100th Blog Post Celebration!

Well, today marks the 100th blog post! It's been just over 5 years of blogging and it all started as a way to communicate with friends and family as I journeyed to Spain & Morocco as a stock photographer during my internship at Emily Carr University. In conjunction with my December Photo Giveaways, I'm celebrating my 100th post by giving away a coffee table book featuring images from my time in Morocco. Some have never been made public before, and all have been freshly edited, which means even if you've seen these images before, you haven't seen them like this!

So how do you get yourself one of these snazzy numbers? Just become a follower of the blog before December 14 and your name will be entered into a draw for one of the books! (If you already ARE a follower of the blog, your name will be entered automatically as a thank you for your loyalty and interaction!) Alternately, if you'd like to order a book as a gift or just keep for yourself, shoot me an email at artbyjlauren@hotmail.com and let me know!

Enjoy the sneak preview!

Draw Winner will be announced December 15, 2010

December Wednesday Giveaways!

Hey guys!

So throughout the Christmas season, Jaime Lauren Photography will be featuring a few freebies. Every Wednesday until December 22, I'll be posting the latest giveaway on the blog and spreading the word via Facebook. Feel free to help share the love and pass the word on to friends and family!

This Wednesday I'm offering all brides & groom's to-be a FREE custom hard cover photo book when they book their 2011 wedding with Jaime Lauren Photography throughout the month of December. Every handcrafted coffee table book features exclusive designs, artful layouts, and accurate photo reproductions on premium archival, acid-free pages. Each book is 15"x11", 20 pages in length and comes with a protective slipcover to ensure your leather-bound, debossed book remains stunning no matter how many times you show it off!

Already booked your 2011 wedding and still want to get in on the deal? Refer a friend and receive $100 photo credit when they book!

So spread the word, drop me a line, and book your 2011 wedding now and round out your photo package with a free leather-bound premium hard cover coffee table book. Only a limited number available!

Offer expires January 1st at 12:00am PST.

Brett & Kelly: A Maternity Shoot

Every so often I get asked if I photograph anything besides weddings and engagements. The answer is always 'yes, but I rarely advertise'. See there's a school of thought that aligns itself with the theory that if you project yourself as a generalist, you'll never get taken seriously as a specialist in any given field. I've found that since I stopped promoting myself as a photographic jack (jill?) of all trades and started focusing in on weddings and engagements, I've been able to work on my craft, hone very specific skills, and settle into a niche (a very LARGE niche, but a niche nonetheless). And guess what? I haven't lost business as a result.

On those occasions when I'm asked if I do more than weddings, the follow-up question is usually one that includes a request for maternity/baby/family/corporate/promotional photographs. And if there's room in my schedule, then of course, I'm always on board. I enjoy the opportunity to branch out of my comfort zone, test other waters, and of course, build relationships with others through photography. As of recently, I've been getting quite a few requests for maternity & baby sessions, and since winter is a tad slower as far as weddings go, I've made room to honor a few of these requests.

Some of these shoots will be featured here on the blog, and since I wanted to put some space between featured engagement sessions, I thought I'd go back to an end of summer shoot that took place with our friends Brett & Kelly here in Livermore, California. Enjoy!

Isn't she a total rock star??? Kelly was a natural in front of the camera and is easily one of the most photogenic pregnant women I've ever photographed.

Don't they look great together?! Brett was pretty relaxed in front of the lens as well. They made my job ridiculously easy!

One word about Kelly's dresses: 'ruching' . All that lovely gathered fabric can do wonders for any figure, whether one needs it or not, but what I find myself swooning over in these two B&W shots is how beautifully the ruching leads the eye around Kelly's maternal curves. And both the rings and her necklace punctuate the flowing lines quite nicely. GOR-GEOUS.

(And they're just as fun as they look...we love having them as friends!)

Of course the shoot wouldn't have been the same without a glimpse of their little guy.

And since Brett & Kelly are major baseball fans, we headed to a nearby ball field for a few shots.

This last photo on the right was the result of an idea I had the night before the shoot. Love how it turned out with the white T's! Thanks guys for the awesome shoot. So glad that the little guy is doing well and growing like a weed!

I realise that these photos were all done 'on-site' and would love to hear feedback from viewers/readers as to whether they prefer maternity shoots on-site or in the studio. Which do you favour?

La Bibliothèque

Just after we received our first piece of mail at this address last year, I announced on Facebook that it was official: I could go and get a local library card. I did that--yesterday. I have no idea why I procrastinated so.

I love libraries...not just what you can get from them, (free books, old movies, audio CD's, back issues of Vogue, all without the pressure or commitment to buy anything) but the atmosphere within a library. The din and hum of visitors trying to be quiet, the odd child breaking out from the confines of the 'indoor voice' and then the turned heads as an embarrassed mom tries to shush her kid, (I'm sure that will be me in a few years!) the sheer volume of information at one's fingertips--I love it all. Even the exteriors can be pleasing, especially in larger cities. Vancouver's library is a stunning work of art; if you've never been to the Vancouver Public Library's main branch you should go next time you're in the city--from the outside it looks like a modern-day Coliseum.

So yesterday I finally treated myself to my first visit to Livermore's main branch and I was really pleased with how inviting it was. Warm lighting, (they went easy on the fluorescents, which I was happy about. I've always said fluorescent lighting is the devil's lighting) visible timber trusses, and neutral earth tones made the whole place seem more like a lodge than a library. If only there'd been a large stone fireplace at the end, soaring upwards towards vaulted ceilings...

Anyway, the last great feature of this particular library was it's automatic sliding doors. I never leave a library with just a book or two, and am usually weighed down to the point where if I were grocery shopping, I'd look ridiculous without a cart. So when the automatic doors whirred open I felt really grateful for not having to turn my back to the door, heave the door open with my shoulders, and leave the library backwards. Thank you Livermore for providing me with the opportunity to maintain my dignity here.

What was in my hefty stack of books you ask? A couple pictorial coffee table books, but mostly travel memoirs and guides. China, the Middle East, a couple about Iran. You know, docile, indifferent places...no troublemakers in this pack! Oh, and a guidebook to Switzerland, because that is where I'll be headed to shoot a wedding after Christmas!!! The most neutral place on earth! It's been a year and a half since I've been outside of Canada & the US and I'm dying to explore some place new, even if just for a week or so. Plus it'll be great to see an old friend get hitched, not to mention provide the newlyweds with a snowy photo shoot in front of a castle or something (fingers crossed!). Chocolate, snow, fondue, (CHEESE!!!!) castles, the Alps....I seriously cannot wait!

Oh, and if you have any favourite reads that might inspire my trip, let me know so I can hit up the library again :-)

Jaime

Bryce & Rebecca's Engagement Shoot: Part II of II

So a couple days ago I promised Part II of Becky & Bryce's Engagement Session would appear on the blog today and here it is folks!

If you know me well, you know I'm a fan of scarves. Summer, winter, in-between-the seasons scarves...I rarely leave the house without one. But one of the reasons I often suggest them as the perfect accessory for a photo shoot is that they can easily be used to draw the viewer's eye to the subject's face. I especially love what a fantastic punch of colour a vibrant scarf can lend to a shoot, particularly if the day is gray and overcast. (Wait, was that the Canadian or American spelling for gray/grey???) Anyway, I don't think I asked Becky to bring a scarf, but she brought a couple and they couldn't have fit better with the light, the backdrops, or her complexion and bright eyes. Gorgeous.

The B&W shot on the far right is one of my most favourite engagement portraits of all time. The tenderness revealed here gives me the chills...thanks Becky & Bryce for moments like this which I'll treasure always. It really is a privilege to be let in on intimate moments such as these.

All right, I'm still waiting to see if anyone can pick out where these photos are taken. What I'd also love to know is if you have favourite images from either Part One or Two of Becky & Bryce's shoot. It's always good for me to know what appeals to viewers and why. So if composition is what grabs you, I'd like to hear which one you think is the strongest. If it's emotion, colour, contrast, post-production techniques, or creativity that cranks your engine and one (or more) of these photos does it for you, please leave your comments below!!!

Oh, and have a fabulous weekend!