Concord MA Family Photographer

What goes into a digital session set

This was a lovely session held just before Halloween. Everything fell into place perfectly. Many sessions this past Fall have been rather weather challenged to put it mildly. This one was no exception. When we started the wind was gusting and the rain clouds were looming. Fortunately the dark clouds moved away and the breeze dropped. Dad even managed to arrive early from work and we got him into more family portraits than planned.

I am blogging this session now because I am wrapping up my work on the family’s order. The family had a hard time selecting prints because there were so many choices. (That happens a lot. It is always my aim to produce work that makes my clients spoiled for choice!) In the end the family opted for the session set of files. This is really a great choice.

Digital file session sets require a lot of work. Some clients may only want to own images to view on a computer screen but that’s not the product we sell. All our images whilst looking great on the computer are perfected for printing as portraits.

I am meticulous with all my orders but digital file sets are especially labor intensive due to the number of images that need to be prepared. It takes many hours of work to individually prepare the 20+ portraits. Sure, I could cut corners and save time by running automated Photoshop actions on the entire group of images. I don’t do that. I prepare each portrait as if it is going to be printed and framed as a 10×8. This includes various touch ups, drool removal on babies, stray hairs, background distractions to name a few. I also sharpen and then convert each file to black and white. Clients get both a color and black and white portrait for each image. I could run a black and white converter on all the images at once to save time but again I don’t do that. Each image is unique and one type of black and white conversion does not work for all portraits, the background may require different tones and faces require precisely the correct amount of contrast for best results. If a client opts to purchase a larger file to be printed for wall portraits another layer of preparation is required to ensure they look great when printed for wall display. In the end my clients are given file sets that can remain as files on the computer, as a special keepsake or can be used to make their own high quality print portraits, now or in the future. Call me old fashioned but for me and my photography, it still comes down to creating a beautiful printed portrait.

And so all that is left of this order is for the mini accordions to arrive back from the lab and it will be shipping out …

Girl with red flowers

Boston family photographer

Sisters portrait

Dad and daughter

Remember November

At the start of the summer I posted this delightful image of a toddler and his best furry friend and promised some more of this session from last fall, well here they are. We seem to be on a roll with dogs being featured on the blog and here’s another one… this was another well behaved dog – I wonder where all the naughty ones are, I never seem to get them! This session was done last November which can be a great month for fall color and late afternoon golden sunshine and when I tend to have some more openings if you’re trying to schedule a session. In fact there is often more “fall color” in this month than the preceding ones, as the color is on the floor where I can include it in photos rather than up high in the trees!

Dog licking boy

Toddler in fall leaves

Boston fall colors photographer

Newborn at home (in Littleton!)

This session was unusual in a number of ways and made a pleasant change of routine. In these days of the internet and Google searches I find that most of my clients aren’t from my immediate surrounding towns. I get many clients from Boston and from towns throughout Massachusetts, and some from even further afield! These clients usually travel to my studio in West Concord above Nashoba Bakery or to one of the local parks I recommend. This family however was from my hometown in Littleton, which gave me the rare opportunity to do a newborn shoot indoors at their house.
Doing a portrait session in a house can be quite a tricky prospect, often the light is low and there is not much room to maneuver. The art of the photographer in these cases is too find the right combination of good light and uncluttered backgrounds that do not distract from the subject. In this case to add some variety a handheld flash was also used for some of the images to subtly add some extra light by ‘bouncing’ it off the walls of the room rather than pointed directly at the family to avoid any harsh shadows. This couple and their newborn made for perfect subjects, even the dog jumped in for a few shots. So it ended up being a great session and to top it all it was just a two minute drive around the corner back home again!

boston metrowest baby photographer

family baby and dog portrait

best boston baby photographer

Baby and mother

Dog days of summer?

Dog licking boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully those hot summer days are coming… The blog has been a bit neglected recently and when going through the backlog of sessions I came across this image which made me laugh and I can’t resist sharing it! The session was actually in the fall and I will share the rest of it later this year when it is more seasonal, I love how this area allows so many different moods with the changing seasons.

 

Clouds and Smiles

 

 

So here in MA it seems like we’ve not had a good stretch of regular summer days. It’s been hot and humid, wet and humid or just plain  wet since June. It was great to be able to get this session done prior to some rainy weather. The evening was cloudy but clouds ( provided they are not the dark and stormy variety) can really make the color pop in photos. It was a really relaxing session and this little girl really made me smile. This family have just relocated back to their home country of Finland and I hope everything is going well for them. These portraits ( due to be delivered to me from the lab today )  should make a nice memory of their time here in the Boston area!

 

 

Creating a story with pictures.

I have just spent this evening preparing a collage and storyboard from this session. We had a lot of special images from this shoot and they go so well together in a collage format. It’s like telling a story with photographs. I was very happy to spend time with this family, such easy going parents and fun kids prefect for a portrait session! OK enough reminiscing, got to get back to the rest of the order preparation!

 

 

Outdoor Family Session

Concord family portrait

Brothers and sister portrait

I really enjoyed this recent family session. Very late Fall or Winter scenery can really make for some super portraits.  This family had to contend with a rather chilly end to the day ( the photgraphers were cold too) but it was well worth it. I love the light we got for the final part of the session.