Orem Family Photography - Graff Sneak Peak

Meet Mikala and Travis. Travis is going to... what they like to call "Fiji" :) He is one of the noble men that fight for our freedom. He will heading to Iraq soon. We wish him the very best.

What an honor it was to take pictures of them. They were a lot of fun to get to know. Thanks so much you two! Here are a few of the pictures from your photo-shoot.

This one is one of my favorites:







A good photoshoot always ends with tons of fun! :)

~ Provo Photography Session Styling Tips ~

Have you ever gone to a photoshoot... had didn't know what to wear? Well Here are a few little tips:

~ Session Styling Tips ~

One of the most important rules is: Everybody has a unique style. Make sure you show it off! There are, however, a couple general ‘rules’ and suggestions.

~ Engagements ~

What is the overall style you are looking for in your pictures? ex: formal, casual, country/rustic, modern, etc. This will help you in your clothing selection. A few suggestions that apply to all categories/styles of engagements:

§ Don't get too busy. -If one of you is wearing a bold pattern or color, try to have the other dress in a solid, more simple pattern that’s complimentary to the more boldly dressed person.

§ Watch for lengths. -It’s really not that good looking to have one person in shorts and the other in pants, or one in a short sleeved shirt and the other in long sleeves.

§ Match your jeans. -If wearing jeans, make sure the two jean colors go well together, for example, jeans with a really blue tone aren’t going to look good next to jeans with a more grayish tone, etc.

§ Outfit Changes. -Remember outfit changes are timely, but if you want to get a few formal shots in dress clothes, as well as some casual shots, go ahead and bring both outfits to the shoot.

§ Things to know about Stripes: -remember that in general, horizontal stripes make you look wider, and vertical stripes make you look longer- it’s very emphasized in photographs so be careful!

§ Things to know about white and black: -white can wash you out if you have lighter skin. black and dark colors are slimming.

A fun outfit selection idea:

A casual to semi-formal dress with heels for the girl, and a button-up shirt with a plain- no patterned solid tie, loosely done, with either casual black (or brown) pants or nice dark jeans for the guy. freshen it up for the current season by adding seasonal colors in the dress, jewelry, and guy’s shirt! (or use your wedding colors if that’s preferred!)

Remember hairspray, lipstick/gloss, and of course bottled water!

~ Bridals ~

Girls- this is your time to shine! trust me, your parents and your groom are going to be obsessed with these pictures! here’s are a few suggestions:

§ Feet! -I am going to get pictures of your feet and shoes! just plan on it- i love these shots! so prepare for them by getting a full pedicure if your feet are exposed at all. also bring shoes that you want to be photographed in. too often, brides don’t think their shoes will be seen so they slip on whatever. have fun with your shoes- they don’t have to be your wedding ones. if you’re a passionate runner- show your personality and wear your cutest running shoes!

§ Hands! -I’m going to get pictures of your hand, ring, bouquet (highly recommended), and jewelry. prepare by getting a full manicure (you don’t have to get artificial nails if you don’t want obviously, but at least get them all cleaned up!) get your ring and jewelry cleaned and don’t forget your bouquet if you want one in your pictures.

§ Hair & Makeup! -you most likely put a lot of thought and money into your dress- do yourself a huge favor and get your hair and makeup professionally done. although most girls do a great job on their own everyday hair and makeup, professionals know tricks about looking better in a photo shoot that are extremely helpful!!

§ Bring a friend or mom -they can help hold things and straighten out your dress/train. plus, having them there with you might help you feel more relaxed.

Also Bring: hairspray, bobby pins, and lipstick/gloss for touch-ups. and definitely don’t forget bottled water!

Remember, you will be getting several pictures of you on your wedding day too, so have fun and mix it up with your bridals if you want! A fun way to mix it up in your bridals is wearing different shoes that show your personality, different jewelry (maybe choose bold jewelry in your wedding colors or something fun) and different hairstyles (no veil with a cool headband instead, all down and relaxed curls instead of an up-do, etc.) bridals are all about the bride, so why not show off your personality a little more in these photographs?

Provo Photography Photoshop Tip: Actions!

Sometimes we get asked, "How do you find time to go out to dinner, go to the movies, and hang out with friends when you have pictures at home that need to be edited?" The answer to this is very simple: "Photoshop Actions!"

Actions are a great tool and a wonderful time saver! How often do you find yourself doing the same steps in photoshop on each of your pictures? There is no need to waste all your time sitting behind the computer doing those same steps over and over again!

Photoshop Actions are a series of recorded steps that you record yourself doing edits to an image. It is then saved in your "actions" folder. The next time you want to apply this effect to an image or multiple images, all you have to do is press play! The action will apply the effects you did to the original image to as many images as you want! It's awesome! It saves you lots of time, and very easy to do.

So while the computer is doing all the work... you get to go play tennis, go to a movie, or hang out with your family! :)

Wanna see how they work?

Watch this tutorial: CLICK HERE. It shows you how to set them up and everything! Also the Help menu in photoshop is very informative!

These are great! If you have a whole folder of images that need to be resized and saved as JPG... make an action! If you need to enhance the color in all of your images... make an action!

You can even find free actions that others have made online and save them on your computer.

What a time saver!

Keep coming back each week for our Provo Photography Photoshop tips!

Family Photography

Here are more pictures from our trip out of Provo for some fun photography in Star Valley, WY.  The photo shoot was a lot of fun with you guys.  Thank you!

***CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW***