Senior: Amber
I love having intelligent conversations with our clients. Amber seems to know what she’s doing and where she’s headed. 🙂
For more information, visit our Seniors site.
Tony Cooper
Published: 617 articles
Senior: Matt
Matt and I clicked right away… it paid off in the long run, because we spent more than two hours together creating portraits. Diana got involved on one effort, because we needed some serious artwork skills.
Help a friend; be a part of science
A friend of ours is working on a science fair project and we’re trying to lend her a hand to get more participants to complete a study she is doing. Here’s what she provided as information for the project:
“Hannah Williams is conducting a science fair project in need of people willing to read an eye chart and have their picture taken. The test will only last less than five minutes, but you cannot have your contacts in to read the chart. The picture will be cropped to only show your left eye as shown in the picture. Any and all participants are appreciated; thanks in advance!”
We are hosting Hannah at our studio on Saturday, October 30 at 4:00pm until she has photographed everyone participating. At last count, she needs 35 more participants. Wouldn’t it be great if we got ALL 35 of them for her?
If you can make it, please call (304-263-3100) or email (tony@tlcphotography.com) to let us know you are coming. You can also reach us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/tlcphotographywv) to respond that you will be at the studio.
PLEASE NOTE: Hannah wants to make it clear than anyone under the age of 18 is also welcome to participate, however their parents must sign the consent form. Hannah will have forms available for everyone.
As Hannah points out, this takes less than five minutes, and is to help her with a school science fair project. We are only helping her out, and offering space to gather everyone at once to make it go quicker. There is no obligation to purchase anything, and nobody will try to sell you anything. We’re just doing this because we like Hannah and think this is a worthwhile project (mostly because we are both fascinated by eyes).
Please call, email, contact us in some way so we can make sure to plan enough time for everyone.
304-263-3100
tony@tlcphotography.com
facebook.com/tlcphotographywv
Thanks!
Senior: Trent
Trent is no ordinary senior… and as such he needed something completely out of the ordinary for his senior portraits. Finding the perfect location is always a challenge, but I knew just where I wanted to take him.
For more information about senior portraits,, visit our Seniors site.
On-location with Marla
I’ve done pictures with Marla before… she was about 5-6 years younger. I’ve also photographed her daughter, Julia. The objective with Marla’s shoot was to balance natural surroundings with a casual approach. Again, we only used natural light via a reflector.
Heavy filtering here focuses the subject within her surroundings.
The light was in the perfect place… or rather, we positioned Marla to take perfect advantage of where the light was falling.
Aligning a subject with the existing lines is more flattering than crossing them.
There was no way we could ignore Marla’s daughter… so a tender moment was well worth photographing. It ended up being a favorite, of course.
Diana called this one “End of Day”. Aptly named.
All little girl. What fun in those little eyes. 🙂
On-location with Taylor
You may remember Taylor from the shoot with did with her in Charles Town. The objective with her was to combine architecture with her beauty, and once again use only reflected light to illuminate her face. This is in two parts… the first part takes place in some areas of Shepherdstown. The second part takes place along the Tow Path across the river from Shepherdstown.
Just a reflector and a lot of playing with the balance of light.
There are two people laying on the ground to get this shot. It was worth it.
Love the lines of the stairway with this one.
The patterns of light were great to work within.
She wasn’t a fan of the hat, but we knew what would happen to the light on her face with a white hat in direct sunlight. We did a little dodging and contrast adjustments to get the balance just right.
On-location with Hannah
As part of an ongoing commitment to education, both for myself and for others I intend to teach, I take on a variety of assignments that are just for my benefit. This was one of them (as well as two others you will see with Taylor & Marla).
I had specific ideas for lighting and posing with each model, which was augmented by ideas from Diana as we worked our way through each venue. This particular venue was downtown Shepherdstown, in about a one block area. Most of you who know Shepherdstown may recognize certain places.
In front of the Shepherdstown Bakery… love big glass windows. I should note that all of these shots were lit using only a reflector. Properly positioned, a reflector is a very powerful tool for lighting.
There’s a doorway next to China Kitchen (and I’m glad nobody decided to come out right then) that is old and weathered… a perfect contrast for a beautiful portrait.
Often just something as simple as leaning on a rail is a very nice portrait. If you look closely at the railing, you will see faces. 🙂
White or light colored hats on very bright days can create a kind of softening effect of the light on the face. Filled reflector lighting helped bring out the lovely smile and eyes.
With only a little post-shoot work, Diana added considerably to the overall image. It’s not how much effort is put into an image that makes it work… it’s knowing how little you need to do to keep that natural beauty of a well-captured image.
Senior: Alexis
Sometimes I hit it off well with parents AND their children. Really having connected with Bill and Diane (Alexis’ parents), they were wonderful to work with and knew exactly what they wanted.
Alexis was just a great subject… she has an amazing smile, a great disposition and once we got to know each other, she was a lot of fun. The first picture here is hanging in their living room as a large gallery wrap canvas. Beautiful.
To see more, visit our Seniors page!
One-Size Sessions For The Holidays
In the past, we have had several different holiday session fees. One for in-studio, one for mini-sessions, and one for on-location sittings. Well, no more. We have decided to create just ONE sitting fee for the balance of this year for all family, baby, pet and event sessions.
And yes, this applies to on-location sessions, too. No more on-location fees for the remainder of the year. So, if you would rather have your portraits done in your home, a favorite family location nearby, or in one of our area’s beautiful parks, there’s no extra charge. That could save you as much as $150! The only requirement is that the location be within 20 miles of our studio.
A quick note about our studio before you decide to have them done at your favorite location. In addition to our large, state-of-the-art studio facility, we also have a large portrait park in the backyard of our studio. It sports 18 fixed sets, including a gazebo, porch swing, Spanish house, barn (complete with hay), fountain area (see picture below), double-sided rock wall (dark on one side, light on the other), park bench, beach and much more. Because we grow ivy, most of these sets remain green year round.
But you need to act fast. We have already booked nearly half of the weekend slots available before the holidays, and that’s BEFORE we sent out this information. You must call to reserve your time and date, and you must pay the non-refundable session fee of $50 to hold your date/time. We are happy to give you a quote for out-of-area sessions, special events and other types of photography.
Just call… 304-263-3100 (out of area, call 888-349-3686) 🙂
Calling All Photographers
Have you heard that there is a new photographers group in our area?
Oh yes, and it meets monthly. For the time being, the meeting is held at TLC Photography’s studio in Martinsburg. The next meeting is November 2 at 6:30pm. Refreshments are provided and it’s open to all.
We have been going back and forth on creation of a photography group for awhile. This is the first serious effort at getting things moving again, and we have already had one full meeting – which went great. The objective of this group is to give other photographers the support and training they need to be productive, and to improve and encourage their skill sets. I have long been a proponent of education and re-education in an effort to maintain a high degree of end product for clients, and as long as the group continues in that direction, I will always promote it to other photographers.
We are looking for anyone who already makes a living at photography, wants to make a living at photography, or shoots professionally at any other level. At this upcoming meeting, we will be considering the formalization of the group, exploring the future of educational opportunities and sharing a few more war stories. And you are ALWAYS welcome to bring your latest works for review by other photographers.
Please mark your calendars now. November 2 (yes, that’s Election Day) at 6:30pm. TLC Photography’s address is 3628 Winchester Ave, Martinsburg WV. The phone number is 304-263-3100. Please call if you need directions.
You can visit the SVPP group on Facebook here.
See you there!
