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Lifestyle

July13th

Inspire: Sibling / Commercial Session by Southern Charm Portraits

Posted in: Child, Inspire, Lifestyle
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We’ve all seen the cribs in the field photographs for baby portraits – but how about some actual beds in the field? This session by Southern Charm Portraits uses a beautiful bed along with sheets and clothing that all match. Throw in a pillow fight and you’ve got a fantastic session.

Clothing from Polkadaises.

From Southern Charm Portraits: I recently did a commercial shoot for a friend who has a boutique clothing line- Polkadaisies. (www.polkadaisiesblog.com) We work together to promote each others’ businesses. It works out well for both of us! My children get the most adorable outfits, and she gets free pictures!

I clocked lots of hours during the days leading up to our shoot – planning props and matching fabric collections to my crazy setups. After all our hard work and time, the shoot was pulled off pretty much flawlessly- all fourteen sets! We were able to take a deep breath and enjoy the success of our the day as we watched the last set unfold.

To say this brother and sister were excited about these pictures would be an understatement! They loved being able to do all the things they are not normally allowed to do! I mean, what brother and sister doesn’t jump on the chance to hit each other? : ) You should have been there to watch them and to hear the big laughs and see the big smiles- especially as the feathers began to fly!

The setup was not the most convenient idea to pull off, but worth the effort for sure. We already had the iron bed, sheets, and comforter. I just purchased two feather pillows the night before the shoot, and my friend made the banner and throw pillows. It all came together quite well! I think the colors of the Polkadaisies Candy Confetti collection the pillow fight theme were the perfect combo for a stylized, fun childhood theme!

These images were captured in 15-20 minutes right at sunset.

My tips:
- Cut small holes in the end of the pillows (make sure the pillows have feathers in them!) before starting the pillow fight.
- Make sure you have plenty of help to move the bed. (Iron beds are heavy!)
- Snap continuously! With lots of movement, you need to take several shots to make sure you capture some “keepers”. You don’t want to miss anything.
// By Southern Charm Portraits // F ollow on Facebook //
May16th

Inspire: Rain Themed Session by Modern Exposures Photography

Posted in: Child, Inspire, Lifestyle

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If you think about weather from Southern California (where I am), you might imagine bright sunny days along with beaches, palm trees, and maybe some surf. Imagine my surprise when I heard the sound of rain on Sunday morning. If I had a session, I would definitely have been rained out.

This rain themed session by Modern Exposures Photography would have been great inspiration for those days where you find you’ve been rained on unexpectedly. It screams not to be afraid to use color and to just let the children play – and oh yes, don’t forget all the cute details.

From Modern Exposures Photography: This was a rain themed session where we utilized a few key props like cute rain boots, umbrellas and of course water! I love the color the umbrellas add to the photos and mom did a great job styling adorable outfits for her daughters to highlight the rain boots.

As photographers, we have had a hard time deciding if we want to use props in our photo sessions, but think the right prop at the right session can be amazing! Rather than focusing on a specific prop, we focus instead of an activity that children would enjoy and build the session and prop ideas from that perspective. These types of sessions give children something to focus on and play with. Our favorite photos are often the ones where a child is lost in an activity and gives a true smile or laugh! We also love to get detail shots of the aftermath of a messy activity (the dirty dress or frosting on little hands and faces).

Even though this session was a “prop” styled session, we can always get some photos that no one would ever know are from a themed session. This is especially important for providing parents and grandparents with more traditional images that they can frame and display in their home.

// By Modern Exposures Photography // Follow on Facebook //
May11th

Inspire: Father’s Day Inspiration by Gina Maxine Photography

Posted in: Family, Inspire, Lifestyle

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We’ve featured some sessions by Gina Maxine Photography before, but with Father’s Day just around the corner, I hoped this session would give you inspiration for your Father’s Day sessions. This Star Wars theme was a perfect way to personalize a session and really, what dad wouldn’t love it?

From Gina Maxine Photography: Sometimes I like to take photos of my child with a theme that they enjoy right now. My son is into Star Wars and playing with his lightsaber is a part of his daily life. He has a big huge smile on his face every time he looks at these photos. To get the lightsaber effect, all I did was get a brush in photoshop and painted in the light. Then I made a layer mask and got another brush and painted over it with the red/blue color to make it look like it glowed. When my son saw these, his eyes became so big that he almost believed that it really happened. This could be a really fun Father’s Day gift too, wink-wink…

// By Gina Maxine Photography //