Photog Friday!!

Camilla here! Thank you SO much to everyone(400+!)that responded last week, I am so excited to be here with you and be able to share one of my favorite things in the world! From the poll we learned that the majority of the readers here have a HIGH interest in photography and that this would be a great thing to do! Most of you also own a mid-high range DSLR- this would include the Nikon D200 and up, or the Canon 20D and up. A big number also own point and shoots and low range DSLR's, so we will cater the teaching so everyone can join in!

The majority was also interested in being able to take better photos of their family, by learning techniques in manual shooting, photoshop, and composition skills. We will also try to answer specific questions in the coming posts, so please continue to comment at the end of the post. If you did ask a specific question in the poll, I received 10 of them, but the remaining 30 did not get posted by the server, so feel free to re ask at the end of this post. And of course, if you have specific questions, please feel free to email me ciocophotography@gmail.com with 'Question from Crate' in the subject line, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

So now that THAT'S out of the way, we'd like to introduce ourselves a little more! My name is Camilla and I own CioCo Photography, a company I started in July of 2009. I have loved being able to have a creative outlet that pays me, I mean, who wouldn't want that? I married my husband in December of 2008 and we are expecting our first child, a girl, in January. We live in Salt Lake City, UT and love it. He works in construction management, and I take pictures, so that makes super exciting dinner conversations. "So how did your day go?" "I dug some dirt." "I took some pictures." Sweet.

My interest in photography began at a young age when I got my first camera, a 35mm for my birthday. I loved being able to capture moments with just a quick release of a shutter. My degree is from Utah State, and through school I was able to learn many basic and wonderful theories of art, which help me in photography immensely. The technical knowledge I now have in photography is largely self taught, and I am still on the road for more knowledge. I love it. I love people and combining the two is so rewarding.

Hi everyone...Stacie here...and most of you might already know me...but in case you don't here's a little background:   I am a mother of four crazy, but fabulous kiddos {2 boys & 2 girls}... and a wife to one amazing man!  {Sometimes I wonder how I became so lucky. :)}  As you know,  I am a HUGE crafty junkie who is always trying to think up different things to create in my spare time.  I was born in Utah...but grew up and currently live in Idaho. Go BSU!! :)   My family and I love the mountains and enjoy camping and 4-wheeling together!   

My interest in photography really began when I started having children.  I LoVe taking pics of my kids!  I found myself photographing every little step, and sweet moment of their lives.  It wasn't until last year when I bought my first DSLR...and decided to branch out and start learning more about the whole tech-y part of photography...and completely fell in LOVE!  It is AMAZING!   I still have a TON to learn...but I look forward to every minute of it!  I recently started a photo blog here...where you can check out some of  my most recent work!   

I just have to say...I am sooo excited that Camilla has joined the "Crate" on Friday's!  She is the sweetest person...and I am so thankful to her for her willingness to share her amazing talent with us!

So now that you know us, we can get on to photography! Photog Friday will go as follows:

1st Friday: "Beautify It."

This is where you will take a sooc image (straight out of camera) from Stacie, I, or one of you and we all edit it in photoshop using whatever techniques we know/love. This can also be done at picnik.com for those who don't have photoshop. You will then come back and link your image so we can all enjoy/learn together!

2nd Friday: "Photog Tidbits."

This is where Stacie or I will share a quick easy lesson on improving your photos by shooting in manual, lighting composition, or artistic composition.

3rd Friday: "Better After."

 This is where we will take a specific photoshop technique and show you how its done to improve one of your own photos of choosing. Then we will all link back our photos showing how we used this technique.

4th Friday: "Photography Challenge!"

 This is where you will take whatever camera you have and shoot under a specific theme! I love these! Themes can be colors, shapes, moods, etc and your photo will be whatever speaks to you under that theme. We will all post back in order to help each other and improve by all the talent I know is out there!

Welcome to Photog Friday!!

 We are excited to have you all participate and we will learn together! Like 3rd grade, only cooler. Our first Friday, December 3rd, we will be working on this photo:

Isn't she beautiful? I had the privilege of shooting this young lady for some ad work. It is straight out of camera, shot with a Canon 50D and 17-70 Sigma Lens. ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/250s for all who like number crunching, if you have no idea what the heck I just typed, no worries! ;) Have fun! Just download it from photobucket and have at it! Then come back and link to your specific post on your own blog. The link you can post at will be up on the 3rd. We're excited to see what you come up with! And remember, use http://www.picnik.com/ if you don't have photoshop.
Happy Photog Friday!