blog roll..

Waaaaah! It's a Saturday and we're not shooting a wedding!?!? (Well, we actually shot a yummy one yesterday).. but it's funny.. I always think the air smells different on a Saturday.. like a day that's so precious and one that we don't often get to see.  We rode through our local park this morning and it was buzzing.. it just looked completely different..

So to celebrate the weekend I thought I'd share with you guys some of my favourite blogs to read. Some are more photography related and others more lifestyle and some I like to check in on a daily basis.. some it's more now and again.. but all of them are inspirational, funny, intelligent, thought provoking, stylish.. and generally lovely to hang out in..

Bleubird
So first up is Ms James aka Bleubird. I have followed Ms Bleubird for a looooooong time.  Her wonderful blog about her and her beautiful family is an everyday read for me.  When I first found her she had her own onilne vintage shop and since then I've watched her add the adorable Birdie and the newest addition, Sailor to her beautiful family.  If you haven't come across this little family then be warned.. it's pretty much a given that you'll fall in love with them..

A Beautiful Mess
Next up we have A Beautiful Mess. Elsie and Emma, two sisters who live in the Midwest crafting their own incredible empire. I've followed these ladies for about 5 years now watching their ideas turn in to reality. A vintage shop, online courses, their own fashion line, a book, an app.. the list goes on.  They are total advocates for homemade and vintage and I'll be honest.. I've felt so proud watching them grow and grow..

Design Love Fest

Bri Emery has the wonderful blog that is DesignLoveFest. Inspiration bursting out of every page Bri posts about design, interior, travel, food, clothes.. she creates her own style posts and also runs the incredibly successful BlogShop (a workshop all about photoshop) with her good friend Angela Kohler.  She is a graphic designer by trade but her blog has become so popular that now her blog has become a wonderful combination of everything she's passionate about... (also keep an eye out on BlogShop workshops because they sometimes come to London).. :)

Next up a few of my favourites on home turf..

Just the 6 of us..
I've known my gorgeous friend Zoe since I was 14 years old.  I've seen her have four beautiful children.. find the guy of her dreams and start a wonderful business.  We're two peas in a pod and most people think we're sisters which is fine absolutely fine by me.  She's also a lover of vintage, car boots and general old, pretty stuff and I love her and her family to pieces.  She also has a pretty nice selection of goodies in her shop 'Yellow Vintage' right now.. I say that but take no responsibility for what ends up in your basket.

Seeds and Stitches
Another gem is another wonderful lady who I met a few years ago in my first year of photographing weddings when I photographed her husband's sister's wedding. I remember arriving at Ray's (the Bride) house in the morning and falling in love with the house, their mates, their style.. I would have happily moved in on the spot. I've kept up to date with Hannah and her wonderful little family.. her great bunch of friends and watched in awe at their craft, sewing, cooking and upcycling skills. Hannah recently came up to take photos of our house and office with the lovely Kristy Noble (which I'll be blogging about at some point) and it was just like we were old friends.. non stop chatting.. :)

I don't tend to look at too many photography websites as it can get a bit all consuming but there are a couple that I come back to regularly.  Most of them are ones that I connect with on a personal level, can learn from and am inspired by..

Jasmine Star
This lovely lady is one hot entrepreneur in more ways than one. I've followed her blog for a long time now and admire her for her work ethic and her sheer determination. Her ambition is infectious and the fact that she's honest about her journey and is so open with her experiences and knowledge.. it's an absolute pleasure to watch her grow and become more successful. If you're a photographer she shares so much amazing tips and advice.. both with shooting and running your own business that you need her blog in your bookmarks bar.

Sue Bryce
I haven't been following Sue for too long but in the short time I've followed her blog she has made quite an impression. How Sue started is pretty similar to me and I immediately felt a connection to her journey. She has built her business from nothing and I admire her honesty, her courage and her natural business mind. She knows her shit because she understands her clients and she's not afraid to take risks.. even when there is something to lose. I actually bought her CreativeLive course and Pete said he thought she'd moved in to our house as I seemed to be watching it all the time... :) For me.. we are so busy with the business, especially over the summer months that you tend to be using all your energy on the here and now so it was good for me to be able to step out and just listen for a bit. Even if I already knew bits or felt I was actually doing things right.. you still learn so much and sometimes you just need things highlighted. I recommend having a read of her blog and if you can, watching her CreativeLive workshop too.. :)

Hope there's one here that you might not have come across yet.. :)

We heart sharing...

I have just had the best 5 days I think I've ever had. I've just been to Cornwall with my girls... Joanna Brown, Debs Ivelja and Anna Hardy. We are four photographers who have come together to help, support, encourage and inspire each other to become better photographers and to become better at running our little businesses too. We are called 'From our hearts' and we will be launching our own little blog soon to share our experiences, our thoughts, our likes, our inspirations and also encouraging others to do the same. I'm quite excited.
Recently I've had quite a few emails from other photographers who are maybe just starting out with questions that I asked a lot when I first started (and still ask!) and coming back from our trip I thought how lucky I am to have the support network I have around me. So with this in mind I thought I'd start doing a few posts answering some of those questions. NB I under no circumstances think I know what I'm talking about but I am happy to just write down how I did/do things, what felt right, what I don't think worked and maybe a little bit of it might be useful... :)

What equipment do you use most (lenses/lighting/camera)?
When I first started I had a Nikon D40. This got me started and I would take lots of pictures of Pete, my family, friend's children, my feet... anything really... I had the kit lens (18-105mm) and I remember buying the cheapest 50mm lens and just being so over the moon. I then bought myself a Nikon D90 and a few more lenses and used this camera up until about June/July of last year. It was then that I moved over to Canon (for quite a few reasons) and got myself a Canon 5D MkII which I now have with a 24-70mm, the 35mm 1.4 and the 85mm 1.2... with this I have a speedlight and that's about it with regards to lighting. I don't use any reflectors or off camera flash... it's pretty much just me and the camera.
I'm really pleased that I did start off with cameras that were lower models as I felt like I really had to work at getting the shots, not that having the Mk II makes it easy, but there are obvious benefits by having better equipment. I feel I really appreciate the step up (I still can't believe it's my camera) and also my new lenses are frickin' amazing... (You suddenly realise you can talk about lenses for quite a while instead of shoes... although I could talk about shoes too..)

Pete's band... it was great practice to direct and try things out...

How did you go about getting yourself out there and how do you just keep on booking?
I must admit I do think it was a lot to do with right place, right time with this one. When I shot my friends', Ruth and Dan's wedding back in October 2009 it was a vintage style wedding which was kind of new at the time. Pete had also proposed the Christmas before (when he bought me my first camera) so I'd been mooching on the internet (with no definite date in mind) for wedding stuff and photographers. I was typing in 'alternative' and 'vintage' as me and Pete would probably class our taste for things such as clothes, music etc as that but I couldn't find anything. What I did find tho was the most amazing wedding photography... from America. I found most of this through Rock 'n Roll Bride so when I had edited Ruth and Dan's wedding I sent it to Kat to see if she would feature it. She did and all of a sudden I was getting a lot of enquiries. There seemed to be a lot of couples out there, like us, who were after something a bit different. At this point I had no idea if i could do it, how much to charge, how to run a business... so I had to just do what felt right. I charged a very low amount to begin with and this has both helped and hindered me in equal measures! It was great as couples had no problem booking me as I was cheap but it was bad because I pretty much filled 18 months with weddings for not a lot of money so in terms of exposure it was fantastic but in terms of our bank balance it was a real struggle. That's the one major thing I've found difficult which I'll write a separate post on another time :)

This is the second picture I took with my camera and right after this photo was taken Pete proposed...


Ruth and Dan's wedding..

I read “about you” on your blog; do you mean to tell me you’ve had no formal training in photography?? I'm officially baffled.
What advice can you give a self-taught, struggling/aspiring wedding photographer such as myself for getting established and becoming successful in this field?
I'm not sure if anyone specifically needs 'formal' training... I have learnt a lot myself but I've also learnt a hell of a lot from Steve Gerrard. I have second shot with him, worked with him in his studio and I can honestly say that I don't think I could ever repay him for what he has given me. I would say to anyone wanting to learn = second shoot! But be the best second shooter you can be. I was hungry to learn so wanted to make it as easy as possible for Steve to have me with him... you want to be as useful as you can and I promise you you will learn a ton. I also learn a lot from people like the girls... we've all started at the same time so we can bounce ideas, talk through problems, ask for advice... I think a support network is great. Oh and flickr.. there is an amazing community on there ready to give... but just make sure you're giving too :)

Another great thing is the social networking side of things... Twitter, Facebook are the obvious ones... get chatting, get commenting, get organising get togethers, offer a shoot, style your own shoot.. put out there what you want to be coming to you... if I'm looking for an alternative photographer and I click on your blog/website.. am I seeing an alternative photographer. It needs to be obvious.

I also think showing who you are plays a big part too. I said from the start that I'm going to be myself, be completely honest and shoot how I want to shoot. People like to read about Pete, Maximo, if I'm worried, doing well... they feel like they are on this journey with me and people are then proud to see you achieve things. I especially like to feel like that about my couples too.. they are MY couples and I am THEIR photographer.. I'm with them on their journey and they're with me on mine.

MAXIMO!!!

What programs/effects/actions do you use for processing your photos?
The dreaded question! All photographers I think get asked this and some like to share and some don't which is perfectly understandable! I think I found my style through a bit of both... frantically typing in to google things like 'Sarah Rhoads actions processing style how' and reading loads of forums and tutorials. But I also had lots of fun, when I found out what actions were, playing around with them to find what I liked. It's all well and good knowing how Jonas Peterson edits his photos but you want to be you so maybe take elements of what you like and then make it your own.
At the moment I have both Totally rad Actions and then most of Oeil Photography's actions too. I've found little recipes that I like and mix some together to create the look I want. I enjoyed this process and feel it's an important part of finding out who you are as a photographer so I would say go have some fun with it! The Totally Rad Recipes is also a good resource to find out what actions make images look a certain way.
Do you usually bring a second shooter/assistant with you to weddings?
I have used a second shooter on occasion but it depends on the wedding. To be honest I think I'm at a point where I could do with another photographer at some parts of the day (e.g to shoot the boys getting ready) but on the whole I can do it on my own. I also don't want to end up with double the amount of images to go through when it comes to editing so as a second shooter myself I tend not to shoot for the sake of it. I want to fill the gaps that they can't get, also shoot from a completely different angle... those are the images they need rather than another 20 of the same thing. I usually bring Pete to weddings for the other stuff (Pete doesn't shoot) such as finding good spots, carrying stuff, downloading cards setting the photo booth up... having another pair of hands can be really useful for all of that!
What is your pricing like?
Think I'm going to tackle this question in a separate post!
I noticed that you post new photos quicker than I can say peter piper! How do you get them done so fast? What is your turn around time for your clients?
Ha! Do I? I always worry that I'm ridiculously slow! I really don't think I can advise anyone on my editing workflow as this is something that I'm tackling this year. I did spend last year constantly at my computer trying to keep up with the shooting and it's something that I'm looking in to for this year as I really want a good work/life balance which is something that I found really difficult last year. It will happen tho :) At the moment my turn around is anything from 2 weeks to 5 weeks max but that's usually mid season.
I also noticed you do not have a website; only a blogger site (as do I). Obviously this has not been an obstacle in your path to success, but do you provide online galleries for your clients or just discs of their finished photos?
When I started it wasn't a business, just a personal blog so it did the job for me perfectly. As it grew and became a job people kept saying 'Ohhh you should have a website' and I always knew i would one day but I wanted it to be right. I have found that last year was my 'establishing myself' year. I found out how I worked, who I was as a photographer, who my couples were and only now do I feel able to put it all in a website. I also find it hard to give the creative reigns to someone else so spent a lot of time researching and have come full circle and have started to design it myself. The website is coming but obviously because of work load I'm having to do it between editing etc but I'm really enjoying the process. I wasn't actually going to show anyone until it was finished but it feels quite natural to stick in a little sneak peek of what it's going to look like... I absolutely love it :)


Your photos seem to have that candid, natural feel that I love. Do you pose your clients much or are you just that good at capturing the moment?
When I started I didn't direct very much at all... I thought that to get the candid, natural feel I should just let them do whatever they wanted and hope it was what I wanted. Now I direct a lot more. Couples want to trust you and actually want to be directed... when a camera gets pointed at you it can be quite scary so I might give them a little bit of direction and then let them be free with it. I've also learnt to laugh with them but have my camera up. I used to miss loads as we'd all be laughing and I'd stop taking pictures... that's the BEST time! They're relaxed, they're genuinely laughing and not thinking about the camera! I also have a few of my favourite poses that I like to use... I do find myself saying 'Just look deadpan' quite a lot....
And finally, what is your shoe size?
Size 6 and sometimes a 7... :)

Not sure if any of this is useful! If there are any other questions that you fancy me rambling on about then feel free to add them to the comments or email them over... info@emmacasephotography.co.uk

on the case...

Another late night blog post a coming... I don't know what it is about the urge to blog some thoughts around midnight...

I haven't really written much personal stuff lately, I keep telling myself that it's because I'm too busy blogging weddings and yeah, I have been run off my feet but to be completely honest... I actually don't have anything personal to blog. You see me and Pete don't do anything anymore... we've been swallowed by work... and although I love my job with such a passion that it hurts... I also miss our little life, our friends, our own little personal journey. I look back over this year and I cannot believe what we have achieved. It has been absolutely incredible how far we've come, how many weddings, how much support and I have loved every second of it. But it is also really hard. I have been so busy that I find myself on the computer from when I wake up to when I go to bed, I decline invitations as I'm actually scared to leave my little office... I feel guilty if I don't reply to emails immediately, I feel awful for all my friends and family who must feel like I'm ignoring them when they have to send me 3/4 messages before I reply, I feel sorry for Pete who has a full time job and then has to give up his whole weekend to come with me to every wedding and sometimes I feel a little bit sorry for myself... I've put on nearly 2 stone in the past year due to not taking care of myself and lots of convenience eating and... I've really lost confidence in myself and how I look that I've started preferring my little position behind the camera a bit too much. It's weird... I feel like my life has changed so much and so many amazing things have happened but at the same time I've kind of lost myself a little bit.... you become so engrossed that there's no room left for you....

So things are going to change. This is the time of year for resolutions so I'm going to set some... to give myself a little bit of attention, to give myself a life outside of work and to start enjoying being Emma Case again and not just 'Emma Case the Photographer'.....

God I love that boy there...

from our hearts...

A little while ago, through Flickr I met Debs Ivelja and Joanna Brown. These two girls are gorgeous, funny, talented and in love with photography just as much as I am. We've got to know each other pretty well over the past few months and we speak regularly offering support and advice to each other and both of them have now second shot for me at weddings.

When photography became my job I stopped taking photos for myself so much...I was so busy that I didn't want to add to the workload.... but I think it's important, not only for your personal development but also to keep things fresh, to try things out and to keep being inspired. With this in mind we decided to organise a regular weekend away and do something together and with that 'From our hearts' was born. It's simply a chance for us to get together, ask questions, support each other and to keep taking pictures for ourselves... which is what we adore doing.

For our first trip we decided to go camping. It was a chance for us to relax, talk and try things without the pressure of it being paid work. It sounded great but when we arrived so did the rain. Literally ALL weekend it rained... did I mention that it rained?... I think it might have stopped twice but most of the time we were just soaked through... so in the end there was far more hot chocolate drinking than picture taking but we still had a ball and it was really lovely to just get away for a few days. We're currently in the process of setting up a blog where all three of us are free to post and we are planning to do our weekend trip every year and maybe upgrade the weekend each time. We're all really looking forward to the year we go to Hawaii.

Over the weekend I decided to do some experimenting on my 5D so this is my little video of our little weekend....(and it includes eggs which makes me very happy)...

From our hearts..... from Emma Case on Vimeo.

articulating ourselves...

This is my first post where I'm expressing my opinion and I am actually pondering a) whether to write it and b) what's going to come out as I type but I have a fire feeling in my belly which means I have to let it out... so lets see what happens...

Over the past few weeks I have been told about or witnessed quite a bit of negativity regarding my photographs. I really want to stress at this point that this post isn't about how hurt I was or how much it has dented my confidence as actually I've surprised myself with how much it hasn't effected me in this way. The real issue is the subject of art... both in photography and politeness.

When I was looking for a wedding photographer for myself I couldn't find the kind of photography that was in my head so I decided to take the kind of photos I liked, nothing to do with anyone else... it was my art. It just so happened that a few other people had the same sort of thing in their heads too... hence my little photography business started.

For me, photography is about feeling. I absolutely adore with all my heart capturing the emotion and the feeling of a moment and to have the freedom of creativity. Actually the more I'm learning about the scientific side of photography (the technical side) the more I'm able to play with the creative side (getting a good sunflare took a bit of practice!) so I feel that I'm in a good place. I'd hate to have the technical side down but not be able to stop 'thinking' and start 'feeling'.

But I also have to accept that art goes hand in hand with opinion and not everyone will like or get what you do as an artist.... I actually felt quite empowered that people had taken the time to voice their opinion and that I didn't crumble over it. In fact I felt confident in my own art... I think it's easy to feel confident when you receive a lot of positive feedback but it can be very different when it's negative... I felt quite proud of my own acceptance.

I personally have styles of photography that I like and some that really isn't my cup of tea but I don't feel the need to comment on how much I dislike it... I simply move on to the next website or blog and look at things I like... same with anything... films, music, books.. I just don't feel the need to get angry at things that are different. But there seems to be a small minority that are somehow threatened by something different... but there is room for all of us, all of our styles and we should embrace our differences... it would be pretty dull if we were all the same!

The one other thing I do want to mention is the effect that a negative comment on someone's wedding pictures can have. Those photographs are a reminder of their wonderful, emotional, beautiful and most precious day so to comment negatively and publicly can't be very nice for the couple to see... I think sometimes we forget that these are real people that we're photographing...

So what is this post really about?.... I'm not really sure... maybe about following your heart, being more open and accepting, being true to what you believe in, listening to your own inspiration or simply just Emma having a rant.... whatever it is it feels good :)

I thought I better balance this post with a photo so here's me and my boy in a lift in France.

feeling connected...

Hello fellow photographers... this is a post all about us and our amazing relationship because this past week for some reason I am really aware of how crazy strong our bond seems to be.

I would probably say that I have quite an active social life... I have fantastic friends, some I've known for years, some a lot newer and all of whom I love with all my heart. I then have this other world... my photography world... the world of images and blogs and comments and fans and tweets and pages and links and posts.... and friends. Friends who I talk to every day, friends who share their work, friends who inspire me to be more. I sit here at my computer 8, 10, 14 hours a day (what was I saying about my active social life...) and the amount of love that circulates this funny little world in front of me is so special, so encouraging that I really don't want to take it for granted even for a second and I feel so very privileged to be part of it.

I've received a number of emails lately from other photographers from the UK and some from around the world (very surreal)... some saying hi, really like your stuff, some saying that I've inspired them in some way, some asking how I do things. First of all... this is NUTS! I email photographers all the time saying how much I love their work and that they completely inspire me and what the hell are they doing in photoshop to make their photos look like that?? I'm the student right now desperate to learn as much as I can, wanting to sit next to them at their desk or hold their bags while they shoot! But I suppose we all inspire each other in some way... that's what is so bloomin' great about our gorgeous little community. Secondly, receiving an email or a message saying that you like my stuff gives me the most sparkly, fuzzy, butterflies in my tummy feeling.. it's just the best and it spurs me on to work even harder and to ignore all the 'Everyone is better and you can't do it' moments. So thank you, thank you, thank you for being there and keeping me company in our little photography world but also thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me lots of nice sparkly butterflies.

I just wanted to add that there are also lots of bloggers/readers/brides to be that have also shown amazing support and are also just as much a part of the community...so a big thank you to you too... :)

How good would it be to one day do a mammoth trip all around the world meeting everyone!

home

I'm home.

I've been away on tour for the last five weeks and it has been the busiest, most hectic time of my life. Ever. I said yes to the tour way before all the photography kicked off properly and suddenly I found myself away from my computer with a mountain of work to do. I must admit it has been really tough. I absolutely loved the tour and wouldn't have wanted anybody else to do it but I kind of thought I could fit in starting the business, meeting clients, emails, doing shoots and editing around it and it would be fine.

Our last show was on Tuesday in Derby and I have got home and sat in my house with a huge smile on my face. I haven't been home properly for what feels like forever. I did the odd day back to Brum and frantically washed clothes and copied images to CD ready to take with me and edit on the road but that was it... I cannot tell you how good it feels to sit on my sofa, wash my dishes, sleep in my own bed.

At home also lives my two boys. Pete and Maximo (my cat) are my little family and I miss them so much when I'm away. It's just so nice to wake up and get a kiss from Pete and a head butt from Max and it's something that you tend to take for granted when it's there all the time.

What I've also missed is just taking a photo for myself. I've been so busy that I don't tend to take photos for me anymore. To be honest I think about taking some and then think about having to edit them and that takes time and I have so much editing to do anyway... blah, blah, blah. But I need to. I need to make time to. I miss it.

This is my first personal post for a while and it feels strange. I think it's because when I used to write personal stuff nobody really read my blog, nobody commented (and if I got 1 comment I'd do a little excited dance). Now people read it and people comment so in a way you feel more exposed.... but I still want to be me.

The Photography Parlour

The Photography Parlour is a fab new website for both pro and aspiring photographers run by the ever so talented Ms Rosie Parsons.....

Rosie got in touch asking if I would like to be featured in their 'My First Assignment' section.... errrrr YES PLEASE! She sent me over some questions and it was so therapeutic answering them! It actually made me sit back and really appreciate the last 5 months as they have actually flown by so fast that I'm still trying to gather my arse most of the time.

Check out The Photography Parlour for the full interview!

Thanks Rosie!

bridal soup

Guess who's the new blogger for Bridal Soup!!! Yeeeeeeaaahhh!... oh sorry, yeah... Bridal Soup is a gorgeous wedding blog for brides-to-be to find daily inspiration for their big day! I will be finding the most wonderful, beautiful things that will make your wedding day truly scrumptious and will post them daily for you to get all giddy about and want it all now!

Click on the picture above to check out the website.... (ohhh I have got some fab things to blog in the next few weeks that I know you're all gonna love!)