Capturing the Milestones

Seconds turn into minutes, which turn into hours, which turn into days and weeks and years. We’ve all heard it before, “I can’t believe how fast time flies,” or “My kids have grown up in the blink of an eye”….you get the idea. Before you know it, that little person you carried in your womb for nine long months enters the world and time freezes for just a moment so you can take in their every little detail. From their little toes and nose, to their great big eyes.

   

After many sleepless nights, you feel like that first year was a blur and all of a sudden your little one is crawling and waddling around and smashing their first cake. It’s during these months you wish you could just hit a pause button on life and keep your children little forever.

       

A few years pass and then it’s time for school, and friends, and birthdays! Even proms and driving! It’s during these years you wish you could just hit a pause button on life and keep your children little forever.

   

Before you know it, that baby that once seemed so tiny in this great big world is graduating from college or getting married. There’s no more pause button, it’s time for your children to soar to great heights, take on the world, and start making their own memories.

    

In today’s high tech world, we capture many moments with the convenience of our smartphones. While this is a wonderful advantage of technology, don’t forget to capture the milestones in high quality photos that can be treasured for years to come and passed down to your grandchildren and great grandchildren. Don’t let the milestones become a distant memory faded over time with blurry, low resolution pixels that can’t be restored. Sure it seems like that smartphone picture of your son on graduation day or your daughter walking down the aisle will be good enough in the moment, but when you look back you don’t want to regret not getting that perfect, high quality photo! Contact us today and start capturing the milestones!

-Melissa

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Information Overload?

I went to a bridal show today. Back when I was a bride there wasn’t the kind of access to information on venues to cakes, to music and lighting to video and photos. It was a bit overwhelming and a sensory overload.

For some vendors I could see it was an in your face marketing tool that they used to bully perspective buyers into purchasing their package or product and for some it was just a way to expose brides and their entourage to the many options that are out there. Melissa and I would definitely fall into the latter rather than the former. A wedding should be what you want, as the bride and groom, not what everyone else thinks you should have, do and participate in.

There were some gorgeous places for venues and some really talented photographers and videographers.  Lighting experts and DJ’s with every music style you could think of or want. Food vendors and event planners, invitation/stationary and honeymoon planners. As a bride today the choices are vast, but that is a good thing. Back even a few years ago there wasn’t the ability to choose to have a hip hop DJ and a vintage dress, or blue and green lights to accentuate your wedding colors. Cupcake tiered displays or velvety iced concoctions that rival miniature dollhouses.

It made me almost glad that my choices were not so varied and different when I got married, but it made me feel very fortunate to be able to be able to enter the melee and connect with a couple who are beginning their journey together.

Digital Downloads or Prints

Photographers don’t always limit their creativity to capturing life’s moments. I like to craft and create many things, but one of my favorites is scrapbooking. Not the digital scrapbooking where you upload pictures to a site and they create a book for you, but the real paper, prints and embellishments that you can touch scrapbooking.

Twice a year I head down to Gettysburg from our lovely hamlet and spend a weekend with friends creating pages that mark events in my family’s life and are lovingly put into sleeves to be preserved in a book. I will be heading down to the historic Pennsylvania spot in a few short weeks so I was beginning to think of the things I will need to take with me…..paper, embellishments, some layout templates or pinterest pins, paper cutter, scissors, a plethora of other things and of course pictures. But then I began to think how printed photos are not around like they used to be.

Parents would await school pictures of their children to see how much the little tykes had grown, senior photos were taken to commemorate the graduating teen, family photos where everyone squished together to fit into the frame at reunions and for Christmas and sometimes just special moments captured in time. They were all printed out and placed in frames to gaze upon and remember. However, presently we don’t print photos like we used to. Camera phones and Facebook have taken over real cameras and printed materials. The cloud is where we keep all of our stuff and it’s not the white fluffy ones in the sky, and our children grow up on social media, not enshrined on our walls.

It made me a bit sad. I like being able to see moments printed out and presented with creativity on a colored sheet of paper with an engaging layout, or framed for all to see that here was a special moment in time that needed to be displayed. Don’t get me wrong I like that we can take photos and see them more rapidly without waiting a week to wonder if we chopped someone’s head off when we took that shot and I love that creativity can come out in how a photo is edited in the blink of an eye, but I miss the hands on experience of holding something in my hands and remembering the event that took place, not scrolling through photos on my phone or Facebook to remind me that life is pretty good from where I stand.

What Should We Wear

What should we wear? This is a question I am always asked when scheduling a portrait session. I so want to tell the client that I have enough trouble figuring out what I am going to wear on a given day that they really do not want my help when it comes to picking out clothes. I still think that adult Garanimals would cut down on clothing issues significantly. Melissa is more the fashionista of the two of us. All the portraits of her kids and family are color coordinated, fit the season and generally make me envious. However, I have learned a few tricks and tips to give to clients so that there is less worry about the clothes they are wearing and more focus on the memory being captured.

Here are just some basic ideas to help you when it comes time to dress for your portrait session.

• everyone wear solid colored clothing; we want to focus your faces and no one person stands out
• choose muted tones that are a bit subdued; we want you to be the subject not your clothes
• choose similar tones for your top and bottom (both dark or both light); a white top and dark pants will expand the upper half – a dark top with white pants will make the other end expand.
• choose 1-3 colors for a group portrait, ones with similar tones that go nicely together and have everyone work within the same color palette; for example: dark green, navy, and burgundy – all dark jewel tones.  OR if you like lighter softer tones- tan, a light olive green, and jeans; we want to see the people first.. A group wedding photo looks good because they are wearing the same color pallette and the people stand out.
• choose a top with sleeves at least to the elbow; your arms take up more skin area than your face. It will cause the attention to be drawn away from your face and it may also make your arms look larger
• choose long pants for men/ladies or a skirt below the knee for ladies; same concept as sleeves, along with being able to sit and bend easily.
• choose dark socks and footwear (unless it’s a barefoot photo on the beach); white just sticks out like a sore thumb unless it matches your outfit quite nicely.
• keep jewelry and makeup simple and minimalistic; again, the focus should be the people in the portrait
• do your hair the way you’d normally wear it; who wants to be frustrated with the way their hair looks.
• if getting a haircut or new hairdo, make your appointment at least 2 weeks prior to your portrait session; you have time to get used to styling it and you are happy with the way it looks on the day of your session.

These are tried and true tips that I have found help tremendously. When everyone is comfortable, the session goes smoothly and the client is satisfied with the way they look in their stunning photos.

Family Photos

Looking back on the last week or so I noticed as a photographer I do not take that many photos of our holidays or events as I should. I suppose it’s a bit like a chef not wanting to eat the food he/she has made. Maybe it’s that I did not grow up with a digital camera or a camera phone and most of my children’s growing up years digital cameras were not the best nor were phone cameras. Melissa takes a ton of pictures of her two boys. Documenting moments as they grow. It makes me a little sad sometimes that I don’t have the photos of the boys doing simple things as they grew.

I never make New Years resolutions, but maybe the one thing that I should change about how I live my life in 2017 is to get my camera out or have my phone at the ready to capture the moments before my “boys” are gone on to have families of their own.

 

Clients and the Print Release

There has always been the discussion about what can be done with photographs once they have been purchased especially in this digital age. Photographers don’t want to alienate their clients, and clients think that once a photo is aid for it’s theirs to do with what they want.

This article covers the differences so that both the client AND the photographer stay happy.

http://www.thelawtog.com/copyright-vs-print-release/

Small Wedding….Big Return

Melissa and I were called upon to photograph a very small wedding. I personally like doing weddings because there is so much you can do with the photos afterward in editing. I like to stretch my skills. But back to the point.

Originally when meeting with the couple, Matt and Lauren, I asked them how many people in the wedding and I got the answer “There will be 12 people there”. Confused at first I thought they meant 12 people in the wedding and my perspective changed. Then I realized they mean there would be 12 people all together AT the wedding.  The venue would be a bit out of our way, but the bride had worked with a girl Melissa had grown up with, so we were willing to travel just a bit.

Matt and Lauren, of course wanted the typical church posed photos, and then came the fun part of posing them at Peddlers Village in Lahaska, PA. We had done a walk around and had scoped out potential photo spots, but we hadn’t figured on a Fall Festival happening the very same day as their wedding for which thousands of people showed up.

While it was a bit daunting to walk through all the people attending making sure that Lauren, the bride, didn’t get trampled or trip on her dress we did manage to get some beautiful pictures of the happy couple and their family.

You never know what to expect the day of a wedding, but it was beautiful weather with just a bit of a nip in the air and a gorgeous sunny day. Everything was still quite green even though it was October, but the Village Green is such a pretty place and made creating wonderful wedding photos was easy with the scenery available.

Here is to many happy years for Matt and Lauren as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.

Why A Professional?

So much goes into the planning of a wedding, the venue, caterer, officiant, photographer and of course friends that will stand up with you as the two of you say, “I Do!” It becomes at times an expensive undertaking and couples begin to look for ways to cut costs. The thought turns to family members who have a big backyard, distant friends that have become youth pastors to officiate and then the friend that has a really good camera to take pictures.

Friends that have really good cameras may produce decent enough photos, and you might be willing to settle for the few moments that he or she is able to capture, but is that what you really envisioned for your big day?

Professional photographers have spent countless hours working on their craft, taken classes to shore up their weak areas, learned and relearned how to use the editing programs at their disposal and are constantly on the lookout for “that moment”. That is why one would question why you would want to have just a friend with a great camera take pictures.

Make sure that what you are willing to accept is that which you are willing to settle.

Mommy and Me

I miss the days of a little person coming up to me with his t-shirt pulled up over his belly all the while saying, “Don’t tickle me mommy!” I miss the moments when my mom, even while not feeling well, patiently taught me how to make my own paper doll clothes. I wish I could recapture those moments and hold them still so that I could examine them and revisit the love and joy contained in those images.

Just like me, my mom hated to have her picture taken (there is a reason that I am behind the lens instead of in front of it) and so now I have only a few polaroid pictures and one that my parents allowed me to take several years ago. I have a scrapbook of times with my boys, but not nearly enough to hold tight to the essence of them growing up before my eyes, the special times when I heard their giggles or we created a memory. If I could do it all again I would set aside my own prejudices I had about the fact that I needed to lose that 10 pounds, or my hair wasn’t just right, to be able to see and be in those moments again.

The world of digital photography and professional photographers has gifted us with the ability to capture those moments, so we really can look back and feel the emotions contained therein.  The soft touch of a baby’s cheek, the giggle as you tickle each other till you hiccup, the love in your eyes as you look at your mom, your little one sitting in Nana’s lap reading a story.

Melissa and I are both mothers so we have a unique ability to understand the trepidation of having your picture taken, but so wanting to capture the moments that will never happen again. We want you to have these times forever, not just a misty memory tucked back in the recesses of your mind, but tangible evidence of a life well lived and love so eagerly shared.

Let Melissa and I help you capture these moments, because we all know, they are all to fleeting and all too precious.

 

Captured Memories

How many times have we looked back and wished we had captured that moment? I know that there have been so many times that I wished that the digital age had come along just a tad bit sooner so that I could’ve captured more of my boys growing up. I also wish that I had taken the time to have more professional photos done other than the ones offered at school.

Kids grow up, it seems at alarming rates and one day you look at them and they are 10, or 16, or an adult and you wonder how did I miss this? You didn’t miss it you were in the mix, living it. But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look back and see exactly what you were living?

Our children are one of our best accomplishments in life and they go on to do wondrous things, no matter if it is getting a PhD from Stanford or a certificate in Welding that will help them provide for a future family. Our children are also fascinating creatures, some create art, some play music, some can convince Eskimos to buy ice, but each is unique in the way that they look at and live life.

Seizing the opportunity to freeze these moments in time is just what we are here for at Making Memories with ME. Melissa and I are both moms so we know what it is like to be busy just doing the daily living. We also know what it is like to think back and wish that we could relive that special memory. We want you to have reminders of the special way that your daughter smiled or how awesome your son looked in his baseball uniform. We want you to have a “souvenir” of when the family dynamic changed and your children became teenagers.

Let Melissa and I help you capture the determination on your sons face as he scores his first goal in soccer, or the glow on your daughters face as she walks down the street for the first time holding your hand, because the perfect moments are the ones we live and let others take the picture.