Photoumbra Studios

Yeah! New Blog

2009-10-01T17:16:00.003-06:00

Yeah! I have a new blog. Check it out and follow for the latest on Photoumbra Studios!

Senior Mania

2009-08-14T08:17:00.005-06:00

We have always photographed seniors and loved doing it, so this year we decided that we would expand our studio,website, sessions, and designs to appeal more directly to seniors. So we set out to launch a major campaign to first, seek for individual seniors at various High Schools around the valley to be our Senior Model Reps. These reps get a free session and a box of pass-around cards and in return they tell all their friends about us. So the last several weeks we have been busy photographing all our reps and I have to admit that I've really really enjoy working with all of them. Each senior had such a unique personality, interests, and sense of humor. I think my favorite part about photographing seniors, is that they are always up for something new and fresh. They aren't afraid to try anything we ask them and they are so full of life and energy. We look forward to growing this segment of our studio and working with as many seniors as we can! To check out our favorite photos from our rep sessions please check us out on Facebook and become a fan, look at our albums and let us know what you think!

The Summer is Heating Up!

2009-08-06T09:08:00.002-06:00

So sorry that I have neglected this blog for a few weeks. The summer time is always our craziest time, filled with weddings and a lot of location sessions. This year is even busier because we have been launching a more widespread high school senior portrait campaign. We have always done senior portraits, but we have never focused our marketing efforts specifically on them. If you want to see what we are doing...check out our Photoumbra Seniors Facebook page or go to the website.

We will also be posting some of our recent weddings here over the next few days. Hope you all are having a great summer!

Rebecca's Bridals

2009-07-07T08:37:00.006-06:00

Last week we braved the thunderstorms and photographed Rebecca's Bridals at Thanksgiving Point. We were hoping for sunnier skies, but there was something really serene about the rain clouds and they kept us cool. Rebecca looked beautiful and her dress was one of the prettiest

I've seen. Hope you enjoy some of my favs from the session! Can't wait till the wedding.

Becky & Chris Wedding

2009-07-07T06:59:00.004-06:00

We had the pleasure of being a part of a really fun wedding a couple of weeks ago. Becky and Chris are a great couple and their families were so awesome to us. I'd have to say one of my most favorite parts of the event was when one of their friends sang a hilarious rendition of "I touch myself". Everyone was rolling! Here is a little slideshow of your day guys and thanks so much for letting me be a part of your wedding. I wish you all the best! VIDEO

Katie & Brian Wedding

2009-06-19T13:23:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to photograph two weddings. On Sunday we had Katie & Brian's wedding up at Millcreek Inn. The weather held out until just before the ceremony was supposed to start and then it poured and poured. They ended up having the ceremony under a tent in the area where everyone was going to eat, so it was pretty cramped but everyone made the best of it and Brian and Katie were great sports. After we finished the group shots the weather cleared (of course) and so I did get to take Brian and Katie out and do some photos before dinner. Thanks guys for allowing me to be part of your special day, both of your families were great to work with and we had a lot of fun shooting. This video is of some of the highlights of Brian & Katie's wedding. If you want to see all of the photos from the wedding click HERE. (link coming soon)

Michelle & Clayton Wedding

2009-06-07T12:37:00.007-06:00

On Thursday we had the opportunity to photograph Michelle and Clayton's wedding. Everything looked so beautiful, including Michelle who looked fabulous with her bright blonde hair and her amazing dress. Here are some of my favorite shots from the wedding.

Trashing the Dress

2009-06-05T09:38:00.005-06:00

Last week we set out to trash Brianne's wedding dress. Since her dress featured real feathers, we thought it fitting to go to a farm to trash it. She ended up braving a river for me and getting wet and cold. I love how the feathers looked after they had gotten all wet. Thanks Brianne and I hope you had some fun, I know I sure did.

Paul's Senior Portraits

2009-06-05T09:19:00.004-06:00

We recently had Paul, a senior from Taylorsville High School, come in for his senior portraits. Paul is on his way to trying out for the Olympics in Speed Skating. He was such a fun guy to photograph and I wish him the best in all his ventures.

Urban Blast

2009-05-17T10:43:00.005-06:00

There are a lot of great things about having kids, but one of the nicest perks is that your kids make friends and then sometimes you get to make friends with their parents. The mom of one of my daughter's friends is also a photographer and she told me about this great place to shoot so we ventured out to the location last week to check it out. I snapped these photos of my daughter at the location. I will definitely be photographing some sessions here. Thanks Chelsie!

Katie

2009-05-11T07:24:00.006-06:00

This weekend we photographed Katie's senior portraits. We had a great time finding some beautiful locations. Katie is a runner and will be racing in the 1600 meter race next week at state (good luck Katie), so we did some shots of her in her running garb. Thanks to her mom, Lisa, for being my assistant on the shoot. I defiantly couldn't have pulled off the shoot without you! Katie is one of the sweetest teenagers I have met and she is a truly beautiful person. Thank you for letting me document this special time in your life. I know you soar in collage.

Michelle & Clayton

2009-04-29T20:55:00.004-06:00

Today we photographed Michelle & Clayton's engagement portraits. We had to cancel our first session due to weather so we had to squeeze this one in before Clayton had to go to work. We photographed this session at their apartment complex that was landscaped beautifully. I had a good time getting to know this couple better and look forward to photographing their wedding in June. Here are some of my favorites from the session.

Oh so pretty...

2009-04-29T20:46:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we had Sweet Plume in the studio again. I can't believe how many new and adorable designs Brittany comes up with every time we meet. This time we added June as a model and as always it was a fun shoot. Here are some of my favs from each of the models.

Becky and Chris

2009-04-24T10:03:00.005-06:00

Yesterday we photographed Becky and Chris's engagement portraits. We were a little disappointed that the sun wasn't out, but I actually really liked the lighting and loved that we could shoot just about anywhere with no restrictions based upon sun hitting them in the face, etc.They were fun to work with and just acted really natural in front of the camera. Yesterday was also my sister's first day on the job. She did a really great job and helped with the reflector and carrying around some props. I was feeling like a lame duck because my foot (I broke it 4 weeks ago) was really hurting yesterday, but thanks to the big black boot, I got around okay! Here are a few of my favs from the session.

Pretty in Pink

2009-04-23T13:21:00.008-06:00

Here are some shots we did last week in the studio. This little girl has come to the studio for the last 3 years on her birthday and each year I am amazed at how much she has grown. These shots were for her 5th birthday and she has definitely transformed from a super cute toddler to a beautiful young girl. We had a lot of fun with her and laughed as I brought out the "fan". The great thing about the fan is that it always makes people laugh because they feel a little silly with their hair blowing like crazy. I think most people are really surprised at how much they like the fan pictures because it does seem a little cheesy when we are taking the portraits. I actually really love the fan because it almost always add something totally unpredictable to the shot.

2009 Rebrand

2009-04-15T09:38:00.004-06:00

One of the best things about owning your own company is getting to play with your branding from time to time. I like to do this every year or two, just to keep up on the latest trends and adjust my branding to the look and feel of our current imagery. When I set out to play with our logo, I really wanted it to match 2 things (1. the design of our new website. 2. something that could work well with our new couture wedding photography marketing campaign.) I was actually surprised at what I ended up designing. I first started playing with some branches and cute birds in the design, but somehow I ended up with something much more elegant that I set out to achieve. So I came up with a new logo and a monogram symbol that I will use as well. If you look really hard, you'll notice that our new design incorporates the letters P and S for Photoumbra Studios. The dot, well the dot you will notice is prevalent in our new site and has always been incorporated in our various logos so I had to add that in for a touch of the past. So let me know what you think of our new look and leave me a comment!

New Site

2009-04-08T12:17:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have got our new site(s) up so go check it our here. The new features include a splash page where you can select one of our specialities (Weddings, Portraits, or Senior Portraits) Now, each our our specialities has its very own site.

We also want to announce that we are in the middle of creating a new feature called The UmbraBoutique. In the Boutique you can purchase specialty products like super cool jewelry and bags that are custom designed to feature your favorite photos. I am really excited about the jewelry and think they will make great mother's day and father's day gifts. YES, there is even a bracelet for men, and if your man is as sappy as mine when it comes to our daughter, he'll wear it with pride.

In addition to getting our new site up, we've been busy getting ready for our slew of senior portraits that we will be doing towards the end of April and early May. If your high school senior hasn't had their portraits done, please contact us. We have some fresh new ideas including some grunge texture overlays that we will be using this season with our graduates and we'd love to have you a part of it.

Updates

2009-03-22T19:29:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy few weeks around here. I have been helping my husband get his new company off the ground and we have been doing everything from labeling the products, to website design, to product photos, to hand sewing labels on hats. I am very excited for SpokeLife to finally become a reality. Jake has been working on our product line for nearly a year and a half. We were very picky about the quality of the products because we really did want to develop something that was not anywhere on the market and I think we have succeeded. Here are 3 pieces that we will include in our press packets that will soon be going out to various cycling resources. We also have a very cool race pack that we will be giving out to various shops and national distributors. All of our products are included in a cotton drawstring bag and of course all of our body products are organic and natural. You can check out our new website at www.spokelife.com.

On a photographic note, I have been working on a few projects for P

hotoumbra. Below is an announcement we did for little Drake Black. I will be posting some additional photos from recent shoots soon.

Vegas & Birds...

2009-02-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

This past week we traveled to Vegas for the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Professionals International) convention. There we got to hear some excellent speakers as well as visit an amazing trade show of all of the newest products in photography.

The shoot below was done on Friday at the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake. All the photographs were made with my Lensbaby which is a specialty lens that has bellows built in to allow me to bend and contort the focus. While this type of lens is somewhat difficult to use, it is a blast to work with and definitely gives you some unique results. I'd love to hear what you think, so please feel free to leave comments on the images.

Last week...

2009-02-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

This past week we had the opportunity to have two new babies in our studio. This little guy was only 10 days old and has quite the name....little Drake Black! We teased that he would be a pirate someday.

Our fist baby last week was Hazel. She was nearly 3 weeks old and so so cute!

Sweet Plume

2009-01-31T19:30:00.001-07:00

This past week I had the opportunity to photograph Sweet Plume's new line of girl's dresses. An added bonus is that my daughter was able to be one of the models. Here are a few of the photos from the shoot. These dresses are all hand made and quite unique and of course super fun for little girls to wear. You can have a dress custom made for your child by clicking on this link - www.etsy.com/shop - Tell them Monica sent you!

More Family

2009-01-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

We had another family in the studio this past week to have their portraits done. I should really put more of our family shoots up so everyone can see. We do pretty much all of our proofing sessions in the studio now, so hardly anything ends up online. Here are a few of the photos we did for the Thomson Family.

Below the Thomson family is the Whitaker sisters. They are all so pretty and we had a good laugh about turning on the fan to blow their hair.

Oh Baby...

2009-01-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

We recently had the Herrera Family, who drove all the way from Vernal, in our studio and I thought I'd share a few of the images we like. They are a really beautiful family and it has been a joy working with them. Throughout Teena's pregnancy and now with the arrival of their sweet daught er.

An unfortunately lucky day...

2009-01-04T15:43:00.001-07:00

Due to poor weather, we photographed indoors at the Joseph Smith Building in downtown Salt Lake. Permission to photograph there is not usually granted, but due to the bad weather they were very accommodating and thus gave us access to photograph just about anywhere we wanted. I could have killed an entire day photographing in there, but unfortunately we only spend about 45 minutes before venturing onto the temple grounds. Here are a few shots from inside. More of the temple grounds will follow in a later post.

Before the cold!

2009-01-04T14:52:00.001-07:00

Luckily the weather held out long enough for us to get some final shots done before the snow started falling. We did this session with Alyssa & Preston the end of November and before the cold really hit.

Wheeler Farm

2008-11-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we did a bridal portrait session at Wheeler Farm. While I have photographed family and kids there several times, I had never photographed a bride there. I must say that by approaching the shoot differently because I was photographing a bride, many more amazing scenes presented themselves to us and we really pulled off a very beautiful collection of images. We lugged around the gold chair and some pretty fabric which also helped transform the farm. Marie, the bride, was beautiful and a great sport and didn't hesitate to pose with chickens, sheep, geese and even on a tractor and in an old hay loft. Here are a few of my favorites from the session.

Updates

2008-11-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well these past few weeks have been a blast. The weather has held out fairly nice and we were able to get more location shooting in than I originally thought. I've been busy at the studio as well, with 5 family sessions in our newly updated studio. I hope to take some photos of the new studio soon and post them on the blog. One of my most recent location shoots was at Saltair. We photographed Amy and Garett and had a blast out there. The train we photographed in had been badly burnt and while it was a little dangerous to be walking around in, it sure made for some great scenery. Here are some of the photos from that session.

Fall-ing

2008-10-20T22:09:00.000-06:00

Thankfully the weather has been pretty warm and allowed me to get a few more outdoor shoots in with the beautiful fall leaves around. Last week I photographed Gabby at Wheeler Farm. She is so cute and made for a perfect model (Cute little girl pictured below).

Also, I was able to photograph one of my best friends, Kjori. Every once in a while I make time to just do some shooting for myself and Kjori is always kind to volunteer. We were inspired once again by our favorite musician, Tori Amos. This time there wasn't anything in particular that we were aspiring to. I was just trying to capture the beautiful scenery and crete some unique imagery. I have just begun to go through the shoot, but here are some of my favorites so far. I will be making a slideshow in the coming weeks that will feature more of the images.

So we will be starting to build a new set any day now that will feature some pretty wall moulding, a chandelier, hardwood flooring, and hopefully a cool antique couch. I've been searching for just the right couch for some time now so hopefully I'll find one soon. The nice thing about this set is it will give us some variety in the studio from our standard backdrops. I was originally thinking of painting it 2 shades of bright blue, but I think I may actually go with some different shades of white and cream to ensure that it can go with anything. We hope to have this done in 2-3 weeks time to accommodate all of our winter studio shoots.

Malessa & Ivan Downtown

2008-10-16T12:11:00.000-06:00

This week we had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Malessa and Ivan for their engagement portraits. We explored a few locations in downtown Salt Lake and had a great time. They were a fun couple to work with. We also got a chance to try out our new Radiopoppers. These are special units that we can attach to multiple flashes to make them all "pop" at the same time. Thus giving me excellent control over my lighting in any situation. This new system will be invaluable for indoor weddings and events, but are also great to use outdoors when just a pop of sun is needed to highlight hair or larger groups. Below are a few of my favorite portraits from the session.

Busy Week

2008-09-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday we had the honor of photographing the wedding of Aubri and Kyle. They held their ring ceremony and reception at Le Jardin. I had never photographed there before so it was a nice change of scenery. It featured two large greenhouses full of beautiful fountains, arches and of course tons of flowers and foliage. I'll include some photos on my next post. This week we will be working for one of my favorite corporate clients, Sorenson Communications. Each year we have the privilege of photographing all of their management during their National Retreat in SLC. Leane, Adam and Mandy will all be helping me out on this job (thank goodness). On Wed. we will be photographing Brandy & Brandon at Thanksgiving point for their bridals/groomals. It should be a fun and busy week. I'll include photos once I catch my breath. Also, we will be releasing our new website in just 2 weeks!!! After it is up, I'd love to hear your comments about it.

Portrait Exclusive

2008-09-15T20:48:00.000-06:00

We had our first Portrait Exclusive session since we announced our new sets last week. Our first Portrait Exclusive session included Julia, a native of the Ukraine and Eugene of Russia. They were great to work with and we had a wonderful time creating some timeless art pieces for them. Below are some of my favorite portraits from the session. This Portrait Exclusive was our studio All B+W {pretty obvious}

{E•Link}

2008-09-09T12:31:00.000-06:00

Soon, our clients will be receiving our new electronic newsletter called {E•Link}. It will feature details on our seasonal Portrait Exclusives, as well as news and special deals! If you wish to subscribe to {E•Link} please send us an email monica@photoumbra.com and put "subscribe to E.Link" in the subject line. Our first Edition should be emailed in just a few days.

A Portrait Exclusive is a new program that Photoumbra Studios is now launching. Every 3-4 months we will offer a new set of Portrait Exclusive locations and/or set designs. These specific designs will only last for a few months, so if you like one of our Portrait Exclusive ideas, you must book your session during its "running time". This fall we are offering 3 Portrait Exclusive Sessions. Each of these sessions will run until December 31, 2008.

Our first Portrait Exclusive is called Urban Chic. This session will take place on the old main street of Midvale City. Backgrounds will include antique brick walls and alley ways. We will bring our vintage gold velvet chair as a fun prop. Below are sample images from the Urban Chic Session.

On the Island

2008-08-26T22:21:00.000-06:00

Once again, we had a lot of fun photographing on Antelope Island. We did Brandy & Brandon's engagement portraits as the sun set. They were great sports considering that they were often swarmed by bugs and had to hike down a cliff with gigantic spider webs strung all over the place. My assistant, Mandy, helped as my lighting assistant and she did a great job. Here are just a few of our favorite images from the session.

Also, we will be launching our new business cards and some new literature and promos early next month. Each of our portrait clients will receive a Pocket Portrait Guide which will show off in a later entry. Here is a sneak peak at our new business cards.

Summer Time

2008-07-06T08:33:00.000-06:00

It seems that I only get around to updating my blog every 2-3 months. I hope to make more time in the coming months to write more. This spring and summer have been really busy and really great. I've had the opportunity to be apart of some really amazing shoots and I'm really excited about some new work that I have done. Some highlights include a bridal shoot out on Antelope Island that I did in mid-June. Our weather had not yet gotten too hot so the heat and bugs were manageable (with a lot of bug spray on). We set out in the late afternoon and stayed till sunset. We explored 3 different locations on the island and had a great time. Another recent shoot was a bridal that I did in my studio. This time of year, I don't get into the studio much, so I must admit I was feeling a little rusty creatively. But due to some inspiration found in my killer photography book collection as well as some help from friend and fellow photographer, Leane Jensen, we embarked on creating a more dark and grungy bridal session for this client. We had fun during the shoot and I was pleased with the images we created. One of the images are pictured above.

In other news, I'm happy to announce that Photoumbra Studios is taking on a part time staff person. I look forward to formally introducing her in another post.

Spring Time

2008-04-28T14:17:00.000-06:00

Feels like spring is finally upon us. This weekend was a lot of fun. I photographed a graduating senior as well as a bride from Montana. Below are some of my favorite photographs from the sessions.

Blogging along...

2008-04-15T11:46:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since my last post. Things at Photoumbra have been busy. In March, my husband and I attended WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Professionals International) convention in Las Vegas. It was my first year attending and I enjoyed it. Aside form attending some great classes, I got to enjoy hours of walking through an enormous trade show of everything photography. I was in heaven seeing all the latest gear, technology, and products. My husband also got into it.

In addition to attending th

e convention, I had several portrait sessions in March as well as two weddings. I'm going to try and stay up on my blog more this month and post some images from my sessions as well.

So far in April, I've had the opportunity to photograph a couple from Philadelphia who flew in to have their engagement photographs taken where they met at Westminster College. I will be photographing their wedding in August. Here are some of my favorite pics from the session.

My first blog.

2008-02-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finally surrendered myself to blogging after some persuasion by my techie friends. I actually enjoy viewing other people's blogs, so I figured I'd try this out and hopefully have some fun with it.

Most of my discourse will be directly related to my business, Photoumbra Studios. I am truly blessed to be able to own my own business and do what I love.