Children's Self Portraits

I think I could begin to offer a new service where kids take their own photos. What began as a way to get my kids to keep their attention while they sat on a stool turned into some of the nicest portraits of my kids I've gotten in a long time.

I wanted a couple simple headshots of my kids, so I set up a stool, some lighting, a camera on a tripod and a black background. Owen actually did pretty well giving me the shots I was looking for, but I wanted to keep going and he wasn't interested any more. I had a cable release on the camera so I could take the shot while looking at him outside of the viewfinder. He asked to push the button. The camera was very close to him, so the cable reached his lap with no problem. I gave him the trigger and he started firing away, mugging for the lens. Unfortunately, most of his shots have half-closed eyelids as he anticipated the flash. But I got a couple gems out of the set.

Leah, on the other hand didn't want anything to do with my portrait session from the beginning. But once she saw Owen having fun with the remote, she wanted a piece of the action. Even though she only fired off a small handful of images, she made some quality self portraits. These two I put together, represent the Leah we know in so many ways. Looking into those huge brown eyes reveals the girl we know so well, adding to it the fact that she was posing for herself makes it all the more magical. Coupled with the photo on the right, revealing her spontaniety and playfulness, make these a couple images we'll treasure forever.

As always, my full portfolio can be viewed here.

Katie

My sister came to visit this weekend with her daughter, Katie. Saturday evening, I was showing off a newly printed 9x12 portfolio book of mine. My sister commented that there were no photos of Katie in there. It was then that it dawned on all of us that I'd never done a photo session with Katie, who is now 7 years old. They live about 3 hours away, so I don't see them all that often. We decided we better set up a shoot the next morning before Grandma came over.

After the inevitable cleaning of the basement room I have to do before each photo shoot, I set up my portable backdrop and invited the kids down. It went very well. Katie was a great little subject and I think we got a lot of great shots that my sister will be happy to have in her home. Not to mention the great shot of the 3 cousins here that will certainly need to be sent out to all the grandparents!

As always, my full portfolio can be viewed here.

Why Choose a Custom Photographer?

Many people I encounter wonder why my prices are so much higher than their local chain studio, where often you can be in and out the door with prints in hand for under $100.

The short answer is there is a difference between what you get from each. I truly believe almost everyone can see the difference in the final product. However, there are people who may not value the difference between a chain studio and a custom photographer. I don't try to persuade those people to use a custom photographer, because ultimately they will always feel like they paid too much.

Many custom photographers will justify their prices with the high cost of running their business. It's true that there are many costs of running a photography business including equipment, back-up equipment, supplies and taxes. However, those costs exist with your local chain studio as well; so I don't believe it's a valid argument.

It comes down to the custom photographer's investments in their own business to create a professional persona. With their investment in education, expertise, and time making and delivering the final product, a solid reputation is developed and maintained; a reputation of creating photography with a level of personalization, quality, and service not possible at a chain studio.

Personalization
At your local chain studio, you walk in, choose a backdrop and sit in front of the camera and smile. Or worse, you bring your child to the studio and hope they smile and look at the camera. It's the same routine for the person before you and it will be the same for the next. This works well for a high-volume situation like a yearbook photo, but when you want a photo that depicts who you are or who your child is, a custom photographer is a better choice for you.

Children are most comfortable in their own home, yard, or at their favorite park. Your photos will turn out exponentially better when your child is genuinely happy and comfortable; not to mention the beauty of the resulting photos, which incorporate the natural light and surroundings. Family photos will benefit from these same principles.

Not only are you getting your child's or your own personality in your photos, you are getting something unique to the photographer. Their work has a style that shows through their composition, post-processing and subject interaction that is carried throughout their work. You have the liberty of shopping for a photographer that has a style that you're drawn to. In a chain studio, the only style that comes through is from the choice of props and backdrop. The person behind the lens is just a button pusher.

Quality
Custom photographers have control over every aspect of their product. They have nobody to answer to but themselves. From the camera, lens and lighting used for capture, to the computer, monitor and software used for post-production, to the lab used for color calibrated output. Their reputation is attached to each product they sell, whether it's a framed print, canvas, coffee table book, or even an image file. You can bet that they will do their best to make sure everything comes out top-notch in the quality department.

Service
The custom portrait photographer is in this business because they love photography and they love working with people. They provide a service tailored to you. With on-location portraiture, they come to the location of your choice (even your own house!). Many sessions will yield more than one meeting with the photographer, whether it’s a consultation, proof viewing, ordering session, or product delivery. Most of the time, the list of products and services is only limited by your own imagination. These are services designed to make customers and subjects comfortable and to get the most out of the experience.

There will always be an occasion to visit your local chain studio for a quick and cheap portrait, but when you want to truly capture a time in your child's life and invest in a keepsake that you can treasure for generations to come, think about investing in a session with a custom portrait photographer. We live in exciting times where digital photography has opened the playing field for professional photography to the masses. As a customer, you've never had so many choices and options available to you. Choose one that fits you!

As always, my full portfolio can be viewed here. My products and services can be viewed here.

Sunday at the Warehouse

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to get together with a few other photographers at a warehouse studio with a couple models. It was valuable experience for me; if nothing else but to know what it's like to be a paparazzo! Since we only ended up with two of the four or five models that were anticipated, the ratio of photographers to models was a bit unbalanced. I knew a good pose was struck when I felt under attack by a barrage of "shutter fire." I came out with fewer keepers than I hoped for, but I found it's a little difficult to share a shoot with several other photographers. A good portrait needs the connection of subject to photographer, and those were not as plentiful as I could have made them.

Nonetheless, it was a great time. I met a couple people in person for the first time that I've known online for a while. Getting "the shot" was not so much the objective as it was a chance for all of us photographers to geek out a bit and talk shop. It was also fun to see how others set up their shots and to share my ideas. If I were to do it again, I think I'd take a slightly different approach to get a little more one-on-one time with the models.

As always, my full portfolio can be viewed here.

The Annual Report

It's been so long since I've posted. The truth is, I haven't done a lot of shooting that is blog material. Winters in the Northland leave many portrait photographers (especially those that like to shoot outdoors) pretty uninspired. I'm one of them. I'm looking forward to spring when I can get back out and take advantage the beautiful backdrops the St. Croix Valley provides me!

I have done a little bit of shooting recently, however, of the commercial kind. Every once in a while, I get a phone call to do a photo shoot that is a bit out of my target market (or a lot). This was one of them. Thankfully, this one came about 5 days before the shoot needed to take place, so I didn't have to be nervous for too long. It's not that the subject matter was out of my comfort zone, but the pressure to deliver was. Family and children sessions are lighthearted, fun and generally pretty pressure-free. But stick a CEO and a VP together and you're using up a couple people's very expensive time. This leaves little room for error.

Thankfully, the shoot went off without a hitch. The guys were very easy to work with and the session was short and sweet. I managed to find a helpful assistant who worked for happy hour prices (Thanks, Dan!) and my equipment didn't fail me. And best of all, the customer seemed to be happy with their photos.

As always, my full portfolio can be viewed here.