Rob and Lauren Blog

Hey friends!

So our Chill Session is now all booked up! Yay! Thanks to everyone who is coming, we’re going to have a blast together!

If you were interested in the Chill Session but the date didn’t work for you, or it booked up before you could reserve your spot, get in touch with us now. We might do another one soon if there’s enough interest!

Have a great weekend!

Lauren :)

Hey all!

So we don’t have a wedding tomorrow, which actually makes it feel like a real weekend! Maybe we’ll even go to the Farmer’s Market for the first time!! Wow, that’s so exciting :)

Anyway, just wanted to wish you all a great weekend. I’ll be posting some pretty awesome stuff on Monday, so make sure to check back in.

Until then, I’ll leave you with an image of my Roberooni, as I like to call him. We just passed the 4.5 year mark, and still having stupid amounts of fun together :)

 Lauren :)

Well, our August Chill Session booked up crazy fast, and we have a fantastic group of photographers all lined up to learn a ton! But we’ve still been getting lots of interest, so we have scheduled another one for this year!

I’m gonna say right now that these two Chill Sessions are going to be unreal. Over the past couple of months Rob and I have spent a LOT of time talking and thinking about photography. We feel like we’ve really discovered some fantastic ideas, and can’t wait to share them! We truly feel that this information will help out a ton of photographers, and not just in a “Put your settings to this and you’ll be good” sort of way. I’m talking about the philosophy of photography, and the psychology of interacting with clients. Deep stuff :) With some Rob and Lauren silliness added in. It’s going to be mind-blasting!! :)

Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009

Where: Our home/studio on the south side of Edmonton

What: A day of learning and shooting with Rob & Lauren. We’ll be focusing on shooting style, interaction, and post-processing.

Included: Snackies, bevvies, and din din

Cost: $500 + GST

We will be limiting the session to 10 people, and I have a feeling it will book up rather quickly, so get in touch with me right away (lauren [at] robandlauren [dot] ca)  if you’re interested. I’ll send you an email with all the details of what we’ll be talking about, and how to book your spot!

Happy Wednesday!

Lauren :)

Hey all you photogs out there!

Just wanted to let you know that there are still a couple spots left for Sunday’s Chill Session. This will be our last one until the spring, so if you’ve been wanting to learn how we do what we do, now is the time! Drop me a line ASAP by heading to our contact form and I’ll hook you up with all the details! It’s going to be crazy fun, we can’t wait to hang out and have a blast! And also teach you so much your head will be spinning :)

Lauren :)

This was our first practice session of ourselves while in Greece. I learned a lot of things that day. The most important was probably regarding the importance of hairspray when driving around in a quad…Needless to say I was totally hairsprayed to the max on the wedding day.

 Lauren :)

Everyone seems to want to see photos of us. You guys are weird ;)

Here’s another from an e-session in Greece!

And make sure to email me your address if you want to get on our holiday card list! 

Lauren :)

Want a holiday card from Rob & Lauren? (You can see how epic the previous ones were here). Fill out this handy form, or email us! Hooray!

UPDATE: If you got that camera for Christmas and would like some tips setting it up then check out the following blogpost: http://www.theadventuresofrobandlauren.com/2010/jan/10/so-you-got-slrnow-what/

Hope you have a fantastic new year!

Every year around this time we start getting e-mails from almost everyone we know (and plenty of people we don’t know!) asking us what camera to get as a gift (for someone else or for themselves!). This year I decided to take a look at what would be the best camera for an amateur photographer. A lot of people give a price range and ask what’s best (which is an interesting approach to purchasing a camera). I think people assume that the more expensive the camera the better the photos. The fact of the matter is that while quality and price do have a correlation, most point and shoots do a decent enough job that there isn’t any sense saying one is that much better than an another. I think the important thing about buying a point and shoot camera is finding one that you’ll take everywhere with you, and finding one that you’ll find fun to use. To do that you pretty much just have to go to wherever cameras are sold (Walmart, bestbuy, futureshop, etc.) and play with them till you find one you love. Kind of seems like going to the pet store to fall in love with a new puppy. Because of that, if you want to buy someone a point and shoot then you might want to consider getting that person a gift certificate so that they can enjoy the whole experience of falling in love with a camera.

I also decided not to review or suggest the best professional camera. There is too much variety at the pro level and a lot of research needs to go into camera and lense selection. Not to mention that fact that most pro gear is usually way out of the budget for christmas presents!

So what did I decide on and why? First I considered who would be asking us for camera advice. It’s likely people who are pretty interested in photography and would like more flexibility than the point and shoots they probably already use. They probably want a camera that can keep up with them, something they can grow into creatively, but also something that accommodates a wide variety of skill levels. The Canon Rebel (500D) T1i fits that bill.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/613611-REG/Canon_3818B001_EOS_Rebel_T1i_Digital.html

First I’ll mention that I’m linking to B&H, a camera store in the States based out of New York. We buy most of our gear from there, they’re pretty much the cheapest around. However if you’re buying someone a Christmas gift it might be a better idea to pick the camera up from some place local like Vistek.ca, or bestbuy.ca. Or you might be able to save a few more bucks by taking a look on ebay or craigslist. There are always plenty of options to spend or save money when it comes to camera gear.

Now about the camera. This is an entry level DSLR camera. It’s bigger than a point and shoot, but it’s pretty much the smallest entry level DSLR. It’s got tons of features which I’m sure you’ll read about but here are the main reasons I like this camera.

1. It’s a DSLR. I think if you’re serious about getting into photography then an SLR is pretty much a minimum requirement. This SLR happens to be the newest cheapest entry level model by canon. (you could even save money by getting the older version XSi (450D). The viewfinder of this camera may not be huge, but it’s the experience of looking through the lens that makes getting an SLR the first point on this list. (The other big advantage of DSLRs is the lack of delay between pressing the shutter and the picture actually taking the photo - a lot of people seem to really enjoy that ;)

2. It shoots RAW. RAW is essentially the digital “negative” file format. We shoot all our images in RAW because it allows us to retain the full quality file and make more creative adjustments without having the image look very processed. Some people only shoot in JPEG and thus this might not be important to them, but I feel that shooting in RAW has allowed us to become much stronger photographers, by expanding our creative possibilities.

3. It’s cheap! It’s pretty much the cheapest entry level DSRL you can get.

4. Of course there are all those other cool features, lots of megapixels, high ISO, takes HD video (even 1080!), and lots of shooting modes. But the best thing is that it has manual control over shutter speed, and aperture. Shooting manual has really helped us grow and progress as photographers- both in our understanding of how a camera works, and how light works.

The other thing you’ll notice is that the link to B&H is for the camera body only. I’ve chosen the following lense to be paired with the camera.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12142-GREY/Canon_2514A002_Normal_EF_50mm_f_1_8.html

It’s a 50mm prime lens which honestly is a little bit longer than practical for this camera, but it’s a very cheap (decent quality) lense with a large aperture (f/1.8) which will allow for creative depth of field control. It’s also a fixed focal length which will force you to move around and work to create some interesting compositions (as opposed to just zooming in and out). This will be a great starter lens, but it might not be a bad idea to pick up the camera with a kit lens (typically an 18-55mm lense) which isn’t the highest quality lense but at least you’ll get an idea of what other focal lengths are like.

Wow this article was a lot longer than I expected. I hope it’s useful for all you gift givers out there. If people are interested I might research a point and shoot. Let me know in the comments. Also just to let you know we weren’t paid by Canon or B&H to write this article and we don’t get commissions or anything if you decide to get that camera and lense. I think it’s important for bloggers to disclose information like that so that you readers know I wasn’t making a biased decision to recommend one camera over another.

Cheers,

Rob

P.S. Great stocking stuffer: Lenspen. This little tool would improve so many facebook photos! So often it seems that the lense of point and shoot cameras gets dirty or smudged and thus blurry/glowing photos result. This pen has two ends, one which removes dust particles and another when you can use to remove smudges from the front lense element. This a a great way to easily clean your camera and improve the quality of your photos!

Hello blog friends! Hope you all had a stellar weekend. We got to see lots of friends, which definitely made ours a winner.

Anywho, this week we’re working on updating our portfolio site. We’ve done a lot of new stuff this year, and really changed the way we shoot, so we’re pumped to reveal it all. There’s a ton of our film stuff that we only just scanned in and have yet to reveal!

So I’m holding off on posting it all until we can have the website ready. Exciting!

Also, on Friday we created our holiday card photo. It’s absolutely hilarious. We may have topped last year’s image. So if you haven’t signed up to receive a card yet, make sure to do that right away, since we’ll hopefully send them out this week!

Lauren :)

Well, I’ve been working away at these for a long time now. As I’m sure all photographers know, revamping your portfolio is always way more work than you expect it to be. But it’s always worth it. For us, we have a renewed energy and drive after seeing all that we’ve done in the past year!

It’s not completely finished yet, as I still have to put together a couple more categories, and hopefully get them all linked together, but I wanted to share what I’ve done with you lovely blog readers! For those wondering, I made these portfolios myself! Big thanks to my friend Kyle Fox for his help with some of the CSS stuff!!

First up, our Wedding Portfolio: http://www.robandlaurenphotographers.com/weddingportfolio/

And a couple teaser shots:

And secondly, as many of you know, we took up shooting film this year. Our Film Portfolio is less extensive, but hopefully still interesting! There is a lot of new stuff in there, since we just finished scanning it all!

Here’s the link: http://www.robandlaurenphotographers.com/filmportfolio/

And the teaser shots:

Note: You will need to scroll sideways to view our portfolio. I know it’s a bit of a hassle, but we find it’s the best way to display both horizontal, vertical, and irregularly sized images! 

We’d love to hear your feedback! Hope you enjoy, we’re really excited about where our work is going :)

Lauren :)

Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed that we’ve been awfully quiet lately. The reason is we’ve been working like mad on a new project…

The Adventures of Rob & Lauren!

In two days we leave to spend a month in Peru. We created a blog, and will be updating it frequently during our trip with all sorts of neat stuff. It’s a return to our deep passion for travel photography. We are just unbelievably excited about this, and would LOVE if all you wonderful readers would check it out! 

You’ll get to follow us as we journey through Peru, visiting such breathtaking sites as Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, and trek through the Amazon to visit indigenous tribes. And of course there will be a TON of super cool photos. It’s going to be an amazing adventure, and we hope to share as much as we can with you!

To check it out, visit this site: www.theadventuresofrobandlauren.com

And here’s our super cool logo! Yay!

We would be forever grateful and love you long time if you all would share this site with anyone and everyone who might find it interesting! We promise to make it as fun and entertaining as possible! This is our dream, and we are just so pumped to leave in two days and start this really fantastic adventure!

Love you guys, and hope to see you over at The Adventures of Rob & Lauren!

P.S. I think it goes without saying that this blog will not be updated while we’re in Peru :) So if you’re bored, you’re going to have to check out the new blog!

Hello!!!

Well, I’m sure most of you knew that we were off in Peru for a month shooting for our travel blog, www.theadventuresofrobandlauren.com. We just returned home on Tuesday and are already fully back into work mode!

We definitely missed getting to blog for all you lovely readers, and have a lot planned for the next couple weeks! Just wanted to let y’all know that this blog is going to start up again, so start checking! 

If you didn’t already, do check out our adventure blog. We had such a spectacular time in Peru, and were very lucky to be able to take some incredible images. 

And here’s a quick shot of us that our friend Drew Sinclair took at the end of our trip in Iquitos, the largest city in the world that isn’t accesible by road! It’s deep in the Amazon, and was really a fascinating place with tons of great colours!

By this point we were sweaty, our clothes were dirty, and we were exhausted from a full month of high-paced shooting. But as you can hopefully tell, we were very very happy to be there. 

Hope you all had a wonderful month! 

Lauren :)

Well friends, we have some cool news to share with you today! 

First up, we were recently honored with a neat award. It is the Bride’s Choice Award from WeddingWire. Here’s a blurb from them about the award:

 The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards ™ recognizes the top local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds. This year’s winners represent the top five percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which consists of over 100,000 local wedding professionals nationwide.

We were super surprised to see this bad boy waiting for us when we returned home from Peru! Huge thanks to our super duper wonderful special amazing clients who took the time to leave us some wonderful reviews. Even though they always make me cry, in a good way :)

Now, for something way more exciting!! A CONTEST!!!

Tomorrow. This will begin. Put it in your daytimer (do people still use those?) or your iCal. Set your alarms. Clear your schedule. 

The images will go up tomorrow, and then the vicious competition will begin. This will be WAY more interesting than the Olympics, so get ready. Ok, so it won’t be way more interesting than the Olympics, but it will be fun!

Plus, the rewards won’t only go to the wedding couples, but you. Yes, you! You will have a chance to win a free portrait session and 8x10 custom print from Rob & Lauren just by voting! WOW! No, I’m not joking. This is legit. There’s a banner and everything for it. 

See you tomorrow!!

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS FOR PLAYING!!

Well, here it is! The contest you’ve been waiting a whole day for!!!

The Best Wedding Image of 2009 Contest!!

I’ll keep this short and sweet. I’ve chosen my favorite image from each wedding we shot this year. There are so many great moments and memories connected to these images, I’ll give you a quick insight into why I chose it. Then, choose your favorite image and click the link below it. 

Now, Rob has informed me that some people don’t use mail clients, but web based email. Ok, I’ll forgive you. If that’s how you roll (If you use Gmail you should be reading this part!!!), and this whole “Click the link” thing won’t work for you, simply do the following: 

1. Email voting@robandlauren.ca

2. Write “Vote for Best Wedding Image of 2009” as the subject

3. As the body, put “This is my vote for _____ and _____.” Clearly you fill those blanks with the names of the couple you’re voting for. Bride’s name first, groom’s name second if you please. 

But that’s like, a lot of work, so if you can just do the link-clicky thing and everyone’s life will be easy. 

Moving on. The winning couple will receive a free 16x24 canvas of that image! Yowza that’s sweet!

But, since we wanna make this extra fun, one really lucky voter will win a free portrait session in Edmonton and 8x10 custom print from Rob & Lauren! Huzzah!!! So it definitely pays off to vote! 

We will only count one vote per person, so please don’t cheat. We will be doing all that fancy geek stuff like checking IPs, so we’ll know if you’re using all the email addresses you’ve ever created since you were 13. If we do find someone cheating, we will send an army of ninja cats after you. And that would be bad news. So don’t do it. Cool? For full contest rules check the fine print at the bottom of this post. Because without rules, all of this would descend into anarchy. 

With all that business-y stuff out of the way, let’s get to the fun part! Our favorite images of 2009!

Angie & Jordan: We found a really great, quiet parking lot to shoot with these guys. Rob unloaded his 4x5 film camera and took this beautiful frame of them. Even being so small in the shot, you can tell they are grinning ear to ear. Their happiness just exudes from each and every image we took of them that day. You felt truly happy just being around them. 

Anita & Robin: When chatting about where to take photos on their wedding day, Anita and Robin told us that the old Fort at Fort Edmonton Park was special to them. We shot there for quite a while on their big day, and had the place all to ourselves. Poplar fluff gently floated on the air like a mid-summer snowfall. And the light was just beautiful for them, letting us capture this gorgeous shot. I love that, again, you can tell they are both just beaming at each other, and that you can see Robin’s Metis sash, a tribute to his heritage. 

April & Sheldon: Separately, both April and Sheldon are chock full of energy, life, and personality. But when they are together, you get to witness quietness and tenderness. It is so amazing to see how they balance each other, and we feel very lucky to been able to capture that wonderful relationship in this image. 

Barbara & Anthony: Barbara is one of my oldest friends, so getting to shoot her wedding to the man of her dreams was a true honor. These two have since moved to Victoria, so this image with the Edmonton skyline in the background is special to me, as Edmonton is where we met and became friends! I also love the look of pure happiness on her face as her new husband tenderly gives her a kiss. 

Sonal & Raj: Undoubtedly one of the most visually amazing weddings we’ve ever shot. This extravaganza took place on a massive cruise ship, culminating in a magical ceremony on a Caribbean island. This image sums it all up: stunning couple madly in love, amazing outfits, golden light, and a unique and exciting location. They really made their wedding into an experience of a lifetime for each and every guest!

Jenn & Jonathan: These two brought us all the way to Virginia to share in their wedding celebrations, and what an experience that was! It was tough to choose my favorite image from their stunning day, but I went with this one. End of the night, they slowly dance together (quite fortunately under a spotlight!) as the lights resemble a ceiling of stars. 

Jen & Wade: This image is one I’ll always remember. I’ve spent a LOT of time trying to figure out how that reflection works, and still can’t sort it out. Neither can Jen and Wade. It’s doesn’t much matter though. All that matters is how happy you can see they are looking at each other. I love this shot because I don’t understand it, and it’s this wonderful little teaser to me. Plus they look amazing. It’s a good’er. 

Laurie & Joseph: This image always stands out for me when I think of the wedding of Laurie & Joe. We walked down into the woods near their church and found ourselves in a natural wonderland. Beautiful weather, wonderful friends, and a lot of fun. Walking back out, we asked these two to stroll up the path and go in for a kiss. They had shared their first ever kiss only a short while before (their first kiss as man and wife was their first kiss ever, which is just too romantic for words!) and so they were more than willing to oblige! This classically stunning image will always be a favorite of mine. 

Jamie & Jon: These two cutie pies are so full of love for each other it’s spellbinding! On their wedding day we headed out to Jon’s family’s property to take some shots of them. Jon had spent countless hours leading up to the wedding painstakingly preparing the landscaping. You see, Jon owns his own landscaping company (he’s the reason our yard looks so good!) and so he used those talents to create a beautiful spot to take photos with his new wife. And as you can see, he did an incredible job. 

Joyce & Romy: Oh man, there were so many potential shots to choose from this wedding!! What it came down to was wanting to show the personalities of these two. Romy is a goofy, funny, wonderful guy who is up for anything! And Joyce, though she seems quiet in comparison, definitely has some sass to her! This image always always always makes me smile and I love it for that! 

Karen & Gary: Oh how much we love this image. It’s so quiet, romantic, timeless, classic….I feel it right down into my heart every time I look at it. There is almost nothing that needs to be said about it. These two are just so stunning, they definitely made our job easy peasy. 

Kristin & Michael: These two had such an amazing, urban style, and expressly requested “no trees!” in their wedding photos! That’s not a common request, and we loved it. I’m sure people think we’re nuts when we talk about how much we love parking garages for wedding photos, but look at this image! You have concrete, metal, lines, patterns, shapes. And in between all of that beautiful graphic interest, two people, deeply in love, their soft, natural forms quietly about to kiss. That sort of contrast gets me all excited and makes me talk too loud until Rob has to tell me to chill out. I really love this shot. 

Michelle & BJ: Oh man. Getting to know these two has been an experience worth more than anything. I can’t even begin to tell you in words how funny, entertaining, and just downright awesome these guys are. That’s why I chose this image. This image shows you who Michelle & BJ are better than I could tell you. Really, you’d just have to hang out with them for a while to get the full experience, but since you probably can’t, this shot will hopefully suffice. I love that these wacky kids completely owned it on their wedding day, and rocked out like rockstars. True story: that wall behind them was in perfect condition prior to them bringing the noise. Well, maybe not true story, but let’s all just pretend together. 

Reina & Prav: If there was ever a posterboy/girl for the word “trooper” these guys would be it. When we were shooting their wedding in Calgary it was FREEZING cold. Freezing. Like, you don’t even know how cold. A blistering wind made every moment of shooting a tough one. And we were all bundled up!! Look at what these two are wearing. Now. Look at their faces. They just got married, and didn’t care for one moment what the weather was like. Even though it’s a bleak day, with snow on the ground, they literally warm this whole shot up. Love it. 

Robyn & Susheel: This was pretty much the most ballin’ wedding we’ve ever shot. These two poured their hearts into each and every detail, and it showed! In the midst of all that, of course, they treated us like great friends and we had a blast together. There were so many shots that I could have chosen that were gorgeous (I mean, look at them!) but I went with this one. It was one of the very last images we took of their wedding. After two morning to night days, we were all exhausted. The first dance had just ended, and we snuck them outside. For the first time in hours, there was quiet. They were alone (pretty much). The lights of the city shone in the background, and the air was warm. They still looked flawless, and we created this portrait. And I think it is totally them: urban, modern, beautiful. 

Shazma & Matt: This shot is one that snuck up on us. There were so many shots of these two being silly, having fun and goofing around. They really are a goofy pair when you get them together! But there is a very deep connection that exists between them, and you can see that in this gorgeous twilight image. The tones, the tenderness, the light, their beautiful outfits, everything about this shot leaves me breathless. 

Vini & Money: These two had one of the most insane wedding days we’ve ever been a part of! An extremely early morning saw them being married in Calgary. After lunch, portraits, and the 3 hour drive back to Edmonton, they then spent the evening performing a traditional ceremony for Money’s family. And they smiled through every moment, even though I’m pretty sure they were exhausted. It didn’t matter, they wanted to make sure all of their family was part of their big day! But on their reception day, they got to enjoy something rare: some time alone! So when we showed up to shoot some portraits before the reception, they were just exuding happiness and calm. That meant that when we started shooting it was so easy; they were just so happy! This frame was one Rob took with the 4x5 film camera, and I LOVE it. It has a surreal, soft quality that I adore. And I can just feel the mood from these two, so happy, so calm, just hanging out together. 

Wow. Writing this post took me pretty much all day. But it was wonderful to do. So many great memories of our time spent with these wonderful people! We are truly lucky to have been a part of each and every one of these weddings. I have no clue who will win this contest, but I’m looking forward to hearing from all their loved ones! Remember: simply click on the link beneath the image you’d like to vote for, and press send! The contest will end at midnight on March 9, so get your votes in!! 

Lots of love,

Lauren & Rob

Contest Rules: There is no cost to participate in, enter, or redeem a prize in this contest. Voting will take place from February 22 to March 9 at midnight, MST. The couple who receives the most legitimate votes will receive a free 16x24 canvas print of any image from their wedding. We will only accept one vote per person, so please don’t try to circumvent that, as we will be checking. One voter will be chosen at random to win a portrait session and 8x10 print from Rob & Lauren. That prize contains other conditions that will be communicated to the winner. The prizes have no monetary value and cannot be converted to cash or credit. This is our contest, so we reserve the right to make the rules, and change them if we see fit. Have fun and play fair!

Today I am announcing a new website. (Click here if you just wanna see it, and skip my ramblings :)

Yes. It’s ridiculous.

If you’ve followed us for a while you’ll know that I seem to make that announcement every couple of months. Rob and I just have a lot of things we love to do! We love to create portraits, travel, teach, shoot personal work, we adore being involved in FotoJournal, and we just don’t want to give any of those things up! The result is that there are a LOT of websites that our work is now spread across.

We’re cool with things being that way, to separate what we do both in the web and in our minds, but I think it’s been hard for anyone just finding us to know what we’re about.

So Rob gave me a task. Create a portal. (You can call it a splash page, I’m going to call it a portal because it sounds mystical). I have a small amount of HTML and CSS knowledge, and have been learning a little bit here and there over the past year, but have never made a full website with them.

Well, I gave myself the job to do it over the weekend. I spent some time brainstorming, made a design in Photoshop, then yesterday I sat down, learned myself some VERY basic HTML and CSS, and made a website. I’m super duper proud of that, even though I know it’s honestly the most simple website in the history of the world. What’s neat is that I actually made it, completely by hand, and it turned out exactly as I had planned. Yay! (P.S. I’m not trying to brag, just showing that you can seriously do anything you put your mind to!)

Anyway, that’s way too big of a buildup for the actual site, and now you’re going to go there and be like “What’s the big deal?” but I’ll still share it with you :)

From henceforth, we will keep our projects neatly arranged at: http://www.robnlauren.com

So go check it out, and explore our little world!

Hope everyone had a super lovely weekend! Looking forward to sharing some portraits with you this week!!

Lauren :)