This last photograph is one of my favorite family portraits of the year.  Emily told me she wanted a portrait that she could display in her home above the large sofa in her living room, but like a lot of parents, wasn’t sure about the idea of having an enormous portrait of just the three of them which could possibly be almost “life-size.”  Needless to say this photograph was the preferred choice for a larger wall portrait, the only question now is what’s the final portrait size going to be?  Stay tuned,  but let’s just say that the number “40″ was thrown around quite a bit

The “7 Ages Of Childhood”

Every year new clients tell me that they regret not beginning their child’s and family portrait documentation at the very beginning of their child’s journey through life. It’s not that they don’t value or see the importance of creating these timeless photographs. Being a new parent, or welcoming a new child into your family makes a busy life even busier. It’s very easy for the years to slip by. I know this first hand because like most parents, I simply do not have as many fine portraits of our younger son Conner, while we have a very adequate collection of portraits of our 3 year old son Jack. I always thought as a photographer that staying up to date with my children’s lives would not be a problem. However life gets in the way, and keeping up with running a business and raising two small children presented the ever present challenge of procrastination. That’s why I wanted to created this guide which outlines and helps parents recognize the 7 most important times to photograph your children, from infancy to young adulthood.

Today They’re Babies, Tomorrow They’re Children….

Have you ever said to yourself “they grow up so fast”? Fact is, they do grow up fast. The changes that occur rapidly and in the blink of an eye during the first year and early childhood years, typically continuing up until about age 3. The best advice I can give to any new or expecting parent is that it is never too early to schedule your baby’s first photography session. One of the most popular options is a “First Year” portrait collection that includes multiple photography session in order to capture the major developmental milestones of the first year, from birth…..to sitting up and/or crawling….and finally to walking.

Options for Contemporary Fine Art Children’s Portraits

Clothing, location, and styling can go a long way towards achieving the desired aesthetic for your children’s portraits. The different stages of your child’s life and development will be the starting point for the variety of options available to style any particular session. However regardless of the age of your children or the style you’re looking for, simple garments and clean backgrounds tend to photograph best, placing the emphasis on your child’s face and expression.

Infants and Toddlers……(the first 3 ages….1st year, age 2, age 3,)

Newborns and toddlers photograph best in simple clothes and outfits that will not overpower their delicate features. After all, these are the features that change the quickest during the first year, and we want to preserve them. Whites and pastels are classic choices, and convert well to black & white images. Brighter primary colors and casual clothing can work well for older babies. And finally, this is the one time in life to lose the clothes alltogether!

Children…….(the 4th and 5th ages……ages 4-5, and ages 6-8)

Again simplicity is the name of the game in order to show off bright smiles and inquisitive eyes. But don’t forget to include props and clothing that expresses your child’s ever developing personality and interests.

Pre-Teens and Teens…..(the 6th and 7th ages…..ages 9-12, and ages 13-17)

Continue to expand the options that reflect moods, activities and recent accomplishments with interesting locations and props.

Show How Much You Really Care

Psychologists who specialize in early childhood development believe that children who consistently see their own image displayed in a positive and uplifting form throughout the home eventually develop strong feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence. Portraits on display serve to make a child feel loved and valued, and when Mom and Dad (and even the grandparents) appear in the portraits, the child is reminded of the place he or she enjoys within the family. Is there a better way to demonstrate how you feel about your child than to decorate your home with portraits made at important milestones in his or her life? Portraits your children will eventually pass down to your grandchildren?

While it can be tempting to think you need to photograph your children every year of their life, often it is not convenient nor cost effective to invest in fine portraiture every year. However with careful planning, utilizing the 7 primary age groups mentioned above, you and your photographer can create a complete collection of your child’s development, leading up to their high school senior portraits prior to graduation.

PSA:  Please drink responsibly

]]> http://jaysphotoblog.com/2010/06/before-and-after-wednesdays-2/feed/ 0 http://jaysphotoblog.com/2010/06/little-jack-turns-3/ http://jaysphotoblog.com/2010/06/little-jack-turns-3/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:00:21 +0000 admin http://jaysphotoblog.com/?p=2317 Like the Jack Johnson song says, “3…it’s a magic number….”  This was Little Jack’s 3rd birthday, and his favorite movie (for now) is the Toy Story franchise.  And since we are only a few weeks away from the release of Toy Story 3, it was only appropriate that we had a Toy Story themed birthday party this year.

We bought Jack a Toy Story bicycle….and of course he had to have a Toy Story matching helmet……

The Toy Story themed bouncer was the perfect rented baby-sitter for the kids……

And to close off the evening, the kids enjoyed a screening of the original “Toy Story” movie at the “DriveWay Drive-In” movie theatre, complete with juice-boxes, popcorn, lots of bug spray, and almost all of Jack’s new Toy Story toys he received as gifts!

So what do you do when your 5:30 scheduled session is greeted with a thick layer of gray clouds, and no hope of any natural sunlight?  You have three options:

• Reschedule the session and hope that you get better sunlight on a different day.  But there’s no guarantee with that either.
• Go ahead and complete the session and try to make “lemons out of lemonade.”  And while you can always warm up the photographs later on with Lightroom of Photshop, you can also add contrast, and maybe selectively lighten and darken some areas, the bottom line is flat light is flat light, and does not have much dimension or “snap.”
• Finally there’s a third option when you don’t have any available sunlight:  Bring your own sun!

Take a look at the two engagement photographs below.  The first picture is made in the “photojournalistic,” “natural light,” “available light” style, simply using the gray, overcast sky as the primary (and only) source of light for the portrait.  It’s not bad, and like I mentioned above, I was able to add some contrast and selectively brighten a few areas, but this couldn’ve been a bit better with some extra light…….

…..and then there’s the second picture.  All this took was a little extra light from an off-camera light source.  Just a little extra light coming from the side and slightly behind the subject gives the effect of the sunlight that normally would be there if it wasn’t for several thousand feet of thick cloud layer.

I suppose a Photoshop master could duplicate the effect after several hours in front of the screen, but frankly I have better things to do when I can get it right straight out of the camera.  So next time you think that a weather forecast that includes the words “overcast,” “gray,” “dismal,” or “mostly cloudy” might create a challenge for your photographer, just remember that a photographer can always carry a little bit of their own sun in their camera bag!

Oh, and for the photographers interested in the technical setup, it’s a single Canon 580 EX flash on a light stand, triggered with a RadioPopper PX transmitter and receiver, ETTL….just set it up, point, shoot!.

Americans spend billions of dollars each year on hair-care, makeup, gym memberships, skin treatments, clothes, purses, man-bags, and even cosmetic surgery to ensure that they are looking their best and projecting the image they want day in and day out.  However despite all the work, have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror on one of your best days and said to yourself “I wish I looked this good all the time?”

The truth is you can look “that good” all of the time, and the solution is simple:  commission a portrait of yourself when you’re looking your best.

Simple Solutions

Whenever I ask a 20, 30, or 40 something when the last time they had a personal portrait created, their answer is some variation of “why would I ever want that?” The truth is there are a lot of reasons.

How many times have you seen this:  A Facebook or MySpace profile picture, clearly taken by the subject by simply holding their camera phone at arms length, hoping to get their entire beer stained face in the frame?  If you’re a professional with corporate aspirations, or self employed business owner, or just someone who cares about how they look, is that that type of image really what you’d like project in your online life?

Was the last professional portrait of yourself taken at your wedding?  Or possibly even in high school or college?

Are you actively dating, and using any one of the online personality matching sites? Do you really want the first image someone sees on your profile to be a picture from four years ago, which you obviously had to cut and remove the person you were standing next to?  Luckily there are options available.

The Headshot

While this is the most basic type of portrait we can create, it also is the most versatile.  The classic head and shoulders headshot portrait is very appropriate for business networking sites such as LinkedIn.  There is also a lot of value in these portraits if you are self employed or a business owner.  They are good opening images to use on your Facebook personal page, your Facebook business page or group, your business cards, or other business collateral.

However if the classic headshot reminds you too much of your high school yearbook photo, consider another more contemporary option….

The Personal Lifestyle Portrait

There is nothing unique about this type of image.  Thousands of high school seniors each year simply do not settle for the traditional yearbook image, and choose to work with a custom personalized photographer who can create portraits that accurately reflect their personality and their interests.  While graduation from high school is an important time in anyone’s life, why should creative and expressive portraits limited to this single milestone?

The first place to think about creating a personal lifestyle portrait is to ask yourself, “who are you?”  Do you love your pets more than anything in the world? Are you a sophisticated city dweller, or a more laid back natural country/suburban person? Do you ride a motorcycle?  Do you play an instrument?  The answers to any and all of these questions can be used to help create the perfect portrait that not only makes you look as good as possible, but also communicates what exactly you’re all about.

A typical business/professional personal lifestyle portrait session includes both the traditional headshot, as well as the more creative and expressive lifestyle portraits featured above.

Let’s face it, it can be hard to look your absolute best all the time, every day.  However with a creative professionally crafted portrait displayed on your web page, business card, or Facebook page, your best face is always out in public.

You don’t have to be a trained model.  All you have to be is yourself.

For more information and to schedule a session, email Jay@jacphoto.net or call 847-494-1068

It’s not uncommon for me to work a full day on a weekend, even on a Sunday. This weekend however I was “lucky” enough to have my Sunday afternoon appointment cancel on me, which game me the chance to take Little Jack to the park.  The funny thing is, I think this kid knows how to go down a slide every possible way, EXCEPT the correct way, sitting down, feet first.