What to Wear at Your Family Photoshoot! | Chilliwack Family & Newborn Photographer

When clients book a family session with me, the most common question I am asked is "what should we wear?". To help them, I have an info page and have put together a Pinterest Board... but I thought I would also share a few of my top tips/ideas with you... my lovely blog readers!

1. A great place to start is colour! Coordinating the colours of your family's clothing will get you the best results. Oh... and co-ordinate doesn't mean you must all match exactly! (Reminds me of those funny '70's awkward family photos, where the whole family are wearing identical pyjamas or bad Christmas sweaters!)

Just pick 3 or 4 complementary colours, and pick outfits that use shades of those colours! (Colour wheels are GREAT for picking complementary colours - a quick google search will find you plenty of examples like this one.) Then, try to pick outfits that keep everyone in the same tone range, if possible. 

2. Avoid bright colours, bold patterns or logos. If one family member is wearing a much brighter colour than the rest, or a bold logo, it really distracts the eye away from the other family members and their fabulous faces!

3. Pick outfits that make you feel comfortable about your body type! For example, 3/4-length or long sleeves are more flattering on adults who are very self-critical about their upper arms. Again, this something you can easily google.

4. If shooting outdoors, I advise families to pick something fairly comfortable and "every day" - that way everyone's smiles will look happier and more comfortable too! (And you aren't so worried or stressed that your child's fancy dress is getting trashed!)

5. It is a great idea to wear layers and have a back-up outfit, just in case (expecially with young children!). Just wearing a different shirt under a cardigan or sweater can give us multiple looks without carrying extra outfits around! Even having an extra accessory, like a scarf, can make an interesting difference.

For more ideas, you can check out my Pinterest Board, or a really great blog that I love, called What to Wear Guides. I hope this all helps and don't forget to enjoy your family photo session - after all, you are making happy memories, not having your teeth pulled! ;-)

My Favourite Top 4 Features of the New Lightroom 5

I love Lightroom. I have loved it ever since I started playing with the Beta version of Lightroom 4 way back in January of last year. My workflow begins with LR, the majority of my adjustments are made there, and my workflow ends there. In fact, I now only use Photoshop for the major edits or special effects. It simply makes my pictures look better... the end.

Well, you can imagine how intrigued I was to hear that Adobe had released a Beta version of Lightroom 5. I happily skipped off to their website to learn more and do a little downloading...

My first thoughts? "Hmm... I highly doubt they have done anything to make me want to upgrade from LR4... I love LR4... I don't need anything else". Yes, I was a little less open-minded than usual, but was pleasantly surprised and may be seriously considering the upgrade after all... and here are 4 reasons why:

1. Healing & Cloning just got WAY easier. Before, you could only do very basic spot healing & cloning, and then it was only in very restricting circles. Now, you can heal in any shape you like with the new healing brush. Need to heal a power line or wrinkle? Done!

2. The new Radial Filter tool. LOVE this tool - probably my new favourite feature even. Before, if you wanted to add some drama or emphasize a particular focal point in your photo, you could use the post-crop vignetting, BUT this only really worked if your focus or subject was in the centre of the shot. Well, if you are a fan of the 2-thirds rule, like me, that didn't work since your subject is never in the centre! This tool now allows you to put those focus alteration wherever your little heart desires! You draw the circle area you want to emphasize or alter, adjust the circle (or oval!) to fit, and make your setting changes. You can even pick whether you want to alter the area inside OR outside the circle. (Big smiley faces here!)

3. The hidden spot finder! OK.. that is probably not its official name... but it makes finding those hidden spots easier to find and remove, so that name works for me. To find all those annoying specks, (you know the ones... those annoying spots in the sky that you only see after you have paid oodles of cash to have a photo blown up and printed on canvas!) you open the spot removal tool, and then click the option at the bottom to "visualize spots". The picture goes into negative mode and VOILA! Your hidden spots are now sitting ducks for removal.

4. Full screen at the touch of a button! So, you think you've finished your edits and want that "stand back and admire your masterpiece" moment. Just hit the F key, and your shot goes full screen. (Yes... it's the simple things for me!)

There are more highlights like improvements in the perspective correction, as well as enhancements to the slideshow & book modules... but those are my top improvements, based on my needs. To download your Beta copy just head over to the Adobe Labs website. Nice job, Adobe chaps and chapesses!

New Addition to the Studio - My Studio Baby Poser! | Fraser Valley Newborn Photographer

Up til recently, I had been "making do" with an over-stuffed standard bean bag for my newborn posing. (BOOOO!!!) The bag was a real pain-in-the-you-know-what to get solid and table-flat, for maximum safety and posing possibilities. Even though I had it overfilled, I still had to fiddle around making the bag into some kind of flat mushroom-top shape and stack cushions in the "hole" underneath to get the desired firmness and shape - SUCH a pain... especially if my kids "compromised" this finickity shape with an oh-so-tempting after-school dive or body-slam!

Well, I recently became the proud parent to a bonny, bouncing, brand, new posing bag from Studio Baby... and I LOVE it! It is simple, well made, far safer and does the job great. Nuff said really... but in case you need more, here are my top 5 reasons why I love it so much:

1. It wipes clean!

2. It was well-priced (Trust me...I shopped around!).

3. They have many different sizes for different purposes and different budgets. (I picked the "Traveller" size, for both budget & practicality reasons).

4. They are Canadian - so better shipping costs & less hassle for those of us on this side of the border.

5. It has a really handy strap for carrying or moving it around.

It also seems to have some kind of magic powers that prevents my kids diving on it... either that or it was the "discussion" we had after it arrived, followed by the death stares whenever they so much as breath near it! (Too harsh??!)

They also make a number of handy posing positioners, including the new "Butterfly" positioner which, coincidentally, is the prize in a contest they are running right now. I am popping some of those babies on my new and updated wish list. (I can almost hear my husband groaning as I type!) You can find more info at www.studiobabys.com.

Newborn Sessions - My Top 5 Tips

Last week, I had my first newborn session in...er...hmmm... 3 years (wow! that long?!) and I had forgot how much fun they could be. Mind you, it does help when you have a cute, happy, cooperative subject! (With an awesome, cooperative parent in tow!)

So, from my recent refresher course and past experience, what scraps of advice would I offer a would-be newborn photographer? Good question... my tips would be:

1. Take your time. Babies (and new Moms!) don't want to be rushed -they are still finding their place and routine in the world. Be prepared to wait and take things slow. I like a 2 hour window.

2. Pick the best window of opportunity. I find 7-10 days old, to be the best for newborn shots. You get the best chance, at this stage, of a nice blend between sleepy baby and awake baby during your session.

3. Warmth is key! A toasty baby is a happy baby. I keep an extra heater near baby (unless I am using my continuous lighting kit - then heating comes from the lights instead!), and have a hairdryer on standby to warm up any props or cooler surfaces (like my leather ottoman). Warm hands also help!

4. Plan your props. This is where you can make your signature mark, so plan ahead well. I like to keep it simple (I'm not a fan of dressing up babies like dolls - I prefer to keep them as the blank canvas that they are), and ask parents to maybe bring something of significance to them (like a favourite stuffed animal or hobby item). My other favourite prop is my sound machine - I have it set to play a heartbeat noise and hide it behind my backdrop or just out of frame. It's a great baby soother!

5. Prepare for serious editing! You may be the best photographer in the world, with amazing SOOC (straight out of camera) results, but I have not met a newborn yet with perfect skin... and yet, newborn photos show them that way! Newborns tend to suffer with all sorts of dermatological conditions, such as newborn acne and cradle cap. So, I find the post processing requires a fair bit of healing brushes and skin tone adjustments.

So...yeh... that was fun... I now have to find more babies to photograph! (And NO, I am not having any more of my own! My family can forget that one! ;-)

Silica Gel

It seems that many DSLR's don't like moisture (wusses!)... and, for most of the time, it is easy to avoid giving your beloved camera a shower - you just cover it up in the rain, don't take it swimming or, if you are a diving fanatic like my old school buddy in Australia, you invest in some serious waterproof casing.

However, it is easy to overlook that sneaky condensation moisture that nastily screws up your camera when you have been out shooting on a freezing-cold winter day, and then hastily rush back into the warmth of your heated abode. This evil moisture has been known to claim at least 1 friend's DSLR amongst its hapless victims.

A handy solution, passed onto me a few years ago, included the use of silica gel packs in your camera bag - you know... the little white packs you get when you buy a new bag or piece of tech, that you are told to throw away. Don't throw them away any more! Just pop them in your camera bag, and when you come in from the cold, pop your bag in a cool part of your home to warm gently. Any moisture that does happen to build round your camera will be absorbed by the gel balls in the packs. (Every now and then, I take out the old packs and replace with new ones.) Now, I can't promise it will work for everyone in every situation (I can't afford the lawsuits!), but it has worked for me up til now (touch wood!).

Of course, you will now find that you can't find any packs in your house... because you threw them away, of course! Another handy hint? Ask friends and family to keep theirs for you - you'll soon build a happy little collection.