Jen Schleicher Photography Blog » Jen Schleicher Wedding and Portrait Photography

The Durrer family and I go way back.  Laura and I have known each other since we were babies. So when Laura asked me to take their family portraits I was thrilled. We immediately started brainstorming locations. In route to our original location, we drove by an abandoned house that was calling my name. It was perfect!

Inside the house, someone had spray-painted a hot pink heart…LOVE it!

The Durrer kids portraits coming soon…

I have worked in Adobe Lightroom for some time now and really love everything about the program.  It allows me to easily and quickly edit RAW files.  But one can always improve upon their skills.  So when I heard Jared Platt was offering a Lightroom Workflow Workshop, I was pumped!

I attended the workshop yesterday and wow…There was SO MUCH information Jared shared with us!  The biggest thing I took away from Jared’s workshop was his super organized workflow.   His workflow system gave me some wonderful ideas to weave into and improve upon mine.  I really like the idea of placing all the unused images in a separate folder and removing the distractions them from Lightroom altogether prior to editing.

I will be implementing his ideas over the next few months and expect to shave off up to 3 hours of editing time!  I am a happy girl :)

Jared is a great story teller. I snapped this shot of Jared during one of his stories and caught him by surprise. Ha!

I was recently interviewed by The Bokeh Pot. This is a seriously cool photography blog that features new photographers each week. Crystal Genes is the creator of this wonderful resource.  She asked me everything from “What is one item you cannot live without?” to “What is the most valuable thing about your business?”  You can read the complete interview here.

It was a pleasure Crystal!

I recently spent some time in Colorado with family. One of the nights there I took some portraits of my sister in-law and her son. Here is Part 2 of the session…

After spending some time in the field, Stephanie, Bennett and I headed over to this lovely blue door for some more shots. They had a great time laughing and tickling together!

Stephanie, besides being a high school English teacher, is also an artist. She specializes in watercolors, pen & ink, mixed media and photography and has really beautiful work. Check out her website here. These cards were her Christmas gift to me last year. LOVE them!

Thank you Stephanie and Bennett. Hope to see you again soon!

This past week I traveled to Colorado Springs to visit with family. The weather was wonderful! One of the days I was up there I had a chance to take my sister-in-law Stephanie and her three year old son Bennett’s portraits. I found a lovely section of tall wavy grass at a nearby park and fell in love. (Arizonians, brace yourselves, there is a lot of GREEN.)

I am so blessed to live in such a wonderful country. On this day 233 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed declaring independence from Great Britain. I recently watched the mini series John Adams which documents the former president and his involvement in the conception and execution of Declaration of Independence.  If you haven’t watched this series, it is really well done. You really get an idea of how much our forefathers had to overcome on our path to freedom. I wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Inspired by fellow photographer, Chenin Boutwell’s Cat’s Meow, I thought I would start off this week with some favorites of mine.

First are egrips for your phone:

These are so much better than iphone covers.  It basically a big grippy sticker that you put on the back of your phone. This makes it impossible a lot harder for your phone to slip out of your hands. The coolest part is that you can lay your phone on the dash in your car and it won’t slide all over the place while you are driving.

Next up, hands down my favorite face lotion ever, is  Marine Daily Hydrator from H2O Plus.  

My issue with most face lotions is that they either feel heavy and oily or they are so light they are not moisturizing. This lotion totally solves this problem. It feels so light, yet completely hydrates my face. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed!

And finally, the Bachelorette. Yes, I am addicted!  Jillian has so many cute guys to pick from. One guy though is not there for love. He is an up-and-coming country music star and is on the show to promote his CD. The other guys have had a hunch all along, but last week he flat out told him that was why he was on the show! Sweet talker that he is, Wes has Jillian wrapped around his finger. Hopefully she will figure things out soon and KICK HIM OFF! If you love fun reality TV with lots of eye candy, it is not too late to start watching. On tonight’s episode, the remaining guys will take Jillian to their home town to meet their parents.  If you are already watching, leave a comment and let me know who you think Jillian should pick.  I am rooting for Kiptyn.

Yesterday I had lunch with the cutest girl ever, Jamie Delaine and blogger extraordinaire, Melissa Jill.  I met Jamie for the first time at Chevy’s just over a year ago when her family was vacationing in town. My how things have changed for her in one year!  She now has over 400 visitors to her blog a day, and super sweet images to boot!!  It was fun catching up and talking shop.

Things I learned from our conversation:
1. Jamie does not know what a taco is?!!
2. Melissa can’t eat cheese.
3. According to the girls, I HAVE to get a 50mm 1.2 lens.
4. Jasmine Star is really as cool as you think she is.
5. Twittering is the cool thing to do.  Naturally I had to get an account.  Follow me! @jenschleicher

To see how much we aged in a year, here is a picture from last year when we met (courtesy of Jamie Delaine):  Me, Melissa, Rachel Priddy, and Jamie.

And yesterday (We missed you Rachel!):

Custom. Classic. Lovely.  I am excited to spotlight a beautiful way to store your prints. These presentation boxes are made by Cypress. Each is individually handcrafted and stores up to 20 matted images from your session.  They are exquisitely made and are fully customizable.  There are over 18 high quality Japanese bookbinding fabrics and many Swiss ribbon accents to choose from. Take a look:

The ribbon helps you gently lift the matted prints out of the box:

More reasons to love Cypress:

*They do not use or sell any animal products.
*They use only non-toxic, archival glue.
*Their binders board (used in the construction of album covers, boxes, and folios) is made from 100% recycled content.
*Their products are made in the USA, handcrafted by artisans who receive fair wages.
*They reuse and recycle everything possible, from paper and fabric scraps to shipping boxes to cans/bottles in our lunchroom.
*Their office, kitchen, and restroom paper products are made from recycled content.
*They are working to reduce our carbon footprint by saving electricity through the use of efficient long-lasting fluorescent lighting and reminders on all of our light switches to conserve energy.

Their Album Pages & Museum Board Mats are…

*Acid-free, which keeps your photos in a PH-neutral, archival environment.
*Tree-free, made from 100% cotton linters, which are a waste byproduct of the textile industry.
*Chlorine bleach-free, keeping harmful chemicals out of our homes, not to mention our water sources.
*Sourced from environmentally conscious suppliers. Our mat board and paper are made at a mill that generates its own hydroelectric power. They use their own water source to create the energy they use, thereby preserving the public source.

I was introduced to the Kalinas by a current bride of mine….they are her fiance’s brother and family.  The Kalinas met up with me one afternoon at Freestone Park with their 3 month old son, August. Aren’t they the cutest family?

I absolutely had to take some pictures of just mom and dad :)

More of the three of them. The one on the right is my favorite.