The Entire Family: Extended Family Portrait

Sometimes I get last-minute calls to do group photos. On this occasion, my clients were all together as an entire family for one more day and wanted a chance to capture that moment. What a thrill!

I love the details in the photos: the rolled-up sleeves of dad's shirt (so casual, but so cool), the brilliant smiles on the parents of the newborns, and grandma and grandpa's obvious affection for their oldest granddaughter. And who can get over those darling kids? Gorgeous, and so important to record. (I know; mine's growing up too fast!)

Color version

Black and White version

I used to think that black and white photos were a piece of cake. Click the "convert to black and white" button on my computer software and I was done, but over the past year, I've come to realize that a black and white photo takes a bit more artistry to make it pop off the screen or print. I've included two examples here:

Converted to Black and White with no adjustments
You may get similar results if you ask a lab to print your photo in sepia or black and white. Result: image has blah skin, clothing, and background. A lot of it just looks gray.

Converted to black and white and edited by me
Much, much better. I adjust levels, contrast, and brightness in the photo in addition to making the conversion to black and white. Result: image is dramatic, brighter, and alive.

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

Black and White or Color?

I took this photo awhile back of an acquaintance's grandson. I especially loved this boy's green boots because it added such a fun "punch" of color. But I thought it would be nice to see this photo in black and white too. So I converted it and all of a sudden, the eyes and face pop out of the image. Sometimes converting the image to a black and white clarifies what the most important element of the photo is. In this case, it definitely worked.