The End of Senior Summer

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Grace’s senior session rounded out the summer for me. I loved all the senior girls I got to photograph this summer, but Grace’s session in particular really swept me away because there were so many great spots that captured her natural beauty.

As the kids are heading back to school at this time, things are winding down at Offshoots Photography for the season since I take this time off to keep up with the busy school schedules of my own children.

I do have a special double senior shoot planned this fall, however, with my daughter and the son of a good friend of mine, so be on the look out for that.

Otherwise, I will open booking dates back up in spring of 2019. Can’t wait to see you then!

Cooling Down

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The dog days of summer were upon us as mid-July hit, so we headed to the creek for some cooling off during this senior session!

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The setting sun made for some lovely light behind Brittany’s beautiful hair!

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And her smile just stole the show in the rest of them!

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I’ve got one more session on deck for the summer and then it is back to school time and I will be taking a break. Be on the look out for Grace’s senior session coming up next!

Senior Summer

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It is the summer of seniors for me as many of my sessions are of high school seniors and I am loving it! Seniors are very fun for me to photograph because they are great at modeling and they are patient and cooperative and want to look their best. So far, the seniors I have photographed have been open to all my ideas and suggestions, too!

Here’s a recent session with Sarah. She chose a more urban setting amidst old buildings and a set of train tracks. Dressed in a casual outfit of jeans and a cute blue top, I think these portraits turned out wonderful!

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Sarah then changed into a dressier outfit for some beautiful shots in the garden.

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Lastly, I think it’s always fun to see the black and white versions of the images. Until next time…

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Personal Brand Photography

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Personal Brand Photography is for business owners, entrepreneurs, and influencers who want to show people who they are, what they represent, how they want the world to see them, how they want others to feel, and what they stand for. Are you one of these people?

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Personal brand photography is more than just headshots. It is your life, your dreams, your passions, your fun, your family, your day-to-day world, your personality, your whatever you want your social media or online presence to represent, because let’s face it in today’s world people want to get to know the face and name behind the product or service.

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People want to know people. People buy things not because they need them but because they like and trust the people selling them. You need personal brand photography for them to get to know and trust you!

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A Personal brand photographer can help your bottom line go from so-so to amazing; your followers go from hundreds or thousands of people to tens of thousands, and take your business from surviving to thriving by creating carefully crafted custom images of you, your brand, and your work.

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Personal brand photography is also great for specific things such as creating images perfect for use in presentations and blog posts, where text can be added at a later date.

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Tell your stories and share what matters most. Find out how personal brand photography can help you connect with your audience. Contact me for details.

 

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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