Jeff Sampson - Sioux Falls Photographer

Melissa and Justin – {Miami Wedding}

Jeff — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:11:18 +0000

Melissa and Justin were married on Jungle Island just across the bay from downtown Miami. Besides being able to shoot in Miami and Jungle Island being a great place for a wedding it was very cool to experience their reception. Melissa told me they had planned “La Hora Loca” (the crazy hour) which turned out to resemble a Brazilian Carnaval with stilt walkers, dancers, and every kind of hat you could imagine. It turned out to be one of the most high energy reception dances I have ever experienced.

Enjoy

- Jeff

605 cover shoot – Icon Lounge

Jeff — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:31:53 +0000

I was privileged enough to get asked to do a shoot for the May cover of 605 magazine. It’s a story on the newest coolest lounge in town, Icon lounge. This place is great and as the article says ” it’s like you’re not in South Dakota at all.” I have personally been several times and it is a great place to lounge, eat good food, and have a cocktail in a very relaxed and fun atmosphere. Seriously you should go check it out and pick up the May issue of 605 and read all about it… like how much a liquor licence costs…

Enjoy

Kerie and Scott – {Sioux Falls Engagement}

Jeff — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:02:57 +0000

Kerie and Scott love their dogs very much, so much so they were treated like VIP’s during the shoot, chaperoned to and from by Kerie’s parents. Since this was such a dog themed session we decided near the dog park would be fitting, then we finished off the night at Icon lounge with some drinks. I had a great time with these two, they were all smiles and the session couldn’t have been better.

Hope you enjoy

-Jeff

Pretty Products {Wedding Albums, Proof Boxes, and DVD’s}

Valerie — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:13:21 +0000

Nothing tells your wedding story better than high quality print and digital products. We have been offering high quality prints and albums for years now but have recently upgraded our product line to what we feel is an even higher standard. These make great gifts and are a wonderful way to preserve your memories along with having a great display piece for your home.

Emily + Josh {A St. Patty’s Day Wedding Canton, South Dakota}

Jeff — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:40:26 +0000

Emily and Josh were married on St. Patrick’s day surrounded by Irish traditions and very gracious family and friends. If I had to describe the day in two words they would be sentimental and unique. Josh’s dad officiated in a very heartfelt ceremony filled with laughter and Emily planned her wedding with very unique Irish themes from her green shoes to her bouquet to the bagpiper. You couldn’t have asked for a better day, I hope you enjoy.

Jeff

Braxton – Happy 1st Birthday!

Valerie — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:43:11 +0000

Braxton….he melts my heart! This lil guy is seriously adorable! The best darn baby…so sweet, so laid back, always happy, and so handsome!! We love him!! The baby fever gets a bit out of control when he’s around. It’s dangerous!

Happy 1st Birthday Braxton and Mommy!

xoxo,

Val

Colleen and Cody – Downtown Engagement

Jeff — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:01:43 +0000

We first met Colleen and Cody at a wedding we were shooting in Brookings, we have kept in contact with them through the years and when Cody popped the question one of his first calls was to us. For this shoot we went for an urban feel with a little bookworm twist. These two were a great couple to shoot, there was never a dull moment and they are naturals in front of the camera. I hope you enjoy looking at this relaxed downtown engagement as much as I enjoyed shooting it.

-Jeff

Jen and Jon let loose in the snow

Jeff — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:00:53 +0000

Jen and Jon came to us with a wonderful request, to take a ton of pictures of them… as in they wanted an engagement session for every season. I couldn’t ask for a better couple to take that many photos of, Jen and Jon are completely comfortable in front of the camera and they brought unlimited happiness and smiles to the shoot. So feast your eyes on the winter session of this wonderful couple.

-Jeff

Kelli and Bryan – A Winter engagement with cookies

Jeff — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:57:58 +0000

Kelli and Bryan are laid back and a great couple, they also came to their session prepared with a box full of cookies, hot chocolate and flowers, can’t get much better than that. We set out for a nice relaxing session on a brisk South Dakota winter day and created some great photos of a couple in love.

Enjoy

What happens after the shoot

Jeff — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:38:47 +0000

It is the off season for us wedding photographers and I have been thinking about making a post like this for a while. Clients and people in general do not see what happens after the photos are taken. So what does happen during the time between your shoot and when you see your photos? The editing happens and that usually includes 3 main things, Sorting, Processing, and Blemish removal. When picking your photographer their post processing abilities are very important and they should have a processing style that not only fits their photos but fits your style as well. Without getting too technical I will just let you see the process.

1.) When the (thousands) of photos are imported to my computer from the camera they are first sorted. Either Valerie or I go through every photo and pick the best, I throw out duplicates and photos that are not in focus or if I feel they don’t add to the story.

2.) Once all the photos are sorted I start processing them, usually it’s just a combination of getting the exposure just perfect, adding contrast and tweaking the colors of the photo. I have some some tricks that I do to try and get a certain look to everything, nothing I do in processing is a “plugin” or “preset” made by someone else, it’s all a custom process. Skin tones are always important to me and simplicity is very important. When it comes to my photography I feel that at the end of the day these simply need to be very good portraits of people whether they are posed or candid, my hope is that you will still love your photos 10, 20, even 30 years from now. Below are a few processing samples, you can see the photos on the left are directly out of the camera with no processing and the right is the final product.

3.) When all the photos are processed and exported then the Photoshop fun begins. I look through the final photos and look for blemishes or pretty much anything that draws my eye from the subject and try to remove it. Once and a while a client will ask for additional touch-ups to be done and that is taken care of after all the edited photos are uploaded to their online gallery and they proof through them all.

So there you have it, that covers about 90% of what happens between the shoot and when you see your gallery. In the days of digital it doesn’t save time over film it is just a different way to get a very polished look, and I like digital for the fact that it allows me to experiment more in the moment and develop my style.

-Jeff