I wish I could say that this is a new client who needed headshots for their L.A. portfolio. But, in fact this is a client who has been in front of my camera for over ten years. Having first met her at about age seven, it was pretty easy to tell right up fron that she was a force to be reckoned with.
It was great seeing Sara again, and chatting with her mom. We took a lot of images… I’ve included a few of my favorites here.
The seventh annual Most Beautiful Baby Contest starts in just a few days. I was thinking that maybe you need to know more about what goes on behind the scenes to put this together.
In November, we began contacting prize sponsors for the contest. We first contacted prize sponsors from last year. Most of them donated something again this year, but a couple decided to pass. Then we began contacting new area businesses who might want to be a part of the contest advertising.
See, we are offering to feature their company’s logo on all our advertising, which includes posters, mailers, online ads, and much more. This is normally quite a value just to have their logo in front of so many readers. But when it is also associated with a fundraising effort, it gives them just that much more of an emotional boost.
So, starting January 15, we start taking portrait sessions of children from six months to 30 months (2-1/2 years). The objective of a minimum and maximum age is that we want the baby to be able to sit up, and most kids can by or before six months. And the maximum age keeps this from being about all the cutesy things that older children can do. The age range kind of keeps it all fair among children who still have baby cheeks and surprise in their faces.
So, throughout the next 45 days, we take pictures of kids. Usually lots of them. And over that time period, that’s all we focus on. We continue to promote the contest, too.
One important element is our contribution to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Of the session fees, about 40% goes to St. Jude. This is an ongoing donation made with each new session. This year, we’re going to try to make those donations in the name of the parent and/or child, in addition to our name.
When the parents preview the images, they also select ONE image to submit for the contest. We do not select the picture; the parents do. And we save an unretouched (we might clean up minor skin issues) copy of that image for submission to our judges.
At the end of the contest, we put all of the entries online for our judges in a private directory on our website. Each of the judges (usually 3-4 judges, all are hand-selected by Diana and I, and are completely unrelated to the contest, the parents or children involved) assigns a first, second or third preferred selection to the images they see. The accumulated value of the judge’s selections are tallied up and the image with the highest total is the winner. The next highest four are assigned second and third place, and two honorable mentions.
Then we start assigning prizes to the winners. And finally, we start calling the winners.
So, now you know. The contest always results in a lot of fun, great images, and some really happy contestants.
Do you know someone who has a beautiful baby? Of course you do. Tell them to call now, 304-263-3100. The entry fee/session fee is $35 for a 30-minute session. If they want a full session, it’s only $15 more (which includes more time for more outfits).
See you soon!
So, I’m driving to the studio this morning… the usual route.
Let me back up a second.
Diana and I usually ride in to the studio together. Since we live in Shepherdstown, the ride to Pikeside in Martinsburg is about 30 minutes in length. I usually drive, and Diana usually rides shotgun.
Along the way it is not unusual for us to see deer, squirrels and various other wildlife. We’ve seen raccoons, opossums, hawks, and a heron once in awhile (especially down by the river, but once crossing the road), and even a couple of foxes. We tend to point them out to each other, and often in an effort not to make them part of the roadkill statistics. :\
This morning, however, we’re on one of the back roads (to avoid all the traffic lights that have sprung up around here) and after rounding a turn, I see a turkey… not one of those skinny, ugly birds you see in groups of ten or more. This was a fluffy turkey that was on a pathway to suicide. If I’d delayed a half second in responding, our little friend would have met his demise. If the brakes had locked up, again we’d be having a turkey feast this weekend. Instead, the bird missed my front bumper by mere inches.
The part of the story that’s missing here is that Diana often contemplates her day on the ride into work. Which often means she isn’t watching the road by this point, since we are typically out of the danger of wildlife crossing the road. So, as I hit the brakes, she lurched forward into her seatbelt. Now fully aware of the surroundings, and a healthy dose of adrenalin, she said a silent curse for the turkey, and went back to contemplating.
I wonder what kind of turkey that was?
There comes a time when you just need a little change. I guess I’ve reached that time. I’ve been using one blog system for a number of years, and it has served me well. But for a number of reasons, I have decided to change the way my blog works.
1) We are now hosting our own blog on our website. The blog address is http://tlcphotography.com/blog. This gives us an opportunity to control how much we can do and from whence our images go and are stored.
2) Improved automation. A lot more things are available for the new blog system that I find more advantageous for the type of blogging I do.
3) Remote handling. I can do just about anything without having to “log in” to do it. I’m all about making it easier to do.
I like simple and smart.
We’ve been doing seminars and workshops, teaching and sharing our techniques for many years. This is the first year we’ve opened our workshops up to everyone, though. We are pleased to be working directly with Photo One Software and with TimeExposure’s ProSelect in our first workshop of the year. Both companies have been very supportive and eager to help move our educational products into the lime light.
Photo One’s Doug MacFaddin posted this on their blog:
Nitty Gritty Workflow Workshop
Both companies are offering generous discounts on their software products for workshop attendees. You can visit our workshop site here. Each workshop has its own website and registration link, too.
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At least once a year, my daughter (she’s really my stepdaughter, but I feel like we are closer than that) and grandson, Cameron, come in for photos. He’s six now and having new pictures of him was already a necessity.
Cameron has gotten to the point where he somewhat rules the session… he knows how things work, and even picks some of his own props and backgrounds. I enjoy the time he’s here, and we always have fun trying to figure things out.
But when he’s done… he’s done. 🙂
As of last Friday, December 4…
Just eight days ago, Ella was still in the womb.
A little history, if you’ll indulge me. About four years ago, we started doing some magazine work for a new publication. We got along quite well with the publisher, and even did her daughter’s senior portraits. So we had a great relationship with the magazine, we did a lot of work on several covers and tons of articles over the years.
So when Margo called us to photograph her first grandchild, we were more than honored – and we accepted immediately.
Meet Ella Nicole…
We first met Julia during the 2009 Most Beautiful Baby Contest (by the way, the 2010 Most Beautiful Baby Contest starts on January 15!), and she won second place. ‘Vibrant personality’ comes to mind when I think about Julia. She’s just so full of life, has a very definitive personality, and a smile that just cannot be ignored… or, as Diana put it “would melt a snowman.”
So, she was back last week, with her mom (Marla) and we once again were graced by her fun-loving nature. Early on, Marla asked us to create a couple of images from Julia’s new-found love of dance. Since Marla was also a dancer in her teen years, we did a few fun things and some very meaningful ones (to both). But I had an idea in mind that really kind of took me by storm. It was to create a kind of contrast in the size and difference in “ability” from someone who has many years experience, and someone who’s just starting out. This is what we came up with.
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