another holiday session from back in october. these two cracked me up; it was so easy to get them to make funny faces – this is my favorite spread from the session:
from this morning
i’m loving these new photo booth templates from design aglow. i’ve yet to have use a photobooth setup with a client (but am hoping to introduce it to bnai mitzvah clients this year) but i do it with the kids a lot. a photobooth set up is really just a white background with a large umbrella on a monolight. the team over at the image is found pioneered this (or at least made it wildly popular in wedding photography circles) and they do it so well. on their site, click on ‘weddings’ and then ‘crazybooth’ to see their amazingly fun images.
these are the dipino kids – all four of them. this was a quick mini session back in november and the kids were great. the (twin) boys were dreading it as almost all 7-year-old boys do but when they found out they could be silly and goof around they were all in.
(this one here? she’s ten. T-E-N. tell me her parents aren’t going to beating boys away from their house)
i’m finally getting around to posting images from my holiday sessions. i don’t like to post these before the holidays because i don’t want to ruin anyone’s holiday cards by showing the images before their friends get to see them.
these images are from the greene family who are good friends; the girls are beautiful and their mom (who is an insanely talented interior designer) dressed them perfectly:
- i was living in seattle
- i was 26
- i had been dating jeff for 5 months
- i was 4 months away from getting engaged
- i was 30 lbs lighter
- i was working at a job i loathed as a project manager for a web/software development company
- my cell phone had a small antenna and could only make phone calls
- my favorite tv shows were friends, felicity and the short lived jack and jill
- i didn’t think i would ever want children
- i was a PC user
- i owned a stereo with a 6-disc changer and was a member of a music club which sent me CDs every month
- i didn’t own a car
- i was living in my very favorite apartment of all the apartments i’d lived in. the apartment manager’s name was magic.
- i didn’t know how to cook
- i still played soccer at least once a week
- i could eat whatever i wanted without giving it a second thought (or gaining an ounce)
- my favorite starbucks drink was a raspberry mocha
- i commuted to work by bus
- i had just discovered the 2nd love of my life: a hair straightener
- jeff and i went out to breakfast almost every weekend
- i took showers and went to the bathroom without being interrupted by shouts of ‘mom?! mom?! mom?!’
- i thought i would own my own house before getting married
- i had never had a massage
- i had just gotten my first tattoo
- i didn’t recycle
- i couldn’t pause live tv
i have a series of shoots coming up in the next month for the ulman cancer fund for young adults. it’s a great organization whose official mission is, “We enhance lives by supporting, educating and connecting young adults, and their loved ones, affected by cancer.” But really? it’s so much more than that. when my sister-in-law had thyroid cancer a few years back, they were a tremendous source of information and comfort. when jeff’s cousin had testicular cancer last year? they helped him get in touch with the same doctors lance armstrong used and helped him through the treatment process. they are a fantastic organization and i’m really excited to be doing some shoots for them.
ANYway, the point is that i was playing with some different lighting setups today and begged kate to be my model. here are a couple i really liked; two are SOOC and two are retouched:
December 27, 2009 - 5:35 pm
Seriously, the freckles are killing me. She is so precious.
i was playing around yesterday with some images i’d taken over thankgiving of my niece and nephews and really liked the way this one came out. usually i like my images to be crisp and clean and colorful; this one couldn’t be any more different but sometimes a change of pace is nice:
1 comment
January 9, 2010 - 8:09 pm
Love this, it’s so touching.
the number one question i get asked by clients is, ‘what do we wear?’. i have a PDF with suggestions which i send out before sessions but there are limitless possibilities depending on your personality. i was playing around today and came up with what i’d have my own family wear for a photo session. it’s based on our personalities – not super hip but not total clothes dorks, either – and patterns and colors that work well together.
the first one is what i’d wear – jeans, flats and a black and white striped shirt. i love the graphic punch of stripes and specifically stripes in black and white. not being as fit and trim as i used to be, however, i’d pair it with either the longer white sweater or the shorter black cardigan.
for jeff, i’d have him wear jeans and most likely a zip up track jacket. it’s something he wears often so it’s in keeping with his personality but it also gives us options – he can keep it on for some of the photos and take it off for others. something that simple will make a big difference in your photos and doesn’t require an entire outfit change.
the fun part is the kids: you’ll notice i kept it pretty neutral for me and jeff. we don’t want to be the centers of attentions – we want that on the kids. my son is 5 and loves pirates so this shirt is perfectly him. it’s also grey which keeps it from jumping front and center and screaming for attention and it coordinates nicely with me and jeff. in this example, my daughter, kate, gets to be the bright spot. she loves pink and loves dresses so that’s the first thing i thought of. to keep it in the same style as the rest of the family, though, i paired it with a jean jacket. for shoes, i would do *both* the black patent leather boots and the striped rain boots. i love the fun punch of color of the rain boots and i love how they looked paired with the rest of the outfit – a little quirky and out of place and exactly the way kate gets herself dressed. the stripes on the boots are also a reference back to my shirt.
don’t panic when it comes time to get the family dressed for your next photo session – keep it fun, relaxed and most importantly YOU.
hey clients (and anyone else): if you are looking for picture ledges for your photos, ikea has some good ones that are really inexpensive. i was there yesterday and stumbled across them; i think they’re a new product because i’m at ikea all the time and i’ve never seen them before. one caveat: these are minimalist in style so if you like extra fluff with your ledges, these are not the ones for you (check out pottery barn). me? i love them – they’re right up my alley and they are a heck of a lot cheaper than the ones i’ve ordered from west elm and CB2.
(and they’re not just for photos. i hung two up in my office yesterday, right above my coffee pot. they are the perfect width to hold small coffee cups and glasses!)
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