That's Mr. Polka Dot to You

First let me say that I love these images!  Gatlin is such a sweet little boy... however, he does look a little bit gangster in the above image :)  It just makes me smile every time I see it.  "Hey, you talkin' to me?  That's Mr. Polka Dot to you buddy."
Anyway, I'm just being silly.  I thought Gatlin and I were only going to have one more guaranteed session together, but his mom won my contest last week!  Now the poor kid is stuck with me for another year.  I can't wait to see him cruising around for our one year session.  I want to get him in action.  Look for his one year session this fall!

Flowers a al Courtney

I have to take a moment to brag on my friend a little.  My friend Courtney is secretly a superhero.  Not only is she working full time in higher ed, raising a 3 year old, getting her master's... she also does amazing things with flowers.  She was doing a wedding in Jonesboro, for a friend, in her spare time.  I took the chance to stop by and snap a few pics of her beautiful flowers.  
Now she won't be able to hide her talent, or her superhero costume :)

Contest Time!!

Can you tell which 3 things are different?  Go to my Facebook page and be the first to post the correct answers and you will win a free session for your family!!

Tinley + Parker

Despite a dust storm and a downpour, Tinley & Parker tied the knot.  Besides...a wet knot always ties tighter.  Congratulations!

Gatlin - Preview

A quick one for Mom.

Eden's Dilemma

I love it when my clients come up with ideas that are a little out of the box, which is why I so enjoyed the shoot with Eden Spa & Boutique yesterday.  The results were wonderful!  So great, in fact, that they now cannot decide which shot will be on their next round of billboards in Jonesboro.
Go "like" Eden's facebook page and cast your vote today!  Choose your favorite image and favorite tagline ("I'm game for your acne", "I'll tackle your acne" or "I'll beat your acne").

My Recipes - Caprese

 I LOVE Caprese Salad.  It has such a fresh and unexpected taste.  My husband loves it so much that I now have 3 basil plants in my sunroom so we always have a fresh supply in the house.  My way is not exactly traditional though.  I think the real thing only adds olive oil and salt to the tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella.  I like to add a balsamic reduction to mine. 

This isn't probably the prettiest version of it.  I was making it for our dinner one night and decided at the last minute I would snap a few pictures on the patio.  If you want to do individual servings, do stacks.  It makes a great presentation.  At parties do pick ups on little skewers with cherry tomatoes.

 For the balsamic reduction, I used a cheap, supermarket brand of balsamic vinegar.  I put about half the bottle in a small saucepan and brought it to a simmering boil.  Don't let your heat get too high, though.  Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Take it off of the heat and let it cool.  If you have extra, just store it in the fridge.  It is great for lots of things.

I recently bought a bottle of Katz Zinfandel Vinegar at the Savory Pantry in Hot Springs (one of my favorite places to visit when I'm there).  If you can get your hands on that, it is a real treat.  Reduce it and use it as a finishing coating on baked chicken.  Delicious!

 Putting it together is easy.  I use more tomato than cheese, almost twice as much tomato.  Fresh mozzarella is a must!!  Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, drizzle with olive oil and reduction.  Roll the basil leaves and slice thinly to julienne, then scatter across the top.  Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Custom Photography

Photographers often talk about custom photography and what that means, so here's my go at it.  When it comes to photography, custom means pretty much what it does in other areas.  Nothing is cookie cutter, each session is tailored to you.  If you want location, we do it.  Studio, we do it.  At your house?  Ok.  In a meadow 20 miles outside of town?  Ok.  On a rooftop in Paris?  Ok, but only if you're paying for the flight :)  That's just me wishful thinking.  If there is a product that I don't offer and I can figure out a way to provide that to you, I will. 

All that being said, custom does come with a price.  My session fees are $100 weekday and $150 weekend.  I have a 3 year old and my weekends are precious, hence the increase.  I have a minimum print order of $300.  The session fee pays for my time at the shoot, the print sales pay for my time behind the scenes, editing, communicating, uploading, ordering, etc.  I spend alot of time on my photos and on my education, plus I use top of the line equipment.  All this to give you the best experience I can.

Some people would say the price is too high.  How much do you pay the plumber just to show up?  Mine costs $125.  Electrician?  $90.  This is usually for 1 hour or less of work.  Now don't get me wrong... I appreciate those guys.  It's dirty work and sometimes involves crawling through spider infested attics and crawl spaces.  But how much is it worth to you for someone to show up and spend time with your loved ones, capturing your special moments together?  The images will last a lifetime... your sink will get clogged again in 6 months, but your photos will still be on the wall.

Snapshots are wonderful, spontaneous and capture all of life's big events.  They're the bones of your photographic memories, but custom photos are special.  Think of the snapshots as your playclothes,  your jeans and tee.  Custom photos are your party dress.  You don't have as many, but you really love them and you look and feel great in them.  They showcase you and your loved ones in the best way.

Many photographers discuss all of the new "moms with a camera" in the industry.  The digital revolution has changed the playing field.  I am not one to put down other photographers work.  I prefer to focus on my work and how to make it better.  Also, I happen to be one of those moms and I find it a little offensive.  I would like to know how they were born with an innate knowledge of photography.  It seems to me that we all had to learn at some point, some earlier than others, but some people can do something for years and they still don't quite get it.  Others can pick up a skill and run with it.  I think it comes down not only to ability and knowledge, but taste.  Some have it, some don't.

Now that most (not all!) lifestyle photographers shoot digital, I think the editing process can really make or break the work.  All good photography starts with a well taken image.  Rarely editing can save you, but it is not something you should fall back on.  I see some very poor editing out there on a daily basis and some that is great.  I have never done a "straight out of the camera" post (SOOC), so here it goes.  

I'm posting the same photo 3 ways. I chose a photo of my son, he won't mind.  This photo was taken spontaneously on our patio and is maybe not the best quality photo you will see, but I chose it because his face was particularly dirty.  Now me, I would print this dirt and all for my bulletin board (see previous post), but for the sake of this exercise I will remove all the food, dirt, grandma's lipstick print and scratches from his face. 

First: Straight from the camera

Second:  Edited

You can do one of those "what's different in these two pictures" games with this one.  Look closely, not only are the dirty marks gone, but his eyes are little brighter, skin tone is a little better, no red eyes, etc.

And now for the third one...  notice my watermark isn't on it.  I have no desire to claim it.  This is my version of what I consider poor editing.

Third:  Poor Edit

I see so much of this on the market.  Heavy, unrealistic vignetting around the edges, red cast around eyes, nose and chin, poor skin tone that is too red or too yellow, skin that looks like it has been smudged with an eraser, "evil eyes" that have been extremely lightened and the list goes on.

So my request to you as a client or potential client, is that you educate yourself when you shop for a photographer.  I may not be your choice, but make sure your choice is the quality you deserve.  There is a photographer with the right style and price for everyone.  

Photo Display

I'm always thinking about new ways to display my photos.  I love a beautifully framed and matted print and a gallery wrap canvas is great too, but I like to change things up.  I have so many pictures of my son, our families and trips we have taken and I just don't have the wall or shelf space to accommodate them all.  Plus, that takes up quite a bit of time.  I have good intentions about switching them out of frames, but well.... good intentions.
I decided last year to make a bulletin board for my living room.  The original idea was to cover with really great upholstery fabric and just do a few larger, artsy prints and use my old brooches as pins.  I have quite a few of them and I don't ever wear them (again, good intentions:).  Some are passed down from family, some are junk store finds and some are newer, but they are beautiful and rarely see the light of day. 
We moved to a new house in February and I still had not made my board (again, good intentions:) because I hadn't found just the right fabric.  I had purchased the frame I wanted during the summer.  It was actually meant to be a frame liner, but I loved the linen covering and thought, why not?  It was large (40x50) and I had planned to hang it horizontally.  When we moved I had a very long, very blank wall in my kitchen.  I decided to go a little more casual with my project and purchased a second frame to match.  They are hanging side by side, vertically, in my kitchen.  I also ditched the brooch idea, but maybe I'll do that someday.
I purchased foam core and had it cut to fit.  I still couldn't find the right fabric though.  Then one day I was on the Anthropologie website and noticed these curtains that I loved on clearance.  They only came in 63" and weren't long enough for my windows and it hit me, they were perfect for my boards.
I starched and ironed the curtains, laid them on the floor and sprayed lightly with an adhesive, then placed the foam core on.  Then, the hard part, I took straight pins and starting from the middle on each side, put them in about every 1".  My fingers were killing me by the end.  You have to pin the middle on each side, pulling tight and work your way out.  Do a little on each side and then move to the next one, so you work evenly.  I did end up with a few small puckers, but the photos cover them.  Next I put in the covered boards in my frames and nailed them in.  (Or you could have a framer do all of this for you, much easier)
All of the photos that I print for the boards, I do with a white border.  I just think it makes them look more finished.  I like to do groupings of photos.  I have a Razorback group, my son in the cotton, ag photos, Toronto photos, Biltmore photos, etc.  Do a few large and then various sizes of small, including square for interest.  I also have some of my son's school papers displayed.  As they rotate out, any favorites will go into frames and with the white border they will look matted.
Hope this inspires you to make a photo display for your home!

Emerson Exploring

 I spent some time with Emerson this week.  She has just turned 4 years old and is growing up too fast.  She has the cutest little personality and I always know I'm in for a good shoot with her.  It doesn't hurt that the kid has a pretty rockin' wardrobe either. ;-)
We spent some time exploring the Craighead Forest Park, one of my favorite places in Jonesboro.  It is an amazing park and if you haven't spent any time there, you should.  When I have a shoot with a child, my goal is always to make them as happy as I can in the process.  No child will last long if you ask them to sit and be still constantly, or say cheese.  If I walk away with only a few keepers and the child has had a good time, then I consider the shoot a success.  In this case, we had way more than a few keepers... more like 80.  LOL!
Thanks again to Emerson and her mommy for a wonderful day!