I'm the other Kristen

1. I shoot people with a:

• Nikon D90. I had a D50 forever but just got my D90 in May - an early birthday present (it's in June). I loved my D50... I superLOVE my D90.

2. My favorite lens:

• my Nikor 50mm f/1.4 is my most favorite lens! I can get sweet portraits with super-blurry background... which I love.

• ok... but I can't stick with just one favorite anything. my next favorite (& current fave, because it's new) is my Nikor 24-70mm f/2.8. It's such a good all-around lens & I love that it can open all the way to f2.8 - blury background (or bokeh) is my favorite. I've been drooling over this lens for a year+ & finally decided I deserved/needed/couldn't live without it any longer & got it in June (happy birthday! I'm expensive).
  

3. classes you've taken/how long you've been actively pursuing photography

• I've been actively pursuing this passion for about 3 years. I'd always loved taking pictures, but finally started taking it seriously/trying to figure my camera out & figure out HOW to get the shots I love since my kids have come along.
  
• When my oldest (Chase) was born in Dec 2006, my hubs (Aaron) bought me Me Ra Koh's 2 instructional DVDs beyond the green box & refuse to say cheese. I loved them! I learned a ton & highly recommend them. She has a way of explaining camera stuff so that it actually makes sense.
• I took a couple (semi-sub-par) online courses back in NY a year or two ago (photoshop CS3 & secrets of better photography both by Betty Shulz) & learned a few things. I didn't really love the secrets of better photography, but I did learn from it. I would recommend the photo-editing classes; there are a billion to chose from & I learned A LOT. (Especially since PS CS3 was way over my head when I got it - still probably is, but that class taught me more than I'd ever been able to figure out on my own, that's for sure - I couldn't even figure out how to OPEN a picture to START editing when I first got CS3.)
  
• I have been reading/drooling over Me Ra Koh's photography & blog for a couple years & for Christmas, Aaron bought me a spot at her Confidence Workshop in NYC this past May. IT WAS AMAZING & I learned sooooo much. I would go again hands-down, no questions asked in a second if I could - it was that good. I finally understand metering & can proudly say that since May 28 I have been "all manual, all the time" & I'll never go back to anything else. Worth every penny (early bird registration is $200 off, so save your pennies & go - you won't regret it, I PROMISE).
  

4. thoughts on photo editing (Software/programs you use)

• Photoshop CS3 as I already mentioned... but I don't use it very much now that I got.... (dun, dun, dun... wait for it:)
• ADOBE LIGHTROOM 3. girls. this program is my favorite. I can edit so much faster & it is fabulous. Unfortunately, Aaron got my LR2 a matter of weeks before LR3 was released.... but fortunately I have a friend at adobe who hooked me up with LR3. (and fortunately for you that means I have LR2 for sale if anyone wants it for a steal at $90.) It is an awesome program. I need to take a class to learn a bit more on it, I'm sure there's more to learn, but I've figured out tons on my own & love it mucho.
  

5. a favorite image I've captured:

• @ the erie county fair, taken last summer. this was our first time at the fair & the boys were in a trance the whole time, captured by the lights, the sounds, the smells, the rides... all things that are the fair. I absolutely love this image - it's not staged at all, I just happened to catch the hubs' hands holding tickets that he had just bought for Chase to use on rides. I love his little expression of awe & wonder. and I love the colors. it had been raining just before this & so the color was so rich & vibrant because of the perfect lighting.

6. What would I like to learn how to do better?

• oh, there is so much. Mostly, I want to figure out how to turn this into a business for myself. I eventually want to do weddings & big events... as well as portraits, babies, families, seniors, etc... but I feel like there is SO much to learn before I can jump into weddings. My favorite thing to capture is the intimate connections. the Relationships. the Feelings. the Emotion. I feel like I can do this... and my favorite thing about photography is being able to freeze those amazing connections between people & go back & give that to the client & have them be happy with the images. Now I need a way to turn this into a business so that I can touch more people with my work & balance my time shooting/editing/etc & also be able to support this expensive PASSION that is photography. (There is always another camera body to want, more lenses to crave/need?, etc...)
  
• I'd like to learn how to do off camera flash stuff, I think the images come out so dramatic.... & who doesn't love drama?
• For now I'm focusing on manual & trying to keep my images less "noisy" & trying to get my exposures right with my camera, not my editing software.
• oh, and I totally need help with POSING people - especially large families. I just hate when everyone is like "uh, duh, where should we stand?" & I'm like "oh, duh. I don't know. just act natural?" I feel like a blubbering fool when I'm trying to pose people & still have them look un-posed/relaxed. (See? Not ready for weddings.)

7. My favorite photography blogs:

• me ra koh - my super mentor. she has tons of tips on her blog & just wants women to succeed at photog!
  
• brooke snow- I'd love to do her workshop...
• jonathan canlas-I like his style & totally wish he did my wedding.
  
• jennie slade - because she's my BF from BYU & a dang good photog.
• I also like allison c, ali brown, just found & love kelly moore & dustin dodd...
  
• and for what to buy next: kenneth rockwell - he is like the all-knowing-Nikonman. I TOTALLY recommend his site for researching new bodies/lenses/flashes, etc. So much information & so unbiased (he's not paid by Nikon, he just likes camera stuff & likes to review stuff).
• and for buying equipment: amazon or adorama. (and if you link through ken rockwell's page he gets a little money, so that's nice for him.) adorama even BUYS old gear from you! love that.