Maternity Pictures for Michelle

This last weekend I met-up with Michelle to do some maternity pictures.

This was my first maternity shoot and Michelle is family (she is my step-sister). So needless to say I was a little nervous to do a good job. Family shoots are always the most stressful for any photographer.

Here is one of my favorite pictures from the day.



Michelle did a great job of picking outfits that would show off her pregnant glow and belly! I love the long flowing dress from the picture above, but I also love the simple black yoga pants below.



Baby “L” will also be a well dressed kiddo!



One last favorite from the day.



Tip to future clients-the mix of clothes Michelle chose (long flowing dress, yoga pants, and white button-up) are a great combination for a maternity shoot.

This selection of clothes help show-off the pregnant belly without showing everything else!

Wedding Albums 101

In my current pricing (click here) you will notice that I offer a Flush Mount Album by Graphi Studios. This is a beautiful wedding album produced in Italy and offered by many high end photographers.

There can be a lot of confusion when it comes to wedding album terminology so I thought I would try to explain the difference in wedding albums. I would highly recommend that whatever photographer you choose you confirm what type of album is included in your package. Of course, if you choose me you will already know after reading below!

Magazine wedding albums, flush mount wedding albums and coffee table wedding albums typically all mean the same thing. For sake of consistency I will call these type of albums flush mount wedding albums.

Each page is custom designed and can incorporate an infinite number of variations in background pictures, colors, detail pictures and much more. One of my favorite characteristics is the ability to have a panoramic or a two-page spread. This means that the right and left side of the page is printed as one continuous page. Notice in the picture below there is no seam in the middle of the album.

The two examples below (called a layout) is an example of a two page spread.

Flush mount albums are drastically different than your parents wedding albums which were typically matted albums with 1 to 4 prints behind a mat.

The “flush mount” terminology refers to pages that are printed and mounted with a clean edge often on thicker backing (usually 1/16 of an inch). This give the album a very contemporary and sturdy look. The sturdy construction also prevents the album pages from warping and bending.

Many photographers offer a Photo Book which is printed thru websites such as Picaboo, Shutterfly and many other on-line stores. These books offer a less expensive option, but can be limited in their design options. These are often designed by using the website’s “drag and drop” software. Panoramic and two-page spreads are typically not available for these books as each page is printed individually.

Photo Books are a great option for parent albums, grandparent albums and proof books.

A proof book is a thumbnail print of each picture from your wedding with the picture number underneath. This is great for passing around to family and friends that want to order pictures. Below is a sample of what a proof book would look like (sorry for the tiny tiny picture).

As mentioned above I offer the Graphi Album, but proof albums and photo albums can always be added to a package a la carte.

I hope this provides a little bit of clarity to the wedding album options. If you found this helpful feel free to leave some blog love (I just learned that terminology myself...it means leave a comment!).

Making the Most of Your Engagement and Wedding Pictures

This will be a two part series on how to get great pictures at your wedding or engagement session.

Let's start with engagement pictures.

Understand that 99% of all couples are a little nervous/uncomfortable in front of the camera. This is the main reason why we do the engagement session. This provides me not only a great opportunity to get to know each of you better, but also understand what techniques help keep you relaxed in front of the camera.

I will use some of Sue and Paul's pictures. You might remember them from my post here.

Step No 1: Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Almost every couple I have ever photographed at one point turned to me and said, “How are we doing?”.

Don’t worry about how you are doing. We will work as a team to get great pictures. Your only job is to not put too much pressure on yourself or your partner.

Especially in the beginning of a session couples are a little more nervous, but by the end of the session I promise that we will have some amazing and fun pictures.

You can see below the difference in body language from a picture taken in the very beginning of Sue and Paul’s session and one taken right at the end.

A picture from the beginning of the session.

Overall a good picture, but compare it to the picture below taken well into the session and see how the body language is totally different. They don't even remember that I am there.

Step No. 2: Talk, hug, kiss, laugh, smile
You’ve gotten over the paparazzi like attention that you are receiving, but now you are not sure what to do. Stand, walk, sit, kiss…”What do you want us to do?” is another popular question that a lot of couples ask.

The simple answer is talk to each other , hug each other, kiss each other, laugh with each other. The more that you interact with your partner the better the pictures will be. Talk about how you met, how you got in engaged, memories that you share as a couple. This will bring out the natural emotion and playfulness in each of you which makes for great pictures.

Check out the pictures below where Sue and Paul were able to do just this.

And because I love so many of Sue and Paul’s engagement pictures here are a few more of my favorites.

Next week I will talk about how to make the most of your wedding pictures!