for a lot.  As I am packing up my desk to head out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday, I would be remiss in not saying thank you to all of my wonderful clients.  This has truly been a memorable year for me full of MANY more up’s than down’s.  After moving on from 15 years in an industry that I loved and identified myself with for such a long time, I’ve turned in a completely different and unexpected direction, and best of all what I enjoyed most about my "previous life" – my clients – is what I enjoy most about photographing families.  For my dive buddies that might be reading this – I miss you terribly – but I hope you can see how happy I am with my new found "sport" of chasing toddlers!

To say that I feel blessed with the love and support of my wonderful family and friends is an understatement and I truly wake up every morning, and think "nuh uh, this is my life?"

Most of all though, John and I are thankful for our wonderful, happy, spirited, spunky and healthy little girl, who makes every day more remarkable than the day before.  I think this pic of this mommy and her little girl represents the same feeling; one I know I share with mommies and daddies everywhere.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday, and thank you again to all of my wonderful clients and friends.  (and a quick note – I will be out of the office through Sunday, November 25th and will return all emails and calls at that time).

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…that’s the coding I use when I am reviewing my images after downloading from the camera. I have a little system where I “P”ick all of the keepers and “5″ star my most favorites. Because I frequently shoot 150+ images at a session, I need a means to help narrow down the best shots, so I don’t overwhelm my clients with a gallery with too many pictures – YIKES!

So, in the case of this cooperative sweet pea, with a face like this, dressed like a little red cherry pie, in perfect light, with a very easy going Mommy & Daddy who let me keep shooting, I have exactly 82 P-5’s – what to do? My typical response to having too many favorites (and rarely do I have anywhere near THIS many) is to turn off the computer and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning. Unfortunately, though, I don’t think she is going to get any less cute by tomorrow

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…sorry to disappoint, but no poetry; just couldn’t think of a clever title.  My brain is fried from preparing galleries, and I just took a break from looking at adorable children’s faces and pulled up a pic I took yesterday at a shoot, while my clients were getting out of the car.  This is the reason that I love fall.  The colors especially right NOW are spectacular and I love driving on a windy road, completely surrounded on both sides by technicolor foliage!  So, as I was looking at this lovely scene, I realized that my nonsensical blog about a tree, could become a public service announcement for my readers.

I am asked very often why I don’t show EVERY image in a client’s gallery as color AND black and white.  I hope that my little tree example here will answer that question quickly.  While I do LOVE black and white, and very often do convert some images to b/w, not EVERY image is suitable.  Look at the difference in these two examples, and you will see what I mean.  Even though the little fella’s sweater is colorful, and looks GREAT in color, it also works beautifully in B/W, creating a difficult challenge for his momma in deciding which one she likes better!  The tree however, (in my humble opinion) is a complete waste of the 14 seconds that it took me to convert because it just doesn’t work for me.

So, the answer to the original question is: I convert color images to black and white ONLY when I feel that the image is suitable.  I will, however, convert an image to B/W at a client’s request, if they really want to see the comparison.

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This little fella has three brothers. Yes, that means his Mom (and wonderful Dad) are raising FOUR boys, as in F-O-U-R. Wow – makes our morning routine seem like a walk in the park. Memo to self, don’t ever complain again about not getting anything done because you are busy with ONE toddler. I would just love to be a fly on the wall on Christmas morning at their house! FUN! This little guy is the baby of the family and is absolutely adored by his siblings, which is easy to see with a smile like this one! There are more images coming, but I just couldn’t let his Mom wait any longer…

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Wouldn’t you love to know what they are chatting about? I LOVE capturing a moment like this one…

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There is nothing quite like the moments before sunset, when the sky turns a lovely golden color.  Many photographers will tell you it’s their favorite time of day, because of the gentle warm light that it casts on the skin.  I have more to post of this beautiful family, and am so glad that we took full advantage of "the golden hour" on a Tuesday afternoon.  Of course, you can’t tell in the photo that there were cars speeding and honking by us, just yards behind me, but we had to take advantage of this great spot! To their Mom, I know you have been waiting, so I hope you like this one of your two three babies!  I can’t wait to show you the rest of your gallery!

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I have been at my desk for what seems like hours editing, and am back on track after a mini-crisis last night.  Yesterday, a schwanky new GIANT screen iMac arrived on my doorstep and I was delighted to replace the turtle laptop and big screen that I have been using!  While it was very relatively easy to move all of my software, client files, etc. over to the new machine, I inadvertently checked a wrong box in photoshop and ALL of the editing that I did last night was BLUE! Every image had a horrible blue cast to it, and there was no "get rid of ugly blue cast" button, so I had to start from scratch. Other than just venting my woes, I wanted to post here to say THANK YOU to everyone for being patient while I get your galleries ready!  Blog-a-palooza continues…

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One of the questions that I am asked by just about everyone of my clients, is "what sizes should I order?"  It’s very easy to think inside the box and order 8 x 10’s because the frames are so readily available and it’s such a common size.  I prefer, though, to look at my images a little differently. 

When you are selecting your favorite images in your gallery, it’s important to consider where in your home you want to display them.  Over the fireplace, over the couch, in the foyer, over your bed?  These are not small spaces, typically, and call for larger prints.  It’s easy to order the standard sizes for gift prints for grandma and grandpa and aunt susie q., but when it comes to the images for yourself, be choosy, and think "big".

Many of my clients select a prominent wall in their home, and create a gallery of sorts with a variety of the images from their session(s) choosing different sizes, and sometimes different shapes.  I am going to have much more about this in future posts, in addition to contact info for a local framer who will COME TO YOUR HOME and custom frame your portraits, taking into account your decor, print sizes, and space where they will be displayed.

Here is an example of an image that looks beautiful in a more traditional 10 x 14 size; but I LOVE the way it looks as a square crop as well.  I am happy to make recommendations and work with you to create your own "gallery" that you’ll enjoy in your home for years to come.

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I don’t think it will take anyone three guesses to figure out who this little sweetheart’s favorite guy is!  Just one of many images of a loving family spending an afternoon at the park together!  More to come…

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I recently traveled to Northern Virginia to do two shoots, for two wonderful families.  Apparently, the wee member of family #1 has been making frequent visits to the blog and is anxious to see her images so I emailed her Mom to say that I am posting one for her today.  Many more images to come, for both of these families, but could you say no to this little face?  So, sweet girl, here you go!

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