Specific opportunities include:

Associate Shooters

Post Production Editor

Internships

Team members must be experienced with the following:

-basic knowledge of the photography industry

-how to shoot in manual mode (for associate shooters only)

-Adobe Lightroom

-Photoshop (CS3 or higher)

Team members must have:

-An Apple computer

-A digital SLR camera (preferably Canon- for associate shooters only)

-A good attitude and willingness to learn (I know those are the typical, go-to requirements… but hey, we’re serious! )

If you are interested, please email us at:  chat@frenzelphotographers.com

How many of you love great photos and would love to take better pictures of your family,  friends, and surroundings?

Well, mark you calendars for Saturday, November 12th!  Frenzel Photographers is offering a workshop to teach you the basics of how to take great photographs.  For those of you that have recently upgraded your “point and shoots” to a DSLR- i.e. a nicer camera with a big lens , this day is for you!  Here’s some of what we will be covering:

*How to shoot in manual mode (What are ISO, aperture, shutter speed?)

*Rules of great composition

*Lighting

*Capturing “the moment”

*How to use all those buttons and knobs on your camera

*Storing and managing all your pictures

*How to make your shots look like they do in your head

*There will be 2 hands on shoots (1 indoor, 1 outdoor)

*One on One help and feedback

*Q & A time with the Frenzels

The workshop will be held on Saturday, November 12th from 9:30 to 4:30 in Orange County, CA.

All the above, plus complimentary head shots (a $300 value), lunch, and snacks will be included. The fee is $250.

There is a limited amount of spaces available, so sign up quickly!  Contact us HERE.

We look forward to spending the day with you!!

Now go on over and check it out!!! FRENZEL PHOTOGRAPHERS.COM

Remember that scene in Jerry Maguire?  “Help me, help you!!!” As wedding photographers, at times there’s a bit of  ”diplomacy” needed to navigate through the layers of stress, joy, family dynamics, etc. on a wedding day.  Sometimes Sarah and I take for granted that our clients and their families aren’t actually professional photographers themselves, and that the things that we do as part of our job don’t necessarily come naturally to them.  We may have been hired to photograph the wedding, but our role goes far beyond that; our goal is to ensure that the day runs as smoothly as possible in order to allow us to get the shots that our clients hired us for, not to just passively document the day.  We are the only vendor that is with the bride and groom the entire day, so we go into it with a game plan designed to help our clients day be as peaceful and incredible as possible. Here’s a few of the things we do to help the day run smoothly:

Recommended timeline-

About 4-6 weeks before the wedding (sometimes earlier) we contact our clients to go over the flow of their wedding day.  We work closely with the Bride & Groom to develop a realistic timeline that will allow us to accomplish everything they are hoping for, as well as take into account unexpected surprises on the day of, venue limitations, and cool places to shoot nearby the venue.  In the timeline, we specify our “best case” time preferences for: family formals, bridal portraits, bride & groom portraits, and getting ready shots, among others.  We use our trusty sunset times app so we know exactly when the sweet lighting times are for any day of the year..  Early on in our business we got stuck shooting in harsh light and/or not having enough time to get all the shots that we wanted because we didn’t properly spell out expectations.  As professionals, it’s our job to “take the reigns” and advise our clients towards what will, in the end, make them happier.

The “First Look”-

The “First Look” is great for many reasons:  If your day is scheduled to run very tight, the first look allows us ample time to get all the family and bridal party portraits done ahead of the ceremony at a leisurely pace.  It also allows us more time with just the bride and groom, which in the end are going to be the most important images to them.  However, I think the most beneficial reason to do the first look is the special moment that it allows the bride and groom; it’s one of the only times of the entire day that they can be alone with each other to really take things in without feeling rushed or obligated to return to their guests.  A wedding ceremony is just that- ceremonial.  With hundreds of guests onlooking and a preset order to things, that doesn’t necessarily always allow for having an intimate moment to enjoy each other as they normally would.  Also, for some people, the First Look helps ease their nerves, so that when the actual ceremony takes place they can stand there with big smiles on their faces rather than falling apart and blubbering like I did when Sarah first walked down the aisle.  Many of our clients have said that doing a first look was one of the best decisions they made for their wedding day. Here is Rebecca and Victor enjoying theirs.

Wedding Day Details and Shot Sheet-

Included with the recommended timeline, we send out our client details/shot sheet to be completed and returned before the wedding.  We provide a list of common combinations of family portraits as a starting point for our clients to edit down, so that they don’t have to think about who’s going to be in what picture from scratch.  This puts the Moms at ease, knowing that all 5 combos of shots with Aunt Sally will be covered; it also reminds them that Aunt Sally actually needs to be there instead of floating around somewhere else, cutting into picture time.  When we take the family formals we use this list so the bride doesn’t have to wonder if all the needed shots got done, plus it keeps things running smoothly (of course allowing for last minute pictures with surprise guest and relatives that were “accidentally” left off the list.

We also collect all the location info for the day and all the contact info for the families and “important people” to make sure that everything is current and that if we need to reach anyone, for any reason, we’re covered.  I remember one wedding where I arrived at the place where the groom and his guys were supposed to get ready, and nobody was there- not only was I told the wrong place, but the supposed “right place” wasn’t even where they ended up getting ready at.  Having the groom’s father’s contact info came in really handy in tracking down the guys…

Tips for family portraits- (All these tips apply the most in the absence of a first look. If you’ve done a first look your portrait time can be more relaxed; but if not, you’ll need some time saving measures.)

1) Go from larger combinations to smaller ones so that you can dismiss the most people possible first- especially those who are only in 1 shot.  The less people around, the less distractions there will be for the subjects in your photos. And have every family grouped and “on deck” before their shot, so that they are ready as soon as the previous family is done.

2) On the shot sheet, have the bride identify the “go getter” family member who can run after the lost relatives and who is free to tell the family the things that you as the photographer are thinking, but may not say (“quit talking and look here!”, “guys we need to hurry so that there is enough time for just the bride and groom shots!” and “If Aunt Sally isn’t here, sorry; we have to keep it rolling along!”

3) Try not to let anyone else take pictures while you are taking pictures; gently make it known that you are on a tight schedule and will keep things moving to devote the maximum amount of time to just the bride and groom.  This is where the “go getter” comes in handy.

4) Carry some sort of bright colorful toy in your camera gear, so that you can use it to get the attention of the ring bearer, flower girl, or any other small children in the pictures.

5) Have your associate or second shooter be the hawk eye for relatives wearing sunglasses, holding purses, looking the wrong way, etc.  As the person taking the picture your job will be much easier if you aren’t having to worry about every one of the 20 people in your shot.

6) And of course be ready for unexpected and fun moments that may happen. This is from Rebekah and James’ wedding last fall. Aren’t older brothers great…

Any thoughts to add; questions?

At a certain point in the service, I distinctly felt like the Lord was calling me to leave my job (at the time I was the Sales Manager for a Home Theater Company).  2009 wasn’t a very good year for our economy; we personally had a ton of debt, and not to mention two toddlers, so I was a little scared at the notion of leaving a steady paycheck.  The “conversation” went something like this:

God: You need to leave your job now, otherwise you never will.

Me: “OK God, when do you want me to quit my job?”

God: April 1st.

Me: “OK… that’s 6 weeks away.  And April 1st- haha, very funny… I’m going to pray about it for a few days, juuuuust to be sure that I ‘heard’ you correctly…”

Now, time out…

When I say that God is talking to me, I don’t mean like a big booming voice coming down from the sky kind of talk; that’s not how it works, at least not with me.  In fact, it wasn’t until recently in life that I truly understood how God communicates with me.  In my case, he speaks to me with assurance.  Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  So, it’s as if I’m in the future looking back at an event that has already happened, only that event has yet to happen.  It’s almost like speaking in the past tense: “April 1st was the day I quit my job.”

Time in…

Immediately my rational mind began to kick in: “Wait a minute, that’s crazy talk!  We have maybe 3 months of money to live off of, not to mention 2 kids and debt; AND a bad economy working against us.”  Followed by a hundred more “what-if’s”…  After church was over, Sarah and I were talking about the service as we usually do:

Sarah: “I really felt like the Lord was telling me that you need to quit your job.”

Me: “OK, apparently God is trying to talk to us, because he told me the same thing…  When?”

Sarah: “Is it April 1st or June 1st?” (she said, knowing that it was really April 1st)

Me: “April 1st.”

Sarah: “Crap…”

So, we prayed for a few days, but it was already a done deal in our minds.  I began looking for other jobs, but was getting shut out at every place I tried.  And while Sarah (and I) knew deep down that I was supposed to pursue photography full time with her, I wasn’t ready to let go of having a salaried position.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I slowly began to surrender to the notion that God was about to take us on an “adventurous” ride- one where we didn’t know where our money would come from, but where we had to trust entirely on Him for our livelihood.  And to up the ante, God also called us to give a portion of our business profit towards the Global Freedom initiative, separate from our normal tithing.  So with that, we took (what seemed to be) a huge risk, and our “part-time” photography business was reborn…

I tell you all of this to say that GOD IS WINNING.

Yes:
-we are still standing 2 years later.
-our business has grown tremendously and is becoming more and more successful.
-we are now officially debt free.
-it has been difficult at times.
-and yes, we have a list a mile long of stories, blessings, challenges, and encouragements. But it’s not about our business…

It’s about God changing people’s hearts.

It’s about people’s lives being saved- literally.

It’s about the blindside… God changing our hearts.

Taking the leap 2 years ago stirred up some of my greatest fears:

-Failure.
-Not being able to provide for my family.
-Chaos.
-Not having control.

But I’m learning that God is the provider for my family and I am merely the steward.  Failure is not an end, but a means to an end; what I would consider a failure is what God would consider a learning tool and a step in the right direction.  There is no such thing as chaos in God’s eyes; his order is ever-present, even when things don’t make sense.  And control…did I ever really even have it to begin with?

Our pastor recently illustrated it this way: he had everyone in church stand up and open their hands out, facing down.  He prayed that we would keep our minds like this, so that no treasure, no thing, no plan, no person would prevent us from truly following God- that we would not only have open hands, but hands that would completely let go of trying to control our own lives.

Surrendered.

And what a tough word that is to swallow; think of all the fears, pains, and anger that it evokes.  But surrender to God is different; it doesn’t mean losing or being defeated.  It means being empowered.  When we surrender, God wins in our lives.  And when God wins, we win.  Not the way we thought; not necessarily the way we hoped for; and usually not as small as we imagined.  Our life is not without challenges, but we consider ourselves to be so blessed to be a part of something bigger than us; we have the opportunity to save people’s lives and be grown & stretched in the process.  And you know what- we have a pretty killer job too!  One that we enjoy and affords us plenty of freedom.  And that my friends is “#WINNING!”

Anyhow… a few months ago we did our first F-Shop! It was a workshop specifically for NON professionals looking to learn how to use those nice big cameras they have. We had a lot of fun and I think the attendees did too.

Here’s where we hung out for the talking/discussion times.

Derek gets his “teach” on!Some practice times, in which we set up everyday scenarios for them to capture…

Thank you so much to all our fabulous attendees, and to our wonderful models the Wilson and Wandrey families! For those who have expressed interest, or who may be interested in a future F-Shop we plan to do one late spring. Stay tuned for a date!

How many of you out there own a decent camera, but don’t have the time or know-how to use it to the fullest?

How many of you love great photos and would love to take better pictures of your family,  friends, and surroundings?

Well, mark you calendars for December 4th!  Frenzel Photographers is offering a workshop to teach you the basics of how to take great photographs.  For those of you that have recently upgraded your “point and shoots” to a DSLR- i.e. a nicer camera with a big lens , this day is for you!  Here’s some of what we will be covering:

*How to shoot in manual mode (What are ISO, aperture, shutter speed?)

*Rules of great composition

*Lighting

*Capturing “the moment”

*How to use all those buttons and knobs on your camera

*Storing and managing all your pictures

*How to make your shots look like they do in your head

*There will be 2 hands on shoots (1 indoor, 1 outdoor)

*One on One help and feedback

*Q + A time with the Frenzels

The workshop will be held in Yorba Linda on Saturday, December 4th from 9:30 to 4:30.

All the above, plus complimentary head shots (a $300 value), lunch, and snacks will be included. The fee is $200.

There is a limited amount of spaces available, so sign up quickly! You must contact us at chat@frenzelphotographers.com and pay in full to reserve your space.

We look forward to spending the day with you!!

When taking pictures, our goal is to capture the initial image as correctly as possible- 1) to cut down on post production time, and 2) because that’s what we’re supposed to do!  However, all of our images get a basic color/exposure adjustment {if needed} before being delivered as proof images to our clients.  And all ordered prints and album images get a much more thorough stylizing and retouching, so that the prints in our clients’ homes and albums look as good as possible.  Here’s 3 different examples of some of our wedding images, how they were captured, and how they are processed from beginning to end…

-This picture was taken at one of our recent weddings in Colorado; this image is straight out of the can- the RAW capture.  I was at the bottom of the hill about 75 feet away from the bride and groom; I didn’t have my flash, and because of the big difference in lighting between the background and foreground, I knew that I was going to have to either blow out the background or underexpose the foreground to get the shot I had in my head.  So I chose to take my exposure off the background and split the difference a little bit.

Here’s the proof image that we delivered to the client; I slightly bumped the contrast and vibrance, added a little warmth, and used a graduated filter to burn in the bottom half of the image.

This last version is our artistic edit.  All images ordered for print will be hand edited with our “signature” stylizing.  If there are any retouching needs {blemishes, stray hairs, etc.} we take care of it here as well.  {Our artistic edits are also available for purchase individually or by the bundle}  For this image, I saturated the sky a little more and added emphasis to the shadows in the clouds.  I also lightened up the bride and groom so that their details are more visible and added a slight vignette to draw them in more.  Generally we try not to over process our images beyond what they will look like naturally, however, some pictures lend themselves to more of an artistic or fine art feel.

Here’s another example of one of our more recent weddings.  Again, this image is straight out of the can- the RAW capture.  The lighting and texture of this area was awesome!  It was right around sunset and it was still about 100 degrees outside!  Poor Kristyn and Mike…

Here is the proof image version- again, what is given to our client.  RAW images tend to tone down the contrast, so this image received a slight contrast and vibrance bump, and a little warmth.

Here’s the artistic edit- again, with our signature stylizing.  This wedding had a bunch of vintage inspired details, so I gave it an old picture feel.

Here’s the last example of our beginning to end processing.  This was the RAW capture from Madison and Jason’s wedding back in June.  It was shot around sunset on the dark side of a hill; there was nice ambient light, but not much direct sunlight, so the image has a little bit of a colder feel to it.

This is the proof image- I added contrast, vibrance, and a bit of warmth to bring out more of their tan natural skin tones.

And the artistic edit:  I brought up the brightness a little bit, added our signature photoshop mix, and cropped it in a little tighter.  Also, I retouched both of their faces, removing all blemishes and toning down the shininess.  {It was a June wedding and it was pretty warm that day}  I use pro retouch on all face shots, taking a pretty conservative approach, to make it look natural and not too retouched.

So there you have it!  Any thoughts or questions, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot us an email!

First, we thought we’d share the commonly asked “What’s in your bag ?” or “Check out my Shootsac!” (As Derek wanted to title this post…yes we do use shootsacs and love them!) Anyway, Hopefully we provide you with some helpful tips as well as just sharing what equipment we use. And, if you are a bit more advanced, please don’t be offended by the simplicity of anything we share, as we are trying to help friends out their who are new to the photog world too.

Ok, now Derek will be talking for the rest of this post…

Cameras

Canon 5D Mark II and the original 5D.  Both have full framed sensors, meaning true to the original 35mm film format and not a “cropped sensor”.  The 5D Mark II is kind of the gold standard for wedding photography.  At 21 MP, it’s file sizes are huge, but it captures amazing details.  We always shoot in RAW format and Manual Mode.

Sandisk flash cards- we’ve had nothing but good experiences so far.  Quick tip- I would recommend periodically erasing your cards in disk utility on your computer and reformatting them for each camera you intend to use them with.  This will help you reduce the risk of corrupting files as well as mysterious storage space loss.  One time I had an 8 GB card that would only let me shoot 4 pictures on it.  After erasing and reformatting I got back my space.

Lenses

In this section we will be posting images that have been taken all at the same wedding, to give you an idea of how we utilize each lens throughout a typical wedding day.

35mm 1.4- We just picked this lens up a few months ago and it is quickly becoming our favorite and most important lens!  We like it for it’s way of capturing full body shots without having to be way back and crop the picture in post.  It’s sharp all over and very quick- also great for low light situations.  Any time we’ve gotten a new lens, it causes us to rethink composition, angles, and posing- this lens allows us to do some things that the 50mm doesn’t quite do.  We use this for all of our family formal portraits, any other wide shots that we need, and dancing during the reception.

ISO 200, 1/500th, 3.2

ISO 100, 1/6400th, 1.4

ISO 500, 1/25th, 1.6, with flash

50mm 1.4- This is hands down the best valued lens that Canon makes.  It’s fast and accurate, plus it’s really light, which does make a difference by the end of the day. Sarah definitely has the 50mm 1.2 on her “next to buy list”, but the 1.4 is a great portrait lens that gets the job done and creates beautiful images for us.

ISO 320, 1/400th, 2.0

ISO 100, 1/2500th, 1.4

85mm 1.8-

This lens is a great portrait lens. It creates really shallow depth of field, while still maintaining sharpness and good seperation between subject and background. In our experience this lens is faster and more accurate with focus than the 1.2, and not too mention a 3rd of the price.

ISO 100, 1/1000th, 2.0

ISO 100, 1/1000th, 1.8

ISO 800, 1/200th, 1.8, with flash

70-200mm 2.8 IS- This may be Sarah’s favorite lens.  I know this is going to sound cheesy, but it takes breathtaking pictures.  There’s just something about it; the pictures are so smooth, and that particular focal length let’s you get up close and personal without being up in their face- especially during the ceremony.  We really strive to capture all of the intimate moments- the groom first seeing the bride walk down the isle, the emotion of reading the vows, and of course the first kiss- and this lens lets us get there.  Sarah will also use it on occasion for portaits. The only drawback is that it weighs 3 pounds, so you might need to ice your wrist after a long day of using it!

ISO 200, 1/800th, 2.8

ISO 200, 1/500th, 2.8

ISO 320, 1/125th, 2.8

TS-E45mm 2.8- Ahh, the tilt shift.  With great power comes great responsibility- this is a fun lens, but it can get over used really easily; and while creating a cool stylized picture, it cannot be a substitute for a good prime lens, hence we try to use it sparingly.  The tilt effect is great to really draw you in to the parts that are in focus and it’s fun to use for different angled shots, details, etc. Quick tips- I would recommend shooting with the tilt-shift at 4.0-5.0.

ISO 250, 1/60th, 4.5

ISO 100, 1/640th, 4.0

100mm 2.8 Macro- We’ve found that this is an important lens to have for every wedding.  When it comes to ring shots and other smaller details, this is the lens.  It has a minimum focusing distance of about 1 foot allowing you to get really close to the subject- it’s also sharp as a tac.  We’ve found it to work really well during the wedding ceremony as well.

ISO 500, 1/100th, 2.8

ISO 100, 1/1250th, 2.8

Flashes

Canon Speedlite 580ex II-  We use one 580ex II as the master and another as the slave for off camera lighting- we’ve used both Pocket Wizards and Alien Bees for triggering- jury’s still out between the two.  We’ve also used Canon’s built in IR controls, although we would recommend using the pocket wizards for being more consistent- we’ve had issues with it when there is no direct line of sight.  5 quick tips for 580ex II users-

1) If you use an external battery source for your flash, by changing function 12 on the custom function menu, you can have the flash recycle with just the external battery source and not a combination of the in-flash batteries and external batteries.  The in-flash batteries will only power the display screen and your recycling time will be cut into a fraction.

2) On a 5D Mark II body you can access, control, and set up your flash controls directly from the camera instead of messing with the back of the flash- way quicker and easier to navigate!

3) For most of our reception shots we have the flash pointed directly up instead of facing towards the subject.  That way it gives more of an ambient light look by bouncing the light off the walls.  Watch out for the color of the walls though, as it may effect how the reflected light looks (red walls, redish tint, etc.).  We also leave the white bounce card up for most of our shots.  Try it.  It will make the faces and eyes of your subject pop a little more as well as fill in the bottom half of your pictures wilth more even light.

4) If you don’t already, try using your 580ex II in manual mode.  We’ve found that just like using your camera in manual mode, you have much better control over your lighting.

5) Count clicks.  We count clicks when changing our focus boxes, and we also do it with our flash in manual mode as well.  I sat down and practiced one day, taking the same picture adjusting the flash one stop at a time to see how it affected the subject.  If there is a situation where the subject is moving from a further distance to a closer one, it helps to know ahead of time approx. how many stops you will have to change the flash, and be able to do it by feel rather than having to look at the back of the flash.

Computer

We won’t get into the hardware at home, but for weddings… 17” Macbook Pro- Throughout the day, we load in all of the flash cards as we fill them, and have a slideshow ready by the middle of the reception.  This way our clients can get to see some of the shots we took rather than waiting until after their honeymoon.  On any given wedding we will fill up 50-60 GB of pictures, so we use a portable external hard drive to store the images.

So that’s the overview of our gear!  If you have any thoughts, tips to add, or questions, the comment box is open!

First…

About a week back we had a completely fun, crazy, and exciting day! We shot a video for our new website which is in the works. We found this random field in Chino Hills, that had the perfect blend of scenery for us, and so what if it was behind barbed wire, and was technically cattle grazing territory?!? We (or should I say Derek and the crew) lugged a couch, equipment, props, clothes, etc. to our spot and we have a really fun day of shooting.

We don’t want to spoil the surprise of everything, so we won’t show much, but we do want to thank all those who SO graciously gave of their time and talents to support us on this project!

First to our fabulous crew- Matt (who happens to be one of our grooms next year, as well as the post coordinator for Uber Content), Sean, and Keith you all were such troopers and you rocked! We can’t wait to see your vision come together!

The ever talented and creative Mai from Bunch Studio provided us with a gorgeous bouquet and boutonniere. Her work is ALWAY so fabulous and unique, not to mention she is sweet as can be. Brides looking for amazing florals, be sure to check her out!

We could NOT have made it through the day without our friend Jen. She captured still images of the day, as well as just helped with anything and everything. JJ we know it was SO hot, and you got more than you signed up for, but you are a true friend and we are so thankful you were there to help!!  Be sure to check out her beautiful boudoir work here. (And sorry for the silly pic, it’s the only one we had of you from the day.)

And BIG, BIG thanks to Molly from Flawless Faces for the great job she did on my bride’s and my makeup. Carin is the owner of the Skin Care studio, and she was SO gracious to contribute to the project. She has done the makeup of a few of our recent brides and I’ve been SO thrilled with the work she does! For really fabulous makeup that stays on perfectly ALL day be sure to check them out!!

And lastly, one fun shot just to give you a little feel for things!

Thank you again to everyone who made the day possible, your support means SO much to Derek and I! And, internet friends we can’t wait to share it with you all in just a few short months!

Happy Monday!