Grace and Ben's Engagement Photos at Raven Run

I've getting lazy (really just kinda busy lately) and haven't posted any pics in a while. So I'll take a break from studying who I should start in Fantasy Football and give you few engagement photos to nibble on.

I have always wanted to check out Raven Run just outside of Lexington, so when Grace mentioned it as a possible location for her engagement photos I was happy to agree. I got there a little early to scout it out a bit, thinking it was just a small little nature trail. I was mistaken. Raven Run is big. 470 acres big. You actually have to sign in at the nature center building before you begin on the longer trails. I ask the worker there how long the entire trail took to walk and her answer was 4 hours and the Kentucky River overlook was an hour away! Luckily there where a couple of small trails, a prairie, and an old house as you enter the area that we were able to shoot at. With an hour to shoot and harsh shadows from the 3:00 sun, I had to "break" out my umbrella and trusty flash. note to self: small light stands with umbrellas don't stay up on breezy days. And here are my a few of my favorites from the day....






The best part about engagement photos is really just to get to know the couples a little better before the wedding. Not many people are too comfortable with strangers shoving big lenses in their faces, but this gives everyone a little taste what to expect on their big day. Just a few more days until the wedding!

Interest.....ing.

My first home purchase a few weeks ago seems like forever ago (maybe someday we will get to move in). What seemed to be a very quick and easy deal, that would be finished within the month is now being reworked. But that is a good thing. When the government bailed out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae on September 7th , interest rates dropped nearly half a percent. Half a percent doesn't sound like much...but it is. That half a percent should chop off nearly $40 a month on the mortgage payment and up to $18,000 over the course of time! I immediately started shopping for a better deal and found plenty of them quickly. The national average rate now is at 5.78%. That is getting close to when the rates hit their lowest point back in 2003. However, the rates are very volitile right now and now with the news of the government asking congress for 700 BILLION DOLLARS :0 rates may go down even lower. Here is a great site to look at current rates and predictions: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/.

Printing Big and Loving It!

The other day, I stumbled onto a great deal on 11x14 prints. It had been going on for a few days and I found it on the last day of the promotion. I've never been crazy about printing stuff out for a few different. First off, I go crazy trying to decide which ones to print, and after that which ones to put on the wall. Secondly, printing 8x10s and 11x14s usually means I have to crop my photos a little boxier than I usually would. I like a wider aspect ratio. The part of photography that I enjoy the most is the actual process of capturing the images and I even like the post processing part too. I can really lose all sense of time while editing a photo. Anyway, I snapped up a few prints I thought that would be good for my physical portfolio and a few I was just curious as to how they would look in big print. I also decided to try a couple of different types of paper to compare.

A day or two passed and I got my prints much faster than I expected. I am in shock at how great they look! Both papers look good too. I got a regular matte finish and a metallic paper that I had been wanting to check out. The metallic really looks nice on contrasty photos. Deep rich blacks, and just a very cool shine to the photos. Now I wish I had printed so many more photos, but now everything is back to normal prices :(.

Site Reviews

After making a couple of requests for suggestions and criticisms for the new site, I have gotten some good news and bad news. All the comments about the photos have been great! But it seems most people don't really like the blue background color. I may change that in the near future. Other suggestions seemed to be things I have problems with myself.

1. The need for a better logo.
2. The portfolio page uses simpleviewer, and you have to use the back button to get back to the main page. I need to figure out how to integrate this better.
3. The event gallery and blog look completely different from the main site.

Feel free to make suggestions here if you have any ideas to improve the site.

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