The Results!

I suddenly feel like I should have hosted an episode of  The Price is Right! Come on down (to Miami)!

Ok, but I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the results, so I’ll stop playing around.

After 6,812 total votes and 280 comments rooting along their favorite photographer – your friends, family, fans, and weird guy across the street, have joined forces and chosen a winner!

My poor Google Analytics almost had a heart attack with a whopping 44,000 pageviews this week.

The race got pretty heated in it’s final days, as first and second place flip-flopped more than … well, a lot.

So after checking the results and verifying the votes, I wanted to personally congratulate my first ever Photofusion winner…..

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE:
Voters may now vote once in a 24-hour time period.
So if you voted at 2pm, you would be eligible for another vote at 2pm the next day.

How To Vote:
When viewing the polls, you should see 2 columns of entries.
Each entry has a black border around it. Inside the border, to the left of the entry, is a small gray radial button.
Select the radial button for the entry you wish to vote for. Scroll to the bottom and click “Vote”.
It will calculate your vote and take you to the results page.

Troubleshooting:
Make sure you’re seeing the whole blog post before voting. Voting is calculated through tallies, and NOT through comments.
Candidates are randomized each time you visit the page.
If you’re being taken straight to the results page (no radial voting buttons), you may want to clear your cache.
If you still don’t see the voting buttons, you’re not eligible for a new vote yet. Please try again later.

Have you been patiently waiting to vote on the coolest photography hosted contest this week!?

Wait no more! Voting is now OPEN! Polls will stay open until April 22, 2010 at 11:59 pm.

Not sure why you’re here? Read all about Photofusion here.

And a special thanks to my AMAZING sponsors!

In addition to spending 2 days with me in Miami, shooting fashion and soaking in the sun – the winner will get these amazing prizes from some of the coolest companies in the industry:

Collages.net will be giving my contest winner a WHOLE YEAR of online proofing PLUS $100 print credit!
OneWed.com is giving away 3 months of PLATINUM advertising (valued at $315!)
MCP Actions is giving away 2 of my absolute favorite action sets and I’ll show you how to use them to perfection!
Shootsac has a special little prize for you, too!
Jennifer Frances Retouching will professionally edit some of our images!

Ready to vote?   Take me to the Polls!

(comment votes are not counted, so feel free to leave a comment about who/why you voted – but make sure you’re voting in the actual poll so it can be tallied! Thanks!)

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I get a lot of questions from photographers and so I opened a Formspring account where I’ve been answering for everyone to see. But lately, I’ve gotten a little behind and got a Facebook email from a photographer who had a question that I’ve gotten occasionally before. So I thought I’d answer it here so it could benefit others who may have had the same questions.

Here’s my first “blogged” question from a fellow photographer, Ashley from Grand Rapids, Michigan! (PS, my fiancee is from Grand Rapids!)

Michelle and Ryan's Engagement Session

I think I have a good feel for actually taking photographs, but I have a lot of trouble with working one on one with the people I am taking pictures of. I am kind of shy, probably why I like being behind the camera instead of in front of it, and I have trouble knowing what to say to people to get them to look a certain way or do something for a photo, and I get nervous telling them what to do all the time.

I love your work, and all of your photos of couples look SO natural, no matter what they are doing, and I was wondering if you have any advice when it comes to getting people into those poses? Should I just tell them to pose a certain way? Or tell them to lean in close to each other? Or do you think it is better to just let them do whatever they want and then take photos of them?? I want to capture natural looking images, but I have found so far, that people just don’t naturally fall into each others arms and give each other loving looks for a picture, unless I tell them too. But I don’t know if this is right to do all the time. Any help you might be able to provide would be awesome and I would be SO grateful.

Ashley, Grand Rapids, MI
Read the rest of this entry »

PHOTOFUSION
[foh-toh] fyoo-zhuhn – (noun) – A new team-building experience hosted by Kristen Weaver

You wanna hear something cool?   I LOVE what I do!
Want to hear something else cool? I want to share it with you!

Look – plain and simple… hate in the photography industry is ramppid. It’s sick, hurtful and honestly, pretty ridiculous.

I’ve been sitting on this idea for a few weeks, and was really excited to share it with everyone.

Then, I had dinner with Scarlett Lillian last night. Although I could tell she had a love and passion for her craft, she seemed somewhat… off (I found out later that it was from a lot of personal attacks on her and Stephen in an industry blog). In this happy time of her new engagement, a blossoming business and a coast-to-coast schedule – you would think she’d have the world in the palm of her hands. I knew her as most do, I suspect. I had never met her, but have heard of her and her “rockstar” status (I kid). I wanted to see what she was all about, so we met.

The thing that we often forget is that our words are powerful things. They can be hurtful, hateful and unnecessary. We  forget that these are real people, with real feelings and real families. They’re not robots. No one is perfect, and I’m saddened at how easy it is for others to point out our flaws. The price we pay for success? Maybe. Does it make it right? Absolutely not.

One thing I can tell you about Scarlett is this – I have never met anyone who has given so much of themselves to help others. Love her or hate her, most of us couldn’t handle half of the criticism she gets, and I applaud her for maintaining her composure and professionalism through it all. If nothing else, we can all take a cue from her on that.

One of my Miami shoots with the amazing 14 yr. old Wilhelmina model, Quinn (discovered in Omaha, NE by Christian Behr!)

So let’s move on to ME!

Who am I? Meh, I don’t even know sometimes! But here’s what I do know -

I love to shoot fashion. And I want to share that with everyone I know. Let me be clear – I’m not technically trained… and if you’re planning to come and learn lots of technical “stuff” – don’t bother. Go take a few classes, and save me the boredom. What I love is the energy! How often do you get to shoot in an amazing studio, in Miami, with an incredible team for a published editorial in a NY fashion magazine?

If your answer is “never” – then you want to come shoot with me. Because I just did it last week – and I feel like you need to come do it, too.

I’m drawn to the creative outlet. The music, the fashion, the lights and the heart. Let’s get together, eat dinner, shoot and laugh, dance and create. Fusion. You and me. Let’s go.

Here’s what I’m saying:

One on One PhotoFusion in Miami (with me, Kristen!)
I’ll even pay for your hotel (I’m not kidding) for 2 nights in Miami, Florida!
I’m covering the models, stylists, studio, music (nothing but the absolute BEST in the industry)
Bring yourself, and your camera, and a lot of energy. (oh, you also need to cover your travel to/in Miami and food)
And if you’re a wedding photographer, and not in to fashion – let’s shoot some killer Couture bridal shots!

We shoot, eat, shoot some more. We can talk about whatever you want (business, marketing, blogging….) – then, we’ll edit together (I’ve never, EVER, released my editing techniques – but just for you, I’ll make an exception!).

Want to get published? I’ll submit it and we’ll SHARE credit (no guarantee someone will pick it up – but hey, that’s fashion!)

You wanna know what else? I have some amazing companies in the business that I use who have offered to help me sponsor this amazing opportunity!

Collages.net will be giving my contest winner a WHOLE YEAR of online proofing PLUS $100 print credit!
OneWed.com is giving away 3 months of PLATINUM advertising (valued at $315!)
MCP Actions is giving away 2 of my absolute favorite action sets and I’ll show you how to use them to perfection!
Shootsac has a special little prize for you, too!
Jennifer Frances Retouching will professionally edit our images for submission (and you get them for your website, blog, portfolio, etc – SHARED credit is a beautiful thing!)

But let’s get real…. this is a contest folks!

How to enter:
Write a short blog post about why you want to come FUSE with me in Miami!
Keep it quick, people. One paragraph (about 4 sentences) and include an awesome photo that helps explain your reason
You’re welcome to make it a video blog if you prefer!
You must include a link back to this blog post so I know you entered.

I’ll post recaps in a blog post and everyone gets to vote for the one they think should win!

Deadline for entry – April 10th!

**Voting will take place starting April 15th until April 30th. Winner will be selected based on number of legitimate votes (no multiple or spam votes will count). Photofusion session will be scheduled for a date that’s mutually agreeable with both of our schedules. You’re welcome to bring a spouse, but the winner is the only photographer that may shoot and share editorial credit. There’s a whole bunch of other legal stuff that you would have to agree to by accepting the grand prize (winner’s contract, basically), like that I don’t guarantee you’ll actually learn anything valuable. Yep, I said it.  If you have questions, please contact me directly – or just don’t enter the contest. I’m happy to send the contract in advance of you entering, but I can’t guarantee I’ll get it to you before the deadline. I think I just added a disclaimer to my disclaimer? Fun!

This may be one of several blog posts today as I frantically catch up before my trip down to West Palm Beach this weekend.

One of the things that I’ve always loved about the photography community is everyone’s willingness to share their knowledge! I know we’re all competitors, but some of my biggest competitors are also some of my coolest friends! We have lunch over new ideas, new equipment, gossip (just a little!) and what the future holds. It’s really exciting to grow along side all of these talented people, and I always hoped that one day I could grow enough that people would allow me to share what I know with them! I believe in paying it forward, and it’s through the graciousness of others that I learned my craft. So I’d like to pass that along!

So with countless emails pouring in to ask about what I do, how I do it and why I enjoy it so much (that’s the easy one!), I decided it was time to start hosting a few workshops! I had my first workshop a couple weekends ago with Percy and Carla from DeArmero Photography here in Orlando – and not only did we have a really fun time tromping through Celebration, but they got some amazing shots from our models, real couple Lauren and Jason!

Want to set up your own workshop? I’m offering a discounted rate for one-on-one weekday workshops in December! Email me for details!

You can check out their stunning work of Lauren and Jason on their Facebook Page (click the picture below). Also, be sure to check out their website!

I wanted to share their thoughts, and some great images I got of them hard at work!

“Ever since I heard about Kristen Weaver, I knew that she was not only an extraordinary photographer but also an amazing human being …and I wasn’t wrong!
When Percy told me Kristen was going to do a workshop I didn’t hesitate and i said ‘Let’s go! I have to meet this talented woman’.
Kristen, we had so much fun shooting with you, thanks for being able to answer all our questions, and share your knowledge with us…you’re an inspiration!”
- Carla De Armero

“I love Kristen’s style! At her workshop, I learned how to make the couples pose  many new and different ways. We had so much fun!
Her creativity inspired me. She was able to respond every question I had… it was totally worth it!
Thank you, Kristen!! You are such an amazing person and photographer!”
- Percy Zuniga