Simone Wittenberg Photography ~ Kelowna Wedding Photographer ~ Destination Wedding Photography

Christmas Card: Behind the Scenes

Sunday, January 31, 2010

*Update* I want to thank all of you who e-mailed me your concern and kind words after my last post. I really didn’t mean for it to be such a downer. I just wanted to be honest about how I was feeling but probably should have conveyed that I am doing well despite the crappy days that I have. I remember back in bible college one my teacher spoke about finding joy in the darkness and I will never forget that day and how what he said changed my thinking. I know it’s so simple but it was something he said that turned a light on. One of my greatest joys are my kids so keep reading and you’ll see just a glimpse of why the make me smile everyday.

Many people often comment that I must have lots of pics of my children around the house. The truth: not. at. all. I have one set of the three girls on my living room wall from two years ago and one empty frame beside their picture for the little guy. It’s pathetic really he’s 15 months and don’t have a picture of him up yet. I’m such a bad mommy. I do, however, have TONS of pictures of my kids on my hardrive. Not all of them are professional quality but they definitely ones that only a mommy and daddy can love.

Like most moms who are photographers there is much frustration when trying to take good, serious photos of our little ones. I know what to expect 1 of 2 things when I pull out my camera. 1. goofy, silly faces or running away from me OR 2. Journee or Mykah pulling out the supermodel pose to the extreme. It so stinkin’ cute. I might blog those one day. So when the time came for the annual Christmas card photos I knew I what I would be in for. I pulled out the bribes, gave them a talkin’ too (moms, you know the one. the one that involves a stern voice, that look in the eye and a little smile at the end as so not to cause too much trauma). The kids did very well and we managed to get through the photo session within 15 mins. A record in my books. I put together a few collages to show a few “behind the scene” shots in order to get our Christmas Card. The hand you see in a few photos belong to Carson. He was my assistant for this photo shoot ;) and he was great at wiping noses and tickling pits when need be.

Posted in personal

by Simone

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Me…honestly

Monday, January 25, 2010

I have to be honest. I didn’t start the new year on a good foot. I was in a bit of a funk and if truth be told I still have some funk-y kinda days. There are quite a few reasons why I think I have good and bad days but I won’t bore with that on here and if you really want know then let’s chat over coffee. I’m an open book when I have a good coffee in hand or yummy meal in front of me. ;) What I’m focusing right now are on the good days and how to make them appear more often than the bad days. I realize exercise makes a big difference for me so I have to get back to running which is so hard after not doing it for a few weeks. I also simplified my Facebook page which has been so liberating! Keeping contact with only real friends, photographers and clients is so nice. Bye-bye random people. However, I still have Twitter and I love it. I won’t get rid of that. I’m also itching for a photo shoot and sadly my first wedding of the year is not until May but I’ve definitely been challenged to go out and shoot for me. Whether that’s my kids, scenery or trees I need to keep the creative juices flowing because truth be told the juices aren’t flowing to strong lately. Those are just a few things but like I said I won’t bore you. I’m fighting hard to be a good mom, wife, friend and photographer and it’s a battle I will NOT lose. Anyway, I still have good and not-so-good days (more good days then bad) but I’m focusing on what brings me those good days and not fixating on all the things I’m not… right now.

Last week I was blessed and was able to buy a new camera body and lens that I have been wanting for quite some time. I LOVE it and can’t wait to shoot my first wedding of the year with them. On Saturday our family along with Carson’s parents went out for breakfast and a walk downtown. On our way home the clouds were lingering on one of the mountains near our home and I knew I wanted to photograph the trees. If you didn’t already know have a thing for trees. So off we went chasing down the fog before it cleared away. Something about the fog and trees reminded of how I have been feeling the last few weeks.

Posted in blog, personal

by Simone

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These are a few of my favorite things

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Well not things, people. Images actually. Images of some of the wonderful clients I had in ‘09. I debated posting a 2009 faves list. It seems like the thing photographers do at every years end or beginning but I guess I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon and join in. Most of these you’ve seen already and then there are a few new ones. I’m still finding my style and trying to muster up the courage to show it so I hope 2010 will be the year I get closer to who I am and what my heart is drawn to. Here are just a few on my favorite images from last year. There’s a story for every photo and I wish I could share them but I chose these one because I love what they say to me and I hope you like them to. ;)

Ok, so in no particular order here are just some of my faves.

Enjoy!

Ok, so I could put way more up but it’s getting close to by bed time. So….G’night.

Posted in babies, families, weddings | Tags: 2009 photography, babies, families, photography, weddings

by Simone

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Merry Christmas

Saturday, January 2, 2010

*Update* “someone” erased this Merry Christmas post last week so I apologize for the repeat. Instead I will wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope your 2010 is full of many blessing and laughter and dreams coming true

Thank you to all of my faithful readers, past and future clients. I can’t wait what 2010 is going to bring. I know it’s going to be AH-MAZING!

Posted in blog

by Simone

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6 Ways To Speed Up Your Blog

Saturday, December 26, 2009

There are a million or more posts out there about SEO. SEO for your site and for your blog is important but, it’s only half the battle. Page load speed is of major importance these days. As pages get bigger and have more content, they load slower. So here are 6 ways you can speed up your Wordpress blog.

1. Use WP Super Cache

One of the better known techniques for speeding up WordPress is to install the WP Super Cache plugin. It caches your site for super-quick loading. It’s as simple as that. Install it and forget about it (and then promptly remember it when you wonder why your design changes aren’t showing next time you edit your theme files!).

2. Disable Unwanted Plugins

If your site is loading slowly, look at how many plugins you’re using. If the answer is more than ten, look at the plugins you’re using and ask yourself whether you can integrate them directly into your theme.

While you’re at it, also ask yourself whether you really need the plugin. If you can do without it, do.

3. Optimize Your Images

One of the reason for slow loading site is images, therefore every image should be optimized for web. Simply said, if you’re using Photoshop, there is an option to ‘Save for Web’ which you can use to reduce the image size.

If you don’t have Photoshop or haven’t been using the ‘Save For Web’ option you can improve performance using the Smush.it plugin for WordPress. This plugin will run every image you upload through the Smush.it API which strips all unnecessary data (not quality) out of your images.

4. Optimize Your Database

The best option is to use a plugin: the Optimize DB plugin does what it says on the box. It will optimize your database and remove all post revisions with a one click interface.

5. Remove Flash Plugins

Image rotators or slideshows that use flash slow the load time of your blog. Instead of using these flash plugins, try using the WP-Cycle plugin instead. It does the same thing as other flash versions, but with substantially faster load times.

6. Display Fewer Posts Per Page

I know that most of us want as much info on each page as we can get. But if you want your blog to load faster (especially photo blogs), more posts slow your page load time. Trying changing your posts per page setting to 3-5 or use post exerpts. You can change your posts per page in your wordpress settings panel under ‘read’.