monday morning vlog + recent grams!

So! This Monday morning is a little crazy because...well, you can just watch the vlog. The lighting is less than wonderful because I was a pro vlogger and made it late at night. Uffda (I feel like that's just a Minnesotan thing). I talked about what's coming up + answered a few FAQ questions, so hopefully something I said made sense / helped a little. And if not, just ask and I'll try to clarify. I'm ready to start spazzing with excitement while simultaneously mimicking the Energizer Bunny to get everything done, which is why this post is a bit scattered. :)

Just wanted to say "Hey!" from Hannah Nicole on Vimeo.

Have a lovely Monday! Off to pack and basically see how many shirts I can stuff into my suitcase. But before I go, some recent (or semi recent) grams. xoxo h

FAQ : part 3 // Shooting + Editing Indoors

after a few months hiatus, the weekly (or every-other-week) FAQ post is back up! if you have a question, just holler and I'll answer it in a new post.

One of the questions I get asked fairly frequently is how I shoot / edit indoors. My goal is always to produce an image that's true to life and retains the mood from when I originally shot it. It all comes back to light. How you see it. How it is. How you bridge the gap between the moment and the light, how you understand the balance of light and shadow, how you see the world and use the light around you. Photography is all about light, and when you start seeing, using, and understand it how it is, the images you're making will improve. It's pretty simple to take a good photo, but learning how to approach and understand light is one of the key parts to making a great photo. I love what Molly Flanagan said, "...And you don’t want to try to make the room brighter than it really is buy bumping your ISO way up to make it seem like it is a sunny room. Try to get a proper exposure that actually makes the room look the way it does in real life."

That's what I try to do with my photography. Not only does it keep the integrity of the photos, but there's a depth that you find when you start to approach images as they are, not how you think they should be. I keep my editing fairly simple, which is why I love VSCO film. There's a beautiful sublety to it that gives the feel of film without being overdone. And no, it doesn't look exactly like film and you can't expect it too (if you want that, just start shooting film itself), but I'm able to edit my images how I've always wanted. Not to mention, most of my edits are one click and I'm done (I usually stick to 1-2 presets per shoot and just sync them after I cull the images, then go back for minor tweaks if needed). In the end, I want the photos I make to feel very organic and honest.

Here are a few before and afters to show you my process from taking an image to editing it. Hopefully this all makes sense, and if you have any questions, please just ask and I'll try to clarify more in the comments. :) All shot with a Canon 5d mk ii and 35mm f/1.4, and edited with presets from VSCO film pack 001 and 002. Scroll over to see the Before.

Settings : ISO 320 • f/1.8 • 1/400
KODAK PORTRA 160
fade +
temperature +250
exposure -0.25

Settings : ISO 320 • f/1.8 • 1/400
KODAK PORTRA 160
fade +

Settings : ISO 320 • f/1.8 • 1/160
KODAK PORTRA 400UC ++
fade +
contrast +
calibration red hue -10
red hue shift -15
grain +

Settings : ISO 100 • f/1.4 • 1/250
KODAK PORTRA 160

Settings : ISO 100 • f/1.4 • 1/80
KODAK PORTRA 160
contrast ++

KODAK PORTRA 160
fade +
temperature +50
exposure +0.25

Settings : ISO 1250 • f/1.4 • 1/320
(tweaked) KODAK PORTRA 160
contrast --

Settings : ISO 200 • f/1.6 • 1/320
KODAK PORTRA 400UC
contrast +
tone Kodak 3

Settings : ISO 1250 • f/2.0 • 1/320
KODAK PORTRA 400UC ++
temperature +100
exposure +0.25

Settings : ISO 500 • f/1.4 • 1/640
(tweaked) KODAK PORTRA 400

Settings : ISO 100 • f/1.4 • 1/200
KODAK PORTRA 160

Settings : ISO 100 • f/1.4 • 1/250
KODAK PORTRA 160

Settings : ISO 100 • f/1.4 • 1/160
(tweaked) KODAK PORTRA 400
temperature +200
exposure -0.25
shadows +9

FAQ : part 2

part 1

Hey friends! It's been a few weeks since I did the last FAQ post, so I thought I would put one up for this lovely Tuesday. Again, I want to stress that I'm still learning and growing and so a lot of what I'm saying are things that I myself am learning. If you have any questions, just ask or feel free to send me an email! Would love to chat with you. :)

How did you earn money for your equipment?
Hard work and lots of it. I've purchased all of my current equipment myself. I babysat, designed, shot photos, and generally saved until I could afford it. I also rarely ever splurged and bought something for myself when I was saving...so I didn't really go shopping for almost a year because I was saving. I recognize that that's not necessarily the right way to do it, but for me, that's what worked. I was very careful to set clear boundaries, guidelines, and goals. I've always been a dreamer/do-er (planning + dreaming + thinking are some of my favorite things to do) so, I was careful to set realistic goals and deadlines and go forward to meet them.


Do you prefer black and white or color for pictures? Why?
Depends on the photo, depends on the mood, depends on the emotion, and depends on what I want to convey in that image. A lot of times I'll do a series in b&w because I love the depth to it.

If we got together at Starbucks, what would you get to drink?
I love coffee and love tea. If we got together at Starbucks, I'd order a peppermint mocha or chai tea latte if it was wintertime, or a green tea frappuccino come summer. Also, their caramel apple spice is amazing.

Do you change lenses often or do you use one most of the time during a photo shoot?
I only have one lens that I use at the moment and I'm pretty happy with it. I'm adding a 35 to my bag soon which I hope to transition into using for the majority of my shoots. In the future, yeah, I'll probably swap out lenses more often, but for the look I want to achieve and the feel I'm going for, I don't necessarily need to go from a 35mm to a 200mm in the same session. :)

Advice for posing? How do you get your clients to pose so naturally? I'm sometimes at a loss for ideas when it comes to posing/staging my subjects during a photoshoot. A typical photosession with client(s) for you...how do you come up with such perfect poses and frame ideas?! Do you study other photographers' work or does it just come to you spur of the moment? Do you tell your subjects to pose however, or do you direct them, tell them to talk to each other, laugh out loud, close their eyes? Do you go to photo shoots with lots of posing ideas for your clients? Is it ever hard or awkward for you to try to situate them? Is it ever awkward when taking photos or are you really confident in what you do?
I'm honestly not a huge poser. I'll give the couples (or a senior) a pose to sit in and then talk to them a bit until they relax. I don't want to be like, "okay, put your arm on your hip and rotate 15 degrees to the left and then tilt your chin up and you put your arm around her shoulder and turn slightly backwards and do a somersault." I usually give the couple something to do or talk about and step back to watch and wait and shoot. My type of shooting is focused on people and their stories, and I thrive most in waiting and watching for honest (and un-posed) moments between the couple I'm shooting, or in genuine interaction (and in-between moments) with a senior. I want my photos to be authentic and heartfelt, and if I'm continually directing, it's easy to lose the emotion in the midst of a new pose.

I used to study poses/sketch out ideas beforehand, and I do have a few poses I do at every session, but I don't have a shot list or a flipbook of poses that I pull out. I definitely do love looking at other photographers and their work, but I think the beauty in posing is that no pose is alike because no people or moment are exactly the same. As a result, I could ask one couple a question (or guide them into a pose) and their response (and emotions) could be completely different than another couple's, so the images from that would be totally different. I talk to my clients a lot while I'm shooting, I laugh a lot, I encourage a lot (because it can be nerve-wracking to be behind the camera), and mostly, I treat them like they're friends. For couples, I say to them at the beginning of the shoot that I want their session to be fun, meaningful, and a time when they can kiss, cuddle, tease, laugh, and just be free to be with the other person…and I'll be there to document some of those moments. Cheesy? Maybe. But at the end of the day, that's what I want them to come away with.

The rest involves just my surroundings and seeing what works with the light and whatnot. I love shooting through things, getting closer, going farther away, and using patches of light. I try not to ever say, "now laugh!" because if they (or he/she) laugh, I want them to really laugh and have it be genuine. So, I'll usually talk to them and ask them or if it's a couple, their fiancé/fiancee to tell a funny story about them or something. Sometimes I'll ask them to close their eyes, but I try to ask them to think about something, to tell the other something, to remember a memory. I want every image to have purpose and so if I have them close their eyes, I want them to have a reason to do so. Storytelling forever has my heart.

What is the best lens for portraits, landscape, and low-inside light conditions?
I currently use the 50 1.4 for everything, but I'm hoping to add the 35 1.4 to my camera bag soon. The nifty fifty is very versatile and can do almost anything in a pinch, but the 35 is a wider lens which I love. However, the 50 on my MKii is very different than the 50 on my T1i, because my camera is a full frame. If you have a crop-sensor camera and want to get more of a lifestyle, journalistic feel, I would go for a 28 or 35. If you want a standard portrait lens (which is also a good all-around lens, but not as wide) go for a 50. The 85 on a full-frame is a beautiful portrait lens, but definitely not as wide. For indoor photography/low-light conditions, you are going to want a lens that has a lower aperture, like 1.8, because it allows more light to get in your camera.

I'm wondering who has inspired your photography style?
I'm inspired by the honesty, storytelling, and wild beauty to the Parsons, The Kaisers (the Image is Found) Molly Flanagan, Jamie Delaine, Andria Lindquist, Tim Coulson, Kenzie Kate, Rosina Photo, and Kristen Leigh's photography.

How do you find locations? I find myself very limited. Do you just find public places (greenways, parks, cities, etc.) or do you contact owners of property as well?
All over! I've used google maps before, I've researched parks, and I've asked clients. I talk to each of my clients about what type of shoot they're looking for, as well as what sort of feel they want (for example, urban vs. more farm/field like), and then we go forward and brainstorm ideas based on that. If I'm shooting indoors, at a coffee shop or a restaurant or something, I contact the owners beforehand and make sure that it's okay. Once I shot in Target for a shoot for my mom for Operation Christmas Child and we called ahead beforehand to make sure it was okay.

I was wondering, what do you do when it's snowing/raining when you are shooting outside? Do you run for cover? Do you have some sort fancy thing that you use to cover your camera?
I'm terrible at this. If it's only lightly raining/snowing, I won't do anything with my camera, but I'll try to stay under a roof or shelter. If it's snowing/raining hard and I want to get shots, I go all fancy and poke a hole in a Target bag.

How do you get good lighting during a golden hour shoot? Do you use filters for your lenses? I find that my photos tend to get washed out from the sunlight or sun flare.
I LOVE golden hour but have found that I rarely get a chance to shoot in golden hour. The majority of my sessions the past year have been in midday, shade, or cloudy conditions. That's Minnesota for you. :) I don't use any filters for my lenses (maybe I should but at the moment, I don't want to invest in something that I don't really "need"). My photos can sometimes get washed out from sunflare, so what I'll either do is pull back the exposure, bring up the whites, or bump up the contrast.

Third part coming next week! Hopefully something I said helped a bit...and if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to clarify a little more. :) Have a wonderful Tuesday! and ps. thanks so much for your sweet comments on my last post! xoxo h

FAQ : part 1

Thank you all for your questions and kind comments in this post! I was really humbled and blown away by the response and challenged by so many of the questions. I've been making my way through them (slowly but surely), and consolidating similar comments into one. Because there were so many questions, I've decided to break them up into several posts, so if you don't see yours yet, it's coming! And I really do want to stress that there's so much I still have yet to learn and I'm excited to keep growing in photography. I don't profess to be an expert but I do know more than when I started out (I didn't know hardly anything, truth be told), so hopefully something I say will help someone. And if you have any questions, please just ask. :) Alright! Here we go...

Lightroom or Photoshop? Is Photoshop essential/a necessity or a friend? What do you have and what do you recommend?
I have Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 extended, but I only use Lightroom for editing my photos. I used to use Photoshop completely but switched over to LR + VSCO back in May and haven't looked back. Photoshop is great if you're doing a lot of conceptual photography, highly-edited photography, or if you're going to be spending a lot of time post-processing/changing your image later on. In addition, PS isn't just for photography while LR is. Lightroom is streamlined, fast, extremely efficient, and an absolutely incredible and (in my mind) essential tool to have for a photographer. I would recommend buying Lightroom and if you'd still like Photoshop, buy elements which will give you pretty much what you'd need unless you're going to be doing 3D mapping or something crazy (and complicated) like that in PS.

What is your turnaround time for getting photos to clients?
Portrait/Engagement clients, 2-3 weeks, Wedding Clients, 4-6 weeks.

What is your post-processing? What programs do you use to edit? Do you edit with VSCO FILM? Do you edit every picture you post? Can you post a before and after of your editing process? From SOOC to the final product?
I use Lightroom 4 to edit and I use VSCO exclusively for all my images! I use the first film pack and use almost every preset depending on the feel I'm going for. However, my favorite are the Portra presets, and typically I just use the basic Portra 160. If I want an even filmier look, I'll sometimes use Portra 400++, but I'm pretty happy with the feel/look I have right now.

I run every image through lightroom with my basic color or BW preset (from VSCO) and sometimes I'll play around with them, but mostly, I like to keep it simple. Basically, all I did to the color photo was use my standard VSCO preset (Portra 160 or a tweaked version of mine), adjust the calibration, luminance, and saturation, and slightly change the WB. Took me less than thirty seconds. (just another reason why I love Lightroom paired with VSCO!) For the B&W, I bumped up the exposure and shadows and used a B&W preset of mine I made from Tri-X 400.




What setting do you shoot on most of the time? {Manual, Aperture Priority, etc.}
I shoot completely in Manual, all the time.

Are you well known in your area as a photographer?
Nope! Not at all. By the people I've shot for, perhaps, but the majority of photographers in my area have very different styles than I do, or own typical photography studios.

What are your camera settings (shutter speed and such) for when you do a shot of someone whipping their hair?
It's completely dependent on what the light looks like and what sort of motion I want to capture. Sometimes, I like to catch more of the motion, so I have my shutter speed lower to get a little bit of a blur to it, other times I want to freeze the whole shot. Usually around 250-1000 f/stops. :)

How do you get to the photo shoots...like do you have your license or do your parents drive you?
I actually COULD have my license but don't yet, for a variety of reasons…getting going on that soon! Content with where I'm at though and my parents are the best and drive me wherever I need to go. :)

Do you keep your camera close by at all times? Do you take it with you everywhere?
I usually have my camera either in my camera bag on the main level of my house (where I'm usually at), or on top of the piano. That way, I can easily grab it. I actually don't take it everywhere, but I want to get into the habit of having it around more often.

What do you suggest for learning how to use Adobe Lightroom?
I would suggest google! I'm completely self-taught in LR, and so there are definitely still things I can learn. However, I know how to do what I want to do, and if I don't know something, I google it. For me, the best way that I learn is to figure it out myself…whether that means messing around in LR until I understand something, googling tutorials, or reading every article I can find on it, that's what I do. :)

How old are you? Are some clients hesitant to hire you because of your age? Do they take you seriously?
I'm sixteen years old and I've been very blessed to have all my clients trust me and take me seriously. I never try to hide my age or pretend I'm older, and I'm very open and honest about how old I am. I've never been in a position where a client has hesitated to hire me because I'm only sixteen, and for that, I'm very grateful.

What are your thoughts on the way to a photoshoot?
I usually pray on the way to a photoshoot. I pray for the couple, for the evening, for me to see small details, for an enjoyable and joy-filled night, and that I would bless the couple. And It sounds silly to say, but I always have pre-shoot jitters. I'm not nervous in the sense that I'm freaking out, but I definitely get little excited butterflies. So I pray for calm as well.

Second part coming next week! Hopefully something I said helped a little...and if not, feel free to comment and I can try to clarify a bit more. :) Have a wonderful Wednesday!

(photos of me by anne kopca + janelle putrich)