Eli's Photography Blog

American Idol’s Kris Allen meets my camera lens

As some of you might be aware by now, Kris Allen, from American Idol is one of the top 3 in the competition. What makes this slightly more interesting is that Kris is from Arkansas. I will have to admit that I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, but I can appreciate the scale of this type of thing happening for Arkansas. After Kris made it to the top 3, he flew back to Arkansas to take a tour and see all his fans. He came to the Fox16 News studio tonight. I was there to capture some of the night’s event. This was pretty cool. It was mad crazy, not quite the same as a wedding or engagement portrait session, but fun none the less. Cameras were everywhere, people were stepping on me and I was stepping on them just trying to walk Kris down the hallway. I took over 500 photos of Kris and his fans in a little over a 2 hour time span, and I did not get to shake his hand or say hi once. It was too crazy and I was too focused. I love photography no matter what the subject. Kris does seem like a cool guy though, maybe I will see him around another time. Enjoy the pics!

Digital Darkroom

Digital darkroom, edit suite, work desk, production house, or photo editing and mastering machine. Call it what you want, this is where I spend most of my time after a wedding or portrait session. Hours of editing, resizing, uploading, naming, and tagging. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the post production of wedding photography. Half the fun of an all day photo shoot is seeing the final product on the big screen after I have made the final touches. The combination of photographing people’s interactions and emotions with seeing the look on their faces later after I show them the produced images is why I love what I do. No matter what resolution monitor I will upgrade to in the future, there is still no better way to view professional photography than physical photos.

Don’t smash the cake in my face

There is just something about smashing the wedding cake in your brand new spouse’s face on your wedding day, that just seems right. It always starts the same way, fun and joking at first, but then it always ends with somebody getting cake on their face. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Okay, lets just do it normal. Don’t smash the cake in my face.” Sometimes it works and everyone leaves calmly, but sometimes it’s not so pretty. Either way, its always fun and I love not knowing the outcome. Congratulations to Casey and Adam. Keep the spontaneity!

Nikon D90 Review

I upgraded to the new Nikon D90 September of last year. I have now been shooting with this new Nikon body for over 6 months now. So far, so good. In fact it is a little better than good. I love this camera. Bigger LCD, faster shutter speed, and larger grip for my hand. I have to say though, the best part about the D90 that I have found useful is the programable “FUNC” button, located on the left side of the front of the camera’s body. This is a customizable function button that allows for a quick adjustment of a few different options, one of which is a toggle button between shooting just a jpeg and shooting a jpeg + raw image. For such a small feature this can be very useful. The setting for this option is buried in the Menu. Granted I do not use this feature all the time, but it sure is nice to know that when I do want it and I don’t exactly have all the time in the world, I have a programed button at my finger tips. For now I am very impressed with my D90, that is until Nikon comes up with the newest “must have” camera. I do like to keep up with my gadgets, but I do know that the most important thing is having a camera that I am comfortable with and won’t restrict me from taken the best possible photos.

Also just in case you were wondering, this photo is not mine. Copyright Chase Jarvis. Please check out Chase Javis.com

Ben & Erin’s Engagement Photos in Memphis

I rode to Memphis, TN this weekend on my motorcycle and met up this really great couple who recently became engaged. Ben and Erin are getting married in Florida. We met at the Memphis Botanic Garden. This is a really cool place. If you’re in the area, I recommend checking it out. They were a lot of fun and the weather could not have been more perfect this weekend. Congrats you guys, enjoy the photos.

E-Session Memphis Kiss

E-Session Memphis

Engagement photos in Memphis field

Engagement photos in field

Engagement photos in Memphis