BOSTON CHILDREN'S PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

And what is so positively awesome is that I photographed her as a newborn [one of the prettiest nurseries ever].  Then I photographed her when she turned one [cutest little cupcake smash ever].  And then I pretty much forced myself on her parents for her second birthday shoot.  No joke.  But you know I am sort of like a bad disease once I like you, there is often no getting rid of me.

I love sneaking out on Sunday mornings.  I love it when it’s in the high 70s in March.  I love Charlestown.  I love repeat clients.  I love clicking with parents so that it’s just really easy to shoot.  And I love super cute kiddos.

Do you remember this yummy baby with the best nursery ever? She turned one. And now she has the best eyes, thighs, little wispy curls, wardrobe [and parents] ever. I was really excited to come back and see her at one year… even more excited when I saw three of my canvases hanging in their kitchen! It makes me really happy when client do things with their images ::: cough cough says the women who does nothing with her own:::

I think I want to convince her parents to either come see me at the studio, or to do a follow up, not only because I miss seeing them in the images, but because I really like them!

And so here she is, in all her awesome one year old glory… introducing Olivia!

I was so so excited to photograph Chase.  Mostly because I REALLY like his mom.  We are on the same page with a lot of things and so I just enjoy talking to her and catching up.  I also figured that Chase would be a gorgeous baby (and I was right) because his sister, Chloe, is STUNNING.  She is also a spitfire and one of the few little girls that can give Janey a run for her money when it comes to shrieking.   But it’s been so fun for me to watch Chloe grow up.  She is such a little girl now, polished, playful and really independent.  She makes you work a little for it, but once you get it, she opens right up!  So back to Chase.  I was equally excited for this because we shot it at my house.  I never, like NEVER, bring clients to my house.  But I know Jessica, and I knew it would work.  I love the light not only in my living room, but also in Janey’s bedroom.  So I knew we’d have a great setup for newborn shots and for sibling shots.  Best of all, I didn’t have to lug all my gear.  I am working with an even bigger bean bag now and my blanket fascination is completely out of hand, so I almost need to attach Owen’s trailer to get to and from sessions!  Anyway, it was just really nice.

So here are a few… not a lot because I want Jessica & Charles to be able to pick out some surprises for their birth announcements.  But I just love them!

Amy and I met up with Jessica and Sean for an introduction and walk to their wedding venue.  Of course we had our gear with us and shot a little “pre-wedding” session with them.  These sessions are not only fun, but they help us get to know a couple, how they interact, and see the nuances of their body language.  It’s also the most “posed” session we do outside of Wedding Party Formals.  Once those are out of the way, everything is FUN!

Jessica & Sean are getting married in August at an amazing venue.  I am thrilled because I actually shot a wedding there for dear (and longlost) friends a few years ago.  The light and backdrop are insane.  And as you will see, we have stumbled upon yet another gorgeous couple.  We are lucky.

We are really stoked for this wedding, especially coming off such a great event last weekend.  We have some great ideas to divide and conquer and come up with a composite of work that tells their beautiful story.

Jessica & Sean!  You guys are awesome!  We are so thankful you have selected  us to document your day!  We can’t wait!!!  I gave you an extra big sneak peak since you won’t see the rest until you view your wedding proofs!  Enjoy!

Let me preface this by saying that I know Before & Afters are all the rage on photog blogs, so clearly I am not original in posting this.  However, I thought it was timely as I prepare for upcoming workshops.

During my workshops, often the question of Photoshop comes up and people ask me how much I have to do.  Many people assume I spend hours “photoshopping” images so they appear their best.  It’s almost assumed that the “Photoshop” part of it is the biggest component of a great image.  And so during my workshop, most of the images I show are Straight out of Camera (SOOC).

I am a minimalist when it comes to Photoshop.  I always believe less is more, and usually better.  I have heard other photogs say “you would have to pry my SOOC images out of my dead hands before a client saw them…” or “I can’t wait until I get my hands on that in Photoshop.”  And while that is all well and good, my firm belief (and I think this is the norm among most professionals) is that if it’s not awesome SOOC, it’s just putting lipstick on a pig if you use Photoshop to make it better.

That said, I do “process” every image in Photoshop, so what’s the difference?  Here’s the deal… most cameras come with image presets that set saturation, contrast, and sharpness.  They aren’t set at a crazy number, but they definitely add “oomph” to SOOC images.  And if you shoot JPEG, your entire image is compressed and all those presets are applied.  So if you shoot JPEG with great exposure, your image is 90% there.

I shoot totally flat RAW images, meaning every preset is 0.  I don’t sharpen in the camera because I find it adds “artifacts” into the image (little speckles of noise).  So when my images come out, they are properly exposed, but everything is incredibly flat.  I minimally process each image in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) –typically I recover whites to 10-15 and I adjust white balance, which is usually close to accurate.  When I bring the image into Photoshop, I run an action that increases contrast, adds yellow (that is a personal preference), flattens the image and very lightly sharpens.  I also use a mask to tell me if my image has bright spots brought on by my action.  This step is critical because although sometimes bright images are just fine on the web, they won’t print well — and if they won’t print, I won’t show it.   I don’t mess with eyes… and that includes whitening eyeballs.  To the question “What do you do to make the eyes look like that?” — the answer is “I use light.”  If there are obvious temporary blemishes (or food), I will “Photoshop” those off.  And yes, on an occasion, I have “swapped a head” (usually at the mom’s request)… but that is not the norm.  I prefer to ensure I nailed composition and expression in the camera rather than spending time altering in Photoshop.

Now there are some images that require more editing.  Specifically shooting sunflare.  Typically those images require a strong contrast curve to jack down the blacks.  In those instances, it is what it is, but it’s still just basic processing.  And if you just HAVE to move an awkward object out of the background in an otherwise great image, you do it.  And I clean up boogies and newborn acne.  Sometimes, usually about 1X a month, I get a wild and I add crazy processing to an image.  That said, they are usually my personal images and not client images because I like to stay consistent on those.

Landing the plane… this “getting it right in the camera” is the primary reason why I have structured my workshops the way I have.  I believe if you can learn to do this (get it right with composition and lighting), then Photoshopping your images should be a secondary skill that comes much after you have learned about light, composition, and manual exposure (Manual Exposure & Post-Processing are the main components of Snap Camp).

Here’s an example of how much “Photoshop” I typically do to a properly exposed image.  In ACR, I upped the whites to 30 for her tank.  That’s it.  I ran my standard action in PS, then I erased back anything in her tank that was too bright – and by erasing back I mean that I brought it back to the SOOC state.  I flattened and lightly sharpened.  Voila.

If you found tips like this to be helpful, please let me know and I’ll start a category where I can share them!