Gorgeous Fall Family: Family Portrait Session (repost)

I love my clients! Especially in this case because in my first version of this post, my original images were off color. My client mentioned that the brown from one of the family photos was right, and so I reworked the color on all the other ones based on that photo. It was a pretty simple fix after I figured out the first one (a tweak to the color temperature and a bit of contrast and levels adjustment). I am so thrilled that they new versions turned out so nice, and I even had time to finish more family photos than in the original post. Yay!

So much of a photo shoot happens before and after the actual hour or so it takes to take the pictures. There's the location to pick, the research on photography styles a client wants, the poses and "unposes" to think about, the clothing to choose . . .(Yes, I do advise on clothing for just about every shoot!) Then, there's the paperwork, the phone and in-person chats, and of course lots and lots sorting, editing, and post processing. (Especially with a repost like this one.) This is custom work! But that's the thing that makes us different than a photo studio in a big box store or at the mall. And I love that. It's the reason we went into business in the first place.

Yet, even with all the planning and orchestration, every photo shoot feels like magic when it comes together and you get photos like these. For me, it happened as Jacob was editing the individual head shots of the little sisters. He took the RAW files of admittedly very cute portraits and with some meticulous work--Jacob has always been very good at that--transformed them into images even more exquisite and delicate.

And then the family portraits. There's something about a formal family portrait in the gorgeousness of the fall that I just love. The color, the setting, the moment of cooperation between all kids to look and smile for the camera, and the harmony of the color and light coming together to form something that is incredibly beautiful and peaceful and real. Thanks to this gorgeous family for the opportunity to make some amazing images with them!

Christmas Card Photos: Family Portrait Session

Ah, it's getting to be that time of year when we all start feeling a little anxious because Christmas is coming! So, it's time to get those Christmas photos done. This family had two poses they definitely wanted: the heads in the leaves (which took a good 5 minutes to set up) and a formal family portrait for 8x10 prints.

Despite the chilly weather and low light, we were able to get the shots in before any of us got too cold. (I did have to do a bit of head swapping during post processing, but I think the finished pictures look great.) I especially like the shot of mom and baby in red.

I can't decide whether I like the formal family portrait (bottom) in color or black and white. The color is so warm and friendly, but the black and white is clean and crisp. (Here's a trick to get your black and white photos looking this crisp: adjust the levels so that the dark tones end at pure black and the white tones end at pure white. It makes a big difference!)

In any case, I don't have to decide which photo is going on the family Christmas card. I can't wait to see what one they pick, though.

Hembree Park in Autumn Colors: Family Photo Session

It's getting chilly here! With misty mornings and rain every other week, my photo shoots have been threatened by weather lately. (At least we aren't dealing with snowy weather like when we lived out west.) In the case of this shoot, it had rained for three days straight and the day of the shoot dawned very cloudy and windy. Thankfully, the weather held, and we got some great images of this gorgeous family.

Roswell has so much more autumn foliage than Alpharetta these days, so I'm glad we picked Hembree Park as our location. This family was so easy to work with as we went trekking about the park to find the best spots for photos. Their baby, a handsome 8-month-old, did so well, especially when we sat him on his own for a few portraits. And don't they look adorable?

This season (holiday sales come early for photographers) has been especially rewarding. I've been booked most weekends and have had enough time to take care of my responsibilities at home as well. Also, I just bought the domain name butlerfamilyphotography.com, so if you are looking up our site, typing the address will be a little faster. It is simply a redirect to this page, so all your old links should work fine; no need to update them.

Tween Portraits

I met with this amazing "tween" and her mom a few weeks ago to do some individual portraits that we didn't have a chance to do during her family's shoot this summer. Young women and men this age are great at following directions as long as you explain what kind of photos you are aiming for. I brought some photo references for ideas, and mom was extremely helpful in giving me specifics on what kind of portraits she wanted. We can definitely say it was a success. Our favorites are the ones at the top of the post. I angled the shot a little (rare for me), but it really worked.

Family Photo Shoot at Hembree Park

Saturday, we met a beautiful family at one of Roswell's smaller parks, Hembree Park. We found a lot of great places to shoot, though Jacob reminds me that he had to adapt the environment to make some shots look right. In fact, Jacob was very busy during the shoot: moving sticks and logs out of the stream, shifting a rather heavy garbage can out of the background, and keeping our little toddler happy while steadying me on the step ladder. Thank goodness for great assistants (and husbands)!

Our clients were great! Not only did they wear perfect clothes for the shoot (simple, similar outfits in neutral colors), but they also were easy to work with. Mom and Dad will be celebrating their anniversary this week. Happy Anniversary!

Their daughter impressed me with her self-confidence and outgoing personality. After getting the shots we wanted while she played her violin, I mentioned that she could stop. But the piece was nearly over and she finished with a flair! That's a true musician.

At home, I generally stick to the camera side of things while Jacob handles any special edits. But this time, I wanted a try at it. With a little guidance from Jacob, I added some subtle vignetting and adjusted the levels a bit on the first image of this post. I wanted to emphasize the family without compromising the other details of the stream and rock bed. Here's the original without the vignette. I think those changes made a big difference!

This is my last photo shoot post for a while. I will be taking a small "vacation" after an outpatient surgery this week. It will give me a chance to rest and prepare for the upcoming months before Christmas (typically very busy for photographers).