Ocean Wide- wedding testimonial from Sydney, Australia

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Check out this new video my team just completed from our trip to our wedding in Sydney, Australia. We took clips from our extended interview from Mike and Melodie and included it in the video. As you can imagine shooting in Australia is one of the best experiences I've had for a wedding and I hope you enjoy what we've put together here!!!

Eric and Michelle

Below are shots from one of my favorite shoots ever! I had the opportunity to do an engagement session with Eric and Michelle at the, "Beach of the stars," Malibu Beach, CA. It was a beautiful day and we held the shoot right before sunset which worked out great.

The first shot shown was unbelievable....we were waiting for the right wave to come and when I saw his one rolling in I told Eric and Michelle to get ready because I thought it would be big. They started kissing and this monster crashed on the rock and came completely over! The water came all the way up to my waist and got my gear soaked....but it's worth it for a shot like this isn't it? I can't thank Eric and Michelle enough for being such great sports and making these shots possible. I can't wait to shoot their wedding next June!

Brennen- King of mischief

These hilarious shots are from a portrait shoot I did with the Taggart family. Brennen was clearly one of the main attractions to say the least. I have other shots but I couldn't help but post this selection of Brennen. I just love the shot of Brennen and his sister Elise crying...it only lasted for 15 seconds but it definitely was a Kodak....I mean Nikon moment. I do love portraits because if done right you are using your camera to capture and preserve a person's personality and unique charm forever....I hope you enjoy!

New Video Homepage Presentation!!!

Check out this awesome new video my video team did lead by Cameron Lanier for our shoot at the Queen Mary! It's my favorite video so far. I hope you enjoy!

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Aliya- Portrait of an Indian Wedding Bride

This is the latest video we've added to the website of Aliya Altafullah, moments before she was married.  Nothing is more beautiful than capturing an Indian bride getting ready for the ceremony, and I hope by watching this video you agree.  Aliya was a beautiful bride and we had so much fun shooting her and Justin's wedding day.  I hope you enjoy!

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New Website!!!!!!!

I am very excited to announce the launch of our new and improved website!  It's taken a long time and that is the main reason why I've not been posting on the blog...but the new website now has large galleries, and the newest section is our "Client Details" which lists all the specifics about Jason Lanier Photography.  I hope you enjoy...let me know what you think!

Halo- the wedding story of Mike and Melodie Thompson

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I am very excited to release the slideshow of the wedding story for Mike and Melodie Thompson shot in Sydney, Australia last month!  I have shot so many weddings and I truly love each and every one of them.  This wedding is definitely one of my all time favorites and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to share this day with this wonderful couple.  One of the reasons I loved this wedding so much was because the family was just so welcoming and honestly wonderful.  We also had the opportunity to do extended shooting after the wedding which you will see in the slideshow.  

I love preparing and sharing slideshows because I think from a photographic standpoint it is the closest thing to attending the wedding...especially if you weren't able to attend.  With all the destination weddings I do there is almost a certainty that someone from the family or a friend can't make it....and that's why couples hire me....so I can take their most special day and preserve it in a way that anyone across the globe can feel and share.  I hope you enjoy!!!

Sydney- Here Comes the Sun

We had an amazing rainstorm during the end of the Reception...and just as the Reception ended....so did the rainstorm.  I took Melanie and Mike outside because the scenery was straight out of a movie.  So much about photography is taking advantage of what is available to you...and that was definitely the case with these shots.  When you get dark rain clouds fighting with a fierce sun...you can get shots that are fantastic.  Another big thanks to the bride and groom for being willing to get out there to make these shots happen!!!

Skiff Harbor View

This shot was taken from a window of the reception hall where the wedding took place during the reception.  A huge rainstorm came in and started pouring water all over the area.  As is the case in Australia the rain comes and can quickly go...so I waited for it to stop to grab this picture.  As soon as the sun started coming through the clouds I snapped this shot.  

Some of my personal favorite shots that I love to put in my office are of landscapes taken through windows still showing the window frame.  That way every time I look at the picture I feel like I'm looking through a window back to the place no matter how far away it may be.  I hope you enjoy!

Manly Beach with Mike and Melodie

These pictures are from the shoot we did after the ceremony.  The wedding was held in Manly Beach which is about 25 minutes from Sydney.  After the ceremony we took the Bride and Groom to this amazing location that I had found the day before.  It really was as beautiful as the pictures show....the clouds, the sky, everything....all natural.  

It's so important when you're shooting a couple that they have a chance to flirt and have fun....that is when you get the best shots.  Mike being Australian was such a gentleman and kept us laughing from start to finish. Melodie was just radiant...it was almost impossible to take a bad picture of her.  Most importantly is that these two are really in love....and that is exactly the element that I tried to capture in these images.  I hope you enjoy!

Cinderella

I'm very excited to release my first image from my most recent wedding in Australia!!!  I have named this image, "Cinderella" for obvious reasons.  This is one of the last images I shot as part of the wedding. As a photographer there are a few distinct areas of the world that you have to shoot before you consider yourself, "Complete."  For me the Sydney Opera House was and will forever be one of them.  

This unbelievable piece of architecture creates lines for photography that are out of this world. It is also one of the most recognizable buildings in the world...and I was determined to get this shot.  I can't thank the bride and groom Mike and Melodie enough for working so hard with me to get this shot.  I also can't thank Kara and Cameron for providing the lighting that made this work.  A shot like this takes many people to create...and for me it took our team to make it happen.  1 Photographer/Director (me), two lighting assistants (Kara and Cameron), and the bride and groom....a total of 5 people....but it was worth it....I truly love the shot and I hope you do too!  This will be my first entry into the WPPI competition coming it.  I hope you like it!

Sydney Wedding Interview

I still have a few days to post from our adventures in Australia but I'm really getting the itch to post some wedding shots....those will be coming shortly.  To help scratch the itch I wanted to post a picture of the interview we did on the Harbour in Sydney with the ocean and Sydney Opera House in the background.  It is the most stunning place we've ever done an interview. Cameron was shooting the video while Kara held the video light and I got this shot on a remote trigger using my D90 while my D3 was on the tripod firing at the same time.  

So much about photography is related to finding the perfect location, and ensuring that the lighting is working the way it should to get what you want.  I'll use any kind of light; car, video, building, natural, etc. to get the job done.....I love natural lighting and with the D3 I can use natural lighting better than any other camera on the market....but sometimes you need more.  I find any flash on top of the camera to be the least effective of any alternative lighting sources available...and I do love the Qflash....it works great.  I'll never forget doing this interview and this wedding....just unbelievable.  

Kuranda Cableway

So how do you get out of the rainforest when you took a train up and you have no car?  Simple, you fly over the canopy of the rainforest on a cableway for 40 minutes!  I remember when they had a ride like this at Disneyland but they took it out...too many people making out I guess....Well the ride at Disneyland was only about 5 minutes long and not nearly as high.  This thing was awesome.  It was so neat to fly over the rainforest and with the cableway so quiet you could hear every sound in the forest...the insects, the animals, the water....it was amazing.  It also gives you some pretty unique vantage points to get shots.  The cableway flies you down into the Tjapukai Aborigini Village where we continued our adventure....

Kuranda Railway

The day after the Great Barrier Reef we went took a train ride on the historic Kuranda Railway which leaves from the Cairns train station and goes all the way up through the city and into the rainforest.  It truly is amazing to take a train through the rainforest...it goes all the places cars can't go and gives you sights of things you haven't ever seen before.  

We were so tired from the night before that we missed breakfast...so when we got to the last train stop at the Kuranda Village we grabbed breakfast.  Kara went shopping in the village while the boys and I took a walk through the jungle....it was awesome!  The boys and I saw a crocodile in the river and I had to keep telling the boys to stop throwing rocks in the water because everytime I heard a splash or other water related noise from them throwing the rocks I was convinced that a crocodile was coming to get us.  The most amazing part was when we stopped and just listened to the noises for about 5 minutes...the boys were asking me every 5 seconds, "What's that noise?"  

I cherish our "Boys Moments" so much....the moments where it's just me and my boys.  I remember how important my moments were with my Father, and I try to make those moments every day with my boys.  I love the shot of my son Kevin being a photographer's assistant by carrying my Manfrotto tripod for me.  He didn't last very long but it was very cute....I've named the shot, "Daddy's Little Helper."  Kara spent a ton of money and we all got poured on by a torrential downpour.....it was a perfect day.

Great Barrier Reef

The day after the rainforest we headed out on an all day excursion to the Great Barrier Reef.  Cairns is the best place to go if you want to see the Great Barrier Reef.  We took a 90-minute boat ride out to the reef where they set up a floating vessel that accommodated snorkeling, scuba diving, semi-submersible submarines, and helicopter rides.  The whole family went snorkeling which was just awesome.  

Kara and I decided to go down into the water for scuba diving while I decided to go up on a helicopter ride that was nothing short of amazing.  At one point I had to remind myself that I was flying a private helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef in Australia....just an awesome thing to experience sometime in your life.  

There was a photographer there with underwater equipment and shot with Nikon which I found to be a good choice of course!  I'll post the pictures of Kara kissing fish and the boys floating in the water next.  I hope you enjoy the shots below which were from the boat, and then from the helicopter ride.  If you've never flown a helicopter....just let me tell you it is an unforgettable experience that I loved.  I hope you enjoy!

Off Roading and getting stuck in Australia's Rainforest

Click on the link below to view the video of our adventure in the Daintree Rainforest, one of the most amazing places I've ever been.  True to form in the middle of the video you'll see me get my family stuck in the middle of the rainforest with little options to get out....you'll have to watch it to see how we got going on the road again.  

We crossed rivers, saw wild boars hanging from the back of bushman hunter's trucks, found abandoned houses, and crossed a crocodile infested river on a ferry pulled by a cable.  We just had the time of our lives.  I hope you enjoy the video!!!  Kara and I have vowed that if we do one thing again before we die....it will be off roading again in the Cape Tribulation part of the Daintree Rainforest!!!!

CLICK TO SEE VIDEO!!!

Noah's Beach

Towards the end of the off roading adventure we stumbled upon Noah's Beach...a beautiful untouched beach right in the rainforest.  The most amazing thing to imagine about this beach is that there are crocodile warnings on all the beaches in this area....so it's so funny to see something this breathtaking and all the while you're looking out to make sure crocodiles aren't sneaking up on you.  Kara stayed in the car and I took the boys down to the water to see everything.  My only "weapon" was my Manfrotto tripod...but I reasoned that if I had to use it to fend off a crocodile...I might get a sponsorship by Manfrotto for use of the story!  That's a dumb joke...but I did have it ready to use as a meager defense if necessary.  

One other unique thing about this beach were the little trees that grew out from the rocks on the ocean floor as you can see in the pic below...I thought it really made the image much better than just the ocean alone.  I hope you enjoy!

Cape Tribulation River

This is a picture taken in the Cape Tribulation area of the Daintree Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland, Australia.  I can't wait to share the video of our adventure in this magical place....because it truly was one of the most memorable and unbelievable experiences of my life.  

Australia is so overwhelming in all it has to offer....if you ever have the chance to go....definitely do it.  One thing that struck me as a photographer were the constant supply of beautiful clouds...which for photographers is a must for dynamic photographs.  I hope you enjoy.  I'll be posting the video of our entire time in the rainforest next!

Bracketing for Portraits using HDR

Even though I have a studio...I still prefer to do most of my portrait and photography work outside the studio....I prefer making a backdrop like the one you see below rather than taking a boring backdrop on paper....and those don't look real anyways.  So there are a couple of things to consider when shooting portraits outside.

1. Lighting- do you expose for the person or the landscape?  Use HDR and bracket the picture using a tripod.  So find the backdrop you want and take two or three shots using the bracketing function on your camera to expose all the points on the picture that you want to expose.  So in other words...take a beautiful landscape shot and then take it into photoshop and merge the layers using masks.  Add some dodging and burning and you have your backdrop.

2.  Put your subject in the picture and take the shot worrying only about the exposure for the subject, exposing particularly on their skin.  The key focal point for the portrait should be on their eyes.  So now you have some terrific focal points for your picture because you expose for the entire frame on your landscape shot while you expose for the eyes on the landscape....so now both are exposed...fixing another chronic problem for photographers.

3.  Using photoshop merge the backdrop shot and the subject image into one.  Put the subject image over the backdrop in photoshop, and using a mask wipe away all the boring areas of the subject image except for the subject (person)..in this case my son Michael.  Dodge and burn a little to make sure the person looks like they match the exposure of the backdrop and now you have created a beautiful portrait.

The result: you get a picture perfectly exposed and in focus.  The sky, clouds, everything in this image is natural even though you may look at it and think I photoshopped the heck out of this....I didn't.  I didn't add or take away anything...the only thing I did was underexpose the landscape shot for the sky and then using dodging to brighten up the plants and mountains, and a little burning where necessary to darken.  This was especially important in this shot because the forest was pretty dark while the sky and ocean in the background was very bright, so the only way to get it all exposed was using HDR bracketing.  

If you have any questions let me know!!

Daintree Rainforest

This is one of my favorite shots so far from Australia.  This was taken at the Daintree Rainforest which is in North Tropical Queensland in Cairns, the most beautiful and lush area on all of Australia...as you can see by the picture.  We took an awesome 4X4 and went off roading but before we got to all the wild stuff we came along this overlook that was nothing short of breathtaking.  We got some great family shots as well.  

I really liked the fact that there were tree branches that came down and framed the shot....no photoshop.  I can't wait to show the rest of the images from Daintree as it was truly one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life.  I hope you enjoy this image!