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Hearing and Seeing Images:
Jane Morba Life Photography
By Margaret Lane
Jane Morba picked up a camera in her early 20s and soon found that photographing the
essence of people came very naturally to her. "I started to intuitively find the decisive
moments needed to make great photographs," she says. A passion for interpretive dance
and time spent in the dance studio also fueled her. "The most exciting dancers move
with impact," Jane explains. "I am influenced by their movements; my life focus has
become photography that makes a bold statement with a fresh and unique perspective."
But perhaps the most profound influences have come from her parents' lives. With both
her mother and father being deaf, Jane attests to the tremendous roles that emotions,
passion and visuals have played. "Being a part of the deaf culture inspired me to
interpret the stories of people communicating with their hands and hearts," she says.
"In this culture, there is plenty of drama, pure joy, sadness and endless conversation
between friends--this was my initiation into a very visual world." She pauses, then
goes on to say that during her childhood her mother always had a Super 8 film camera
to document every event. "My parents showed emotion through pictures."
Photojournalism Carves a New Look
Jane and her husband, Kevin, started Jane Morba Photography in 2001. "We wanted to
set ourselves apart from the local competition by offering artistic work with a
creative edge," Jane says of their business philosophy. "We want to meet the needs
of our wedding clients who are looking for something different than the rest. Our
mission was to focus almost entirely on weddings, with some portrait work thrown in
the mix. Once we had a small portfolio, we started marketing ourselves to hotels in
the area and began networking with local photographers."
After a few years in business, the Morbas realized clients were gravitating to a
more photojournalistic look, which seemed most popular at the time. Jane adds, "I
wanted to be as honest with my photography as possible and gain more experience as
a photojournalist, so when a job came up at the local newspaper, The Monterey
County Weekly, I thought it would be a great way to improve skills. It was clear
to me that doing different things keeps wedding shooting fresh and alive."
It was a good move--today the studio averages about 30 weddings per year. In the
last couple of years, their approach has become increasingly stylized and polished
as more and more competition flows into their hometown of Carmel, California, a
hotbed for destination photographers. The studio's wedding schedule takes up about
75% of its workflow. Shoots are mostly low-key and understated. The images have a
classy boutique style with a down-to-earth feel; the ideas behind them are always
original. Once in a while the Morbas get a glamorous bride, but most clients look
for surf and sand and the incredible mystique of Carmel and the Highlands.
"Believe it or not, we only serve a few local brides each year in this destination
wedding market," Jane says. "Our clients live abroad or in places throughout the
United States, but most seem to have family in California. So while it's perceived
as a destination for them, they still want to get married in a place called home."
With a population of 5000, Carmel is located about 650 miles north of Los Angeles.
While it is a hot spot for weddings, there is still no shortage of editorial work on
the Monterey Peninsula with events like the Concourse Italia and Pebble Beach Pro Am
Tour to keep Jane's shutter snapping. Her photojournalist skills are always on tap.
She shares, "I was taking a shuttle flight from Monterey to L.A. on my way to New
Jersey when I noticed George Lopez standing in front of me in the security line."
She had photographed him at the 2006 Pebble Beach Pro Am (the photo made it on the
cover of the Monterey County Weekly). She turned to Kevin with a goal for
them both to engage Lopez in conversation about the photograph. "I described the
cover shot that I had taken of him, which he remembered in detail," Jane recalls.
"He replied, 'Was that the one with the pink shirt? That was very candid. I loved
the shot.'"
Gear To Go
With a mobile studio that's light and portable, the Morbas are ready to hit the road
for wedding, commercial and corporate events. They generally pack three Dyna-Lite
strobes and a combination of umbrellas and softboxes. Their camera bodies of choice
are the Nikon D200 and the Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro, and their selection of lenses
includes a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, and 12mm f/2.8 fisheye. As for their most
desired piece of gear? "We want to see the new Nikon full-frame camera (the D3) and a
host of other related products," Jane says. "Most of our colleagues are going to the
Canon EOS 5D, but we're sticking to our mission statement--be different."
For indoors or out, Jane and Kevin point to the Fujifilm S5 as their best low-light
camera and heartily endorse Nikon's wireless Creative Lighting System (CLS). Kevin says,
"To keep colors true, I constantly check my shots in RGB mode to monitor highlights as
we go through the day. I also double check the histogram for overall exposure content."
And their newest addition, the Nikon CLS, helps bring a Hollywood look by using SB-800s
and the Photoflex Lightdome Series Q39. Jane adds, "The softbox spreads the light
beautifully and gives us a powerful and bold look with even tones when we need it. We
also like that the Nikon CLS allows us to trigger remote flashes for shoots. Emphasis
on lighting separation has been a differentiator to our overall look and style--whether
for our wedding or our commercial work."
Back home, they labor from a 300-square-foot viewing room with a separate entrance on
the side of their house. "Clients love the valley views looking west towards the ocean,"
Jane says. As for computer hardware and software, the studio has developed a tailor-made
system to meet their needs. "We're diehard Mac users, and even though we sometimes wish
our labs would spend more time developing for the Mac platform, we have learned how and
when to update our own software, hardware and other gear to fit the flow. Staying current
with the important tools is a key to any studio's success," Jane explains. "We see all
the new gadgets and tools, but we don't want to retool at this point in our careers.
What we have works fine for us."
Post-Production Key
Post-production reigns king, and this is where Kevin's audio background shines. He's
separated the data flow using four workstations. Their main station is a Power Mac G4
with a 23-inch LCD monitor. The second system is an Intel-powered Mac Pro, also
equipped with a 23-inch screen. The first is used exclusively for initial wedding
edits; the second is exclusively for album design. A third workstation is reserved
for photojournalism and newspaper assignments, and a fourth is for general business
and email correspondence.
The Morbas know that extra time spent on production can mean bigger sales on the back
end. The team maximizes productivity on each computer by completing different tasks and
staying out of each other's way. "Starting in 2008, we will be networking three main
computers to one central networked storage drive system (all drives are by LaCie),"
notes Kevin.
"We use Apple's Aperture for the first edit (speed, speed and more speed), and then
do the second tweak in Bridge CS3," Jane explains. "We also like to pull in Marcus
Bell's actions, especially the dodge and burn tool for adding extra separation. And
there's the mainstay--Photoshop of course." The job is then uploaded into DigiLabs
software for organization before being uploaded to the server for client preview
and ordering. DigiLabs has been with them from the beginning. Jane says, "They're
very attentive to our needs and always take time to solve problems."
The studio designs and assembles all albums in-house and relies on a template created
using YSI studio software. "The YSI software is extremely flexible and allows us to
easily email finished album designs to our clients all around the world," Jane
explains. "Our digital magazine albums are manufactured by Albums Unlimited and Albums
Inc. We offer matted albums from Renaissance, Nouveau/Ambience Albums from Maxima and
will enlist Jorgensen for our high-end clients."
Turnaround is rapid. "By the time we go live with online image views for our couples,
we are only two weeks out. And they'll see the DigiLabs digital magazine proofing book
within six weeks of their wedding date. Finished albums can take up to a year or
longer--it usually depends on how quickly the bride makes her selections," Jane says.
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
When Jane thinks about Web marketing, especially blogging, she smiles and notes a
twinge of feeling dated. She explains, "Things move fast in this business and Web-style
marketing has now become a main ingredient for our communication and exposure. First
and foremost, the website has to be very attractive, fresh and informative." To this
she adds, "We're redesigning and updating our site to accommodate more of our commercial
and newspaper photojournalism work, and we're excited to launch our blog." BluDomain
has been their choice for Web presence since 2003.
Aside from Internet marketing, the Morbas employ a healthy dose of industry networking,
with a sizable investment going to giving local hotels their albums. Both make it a habit
to regularly communicate with coordinators, florists and officiants, and to attend local
chamber mixers. When communicating with couples and new business prospects, Kevin states,
"Efficiency and correspondence is essential for success. We keep the client well informed
as we draw closer to the wedding day, and definitely on the status and delivery of their
products."
Jane continues, "And don't forget membership in WPPI. This is also a great marketing
and educational value," she says, singling out the First Ladies of Photography forum
at WPPI 2007 as a huge plus, with presenter Bambi Cantrell as a very positive influence
in the industry. Jane also reveals that she has submitted images to the annual WPPI
print competition, earning a first-place finish in the engagement competition at WPPI
2003, plus a few honorable mention awards along the way for both herself and Kevin.
And finally, DWF (Digital Wedding Forum) is a helpful tool, especially the business
forums. "I love being part of a wider community," Jane notes.
In summary Jane says, "Today there are so many great photographers who are constantly
raising the bar and helping the industry in many ways. We're always encouraging our
local photographers to get involved with associations such as WPPI. This allows us
to achieve success together and help, rather than undercut, services."
Visit www.amazingjane.com
Photos Copyright © Jane and Kevin Morba
Margaret Lane is a freelance writer and amateur photographer. She has more than
15 years experience as a corporate communications professional for non-profit, photography
and technology clients.
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