Lori Wong Photography

We haven’t done fireworks like this in my family in years. Mostly just what happens when a family grows up, I guess.

We had Otter Pops out.

We had dud fireworks.

We had the chairs lined up at the end of the drive way.

We had matches that wouldn’t work.

We had the bucket of water ready, you know…for just in case.

We had Dad watering the lawn for practically 30 minutes, to protect the lawn and house from stray fireworks, until we told him to stop it and come watch!!

We had my younger brother trying to light me on fire…okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. haha.

We had love.

We had laughter…a lot of laughter.

We had an amazing time.

I hope you had a memorable 4th of July as well.

I had a conversation not too long ago. This is how it went:

“Lori what type of editing do you do in Photoshop?”

“I will edit blemishes, maybe lighten or darken a photo, sometimes bump up the color. If I am going to do any sort of  major Photoshopping it will be obvious. But for the most part, I edit a photo so you don’t notice it.”

“What do you mean, so I don’t notice it?”

That is when I tried to explain, I don’t edit photos to prove I have edited a photo. I want you to see the people and places in a picture, not any sort of heavy editing in photo. It takes away from the purpose of why I take pictures. I want to show the light in people’s eyes. To see the beauty I see. Personality and relationships and love. I try to edit in the way that though there may be editing, I don’t want you to think about your photo being edited.

If you would have never seen the “before” picture, you would you thought I did a lot of Photoshopping to the “after” picture?

My goal is that your answer is no.

Granted, this means, sometimes my clients wonder what they have paid me for (hahaha), but in this day and age, when photos are manipulated to the point of awful distortion and lack of realism and truth, I don’t want to be a part of that.

I have thought time and again to go back to film for that very reason. It keeps you honest and makes you work hard and think better. But I also enjoy technology. I love looking at a picture right after I take it…if I need to. I like the option to take 15 pictures in 15 seconds. I am able to capture some amazing real moments when I am able to hit that shutter button numerous times in a matter of seconds. If you ask any of those who have been in front of my camera, they have heard that shutter go off a lot at times.

So I try my hardest to find the truth that film brings by thinking about the photo I’m taking while still taking advantage of technology.

I hope this brings a little more understanding to my post work and the work I do in Photoshop, or don’t do in Photoshop. (;

I am happy to talk more about things related to photography, the things I have learned about having a small business and about photography in general. I have had the opportunity to share a meal or two with a few different people to discuss anything photography related…or not related and I just ended up making a good friend! (:

Shoot me an email lori@loriwongphotography.com. Or Facebook me www.facebook.com/loriwongphotography. Or my website www.loriwongphotography.com.

I have not posted these two session on the blog yet, they are coming soon.

Did a lot more night shooting this trip to Disneyland.

Love this shot. More to come…and not just Disneyland other recent shoots coming too.

This photo shoot was years in the making…literally!

I shot Nicole’s sister’s family a few years ago. It’s an unforgettable photo shoot, that you can check out here and here on my old blog. Nicole and I spent some time going back and forth over the years trying to find the right date and time and location for this photo shoot. She met Shawn three years ago, the sparks flew and have dated since. Nicole has become a part of this family of four and get a long great together. It’s a pea pod made for 5! (:

When we finally were able to get all our ducks in a row, we were pretty excited to shoot the pictures at the Neon Boneyard. I was a tad nervous for the time as we were shooting when the sun is the highest in the sky and it is extra bright, but I loved how the sun gave us some amazing natural reflections.

Here is the slide show with a lot more photos! Check it out below or here is the link which is MUCH better! (:

The Weston family is pretty great. And talk about a gorgeous family! The boys are hilarious too.

I won’t keep you waiting. (:

Let’s start with my favorite shot of the day.

And of course, the slideshow, with a lot more pictures…check it out right below or here!