Family Pictures at Varner Hogg Plantation

Between family illnesses and end of school parties, I've gotten a little behind with my blogging. I photographed this family a week ago Saturday. These guys are friends from church and she is a local photographer. It's kind of hard for a photographer to get family pictures with herself (or himself) in them. Colton, the little guy, was very happy and cooperative most of the time. In the b&w where he looks pouty, it is all an act. I told him I wanted him to look mad. Pretty good little actor for an almost five year old.

Anyway, here are a few from last Saturday.

Samuel

Here's a cutie from the family shoot at the beach.  I love his two little teeth and his "take a hike" shirt.  So cute.

Family pictures at the Beach

I met a family at Surfside yesterday evening for some pictures. It was a pretty large group so I'm posting a lot of pictures. Usually I just pick a few favorites. These are all my favorites and the last one is my favorite favorite. Those two jumping sisters were hilarious! You guys have a beautiful family!

I may end up having a few more favorites of these guys in a few days. Don't be surprised if you see more from this shoot.

Our little dude

Occasionally parents like to "warn" me about their child or children. They want me to be prepared for a potential hard headed or uncooperative child. And I usually think "you got nothing on me, honey." I've yet to encounter a child that's more difficult to photograph than my own son. He runs away, covers his face, falls down, sticks out his tongue....etc. Here are a few of our 16 month old, Mikey. And look, he's actually smiling in the last one. Who knew?!

Little Miss Kirsyn

Here are a few more of Kirsyn from the Mother's Day gift shoot. She wasn't really interested in actually looking at me. But she didn't really run away from me either so I guess that's good. Little ones this age are so good at just pretending you're not there. She is such a cutie. Look at the little curl on her forehead.

Color POP!

Sometimes you might want a photograph that's just a little different.  Something that will make people stop and say, "Oh, that's cool!"  The two pictures below feature what's called a color pop. Most of the picture is black and white except for one color or item that is in color.  If you are interested in having a color pop done on any of your photographs, just let me know.  

There's a minimal color pop fee for my time.  

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

These lovely ladies decided to treat themselves to some pictures for Mother's Day. I can't think of a better gift! Here are a few from their shoot. I love the pictures of the little 3 year old, Aaralyn. In the first picture, the b&w, she wasn't into the whole picture taking thing. But in the second one, she had just been bribed with some gum. What a difference! Now I know that I need to keep gum and/or candy on me at all times when I'm photographing children.

So Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you mommies out there. Isn't being a mom like the coolest thing ever? I think so.

Retouching

I wanted to take a few minutes and post a retouching before and after. This is my pal, Kace. Kace started getting a little restless during our shoot and needed to stop for a cookie break. And since he's two, he's not the cleanest cookie eater on the planet.



Once he was done we continued to take a few more pictures before cleaning his face. The before is pretty much straight from my camera with only minor level adjustments. Aside from the obvious brightening of the photograph and saturation boosting, there are a few other things going on here. You can see from the first picture that there is some cookie slime below his mouth and also an unpleasant shadow. You can also see a couple of little red dots, probably old mosquito bites on his face. In the after his mouth is cleaned up and the dots are gone. I also sharpened and brightened his eyes a little.

This is an example of some standard retouching that I do to every photograph. I clean up skin blemishes, reduce lines and wrinkles, smooth skin, whiten teeth, and brighten eyes for all client photos. I do it all in a natural way so you still look like you just maybe a little fresher. I've even cleaned up some yucky toddler noses....just think of it as digital kleenex. All of my digital editing is done with Adobe Photoshop CS3.

So if you're planning on doing senior pictures and you've got a nasty zit that you just can't get rid of, don't give it another thought. It won't be there in your pictures.

Upcoming changes in June

Please take note that as of June 2008 I will no longer be including 4X6 proofs with the $65 session fee. Each client will have 30 day access to a private online gallery with color and b&w proofs from their session. A proof book of 4X6 color only prints can be purchased for an additional $25.

I know this may come as a disappointment to some people. But I have discovered that it's very difficult for families to order their pictures when they're trying to pass around one book for everyone to take a look at. With online viewing Grandma in Oklahoma can decide what pictures she wants before the family reunion 3 months from now. Make sense?

So the question might be, "Why not lower your session fee since you're not including proofs?" Good question my astute fellow learner. The reason for that is because there is time involved on my part and on the part of my webmaster (aka husband) to get the online gallery ready for client viewing.

So if you really want a color and b&w proof book (30-40 prints) included with your fee, you'll need to get on my calendar for May. No pressure, right?

Also, very soon I will have the ability to accept online payments for session fees and print costs. Ordering will still be done through me instead of an outside source so I can offer discounts for package purchases.

Angela - Senior 2008

Here are a few pictures from Angela's senior shoot. This young lady has such beautiful features. Her eyes are just amazing!