Sparklers and Mommy Goggles {Tri-Cities, TN Portrait Photographer}

There's a little thing called Mommy Goggles - haven't heard of them?  Let me enlighten you:  They are an invisible, magical pair of glasses (or goggles) that moms **usually** have on when they look at their children.  When looking at an image of their child, these special glasses blur out every single thing in an image besides their child's sweet, little face - even green goo coming out noses.  I told you they were magical!!  And that's all they see.  Perfection.   

If you read this blog very often, you already know that a constant and forever goal of mine is to take more "imperfect" and everyday images of my children.  Being a photographer, I sometimes find it hard to document the every day stuff because of my "Photog Goggles"...  I look and see that the moment doesn't have perfect lighting, perfect outfits (or even any clothes at all sometimes!!), ​perfect location, etc.  But I'm training myself to take my Photog Goggles OFF and slide those Mommy Goggles ON - and love what I see when I do.   

I snapped these a couple weeks ago when we were outside playing with the kiddos and cleaning out the garage (a never-ending task... just like laundry).  My hubby found a bag of sparklers from last summer, so we had a spur-of-the-moment sparkler fest!!​

Death of the Sneak Peek {Johnson City TN Portrait Photographer}

That may have been a bit dramatic, but it sums up about half of the exciting changes for BDP this year!!  I've been wanting to make these changes for several months now, but there never seemed to be enough time in-between clients to make the switch.  Now it's the beginning of the New Year and I believe, is the perfect time!!!  Drum roll please......  

The Death of the Sneak Peek:  I will no longer be posting "sneak peeks".  Why?  I'll be completely honest with you.  It's because I'm selfish, really.  You know that moment of anticipation - the stress of the session is over, you're excited to see your pictures, you get the email saying your sneak peek is up, you race to the computer or phone, pull up the blog and... BAM {the moment}!!!!  Oooooo's..... Ahhhhhh's.....  Maybe even a tear or two at how sweet your daughter looks in that one picture....  Well guess what?  I absolutely hate that I don't get to see any of that!!  I want to be with you and experience that moment when you see your images for the first time.  I want to see and feel the reactions that give me so much happiness and satisfaction as your photographer!  {See - I told you it was selfish.}

I will, however be blogging each session.  This will be done after the client has seen and ordered their images and will still be super exciting and amazing!

But wait!  There's more...

The Birth of the In-Person Ordering Session:  Ordering sessions are nothing new around here - I always recommend them to my clients, but it's not a requirement.  Their images are posted online and they have the option to order without any assistance, or they can come in to the studio after viewing their images to see samples and previews, have help with deciding what to order, etc.  

There's only one problem with that.  You're missing out on SO. MUCH. MORE.  I don't know what the exact dimensions of that wall next to the stairs or above the fireplace is.  I don't know what precise hue of sea-foam green the throw pillows are.  I want to see the walls where your images will hang.  I want to give you a professionals opinion and expertise when it comes to ordering from your session and displaying your images.  It's a service that I've been wanting to add to my business for quite some time now that I truly feel will enhance your experience in so many ways!!!  I'm excited just thinking about it!!

Don't worry - you won't need to dress in your Sunday best or clean the house.  I'm a mom of three kids {four if you count my hubby} and I assure you - nothing can scare me.  I've seen it all.  I want to not only give you beautiful images to cherish for years to come, but a relaxed, happy and stress-free experience where you end up with exactly what you need and want - not more or less.  An experience where you actually use and see your images, rather than throw them into a box that collects dust.  There are so many options available to you - and working together to decide and inform you of which ones might best suit your needs is a service that I'm so excited to include with each session.  

I believe in premium customer service - a service that seems to be dying at a rapid rate.  Just yesterday when returning Christmas gifts, I could've called at least three different corporate numbers for terrible customer service...  But of course, I didn't want to take the time to deal with that mess, so it's probably continuing to happen as I type.  I believe in offering not ONLY a service, but an EXPERIENCE.  To me, there's a huge difference.  I hope that my clients feel they are given that from me - and I think these changes will only enhance that experience.

Thanks again for an AWESOME 2012!!!  Looking through all of your beautiful faces makes me smile.  I'm looking forward to an even AWESOMER {sure, that's a word} 2013!!!!  

And because NO post would even be a post without a picture... I'll leave you with my three babies on the beach in Northern California right before Christmas.  They are my everything.  I want to cry and laugh and smile and cry a little more each time I look at it.  Why do they grow so fast?  That's another post in itself.  

Go forth and take pictures!!!!

baby mykael - sneak peek {tri cities tn portrait photographer}

Poor Mykael was not in the mood for pictures yesterday.  He did awesome for the "most important shots" of him in his Virginia Tech uniform holding his mini soccer ball - that is - most important according to Dad.  =) But once we tried to get him nice and into the sleepy naked poses that we love, he was NOT having it!!  We eventually had to reschedule for a later date - which (again Mom and Dad) was no problem at all.  In light of this, I thought it might be a good time to give my current and potential clients some helpful insider info:

1.  {One of} My goal{s} with your session is to give you 20-40 amazing shots that I'd be proud and happy to have you hanging on the walls of your home for the next several decades.  If I'm unable to achieve that for whatever reason, I have no problem rescheduling to a later date.  I have kids.  I understand that they get sick, grumpy, crazy and well - unpredictable!!  Usually we can work through those kinds of kinks, but I never want to force a baby or young child into poses that will end in so-so images.  We're looking for GREAT here people!!  So just please know that I am in no way shape or form a "stickler" when it comes to almost anything.  Maybe I should be more of one, but I'm not.  So - I am looking forward to getting some super happy awesome pics of Mr. Mykael in the next coming months.  =)  

2.  IMPORTANT:  Newborn sessions should be shot right at 7-14 days.  I know this is crazy.  Again, I have kids which means that I've given birth to them and know how insane it is the first several days and weeks (and years!! haha) after you get home from the hospital.  That's why it's so important to know this info. ahead of time so that you can tentatively plan your baby's session before he/she is born.  I think a LOT of people have no idea about this (and it's NOT your fault!!  I would have no idea either if it wasn't part of my job!).  That's why I thought it might be nice to let you know - in case you or someone you know is planning on a newborn session in the future.  Of course it's still possible to get those sleepy, curled up newborn poses that we all love with an older baby, it's much more difficult. 

Okay!  Now for the good part - pictures!!  We didn't get too many shots of Mr. Mykael, but here are a couple of my favorites that I was able to snag.  Enjoy - and thanks again Mom and Dad!

i heart photoshop {tips and tricks}

Some people are under the impression that photography simply involves taking pictures.  Now more than ever, in the digital photography age that we have found ourselves in, that's only half of the process!  With digital photography and all that it enables, 'image manipulation' - or in other words, photoshop-ing (digitally editing) images is part of the art (and fun)!!  Every photographer has their own editing style.  I tend to be more on the minimal side of things... trying to keep things as natural as possible, using the editing to enhance the already there beauty of the shots.  But every now and then I like to go a little crazy and have fun!!  The options are endless with what you can create with a simple image.  Here is an example:

As you can see, the SOOC (straight out of camera) image is blah.  Not much to it right?  Well to fix that, I added some fun textures (I love textures!!), increased the contrast, adjusted the colors to give it a 'vintage' look - which I love right now - and there you have it!! Big difference!  This should give you an idea of how dramatically an image can be altered...  Please let me know what you think - I love comments!!