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Photographing in the Snow...

The snow... It is kind of a "Love-Hate" relationship. It always brings back the lovely day of photographing a wedding in a blizzard, 17 degrees, the bride wearing sandals, and the father saying, "Who chose this date"! The snow is also very beautiful, but when taking family photos the best advice I can tell you is purchase some hand warmers, give them to your customers, they are great in their back pockets for keeping buns warm and for younger kids in their pockets to keep their hands warm. Once they get cold, your pretty much done. They are also great for keeping noses from going red. Put some in your pockets to keep your hands from "stiffening" up (whether that is a real word or not...).

Ask the family to relax their shoulders. That is one thing that makes them look cold. Really sensitive eyes...some people eyes water (like mine) and they squint excessively. Have them shield their eyes and you may have to count for them so they can relax their eyes right when you are going to take them. That is the hardest thing for me to work with.

Make sure it is fresh, fallen snow. Nothing is worse than "old" blotchy snow. The best is the day after a good snow storm. The day is usually a little bit warmer. Ask the family to walk around the area that you are taking them in, so right in front of them isn't all trampled down with foot prints.

Oh, so bright sunny day...

I don't think I remember a more sunnier day and of course, I had issues with my flash and I forgot my reflector. I even had an assistant, Tracee, who is taking such wonderful photos herself, who could have held my reflector. What to do? Most of the photos were candid, shot from the hip, I am not kidding. (I was just checking my "not working" flash and shot without looking; this is the photo on the left), or take some looking at eachother and doing the spin thing. One bonus...a beautiful dark blue sky! I did use the "soft light" located in the layers palette for some contrast and some different angles to help with the composition. This couple was beautiful and many happy days for them to come.

Cool, Crisp, Beautiful....

I don't usually shoot into the sun, but on this particular photo I didn't have much of a choice. It didn't matter where I stood the sun was directly in my lens. I went ahead and shot using the sun and sun spots and the result was fabulous. I have to give the credit to the sun and the couple. It was a bit chilly, but well worth it.

Oh, my favoirite part! This photo really allows for some fun filters to use. I love using some higher contrast when the photo allows for it. Here we go... Once your photo is up, create a new layer; then go over to the layers palette on the right side. Under the layers tab there is a "thing" (lost for words right at the moment...) that says "normal", click on the arrows and a new menu will appear. Scroll half way down and you will see "soft light". You will then need to flatten the layer if you like what you see. Once in a while the skin will go quite red, so I will use the "hue and saturation" on red and take some of that out. I also used an action called "Swift Skin". I don't necessarily use it for skin. I love what it does to the whites in a photo. It has a real soft "airy" feel. Anyway, I used the "low" action on this photo. As I look at the info on the disk, I can't see a web site specifically for the "swift skin". His site, Jim Chamberlain is www.chamberlainphoto.com and maybe he has something on the website. It was a good class, just like any other class, I always come away with something useful.

Baby Sister

These are the photos taken a couple of years ago when Lexi was just a few weeks old. The most recent photos were posted a couple of days ago. These were taken on my living room floor again with window light. I just put them both on the floor on top of a sheep skin rug and shot above them. The rugs are great for babies. It keeps them warm and they tend to sleep really well on them. I found small rugs up to IKEA in Salt Lake (my favorite new, organized, clean place to spend a few hours, to shop...and eat the cookies filled with jam, hang-out) They are around 20.00 and perfect for a newborn. Go through them and find one a little bit more round"ish".

One of the photos is obviously more sepia than the other one. I always add about "5" of red and "3" of yellow to my black and whites to get rid of the digital bluish tone. "Sepia", around 15 and 12 on the red and yellow. To give it a bit of glow, I go to filter, down to distort and over to Diffuse Glow. It will then open to another window. Graininess- mess with that and see what you like, but Glow Amount at 1 or 2. and Clear amount 15. This all depends on the photo, just be careful not to blow it way out, then it will really look funny.

Baby B

This beautiful baby boy was so simple to photograph, mostly because he slept the entire session. His mother tried and tried to get him to wake up and no such luck. But while they are asleep, this is the best time to do any hand and feet detail photos.

Again, just very simple in a natural lit window. My window faces west, so I only have the morning light until around 2p.m. I keep my Fstop at 2.8 because we are just in my living room and this helps in blurring out anything you may see in the background. You don't need a fancy studio to take good photos. Just a good eye for beautiful soft light. Allow plenty of time to take infant photos. I always plan for at least 90 minutes. I use the mother to cradle the infant. I believe it looks a little bit more natural than trying to "prop" them up against something. If your just starting, don't have them bring any clothing. It is just distracting. Start simple and just focus on the baby and the available light and making beautiful photos.

Keep your room warm and the house quiet while photographing an infant. Keep them bundled and held snug to avoid the "julting" that may startle the baby.

If the baby starts to stir, try rubbing the baby right between the eyes and small circular motion and they usually fall right back asleep. Just be patient. It's worth it.

Keeley and Lexi

I have photographed Keeley and Lexi for several years. Beautiful girls. It's pretty obvious that Keeley loves the camera, and Lexi, well, she's two. It was a quick shoot to get this Christmas Card for her mom. You don't have to stick to the famous "red and green" theme. Mix it up!! The brushes of the swirls are from twopeasinabucket are some of my favorites to use. The designer's name is Rhonda. Just play with them. They are a bit tricky to use, but give it a minute, they really are fun.

This was window light in my customers living room, using the white foam boards on the bottom, back and one on the side. I have used them for reflectors before but not as backgrounds. I got this from Nicole Hills photo class, great tip. It beats trying to straighten up white fabric during the photo shoot. They are only really good for one or two small children and really are okay when they get dinged up. You won't notice the dings, especially if you use a low F stop. Fun shoot. Thanks, Raylene for sharing your beautiful girls with me year after year.

Tomorrow, I am going to post Lexi's newborn photos. I had photographed them almost two years ago, but they were some of my favorites. I thought I would share to show you some different ways of putting them with an older sibling. I also used some filters that might get you to try some new things with your photographs.

Peter Meyer Concert

If you want to be a part of a wonderful concert, come to this concert in December. A crazy friend of mine went on line and has booked Peter Meyer's Band for the 3rd time!!!!! It is some of the best music and entertainment I have heard. I have now bought almost all of his CD's and my husband and I have the opportunity in catering dinner for his band every time they have come. If you are not familiar with Peter Meyer, he is Jimmy Buffets main guitar player and has written several of his songs. The instrumentals are soooo great. Can I say more? If you are interested...The dates are December 4th and 5th in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. For more information: Cynthia McKee- chmckee@gmail.com, cell 427-3216, $15.00 each. It makes a great gift and it so worth it!!! Tell anyone you think of that might like to come!

Wedding Album

I will add some more designs for some albums, but for now here is one of the most recent albums from a wedding I photographed in September of John and Maegan. My daughter, Rachel designs my albums now which helps me so much. She does a great job and is now doing them for other people! I will add her blog in a few days once she has it up and running!

Dana's Bridal

Fun shoot last night! Dana is obviously a beautiful person who has a sweet spirit about her. The evening was calm and quiet other than the whistles coming from the passing cars. Well deserved!

Photo Assignment

These photos were part of an assignment for natural and open shade lighting. I LOVE gourds, especially when all of the natural elements are still in tact. This gave me some ideas for some posters I would love to design. Take advantage of any classes offered, even if you have shot for years. I ALWAYS get several smaller ideas that may help tremendously in shooting. Thanks, Nicole! Great class. Also, to everyone in the class that I also learned from, thanks for sharing!

Album Styles

"CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE!"

Pricing for Enlargements

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Pricing for Weddings

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Ideas for baby photos

I had an idea in mind and it turned out different than what I was going for, but it sure was fun. Sela loved the quacking duck we used to keep her attention. Along with watching Gus, our dog and the duck, she laughed and laughed. Cute outfits, a beautiful day and laughter, what else could I ask for.




Can't choose between one or two photos...Create a collage! This is a great way to be creative in cropping and show off your child. These were created in Photoshop. I keep the templets and change out the names and photos. Really quick if you plan on doing several.





We made a Father's Day card with a few of the photos we took of Sela. (Mind you it was just a few days before Father's Day and my daughter gives me a call..."Mom...can we do this for Dad and the Grandpa's?") She was great fun.

Babies

Time, time....I will be adding some more photos to this section, maybe by tomorrow!


Babies and their back ends. Nothing sweeter, especially when they are your daughters and granddaughters!
Great patterns are fine when photographing against bare skin. If the baby has patterned clothing (I prefer their birthday suit!) make sure mom wears something really simple to not take away from the baby.





"Sela" five months

Engagements

Keep your engagements simple! Your clothing solid in color, sleeves that least 2/3 in length is more flattering, patterns to a minimum, and try to avoid logos, images, and writing. It is really distracting. If one wants to wear a print, make sure the other is in a solid shirt. Bring a couple of jackets for variety. Girls, wear tanks under your shirts. It makes an easy, quick change without having to do it in the back seat of the car and faster for the photographer. Remember you are the focus! Have fun, relax and don't look at the camera all of the time. Some of the best shots are the unexpected.

Wedding Announcements

Wedding announcements can be done in several different sizes. Just keep in mind the cost of sending them. A square invitation, like my daughter, Rachel's was almost double the cost in mailing. Yicks! That adds up! The 4x9's are least expensive. The best place to get envelopes are at XPEDX in Salt Lake City, Utah or in Orem, Utah. They have a great variety and almost any size. Good Luck!

Hey, if you have images on a disk and need an invitation designed, email me and I can get that done for you.

Commercial

This was the first year that I had the opportunity to photograph for a contractor in our area for the Parade of Homes. Not only a free ticket into several homes, but I got to take my time and got some pretty fun shots without waiting for someone to comb their hair or a two year old running from their parents, not wanting to sit for more than two clicks of the camera. Fun project.