Here’s what the album looks like:

And here are a few examples of what the album design looks like inside:

The image below is an example of what I consider to be a ‘fully edited’ image from a shoot:

How did I get there? Well, let’s start from the beginning with the image as it was straight-out-of-camera:
 

1). RAW IMAGE (STRAIGHT-OUT-OF-CAMERA):

You might be thinking that this image is pretty flat, dark, and overall not too polished. And you’d be 100% correct with that assertion. I shoot all of my images in a RAW format, meaning that zero processing is done in-camera. Instead, the goal is to capture as much data as possible, so that when I go to process the images myself, I can do much more with them.

In this case, I wanted to capture the setting sun with its sunbeams, while also keeping the couple adequately lit with light. If I exposed properly for one, the other would suffer as a result. But when you shoot in RAW, you can get away with exposing somewhere in-between the two so that neither the sky nor the people are at the proper exposure, but that both are close enough to being right that I can correct it when I process the image.

Here, since I didn’t want the sun to appear as one bright blob of light in the skyline, I had to underexpose (i.e. make the image darker) so that while the sun beams are visible, the couple is a little too dark. But no worries, Lightroom to the rescue!

2). IMAGE WITH BASIC EDITING – READY FOR PROOFS + IMAGE DISC:

The above image is an example of what the image looks like when I run through my basic editing process in Lightroom. This is what you can expect when I deliver your images in the online proof gallery and on a disc after a shoot. I may tweak this slightly depending on the image set, but this is pretty much my signature style.

However, this image is not polished enough for a print or album. First issue at hand: there are distracting elements in the background. See that girl in bright pink just behind the fence (to the right of Lauren’s hand)? And the tacky signs just over the bridge? And the bits of tree in the upper right corner? Not cute. I want them gone!

 
3). IMAGE WITH MORE EXTENSIVE EDITING – READY FOR ALBUM/PRINT:

After substantial time spent in Photoshop, I was able to remove all those distracting elements. Sometimes it’s just not possible to remove these things and keep the image looking realistic, but in this case it worked out.

I also sharpened the image to better define their facial features, made the image a little less warm, and made a few minor tweaks just to make the image ‘pop’ a bit more. This is what you can expect when you order an album or print from me. Now the image is ready to be included in an album, or printed out + hung up in a frame! :)

Stay tuned for the rest of Lauren & Dave’s NYC elopement photos in the coming weeks!

Option #1 is the same album I offered in 2010, the leather bound flushmount album. It lays flat and has very thick pages that neither bend nor collect fingerprint smudges :) There are several color options for the cover that you can choose from.

Option #2 is brand new this year! It’s a fine art book with a full photo wrap cover and the option of adding your names and wedding date to the spine. I love this book because it’s much more personalized. The cover is quite thick, though pages are much thinner than the flushmount’s, and feel completely different to the touch. The best way I can describe them is that they’re similar in texture/thickness to paper that an artist might use.

Here are the two albums together for comparison’s sake. The black flushmount album is a 10×10 with 10 pages, and the fine art book is about 9.5×9.5″ with 15 pages. Of course, you have the option of upgrading to a 12×12″ album or adding pages if you’d like!

To see a sample album layout, click below!

 
Bubby’s also knows how to put on a great event! They set up tables around both floors and selected some of Brooklyn’s most talented wedding vendors to come and display their work. It was so inspiring to talk to them all and see their fantastic products. Check them out!:

Artesanal Sweets | Natascha had the most beautiful cupcake display I’ve ever seen! I must have taken at least 100 photos of her table. Her PB&J cupcakes are to die for! And her cookies are decorated with edible glitter!

Bona Angela Design | table runners, hanging lanterns, vases, and votives

Root Stock & Quade | plants, flowers, gardens

 
This is the view of the Manhattan Bridge from Bubby’s:

Fine & Raw | their mission is to “save the world through silliness and chocolate” – raw chocolate, that is!

NY Ceremony Music | a cello and guitar duo

Four Strokes of Brooklyn | Michelle makes gorgeous invitations, save the date cards, place cards, seating charts, and other paper designs for events.

Our Ketubah | Elyse creates “custom-designed, hand-painted artwork and limited-edition prints for marriage contracts, wedding vows, and other special day commemoratives”.

EmersonMade | They believe in “celebrating the uniqueness of the individual, the joy of being alive and all the smallness that makes up the Big Beautiful” and make hand dyed/stitched accessories such as flowers to wear at weddings.

Lion in the Sun | specializes in invitations

Brooklyn Rehab | Alyssa had the cutest display of crafts based on a four-season theme. She’s all about taking old, vintage, abandoned and found objects and giving new life and meaning to them. It definitely makes for some super creative wedding decorations!

So I ordered a 10×10 LayFlat album with a limited edition cover from Millers. I am offering this as the standard album in my wedding packages. It’s similar to a flushmount album in that it has thick, durable pages and lays flat on a table when you’re looking through it, but is much more affordable. Check it out!

But because I have a DIY mentality forever engrained in my mind, I thought I could design my own logo. So I signed up for a class in my Brooklyn neighborhood and attempted it. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t learn more about actually *designing* a logo, as the class focused more on the theory behind branding. The class was helpful in getting me to think about what kind of brand I wanted to develop, and how my logo should reflect my brand. I came up with a rough idea of what I wanted in a logo (namely, I wanted the L and T in my name to form some sort of a frame), but had a great deal of trouble translating this into a design. I ended up with this:

… which, obviously, I wasn’t pleased with. It didn’t look professional, sleek, or cool by any means. By the end of 2009, I resolved to hire a professional to design my logo. I went with Amy of Candy Apple Studios, based on recommendations from people in a photography forum I often frequent. I had no idea what to expect for the logo design process – I mean, how can a designer possibly know who you are, what your brand is, and what sort of design will make you go “YES, THAT’S IT!!”? So from the start, I mentioned everything I wanted, in as much detail as possible… emphasizing how I wanted to incorporate the L/T framing idea. Amy had me fill out a questionnaire as well, asking me all sorts of questions, e.g. what my favorite colors were, what I wore to photoshoots, what other logos I liked, what market I was targeting, and what words I would use to describe myself and my business. She then took all the information I gave her, plugged it into her secret graphic design goddess formula (or something similar), and got to work on designing my logo.

In two weeks time, Amy had the first set of logos ready for my critique. I liked most of the 6 designs she came up with, but none of them quite screamed ‘Lindsay Taryn Photography’. From the initial designs, I picked a few that I really liked and wanted to see further tweaked. I’m so horrible at envisioning what the logos would look like with a few changes made, so I gave her a few suggestions on where possibly to go with them and trusted Amy on her judgment and skills as a graphic designer and hoped she’d work her magic to come up with the right logo for me.

A couple of days later, Amy got back to me with a few variations of the 3 logos I had asked her to work with. Working with these, she had provided me with 9 new logos to look at. Out of these, there was one set of logos that stood out to me as the one I wanted for my business. I was so excited now that I could finally start to see what my finished logo would look like! Amy had taken my original L/T framing idea and twisted it into something much more sleek and appealing to the eye.

With the next set of edits, I asked her to make some subtle tweaks, namely in the coloring and intersections of the different letters of my name. By the following week, I had my new logo completed and couldn’t be more thrilled!

If you are a photographer and you’re serious about growing and marketing your business, it is definitely worth it to invest in a professional graphic designer and have her create your logo. Your logo represents you and your brand and influences how people perceive them. Screw that up, and people won’t take you seriously or understand what you’re trying to communicate to them.

Through this whole process, I’ve learned that I can’t do everything (well) myself, and that it’s ok to ask for help in these cases. I’m so glad I hired Amy of Candy Apple Studios to design my logo, and recommend her with the highest regards!

One of my first vendor friends is Tawny Ong, who is just about the sweetest person I’ve met in NYC. Her mother is equally sweet (and undoubtedly her biggest fan), and the two of us were photographing her latest trunk show appearance like crazy! After many years in finance, Tawny switched careers and became a baker, which I can totally relate to as a previous investment bank employee-turned-photographer. She has her own take on southern comfort desserts, specializing in light yet sweet creations in the form of cupcakes, cakes, and other treats. What I really like is that she tries to minimize sugar and use organic ingredients whenever possible, which makes you feel like you’re eating healthfully rather than cheating on your diet. Even without exorbitant amounts of sugar, her desserts are so delicious and flavorful!

I got to sample several of her mini cupcakes, including red velvet, pumpkin, carrot, and devil’s food cake. They are even more delicious than they look (and seriously, how cute are they?). Check out her menu and drool! She’s done both cupcakes and cakes for weddings, but the cool thing about the mini cupcakes is that they make for great table settings or wedding favors for guests.

I’m excited to work with Tawny, and I strongly urge everyone to place an order with her. You will not be disappointed!

It’s funny because in both instances, these people found my work on flickr and inquired about using my images. This is why it pays off to thoroughly title and tag all of your photos, that way people can find them!

My photo of Hot Water Beach from the North Island of New Zealand, taken with my non-dSLR camera when I first started learning about photography, was included in a Danish textbook called ‘Destination New Zealand’ by Conrad Kisch. It is part of a series of travel books and should be out sometime this month, but for comparison’s sake you can look at the Australia book on Amazon.

Also, my photo of the stained glass in St. John the Divine made it into this fancy NYC tourist book!

Book description: "Exclusively reserved for in-room distribution at New York City’s most exclusive lodgings, Where Guestbook New York will instantly connect you to the city’s most desirable visitors. With an ultra-modern and stylish look and breathtaking graphics, the new Where Guestbook New York is perfect for guiding our most sophisticated and affluent travelers to your door. Where Guestbook New York shows off your business to a different audience approximately every three days for the entire year."

 
It’s just so funny to me that two arguably-mediocre images I created and never thought twice about are now on display for tourists and travelers to see. I always think I can objectively critique my work and pick out which are my ‘best’ photos, but art isn’t objective and that often frustrates my hyper-rational mind.

Thinking about starting my own photography business is pretty overwhelming, but nothing else with regards to career-building has excited me this much. I don’t think I’ll ever feel fulfilled if I spend my life working for someone else and making compromises that make me die a little inside. I want to be the one in control – this has always been my life’s philosophy, and if I’m going to remain true to it then it must apply to my career as well. I have so many ideas whirling around in my head and I’m so excited to bring them to life. I know it’s going to take time to get started and them continue to build and improve, but I’ve got my whole life ahead of me. I’m certainly not going to waste it doing things I don’t want to do or working for something I don’t give a damn about.

Personal babble aside, I spent the afternoon wandering around the expo, getting my badge scanned by various vendors without really knowing or caring what crap they’d be spamming me with in the (e)mail. Mostly I just like oohing and ahhing over all the photo gadgets and print services, trying things out and grabbing coupons left and right. I tried out some flash brackets and the ginormous Canon 800mm lens (again). It’s overwhelming how much photo stuff is on display at this show. I think once I get my business going I’ll be more interested in exploring what the different vendors have to offer me.

I did a pretty good job at avoiding temptation, though I did end up caving in and buying a new camera backpack by M-rock (the McKinley model). I’d never heard of that brand, but the bag I bought is everything I’ve been looking for in a bag. What I love is that it’s so simple and doesn’t have a million useless pockets. Plus it has a rack-wheel system you can remove, a removable pouch that you can use for extra items and hook onto the top of the bag, a compartment for laptop/books, and a million dividers for lenses and other camera things. And oh, bonus: it also comes with a raincover!

I got a really good deal on the bag as well. It was on sale already at the expo, plus he took a little off if we paid in cash. THEN… he thought I was pregnant (allegedly because of the way my bag strap was cutting into my jacket – I’ll give him that, the coat I was wearing fits a little weird), so I bargained him down a little more AND he gave me a free lens case. It pays to be offended! This was definitely not frivolous spending on my part though, since I’ve been in the market for a new backpack for awhile now. Most of them are ugly and/or don’t have everything I’m looking for, so when I saw this one I had to jump on it. Hey… bags are so important! You’ve gotta love the ones you have when you use them so often!