Learning Curve

If you've been watching recent posts, you know I've started a new photo project, this one focusing on school-age kids and teens. My good friend, fellow blogger, and amazing cake decorator volunteered her kids to model for the project, and we spent a morning at a nearby park doing the shoot. What we ended up doing was a kind of mixture of portraits and candids (my usual fare) with some special modeling shots of the two oldest at the end.

Before the shoot, I asked the two oldest to pick an activity that they like to do, and you can guess what the boy picked: karate! I have never shot a karate kick in motion before. Wow! It moves fast! I like some of the photos I got, but (provided my model is willing) I'll want to try again later. This Kids and Teens project will have me doing a lot more action and sports photography, and that's exactly why I'm doing it . . . to learn and expand my photography expertise.

The oldest girl picked an easier-to-shoot activity, drawing. And those photos turned out wonderfully! I'll do a separate post on those photos later. If you live in the Roswell or Alpharetta area and have school-age children or teens who would like to model for my Kids and Teens Photo Project, please email me. I need more models!

Summer Portraits

With summer approaching, the colors and light outside have become more vivid and bright. That's great for my Nikon camera, which captures colors so well as long as I white balance before each shoot. But the brightness is sometimes hard to get around. To avoid squinting eyes and harsh shadows, I look for shady spots to take photos. These photos were taken at the model's home in her front and back yard. The trees and the house provided enough cover from the sun, and the ivy, lattice fence, and brick made lovely backgrounds.

This time, I concentrated on getting portrait shots of each model. The girls were pretty easy to capture. At first, the oldest played and posed readily for me. Even when she got a little stubborn about having her picture taken, she looked great on camera (see the close-up black and white photo). The baby was an easy-going calm one. She was just about happy with anything I did to get a good picture. Lastly, I wanted to give mom a nice portrait of herself. When the light hit her brown eyes just right, I took several shots of her alone. It's great to have pictures of you and your children, but sometimes it's nice when you are the star of the photo alone.

This is the second-to-last photo shoot from my Early Motherhood Project. I have one more mom and baby pair to shoot, and then I am officially done with this project . . . at least the photography part. I would like to have some of my work from this project published and am looking into that possibility.

Born Traveler

This little lady is a born traveler: Fredricksburg, Rio, and most recently, Paris! She's definitely the most well-traveled baby I know. Check out their family's blog for more on this little globe-trotter. We wanted to make sure to capture this gal's Eiffel Tower necklace and Paris-themed dress, since her American birthday party will have a Paris theme. (She turned one last month in France.) I was also really pleased with some of the last photos from the session. I love the little rim of light outlining the mom and her baby girl.

On another note, you may want to check out Poor Martin's Almanac, where J. D. Jordan posted some additional photos of his wife and baby from my Early Motherhood Project. I can't post all the photos from each shoot, so it's nice to have others do it on their blog.

Pricing Page

See our current pricing page.

Fun, Fun, Fun

One thing I love about shooting is collaborating with my clients and models. When I came to this shoot, the mom and dad had lots of ideas for pictures: baby parts, family feet, the baby with the sports balls, and anything else I wanted to try. We had so much fun playing and shooting and talking. My goal at every photo shoot (besides getting great photos) is to make sure everyone has a good time.

The little almost-six-month-old was so easy to work with, and I'm glad I got a chance to photograph him (and all those curls) yesterday. Good luck on your first haircut today little guy!

Special Edit: Spot Color

This is a favorite special edit of ours. You can choose from the two types of Spot Color effects below. Please visit our Pricing page for rates on adding this effect to a photo from a session or a personal photo from your own collection.

Black and White with Spot Color

Desaturated with Spot Color

Special Edit: Greeting Card

We love adding custom-designed text to a photo to use as a greeting card for Christmas, birthdays, birth announcements, weddings, etc. This is an especially cost-effective way of getting your cards done. Please visit our Pricing page for rates on adding a custom-designed words or sayings to a photo from a session or a personal photo from your own collection.

Special Edit: Photo Editing

There's nothing worse than having a perfect photo with a blemish, spot, or other minor problem. But thanks to photo editing software, that can be fixed! Please email us for a quote on editing a photo from a session or a personal photo from your own collection.

After Photo Editing

Before Photo Editing

Special Edit: Vignettes

Vignettes add another dimension to your portrait, and there are several styles to choose from. Please visit our Pricing page for rates on adding a vignette to a photo from a session or a personal photo from your own collection.

Subtle Dark Vignette

Medium Dark Vignette

Dark Vignette

Light Blur Vignette

Heavy Blur Vignette


White Vignette

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Marchet writes:

My son's friend had a visit from his grandparents last week, and we had a great "Grandma and Grandpa photo shoot" with all of them. I also took the opportunity to shoot some couple photos of the two adults, since they admitted they haven't had their photos taken for years. You honestly couldn't tell. They were so comfortable with each other and the camera; it made my job very easy. Bubbles? Sure, that would be fun. Oh, you've got a stick, little guy? Let's all grab a stick and dig!

I think most parents have photos taken of their kids for grandparents as well as for themselves. But many people don't think about a taking photos of kids with their grandparents. It's a fun idea and a whole lot more interesting than the extended family photo where only half of the kids are smiling or even looking at the camera.

By the way, I've finally found a fast way to watermark our photos, so that's a new feature you'll see on our blog. Thanks to Missy Saunders for allowing me to use her logo design on the watermark.

Kids and Teens Photo Project

Marchet writes:

The last two months have been filled with mom and baby photo sessions for my Early Motherhood Project. I still have two more moms lined up to finish out the project, but I'm anxious to start my next project about school-age children and teens.

I am interested in expanding my portfolio to include images of kids doing everyday activities like: completing homework, eating an after-school snack, bike-riding, jumping rope, practicing the piano (or other musical instrument), playing with friends, etc. Your kids will love to model for me and you will love the pictures! So here are the details:

The Project
Marchet Butler is looking for school-age kids and teens to model for her photo project about after-school and summer activities of kids and teens. This photojournalism project will feature candid and posed images taken in the model’s home and in the surrounding area.

The Models
Models can expect a daytime photo session during weekday business hours (Roswell and Alpharetta area) that will last about one and a half to two hours. Participants must have their model release signed by their parent or guardian. In return, the models and their family will receive high resolution digital files of the best photos from their session at no charge. Only one free modeling session per family is allowed. Up to 4 models per session.

Sign Up
If interested or for more information, please email Marchet at marchetbutler@gmail.com or call 770-363-1547.