Trash the tutu session :: Elena Wilken :: Portland Or. Children Photographer

These days I get a lot of "No"s, and not that much eye contact from the little princess :)

But that's ok - she's staying just as sweet as always and I know that she will outgrow the stage. She'll grow up to be mommy's little assistant, or maybe daddy's little guitar and piano player, or maybe a little ballerina. She loves to dance, read and look at the pictures in her daddy's old "Golden Books", and study "The Black Book" (photography portfolios) ... So we'll see :)

Hannah thank you for coming along and playing with us :)

Taking a moment to celebrate :) :: Elena Wilken :: Portland Oregon Lifestyle Photographer

All the links are now restored (some of you might've noticed that I had quite a few broken for a week or two). Well, things are all back in order, and I'm pretty happy about that. Enjoy your visit and this shot of wild orchids :)

Soiree Sisters Event :: Portland Lifestyle Photographer

As you can tell, I had a blast documenting another great event for Soiree Sisters. You girls did such an awesome job at making this come together, and I love your attention to details! Let me tell you I am looking forward to the next one, and I can not wait to be there and take in the beauty!

I loved the 'table for two' you set up :)

I will make sure I will post a lot more yumminess from your future events ;)

... some of my most favorite details!

.... and I can not forget the lady of the day :) Happiest birthday Ligia!

Technical difficulties... (of sorts)

Having some technical difficulties with some of the pictures in the posts (broken links) and I will most likely not be getting around to fix them before the weekend. My apologies :(

Come back and visit again later for a more enjoyable experience. It will be worth your time :)

Free Templates for Photographers Giveaway :: Elena Wilken

It's been about a year since I first become very serious about my passion and I started my journey in photography. I learned a lot from many other photographers this past year so I created these two sets of templates as a way to say thank you and give back.

While I keep growing, I have come a long way. I am thankful for the inspiration. It is really cool how you can learn something from every one - what to do and sometimes what not to - good photography, bad photography, kind manners, bad manners.

Enjoy them! ...and pay it forward someday :)

All the templates are BC size. As the examples show you can use them as play date cards, save the date (gift to the couple after an engagement session), cards for mommies of newborns (most hospitals offer mommy and me classes that new moms attend), or as senior rep cards. All awesome ways to market your business. (they follow the WHCC specs.)

A few facts:

- the templates are created with the CS3 suite, all the final files are.psd files. I have not tried to work with them in other versions of Photoshop, so I don't know if problems are going to come up when they are opened in other versions. (it would be cool if you can let me know what your experience was - haven't heard of any 'bad experiences' so far)

- you can not sell them in any way, shape or form as templates, but you can use them to create printed products for your clients

- here is a link to the free font I used for the front/name (OptimusPrinceps); the second font, the serif is Baskerville. if you do not own that I strongly recommend using another similar, serif font.

- the image is cropped to the shape you see in the examples I posted, with clipping masks. you will find that very simple to use once you understand the concept. I don't have any directions included, but here is a link to a video tutorial on the whcc website on how to work with clipping masks (the first video on the page; here is the link )

For these templates the clipping mask is already included. all you need to do is:

1. drag your photo in the template (sized down so it fits within the card),

2. make sure that on the layer called LAYER MASK the mask is the one selected (just click on the box on the right to do that)

3. and then while holding down the option key drag the mask on the layer where your photo is and watch the magic happen :).

So after all this talk here are the goodies :)

Victorian set - MAC users

Victorian set - PC users

The cool thing about the second set is that you can change the colors on pretty much all the elements (pattern included) to match your business identity color scheme or to complement the colors of the picture you pick for the front. (With this set I set out to create artwork with a modern feel to it and in the process I was inspired to put together a set that's a cross between modern and retro, I would say.)

Retro Flair set - Mac users

Retro Flair set - PC users

Comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated :)

If you like these, come back again. I am planning to create and give away a couple different templates every few months. I know I enjoy gifts :)

Personal Project :: Elena Wilken :: Portland Or. lifestyle photographer

Well, tonight, with all the work I need to get done, I took some time to play, explore and enjoythe goodies I received the other day! And I absolutely love them :) To make it even more special, tonight, for the first time I tried freelensing. Tricky, but I love the results!

Tonight it is just a start to lots of exploration to come :) A way to substitute for the tilt-shift lens I have on my wish list (for a while anyway).

Stalking blogs pays off - in many, many ways :))

So I am sitting at my computer, taking a break from editing, browsing through the new posts on the blogs I follow through Google Reader (quite a handy tool, btw). There are quite a few photographers out there that I look up to and whose work inspires me, so I follow their work and visit their blogs every so often, when new posts are up.

You don't even have to be a photographer to like good photography. It is like candy for the eye. We all like good photography...

I left a couple of comments on some, and went on with my work.

Sometimes some of the photographers e-mail back to say thank you for taking the time to leave comments. And tonight I got just one of those e-mails from Amy. Their work (her and her husband are a team) is truly fantastic. You can see for yourself, if you haven't came across them before. Filled with emotions, very earthy, modern and vintage at the same time, out of the box - it is seriously hard for me to put in words all the feelings that their art evokes for me. It feels like words would just water it down.

I thought that it was really sweet that she took the time to e-mail back, and that it was pretty cool that my comment meant something to her. And I continued my work.

My mail program went 'ding', 'ding', 'ding' again. After a little while I switched over to check the new messages. "Red Leaf Photographer Boutique" - two of them, "Red Leaf Studios" the third one. I went from thinking that this was a newsletter from the studio, to thinking that there was a glitch in the system because I got too many, to being really confused because I knew I did not order any actions or textures. I was probably even more in disbelief, because I really wanted them. Eventually I grasped that it was just their way of saying 'thank you'. This is such an awesome and kind gesture. I am really, really excited about them, but even beyond that I was moved to tears by their kindness. It was just a simple comment...

This made me realize once again that every word I say matters, even when I think they don't. Words are powerful - they can build and they can bring down the spirit. I felt really content that my words meant something to them, ...and know that your gesture meant so much to me (way beyond the financial side). It is the coolest thing when people take the time to go out of their way and do such nice things.

Thank you so much again, Richard and Amy.

You made my day! ;) I am looking forward to use the Retro Actions and the two sets of textures, especially! I received as a gift the Vintage set around Christmas and your BW Vintage Brown is my favorite b&w.

p.s. I strongly believe that it doesn't matter the field you work in or are passionate about, you should 'hang out' with the best in your industry. Read their books, watch them, learn from them, be inspired by them (don't copy if you want to be great at what you do and stand out. Innovate. Be yourself. - but that is beside the point). Always soak in the knowledge and always be ready to look at things with an open minded attitude.

You want to become a trusted, quality ...electrician? Find one that you heard and came to know that does an flawless job, has a great work ethic and inspires you, and learn from him/her.

Bottom line? If you are a photographer (or not) - stalk blogs! ;) It really is the thing to do and it pays off. You can not ever put a price on learning new things and being inspired. :)