blogs of photogs

Jess VanLue works out of Vassar, Michigan and the surrounding areas. She photographs babies through teens and families, but the work that really stood out to me is her high school senior work. You can see some on her blog, but even more at her separate seniors site here. It loaded a bit slow for me, but my wireless ISP has been acting up, might just be me.

Jess seems to have a great connection with seniors, and has some really magnificent locations that she has found. It seems to me that some photographers can take “good enough” photos of seniors, and some seem to truly have their finger on the current pulse of what seniors want, and keep coming up with new, different and unique shots. Jess is there. Enjoy!

Mary

I wanted to share this nifty new application I found on one of the blogs I looked at recently (sorry that I have forgotten where I found it!) Its called Wordle and you can find it at wordle.net

Basically, you can create a beautiful word cloud out of any site or blog that has an RSS stream. Here is the cloud I created from recent blogs of photogs posts:

Click the image to go check it out larger at flickr. I even picked the colors to match my blog. I think it is a fun thing to add to your photo blog….so I wanted to share it here for my readers. :) 

Enjoy!

Mary

Critsey sent me a huge list of blogger blogs that have been enhanced to feature large photos, her blog was one of them. Thanks Critsey! I loved her work, blog and friendly talkative style so much, I had to feature it today! :) 

Critsey is a wedding photographer who truly specializes in destination and travel weddings. If you look at her site, you will see a large showcase of great weddings in various locations that she has documented. She has been all over the place, from St. Kitts to Paris to London and all over the states. I think you will really enjoy her tasteful boudoir, engagement, and wedding sessions!

Mary

In addition to being available for travel worldwide, Daniel Snow works out of the Twin Cities metro area, (Minneapolis & St. Paul–same as me!) so I guess I’m performing another local karmic good deed by featuring his blog here on Blogs of Photogs.

Anyway, quite simply, he rocks at both wedding photography and engagement sessions, and Daniel is shockingly affordable for being such an accomplished photographer. If I were getting married again, (which I’m not, but instead celebrating 15 years of wedded bliss to my sweetie next month) I’d have to talk to Daniel first off and see if he was available. There is such a glut of photographers in our area, many whom…how can I say this kindly….just do not have the expertise to be charging what they do. Daniel is the complete opposite-exceedingly talented yet well within the budget of most middle class couples. Yippee for them, and I can see why he is booked so far ahead. The dynamic range of his black and whites, (on my iMac anyway) are truly some of the best I have seen lately. Comparable to great film shooters-this is what digital should look like when done right. Enjoy!

Mary

Todd Laffler works out of Scotch Plains, NJ, but travels as well. He primarily shoots weddings, but also some portrait work and children, etc. To say that his blog and site showcase an extraordinary talent would be an understatement. I’ve mentioned it before (some might say ad nauseum…) but I look at a lot of photo blogs. A lot.

There are some blogs that grab me right away, making me go through pages and pages and my kids get bagels for dinner. Again. Yup, this is one of those. His artistry, finesse and personality are all intertwined within his photographs in a distinctive way that makes me think we will be hearing about Todd more in the future. Hope you enjoy too….

Mary

Gina Lee Photography has a beautiful fresh style that just says “summer” to me. She is located in southern California, and most of her photos look like they just jumped off the pages of Pottery Barn Kids… that saturated bright look that has such a fun commercial feel. Love her family shots, her use of sun flare, her session with the chalk board (too cute!) and the fusion of her own life interspersed within the blog, complete with her curly headed little cutie getting a hair cut. Enjoy the inspiration!

Mary

This is such a fun blog, with so much to like! Perfect little break from getting things ready for the 4th of July here in beautiful Minneapolis.

Ok, first thing, and I absolutely have to say this, and I do not personally know Beth of bsquared photography, so I have no stake in saying this: Beth you are RIDICULOUSLY under priced. There are so many stellar images on this blog, and the portrait work, beach work and family sessions are so much better than SO many of the blogs I look at… I really have to just yell at you for a minute about your pricing. WAY UNDER PRICED!!!

There, that is out of the way…(and if any of you readers agree with me, please leave a comment here to prove my point…)

Ok… so, what else do I love? I love the frequent updates, the huge size of the images on the blog, (especially love that b&w image of the baby on the wooden bridge…) the band photos are great, (and if you have ever done any band photography in darkly lit clubs, you know how good these are!) and the fun, affable, cool-mom-next-door tone of her writing. There are a couple less than perfect images if you delve way back, but you can really see amazing growth, talent and beauty in her work. If she was one of the photographers I have mentored though, I’d be on her about that pricing.

-enjoy!

Mary

I’m actually kind of embarrassed to admit (as a photographer myself), that I had never read Jessica Claire’s blog or visited her website prior to today. I first heard of her years ago, have seen many of her images before, on various photographers forums, and read things by her, most especially her very giving and helpful Q&A’s on the Beyond Just Images website forum (which also rocks) and I even *own* a shootsac. But somehow, I’ve never visited her site/blog. Currently, her site and blog are one, she calls it her blogsite.

Anyway, I got a little lost in it this morning. (sorry kids!) The design of the site is beautiful, it would be redundant to comment upon how stunning her images are, and she is a truly a marketing genius. Her blog is the perfect mix of information geared towards both clients, and towards the thousands of photographers who blog stalk her site, looking for inspiration, actions, tips, etc etc. I also enjoyed her writing style, friendly and conversational, with bits of her personality popping up around every so often. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Mary

Ok, I know, I know. I hear the blogs of photogs purists screaming and sloshing their starbucks in indignation. Dooce (aka: Heather Armstrong) is not really a photographer, because she pays her bills with blogging, not portraiture or wedding work, etc. But, she does do the Photo of the Day, and is amazingly talented at both photography and blogging, (and hilarious to boot) so, there you go. Plus, I’ve been a fan for years and years, so: She is our featured photographer of the day!

If there is actually someone out there who has not read Dooce, I’ll be a bit surprised, as there are so many people who I know, who have been faithful Dooce fans forever. I’ll bet many of you have not read her blog in a while, or have forgotten how funny her blog is, how addictive and interesting it is, and sometimes even feel like she is a friend IRL, in that weird way that blogs (and their authors) that we are familiar with become a part of us. Either way, check it out, for the first time, or find it again. Its singularly fabulous.

~enjoy!

Mary

Daveen photography is located in the Salem, Oregon area. I have to make a confession before I begin writing about her blog. I have become prejudiced towards wordpress blogs, and others, that showcase large images. I get tons of requests to review photographers blogs, and I’m not kidding, I read 15+ blogs a day looking for the one to review that day, and the typepad and blogger ones with their teeny tiny thumbnail sized images just. dont. inspire. me. at. all.

I’m sorry. I am now officially a blog snob. I will try to overcome it and review some magnificent imagery on a small image blog soon. I promise. Really. (do I have to??) Ok.

Now, back to Daveen….

sigh…

Lovely images, her tones, slightly vintage in feel, and even the angles and perspective, are just so soothing and wonderful. I read in her blog profile that she has been in business just slightly over two years, and I would never have guessed it. Her images are lovely, processing just divine, and apparently she only gets gorgeous subjects to work with (half kidding) Enjoy her blog… 

Mary