Aviva Photography Blog

I’m alive. Really, I am. You might’ve even seen me this summer. I took a much-needed break and I’m gearing up for the fall, and I can’t wait to book your session for your kids, your family, your high school senior….whatever you can dream up!

This fall not much has changed…as a matter of fact, things have changed for the better! Changes include:

• This fall (September 2010 thru December 2010), the session fee for a family of four or less is $200 for a weekend or holiday session, $25 per additional family member. The fee for a weekday (Monday thru Friday non-holidays when school is in session) is $150. A $100 deposit is due upon booking to hold your date. There is a $250 minimum on print purchases.
• This fall (September 2010 thru December 2010), the session fee for a high school senior session (congrats, class of 2011!) is $150 for a weekend or holiday session. The fee for a weekday (Monday thru Friday non-holidays when school is in session) is $100. The full sitting fee is due upon booking to hold your date. There is a $250 minimum on print purchases.
• Mini-session albums, session albums, and photo proof boxes have come down in price! This means that the a-la-carte prices are lower, and you will get more for your money when you purchase collections.
• NEW product offerings will be coming your way…sneak peeks when I have put together the pricing for these hot little numbers, but trust me – they’re super special and you won’t want to miss out!
• One Saturday in October will be dedicated to a mini-shoot day for holiday photos. It will be structured similarly to the Haiti Benefit mini-shoot day. Stay tuned for more information – I’m working on ideas for collections and pricing!

More pricing can be found under the “investment” tab on the website. I’ve missed you, everyone , and I am truly excited to start photographing again this fall!

And because it just simply isn’t fair to leave a post without photos…a few of my friends Alex, Jean and their kids and dog. I obviously haven’t posted their photos yet, it took me until June to take the photos (on the FIFTH try because of rain!) but what a morning we had!

These are dear friends, and I miss them so much already. I know we’ll see them again, as I do with most of the friends (FAMILY) I know from Okinawa. This was just a rough PCS season for us.

Jean & Alex are amazing people, there’s no way a blog post would be enough time to explain. They’re so stinkin’ cute, aren’t they?

These smart and gorgeous kids were a dream that morning…They came to have fun! Tell me this isn’t a typical scene with siblings!

Younger sis, A, hamming it UP most of the time, but I got a little calmer and closer to capture the true girl inside.

Big brother’s gonna kill the ladies…if he isn’t already. Such a warm smile, huh?

Jean rowed on the Dragon Boat team for the Navy women for a few years running…she brought her paddle and her shirt out for a few shots as well.

Then it was time to include Sola – the sweetie pie family puppy!

Thanks, you guys. I know you’re in the states again…I hope the move and the transition is easier than we’d dreamed.

For those still in Okinawa, I will be here at least until June of 2011! So book soon – less than a year left! Email me if you have questions or want to book a session. I hope you had a great summer!

Yes, I have photos to share – I’ve done two more sessions since my last post. However, I’m hard at work on them and can’t post peeks just yet, so I’m going to do a little something different. In honor of my ongoing effort (I know, I have promised and promised – it has been  TOO long in coming, but a GAMU is coming. Really. SERIOUSLY. It’s nailing down a location that is giving me trouble – but I’m NOT KIDDING, I’m working on it!) to provide a camera class, and in anticipation of the many more of you who are receiving digital cameras for the holidays – a few before and after shots! Sound good? I know – I LOVE seeing these myself, so hopefully you get something out of this.

I’m using the younger set …mostly because there’s not much touch-up involved (I don’t really do a lot of touch-ups besides to fix blemishes and sharpen and brighten up a bit – as you’ll see. Artistic photos with textures and things of that nature – I do that occasionally, but if I did those on every photo it would take me a month to edit each shoot.) and because as an …ahem… thirty-something myself, I know I don’t want my unedted mug on the Internet for all to see, so I won’t do that to my fellow moms.

Here’s Lia…she’s gorgeous. I’m going to write this and I know it won’t be the last time. It is so key to get it as right as you can in your CAMERA…as my wonderful boss in San Diego used to say, “You can’t polish a turd.” This is “straight out of camera” (SOOC) just resized for web. My settings on my camera are all at ZERO. I do not sharpen, enhance, or in any way “fix” the photos in-camera. For those who know what it means, ISO 200, 35mm (focal length), f1.8.

Look at her! GORGEOUS! Not much needed here at all. Here’s the after:

I cropped it just a tiny bit (you can see a little bit less photo on the right and above her head), I smoothed out her skin a little in Photoshop (didn’t take much) and warmed up the photo a little. I vignetted the photo a bit (made the outer edges a little darker). And I sharpened. That’s it! It’s subtle…but in my opinion, the difference makes it better. It is not my style nor is it my desire to make people look different. It is my style and my goal to make sure you see yourself at your best. My clients are beautiful! Blemishes and wrinkles can be smoothed, but when you overdo it, it’s obvious. And people should look like people, not airbrushed overworked alien versions of themselves. I hope that’s what I accomplish.

I also want to note that I usually don’t have to crop too much. I try to crop in the camera because you do lose quality when you crop photos a lot. That being said, on wider photos I like to leave plenty of room so that if I need to crop it, the arms and legs won’t get cut off!
Photo #2 (We’ll do the Lia ones first.): HI, cutie! Again – love this spot. (Even though Lia will tell you there was a stinky smell and trash on the other side of that wall – but we suffer for our art, right?) ISO 200, 35mm, f2.5.

Again – not much needed here! After:

Here I bumped up the exposure just a little bit, smoothed the skin just a tad, enhanced the color saturation a tiny bit, and sharpened. Again, a little vignette was added, but not much. Less is more!

Here’s Nikki! The LIGHT was so gorgeous that day (that’s a biggie – use light to your advantage, and not to make your subject squint) – and her eyes are striking. She also has freckles – nobody messes with freckles! Shot at ISO 200, 68mm, f2.8.

After!

Warming up this photo made her hair and eyes POP didn’t it? I do always sharpen. That was pretty much it on this one, fantastic SOOC.

This last shot is another one that made me gasp the moment I saw it on the little LCD on the back of my camera – Holly. Sitting in the weeds against a garage gate near the Sunabe Sea Wall. (Yeah, you’d think she was in a field somewhere or something, right? Early morning light is behind her here.)

SOOC: ISO 100, 85mm (probably my favorite portrait lens), f1.4. Again – not much is going to be needed here.

After:

Holly also has freckles, so I didn’t do much with her skin. Not that I needed to, she’s like a porcelain doll! I bumped up the exposure a bit on this one, and warmed it up just a hair. Sharpened and boom. Done!

I’m not going to tell you that it doesn’t take time to edit photos. I usually take 200-300 photos at a shoot, depending on the circumstances. I narrow it down to 35-50 and edit those choices to present to my clients. What I’m trying to illustrate here is that it takes a good photo to start with, camera know-how, and software know-how to get it right. An artistic eye and a unique style never hurts. Neither does inspiration or passion – I love what I do so much and I’m blessed to have found photography to express myself.

There is a reason that good portrait photography is an investment – but if you love your photos – if you get that piece of art for your wall – that family portrait that literally stops time – it’s priceless.

(Did you guys like this? Leave some comment love if you have more questions or if you want to see stuff like this in the future!)

I’ll be back soon with some family photos and a group of high school seniors. Happy Hanukkah!

Sharing is easy and fun (we all teach our kids that, right?) and so I would like to share this with other photographers out there – Okinawa Living Magazine now has a site where anyone can register and submit photos for consideration for the Parting Shot on the last page.

What a GREAT thing this is! So…go visit. Click here, or type in: http://67.15.245.19/~okinawah/ in your browser. Register with a user name and password and then have at it! You’ll see on the site that there’s a countdown to when the photos are due and for which issue. And you’ll also see other people’s photos – and everyone gets to VOTE too! So even if you don’t want to submit something, feel free to visit and vote on the photo you think should be in the next issue. I personally submitted a couple of photos from Peace Prayer Park in honor of Veteran’s Day for the November magazine. These are the two I uploaded:

Bear in mind; the site will want you to upload your photo at web resolution (1MB max size) and 900 px wide. You’ll also need to submit a thumbnail at 200px wide. Be prepared with these when you register and submit.

Have fun with this! I hope to see your photos on the site and in Okinawa Living!

Hi, everyone! I have some fabulous photos of a lovely couple to post tomorrow, but wanted to get this out there today.

Some of you know, I’m part of the Okinawa International Women’s Club (OIWC) here in Okinawa. I posted about it back in December. Well I’m the historian on the board for this amazing organization. I say it’s amazing because not only is it a wonderful opportunity to meet women from all over the world and from Okinawa, of course, but OIWC provides an opportunity to learn about local culture, traditions, and most importantly to give back. This organization is a cultural exchange AND a non-profit organization that supports so many amazing causes.

Every fall, the OIWC has a welcome coffee. The club meets at luncheons once a month (alternating between on and off base locations) and then there are smaller culture groups that are part of the whole. The board meets once a month as well, usually right after the luncheon; meetings/luncheons/culture group events take place from September through June. By the way – the FOOD at these luncheons is usually fantastic. I am a fan of the local cuisine, but in general the meals are great!

I am taking the time to write about this because it is the last year (the 2009-2010 year) that I will be participating as Historian on the board. I’d love it if anyone who is local here in Oki would join – it’s a great time even if you’re just a member. But what I’m looking for is someone who’d like to help me document the 2009-2010 OIWC events.

If you have an interest in learning more about photography, if you will be here at least until summer of 2011, and if you would like to work with me as my “committee” for the OIWC Historian, please email me. I’d love to work with you this year, help you to get to know your DSLR (or at the very least a good point and shoot) and to have you join in the rewarding experience of giving back to this amazing place we call home for a short time. You know I love it! It’s my 3rd year as a member and my 2nd year on the board. If you have questions about it or think you might be interested – email me. I’d love to have you along. And if you’re not going to be here until at least the summer of 2011, this isn’t for you – I really am looking for someone who can take over next year. What would this post be without a few photos? I have to whet your whistle – these are some of the amazing things I’ve seen during my time with OIWC.

Hello, everyone! I hope you’ve had a great summer, mine has been fantastic. Today is the first day of school and here I am, hard at work. Not that I’ve been slacking up until now….

Aviva Photography’s pricing has been updated and is now available on the website, and I am booking for the fall. The sitting fee has come way down; I am no longer giving away images on CD with the sitting fee, however I want you to use that money you’re saving on mounted prints, albums or other beautiful keepsakes that you will treasure forever. Here’s the information about booking.

WEEKEND/HOLIDAY SHOOT ($150 sitting fee for up to 4 family members, $25 each additional member): A weekend shoot will happen on Saturday morning or national holiday in the early morning (particularly in September/early October due to the heat). That following Sunday is the rain date. If you wish to book on a holiday (i.e. Columbus Day) we can do that as well, but please have a rain date available just in case. Once you’ve requested your date choice, I will confirm and you will receive a Paypal request for the full amount of the sitting fee. Your session is NOT confirmed nor is the date held until that sitting fee is paid in full!

WEEKDAY SHOOT ($100 sitting fee for up to 4 family members, $25 each additional member): A weekday shoot (a Monday thru Friday date when school is in session) will happen on the morning of your choice, at 8:30am or shortly thereafter. We will plan for a rain date together. Once you’ve requested a date, I will confirm and you will receive a Paypal request for the full amount of the sitting fee. Your session is NOT confirmed nor is the date held until that sitting fee is paid in full!

The available Saturdays and holidays through December are:
SEPTEMBER: 19
OCTOBER: 10, 12, 24
NOVEMBER: 28
DECEMBER: 12, 19

Date requests will be first-come, first served. There is a great deal of flexibility on weekday dates, so if that interests you please let me know (would it kill the hubby to go into work late one day? I think not!). I hope to hear from you very soon – the dates will fill fast! Click here to email me, or visit the website and fill out the contact form.

And you know I won’t post without a photo! Here’s my daughter this morning, her first day of school.

Have you seen this at the stands? Or perhaps you already have one at home…..

(No, that cover is not my photo. I wish it was…she looks very happy.) But that issue – the August one – is home to something very special to me. In the contents there… LOOK. You may have recognized a photo like this from my personal blog…

And then when you look closely in the contents. There! The PHOTO ESSAY: In the Places Between. It makes me so happy to share this with you!

I somehow, by contacting John R. Burgreen III at Okinawa Living Magazine (published by MCCS), fell into this amazing opportunity to provide a six-page photo essay!

Trust me, I didn’t plan it. But who am I to not jump through a door when it opens, right? I kind of almost choked when I saw that I had to fill six pages; I mean hi there, I’m a portrait photographer. I take a lot of scenic and travel photos for fun, but this wasn’t an assignment. I had to throw it together in one week; before leaving for Hawaii. Before the people at Okinawa Living went on vacation. So there was no time to compile something new – I had to put something together fast! Not only that – but write captions… a story of some sort to tie it all together! I’m not going to lie, I had help. Thanks to Betty, Rena, Meredith, and Jen, I bounced a lot of ideas, brainstormed, and finally felt we had something to relate to the people who are new to Okinawa int he summer time. Get out there and explore! It’s the journey as well as the destination, so definitely slow down to enjoy the wonderful details of Okinawa.

I sent a bunch of photos to John, and some caption ideas to go with them, and he picked the ones he felt impacted him the most… and here it is. My first published photo essay!

As a side note, that photo of the sea wall up there is available on the FINE ART SITE – which, since a few have asked is in that “COOL LINKS” drop down up there at the top of the blog. There’s no password, you can go there and poke around any time you want! I have it as a 24″x36″ canvas gallery wrap in my living room, and let me tell you; that magazine doesn’t even do it justice. Colorful photos like that are meant to hang BIG on your walls!

I picked a few faves and a few new ones.

And all-in-all – I couldn’t be more proud and excited. (I still have a huge pile of issues in my house and feel like I need to grab MORE. A HUGE thank you to everyone. You know who you are. Mere – you brainstormed with me about verbiage during your last moments of pregnancy and I appreciate you endlessly for that. Some of you who were following my Facebook (hi, Denise…Bambi… you know who you are) were looking for it before it even hit the stands! Karen asked the delivery guy to grab one when it wasn’t even out of the plastic wrap yet. Ebeth literally grabbed it out of her friend’s hands. And I happily mailed copies to my amazing friends and clients who have PCSed and can’t just pick one up at the shopette. I got phone calls, emails, kudos – I feel the amazing suport and kindness from ALL of you, and I still pinch myself that my photos ended up in this magazine. The very same one I picked up in June of 2007 at the WestPac Inn and said to my husband, “I could work for this magazine. This is GOOD.” HAPPY DAY! A portrait post coming soon, and this weekend I get my camera on a baby boy! I’ll be back. I’m hard at work. Fall launch is coming…chugga chugga.

I proudly present another new product… custom-designed and beautifully crafted photo boxes.

When my clients order this little beauty, I will custom design the cover with the photograph(s) of your choice. This item does take 4-6 weeks to create and ship, however, it’s worth it. What a precious keepsake this is for any family’s coffee table!

And the best part? A 4×6 copy of every photo from your online gallery is included.

In other exciting news… I’m going to have an exhibit of sorts at our local coffee shop near the sea wall; Coffee Casa!

Coffee Casa serves up delicious java, delectable breakfast, yummy lunches and more! They will be open again after a few days of cleaning house this Thursday, April 2nd. I’ll be there in the later morning for a cup of coffee – and if you’re around, I’d love to see you there!

I’ve decided to time the exhibit with the launch of the Aviva Photography online print gallery. Many of you have asked, and I’m so proud to deliver – you’ll be able to buy prints of my photography online. Prints like this:

…and this:

…and THIS:

And of course many more.

Do you have a favorite photograph that you want to see on the gallery? Well then I want to make it available for you – leave a description in the comments or email me! When you place an order, I will ship your prints to your APO/FPO or to the states. Another huge THANK YOU to every single one of you who has been so supportive and encouraging. Without you none of this would be possible. That’s why there will be a discount for my blog readers, and an additional discount for my Facebook fan base thru May 2nd, my birthday.

Stay tuned…..More later this week!

Well, Nikon D40 owners who want to purchase a 50mm lens: YOUR camera does not have autofocus in the body, only in the lenses. If you want the 50mm lens, you’ll have to get the AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens. (Sorry gang – you saved $300 on your camera body – but you’ll have to fork it over for the lens…) It costs $485 on B&H and is currently back-ordered. Not sure how long that will last. I do apologize; as I’m not a Nikon shooter, it’s something I completely forgot to take into consideration!

Thanks, Julia! I miss you!

Hi, everyone! I am back! Well, I guess I wasn’t really GONE, but I took a short session break even though I really didn’t. Now that THAT confusing mess is over…

Meet Jamie. She’s a kindergarten teacher. (So some of you might recognize her.) She’s not working now because she had a baby! Also meet Brian. He’s a jet pilot. He’s a proud papa too! And lastly  – meet 7-week-old H. He was on his best behavior.

First of all – I have to say, that photo up there almost looks like one that comes with a frame. They’re great-looking, aren’t they? Secondly – you probably notice, they’re indoors! It was COLD out there. And with the baby I didn’t think it was wise to play around in the cold and wind even though they live near a beach. Their home had a beautiful big double sliding glass door in the living room – and look at these shots – it was PERFECT lighting! The other bonus is, I could capture them in their home – that’s special while we’re in Okinawa, isn’t it? I’d love to offer that to everyone, but here’s the problem. Light in homes on base is not great. Those of you who live on base – I’m not telling you something you don’t know, and you realize I’m not trying to insult you – unfortunately, the homes there were built to withstand typhoons not to open big picture windows and enjoy a great view. So if you have or are scheduling an upcoming shoot and you know of or live in an indoor location with fantastic big windows – let me know if that’s where you’d like to be for your shoot or for part of it. I love capturing families in their homes!

Sigh. I just got lost in those pools in your eyes, H. This adorable shot was the very first one I took. I knew it’d be a good day.

This one (and several others during their shoot) was Jamie’s idea! I love that they’re fans of photography and that they had ideas. Creative clients are fabulous! I will always give credit where credit is due. And I will ALWAYS love the bare feet shots!

Speaking of creativity… my fabulous assistant du jour, Shannan, spotted a huge world atlas. Those blue eyes next to that blue East China Sea are just great, wouldn’t you say? Here’s to Okinawa Babies!

You know I don’t usually post in black and white, but this moment is so pure and beautiful – I really do like it this way. Brian and Jamie are amazing new parents, they’re so sweet with their little man.

Strong pilot hands + sweet swirly-haired tiny baby head = Aviva in a melted pile of goo.

Ok. This isn’t fair. They do NOT look sleep-deprived and stressed. They look fantastic. It’s lucky they’re so nice or I’d have to hate them.

This is about as close to a smile as I captured – but this little smirk is SO CUTE, isn’t ‘it? He’s leaning on a blanket made by his grandmother. It’s a quilt with a bear on an airplane. Of course!

Thank you for the coffee, the invitation into your beautiful home, and the opportunity to meet sweet H. The photos will be done soon and maybe I can return the coffee favor!

Coming soon: Two shoots from a while back that I wasn’t able to post until later (a bridal shoot and a jewelry shoot!) – stay tuned…

It’s an all to common story, espeically to me; “Dad (or Mom) is deployed, we want to do photos when he/she gets home.” I understand. I’ve dealt with 3 of my husband’s deployments too. Though I know it’s harder for others, especially being this far from the states and having more than one child!

Well, Jennifer got in touch with me and said her husband, who is deployed, wanted pictures of her and the kids. And that she’d have to dig out the wedding album for photos of herself because that’s how long it’s been! I know the feeling, Jennifer. Jeff – thanks for your service, and we hope you’re home safe and soon – here are just a few gems from our session at the beach together! I hope you enjoy them. You have a very sweet family and a wonderful wife. A pretty one too, I might add…

It was HOT! And I think the kids let loose when we went to play in the sand and shade by the water.

Oh – I forgot to mention that young S here had a run in with the bed frame and I think the bed frame came out on top… but luckily things were better by the time we went out to play. Poor Jen was worried about it, but we all know that if we wait for scrapes and bruises, the photos would never happen – particularly with boys!
Here’s gorgeous C – with her gold locks and warm brown eyes. What a smart young lady! She loved to play.

Speaking of smart, S here is not only good lookin’ but wise beyond his four years. He even wrote the letters of his name in the sand for me!

In the end, S conquered the cave and C found a friend in a pet rock… who sadly stayed at the beach. But don’t worry – he’s partying with his friends, C!

I’m really excited to share all the photos with you soon, Jen! Thanks for a fun day, and I’m glad you enjoyed the beach afterwards! I look forward to meeting Jeff and getting my camera on your whole family when you’re reunited in the spring.