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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Family Photos w/ The Family Pet

I love seeing family photography where the family pet is included.  They're a family member too!  (gone are the days when dogs were strictly outside/backyard dogs...now they're literally a cherished member of the family.)


Courtesy of: MyFoxyFamily.com

Its funny, our dogs even sleep in bed with us!  I wouldn't have it any other way...

If you're like me and want to think of creative ways to have your family pet in the family photo, here are some really cute options by some phenominal photographers and beautiful families.


Family Photos:


Daniela DeGrassi Photography
Jackie Culmer Photography
Jackie Culmer Photography

Whitney Owens Designs Photography
Newborn Introduction:
Elena S. Blair Photography
Newborn Photos:


Sweet Feet Photography


Tara Romasanta Photography


Avenue B Photography
(I just love these big labs resting their heads on newborns - so adorable!)



Engagement Photos:
Amanda Pair Photography

Adrian Hitt Photography
Wedding Photos:

The Nichols Photography
Children with their Pets:


Beth Jansen Photography

Photographer Unkown
Boggio Studios
Diana Leventhal Photography
Senior Photos:


Oak Stream Senior Photography

Banyan Pet Photography

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Quick Family Photos

While attending a wedding over the weekend, I realized that my husband, daughter and I were all dressed up and couldn't resist the urge to get a few photos of us.  ....and well, while we're taking photos, we might as well try to make them the best we can get, right?  We were also in a beautiful location (on a ranch) and they had this amazing red barn....again, couldn't resist.  Thanks to my always helpful brother-in-law....I asked him if he would snap a few shots of us against the red wall.  (Little did he know what he was getting himself into...)  Here's what we ended up with...he did a pretty good job!

I took these ones of my little one afterwards.  (I should mention that there was a large bounce house inflated right behind me so her attention was slightly distracted)   


Not bad for a set of family photos on a whim....and we're even color coordinating coincidentally.  I used my kit lens and some photoshop and that's it.  I'm very happy with how they turned out.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My Favorite Family Photo Ideas

This is a compilation of my favorite family photo ideas.  There are so many to choose from nowadays and you want to be creative and/or different, but also stay true to your sense of style or taste.

Color Coordinated Photos

Color coordination is always what makes family portraits appealing to me.  The photo below is a perfect example of how nice it is when everyone is coordinated and the photographer has found a location that suits the wardrobe colors.  I love how this family took a beautiful and organized photo, and then took another chaotic but still beautiful photo.

Photo By: Ashlee Raubach Photography



                                              Photo by: ashleeraubachphotography.com




Monday, April 30, 2012

Question: Should I Watermark or Copyright?

Why do I need to watermark my photos?  ...and not just with marks from a coffee cup!  Well, I've worked on my watermark (which I taught myself and summarized in the last post) and used some of my floral pics to test out the new look.  whoohoo! exciting stuff!  What's more exciting is that once you learn how to watermark, you can easily change it as needed, or as your brand is evolving.

Well, its spring time in the U.S. and the flowers are in bloom!  For a beginner like me, its like kids in a candy store with all of this good inspiration blooming around us.  I have the most beautiful roses blooming in my backyard and Texas just had its lovely bluebonnet season.  So much fun!  I am taking some amazing photos.  I know floral photography is probably overrated for most seasoned photographers, but for me, I am so excited to get to capture some pretty and colorful shots and also get to use some creativity. 


Note: You need to create a separate watermark for both your horizontal photos and your vertical photos.


I received some good input on a beginners Facebook page: if you use a watermark on your photos, don't use it in a place that distracts from the image....and don't make it too large, unless you're trying to sell your photo and don't want it reproduced.  Otherwise, if you just want to claim its yours, you can put your watermark somewhere in the corner of your photo. 


I started off making mine too large like this:

Watermarks and Copyrights
After I figured out how to actually do the watermark, my next question was: "when and how should I use my watermark?"  

Once you post your photo online, it immediately becomes accessible to the world.  Even on Facebook with privacy settings, any of your friends can copy and save your image.  So essentially, unless you never post online, your photos are always at risk of being copied.  If you're like me, its wold be a compliment if one of my friends liked my photo enough to save it, but if someone actually took my photo and made money with it (like for instance through a stock-photo website), then I would probably be pretty salty.  Putting watermarks on your photos will protect this from happening to you.

Here are questions your should ask yourself if you're wondering whether you should watermark your photos or not:
  • Is your work available to the public?   
  • Can anyone and everyone see your pictures?  
  • Are your images uploaded to a photo hosting website?   
  • Do you have a blog that you post photos to?  
  • Do you share your work digitally?  
  • Do you get paid for your work?   
Should I Watermark or Copyright?
You can go even further if you want by copyrighting your photos. There are two ways to copyright a photo: (1) the free way or  (2) the legal way.  

The Free Way
As soon as you take a photo, its yours and you own the rights to it. (According to the Berne Convention ) This is the copyright that is instantly yours and free for at least 25 years.  However, someone can use your photo if they credit you as the owner of the photo.  Unfortunately, this does not guarantee you will be paid when someone uses your photo or how you will prove its yours.  

The Legal Way
The legal way of copyrighting your photos protects you on all levels. You can apply through the U.S. Copyright Office to obtain a legal copyright to your photo, which can sometimes be expensive.  Obtaining a copyright through the Copyright Office is for those who sell their work to distributed publications.  If someone were to steal your photo, you are legally protected by the Copyright Office and the United States government. Go through the U.S. Copyright Office and register your work either online or on paper (the website offers a PDF file for you to download, fill out and mail in).  Registering online is much easier and provides you with a status tracker.  It is also cheaper to file online (only $35 versus $50 to do it on paper).  You can copyright a single photo or an entire collection of photos (Form GR/Pph/CON is needed for a group of published works).    

 At this stage in my learning curve, I think its safe to say that I won't be needing copyrights for my photos, but I will watermark my images if I feel like its necessary.  Hope this helps anyone wondering...


Saturday, April 21, 2012

How to Make a Logo and Watermark in Photoshop

After watching and reading some tutorials on how to make a watermark logo in Photoshop, I'm still trying to find the answer to what I'm looking for.   I figured I would share the wealth as I find things that are useful to getting the logo/watermark accomplished.

This is a great tutorial for how to make a basic text logo:
How to Make an Awesome Logo Using Photoshop CS5 in Seven Easy Steps

Monday, April 16, 2012

Newborn Posing Guide


I recently read a post by Rachel Vanoven, a newborn photographer in Indianapolis...she was expressing her frustrations with "new" photographers putting newborns in risky positions and/or using props that put the newborn at risk of injury.  I agree with her post and think that you should have lots of experience posing newborns before trying the more risky stuff.  As an amateur photographer, I would never go into my first photoshoot thinking I could pull off the same things the pros do, especially when it comes to the safety of a newborn.   

Rachel Vanoven - Getting This Off My Chest Blog Post - Newborns

So this post will be about posing newborns, because as I have learned, there are tons of safe positions you can easily put them into without compromising mom's mental state and baby's safety.

I saw a photo last week where someone had propped a baby on the second shelf of an MDF bookshelf.  I just kept thinking how I wouldn't trust that bookshelf....it would need to be solid wood and deep enough to safely hold the baby.  But, then I realized...this is a newborn!  There are so many cute things you can do with a sleeping newborn that are safe!  Why risk it...

 I'm posting pics of some of the super cute positions I think would be just as good, and safer!  Not everyone has to push the limit and do things that are edgier or more difficult than the next.  You just need to use your creative side and think of safe things.




Here is an example of the first newborn photoshoot I did....you can see that I have him resting comfortably on a boppy with a soft blanket over it.  I clearly didn't have him in a position that was comprising his safety or comfort for that matter.




Here are some other good examples:



This is a personal favorite of mine... perfect for a new baby boy announcement.  Super cute!










This one is simple and very pretty for a newborn girl:


This one is safe and totally cute for gender neutral:


Here is a tutorial on how to pose SAFELY:



Tricks of the trade:





The Setup:




Here are some poses to avoid if you're new at photographing newborns. Come up with something new, but safer:


Source: etsy.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Photoshoot Inspiration - Five Great Photoshoot Ideas

Chase Jarvis has some great ideas in this blog post regarding photoshoot inspiration.  I especially love the grandma/grandpa photoshoot idea.  To capture your grandma and/or grandpa from every angle and to photograph their hands would be such a magical bonding experience. 

Chase Jarvis: 5 Photoshoot Ideas Worth Stealing


I actually shot some great ones of my hubby's grandma Ruby who was 89 years old at the time.  She lived with us for a couple of years and our dogs really took a liking to her...I'm glad I got the pictures I did because sadly she's no longer with us, but I still cherish the photos I took of her and the little trinkets she gave me over the years.  Here's my favorite of the many photos I took of her:  (Keep in mind that I was using a little digital camera at the time)


Despite the quality of the image, I still think I should try editing this photo in Photoshop to clean it up a little bit since I've always wanted to frame it somewhere in our house.   Such an amazing lady, with some great stories to share with us!  For some reason, I just love this photo and how the sun is playing off the side of her face.  Thinking of you Granny Goose.