Robin commissioned us to photograph her 5-grandchildren along with her two boys, Zack and Daniel, and their families. Robin used to work for us and managed our film lab many years ago, in fact she now runs a very large commercial lab in downtown Orlando, so talk about pressure. It’s fun to watch the next generation. I had not seen Zack or Daniel in years and yet I could see them in their children’s smiles, expressions, etc. The grandchildren reminded me of Zack and Daniel at that age. Cute, cute, cute. Watching them having children of their own is hard for me to believe. Where does time go? Anyhow the children were fantastic, and I feel we captured some great images of them in their pj’s. Thanks Robin for putting your faith and trust in us to capture this very special occasion.
Santa’s Workshop was a success: Each year we see the same people and get a chance to watch the children grow. My two girls now feel they are too old for Santa, which is sad for me but life goes on. One client told me that a friend of theirs waited in a two-hour line for Santa photos. WOW… two hours. Our Santa was by appointment and the children got to spend time with him and they got to pretend to build something or paint a toy in Santa’s workshop, then the child was given some “reindeer food”. So mark your calendar for next year, the second Saturday in December is Santa’s workshop so you don’t have to stand in line for two hours.
Look who turn 50? Kim will turn 50 on the 14th of this month. Her AARP card is in the mail! Welcome to the club!
Emily turned 11: Emily just turned 11 on the 28th. Her favorite gift was the gift card from Starbucks as she loves lattés! What are we in for?
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The holidays are over and I for one have post holiday blues! I love the Christmas/New Years season and feel a little bummed out once it’s over. It sure was a nice break from the daily school routine with no homework for two weeks. Kathy and the girls met me for lunch and l love just having them there with me. Now is a great time to reflect on last year and set new goals for the New Year, write them down, put the list where you will see it daily. Make a list of “realistic goals”, like lose 5-lbs as opposed to 50. Baby steps work best. Save $10 a week. Start exercising by simply walking one block a day. Take that first step. It’s amazing how good it feels once you get started and reach those goals. Once the first set of goals are reached, set new, obtainable goal. You can also set long-range goals as well. But I have found the baby steps work best. Jim Cole once told me if you fail to plan, then plan to fail.
No more hustle and bustle of the holidays. If you are looking for a unique gift for someone--for anniversary, birthday--why not a bwp gift certificate? Give a unique gift to give someone who is special to you. A gift certificate is $200. That’s not a misprint or type-o. When you invest $200, the gift certificate becomes $250. It’s just that simple. What better gift can you give?
Photo Tips: Christmas 2011. Just a few days before Christmas so I felt a few tips would be beneficial
Make a list and checking it twice…
· Is camera packed?
· Fresh batteries with back up
· Clean flash card with backup
· Put someone is charge of photos.
· Light in the room… do you need more? Turn on lamps, open a window shade. Learn to look past the subject/product… is the background cluttered?
Light in the room… what type of light is it? Check your white balance first and if you shoot raw shoot and correct the white balance later. I would suggest taking the extra few moments to white balance your camera first.
Select an area good for family images. Again look for an uncluttered area, have a few props there just for fun, Santa hat, etc.
Don’t forget to capture the decoration and preparations. Food, setting the table, It may be a sentimental Christmas ornament or the nicely wrapped gifts. Catch the children opening the gifts, the tree before and after… you get the idea. Remember indoors 400 ISO is a good rule of thumb.
Christmas lights and decorations... Depending on your point of view, a long lens is good while blurring the Christmas lights. You will have to slow your shutter speed down and get off the automatic modes on your camera. Long exposures and a tripod will help.
Find a point of interest, not easy to do on Christmas day, look for a center of interest, subject or object, learn to look at what’s behind or in
front of the object or subject before taking the image.
Get everyone while they are fresh, do the group family images first. Do not wait until after all the festivities when everyone is tired and exhausted along with fussy/sleepy children.
Fill the frame in your view finder. One of my instructors/mentors told me you are responsible for what is in our out of your viewfinder. Most common mistake is the subjects are too far off in the distance with lots of space around them. Fill your frame by either zooming or moving closer to your subject. Another hint/tip: I like the look of the zoom lens better than a wide view.
Diffuse or reflect your flash. I really despise flash on camera and do whatever I can to diffuse it by bouncing or even making a home made device from the water jug. Get your camera off the auto modes, try the night mode, it’s good for slow shutter speeds, remember this is good for capturing Christmas lights. While photographing at slow shutter speeds you must remain still, use the gun techniques, slow down, hold the camera steady against you, breath in and hold your breath, squeeze the shutter, breathe out.
Get close up. Some of the decorations may look really cool close up. Most cameras have macro settings. Once on the macro settings you will no longer have auto focus so you will have to move in and out physically, but not much, remember you are in the macro mode.
Many times I shoot in the 2.8 range throwing things in the background out of focus and keep the subject/object as a point of interest, when doing family groups or needing a larger depth of field such as f/8 or f/11. Aperture priority works great.
Even though I am 51-years of age, my mother still has our family get together once a year for a family portrait session. It’s getting easier as my children and the nieces and nephew get older--a little more attitude but better cooperation (most of the time). As I look back, it’s great to see just how much they have grown. The Wilson’s annual family portrait session usually takes place over the weekend during football season but the dolphins are playing so poorly it doesn’t seem to matter. But it is well worth it! Wishing you and your family a Very Merry Christmas! We truly have so much to be thankful for!
