Introducing Lindsay Ammons Photography's Newest Member!

Well. I certainly did not mean to go this long without posting on this here blog. But I think my reasoning is sound...

Allow me to introduce Ellie, the newest addition to the Lindsay Ammons Photography family! 

So, as you can see, things have been a little busy. I took a short maternity leave after this little meatball came into the world, but, as Joseph Gordon Levitt once said in 10 Things I Hate About You… i'm back in the game!

For anyone who spent this winter in Chicago, as I did, let me express sincere apologies that you had to go through that. Secondly, allow my to ask how on earth we got through it?! How I got through it heavily pregnant is a whole other story, but I did keep busy shooting for most of it. Here are some of my favorite shots of late.

I hereby solemnly swear not to neglect my blog for so long ever again! Interested in booking a shoot? email lindsay@lindsayammons.com or call 312.324.4263. 

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” -Molière

I thought I'd put together a little blog post about my shoot with Barney the Beagle, because it was one to remember. I like to think that dogs and myself have something of a special connection, a mutual respect and understanding. Let me sit down with you, give you treats, make beautiful photos of you, and i'll be on my merry way, leaving you to your napping, and guarding of the house.

Barney was different. If Barney sensed the "mutual respect" present, he wanted nothing to do with it. Barney didn't want me, or any other person, in his house or most especially near his momma.  It wasn't his fault, he's a dutiful beagle and as far as he's concerned his job is guarding the house.

After 20 minutes of trying to soothe and become pals, I admit that - in the words of Tim Gunn - I had concerns.  I honestly wasn't sure, for the first time in my career as a photographer, if we were going to be able to do the shoot. Barney was snarling, biting my feet (thanks to Chicago's never ending winter, I had boots on), and generally quite unhappy with the presence of a visitor.

I had a choice to make, do I walk away in the name of not getting bitten, or surge forward.  I devised a plan.  In the name of mutual respect, I would get no closer than 5 feet to Barney or his Mom.  Since I mostly shoot with prime lenses, and would be able to crop in post-pro, there would be no reason i'd need to get any closer than that. It worked, and we got beautiful images of Barney and his little family.  I would say this probably ranks in my top 5 of most difficult shoots, but just like the tough shoots before it, I'm very proud of the way it came out.

So much natural light pouring in. I love winter light! 

My husband saw this shot over my shoulder and said "Is that the dog that didn't like you? He looks like such a little angel!" I knew then I had done my job :) 

Barney chillin'. 

Barney and his precious mom. 

I love shooting against these old brick walls that are all over Chicago. 

Preserving Memories - the high-tech way

Wow, you guys, it's been a minute, huh?

A lot of my news and updates have been taking place over on my Facebook page (you know you want to like it) but I did want to take some time out and write a post about backing up.  I was reviewing my blog and remembering the sheer anguish I went through when my hard drive died with all my photos on it. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, if I had read a super helpful blog post from a photographer who had been around the block, maybe that would have never happened.

So, I wanted to take a moment and review the process I use to back up my images. While nothing is fool-proof, I think my process is fairly comprehensive and should safeguard against any lost images (knock on wood).

My 3-Step Back-Up Process:

Step 1: Buy good CF cards and don't reformat them until the final images from the shoot are burned onto the clients CD or USB drive.

Available at B&H Photo

I use SanDisk extreme 16gb cards. I won't shoot with cards any larger than 16gb. If i'm shooting a wedding (during which i usually shoot about 100gb of images), and I only use one card, and it craps out... well, i'm screwed, and worse, so is the client. 

These cards sit in a little coaster on my desk until i've completely processed, and burned images, onto another drive (CD or USB).  This means that at all times, the raw images are in at least 2 places (actually, with my process it means they are in 4 places, but we'll get to that).  

Step 2: Use a good external hard drive with RAID-1

I use a Western Digital My Book with Raid 1. This is a very key step.  This means that the hard drive actually has TWO separate hard drives in it. 

Let's say, for example, you buy a 2TB hard drive. This means that inside the drive there are actually two 1TB hard drives. You can chose to use it as a 1TB drive, and have the drives automatically clone one another (This is called RAID-1), or you can use it as a 2TB drive. Don't' be stingy. You want this to use the RAID-1 feature. Yes, it cuts your memory in half, but it also cuts the chance that you'll lose your data in half, unless the whole drive somehow gets ruined (fire? someone spills a drink all over it?).  

In fact, this brings me to another rule I have in my house. No one, except for me, is allowed to put a drink on my desk. Having a party? Unplug your drive and set it, ever so gingerly, in a closet somewhere.  Just get that thing the hell out of dodge. 

Western Digital My Book
Available at Microcenter

 Step 3: Use an online back up service like backblaze.com

The third step is a last defense that I haven't yet had to rely on, thank god. My entire hard drive is backed up in real-time by backblaze.com.  It's unlimited storage, and as soon as I put something new on the drive, the little backblaze elves get busy backing it up. But Lindsay, you say, isn't that expensive? And i've already spent all this money on these great CF cards, and this awesome WD External drive?! Aspiring photographer, I say to you, it's $5 a month, so go sign up immediately.

Hopefully, someone somewhere will see this post, follow this process, and be saved the heartache that I went through when I lost my data.

In the meantime, here is an adorable picture of a baby that I photographed yesterday. They don't make 'em much cuter than this! Oh yeah, and this photo, just like all my other photos, is backed up in triplicate. :)

To any aspiring photographers out there, feel free to email me if you have questions about backing up your data - lindsay@lindsayammons.com.

A wedding shower...

Today I attended a friend's wedding shower.  I love attending this particular pal's festivities because she is marrying into a big, pushy, italian family and the family get togethers are so different from what this irish girl grew up around, it's like even the small family gatherings seem coated in bread crumbs and fried up good.  That's not to say my irish upbringing didn't have its perks, one would rue the day they challenged one of my family members to a drinking contest. But I digress.

I offered to bring along my camera and do some shooting.  What I didn't know is this italian wedding shower taking place at a mexican restaurant (seems it's cultural smorgasbord day here on the old blog) meant that each wall was a different color, which would ultimately lead my white balance to go awry quite quickly.  No matter how many times I used my trusty gray card, even the slightlest change in composure threw the white balance right off so that the photos would tint blue, then red, then yellow.... etc.  I was forced, as no photographer likes to admit, to shoot on AWB.

I thought I may be able to get away with shooting with my 35mm wide angle, but the aperture just wasn't going to be low enough (and I didn't want to go TOO high with my ISO, nor bust out my flash, especially since I was trying to keep a low profile) so I went to ole faithful, my canon 50mm 1.4.  This lens is a something of a workhorse in this photographer's bag. It takes such beautiful, sharp photos, I find myself shooting with it all the time. I think the photos ended up coming out pretty nicely. There were some hanging twinkle lights that made for nice bokeh, and some natural light that helped with my disaster of a WB situation.

The below photos were shot as follows:
Body: Canon D60
Lens: 50mm
Aperture: 1.4
AWB (bleh.)
ISO: 1000 (i know, i know, luckily lightroom's noise reduction tool is a miracle worker)
Edited in lightroom.

 Kristin saying goodbye to a friend. Notice those bokeh inducing twinkle lights in the back.

Favors.

Marisol having a good old time. Candids are my favorite types of shots, especially when shooting events. Marisol has such a great laugh and I think that really comes through in this photo. 

Kristin and Tony didn't have engagement pictures taken, so I goaded them in to taking some lovey pictures. I think they'll be happy they did.

Kristin and the very pregnant hostess!

I hope you enjoy the photos. Leave any questions or suggestions for better methods of fixing those pesky white balance issues in the comments!

Time for some summer eating!

The sidewalks, streets, and farmer's markets are more packed than ever in Chicago, and it's not hard to understand why.  After the winter that we all faced (Snowpocalypse! Lake Shore Drive Closed! Spring never even came!!!), Chicagoans are chomping at the proverbial bit to get outside and enjoy some sunshine (even if it is only 70 degrees most days, butttt beggars/choosers etc.)

I am someone who truly enjoys eating.  Even more so than that, I enjoy eating things that make me feel good, and usually browse a menu looking for just such things. Case and point, I love me some Ann Sather cinnamon rolls, but I hardly ever indulge because I spend the rest of the day feeling like i've just consumed a cinnamon and frosting covered cinderblock.

Over the weekend I did some primo summer eating, so I thought i'd share some of my favorite spots with you! On Saturday I had my first dress fitting for my July wedding. Nothing makes you want to eat a salad more than looking at yourself in a 365 degree mirror and having eastern europeans poke and prod at your chest. So I headed to Floriole Cafe & Bakery with one my bridesmaids.

This delightful little tartine was just what the doctor ordered.  An asparagus, ricotta, and goat cheese number on some delicious grained bread.  Accompanying this little ditty was some fresh greens with the slightest bit of dressing, and an iced black tea infused with hibiscus - so light and perfect for a summer day. 

Sunday, I took myself and my black lab Dayton down to the Logan Square Farmers Market.  It is my humble belief that the L.S.F.M. is one of the best in the city. It's not too big and never too packed (read: Green City Market) and they have some fine food vendors to quell your hunger while you look for the perfect summer peach. We went through a scary time for a minute there when a wayward alderman tried to flex what little political muscle he had to close it down (forget about the street crime - it's these damn FARMERS MARKETS we should all be worrying about!) but he had a change of his teeny tiny grinch like heart and decided to live and let live. Phew!

One of my very favorite vendors is Vo (who unfortunately does not have a website).  The springrolls are just so fresh, you feel like you're eating something that just came out of the field.  This is a truly a food that makes you feel good. I'm sorry for the poor quality of this photo (yes i know, photography blog...) but when you're trying to wrangle a 65lb lab while drinking a Vietnamese coffee and chowing on some spring rolls, things can get messy quite quickly.

YUM.

My favorite vendors at Logan Square include:

• Mint Creek Farm - best meat around. They literally tell you about the animals the meat came from ("this pork came from a young pig, so it won't be fatty," etc). Try and get that experience at your local whole foods.
• Radical Root Farm
• Vidonevich Farms - did our CSA through these guys last year, great experience
• Crumb Chicago - wonderful breads baked in a community kitchen

Here are some of my other favorite shots from Farmer's Markets Past:

What's your favorite farmers market?

Tucker Shoot

Had a shoot with Tucker in the South Loop yesterday.  It was a really great shoot, the apartment had lots of natural light with floor to ceiling windows.  Tucker took to me immediately, which is always a nice sign that a shoot is going to go well.  He posed very nicely and was a very handsome man.  Because there was so much light to work with, I decided to incorporate my non-prime wideangle lens at a higher aperture, which ended up working out great.  I'm in love with the photos from this shoot - I hope you like them too!

Tucker really hammed it up!

This is one of my new favorite shots. I love the way Tucker matches the pillows in the back. The light was just so scrumptious in this room.

Tucker is a dog about town! The South Loop really provided some wonderful backdrops.

It was so lush outside after so much rain.  Made for beautiful bokeh!

Tucker loves his dad, Ryan. 

www.lindsayammons.com for more information