Top 5 Reasons to Print Your Portraits Through Me

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With this being the age of digital images, it is tempting to merely purchase those digital files with the good intention of printing your own copies at a later date. The problem is many people never get around to printing anything! Then you’ve wasted all that time, energy, and money on getting professional portraits done in the first place.

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Your best bet is to get them printed right from the start through your photographer. Continue reading to find out the top five reasons to print your portraits through me.

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Top 5 Reasons to Print Your Portraits Through Me

  1. I have special equipment so I am able to calibrate my computer monitor before I begin to edit your images so that the color and brightness of the ones you see during your gallery preview is how they will look when they come back from the printer. I also use editing software that is specifically designed for my camera. All of this means I can guarantee the highest quality images.
  2. I have a special relationship with my print house, who only services professional photographers.
  3. Your images will be printed on archival paper, preserving your memories of this season of your life for years to come.
  4. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. If something is not right I will make it right.
  5. I love what I do and spend the time it takes to give 150% and to do it right! Ask my family as I am glued to my computer for hours and hours after a photoshoot 🙂

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And if those aren’t reasons enough, spring is now here, so there is no excuse not to schedule your session. Beautiful, affordable, easily attainable, printed family portraits await!

Contact me and I will get back to you shortly.

How to Fix Blurry Pictures

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Ever wonder how some photographers seem to have tack-sharp photos why yours seem soft and fuzzy around the areas you thought you focused on?  There are many reasons for this, but one thing most people don’t think of is if their lenses are calibrated to their camera.  It is very easy to do and takes only a few minutes.

First you will need a calibration pyramid.  You can Google how to make a home-made one, which I tried to do and it was fairly difficult and cumbersome to the point that I gave up and ended up ordering this one from Amazon for less than six dollars.

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To determine if your camera’s auto-focus system needs some fine-tuning or not place your camera’s center focal point to the top center target on the pyramid and take a shot.  Next, zoom in on the shot to see where your focus lies along the left hand ruler.

You can see in the image below that the lens was back focusing at this point because the focus was clear along the numbers behind the zero.  The goal is to have zero be your center focal point.

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To adjust for this you need to go into the menu settings of your camera and find where you can adjust the auto-focus (AF) of your camera.  Adjusting it in the positive direction will move the focal point away from the camera while adjusting it in a negative direction will move the focal point toward the camera.  So, in the example above I had to adjust the setting to a negative fourteen (-14) to get the following result:

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As you can see, my focal point is now nicely centered on zero.

In a real world example, it can mean the difference between this photo:

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versus this photo:

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Calibration is specific to each lens for each camera body.  In other words, you will need to calibrate each lens to every camera body you use.  The camera will remember the settings when you interchange lenses in the future up to a certain number of lenses depending on your camera manufacturer.

Calibration is just one way you can achieve sharp-focused photos.  There are many other factors that go into it as well.  Photography is definitely not as simple as it seems.  Let me take care of the hard stuff and give you the great portraits you want without the hassle of you having to learn all the technical stuff.

Contact me below or call for more information.  ~ Sheila 636-293-5728

Your information remains confidential.

Free Holiday Cards

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In 1843 Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant who had helped set up the “public record office” (now known as the post office), wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.  Thus he and artist, John Horsely, came up with the idea of the Christmas card.

Christmas cards appeared in the United States in the late 1840’s but were so expensive most people couldn’t afford them.  In 1875, Louis Prang, a printer originally from Germany, started mass producing cards so more people could afford them.  His first cards featured flowers, plants, and children.  In 1915, John C. Hall and two of his brothers created Hallmark Cards, who are still one of the biggest card makers today!

Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show sent the first known “personalized” Christmas card in 1891.  She was in Glasgow, Scotland and sent cards back to her friends and family in the USA featuring a photo of herself on it.  Since she was in Scotland, she was of course wearing tartan in the photo!  Annie reportedly designed the cards herself and they were printed by a local printer.

How fun to think we still enjoy spreading holiday cheer in the same way all these years later.  Not wearing tartan mind you, but putting photos of ourselves on our cards.  I wonder who Annie Oakley’s photographer was.  Someone had to take that picture of her otherwise there would have been nothing for her to design; nothing for her to print.

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Let me be your Holiday card photographer this year!

Through December 13th I am offering Holiday mini sessions which include a 30-minute photo shoot and  5 professional edited digital image files for $125 plus a free box of holiday photo cards if ordered through me.  Sessions must be done between now and the 13th to insure cards are received in time for the holiday.  Call or message me if you have any questions or would like to book a session, and Happy Holidays!  636-293-5728

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What to Wear to Your Family Portrait Session

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I was leaning against my car adjusting the settings on my camera when I saw them pull into the parking lot. We smiled and waved to one another as they parked next to me. Mom hopped out, dressed in a cute silky top. She held up a cardigan in each hand. “Which one, black or gray?” she asked. I quickly assessed the rest of the family’s outfits and answered, “Gray.”

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When outfitting your family for portraits it is not so important that you match precisely in colors or style. In fact, exact matching, such as all in blue jeans and white shirts, is out of date these days. What works best is to coordinate color pallets in terms of tones. Wear muted tones that are a bit subdued especially for outdoor nature portraits.

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Muted tones

Muted tones make sure that no one person stands out and that the focus remains on faces and not clothing.

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For larger groups pick 2-3 complimentary color tones and have everyone dress within that color pallete. For example, navy, dark green and burgundy are all dark jewel tones. Light olive green, denim, and tan are lighter, softer tones. When in doubt keep cool tones with cool tones and warm tones with warm tones.

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Come casual or dressy; both work. Bring your own style, but have everyone dress in the same style (i.e., not some casual and others dressy.)

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I find that many families wear jeans, which are very versatile. You can make the outfit as dressy or casual as you want depending on what top you wear. Jeans also make some poses like sitting on the ground and piggy back rides a little easier! 🙂

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When things start getting goofy, sometimes they get really goofy!

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No matter what you wear, however, I guarantee the love and smiles and joy we capture during your session will shine through in your images.

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For information on scheduling a portrait session for your family, please fill out the contact form and I will be happy to assist you. Your information will always remain private.

Lifestyle Portraits

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Lifestyle Photography is something I have been doing for a long time.  It is creating artistic images of people doing everyday activities in unposed, natural ways.  It is not merely snapping generic pictures, but rather defining moods, telling stories, and developing interest.

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Lifestyle photography is a great way to document family traditions like weekly game nights, yearly Christmas cookie baking, trips to the pumpkin patch, or how after each big snow fall, dad shovels the driveway while the rest of the family goes sledding.

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Lifestyle photography is never about the “Look here and smile” photos, but if that happens naturally it is certainly okay.  As the subject in the photos, it is about being in the moment, forgetting that the camera is there, and enjoying the time with your loved ones.

As the photographer, it is about communicating with the adults ahead of time about what is important to everyone and gently documenting those meaningful activities by recognizing and capturing all the nuances and details that exist and present themselves throughout the entire experience.

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“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”  ~ Elliot Erwitt, Documentary Photographer

I now offer Lifestyle Photography sessions, which run approximately 2-3 hours and yield 40-70 fully edited proofs to choose from when ordering printed products.  Images are captured in the clients’ natural environments, whether it be their homes or places they frequent such as a park, the pumpkin patch, the local donut shop, the swimming pool, or their own backyards, doing everyday activities in realistic, candid ways.  Contact me for more information.

How They Love Their Candids

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I had the pleasure of photographing two best friends, and to my surprise they wanted twice as many candid shots as posed ones.  How fun that was!  First, here are a couple of cute poses we got in.

 

But, the majority of the shots were of them doing what they do together: talking, laughing, hanging out, telling stories, and just being there for one another.

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What an amazing thing to witness!

One of my favorite things about being a portrait photographer is capturing those candid moments that highlight the essence of people’s relationships with one another. Let me do that for you and your loved ones. Contact me via the form below and let’s plan your session today.

(Your information will not be published and will remain private.)

Photographing Very Young Kids

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A great group of siblings taught me a lot about photographing very young children.  First of all, it’s a lot of fun!  To capture the candid shots as they act silly or ham it up or just run around being care free is a joy.

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Secondly, posing kids under two or three years old is no small feat, because they like to be on the move and focusing on the camera with a smile is not their top priority. Getting them to do it all at the same time as their brother or sister is even more challenging.

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One of the easiest ways to photograph young kids is to do it while they are doing what they love most – playing! In the hose, at the beach, with a ball, at the park, on the swings; even picking up sticks!  Just follow their lead…

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Finally, I think the best thing about photographing kids is getting to see the world through their eyes. Sometimes, as adults, we forget how truly wonderful and exciting it can be!

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