Lookbook: White Night

hello lovelies...

First of all thank you a million times over for all the comments, tweets, emails and facebook messages of your thoughts and prayers for my family. I couldn't have asked for a better support system than you all. It really means a lot to me.

I'm back home after a tough week. Booking the ticket the night before I left, the 13+ hour flight, the 16 hour time difference and being away from my husband wasn't even the hard part. But the only thing that matters is family and you got to do everything you can when it comes to family and I'm glad that we were able to be together at this very important time. Blogging will take a backseat for a little bit as I'm sure you understand that there are much more important things to take care of but I'm going to try to visit all your lovely blogs and hope that you continue to come by here. Anyway, I started writing the below post before I left so was glad I had a new lookbook to share!

I'm glad you guys liked my last nightime lookbook as we have just been so busy lately so the only time we have for lookbook shots is right before dinner and it's pitch black outside.

What I'm Wearing:
Blazer: Eryn Brinie
Top: J. Crew
Jeans: 7 for all Mankind
Shoes: Bally
Scarf: via Ideeli

I get so excited for fall so I can wear all my scarves. I love the Missoni-esque print of this scarf and thought it worked perfectly with my white blazer that I still adore.

It's getting to that point where it's so cold that I *should* be wearing socks but I hate socks. Like detest them, so I continue to wear pumps and let my feet freeze. And even though I'm inside most of the day my feet still get really cold so sometimes I bring my Uggs to work and wear them at my desk where no one can see me. hehe. I actually just bought these fringe boots that may actually replace my Uggs because well I find Uggs to be quite ugly so at least these will keep my feet warm and look cute!

So I'm not one to divulge a lot of personal information, but this blog has become such a part of me and all of you, my readers, feel like friends to me. I just wanted to share that, unfortunately, I just got some bad news about a family member and am flying out of the country tonight.

Please think good thoughts for us. I truly appreciate all your love and support.

There won't be new posts for a bit.

kisses. xxoo

Honolulu I love u!

I realize I still have not recapped our San Francisco trip buuut I couldn't resist posting the Honolulu pictures like right now so I will recap SF at a later date!

We didn't do much sitting on the beach as it was super humid when we were there but not very sunny and it wasn't too pleasant to be outside during the day. So, instead we shopped and ate and took pictures! Well, actually, we were there to shoot a wedding so we did have lots to do in regards to that. I don't think we really had a moment to relax as we were go-go-go the entire time. Which is fine, I love being busy!

Our room was one of the largest hotel rooms that we have ever stayed at. I think that when we checked in the guy must've thought we were on our honeymoon or something because the room we got had two showers, two closets and a huge deck with a beautiful view! We were pleasantly surprised. I took these 2 pictures from our deck. I love the ocean view mixed with the city skyline, so my kind of city!

We of course, had to check out the awesome shopping with all the luxury boutiques, how could we not! We went to Ala Moana Center as recommended by my fabulous reader Kara and loved it. Even loved the little food court in there as we found a little handmade mochi stand and shave ice! (No, not eaten together :) Oh and hubs got pineapple soft serve so he was in heaven.

We also made our way to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center which was fun as well. It's a huge mall but the entire street is all shopping, so of course we found all the luxury boutiques there too :)

The wedding that we were shooting was being held at the Honolulu Design Center (the reception was held there) which is also where I met up with a bunch of fabulous blog friends/readers! We met at the Amuse Wine Bar inside the Design Center and it was SO good. They have these machines with a bunch of bottles of wine and you insert a credit card type thing and you basically get to sample a ton of different kind of wines.

(A few of the girls and I. We didn't manage to get everyone in one picture but thank you all for coming!)

Thank you so much to Grace Like Kelly for putting this all together, J and I had so much fun meeting with you all and eating the yummy food! I can't wait to come back, I feel like I have a big group of friends to come see!

By the way, we really wanted to try Stage, the restaurant at the Design Center but we ran out of time. The decor in there is so cool, if you are going to visit Honolulu I would recommend going there just to see the restaurant!

So yes, we did have some time to visit the beach. We watched the sunset go down one night and it was quite a romantic little moment. The one problem about being photographers is that it's near impossible to get a picture of me and hubs together in one picture as we don't really want to be handing our fancy cameras to strangers so we instead just get pictures of each other. It's okay though, I don't need a picture together when I have all the memories in my head. :)

(oh yes, this is my hair post-digital perm. I am totally happy with how the waves turned out)

So that, was our trip minus the wedding events of course! Those will be posted on style.ish in about a month or so (we are SO behind with all of our sessions because we got so busy but we are catching up!) We had a great trip and are so lucky to have gone out there for "work" (although we never feel like wedding photography is work.) We are definitely ready to book our trip out there again but I think next time we are staying out in the North Shore which was where we did the day after session. It was just so pretty out there, I was gasping at the gorgeous view every second.

All the girls I met with pretty much convinced me to move out to Honolulu which I never would've thought of before this trip. It really is a fun city and to have the beach so nearby is such a plus. Well, as long as I can get to go there for work, I'm happy for now. So, anybody else getting married in Hawaii and need a photographer? If so...shoot me an email, we're available! :)

all pictures are taken by me and copyright style.ish. Please do not repost without asking for permission or giving proper credit. thanks!

FAQ: Camera + Photography

I get asked a lot of questions about wedding photography and what camera I use so I thought I'd make a post on the most frequently asked questions. (Scattered throughout the post is just a random sampling of my favorite pictures that I've taken)

Please keep in mind that these are all just my opinions and experiences and to do all your research before buying a camera or lenses or starting your business.

What camera and lenses do you use?
This is an update to my last FAQ as we’ve upgraded our cameras. Both my husband and I now use Canon 5D Mark II’s (we both have our own) and we have our Canon 40D’s as our second cameras. For everyday pictures I use the 50mm 1.2L lens. For weddings I also use the 24mm 1.4L lens and J uses the 85mm II 1.2L , the 35mm 1.4L lens and sometimes the the 70-200mm lens as well. If I were to only use two lenses I would pick the 50 1.2L and the 35 1.4L. Both are the perfect length and are great for low light situations which you will find a lot in weddings. J and I like to use as much natural light as possible. We only uses flashes when absolutely necessary.

I am a prime lens girl, (meaning that the lens does not zoom, the only way to get up close or far away is to physically move yourself.) I do not like zoom lenses and plan on only using prime lenses as much as I can. This is totally a personal choice and you must try it out with both to determine what you like better. My best advice before buying lenses is to rent them and shoot with them as much as you can. I rent from our local camera store, Glazers and we've also rented lenses from LensProToGo.com, which you can rent for weeks at a time and it's cheaper than the daily rate at Glazers.

What kind of camera bag do you use or how do you carry your camera around?
I bought a Coach bag (looks similar to this one but bigger) that slings across my body and can carry one camera + lens, flash and the pockets carry extra batteries, business cards, extra CF Card. When I am actually shooting, I carry both cameras on me and on one of my cameras I use the RS-4 R-Strap which really helps as you can slide the camera up and down the strap and the two camera straps don't get twisted. It's hard to explain but trust me, if you use two cameras, I highly recommend using the R-Strap.

Where did you take or recommend taking photography classes?
Both J and I are self taught. We’ve never taken a photography class, we've both learned by going out with our cameras and taking pictures of everything and anything including each other! Since I don't have experience in taking classes I can't recommend anything but I'd suggest talking with other photographers in your area to find out.

Are you a wedding photographer too or is it mainly just your husband?
My husband and I are a team and neither one of us is a "second shooter" we both shoot equally as much and neither of us are assistants in any way. If you look on our blog, all of our posts are a mixture of mine and his pictures but they work so well together that you can't tell who took what picture. Our styles just mesh really well together. We do find that he is better at some shots while I'm better at other shots. That's what makes us a good team and I love more than anything in the world to be shooting alongside my husband. I wouldn't have it any other way.

What setting do you use?
You’d be surprised how many times I’ve been asked this question. As a photographer, I kind of chuckle at it, but I understand that if one wasn't a photographer, there just are too many buttons on a dSLR not to wonder what one to use. One thing you have to know is that there is not one magical setting or button that will help you take pretty pictures. YOU are that magical button. I shoot on manual all of the time and that's the only way that I recommend. However, if you are first learning, I say use the Av setting and don't just take pictures on that setting, learn from using that setting. (If you don't know what the Av setting is, go find your camera's manual and read it, it will explain it in there.) You can see how the shutter speed changes when you change the aperture, so you can start making the connections of how you would manually control it.

Do you have any photography tips you can tell me?
Photography is a very personal thing so the only way to learn how to take pictures is to go out there and just do it. We bought our dSLRs with very little experience, only the love of photography. We didn’t take any classes, we didn’t have friends that helped us, what we did was go out almost every single day and shoot with our cameras. It didn’t matter what we were taking pictures of, it was just that we were learning to “make” pictures. Go out at different times of the day and put your camera on manual and just start shooting away. Find details in your neighborhood that you never noticed and take pictures of them. Find out what to do when the sun is low, when the sun is high. Shoot at different angles. Find different ways to shoot one subject. My husband and I practiced taking pictures of each other a lot too. We don’t do it much now which I kind of miss. I love those early pictures of learning and the pictures that we took of each other. Taking pictures of people is a lot harder than most people think so any chance you have at taking pictures of people and not just inanimate objects, do it. It’s the only way you’ll learn. Try practicing on two people or even three people at once. The more people there is, the more complicated it is to shoot. Practice, practice, practice. Go out there and see what you like, read photography blogs, look at images in magazines, find inspiration anywhere and everywhere.

Tips for photographing people: First of all, understand that you can't just put people in front of a camera and expect fantastic pictures. The biggest thing that helps create those pictures is to connect with your subjects and help them feel happy and relaxed in front of the camera. A few years ago, J and I had a session with a photographer who pretty much did nothing expect to tell us to "act natural" which really just made us even more uncomfortable because when you have a camera in your face, how does one "act natural"? We spend time with all of our clients before their session to get to know them and then throughout the session we chat with them and get them to laugh and relax in front of the camera. Also, know how to pose people. When you are the photographer, everyone will look at you and say "Where do I look?" "Where do I put my hands?" "What should I do with my feet?" J and I like to tell our clients that we pose without it looking like it was posed. We tell them where to look, when to kiss, how to sit but the way that they react after they are posed, their head turn, their smile, their laugh, the look in the couples eyes when they look at each other is what we try to capture. All that is just them being them but they feel less awkward because they were given some direction on what to do. Don't be afraid of being bossy! Your clients want the best pictures possible so if you think the picture will look better if the hand is up on their partner's shoulder than on the waist than tell them. They are trusting you to get the best shots so don't be afraid to say something to get your best shot!

How did you start your wedding photography? How did you find clients? Did you do a lot of free weddings?
When we first started we offered free sessions so that we could learn how to shoot couples. I think every new photographer should do this. You might think you know how to work your camera until you get two subjects in front of you who are looking for your direction in front of the camera and then that’s a whole different story (see tips above). We actually did two free engagement sessions with people we didn't know, two sessions with friends and since then we’ve been charging. We have never shot a wedding for free. This blog has been the biggest network in us finding clients. The majority of J and my friends are married so we didn’t have the friend network to go through so I’ve just been doing self promoting through this blog, twitter , facebook and just generally telling everyone we know that we are photographers. I recently had to go see my doctor and told her about our business and it turned out she was interested and took our card. You just never know who will need a photographer! We’ve also been lucky enough to meet some really wonderful people and hope that we can continue expanding our network. It hasn't been easy, but I'm also pretty business minded and enjoy that part of growing our business. We still have a long way to go and am still struggling to find new clients but I always remember to take it one day at a time. We have short term goals for our business as well as long term goals and we've been doing our best to keep to them.

If you want some good advice, I really really like this list from PhotoDino. Especially this:
"Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does."

Read the list and keep that in mind if you are diving into the world of photography.

Hope this helps to all my wonderful readers that are interested in photography. I'm always up for a one on one chat or email exchange but my time is quite limited so if you have more questions, feel free to leave a comment or email me and I might do another FAQ post.

P.S. If you liked this post, feel free to visit our website, fan us on facebook and tell your friends about us! :) We love to travel so will go anywhere for our photography!

Currently Loving: Vests

Vests are one of my favorite items of clothing that I never wear. I buy them and promptly forget about them. I blame that because they are usually small and then when I fold them, they get lost in my piles of shirts I put over them! But when I do remember and I try to wear them, it just never seems to work with the outfit. But, we will see about this season as I'm going to try to wear them more often. They are such a good piece to add to an outfit because you can wear them with nice trousers, over a casual tee and even a dress. It's not something that I see a lot of people wear but when I do see it, I always think it looks great.

If you look through my lookbook, I obviously love blazers so of course fell in love with this as it's basically a blazer without the sleeves! This would look great with a plain tee, dark skinnies or even leggings.

(revolveclothing)

I just bought this vest in navy blue and I can't wait to wear it. And it was even on sale! I think I will wear it just like this with my favorite J Crew tee, a skirt and lots of pretty necklaces.

(jcrew)

Doesn't this vest look so cozy? I usually am all about wrap cardigans or pashminas for the plane but I think that I would totally wear this one to keep me warm on a flight.

(shopdetour)

I love the look of this vest both open and closed. I think it would be super cute over a printed dress with tights.

I have a couple of menswear style vests that I wear with button down shirts and I always think I end up looking like a waiter. HA! I'm going to start styling them differently, I guess we will have to see if they end up on a lookbook... :)

P.S. speaking of vests, check out how adorable Hanako of Through the Looking Glass is in her Francis vest. Love!

Lookbook: Long Cardi

After spending a few days in the HOT humidity of Honolulu, coming home to this cold brisk weather was a bit of a shock to the system. We had such a great time, the wedding was amazing and the day after session was killer. Like, "I DIE" gorgeous. Can't wait to show you all the pictures!

What I'm Wearing:
Cardigan: ASOS
Tee: J. Crew
Jeans: 7 for all mankind
Shoes: Gucci
Necklaces: J. Crew

I am all about long cardigans this year, although me being a whole 5'2" can't go too long or it makes me look even shorter. Gray is my go-to color for the fall and winter and I've been trying to convince myself that I need more color in my closet as I usually only wear color during the summer but whenever I go to buy a sweater or cardigan, I really just want the black or gray one.

A few of you have asked about my digital perm. I did go back and re-perm my hair last week however it was a 2 days before I left for Hawaii so haven't had a chance to post any pictures of it (the above pictures were taken before the perm). Will post about it soon! I think it turned out a bit curlier than last time but still happy with it. If you have no clue what I'm talking about read about my (first) digital perm here, here, and here!

I heart Yumi Kim

Once I find a designer that I love, I kind of obsessively stalk their websites to see the newest collection or when they put stuff on sale. Yumi Kim has been one of those designers for me. I just adore the prints and the color that she uses. I am currently obsessed with these pieces... they may have to find their way into my closet soon!

Claudia Jacket

Julee Top


Dani Dress in Leopard

I am a taking a little blogging vacation as I will be enjoying my time in Hawaii so what better way to leave you than with a fab giveaway? Do you want another chance to win a gift certificate to the Yumi Kim shop? You know you do :) Click here for my reviews blog to enter!