became a mom and wanted to take a ton of photos of our kids or even more when I first became a photographer. I didn't know anything about my big dslr camera, lighting or how to pose our kids or new clients. Everything in the beginning was so intimidating...from all the buttons on my camera and all the photography terms, I didn't know where to begin. I did take a few workshops which definitely helped me out but to be able to sit down with someone 1 on 1 and ask all sorts of questions about photography would be so helpful and less intimidating.

With all this being said I just taught my very first photography coaching session to my friend, who was the one who asked me in the very beginning if this is something I would start offering. It went very well and she told me she is now understanding her camera's setting, lighting and posing. Mission accomplished!

I will now be offering photography coaching sessions for moms and new photographers.
Each coaching session I will be going over camera settings such as Aperture, Shutter Speed, Exposure, Composition and how to capture the best photos using natural light. There will also be time for questions, followed by lunch in which it will be my treat and ending with a photo session. The photo session can be just for you, maybe you are needing some new profile photos for your business or if I am teaching a mom I can do a photo session with your children.

Each coaching session will be a total of 5 hours in which you can choose either a morning or afternoon session.
Here is a detailed timeline...
9am-12pm- Teaching and Questions (morning coaching session)
12pm-1pm- Lunch ~ My treat! (This would include morning and afternoon coaching sessions)
1pm-2pm- Photo Session (This would be for both morning and afternoon coaching sessions)
2pm-5pm- Teaching and Questions (afternoon coaching session)

Coaching Sessions will be held 1 Monday a month. Here are the dates...
August 12th - Morning/Afternoon
September 9th - Morning/Afternoon
October 7th- Morning/Afternoon
November 4th- Morning/Afternoon
December 2nd- Morning/Afternoon

Cost - $500 which includes coaching session, lunch, photo session and digital files of photos taken.

Please contact me for more information or questions you may have here

Here are some photos I took of my friend. This was around noon when the sun was very bright, so I taught my friend some tricks on how to still take photos even when the lighting is harsh.

Isn't my friend beautiful!

I can't believe we are the same age....she looks the same as when we were in school.

Lifestyle, Portrait and Wedding Photographer serving Marin, Napa, Sonoma and Beyond!

415.827.9646

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Classic & Timeless Images {Black & White} Wedding Photography | Marin, Napa, Sonoma County Wedding Photographer...Shelley Hohe

Ever since opening up my photography business over 5 years ago, I knew the photos I wanted to capture would be in color. I love photographs in color especially when you have a beautiful scenic background and since most of my photo sessions and weddings take place outdoors I always shoot in color and I always share my images in color. I wonder if that is why I am so drawn to the movie Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy walks out her front door for the first time after her house lands in Munchkinland and everything around her is filled with beautiful vibrant color!

Although I love to shoot and share colored images, there is something oh so wonderful about black and white images. I always let my clients know that if there are any portraits they would like to view in black and white, I can easily edit any photo. Black and white photos are classic and timeless. Editing photos to black and white are perfect for images that are filled with emotion. Instead of your eye seeing the beautiful colors, you are drawn in by the emotion instead and I love that. Black and white images are perfect for telling a story whether it's birth photography or a wedding. Having images in black and white are a must!!

Even though shooting in color is what I do, I look forward and can't wait to share more black and white images with my clients. Below are some photos I edited to black and white from a recent wedding I shared in color over a month ago. {you can view colored images and entire wedding post here}