Fresno-Art Hop
This was the first ever time when we had a privilege to display our work at the local show called Art Hop. It was totally last minute thing. We were contacted by “The Loft Gallery” on Monday, and by Thursday we already had all our prints mounted and ready to be displayed. Btw, if you any photographers are looking for a great and awesome photo lab, we would definitely suggest White House Custom Colour (WHCC). They are really quick and have an amazing customer service – we were impressed.
We’ve never done anything like that before, so we didn’t really know how many people were going to show up, what they are going to say, and what we should talk about. But it turned out to be fantastic. We were so impressed with the amount of people that came to visit us there and all the great feedback we’ve received on our work. Of course, chocolate chip cookies, appetizers and wine added more comfort to the settings and let us enjoy great experience of showcasing our work.
So, we wanted to thank Luke Moritz for having us at his place and helping us display our prints. We really appreciate it and are looking forward to do things like that more often.
here is what was going on that evening…
Igor & Tanya
Recently, Yana and I took a trip up North to visit Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle. It was a great opportunity for us to take a break from everything (even from our kids:) and enjoy the time together, the freedom of doing whatever you want! Many times in the past we would take I5 all the way up to Seattle and back, never stopping by anywhere else. And this time we had a great chance to check out the great city of Portland. We really enjoyed it. We left it being amazed and with a lot of sweet memories to draw us back there again – we were simply stunned and impressed! Of course, without great guides (adorable couple that we met in Vancouver – Igor and Tanya), we probably would never see the places we enjoyed so much, so thanks to them.
And second best part of our trip was meeting this fantastic couple – Igor and Tanya! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such authenticity in a relationship as the one they have. They’re not afraid to express their feelings and its beautiful to watch. It was our great pleasure to work with them – everything they did was so effortless and felt so natural, as if love belonged to them…
Amy & Inessa,BFF’S
I think I have mentioned before a book by Don Miller “Blue like Jazz”. Absolutely fantastic read! If you’re like me, reading one book per decade, – this one is totally for you. Its really easy to read, it talks about very interesting subjects, and there is plenty of sharp humor included with all that. So, “Blue like Jazz” talks about spiritual growth and formation from completely different perspective. It doesn’t just give you a recipe on how to live out your faith, but walks you through the problems that every person faces. In other words, Donald Miller, on the example of his own life, explains how he was able to understand God better, and brake some bad, and sinful patterns in his life. Pretty fascinating stuff. One of the things that I remembered the most from it was his story about a confession booth they’ve set up at Reed University in Portland. If you haven’t read the book, you probably are thinking – what??? a confession booth at a UNIVERSITY??? yes. But they did it differently.Donald and his friends realized that there are a lot of people who’ve been hurt by religious people. So what they did was, instead of having people confess to them their sins, they confessed the sins of the Christian church to those who came in the booth. They were sorry for not loving them as Christ did, not caring enough, for crusades, hatred, selfishness etc. I thought it was so true. Often times we become so religious about our faith, creating a whole bunch of rules and customs that eventually leaves no place for Christ in the church – it becomes a religion. And following Christ was never meant to be religious – its poisonous, and contagious… That’s why we love The Well – a crowd of honest sinners who follow Christ with all their heart (with minimal judging).
And these girls, best friends, just finished college not long ago and are ready to face the realities of finding a job in this economy! Well, good luck Amy and Innesa – we wish you to stay good friends for years to come!
Album!!!
Its finally here! Well we’ve been wanting to share this beauty for a while, Let us introduce to you our studio sample wedding album. It is a 11×14 flush mount, custom designed and printed album by Renaissance. This thing is a pure joy! And with lifetime warranty guarantees a fantastic product for the rest of your life! Of course, to really appreciate it, you need to hold it in your hands…
Dima
This past Saturday felt great! Lately, I’ve been listening to Mark Driscoll’s series on Ecclesiastes. The whole book talks about life and all that you do being totally meaningless, and all you can do during this short period of time on earth is to take time and enjoy your meals, your wife and your friends. So, I tried it out on Saturday – and guess what? It totally works!!! There isn’t anything better than to cancel all the plans, work and take a day off. With absolutely no rush I could enjoy a slow morning eating breakfast with my sweet wife and adorable kids. Evening was just as relaxing – enjoying good red wine while watching a movie… priceless!!!!
Below are photos of Dima. Very cool and calm guy – single 
We had a blast taking photos in downtown right up to the point when we realized that it was an event night, and parking space is not free till 10pm. Yes, we did get a ticket – screwed up the whole thing, how sad!!!
Aaron & Brianna: Engaged
Hey everyone! How is your summer going so far? Well today is a very special day. It is my mom’s birth day. Both of my parents live in Sacramento, so we don’t see them very often. But its a great blessing for us to have my mom always supporting us and helping with the kids. She is a perfect grandma for Nathan and Justin. Its hilarious how much emotions get to pour out in the moments when we get on her doorsteps. Mom becomes a machine for hugs and kisses and spoils the kids like crazy. We always appreciate her help when she’s around, so happy birthday mom!!! – we love you!
Below is an engagement session of Aaron and Brianna. One lovely couple! They are very nice, friendly and simple and it is very easy to get connected to their personalities. They choose a country look to be the theme for their shoot, so we ended up going in the never-ending fields and orchards of Fresno suburbs:) take a look….
Dimitrashchuk Family
This time we wanted to get you a little info on how we process our images. We get that question often, and wanted to explain how we do it and what we use to achieve final result. To process our images we use photoshop actions called Totally Rad Actions. We truly love them and believe that they underline our work greatly and are a great part of the look. Typically, we first upload images into the computer, pick the best ones, transfer the files from camera raw to TIFF format, and then begin the process of editing images. Maybe sometime later we will show you before and after samples, but for now look through the set of family images from Misha and Larisa’s photoshoot – great, and very kind people, and an awesome family, we cant wait until we hang out again guys!
Marina
The main reasons for this post were common questions that we receive from people that want to book a photo session with us.
So, if you’ve been thinking to hire a photographer for whatever reason it might be (family photo session, new born, maternity, wedding and engagement, or just anytime portrait) there is a few things that we would strongly suggest for you to do. Before you even jump on the internet, or ask around for a decent photographer, take a deep breath, think and try to figure out what is it that you want on your photographs. If what you want is candid, un-posed, full of authentic life emotions images you will have to find a photographer who’s style of shooting is like that and who’s great at it. If what you want is traditional portraits with studio lights, it would be not wise to hire someone who shoots in more of a contemporary style. So, we would really suggest you to know what you want and find a photographer that fits your vision and lifestyle – don’t just hire someone who has a big camera!
Purpose
What will you use your images for? Or What do you want your images to speak to people?
Location
Once you’ve figured out what it is that you want out of the photo shoot, or the purpose of it, it will be easier to plan the look that you want for it. Think about your personalities and what type of settings would best reflect upon who you are. Just to give you some idea, locations could be separated in these categories: urban, industrial, natural, home, or places that are special to you.
What to wear
Choosing type of location will guide you to choosing what to wear. You will want something that underlines your personality and doesn’t stand out so all you see is your clothing. It is a good idea to stay away from busy patterns, logos and whites and blacks. You want people to look at your photos and see you, not your favorite designer’s clothes.
Concept or Style
Having a concept for your session or a style(theme) would really help things to look different and interesting. There is an endless field of possibilities to create one of a kind session. You can pick your favorite novel’s theme, some movie, decade, make up a story or just have a romantic date in the middle of nowhere with very passionate, stunning images. You can brainstorm for great ideas and pick the one that you like most – just be creative!
Choosing a photographer
If you haven’t chosen your photographer yet, don’t rush the process. Take your time and research great photographers in your town. Check out their websites, follow their blogs. If you like their images, but don’t have much information on them, just do a simple google search, or try finding their page on face book – I’m sure you’ll find a few reviews on the experiences of others with them and can get some idea of what kind of people they are.
And below are photographs of my sister. We were able to have some fun with pictures while she was visiting us here in Fresno. Can’t believe she’s growing up so fast!
Caitlin: Anytime
Hey! This week is promising to be fun and unpredictable. Just a few minutes ago Nathan and I came back with our first cat. He called her Smokey – she’s gray. In fact, that’s our second ever pet. Before Smokey, we had a bird and it didn’t really work out. He was a very angry bird and would bite you so hard, my fingers would bleed. So, we just let that guy fly away – good thing Nathan was still too little to attach to him. So, I suppose having a cat should be different. Justin already crawls after her, and Nathan can’t stop chasing, hugging and playing with Smokey. The only side effect, I guess, is that Justin can find that litter box and consider it food. We hope it doesn’t happen and will try to guard it somehow. I suppose, we’ll keep you updated on our cats life. We might even get a few pics on the blog.
But for now, a set of images that we were able to capture this weekend. It was a great pleasure meeting Caitlin! She is a very fun, outgoing person that did an amazing job modeling for us and we enjoyed every minute of the shoot. Thanks Caitlin!
