We do a lot of executive-style headshots for people who are updating their business cards, brochures and websites. Christine and her assistant were looking for something that really brought out the friendly nature of their business (real estate). We took the time to show her that a more subtle brown was a better background for her picture than what she’d had before.
In the average year, we do 50-100 local headshot portraits.
Quick… what’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys?
Yeah, lots of things. How about twin two-year olds and a five-year old? That has the potential for lots of things, including fun.
The Penningtons originally contacted us because they’d won the cover contest from Child Guide Magazine. Every two months, Child Guide picks an entry from the list and have a complementary photo taken at our studio – which ends up on the magazine cover.
Mom and dad were extremely patient, hoping to get the cover shot done quickly and move on to some other photos we’d offered to take for them. The cover shot was… challenging. Not because the kids wouldn’t cooperate, though. Only one child had to act up, and then the others would do something to top their sibling. It was most prevalent in the twins. Mom would come over to correct one two-year old and, not wanting to be outdone by his brother, the other two-year old would get up and start acting like he needed to do something sillier. The five-year old was fairly well-behaved, too.
We still managed to get a great cover shot (for the Holiday issue), and this gem below of the three boys in their Ravens shirts. Okay, so you can’t see he logo, but trust me. These are some really cute kids!
We take a lot of pictures of babies, of all ages.
And throughout the years we’ve been photographing babies, we have never had two different sittings in which the parents wanted naked baby pictures in the same day. This was truly an exception, as we had two different sittings with two girls, one a year old and the other ten months. The first also had an additional outfit, but it was the naked pictures that truly brought out the fun baby pictures we love.
Each parent spent preview time with plenty of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’. It was a lot of fun for both babies, and we’re looking forward to more in the future.
A side note for those who follow our blog. Each year, we host a Most Beautiful Baby Contest. This contest runs from January 15-February 28 each year. In 2008, we will host our fifth annual contest. We are planning a lot of promotions for that contest, so stay tuned not only to our blog, but email us to be included on our exciting newsletter that will start going out to our regular customers in the coming weeks.
As rare as it is, we always welcome seniors to have a picture with one or more of their parents. Although it took a suggestion by us, Kayla and her mom posed for a photo, which ended up being one of their favorites as well.
Kayla will graduate from high school in 2008, and we look forward to seeing her and her mom again in the future.
Do you all remember that beautiful little girl that won our Most Beautiful Baby contest earlier this year? What a sweetie!
Well, she was here again today!
Only six months later, and she’s grown so much. But still has that amazing smile. You can see why we enjoyed seeing her for the first time back in February. Here are a few of my favorites, but they ended up selecting 36 of her photos for a personal theme album of Santanna.
We jokingly referred to this photo as her “runway shot.” She’s definitely got style!
It’s unknown exactly what she’s so surprised about, but don’t you just adore that expression!
Grandma and mom are Dallas Cowboys fans. Daddy is a Redskins fan. Apparently dad didn’t pack the outfit bag to come to the photography studio. She had a lot of really cute photos in this outfit.
Oh, they always save the cutest outfit for last. She was just absolutely darling in this. She started to get a little tired of pictures by this point, but not before she gave us a few grins and happy faces.
I really adore children. I think I’m actually getting MORE patient, if that’s possible.
Miranda epitomized “girls just want to have fun” when her mom pulled out a bubble blowing set and began taking advantage of clear weather for some fun. Miranda also was completely unwilling to release the balloons to play with the bubbles. This image was altered to enhance the bubbles some.
Sarah B (as she’s come to be called by many who know her) is about to start her senior year of high school, and has been dancing in local and national competitions for many years. We took this image as part of her portfolio. A dance wear company took great interest in Sarah recently and may be making her their spokes model. Go Sarah!!
Meredith and John had a nice big wedding, which began with a ceremony at St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood. A fantastic venue for weddings (photographically), I decided that capturing the somber moments was just as important as the laughing and lighter moments.
Here, Meredith and John share their first dance at Purple Iris in Martinsburg. The Purple Iris is one of our favorite venues. It’s impecable styling and beautiful lawn make for great photos, and the staff and service are perfect every time. We will be placing a coffee table-style album there soon!
Josh was one of three seniors done in a very short period of time. Quite possibly one of the most photogenic boys we’ve photographed this year, Josh was willing to try just about anything that didn’t involve wading in water or eating bugs. This image is from Morgan’s Grove Park in Shepherdstown, where the bridge there in the afternoon is such a great place for many a pose.
Speaking of the bridge. This was a fun shot that Diana helped set up. I’m just glad that there weren’t more people in the wedding party. “The fan” was a lot of fun to set up for Megan and Justin.
At the church, Megan and her bridesmaids were quite willing to follow along with anything for the best photo. They are stationed in the balcony at St. Leo Catholic Church in Inwood for this shot, while I’m on the floor below encouraging them not to fall.
Now here’s a story for you. Krystle was getting married in August. Until her best friend, who is also her maid of honor, was told that she was going to be put on bedrest until she delivers her TWIN babies later in August. Of course, this meant that Krystle would be without her maid of honor. “Not so fast,” says she, and postpones the wedding to make sure that her maid of honor can not only attend and participate, but that her babies can be delivered safe and sound! Krystle’s wedding is in November now.
Ashley and Larry are getting married next June, and so we did some engagement pictures for them. This became a favorite pose when Ashley exclaimed she enjoyed the bear hug.
On a beautiful day in July, Christy and Brian were married at Camp Hill UMC in Harpers Ferry. This is a very nice church with lots of wood, and you can hear everything that goes on, which is why I walked tippy-toed around everywhere. Funny part of this is the next day Diana and I were going out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Martinsburg and Christy and Brian were there with relatives. I told them that this was a fine way to spend their honeymoon, to which they laughingly replied they were leaving the next day for that little adventure.
There’s just nothing quite like the smile of a little girl in a pretty flower girl dress. Am I right?
From little girls to a big girl! We had some great fun with Jillian, who was accompanied by a friend and her mother – who mostly stayed out of the way. Laughs and photos were plentiful, as it was just hard to get a bad picture of Jillian. This is at Morgan’s Grove Park next to the Spring House.
The part I hate most about summer is when it’s over. I love warm weather. Mind you, I’m not a fan of HOT weather – just warm. But fall brings us a lot more to do. We have a bunch of fall weddings, sports, portraits and more.
Have a great rest of your summer!
Wow, it’s been a really long time since I updated my blog. I’m embarrased. But I vow to do better. Suffice it to say that it has been insanely busy in the studio, and seems like you never have enough down time to catch up on those projects that you need to finish, too.
Instead of continuing to lament my time woes, I’ll post some photos of things we’ve been doing in the last few months. I’ll have more to post a little later.
In true dramatic fashion, the Fourth Annual Most Beautiful Baby Contest came to a close with a last-minute sitting on February 28, which is the last date a sitting for the contest was available.
The real drama came in the next few days as judging was very close, and the scoring so tight that we had two second place winners!
Below is each of the five winners, and a little bit about each.
George (the Fifth, no less) was our first entrant. His mother, Debra, is a client from long ago. We’d photographed her wedding many years ago, and George is their first child. He was very open and seemed to know that he had a purpose in being cooperative and helpful. His blue eyes were the talk of everyone here, and I personally really liked how solemn he looks in this picture.
George placed as an Honorable Mention. I mean, how could we resist those eyes, right?
Many of you will remember Josh from last year. In fact, he won last year’s contest. His mom brought him back since he was still eligible and he needed some updated photos. Josh wasted no time getting into the spirit of things, and we had a rousing game of chase the car (the one he’s holding) along with several other posed photos. It was great to see Joshua (and his mother, Shawna) again. Josh placed Honorable Mention this year, with a whole new look from a year ago.
Madison was a new client for us, but took right to things like she belonged here. Along with her mother, Renee we got some great photos of Madison doing all kinds of things in the camera room. It is always fascinating to see the little ones at play, because you long for the days when your biggest concern is which toy to play with first. She was a delightful little girl, and she tied for second place with the next listing.
The other second place winner came to us via family. Our eldest daughter, Jessica, wanted to enter the daughter of one of her best friends into the contest. While we always welcome family members and their friends, we didn’t quite know how this little one would take to us, even though she knows Jessie quite well. A little shy at first, Briana warmed up to Diana (who helped quite a bit during this and other sittings), which gave us the opportunity to get some great images. We liked one image from her sitting so much that it will have a place on our wall in the coming week.
In years past I have envied the judges a bit. I’ve had my favorites, and wanted to be part of the process that picks the Most Beautiful Baby. But not this year. I would not have wanted to try to pick among all these lovely children for the top prize. Santana’s grandmother called us from Frostburg to enter her granddaughter into the contest, who lives in nearby Martinsburg. From the first picture, Santana was hamming to the camera and seemed to know exactly where to look. Not only was she a great subject, but she was just a very happy baby. After taking quite a few posed and candid shots of Santana, Diana suggested laying her on her belly on our white fur rug (it’s faux fur, by the way) and seeing what would happen. It was easy to see how quickly she adapted, and so I sat on the floor and started snapping. She just kept looking at the camera, and one of our favorite shots from this sitting ended up being the winner of this year’s contest. Santana enjoys the year-long reign of Most Beautiful Baby.
The success of our contest has grown far and wide, too. Recently a client who lives in Hedgesville commented on how she’d been keeping up with the contest. She has no children or grandchildren young enough to enter, but just loved seeing the cute kids. How’s that for adventure?
We love the kids, and do lots of children’s sittings every year. Congratulations to all our winners, and thanks to all of our prize sponsors, entrants and judges.
Hoxton Financial Group added a new member to their team, and wanted to have some photos of him to go with their upcoming revised brochure (which I’m anxious to see). Mr. Burns warned me in advance that he’s a tough shoot and has never really taken a good picture. I told him to just relax. We talked about family, jobs, real estate and financial planning (his forte). But my end goal was to get him to loosen up a little so that the picture looked more natural.