bye bye blogger and hello fancy pants new blogsite!

It's been real blogger.....but we are OUTTA HERE!

To be honest I got tired of having two sites to maintain and update, soooo.... I decided to just merge the two and call it a day!


Check out our brand spanking new blogsite- HERE - and update your RSS feeds, your google reader, your bloglines, your neighbor, your co-worker.... you get the drift!!


CARLATENEYCK.COM BABY..... CHECK IT OUT!!!

New RSS Blog Feed
New Comments RSS Feed

i'm available to the highest bidder.....SERIOUSLY!

This year will be my third year going to Vegas for the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographer's International) Convention. While I am very excited to go (despite the fact that I am not a Vegas kind of gal) I am determined to make the most of my trip.

So, what exactly do I do?

Well I am BEYOND excited to be a part of the fundraising efforts of the well known charity, Thirst Relief, for this year! Here's the scoop:

Dozens of photographers from around the world offer a 90 minute mentoring session (and whatever other goodies they want to throw in) to the highest bidder!

Here is what I am offering: a 90 minute mentoring session PLUS you can come to a Ten Eyck Tuesday workshop, FREE! And maybe I'll even throw in some cupcakes.... :)

Here's the skinny:

The Thirst Relief Mentor Benefit Auction will start this Thursday, January 29th at 6pm EST.

Those who want to bid will need to register before they will be able to start bidding.

The auction will close on Sunday, February 1st at midnight EST.

When someone is outbid they will be notified by email.



In three years time we have we have taken 100,000 people long term sustainable clean water solutions for an average of $3.85 a person!

Connecticut Professional Photographer's Convention (CPPA) speaker

Well it's in print now so I guess it's official!

This coming Friday February 6th from 3:00 PM-5:00 PM I will kick off the CPPA's annual photography convention by speaking on 'Blogging 101.' I am really excited for the opportunity to show how important blogging has been in my businesses success these past two and a half years!

Just his morning I had a meeting with a potential client and she told me how she felt like she got to know me by reading through my blog- the same thing with a client I met with yesterday- they both referenced things that I had written about in my blog and really gave them a strong sense of who I am before they called to set up a meeting with me.

If you want to learn how to bring your blog to the next level (and I am too....I promise!!) or to learn how to get started if you are a newbie then come on down to the CPPA's convention and check me out!

Here are the particulars:

WHEN: Friday February 6th 2009 3:00 PM- 5:00 PM this is my talk: the convention runs from the 6th-9th
WHERE: Crown Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT
COST: $250 admits you to all of the speakers and the trade show

or sign up on the spot to be a CPPA member for $250 and enjoy the benefits of being in the organization- a strong network of professional photographers.

To read more about the benefits of membership check out their website HERE

Here are some of the other speakers at the convention:
Motivational speaker Laura Watkins, Ph.D
Joseph & Louise Simone / Fine Art Portraiture
Ralph & Cindy Romaguera / Making a good living with your eyes, heart and camera
Paul Rogers / Illustrating Love
Ben Wilmore / Masterful Adjustments & Photoshop CS4
David Hume Kennerly / Behind the Scenes of History
Stephen Eastwood / Digital convert

January Ten Eyck Tuesday

Hi! Let me introduce myself! I am a BROKEN freaking RECORD!! Know why?

BECAUSE JUST WHEN I THINK IT CAN'T GET ANY BETTER...IT DOES!!!

ok, pause, rewind. So yesterday's class was, well, yesterday! On the first Tuesday of the month, as always, right? Let me start by saying that there was nothing normal about this class for a few reasons:

-it was ALL beginners! And I was SCARED!! I can talk trash with the best of 'em but you know when you are so close to something that it's hard to back up and get some perspective on things? Well, that's me and photography. I'm in it up to my eyebrows, like all the time, so thinking of it from a 'coming to you new' kind of way was challenging to say the least!

-we had one model, not a couple. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Oh but it is.

-we stayed in my house to shoot! What? It was warmer, plus we got WAY more shooting time since there was no travel time involved, and no one froze! Bonus.

-I didn't make Mexican food! Unless four cheese baked macaroni and cheese is Mexican!! aye aye aye!!! with a baby spinach salad with feta, strawberries and walnuts. No, YOU stop!

OK, onward and upward people!! Let me spin my tale for you all......

First, meet our gracious model, the uber comfortable in front of the camera, Miss Jacklyn Greenberg of Jag Studios! She is something else!!

Like I was telling the class, having Jackie model for us was kind of like cheating...she is just SO photogenic...



We stayed in the upper hallway of my house, which Dave and I just repainted a nice soft gray (Pebble Beach, Benjamin Moore if you are curious) with crisp white trim... and it just sings to me in the mid morning...the light is ridiculous

Check out the ladies in Georgie's room watching Maura shoot

Love the toys leading to Jackie


The doll with the red hair my Mom made for me when I was little


We really tried to use the entire corner up there, it just yielded so many shooting opportunities





Meet Miss Jessica - she is from Sialia Photography in western CT. She excelled at taking her time to get what she wanted from the day- one of the hardest thing for most photographers to do!!

This is a new one for me: meet Maura, our resident newbie! You want to know what Maura knew before she came to my class? NADA!! She told me, and I quote, sort of 'I pretty much only know how to turn on the camera' Yeah, I was scared because I wasn't sure she would absorb it all but OH.MY.GOD!!! She left completely understanding the concept of aperture, shutter speed and ISO and their relationship to exposure!!!!! She has a killer eye as well, which we all know is half the battle!

Here is Miss Traci from Tru Blu Photography in Simsbury. I was very excited to meet this one as she is good friends with my girl Eileen Broderick... because Eileen is NUTS. Tell Dr. Phill I said :P


And she comes back for more abuse!!! Melissa Wilson just couldn't get enough of C 10 ike love and had to have some more. I can't tell you all how far this lady has come in her understanding of what she wants to capture and what she gets... it's nothing short of amazing to me to see the transformation!!


Had to add this one too...now that blogger is working again :P


And come on, how dope is my salad

first photo challenge for january 2009

I am very excited to be the hostess with the mostess for photoNATION's shooting challenges! I think that it will get us all to think more outside of the box and keep our perspectives on things new and creative. That's the goal, anyway!



So, that being said..... here is the very first photo challenge for 2009!



Photograph your interpretation of one of your new year's resolutions.



LABEL YOUR IMAGES LIKE THIS:

NEW_YEARS_LAST NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHER_001



Upload your images to photoNATION when you are done!

This challenge will be open until january 24, 2009, so GET SHOOTING!! :)

I can't wait to see what you all come back with!



To get this going- consider posting this on your blogs with a link back to photNATIONlive.com to get even more people involved in the challenges

photoNATION

Have you checked out this new site? Connecticut's own Steve DePino is responsible for creating what is sure to be a great new online photography community. You don't have to be a professional photographer to join, just have a passion for photography!

Sign up HERE


Coming soon to the site is a Photo Challenge section- not sure if many of you know but jpgmag.com is shutting down I think effective this coming Monday. Very sad news! They had an online community like no other. One of my favorite parts of it was the photo challenge section where they throw out a challenge and then you go and shoot it- post your shot, and then people got to see how everyone interpreted the same assignment!

Mr. Depino had given me the reigns at photoNATION to be in charge of coordinating this for the site- which I am BEYOND excited about!! I already have a looooog list of fun challenges- so make sure you check it out!!

So? What are you waiting for? GO SIGN UP!!!

CT is rep-re-SENT-IN' on Style Me Pretty!

So there is this really awesome wedding planning site called Style Me Pretty - any wedding clients should check it out, it is AWESOME!!! So, they have a vendor blog called The Little Black Book Blog, and they have a feature up on ring shots.....aaannnddd.... I got featured! I am SO excited about this because the caliber of work on their site is just off the hook!

Not to mention that my good friends The Marantz's, Studio Foto, Amanda Harris Herzberger aka Orchard Cove Photography and Daria Bishop of Vermont are ALL featured in there as well!! WAY TO REPRESENT, NEW ENGLAND!!!

You can check it out HERE- and again, feel free to leave a comment and show some CT LOVE! :)

favorite holiday movie

I'm not sure exactly why the cold weather and the holidays seem to bring about the whole 'Let's watch the same movie over and over again' thing.... maybe it's snuggling in with your significant other and re-living the funny moments again and again?

Dave and I had our date night last night and watched one of my all time favorite movies, Love Actually. Just everything about it makes me feel good- especially the fact that it's not ALL happy endings. I really dig how so many different types of love are represented. Yes there are gaps but let me just enjoy my feel good movie, OK?

The opening scene? Man. I think about that scene, a lot. Like WAY a lot. And despite the fact that I have seen it many, many, times. I always well up.

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love.

If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”


SEE WHAT I MEAN??? AHHHH.... I cried just re-reading that! (go on and make fun of me Robert Norman!)

I'm pumped that I now have that on my Apple TV in my studio and can watch that, along with Sixteen Candles, not a holiday movie but a favorite, at any time I want!!

Like.... NOW! :)

don't box ME in, baby!!

I am SO pumped and honored to be featured on another awesome photography site- called Don't Box Us In a site that interviews photographers that well... think outside of the box!

That is something that I try to do regularly to challenge myself and keep things new- but it can be very hard!

I'm excited, I'm blushing, but I also really wanted to just share this honor with you all- since in all honesty knowing there are people out there that are looking at my images and reading this silly old blog... well it puts the pressure on to keep you coming back!

Stop on over to their site and leave a comment- I love showing everyone how supportive and awesome not only CT is but any C 10 ike friend, no matter where you are!!

December 2 Ten Eyck Tuesday was just about a boy and his dog...

This last Ten Eyck Tuesday was so much fun. Almost too much fun- for a myriad of reasons- The attendees were all so funny - let's start with Bruce Thivierge. OK, let's not. I don't think that I could do this man's humor justice on my blog. He is just funny, witty, full of one liners. My belly hurts, I feel like I did sit-ups all day! So I can only hang out with him every other day to give my body a break! He shoots with his sister in law Val (one of my December 16th workshop attendees!!) and The Sweetest Days photography studio. I can't wait to meet Miss Val, and am apologizing to her publicly as I found out she is a BIG Mike Romano fan and will be so sad that she missed the opportunity to photograph him and his big guy yesterday!



Then there was the seven months pregnant Miss Andrea Walpurgis of Enfield, just living the dream and following her love of photography shooting for her studio Shades of Images in Enfield. Wanna go for a RIDE?? She is the unoffical director of dogs, well, and Cheryl Cronin.


Oh Miss Cheryl of Cronin Photography in Branford. She is TROUBLE. I thought I had her PEGGED the first time I met her- as a stuffy, shoreline photographer! It turns out that she is really just kind of shy in big groups (as are most people) but she kept me on my toes with her jabs and disses all day! And she didn't just stop at me! She tagged everyone! Including Mike! Which I personally loved, as he gives me neverending guff day in and day out. Yeah, I said guff!



And finally we round out our group with the kind hearted and sweet Mr. Jason Henriques. He just LOVES photography and is like a big sponge, soaking it all in. He has such a good outlook on life and fit right into this sarcastic crowd quite well!! His studio, Jason Henriques Photography is based out of West Haven.


And our models.... my trusty second shooter- the right hand to my left, the hem to my haw...Mr. Mike Romano and his dog, the sweetest, most loveable dog... meet Mr. Max. I now officially have a giant dog crush on this guy. Minus the drool. (I am gagging as I write this) His drool is like the grossest thing in the world! But I still am harboring feelings for this giant, sweet creature!! Let me show you how adorable he is!

And in the words of Miss Cheryl Cronin.... He's just a boy and his dog......


I gave Mike some Cheerios (which he said were stale, but whatever) so that he could have an excuse to kiss his dog



Big, bright park, soggy ground? I opt for a kind of 'intimate portrait' but it sure takes on a new meaning when it's not a 'couple' per se...


One of my favorite shots to take during our shoot was Mike's reaction to Max's drool- he didn't do it often though because MAN does he love his little guy!!


Here is Bruce laying on the soggy gross ground directing Mike and Max

Now I love Max- but his drool factor is at super gross out levels and had my gag reflex working overtime! Here he is just having a drink and yes it looks all pretty... but don't be deceived

Cheryl keeping her distance... which she overcame! And got WAY up in Mike's grill

Andrea is working Max's regal stance

That Branford-esq sea grass was really working for me here- and so I put Mike and Max square in it and went with the whole warm-tone thing

BAD ASS!! I love this shot of Max, he actually looks kinda scary here

We all came to the conclusion that Mike can rock the whole being out of focus thing really, really well! Like, yeah I'm good and all IN focus but you should see me when I am BLURRY!!

Love the color in this shot and how it all ties in- Max and his blackness, his fur, mike's jacket and his Captain Red Beard thing he has going on

This is all shades of wrong, I know.... but COME ON!!!!!!

Just a boy and his dog...and his drool

There is a slide show just WAITING to happen....keep your eyes peeled for it!

After Mike basically got to hide behind Max being the star of the shoot, literally and figuratively, I proposed a bit of a shooting challenge to everyone:
Photograph Mike while he is sitting on the bench- you can't move him from it- and get something different that what you had been getting all afternoon....This is what I came back with- and believe me when I tell you that shooting men alone is a bit of a challenge for me- I find it exponentially harder to shoot one person rather than a couple...so I welcomed this shooting challenge
Here I really kept the background lines in mind as I framed his giant head within them ;) I really wanted to tie in the green of his eyes and the green of the grass- and his red scruff contrasts nicely with the green

Jason is working a lower angle here

Max could not leave Mike alone and kept getting in poor Jason's way! But I had to take this shot of these two

Bruce and I got such different perspectives from this very moment- I LOVE IT! In this shot I really dig the fact that you can't see either of their eyes, and despite the fact that they both look kind of sketchy Mike is making a kissy face to max which changes the whole feel of the shot

Andrea moved WAY in for her out of the box shots and got a great shot of Mike's lashes that we cropped panoramic and made sepia- it really played up his freckles and turned out to be a great shot!


Yes Mike can be quite a dufus but man is this guy photogenic or WHAT??? Not to mention that he can rock the serious blue steel face in 1 second flat

Kim- call me and tell me how big you want this one!! SUPER PRETTY!!!!

Here is the group!


Super big thank you shout to my boy Mike and his puppy dog Max!!!

There are still spots available for my January 6th Ten Eyck Tuesday so sign up NOW! Shoot me an email at:
carla@carlateneyck.com

Mystic 4 Seminar coming in January- check it out!

Last year a bunch of us went to the Mystic 3 in January and saw some really great speakers. This year proves to be an even more impressive line up with some really talented people! I HIGHLY recommend checking it out!

Read more and sign up HERE

They feature a dinner (which is EXTRA. but only like $31) on Sunday January 17 at the Steak Loft in Mystic the night before that all of the speakers attend- and I am sure some of us will go down earlier and coordinate some type of shooting event...!

Then ALL day on Monday Jan. 18 there is back to back speakers- and a bunch I am really pumped to see! My girl Michelle Turner is back- Mike and I had the pleasure of attending a workshop she taught for two days back in June and we learned so much.

So go on, what are you waiting for!!!!

SIGN UP!

See you there! :)

LOVE: INTERPRETED a photography show

I have the honor of being involved in a photography show that my girl, Miss Nikki Nicole had thought up and organized over a year ago- and now she is seeing the fruits of her labor, so to speak, on FRIDAY DECEMBER 5TH!

Nine women photographers from Connecticut and Mass will be showing their interpretations of love in the exhibit.

This should be interesting because I believe we all photograph weddings and are constantly surrounded, reminded, dipped in and squeezed tight by the act of love, the idea of love and one of the major rites of passage of love day in and day out. Sometimes you have to look for it and sometimes it smacks you right in the fanny- but it's there! I can't wait to see what my friends come up with, and what THEY see as love! I also believe most of the pieces will be for sale.

So come on out and support us, everyone is welcome!


Can't wait to see you all there!!

xxoo

Ten Eyck Tuesday December part dos winners are...

So I had some very tenacious and dilligent folks out there hunt DOWN that much harder to find than I intended answer....

I served Burritos at my November Ten Eyck Tuesday! Are you sensing a food theme yet? ARRIBA ARRIBA!!!

The winners are:

Valeen Thivierge
Simone Gutkin
Melissa Wilson &
Aurora Onorato

This is for my December 16th workshop, can't wait to see everyone there!

a bride. a groom. handcuffs!!!

Check out this INCREDIBLE video that my girl Jaime O shot of Mike and I shooting our last wedding of the 2008 season!!!

Thanks Sister!!!


A Bride. A Groom. Handcuffs. from Jaime Oppenheimer on Vimeo.

and the winners of the ten eyck tuesday contest are.....

OK, OK!! This was SUCH a HARD decision to make, there was such an overwhelmingly amazing response!!!

So much so that I am offering a SECOND Ten Eyck Tuesday on December 16th for the first four people (from the list of people waiting to hear that I currently already have on file) who can email me what I cooked at the November Ten Eyck Tuesday!!!

email me at: carla@carlateneyck.com
THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED...! ALL SPOTS HAVE BEEN TAKEN!!

***Still need some Ten Eyck Tuesday lovin'?? Sign up for my January 6th workshop!***

The winners of the December 2nd Ten Eyck Tuesday are:

Bruce Thivierge - who's email just made me laugh out loud (but since this is a family site and NOT the naval academy I can't really post his email... :) since the funniest parts have cuss words n all
Andrea Beaubien - her one line 'how can I teach my child to follow her dreams, if I haven't done that for myself...and being a photographer has always been my dream...' COME ON!

The last two spots are actually surprises for the winners themselves...their significant others wrote in on their behalf - which is almost like cheating bc I was so won over by that!

Cheryl Cronin - her significant other wrote 'Cheryl is chasing her dream with photography and her enthusiasm to learn and try new things is unending' yeah, she will pretty much need some unending enthusiasm to deal with me!!! :)

and last but not least...

Jason Henriques- his significant other wrote in 'But something happened to him in that photography class he changed...And every time he gets behind the camera he just glows and it truly brightens up my heart to know that this is something that he truly loves and that he is getting back in to enjoying life again.'

I am really really looking forward to the first of the TWO December Ten Eyck Tuesdays!! All of the winners will be receiving an email from me on what to bring etc. in the next few days, so keep an eye out for it!


I'LL ANNOUNCE THE SECOND ROUND OF WINNERS ONCE I GET FOUR OF THE CORRECT ANSWERS IN!!

GOOD LUCK!!

ten eyck tuesday contest...are you in?

Ten Eyck Tuesdays have been such a ray of light for me in so many ways- I love the chance to change things up and teach; I love cooking for everyone!!....and I really enjoy seeing everyone start to see and think and then shoot differently. That's my favorite.

For December I am going to change it up a bit- for a host of reasons-and want to offer this workshop at a discounted rate- did YOU get the memo about the economy being in the toilet? You didn't? Well Dave can email it to you! (sorry honey!! :) So in honor of that, and the holidays and the fact that we have a new President (yay!) Here is what I am proposing:

This December 2nd's Ten Eyck Tuesday will only be $150 instead of the regular rate of $350!

Here's the catch:

email me why YOU deserve a break- the top three best reasons will be the next workshop participants!!

Don't be shy! Send in your story! Make me laugh! Make me cry! JUST DO IT!!

carla@carlateneyck.com

New to the Ten Eyck Tuesday experience? DON'T BE! Here's the 411:

Ten Eyck Tuesdays, are appropriately on every first Tuesday of the month! Here we focus on learning how to make good images to start instead of back tracking and trying to fix stuff in the computer!

It's a full day workshop and it is very hands on- we talk, I set up a fun shoot, we eat, we laugh, and then we upload our images and do some post production on your computers. To wrap up we have a group critique. This last part has proved to be such an integral part of making people better shooters- they can see and identify why their image works or why it does not and then use that information the next time they are shooting!

I limit my class size to three students so that they get a lot of hands on attention and teaching.

ten eyck tuesday was a train wreck!

Well... not really!!! This past workshop we had the absolute pleasure of shooting my buddy Val McCormick and her husband Jack, who is a real life train engineer! In my house that is like celebrity status to my little guy Jack, who is a super train stalker enthusiast to say the least!
Meet the class.... of November 2008!!
Miss Katie Slater is like the yogi ninja QUEEN- she's UP she's DOWN- and man was she fun to shoot while she was shooting!

Miss Nikki Nicole was cracking me up all day and really working her wide angle!

Here we have Miss Sarah McCoy- who was banned from using her flash and really rocked her shots all day!

While shooting the train cars that were parked a switcher engine came by and we were lucky enough to be able to grab some shots! You like how I know what it's called, right?


Well our luck certainly didn't last long!! Check out the FUZZ on the left! Someone saw us there and called 5-0 on us! But we were allowed to be there because we had the proper person with us, I certainly would not advise going here on your own!! Check out Jack and Val's smirks!

While Jack was dealing with the po-po, Val was working it for us! And she was getting all mouthy- I had to advise her to SHHHH so we didn't all end up in the slammer for the night!! ;)

So we used Val's annoyance with authority to our advantage, look how HOT she is!!!!


So we decided to leave the train yard and go someplace with less security issues... so we sashayed over to the UCONN Law School, which is right down the street from my studio to work our intimate portraits. I love being able to work a shot like this ANYWHERE- and so I demonstrated this in a parking lot behind the school.

This is where we were- just to give you an idea. I had them sit - in general this shot works best when I am higher than them- and viola!

Here is Miss Nikki getting her shot- she got a great one from this series!

Here the ladies switch up their perspective



So looking around the Law School proved to be a little over visually stimulating so I showed the ladies how to simplify their shots with just a little pop of color- I slapped my 85mm 1.4, and shot this wide open in front of a bright red bush. The color combo was a little risky- with the pink of Val's shirt and the red of the bush- some people may not like that but Val and I? Bring it ON!! Us Mexican Ladies love that color combo!!

Miss Val, she was so much fun to work with and is SO photogenic!!!!

Jack was a blast to shoot! He's not angry here, I swear!

Gotta have at least ONE participant in a hoodie! Here is Miss Nikki hamming it up for me!

Sarah McCoy being all...McCoy with me ;)

And Katie? Let's just say she kept us roaring with laughter!!