When Jennifer first started discussing her family portrait session with me, she told me that her girls were all “super energetic & goofy.” I said that was great because that’s my favorite type of family to photograph!
Kylie (8), Alexie (6.5) and Bailey (3) were so much fun and I just adored working with them. Photographing young sisters always makes me nostalgic for when my own girls were younger. (Side note: I just registered my oldest for high school. How in the world did that happen already?) Also, Trev & Jennifer are the most adorable couple. There is so much love and laughter in this sweet family, and it shows.
The family moved to Middle Tennessee from California, and in the process, left their beloved family photographer and friend. This was the first time they had pictures made since the move, and wanted a country feel to the location. They also wanted to include their sweet, 13 year old golden retriever. Since it’s still winter and there isn’t a lot of green on the trees, I though Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin would be a good spot. I always love the textures and colors on the barns and buildings there, and it’s a great place for a dog.
I was a little worried about ti being super cold, but it ended up being a really beautiful day, though still a bit chilly if you weren’t bundled up. As a bonus, the girls found the first dandelion of the year! You guys know I love a good dandelion wishes photo, and this year Kylie got to be the first. I hope they enjoyed their first Tennessee photo session as much as I did.
First of all, I want to say that I adore this family portrait session from this past weekend at the Factory at Franklin. Heather chose to have the session at the Factory because it was supposed to rain, and the Factory provides a good choice for indoor sessions. But my favorite spots at the Factory are actually outside, so I was so glad when the weather turned out to be actually pretty decent.
The combination of agreeable weather, the great color choices for their outfits, and just a wonderful family to get to know made this one of my favorite sessions. Arica and Alec were such sweet and fun kids to photograph. Also, their big sister Maria and her fiance’ were in town for the photo session. I couldn’t help getting a few sweet shots of them alone, so it was almost like getting a combined family session in one.
Besides editing this beautiful portrait session, this week I’ve been working on making it easier for clients to get information they need about sessions right away.
I was an Engineer in my past life and bring some of that analytical thinking to my business. I love efficiency and you’ll see that through my online scheduling calendar, and my automated emails that help you throughout the process from helping you choose what to wear to reminding you what to bring to a session.
This week, I’ve added to that efficiency by adding a Facebook Messenger Bot to my Facebook page. If you message me, you’ll have the option to get a lot of information from the bot immediately, without having to wait for my reply. So if I am out shooting a session and can’t respond right away, you can still get information on pricing, frequently asked questions and information on how to book a session, with just a click of a button within Facebook messenger.
I’m pondering about adding a way for clients to get communications through Facebook messenger, such as session reminders, what to wear advice, gallery links, etc, rather than just through email. I’d love to have some opinions on that from anyone who has one!
I love creating systems that make it easier on my clients, but the personal touch is also very important to me. I’m always a text, message, email or call away if you need me directly.
It means the world to me when a new family portrait session client tells me that they hired me because a friend referred them to me for photos. I have several loyal clients who are often sending new families to me and I am so thankful for their recommendations.
First of all, if a client refers someone else to me, that means they’ve been happy with their experience in the past, and that is the MOST important thing to me. I want every client to love both their photos and the experience in getting the photos made. If a client trusts me enough to refer other people to me, then I feel like I’ve done my job.
Also, this photography gig is pretty much a one-woman show. I’m not only photographer and editor, I’m also advertiser/marketer, accountant, web designer and administrative assistant. I never expect or require clients to share my work, write reviews or send friends and family to me. But when they do choose to help with the advertising of my business, I am so very grateful for that vote of confidence.
When Venissa contacted me about booking family photos, she said that she had learned about me from her friend Nicole, one of my oldest and dearest clients, who often sends other people my way and I am so very grateful for her support. ❤
V️enissa wanted to book an extended family portrait session while her parents were in town for the holidays. We had originally booked for a few days after Christmas, but the weather was awful and rainy, so we were able to reschedule for New Year’s day before her out-of-town family returned home. What a gorgeous way to kick of 2020….I loved hanging out with this wonderful family. The weather was a bit chilly but tolerable, and they were all so much fun to photograph.
How did you kick off the new year? Are you planning on scheduling family portraits for 2020? I’m now booking sessions through June! Contact me today!
What a beautiful way to finish up 2019 with this gorgeous family of 5 portrait session at Harlinsdale Park in Franklin. This photo session was originally scheduled for November but we got rained out. We couldn’t reschedule right away because the family’s oldest daughter, Jessica, lives in New York so we rescheduled the session for when she would be home for the Christmas holidays. And what an amazing day it was! We could not have asked for more beautiful weather.
This is a family that I photograph pretty regularly, and I feel like they keep getting bad luck when it comes to session weather. I’ve shot a session for them in the rain. They had a session last year that was super hot, and then another where it was bitterly cold. They’ve been troopers through every single session and handled it beautifully each time. But it stinks because I generally feel like the weather cooperates for almost all my sessions – even late winter ones, but this one family keeps taking all the hits.
So of course, yesterday, when I arrived at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms where we were supposed to shoot, it felt WAYYY colder than the 54 degrees my phone said that it was. Then five minutes later my phone read 48 degrees. That’s still generally reasonable for a winter photo session, but the wind was so bitingly cold. I was worried that it would be way too uncomfortable to have fun and enjoy the session.
So when Kate showed up and asked if we could try to move the session to the Factory at Franklin, I completely agreed. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to, as the Factory charges a permit fee and I’d always booked it in advance. But the man at the front desk was nice enough to let us get the permit immediately so we were able to move the portrait session indoors, which was so much better than dealing with the bitter wind.
We were also able to slip outside for brief periods before coming back inside to get warm, and there is this nice corridor that was mostly protected from the wind. So all in all, it worked out well. But I still hope that next time they get a nice pleasant, mild day….it’s their turn.
Here goes my annual plug in favor of sending holiday cards in the mail. In almost every other way, I tend to choose the greener, more efficient way of doing things. I loathe writing checks, and much prefer Venmo. I decide to do most things online rather than paper versions. I’m content reading an e-book.
But there is just something about receiving an old fashioned paper Christmas card in the mail. I particularly love the ones with family photos (I know…shocker.) I tape each one to our front door and admire them until well after the New Year.
But I know many of my friends and clients are overwhelmed about getting a Christmas card made and sent out, so I thought I’d offer a few tips to help you with this holiday task.
STEP 1: Getting the Photos
The most obvious choice for getting photos for your annual holiday card is to use the images from your yearly family portrait session.
You can also use photos you’ve taken throughout the year. Last year, my family went on a vacation to Toronto and Niagara Falls for Thanksgiving week. I used photos I took from that vacation (including some phone selfies!) for our holiday card, and everyone seemed to really enjoy them. So don’t think your holiday card has to be all fancy or posed. I haven’t decided this year whether to use vacation photos or the more formal ones I just took a few weeks ago of our family for this year’s Christmas card.
One of my best friends recently set up her phone to take a selfie photo of her family (including their sweet dog) in front of their fireplace. They propped up the phone on a shelf and then used a smartwatch to trigger the photo, but a timer would work fine too. She had the stockings all hung, and it looks super festive and cute. This is an excellent option if you didn’t have family photos made this year, or, if like her, you had spring photos made and want something more festive looking for your holiday card.
Another great option is to come to see Santa Claus and me at the Spring Station Middle School Holiday Market on December 7. Your $25 pre-order ticket includes admission to the Spring Station Holiday Market event for two adults and your children & digital photo downloads of your Santa visit that you can use for your holiday card! Book your spot now before they sell out.
STEP 2: Printing the Photo Cards
If you had pictures made with me this year, you could design and purchase a holiday card straight from your session photo gallery. There are lots of high-quality options, and they print and ship super fast.
If you are using your own photo, I recommend Mpix.com for all your printing needs, including Christmas & Holiday cards. They are having a 50% off sale on Christmas cards that ends today if you are ready to get it done.
And of course, there are plenty of other printing options, such as Shutterfly. I have found the print quality of cards from Shutterfly to be mixed, but with their sales and coupon codes, they are definitely a good choice if you are looking to save a few bucks.
I’m just going to remind you now that if you print professional photos at Walgreens, then a unicorn will die.
STEP 3: Mailing the Photos
I know some people insist that Christmas cards should be hand addressed and signed. I’m not one of those people. My list is huge, and in this case, I’m an advocate that done is better than perfect. So I make it easy on myself.
I either have the place I’m ordering cards from print my return address on the envelopes, or I use return address labels (this year, I got some on sale from Shutterfly).
I keep a document on my computer of addresses, formatted to print onto adhesive Avery address labels. Each year, I review the list to see if it requires changes and then print the labels to address my cards. If any cards are returned to me, I make sure to figure out why, and then edit the list accordingly for next year’s cards.
I’ve seen some people on Facebook using google forms to collect addresses of people who want to receive a card from them. That’s a great place to start if you are beginning from scratch, but be sure to save the addresses in printable form to use again next year to make it super easy for you.
Bonus tip: This year, I ordered discount Forever stamps from Ebay to save a few bucks on shipping the cards, which is good since I send out so many.
That’s it, then sit back and enjoy the rest of the holidays knowing you did your part in spreading cheer.
Gorgeous family photo session with some of my favorite people
Speaking of festive holiday cheer, check out these photos of one of my absolute favorite clients. I adore their clothing choices for this session – perfect for a holiday card, but not so Christmasy that they won’t look great hanging on their walls year-round. These kids keep me on my toes, but I adore them and always end up loving the photos of them. They are so full of life and personality, and everything I love about photographing young children.
This gorgeous family traveled from my hometown, Elizabethton TN, for their family portrait session, and I am so glad they did! Whitney is the best friend of my amazing sister-in-law, which kind of makes her like extended family. You might recognize sweet Zoe from photos I’ve taken at my niece’s birthday parties and other such events.
But this is the first time I’ve been able to do an actual family portrait session for them. They combined our session with a weekend family getaway to the Opryland hotel, which I thought was a fantastic idea. They were able to visit the ICE! at Gaylord Opryland and all the holiday fun at the hotel. Then, before returning to East Tennessee, they met me at Winstead Hill Park in Franklin for a fun fall family portrait session.
The weather was gorgeous, which was my one fear… I wasn’t sure how we would reschedule if the weather didn’t cooperate, considering the 5 1/2 hours they traveled to get here. But we couldn’t have asked for a better day, and they were so much fun to photograph. Zoe is a natural in front of the camera and so much fun to be around. As a side-note, I love the rose pink color of your outfit and think it worked perfectly for fall photos.
When many moms come to me to book a family portrait session, their first concern is if their young children will “behave” for a portrait session. I want to make a deal with you….if you properly prepare your husband or significant other for the portrait session, then I promise I will handle the children. (Also, “behaving” is overrated. I want your babies to be wild and free and real.)
Things Dads Misunderstand About a Portrait Session:
Think about it for a minute: generally, 100% of my interactions before a portrait session have been with Mom. (This isn’t ALWAYS the case. I have had dads do the booking, but usually it’s mom.) It’s likely that mom was the one following me on social media, and mom was the one who picked me. Dad’s probably not read my blog. He’s also not the one reading all the emails from me preparing you for what to expect at the session.
Dad may have no idea about my candid style, or the fact that a photo session with me is meant to be playful and fun. Maybe, in his head, he’s expecting the studio type portrait session of his youth, where everyone had to stand at attention on a tiny black dot and stare unblinkingly at the camera.
Another misconception dads sometimes have is that we are trying to get “one good picture.” I try to get what I refer to as the “Grandma shot” early in the session. That’s the one where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. It’s the one to send to Grandma…the more traditional look. But my real goal is to get you a gallery FULL of beautiful, candid images of your family that showcase their personalities and their love for each other. That takes more than 5 minutes.
Things Dads do wrong because they aren’t informed:
It’s not their fault. They are trying to help. But because they don’t know what to expect, or what the desired outcome is, they aren’t being as helpful as they could be. Here are some things they do because they don’t know better:
Telling the kids to “hurry up and behave and we will get this over faster.” (First, this is gonna be fun. We don’t want to behave as if it’s a chore. Also, we want to get lots of fun and candid images. This is not over after the first good photo.)
Telling the kids to “stop goofing off.” (Sometimes, I’m encouraging them to be goofy because it helps them relax and be real. Don’t worry, not all the images I give you will include that silly monster face.)
Staring at my camera the entire session with a clenched teeth smile that clearly says “my wife made me do this.”
What I want from Dads to make the Photo Session a Success:
Relax. Be silly. Play games. Have tickle fights. Spin the kids around in circles. Wrestle. Tell dad jokes. Kiss your wife. Hold hands. Throw the baby in the air (safely). Misbehave.
How you can help prepare dad for the photo session:
The biggest thing you can do before a session to make it successful is just to let dad know what to expect. Make sure he knows it will take about an hour, that we want lots of fun candid images, and that we aren’t trying to get studio-like posed portraits. Before each session, I send out an email on how parents can help make a portrait session successful. Share that with dad so he knows what to expect too. You can even show him the type of photos that you love from my family portfolio so he understands that not every photo needs to be of everyone smiling and looking at the camera. If dad is informed and knows what to expect, then he can help make the session fun and memorable, which is exactly what we want.
A perfect example:
I chose this session to talk about how to prep dads for family photos, because I think Brian has always done exactly what i wanted him to do at sessions. I’ve been photographing these two amazing kids since Grayson was in the womb and I shot a maternity session for their family. These kids embody everything I love about photographing young children, and I often have written about how easy it is to photograph them.
But one thing that makes it so easy to photograph them, is that their parents behave exactly the way I want parents to behave at a session. They don’t stress and let the session unfold naturally. They play and interact with the kids, and encourage silliness.
My case in point: Grayson’s pants were a little big around the waist and were sagging down. Brian made a joke that Grayson needed to keep his “booty in his pants.” That somehow evolved into a little silly song that Grayson and Alys both thought was hilarious. It kept him giggling for half the session.
Yes!! That’s the way it should be. That’s what I need from all my dads out there…less telling the kids to “behave” and more “keep your booty in your pants.”
There are sooooo many things that go into creating photos at a portrait session. Equipment is just a very small part of that. I always hesitate a little to share too much about what equipment I use, but beginning photographers can put too much stock into that, thinking if they go out and buy the right thing, that their photos will look like they want, which is not at all the case.
With that being said, what equipment a photographer uses, and in particular what kind of lenses, does really contribute to her overall style. So I thought I’d take a moment to tell you about my favorite lens.
There are two main types of lenses: zoom lenses and prime lenses. If you have a entry level DSLR, then the lens that came with it (which we often refer to as the “kit lens”) is probably a zoom lens.
Zoom lenses provide ease in mobility…you can zoom in and out from where you stand. Prime lenses do not zoom to move in and out – you have to move your feet. However, the benefit in using this type of lens is that a detailed and sharper image is produced. The focus is quicker with this type of lens and will allow more light in your camera.
Why I love my 85 mm 1.8
I absolutely love the creamy backgrounds I can get with this lens. It’s super sharp, fast, and the 85 mm focal length is perfect for flattering portraits.
Why it doesn’t stay on my lens all the time
If you’ve had a portrait session with me, you’ll notice that I switch lenses A LOT. That’s because I do generally only photograph with prime lenses. If I’m shooting with my 85 mm, and your toddler comes to close to me, then I’ll be photographing their nose hairs and not much else. I can’t zoom out with my lens, since it’s not a zoom lens. So I either have to back up, or switch lenses. Also, I want to give you a variety of images for your gallery so I don’t always use the same lens. For example, if I want a wide photograph that takes in the entire scene, I’ll switch to my 20 mm lens that will include a lot more of the background in the photo than my 85 mm would. Here is are two photos taken from relatively the same spot.
The first is with my 85 mm and the second is with my 20 mm. You can clearly see the difference. Notice how with the 20 mm, you can see a wide view of the town in the background that you can’t see with the 85mm. I also stepped a lot closer to Gabe to get the second shot with the 20 mm lens.
85 mm Lens20 mm Lens
A suggestion for new photographers:
My 85 mm is by far not the most expensive lens out there, but it isn’t the cheapest either, and not what I recommend (yet) for those trying to learn photographer. But I DO usually recommend that new photographers consider a prime lens. But instead of an 85 mm, i recommend the much less expensive, 50 mm (sometimes called a “nifty 50” or a 35 mm. Either of these will be a good overall lens that will perform way better in lower light than your kit lens. Are you into photography? What’s your favorite lens? If you are interested in learning more about photography, ask me about my photography workshop for moms.
Gabe’s Senior Portrait Session
One thing I love about shooting Senior Portrait sessions, is that I am able to use my favorite 85 mm lens a lot more than I can at a family session with little kids, because I have more control over my subjects, who generally stand where I tell them to (unlike an energetic two year old.) I also love that Senior Sessions allow me to play with creative backgrounds and framing more than I typically can with younger kids.
I have to brag a little on the guys I’ve photographed lately for Senior photos. They’ve done an amazing job, Gabe included. It’s no secret that the guys are normally having these photos done just because mama wants them, but that hasn’t stopped the guys I’ve photographed lately from doing a fabulous job. Their mama’s should be very happy & proud of their young men.
I welcome clients including their pets in family portrait sessions. After all, they are a part of the family too.
Robin & Miles wanted to include their dogs Harley & Cassie in their portrait session, and the Park at Harlinsdale Farms was the perfect spot for including pets. Robin is originally from Kentucky and wanted a location with a rustic feel, so Harlinsdale was perfect and a welcome spot to bring dogs.
One reason I love to include dogs in a session, is I think it helps the clients to feel more relaxed. It’s easier to capture candid moments when there are sweet doggies to play with during the session. Some clients worry that the dogs will be a distraction. I haven’t really found this to be an issue. Assuming the dogs are friendly, I am generally able to include photos both with and without the dogs. For this session, my 10-year-old “assistant” actually joined me at the shoot was able to help with the dogs when they were not being included in photos. If you would like to include your family dogs in a session, just let me know ahead of time and we can choose an appropriate place, and I can even bring my young assistant if you think that will be helpful.
Harley and Cassie were the sweetest dogs and I really enjoyed getting to know them and their lovely owners on this gorgeous day.
As I said in my blog post the other day, I have soooo many pictures of beautiful Alicia’s Quinceanera last week that I decided to split it into two blog posts. The first post focused on the formal pictures we did before her celebration at the lovely Homestead Manor. But today I want to share photos from the actual event itself, which was a beautiful celebration of this lovely young woman.
Alicia’s mom Nery did such an amazing job planning this special day for Alicia. It was so perfect down to every last detail. The event was held at the Hilton Garden Inn of Franklin / Cool Springs, TN. The hotel did a fabulous job with the event and no detail was overlooked.
The absolutely stunning cake was made by Pink Blossom Bakery. Isn’t’ it just gorgeous? It tasted as good as it looked.
As I stated in the first blog post, Alicia’s Makeup and hair was done by Kari Flournoy at Nashville Hair & Makeup. She looked stunning.
For entertainment, the DJ for the event was Osborne Studio & Sound, and the grand finale performance was by Sol Azteca Mariachi Band. I LOVED the band.. It was so much fun and all the kids really enjoyed it.
I cannot even tell you how much fun it was to photograph this event. Just being a fly on the wall able to observe these kids having so much fun just enjoying life was truly an honor. And my favorite part was the Mariachi Band at the end…they were absolutely fantastic!
One of my favorite things about my job as a family portrait photographer is getting to know families, especially when they come back for repeat sessions. I photographed this beautiful family around this time last year and just loved getting to know these three beautiful sisters, so I was so excited to see them again this year.
Last year I wrote: “They are totally my happy place. So much energy, and wonder and joy. They were just perfect.” I would say exactly the same thing about our session this year. Only one thing was different…
Last year for their session, I wrote about how important it is to tell me if one of your children is particularly shy before the session. That lets me know that I need to maybe approach that child a little differently and give her time to warm up to me.
But you know what’s great about being able to see client again and again? This time, the children remembered me, and they knew that the session wouldn’t be scary or boring. They came into it knowing we’d play and have fun. This makes it especially easier for kids who may be a little shy. Knowing me coming it to it, they feel more at ease and have an easier time getting into the session.
And I got the chance to see how much they’d grown over the year, and hear about their new interests and what brings them joy. (New Harry Potter fans are the BEST.)
This beautiful family was able to take a last minute opening that I had available, and I am so glad they did. We had so much fun running and playing in the leaves.
I thought I might take the opportunity to talk about exactly what it means to shoot lifestyle photography, which is what I consider most of my sessions. To understand lifestyle photography, it helps to understand a few other types of photography.
One type of photography is classic posed portraiture. These are what you think of when you think of a photographer telling you exactly where to stand, how to hold your chin, elbow, etc. While I believe there is a time and a place for specific posing, this is not the type of photography that inspires me. I do, however, try to capture at least a few of these shots throughout a session.
Another type of photography (one that does inspire me), is documentary photography. In documentary, the photographer doesn’t give guidance at all, but is merely a fly on the wall capturing what happens as it unfolds. I LOVE documentary. I love to capture real life moments and emotions. My birth sessions are documentary, as you can imagine. In that setting, I am dictating nothing, but just capturing the story that is happening in front of me.
The problem with using a PURE documentary approach for family sessions is that if I tried to be a fly on the wall and just capture what was happening, it’s likely, at least at first, that your family would stand around awkwardly, not sure what to do with themselves. Probably after enough time passed, they’d forget about me and start going about life, but unless something particularly engaging were happening it may take hours and hours to get a full gallery of images that showed a variety of things.
So that brings us to lifestyle photography. Lifestyle photography, for me anyway, is a balance between posed and documentary. My goal at lifestyle sessions is to capture images as I would at a documentary session, but to hurry things along a bit, and if possible, make them happen in pretty light. Instead of being a fly on the wall and waiting on your children to play, I’ll suggest they race (on the pretty bridge), play in the leaves, play ring around the roses, or play Simon Says with me. These are things they might do naturally, but probably not in the span of an hour long photo session unless I asked them to.
I want to capture real emotion, but instead of waiting on it to happen organically, I might whisper to your kids to go give you a big hug. I don’t believe that the fact that I asked for it, makes the emotions any less real. It’s a combination of posed and documentary because sometimes I tell you just what to do, sometimes I just suggest an activity and sit back and wait for a moment to happen, and sometimes I act like a documentary photographer and hang back and capture moments that I notice have happened organically without any interference from me.
This is the combination I find that works best for me at my family sessions, and I think it helps clients to feel more relaxed and natural as well. As my friend Emily said recently, “my favorites are the posed candids.”What exactly is Lifestyle Photography?This is the combination I find that works best for me at my family sessions, and I think it helps clients to feel more relaxed and natural as well. As my friend Emily said recently, “my favorites are the posed candids.”
I’ve photographed the birth of both of these beautiful babies, and documenting their growth through photographs is truly one of the greatest joys of my job. This is my favorite session so far, probably because this age is my absolute favorite. For both of them, the world is still so new and interesting and every tiny thing is a wonderful discovery. I will never ever get tired of photographing toddlers.
Every now and then, there is a photo that stops me in my tracks as I am editing, and the one below of sweet Charlotte running towards her family did that for me in this set. Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as that overwhelming and enthusiastic love a toddler has for her parents?
I recently received a really random text from an acquaintance. She said she new it was an odd question, but wanted to know if there was any chance that I had any sparklers…well past July when they were available at stores and fireworks stands. She needed them for a birthday party she was helping to plan.
I told her that of course I had sparklers. I keep them in my trunk. How many do you need?!?
The sparklers had recently come in handy another time too…I was at the birthday party of one of my closest friends four year old, and they had forgotten candles for the cake. I ran to my trunk and brought her sparklers and we lit those as we sang “Happy Birthday” to the guest of honor. In some ways, it was more fun than candles and maybe that will be a thing from now on.
The sparklers led me to think about the other random things I carry in my trunk, so I thought I would list them for you in case you were curious. So here it is – a list of things actually in my trunk this very moment.
Sparklers
6 quilts in various colors
A bubble machine
Bubble Juice
An extra camera bag with camera (not my main camera…I carry that inside)
A lightstand
Some bottles of water
A lighter
Some smoke bombs
Three clear umbrellas
Sophie the Giraffe
Yummy Earth Suckers
Organic Bug Spray
For Real Bug Spray
A Tide Stain Remover Pen
Wet Ones Wipes
Rain Ponchos
Sun Screen
Sometimes, I don’t use anything in my trunk, but I like knowing it’s there if I do need it. For this session, I pulled out the umbrella, though we didn’t need it thankfully as the rain stopped just before we started, and lots and lots of bug spray. I also stuck a poncho in my bag just in case I had to protect my camera from the rain. And of course, the suckers came out after the session.
What about you? What do you have in your trunk? Is there anything in mine that you are surprised about? Anything you think I’m missing?
I feel like I was super lucky at yesterday’s marathon sessions. I had three sessions scheduled with a 15 minute break between each session. Between my first and second session, it rained fairly hard. But then stopped in time for my second session. It caused some humidity and so vengeful mosquitoes, but we made it through. I warned this family ahead of time that I was going to struggle with their names. These girls are Kaylie and Morgan. My own girls are Megan and Kayla. The similarities helped me to remember their names, but I did, as I knew I would keep mixing them up because Megan is my oldest, but for these two sisters, Morgan is the younger sister.
I finally managed to retrain my brain by the end of the session, and I hope they forgave me. What a fun family to work with! I so enjoyed getting to know these girls and their parents. They were so fun to work with and naturals in front of the camera. We had a fantastic time. Before a session, I have a survey that asks clients what their most important shots are. That helps me to balance the priorities of the session, but I always have in my head a list of shots I want to be able to include in a clients gallery. These girls made it easy to capture those shots.
A family shot with everyone looking at the camera. (Not my favorite, but I feel like I need to include it.)
A candid family shot, that shows emotion. (My favorite)
Individual close-ups of each of your children.
Full body & candids of each of your children.
A more posed sibling shot, if possible. (May be difficult if they are super young.)
Mom & Dad together. (It’s important to capture where the family began.)
Details (feet, hair, lovey, hands, etc)
Mom with the kids
Dad with the kids
Fun, create shots of everyone having fun.
Did I miss anything? What would be on your shot list?
Lisa said something in her questionnaire when she booked me that really struck a cord with me.
“I have almost no pictures of myself with my children that aren’t selfies since I am always the one behind the camera. That’s usually how it works though, right?”
Yes, that is how it usually works, and it sucks. I’m so glad that we were able to get Lisa on the other side of the camera with her beautiful family. It’s hard, and as moms we have SOOOO many reasons why we don’t have enough photos of ourselves, but it is so important to our children that we get in the pictures too. In the years to come, the photos we give to our children are such a gift, but they don’t just want to see photos of themselves…they want to see mom (and dad!) in the pictures too.
I just love taking photos of mothers with their babies, and this session was no exception. This group was such a joy to capture and made my job so easy.
And can we just talk about the clothing choices for a minute? I love the color tones so much. The burgundy and the blues against the backdrop of the green trees was just perfection.
So moms, what’s keeping you from getting in front of the camera?
I first fell in love with photography when my youngest was a baby. That’s when I got my first DSLR. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to capture those precious moments with my girls when they were so little.
With my oldest, we had routinely taken her to Sears portrait studio, because that’s what I thought you were supposed to do….I didn’t know any better. Every few months, I would take her there, and they would prop her up on a table with some cheesy backdrops, maybe throw her in a fake bathtub, or lay her buck naked on a mirror with some fake flowers around her and take her picture. The photos were beautiful, because they were of my beautiful baby girl, but something was lacking.
Then, once she passed that baby stage and became a toddler, it just no longer worked at all. They would expect her to stand on an “X” on the ground and look them and say cheese. Well, I just haven’t met many toddlers who will do that.
Then when my youngest was born, a friend from work recommended a “real” photographer named Lauren Gill. I just loved the photos my friend had, so I hired her. The cost was quite a bit more than the Sears portrait studio, but as soon as I saw the results, I fell in love. The photos captured so much more than those fake posed photos we had gotten before. She captured all those little things about the girls that I wanted to remember…Kayla’s adorable giggles, or the way Megan did (and still does) twirl her hair…all those funny little expressions or gestures that you want to remember always.
I wanted to learn to do that too. So I bought a camera and slowly learned as much as I could. I took photos everywhere…at playdates, birthday parties, and every day moments at home. Those early photos are SOOOO bad, but I am so thankful for them, as they are moments in time frozen.
That was about 10 years ago, but that’s the time that I feel taken back too each time a photograph a family with a baby. I want so badly to create something special for those parents, because I know that it all goes by so quickly. I want to capture those silly expressions, that fascination with the world around them, and the pure joy at just being.
This sweet girl made that job so easy and I absolutely fell in love with her (and her sweet parents) during our shoot. How blessed am I to have a job where I can do what I love while meeting wonderful new people.
What an absolutely gorgeous day it was for this family portrait session at Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin. We had the best time exploring the farm and goofing off. These boys were just too much fun and I just adore all their expressions and interactions.
Summer is almost over and I’m booking Fall sessions now! These will fill up fast, so don’t wait to book your spot!
Please note that there are currently two different options for choosing a date on my calendar. One is for August sessions and for Fall weekday session where you may choose the location for your session.
The other choice is my Fall weekend session calendar. In order to get in as many clients as I can for the busy season, I will be choosing the session locations for these dates so that I may book clients back to back at the same location. On the calendar, you will see the tentative locations for these dates. However, it is possible these may change depending on how the locations look once Fall comes.
“And suddenly you know… It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”
I’m a pretty strong extrovert. This may or may not be obvious, depending on the circumstances of how you meet me, but I definitely prefer being around people and am not huge on quiet time. But for some reason, the exception to that is that I do enjoy the time before my sessions. I always show up to a location for a shoot pretty early. I’ve sometimes said that I do that to scope out the place, but that’s not completely accurate because I still show up early when it’s a location that I know like the back of my hand.
Even if I’m very familiar, I still like to walk around and look at the light..light is always changing. And since I consider light to be the most important element to my “backgrounds” it’s important to take a look. I’m a light chaser, always looking for interesting things the sun is doing. So a lot of the time on my walks around a location, I’m looking at the light.
But also, I’m thinking about my session…who am I about to photograph? What part of him or her or them do I want to capture? What is important about this time period that the client wants to remember? For my family sessions, my goal is to capture interactions and emotion between family members. With senior sessions, that’s different because there is typically only one person. So the interaction is between me and my camera, and the subject. Hannah made that so easy because she was such a joy to talk to and get to know. She’s graduating next week from Independence High School, and even though this is the first time we met, I feel so proud of her and happy for her to begin this next stage in her life. Her parents can be very proud to have raised such a lovely young woman.
So I guess that I enjoy this quiet time before the session because I don’t feel quite alone…I feel that it’s the first step in getting to know my client…imagining where they’ve been, where they are going and what these photos might mean to them. I hope that these photos mark the beginning of a wonderful adventure for Hannah, wherever she may go. Congrats to Hannah and to the entire class of 2018.
I just love photographing this family so much. They are friends, but also one of my oldest clients. I am always excited to photograph them. When I think about my perfect clients, this is one of the families on my list.
When I first started photographing people professionally, I thought that I was supposed to accept every client who inquired about a session. I’ve come to learn over the past few years that not everyone who comes to me about a session is a good fit, and that is perfectly OK. Part of my job is to help people to decide whether or not I’m the right choice for them. I’ve realized that people don’t always know how to go about finding the right photographer for them.
Often, people find a photographer in one of two ways: Google, or a friend’s referral. Both of these are great resources, but they should really only be step one. You should also look through the website of the photographer you are considering and evaluate whether or not they are a really a good fit for you based upon a few things:
Specialization:
You generally want a photographer who specializes in the type of photography you are looking for. Now, there is definitely some crossover here. I consider myself a children & family photographer, but for me that also includes seniors, and newborns. Toddlers are my passion, but I enjoy all types of families.
But you would be surprised at the number of inquiries I get about wedding photography (also applies: head shots). I always wonder where these come from…. my website is full of pictures of young children and families. Could I do a better job than your Uncle Bob who just bought his first fancy camera? I should hope so. But do you know who would do the best job? A wedding photographer. Think of it this way….would you go to an OBGYN for a problem with your broken foot? I mean, she went to medical school and probably knows some, but it’s not really her thing.
Style:
This is probably the most important thing, in my opinion.
There are a couple different things I mean when I talk about style, and there are many, many things that go into making up a photographer’s style, from shooting to editing.
Do you prefer perfectly posed photos or more candid, natural images? Studio or outdoors? Natural light or studio lighting / flash? Do you expect your photographer to give you lots of specific posing direction? How do you want the images to make you feel?
Editing is another aspect of style… do you like light and airy photos, or dark and moody? What color tones draw you? Each individual photographer has a very specific style. You don’t really need to understand this, you just need to know it exists and decide whether you like the look of that photographer. (And don’t ask them to do something else….It’s like asking Monet to paint like Picasso.)
Consistency:
This is kind of related to style, but basically, just make sure that you are seeing enough consistency in what you see on a photographer’s website so that you know what to expect from your photos. Every session is unique and different, but you also just want to see enough consistency in style to know what to expect.
Price:
Yes, I put this last on purpose. I understand that budget is important, and is definitely a consideration. However, I just want to say that good photography takes a lot of time (a lot more than just what you see when you are in front of the camera), and education and money (equipment, taxes, insurance, website fees, etc). So when you hire someone out there charging $50 for a session, just know that that person is working for WAAYYYY less than minimum wage. But of course, there is a wide range of pricing for photography in general, so just start with understanding what that includes, and what you are getting for your money.
So that may all seem like a lot of work to choose a photographer, but it really comes down to one thing: does the photographer’s work embody what you want from your photos, or are you expecting something completely different? If you are wanting something completely different, then you need to find a different artist.
