Maryland Newborn and Family Photographer

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas| Christmas Tree Farm Photography; Germantown, MD

Friday, December 23, 2016

You all remember Kai’s amazing cake smash session right? I actually loved that one stunning black and white shot so much that I put it up in my studio. So, when Brittany (her amazing Mama) e-mailed me about wanting a Christmas session with her and Kai I was like “UH YEAH. Let’s do this.” And, GUYS, It was even more magical than I could have imagined. What a wonderful LAST session of 2016! I hope it gives you all the Christmas feels. Enjoy!

May you all have a safe and happy holiday!!

All Is Calm, All Is Bright- How To Capture Your Christmas Tree

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Happy Winter Solstice! In honor of the day with the least amount of day light, I thought I would offer up some tips on how to take great pictures of your christmas tree with a DSLR. (I also posted an “iphoneography” version on instagram!)

But first! A quick fun story about our tree. So growing up, my mom and I made really pretty, themed trees. Always white lights and all coordinating ornaments. My favorite was when we did a purple and silver theme (but back then those were my favorite colors.) When Matt was little, his family’s tree was all colored lights and meaningful ornaments they made at school or got from friends or family. So when it came time to decide on a tree for our house, we had very different ideas. We ended up doing a perfect compromise (as it should be!) going with white lights and meaningful ornaments. Every year, we try to get an ornament from something fun we did that year. So our tree is full of memories of our life together. (The santa hat topper was kind of an accident one year as a holding spot for a star, but we ended up loving it and we do the santa hat topper every year now. LOL!)

Let It Shine!

Wait until it’s dark and turn out all of the other lights in the room so your camera only tries to soak up the light from the tree! That also means NO FLASH. Don’t even think about it! This is also a good time to tidy up the space around your tree (maybe take down any big pictures on your wall of flowers or a beach or anything else non-seasonal) UNLESS. It’s gift wrapped. Because I like to do that to pictures in my house this time of year.

Set Up Your Settings

You’ll want your ISO nice and high so your camera is extra sensitive to light, mine was at 6400 (don’t be too afraid of grain, but if you want less grain, 800 is ok too, just try not to have it up above 400!) Get your aperture nice and wide open to get all of that light in the lens. I like going as low as possible, but then depending on how far away you are, you might not get a lot in focus. Mine was at 1.4. Finally, set up the shutter speed to get you in the middle (or slightly above) the exposure meter. If your SS is lower than 100, consider resting your arm/camera on something sturdy or using a tripod to avoid camera shake (unless you want to try to spell out something with the lights… but that would look bananas with a whole tree.) Mine was set to 1/200, but I still used a shelf to steady me just to be sure.

Get Yummy Bokeh

Those lovely light orbs in the background comes from being close to your subject (the present or kid or whatever!) and having the tree in the background, at least 3-4 feet behind the subject. Keep your aperture wide open and focus on the subject!

Silhouettes

This works kind of the opposite from getting bokeh, so instead of focusing on your subject, focus on and expose for your tree to be bright and in focus, and your subject will be darker.

Have Some Fun!

I cut out a tiny heart, about a centimeter wide or so, from a black circle of paper and taped it to my lens to get my bokeh heart shaped! You can do this with a ton of shapes. I did stars too!

Let your light shine and have a very happy and safe holiday season everyone!!

A Fan o’ Anna! | Baby Portrait Photography; Germantown, MD

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

After a ton of family sessions over the fall months, it’s so refreshing to get back into studio sessions when the weather turns cold. I get to sit in my warm studio filled with tons of winter light and I still get to capture amazing little moments. Mom and I planned out a few different outfits for Anna to model for us and we basically just hung out and laughed together watching Anna stare at us and joking that she needed a pantsuit because she was being all business. LOL! No matter what though, Anna is such a little beauty (and we actually got a ton of smiles, but it didn’t feel like it for a stretch there.) Six month sitter sessions are some of my FAVES.

I love sneaking in family moments in 6 month sessions while they’re still tiny and squishy.

And you guys KNOW I saw this quilt, immediately instagramed it and had to get it in a shot with Anna.

Anna’s grandma got her this beautiful Japanese outfit in honor of her heritage! I LOVE IT.

And since it’s December, some Christmas fun!!

I had such a fun time with this family, I can’t wait to see them again!

Warm Fuzzies | Maternity Photography; Leesburg, VA

Friday, December 16, 2016

I LOVED this family. As soon as my feet touched their door mat, I felt like a good friend. Their sweet boys asked me to play PJ Masks with them (and I was like Uh. Of COURSE! because the PJ Masks are awesome.) I even stayed after we were done while my phone charged and chatted with Katie for so long that Matt texted me “soooo….?” LOL. There is almost TOO much to love about this session. They made my job so easy! Even though it was pretty chilly out, this session still gives me the warm fuzzies.

I can’t wait to meet baby boy #3 in a few short weeks!

How To Love A Photographer

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Since digital photography is a fairly new booming market, there are probably things you (as a non photographer) might not think about. And if you had a family session during our busy season (or any session really, but updated family photos for holiday cards are the majority of fall sessions) there are a few things you can do to show whoever took those beautiful pictures how much you love them!

The first one seems kind of obvious, but in our busy lives, it slips away from us:

Use your photos!!

You planned out and paid for some really special images, so you should see and enjoy them as often as possible. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE selling the digital copies of my images. I know some photographers are not fans. I personally would want my own, so my clients get them included in their session. BUT, don’t let them get dusty on that USB or on your hard drive or wherever they are! Print them out! Make a lovely canvas arrangement on your wall! Go use a coupon on shutterfly to get them turned into pillows or ornaments! When you do, don’t forget to send a picture to your photographer who will LOVE knowing that you are enjoying their hard work, which brings me to my next point!

Share and TAG

With the posts on Facebook pages, it is super easy to share elsewhere or tag yourself in them so YOUR friends and family can see you (and not just the photographer’s FB fans.) When you have a potentially unwatermarked version of your image file that you want to share, make sure you add a little shout out to your photographer with a clickable @ tag or just put their website up there somewhere so if someone LOVES their work and wants a session of their own, it’s easy for your friends to find and hire your photog! (I know I give discounts to both you and your friends when you spread the word!)

Hype Them Up

As with any small business, word of mouth is a vital advertising tool. It’s really easy to feel like photographers get to pocket all of their profit since some of them don’t sell physical products, but the cost of running any legitimate business will add up fast. And when you put your hard earned money back into a small business, you’re supporting local families! If you loved your experience, gush about them to you friends and family. Getting a recommendation from a friend is way better than sifting through google because “baby photographer in my city” in google will get you a million things.

Respect Their Work

Photographers make deliberate decisions on exactly where to crop their images. They take careful considerations to choose the best tones and colors and the perfect balance of highlights and shadows in their images. This is what makes up their unique style (and probably why you hired them!) So try your best to keep those true when you post and share your images. I know when you choose your Facebook profile picture, they make you crop it into a square, but otherwise, try to avoid crazy Instagram filters or crop jobs. Think of it as misquoting an author. Their work doesn’t look like their own anymore!

Hire Them Again!

Your photographer gets invested in your story! They fall in love with your family and get to know your kids (not to mention your kids get to know THEM!) Trusting someone with your memories is a big deal. If you didn’t gel with someone, or weren’t a huge fan of their work, the good news is, there are photographers popping up all over the place and someone out there is the perfect fit for you! If you found your perfect fit, don’t let them go. One of the biggest compliments you can give them is loving their work SO much, you want more of it. Now you don’t HAVE to have 3 sessions within a one year span…. but your kiddos change a lot as they grow…. just sayinnnn 😉

Love your photographers and love yourselves! Happy Thursday guys!!