I wanted to post to apologize for not updating my blog lately. Been very busy but I have about 5 or 6 new Vegas Photography events to post on my blog. One is a great Catholic Church wedding with photos from the ceremony and reception.

Melinda and her mom just left our office after seeing Melinda and Danyl’s engagement session photo proofs, and they both gave us one of the best compliments that a photographer can get (not exact quote but close):

“So many of these photos ARE Melinda and Danyl. You really captured THEM, as they are everyday! This is exactly how Danyl looks at Melinda, and EXACTLY how Melinda is always laughing at Danyl’s comments.”

I don’t know what else to type in this blog. We (myself and Jeremy) are humbled by the great comments!

So, without further ado.. here’s a few of their (and our) favorites! Don’t forget, clicky-clicky for a larger version!

He’s making a funny comment into her ear, if that isn’t obvious!

This is the final shot of a series where they walked towards the camera from WAY back on top of the hill. Several shots turned out great but this was one of the best.

This was one of their Top 2 favorites. We added a dreamy look which really made this one pop!

They kissed a lot

This photo was Melinda’s favorite out of all of them. We gave her 3 or 4 different versions with different processing, then I remembered our “stamp” process. Had forgotten about this one, it’s a fun and unique way to get the wedding date on the photo.

This shoot was so much fun and when we left that night, we commented that we really felt that M and D would love the photos. It was nice to find out today that we were right!

As always, I welcome your comments on my blog! You don’t even need to sign up! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

What a great couple! It has been a while since we’ve been to Lake Las Vegas so we were very excited to have a chance to shoot this beautiful couple at this beautiful location.

We spent just under 2 hours, got 120 “keeper” photos and over 20 very unique poses in unique locations/backdrops. Here’s 6 of them:

There’s a great shopping area with a nice pedestrian street. This is one of a series of about 20 photos of them walking up the street doing fun things!

Sarah is absolutely beautiful. On our first consultation, she had mentioned that they were considering getting married in California at a rose garden. So, when we met, we presented the couple with roses and we used the roses in several poses.

Evan ain’t so bad either! We wanted a bit more of a masculine pose for his single photo, this one fits the bill!

As the sun went down, we walked to the waterfront and this was the 2nd shot off the camera. They are naturally loving to each other so it was easy to capture this tender moment.

Evan and Sarah had mentioned there were some friends of theirs who had a shot taken on grass with a certain pose that they really liked. So, we figured we’d try to emulate it. They say “Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery”.

Of course we always have fun on our shoots, I haven’t posted all the series of photos of them dancing on a bridge over the water or as they walked down the brick road… but I just had to post this fun one….

We know Evan and Sarah had fun and were very happy with the photos. Congratulations, you guys! We hope to be joining you in California next year!

As always, I welcome your comments on my blog! You don’t even need to sign up! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

We usually shoot our photography in Las Vegas so when we had a chance to get out of the Valley, we were excited… and we’re looking forward to going back! Andrew and Jennifer made this shoot great - they are both very attractive and naturally photogenic. The location really suited their personalities, very laid-back and fun.

I had a hard time finding only 4 or 5 samples from this shoot, actually we ended up with over 30 fully-processed and unique poses/backgrounds after a little bit over 2 hours of shooting. So, you get 10 in this blog!

You WILL want to click on the photos to see them larger!

I know I posted a sort-of similar couple photos on Dana and Chris’s Engagement Session but these have a different feel so I wanted to show them to you!

I just love the expressions on their faces when they are in the back!

This next two were processed to look a little “washed out” and very slightly antique to match the car and the gas pump/barn:

This one is funny because Andrew is so NOT conceited, but the wording on the side of the Coke machine just begged for a shot like this:

Of course we did some more romantic shots, this is one of the several that came out really nice.

By now, the light was getting just PERFECT so we decided to move to the 2nd location, near the Colorado River. We had scouted a different location a couple weeks prior but somehow we missed this great location, so we ended up here, way up above the river with a GREAT view (the view was the photo I posted in the previous blog).

Every once in a while, a photographer will attempt a shot to get a specific result and the end result isn’t exactly what he or she intended… BUT the actual result is still amazing. This is one of those shots. This photo was supposed to focus on the ring (which is beautiful), but the “problem” is, Jennifer’s eyes get all the attention - there is NOTHING done to enhance her eyes, that’s natural!

The natural beauty of the location really shines through here, with the sun reflecting off the river… and two lovebirds having some time together. This was shot using my 70-200mm F/2.8 IS lens at 200mm and was taken from about 200 feet away…

Here’s one of the last shots we got with the remaining sunlight. It marks the end of a great engagement session with a super couple.

Thanks to Andrew and Jennifer for driving to this amazing location, even with $4+ gallons of gas! We had a great time and hope you did too!

As always, I welcome your comments on my blog! You don’t even need to sign up! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

I’ll be posting the engagement session that went along with this landscape photo but I wanted to post one of our first true landscape photos (we specialize in people, and landscape is an entirely different animal!).

This photo is almost straight from the camera. Enjoy! Click on the image to see it a bit larger:

This next photo was actually taken by setting my camera on the windshield wiper and windshield of our car, balancing it very carefully and then doing a timed exposure (about 2 seconds open shutter). The reflection on the bottom is the hood of the car. I wasn’t able to even see through the viewfinder. This photo is straight out of the camera, completely un-retouched except for adding the outside frame.

I hope you enjoyed seeing something a little different, I know we enjoyed shooting them and expanding our “horizons”!

Tags: landscape

Robert and Melody are natural models, and both of them were GORGEOUS! We had an absolute blast on our Las Vegas Strip Photography Tour just before their wedding ceremony. I couldn’t believe how relaxed they were, even considering they were getting married in just a couple hours!

We spent 2 hours visiting the famous Welcome “To Las Vegas” sign, then to New York New York, Bellagio (inside and out), and Paris.

When it was all said-and-done, I had over 200 pictures which edited down to around 160 nice ones, and I did “special processing” to about 30 of them.

I’ve had a lot of prospective clients and viewers of this blog ask HOW I do this processing. I’m not one to keep secrets so I’ll describe the processing as I post the photos… I won’t get too technical, don’t worry!

This processing included a color saturation effect, a bit of a dreamy blur, some very specific adjustment of light/dark in certain parts of the photo, and one of my client’s favorites: “glam blur”. The overall effect of the processing makes the photo very “colorful” and the glam blur gives the skin a nice natural smooth look (and reduces wrinkles which was NOT needed for this shoot):

Isn’t this ADORABLE? As I said, they were great at taking suggestions and this was one of the first photos I snapped at this location. Perfect! Processing is similar to the above photo.

For this photo, I wanted to portray a “dreamy” or “floating” feeling. I purposefully over-exposed the background (see how it’s too bright?) and then made the photo into two “layers”. On the top layer, I used a heavy blur effect, then I selectively “erased” the blurring effect on the important parts (their faces and bodies). I left some of their bodies blurry to increase the dream effect.

I know I’ve already done a shot SORT OF like the following (see Marius and Tamika’s blog post). After I took that shot I had been waiting to get another couple to the same location to make the shot a little better. This one is more posed and has a bit more processing.

It’s the “standard” process for Selective Color, basically I have a color layer and a b/w layer in Photoshop. The b/w layer is on top and I selectively “erase” portions of that layer to let the color show through from the bottom. On this shot, it’s only the “passion” words. I also did some blurring of the far background and a gradient blur of the edge of the post (so the front edge is less blurred than the rear).

I asked the couple to have some fun in front of the fountain and got about 10 nice shots. These three seemed to fit together very well for a “series” type photo. All I did was create a new file and paste the photos into it, then put a thin black line between each photo, and added a frame. The processing on the photos below was just some saturation and light/dark levels.

Remember, click on ANY photo in my blog to see a larger version. This one should probably be clicked!

After the shoot, Robert and Melody left for the airport (helipad) and were married in a helicopter above the city at sunset. How cool is that!?!?

As always, I welcome your comments on my blog! You don’t even need to sign up! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

What can I say about Dana and Chris… probably the most fun couple we’ve met in a while (and that’s saying a lot because we tend to attract very fun clients!). When I meet couples for an engagement session, I tell them one firm rule: ABT (Always Be Touching). Well, let’s just say they touched a lot! D and C were up for about anything.

For this shoot, I worked with my husband (who is a darn good photographer). I did all the set-ups and direction, and he actually took the photos. We met Dana and Chris downtown and found some very interesting locations, a good variety of backgrounds and themes, too!

Normally I only post 4 or 5 photos, but you get a bonus on this one.. 7 photos… out of the approximately 20 good ‘final’ shots we got in this 1.5 HOUR session. Yes, that’s 20 nice, usable shots in LESS THAN 2 HOURS!

We were able to get a nice “Save The Date” photo, this is still in the rough stages but probably close to what the final product will be:

Almost missed this one, they walked to the entryway and did this, luckily we didn’t miss it!

Of course they got the original of this shot, but they wanted creative processing so we did a 4-color-tint on this shot….

Our take on a standard “wedding” shot, except no dress and tux…

We asked them to walk down the sidewalk and we used our telephoto lens to shoot (almost continually) as they walked. We got about 10 really nice shots during this time.

Every once in a while we yelled, “STOP” and they had to make up something to do right at that moment. I think this one took Dana by surprise…

Here’s a fun series based on the background “Smokin Good Times”. You’ll want to click on this to see the details…

There were so many more fun (and romantic) shots taken, and we hope that Dana and Chris had a good time. We sure did! I really enjoy shooting with Jeremy, I can focus more on being creative and he can focus on getting great shots.

As always, I welcome your comments on my photography! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

Here’s another event shot by one of D. Jay’s Entertainment and Photography’s other photographers. Virgil is great… usually I work with him as a 2-photographer team, but I was already booked for another event (Marius and Tamika) during this event. So, Virgil went on his own and got some superb photos of an absolutely gorgeous bride (and handsome groom).

Remember, click on the photo to see a larger version!

A nice posed shot, but still captured a tender moment!

Father/Daughter dance.

Some may think this special effect is over-the-top but Michelle asked for some creative processing. I think it’s pretty cool….

Michelle was a great bride to work with, and both Manny and Michelle were so photogenic. I’m jealous of Virgil because he was able to shoot this wedding. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

As always, I welcome your comments on my photography! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

FUN FUN FUN… these two and their families are AWESOME! Tamika hired me to do a couple hours of photography at their very laid-back reception at Cheeseburger Restaurant (in the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood). In just a couple hours I was able to provide this couple 330+ unique photos! ALL of the photos were “candid” so don’t expect to see any portraits or many posed shots here in my blog post.

For this blog, you’ll see the FUN that happens at weddings in Las Vegas, especially when they have a great DJ and great guests!

CHEERS!

We had a surprise visit from Elvis…. the King himself! I shot a picture of him with almost every guest there - they will be great keepsakes for all! Here’s one of the bridesmaids who REALLY liked Elvis! Kind of reminds me of a Prom picture - could you imagine bringing Elvis to your prom?

This is one of my favorite photos from the entire night… no it’s not the “best” photo but the expressions are priceless… Marius looks like he is “up to no good” and Tamika’s telling him “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”.

About halfway through the party I noticed grandma talking to Tamika. It was clear she was giving some heartfelt advice from years of knowledge and wisdom. She had the greatest hat on, and the pride she had in her beautiful fingernails was apparent. I was able to frame up this picture without them even realizing I was taking it. To me, this photo speaks volumes:

As the bride and groom left the reception, I snuck up behind them for a “goodbye” shot. I took the liberty of using some “selective color” to set the mood and if you look close you’ll see another edit I did… a custom sign!

And finally, we did have a chance to get some photos at The Vegas Sign. By this time, one of my assistant photographers had finished another event and joined us. He actually took this photo, which came out GREAT, and I did a little bit of post-processing to it:

We all had an amazing time at this event, thanks guys for letting us all share in your celebration!

As always, I welcome your comments on my photography! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!

While I am the main photographer for D. Jay’s Entertainment and Photography in Las Vegas, I am not the only one. This means we can work together at some events (it’s a great upgrade to have 2 photographers!) and that one of our other 2 photographers can cover some events when I am not able to OR if the client likes their style.

This event was covered by Joey, who only spent about 1.5 hours at this wedding reception at the MGM in a Terrace Suite. He shot over 500 photos in less than 2 hours!

Kelly and David were awesome, they were both having a GREAT time. Joey did a fine job capturing the event. His style is a bit different than mine, he’s a lot more “technical” in his shooting - but that makes for very nice photos!

Enjoy:

Smoochy smoochy!

A cute couple!

Can’t you just feel the love!

David was a crack-up… he always had Kelly laughing!

A neat idea we see every once in a while. Guests sign the plate with permanent paint.

Thanks to David and Kelly, it’s obvious you guys had a blast at your Las Vegas wedding!

As always, I welcome your comments on my photography! Just click on the comment link below to comment or read the comments. If this is the last post on the page, look below and click “Previous Entries” to see the rest of my blog OR on the right menu there is an archive of each month’s posts!