It’s been a while since I blogged but here is a family that I really enjoyed photographing. I first met Mom, Dad and son last Fall for a lovely outdoor session which is featured in another blog entry. It was great to revisit with them back in February at their home for a newborn family session with the arrival of their daughter. I combined portraits from both sessions here. I hope they are doing well and enjoying their summer.
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 …
This was an early spring session in the studio, this family visited with a delightful two week old newborn. We managed to get some nice interaction shots whilst baby was awake and then some serene sleeping shots after a little feed. For a change the images showcased in this blog entry are a couple of the prints ordered from the session, as a typical example of what the finished portraits look like. Shown here is a 20×10″ storyboard which is one of the studio’s most popular products. It works well with newborn portraits where face, full body, and a details shot can all be combined into a single image. The other image is a very popular 14×11″ digital matte, here the actual inside image is 11×8″ with a white border. It is hard backed with a special coating which means it can be mounted directly in a frame with no protective glass required – no more annoying reflections detracting from the portrait! One of the most satisfying parts of portrait photography is knowing these lovely images will be hanging on a wall provoking memories for years to come.
Here we are into November and one thing is always the same at this time of year. I get very backdated with my blog. I’m taking a quick break from print work to post some images from a newborn session in studio. We keep our style very simple for these sessions, with minimal props. The use of a textured blanket for posing may be the only item. One of my favorite parts of these sessions is moments mother and baby share as can be seen here.
Here’s a beautiful little girl. Love the smile in the third image. I photographed her sister at exactly at the same age @ 8 months old and it’s was a delight to see the family back in studio again. Loved the cream dress here. Sometimes some dresses can look fussy on babies particularly if there’s lots of bows and the fabric is stiff. This one was simple in design, with soft pleated fabric to give some added texture and detail. Perfect for portraits!
I am playing catch up with a few of my sessions held later in 2012. Now were are well into the new year I just want to send belated new years greetings to my good clients and all following the blog. I wish you a wonderful 2013.
Here’s two of my favorite images from a newborn session in studio. The sister also came to visit for a few portraits along with Mom and Dad. We had a few fleeting moments in front of the camera which is very normal with toddlers. I mean, why be in front of the camera when there’s better things to do! I think the sibling portrait has a really lovely feel to it.
This lovely little girl visited me in studio about 4 months ago. She was back for her 8/9 month session and we made use of the great weather outdoors. She came dressed to impress in a family heirloom dress. It made for some beautiful portraits.