portrait session - Jen V

So a friend of mine did that thing you always think of doing: she quit her day job to follow her real passion and start her own business. Jen left management consulting behind, got educated and certified in skin and beauty treatments, and is now open for business. I was super happy when she asked me to take some pictures for her social media presence - twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. etc. The pictures below were taken in and near her Presidio Heights treatment room. Since then, I had a makeup consultation/lesson with her and it was invaluable! I learned so much and she is so knowledgeable and passionate about skin and beauty. If you need a facial treatment or a makeup session, look Jen up!

(415) 503-9017
http://www.jvskinandbeauty.com

 

panoramas

Panoramas are fun and easy in PhotoShop. You just launch PhotoShop and select File/Automate/Photomerge...select your images (I leave defaults - layout to Auto and keep Blend Images Together checked) then...wait for it...wait for it... done.  Hopefully afterward you are pleasantly surprised/clasping your hands in joy. The key is to have your original images overlap by a good measure. I aim for about 50% so that there's some fudge room. And be sure not to peter out near the edges/top or bottom or you'll end up with a skinnier or shorter final picture than you expected.

Here are some that I've put together... Clicking on the images should enlarge them.

NYC skyline from the boat to Ellis Island (which has an amazing museum, btw, which I believe is so powerful because of its use of historical photographs). Ten original photos.

The view from the High Line in Chelsea with the Empire State Building, also NYC. Eleven original photos.

Big Sur on a beautiful hike

View at base of Mount Diablo. I like this one.

And some views from Mount Diablo, these are old, and I can't remember why they turned out so blue/green

new york city

The camera upgrade to a Canon 6D has been a bit good news/bad news. Good news: new, amazing camera! First bad news: Lightroom 3 doesn't work with a 6D, gotta upgrade to 4 (or install a free DNG converter and build a more complex import routine). It is a particular kind of bummer if you haven't realized this until you and are ready to upload your first shots with your new camera. The second piece of bad news is that the EF-S lenses I use with my Rebel won't work on the 6D because it's a full frame camera. This lens issue is more complex to solve and has led to a ton of internet research. Or really, just hours and hours of my staring at this web page.

In order to find out what's next for me, lens wise, I've been going back through photos and seeing what focal length I typically use, given my existing lenses cover 18 - 250mm. On a Fall trip to NYC, the winner was the 50mm f 1.4 (which is fortunately EF not EF-S so still works on the full frame). However, I did make use of the full zoom of my EF-S 55-250mm. Lens search: to be continued...

First, caught in a downpour in the Garment District, with the 50mm:

Then, more building pictures using the full 250mm zoom of the EF-S 55-250mm lens. (My poor man's Michael Wolf impression).

And back with the 50mm...  my hostess and dear friend's cat, Harlow.  An East Village Himalayan. 

newborn baby photos

A couple of weekends ago I headed over to hang with some friends in Albany, meet their new baby (born just a few weeks previous) and to take some pics. I've had problems in the past in low light (and really don't understand flash photography, if I'm honest). However, I brought along this little gadget from Photojojo which was fun to experiment with. Thanks for a fun day, Amy and Al!

spring saturation

So spring happened in a big way here in San Francisco. The blossoming trees on Church Street were so pretty I had to take some pictures. This also was a good experiment to work with LightRoom Saturation and Luminance to try to make the colors "pop."

new beginnings

Hello! I am very excited to have just put together my website (elizabeth fritz photography) to focus on my portraiture and event photography. While I'm waiting wait for Vanity Fair to call, I'm also putting a toe in the Blogger waters to share recent and new pics of all subjects. 

I live in San Francisco and love a good neighborhood stroll to take pictures. However, there are frequent family beach walks that are also fun to try to capture. These are some of my favorites from around the Point Reyes area. Except for that last one which is from the Marin Headlands.