{Newborn Photos} Baby Tenley

    Tenley’s first time in front of the lens was also the first time that we were able to bring our “mobile studio” out and about.  We were able to take all of these shots right in her home where she was safe and comfortable and her parents didn’t have to worry about what they did or didn’t bring with them to our studio.  As far as gear goes, we have to take twice as much stuff with us to a newborn shoot than we take to a wedding!  Tenley was an absolute gem to work with and is definitely going to steal some hearts when she gets older!  Take a look and show her some love down below in the comment section!

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

  

You want me to FAKE my portfolio? - A lesson from my Photo 227 class.

So, if you've read my previous blog posts, you know that I switched my college major this past semester and am now using my GI Bill to pursue an official education in photography.  One of my classes is a black and white film photography class which I do actually enjoy and will showcase my work from that class in the a future blog, but the class I want to speak to you about today is a required class for my degree called Photographic Careers.  It's basically a 16 week job fair of speakers from different careers from photo editor to forensics photographer.  The final project for this class is to put together a portfolio of 20 or less images showcasing our own work.  This portfolio will be submitted to the professor for a grade and to one of the speakers from the semester for a more refined review of your actual work. 

Last night's class was an opportunity for some students to share their portfolios with the class and get some feedback.  The guy who sits next to me and typically keeps me sane throughout the semester suggested I put mine up and the professor who earlier showed interest in my work agreed.  I was NOT ready for the response that I received from the class as well as the professor.

As the slide show progressed the class remained silent, but when it was over it seemed like the majority of the women in my class liked my work, but it seemed like most of the men absolutely HATED it.  The professor who was a documentary photographer back in the 70's hated any picture that showed any sign of photoshop regardless of whether or not it was done well.  She also said that my subjects weren't thin or attractive enough and that if I was going to have a successful portfolio I should think about hiring models to take shots to show my future clients that I can make them look attractive.  Really?!  You want me to FAKE my portfolio.  Every bride I have shot has been beautiful!  Are they size 2, 6'2" models?  No, but they are REAL people!  And these shots are THEIR memories.  My wife and I don't just set up perfect pictures on a set somewhere and then photoshop in the details.  We capture memories.  Our clients memories and the experience involved with having your photos done.

One of my favorite photos we've shot was one where their reception was held at a semi-professional baseball game with fireworks at the end.  When the game ended I set up my tripod and got a few shots of the bride and groom kissing with a beautiful firework burst behind them.  When I showed this picture to the bride right off the LCD on the back of my camera (which I don't normally do) she cried and hugged me and I cried because it was such a meaningful memory for them that I captured for them.  When this picture came across my slide show in class, one student piped up and said, they're too blurry you should have taken this photo in front of black background and just photoshopped the fireworks in, it would be easier and much sharper.  REALLY?!  Now not ONLY am I supposed to fake my portfolio, now you want me to fake my clients ACTUAL wedding shots?  I'm stunned, I can't believe I'm hearing this!  I didn't just create this scene... it ACTUALLY happened without my coaching it along or setting it up and I captured it as best as anyone could and the picture was beautiful and brought tears to the bride's eyes.  What more could I ask for?

 

At this point I was done hearing from the wannabe editorial and fine art photographers.  I stopped my critique and went back to my seat and tried to pull some kind of constructiveness from what I had heard.  And what came to mind was something I read in Tim Gunn's new book Gunn's Golden Rules.  He said "Chacun à gôut; that is, it's a matter of taste."  If you haven't picked up this book it's a wonderful inspiration for the budding creative person whether in photography, fashion, or whatever art you are involved in.  Even if you aren't there's plenty of good life lessons in it. 

All in all I know that I am not a photography expert nor do I pretend to be.  I have a lot to learn.  Brandy and I are both still trying to find our definitive style and find what appeals most to our clients.  Do they like a lot of photoshop or little photoshop?  Do they like traditional posed shots or the candid shots?  Color or black and white?  So many things that come from experience with a wide variety of clients.  But I won't take my professors advice and shoot weddings for less or for free if the couple is more attractive because of the commercial possibilities of the photos.  I can not believe the disrespect for me, my wife, our business, or our clients that I received from this class, but I am grateful everyday for our clients and our fans.  We love you!

Lil' Jason

     So when we moved into the house Brandy and I live in, we seemed to be right on "young couple row".  Walking around the rest of the neighborhood or at least our area of it, I'm glad we're at where we're at.  One of the first couples we met was MJ and Jason who invited us over for a Christmas Party they were having.  And if you're from the DC area you know how hard it is to meet nice people let alone be invited over to their house, so of course we were more than happy to come over and play some games (which ended up being a hellacious game of Monopoly if my memory serves me right).  Either way, MJ was pregnant at the time with their first son.  I had no idea a few months later I'd be doing his baby pictures.  When Brandy and I finally decided to start this business and MJ had Lil' Jason we'd considered asking if she wanted baby pictures but didn't want her to feel pressured to do so since we were neighbors.  When I was doing the "brick shoot" with Brandy and Torri, I ran into her while I had my camera, she was apparently unaware until then that I did photography and she mentioned she needed to take Lil' Jason into Sears to get photos done.... SEARS?!?  No, no, no.... we're neighbors.  I'll do his photos if you would like, no charge just save him the badly painted backgrounds and silly plastic props. 
     So here we are doing his photos.  We wanted to take him outside and take some shots in the yard, but unfortunately right as Brandy and I made our way over it started POURING and that put a stop to our outing to the playground.  Eventually we'll get back together with the whole family and their beautiful Black Lab mix Dyna and take some family shots, but until then it's all about Lil' Jason and Momma.  When we arrived he was actually asleep so what a better way to take some shots and make sure my lighting and settings were good for indoor rather than outdoor.  We tried to lay him in a basket to get a couple more sleeping photos but not very long after MJ put him down he woke up and the fun began.  He cried for a bit but sucking on MJ's finger quieted him down and after I took two or three shots he was suddenly mesmorized by the camera flash.  Even if I couldn't get him to look at the camera if I snapped the shutter once, the second photo would be perfect because he would instantly turn his attention to the flash.  We changed outfits a few times and took him to his crib where his blanket and his teddy bear were and he just smiled and laughed and drooled and all the cute stuff babies do.  The only thing he didn't really enjoy was when we tried to take some shots of him on his belly.  He isn't quite crawling yet so he was getting a little frustrated trying to get himself up, but other than that, he was a natural!
     Some of our favorites were in this little fold-out tub he has.  As soon as MJ got it filled up and sat him down in the water he kind of lounged back into it and put his arms up like a pro athlete in the locker room hot tub.  Quite the site and the first photo that I decided to edit because it was just too cute.  Many years down the road I'm sure MJ will be showing these little naked tub pictures to a girlfriend of his for the sole purpose of embarassement just like all moms do.... no?  Was that just my mom? *sigh*
     There weren't any new techniques I learned in this shoot.  Just some burning and dodging.  Baby's look great in black and white but I tried to keep enough color ones I liked to make sure the shoot didn't end up being too bland and boring.  Color spotting is a great way of adding color to a black and white photograph, but you have to be careful of what you're colorspotting.  Make sure it's something that either frames or compliments the subject.  If you color spot just the subject themselves, you tend to lose the background and it looks like they're just stuck on the photo instead of being a cohesive part of it.  If you have a girl in a dress standing in a background... instead of colorspotting the girl, try color spotting JUST her dress.  This is also a good way of changing focus to another subject... Take the same picture of a girl standing in the background and in the foreground there's a flower on the ground.  Your eye wants to go to the girl, but if you change it to black and white but color spot the flower your focus is change to the flower but doesn't LOSE sight of the girl like if you were to soft focus around the flower.  Just some thoughts.