Lancaster Wedding Portrait Photographer Miville Photography » Portraits

Jenna’s Senior Session

Michael Miville — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:20:43 +0000

Senior portraits in Lancaster are in full swing. I met up with Jenna and her mom at Long’s Park for the beginning of her session. We walked around the pond for a bit before heading up to a swing set area in the back of the park. She was so easy going which made for some nice relaxed portraits. We then headed over to the Cork Factory area for some pics and quickly realized that it was a bit too packed to do anything near Cork & Cap or the Cork Factory. So, we parked across the parking lot and found some other beautiful brick work and a little patio to work with.

It was a great evening for photos and I was so happy to capture some photos of her. To check out some more from this session head over to my Facebook page.

Down by the water

Playin’ with the sun

I love this photo!

Pulled out the Ring Flash for a few pics

Chickie’s Fun

Michael Miville — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:27:37 +0000

I met up at Chickie’s Rock Park in Lancaster County for a few engagement photos for Ashleen and Brian. I’ll be photographing their wedding in November and wanted to get with them to have some fun and create some beautiful pics of them before the big day. The great thing about Chickie’s Rock Park is that there are so many little locations and a few big sweeping ones. It overlooks the Susquehanna river and is great for some sweeping views. We had a great time just walking around the park and I ended up climbing a tree with a giant hornets nest. Luckily they didn’t mind me hanging out in their tree. It was fun, thanks for such a great time guys.

Totally Lancaster Co.

Grrrr

Overlooking the Susquehanna

Please note the same brown shoes, thank you.

Phillies Phanatics

Michael Miville — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:55:47 +0000

I love Philadelphia, especially when one of my couples wants to do something fun. Ya know, like taking some time to get photos in the Phillies stadium. That’s just what I did with Lizzie and Bill for their engagement photos. We also took a little time to get some photos in downtown Philly before having some lunch and heading back. It was a great time and they were up for any fun tricks I could think up. It helps that I’ve known Lizzie for probably 10 years, and Bill for probably around 5-6 years.

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day when we went down to the Phillies stadium. The sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I pulled out the ring flash for some really cool photos and did everything but keeping it simple while we were in the ballpark. They even had shirts made to look like jerseys with Mr. and Mrs. on the back. If you look close you may even see their wedding date. We only had an hour in the stadium, so I had to work fast. Luckily, I had Jana, one of my students from our York Gobo workshop help me out. I really couldn’t have done it without her. We then moved to the dugout and ended up taking a few pics in the stands.

After the ballpark, we headed to center city Philly and South St. to walk down to Penn’s Landing. Here’s where I kept it simple, no lights, just fun and relaxed portraits. We walked around some streets and then then crossed the bridge down to the Delaware River waterfront. We made our way back and decided to stop for some lunch at Downey’s on South St. An Irish pub that’s been a Philadelphia staple for a long time. It was a special session and not something I’ll forget anytime soon.

If you’d like to see more photos from this session, head over to my Facebook page.

Phillies Phans

Phuture Mr. and Mrs.

On deck to be married

A little bit of phun

Love these ring shots

Yep, that’s I-95 in the background

Coming through

Mmmm, Downey’s

Tutorial – Watermarking in Adobe Lightroom 3

Michael Miville — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:44:07 +0000

This week I take the watermark we made last week in Adobe Photoshop and use it in Adobe Lightroom 3 with the new watermarking feature. It’s great to be able to post your watermark on vertical and horizontal images. Watermarking is great for people to start becoming familiar with your brand and also to keep people from stealing your photos online.

Lightroom 3 Watermarking Tutorial from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

On the lake

Michael Miville — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:09:19 +0000

The Field family, living near the Speedwell Forge lake in Lancaster, had me to their home for some family portraits. Kelly, the oldest daughter, got together with her sister Kiersten so I could create a gift, from them, for their parents anniversary. When I got there I found out that their mom Debbie had guessed what was going on before hand and was thrilled with the gift they were having done. Being able to go down to the lake was awesome and it was just a beautiful day for photographs. We even managed to incorporate their dogs into a few of the photos. They are family members too and were so well behaved. It was a fun time and I’m glad I could create some photos for such a special occasion for them.

To see more photos from this session, check out my Facebook page.

Kelly in Purple and Kiersten in Red

One of the pups on the bridge

Mom could pass for another sister

Diggety Dog!

A simply beautiful location!

The Shot

Michael Miville — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:42:27 +0000

I know, I’ve been talking about “the shot” that I took a few weeks back. But I’ve been very busy and I’m now getting some time to talk about it. I also wanted to have it shown for the first time publicly at our new space, the Candy Factory, in downtown Lancaster. Basically, my wife Melissa, owner of Stylish Occasions, put together an awesome faux wedding photo session at the Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster, PA.

I found out about a week before the shoot that Amy, our “bride” for the day, was the owner and teacher of Premiere Danse studio. So, after thinking about what I could do with that info, I drew a little thumbnail of something that popped into my head. It was a bride jumping in a flowing fashion over a cake. But how would I pull that off? I thought about a few lighting scenarios including thoughts about how the cake would need lit as well. After considering everything, I knew that I would need my big dog Alien Bee light for some added power. There was just no other way to stop the motion of a full deal jump.

Jump ahead to the shoot itself. The day started with Amy getting a little trim of her hair, then some make up. We added in a groom, some cake, a limo, an awesome location and flowers. Voilá, we had all the makings of a wedding day. I started with a few simple photos in the ballroom of the Cork Factory. I lit the couple in the first set with a hair light, camera right. A main light, above. A reflector, below. And a light through a soft box, off camera left to light the cake. After a few more locations in the ballroom, we made our way to a room in the hotel. Then outside for a few rainy shots with the limo.

After all of that was done, I decided it was time to try this jumping shot. I set up a light off camera right behind the cake and bride to light a little of the cake and give some separation off the back of the bride. I had another flash off camera left and behind through a soft box pointed directly at the cake. Then I had my main light (the Alien Bee) camera left above the bride to get enough light above her when she jumped. I had someone stand in to check the light. Then I had her do a test jump to see how she moved through the frame. Then I snapped one off and was so close on the first shot. The second shot was pretty close as well. On the third shot I thought I clipped her toe in the frame as she moved through so fast, but then when the preview came up after a second I knew I nailed it. So, without further ado here are few photos along with an awesome video put together by my man Noah Stoner of the behind the scenes. He did such an awesome job and was all over the place. Then skip to the bottom to see “The Shot”.

Setup: Melissa Miville and Katie Slauch from Stylish Occasions
Location: Jill Fanning and the Cork Factory Hotel
Cake: Megan and Scott Smith from Monkey & Me Sweets
Dress: In White Bridal Boutique
Linens: Special Occasions & Queen St. Linens
Flowers: By Splints and Daisies
Make-Up: Patricia Solis of Elegant Xpressions
Hair: Dianna Allen
Limo: Kevin Bippus from Expressions Limousines
Video: Noah Stoner

See more photos from this session at my Facebook Fan Page.

Awesome Video by Noah Stoner

MiVille Photography Behind The Scenes from noah stoner on Vimeo.

A little trim

Make up time

Kevin’s limo is awesome!

The Monkey & Me Sweets team

Melissa adding some finishing touches

The Happy Couple

The bride and her cake

Is the phone attached to you?

Naughty time in the bedroom

Clean up time

Alone time in the limo

Leap of Faith

Big Announcement!!

Michael Miville — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:32 +0000

So, I’ve been working hard in conjunction with my great friend Olé from PhotOlé Photography and we are proud to have created the next metamorphosis of Gobo Photo Workshops.

Do you own a new advanced camera or DSLR? We’ll make you feel comfortable with all the buttons and settings. Do you need to learn how to “See The Light”? We’ll show you what “Good Light” really is and how to find it.

Join us on August 14 from 1pm-4pm, at the all new Candy Factory, 323 North Queen St., Lancaster, PA, for a hands on photography workshop. This workshop will concentrate on available light photography, how to modify it and work flow afterwards.

Some of the specific topics covered will be Camera Basics/Shooting in Manual while using the RAW format. Artistry with composition, seeing the light and creativity. We’ll have modifiers ready to show you how to move and shape the light. Work Flow in post production using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. The workshop will include 2 models so that everyone gets some time to pick up their cameras and shoot. Isn’t that really what it’s all about?

At only $99 for this 3 hour workshop, you will be enrolled in an intense training class. This workshop will be based on seeing “The Light” and is open to photographers of all levels. Make an investment in your education today! We are planning on making this a bi-monthly workshop, so keep an eye out for each new session and the type of training we’ll be working on.

We are having a special to kick off the whole thing. If you sign up by July 31st, 2010 we will give you a spot for 50% OFF. That’s right, only $49.50 for an intense 3 hour photography workshop. So, spread the word and sign up today. You can email us directly at GoboPW@yahoo.com or head to GoboPW.com and fill out the Contact page. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sharpen those photos

Michael Miville — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:13:13 +0000

Today’s Photoshop tutorial will explain a couple of techniques to sharpen your images and mask them into specific areas such as the eyes and hair of your portrait. The photo is a of my beautiful wife that I took down on the beach in Cape May, NJ. Showing 2 ways to sharpen the eyes and other details of your photos.

Before with no sharpening

Photoshop Sharpening from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

After sharpening eyes and hair

Photoshop Tutorial – Eyes Wide Shut

Michael Miville — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:33:56 +0000

Today’s tutorial, using Photoshop CS5, works on taking a photo with eyes closed and a similar photo of the same person with the eyes open to open the eyes in the first photo. This tutorial was done in Photoshop CS5 but can be done in almost every version of Photoshop. Below you’ll see the two photos used to create the final photo. Then watch the video tutorial as I walk you through this technique.

Before Photo 1: Eyes closed

Before Photo 2

Photoshop Tutorial – Eye Opening from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

After: Eyes Open

At the Millersville Pond

Michael Miville — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:04:57 +0000

I met up with Emily and Adam in Millersville the other day for their e-session. There wedding is next month and we finally were able to squeeze in some time for this session. I met up with them at “The Pond” in Millersville which you may recognize if you are from the area. It’s where Adam proposed to Emily, so it held a bit more meaning to them.

I’ve photographed here many times before, but I must say that this may have been the most hot and humid morning I can remember there. I think I described it best on Twitter when I said it was like an “armpit” outside for the session. Funny enough I learned from Adam’s sister, who I work with, that Adam described it the same way to her later that day. It was disgusting needless to say. But we managed to get some really fun and cute shots of this really great couple. I’m super excited for the wedding next month! Enjoy these pics for now.