Photo Backdrops

Posted by on February 5, 2012 No comments

Ever since I was a kid, I have been enamored with photography but never knew the importance of photo backdrops. Back then i’d take photos of every everything. During Christmas morning i’d take hundreds of photos, capturing the excitation of gifts being opened and the memories of the day. On weekends, we’d take hikes through the woods, which gave me many opportunities to take outdoor nature photographs. Pretty much where ever I went, I had my camera.

As I got older, I started to focus my photographs on portraits of people I knew. I was a true amateur so I had no concept of lighting, or different lenses – I just aimed and shot. Instead making use of photo backdrops to create a uniform background, I would use whatever was behind the subject. One time in college, a friend of mine knew I was addicted to photography and they offered to pay me to take portrait pictures of all the member’s of her sorority for the official member and alumni photograph.

Newborn and maternity photography should use neutral photo backdrops

A bunch of different emotions ran through me. Initially, I was completely flattered and exited. Flattered that I had never considered myself anything more than an average photographer, and to find someone who was willing to PAY me – that just made my day! However, a bit of nervousness and anxiety hit me just as quickly. I’ve taken photographs for other people but never got paid to do so. And this project was very important to the sorority. They had contacted all of their current and former members to meet on a particular date for the homecoming football game, member dinner and of course, the photograph. Regardless, I accepted the offer and began to research immediately.

I had three weeks to prepare, so I read about lighting and scratched together enough money to purchase multiple lamps and other photography props. Everything I read had stressed the importance of quality photo backdrops. I had simply assumed I would use an old bed sheet I already had, but after reading some of the horror stories of using cheap photo backdrops, I quickly reconsidered. It was definitely not worth messing up my first gig on account of a set of home grown photo backdrops.

Choosing the correct photo backdrops saved the day

There were many options I needed to consider when looking for photo backdrops. The most obvious decision I needed to make was the color, which I decided should be a light grey-blue. I also had to decide which material I wanted, whether it was paper, vinyl or cloth. In the end, I decided cloth photo backdrops are probably the most durable, and bought two of them.

Long story short, the photo session went off without a hitch, and the final photographs where a big hit! I soon when on to bigger and better things, specializing in maternity photography as well as newborn photography. Given my initial lack of photography knowledge, I was very grateful that a little reading and a few tips about lighting, photography props and photo backdrops gave me just enough to get the job down right.

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Photography Props

Posted by on February 5, 2012 No comments

When our children were born we had newborn photographs taken. Because our children were so young, the photographs were very straight forward. Photographs were generally of my wife or I holding our baby. Putting the newborn down on a canvas would work, because they have basically do not have enough strength to move at all, so we had a very stable subject for our newborn photography session.
As old kids grew older there were many places who specialize in child photography. We must get 5 direct mailers per week trying to pry our dollars from our wallet by dangling a great photography package for our children in front of our eyes. In addition, just walking in any mall or driving by a strip mall, you will inevitably run into one of the many photography chains which specialize in child photography.

Photography props can make or brake a shoot

The one we choose to go to was very good, in fact we had considered using them for our maternity photography. They realized that our children, being toddlers, were very rambunctious and had very short attention spans. To have then sit still and pose for more than five seconds seemed like an impossibility. However, these children’s photography studios know that fact and had a solution: photography props.

Every photograph had several photography props already setup when our child entered the scene.
From blocks, to stuffed animals, mini-furniture, our kids immediately calmed down and focused on the props. Just like Christmas morning, these were basically new toys for them to pay with which happened to look great in a photograph.

Use of the proper photo backdrops is essential

Then the photographer’s assistant would take another photography prop, usually another stuffed animal, and shake it and make noise to get then child’s attention. Once our child looked up, the camera started clicking. Just a few attempts and we had some incredible photographs. Every now and then, our children would loose interest again and become restless. Thankfully, the photographers must have had a entire room in the back, full of photography props. If one didn’t work, they’d try another one. This would go on until our children identified with the photography prop, and calmed down enough to snap a few more photographs.

As our session ended, we were excited to pick through the proofs, and we were very thankful that the photographers were prepared with a variety of photography props.

Newborn Photography

Posted by on February 5, 2012 No comments

I had posted earlier on how my wife and I had maternity photography taken before our first child was born. We were very satisfied with the pictures and we’ve shown them to our little girl whose not four years old. She cannot believe that it HER in those pictures.

Child friendly photo backdrops can be used

Less than a month after taking the maternity photography, our baby was born. What a wonderful day! So many emotions ran through my wife and I as she was in labor for 12 hours. Once we finally were allowed to hold our baby, we were astonished and smacked in the face with the new responsibility of parenthood, all at the same time.

Tip: Find someone who specializes in newborn photography

The next day, family and friends came to the hospital to meet the newest family member. Immediately, the newborn photography began. We must have had 200 pictures take of our baby and us within the first two days. Because all photographs were taken with digital cameras, we were able to get the images in email within a few hours. We loved looking through them, however very few were of a quality that we could print. Either the lighting was wrong, there was some sort of motion blur, or there were too many background distractions.

Because we really wanted some professional quality photographs of our newborn, after leaving the hospital we quickly hired someone who specialized in newborn photography. A week later, we went to the studio and met with the photographer. Because our newborn was so young at the time we were getting newborn photography done, there was very little need for any photography props. At that age, a newborn can’t even lift their head, set alone sit up (or be propped up around photography props).

Photography props are very helpful for newborn photography

Instead, my wife and I alternated posing with our newborn and also took many photographs together. Some of my favorite newborn photography ideas the photographer had was close-ups of the baby’s hand grasping my wife’s finger. It really illustrated how tiny and helpless a newborn is and how their protector and provider is there to guide them through their journey. We ended up getting a full photo album of newborn photography of our daughter and couldn’t be more satisfied.

Maternity Photography

Posted by on February 5, 2012 No comments

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she wanted to do all of the ‘trendy’ things new parents do with their first born, 3D ultrasound imaging and maternity photography to name a few. Its funny how we did not do that with our second child. Not that we love him any less, or don’t care, its just that you kinda get a bit lazy after the first one. Along those lines, we also not filled in EVERY event in the baby book as we did with our 1st child.

Maternity photography was well worth the investment

Either way, the 3D ultrasound was a great experience, but not as mainstream as maternity photography. We had a consultation with a local 3D ultrasound franchisee and set up a date for an ultrasound session. We spent 40 minutes trying to get the baby to get into position. As it turns out, your baby needs to be facing a certain way to get a clear 3D ultrasound, otherwise your pictures and video will not be clear, and the baby may not be visible. We dielectric to re-schedule another way when (hopefully) the baby would cooperate, and be in the proper position. Unfortunately, when we want back for session number two, it was the same deal: the baby was out of position. Ultimately, we took the video anyway. Some scenes came out pretty clear, and you could really see the baby’s face and body. However, most of the scenes were still cloudy. All-in-all, I was satisfied with the end result, even though we did not get the full cooperation from our baby.

No special props or photo backdrops are needed

A few weeks later, we got in touch with a friend of ours who had recently started a newborn photography business and was at the ‘building a portfolio’ stage. As a fringe benefit of our relationship, and their start-up status, our friend offered to do some maternity photography for us, free of charge.

We took him up on the offer, and a week later we we’re in studio. If you are not familiar with maternity photography, it basically consists of photographs of the mother’s very pregnant belly exposed in artistic poses with little or no photography props. In some scenes the father and mother are photographed wrapping their arms around the pregnant belly against neutral photo backdrops. Neither my wife, or I were self-conscious, which made for very good pictures. We were willing to try just about any pose, use different maternity photography props, and go topless (although her breasts were cleverly covered in all scenes by either my arm or her arm), as we wanted to be able to share these with family and friends. As a final artistic touch, the photographs were developed in black and white which is a common style of maternity photography, and really added to the professionalism and artistic value of the photos.

The same photographer did our newborn photography

When we saw the proofs we were extremely satisfied and ordered prints of 15 different photographs. I definitely recommend investing in maternity photography if you have the opportunity. Be sure to see the photographers portfolio of other maternity shoots before committing you money to them. The final result will give you a lifetime of memories of maternity photography which you can share with the baby to be when they grow up.