Create Special Family Portraits During the Holidays

Given the hectic pace most of us experience day after day, holidays are a great time to pause for a moment. To enjoy good food and wine. And to simply enjoy being with family and friends we love.

Since everyone's already together, holidays provide a great opportunity to create beautiful images of family and friends. In other words, to capture the beauty of the moment, the here and now.

I'll be shooting two families this Saturday. One has a daughter who, just this year, moved away to college. She'll be coming back to visit for Thanksgiving and her mom thought she'd take advantage of having all five of her children together for a family portrait. When loved ones move away, we realize just how precious the moments spent together really are.

The second family had been spread all over upstate New York and Long Island. And then the parents moved away to Indiana. Going forward, the opportunities this family of six will have to spend all together are sure to be treasured.

Portrait photography is so beautiful because it forever freezes individuals and families within a specific moment in time. As we look back on these images, they remind us of the laughs we shared, the relationships we nurtured, and the growing up we've done.

I feel so honored whenever a family invites me into their world so that I might help them record the things that are most precious to them at this very moment...right now.

Even if you don't hire a professional photographer this holiday season, be sure to keep your camera nearby during family get togethers. You won't want to miss the opportunity to snap a picture of Aunt Anne in the middle of a hearty belly laugh, or of your toddler as he plays quietly in a corner amidst all the business of the gathering, or of mom as she serves the pumpkin pie she worked so hard to make.

And don't feel the need to pose everyone for every picture. Candid shots make for some of the most beautiful moments, and therefore, some of the most beautiful images.

Lastly, don't forget the four-legged ones! They're family too!

Have a wonderful holiday!

All my best,
Susan

www.liartphotography.com

Have You Captured the Beautiful Fall Colors Yet?

Remember: Contrasting colors make for visually interesting pictures!

If you haven't done so yet, now is a fantastic time to break out your digital camera (or film camera, for you die hard traditionalists).

It's that time of year when mother nature is at her most colorful. And this particular autumn's colors are not to be missed!

In fact, a few days ago, my husband and I dared to venture out with cranky 1-year old twins and a feisty hermit-of-a-7-year old in tow. Now, I must confess that in all the flurry of activity that precedes any outing these days, I almost left the house without my camera. But thankfully, my husband noticed.

"Aren't you going to take your camera?" He looked at me as if he was about to go into shock. Needless to say, I scurried back to get it.

And boy was I glad I did. Once I decided to ignore the cacophonous soundtrack of my life (the ongoing complaints of my 7-year old who would much rather have been home with his Shrek Smash & Crash video game, as well as the intermittent shrieks of impatience emanating from my 1-year olds) I found our trip to Bayard Cutting Arboretum to be a magnificent opportunity to commune with nature.

And despite the many forces working against a leisurely and productive outing, I even managed to snap a few pictures that, at least to my eye, perfectly captured the beauty of this mild autumn day at Bayard Cutting Arboretum.


So, why don' tyou give it a shot? (Pun is absolutely intended here : )

Fiery reds, brilliant oranges, and bright yellows await you!

To help you get started, following are a few pointers that will ensure you create beautiful images and beautifully capture the colors of fall:

• Contrasting colors make for visually interesting images:
  
  
• Aim for wide angle shots capturing a range of fall colors...or...
  
  
• Get up close and personal! Zoom in on those bright fall colors and contrast their brilliance with the darkness of branches or dirt.
  
  
• Let the sun be your spotlight:
  
  
• Find angles where the sun sets fall colors ablaze through backlighting
  
  
• Experiment with your camera settings:
  
  
• If you're using a digital camera, experiment with settings to get the most dramatic contrasts. Overexposed images will wash out the bright colors and result in pale, uninteresting images. Similarly, underexposed images will muddle fall colors and make your pictures dark and gloomy.

Now, get out there and shoot!

And if these tips have led you to success in capturing interesting images, please be sure to share them with me.

eMail your images to susan at liartphotography dot com. I look forward to seeing them!

And make it a great day!

Warmly,
Susan Eckert
www.liartphotography.com


Remember: Contrasting colors make for visually interesting pictures!

Pregnant Women Are Beautiful!

Thought for the day: We owe thanks to Demi Moore! Because of her courageous 1991 appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair while nude AND pregnant (Note: the highly controversial image was shot by Annie Leibovitz), pregnant women now feel empowered to celebrate the beauty of their pregnant figures!

A few days ago I had the pleasure of photographing a woman in her 37th week of pregnancy. Maternity or pregnancy photography is a particular favorite of mine. Pregnant women really do glow and I love using lighting techniques to make that all the more apparent!

Ellie was relaxed the entire session and it shows throughout her gallery of photos; the result was over 13o amazing images!

Having so many good images meant I was able to play with the collection and create fun abstract images like this one:













Even better, I especially love when a spouse or significant other gets involved! It's so beautiful when you capture the chemistry between an expectant couple truly in love! And I did.














I look forward to capturing many more beautiful, glowing, expectant moms-to-be in the very near future! And I hope you'll look forward to viewing them!

Enjoy your day!

Warmly,
Susan
www.liartphotography.com


Remember the thought for the day: We owe thanks to Demi Moore! Because of her courageous 1991 appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair while nude AND pregnant (Note: the highly controversial image was shot by Annie Leibovitz), pregnant women now feel empowered to celebrate the beauty of their pregnant figures!

To Edit or Not to Edit - A Key Portrait Photography Question

Thought for the day: Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it--Confucius

About a week ago, friends of ours came over for dinner. As our conversation--fueled by a delicious red wine--ricocheted and bounced from one subject to another, it ultimately settled on what is probably one of the most controversial subjects in portrait photography. Digital editing.

The husband who, by the way, happens to be a minister, felt that digital editing misrepresented the truth, distorted reality, presented a lie.

Now, as a woman, I can relate to his perspective. I, like most women, can remember all too well how I used to feel as a young girl as I flipped through magazines and studied the beautiful, skinny girls with perfect skin and perfect smiles. Why can't I look like them? was always the question in my mind. It wasn't until I was older, much older, that I learned the extent to which editing plays a role in shaping our general idea of "perfection." And even though I don't have any daughters, I'm eternally grateful--as a mother and as a woman--to those rogue magicians of the modeling world--people like Tyra Banks, who openly exposes the beauty industry for all its magic tricks. Surely, use of digital methods to lengthen limbs, erase skin imperfections or even change the contours of a person's features are all practices that inadvertently set the bar sky-high for young girls in their struggle to achieve perfection and supermodel looks.

The virtually unattainable image of beauty is dangerous for young girls and women. And I get that. It is for this reason that some portrait photographers choose not to use digital tools at all in their work.

To be fair, I should also mention that the minister has two daughters. But over the course of our dinner, I nonetheless politely disagreed with my minister-friend that all digital manipulation is evil.

And here's why.

I view my work as an approach to art, to storytelling. When I sit down to write a chapter of a book, or an article, I ask myself "What's the main idea?" Likewise, for each photo I review, I ask "What's the main focus of this image?"

For example, take the photo accompanying this post. A beautiful girl. Naturally great skin. Yes, she had a few beauty marks on her face and this was originally a 3/4 body shot. But as I reviewed the 300+ images from our session, I paused when I saw the intensity in her eyes in this one. That look in her eyes was, to my eye, the most compelling part of the image. My goal then, for that particular image, was to make those eyes, that look, the main focus. So I cropped it in tight. And I removed the beauty marks from her face.

If I'd left the image as a 3/4 shot, the image would have been less effective. If I'd left the beauty marks, they would have competed for attention and distracted the viewer from those eyes.

Now, I have to pause to say this: I always ask a model beforehand about their preference for digital retouching. I recognize that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. And I'd never want to make the terrible mistake of communicating the idea that a feature or trait a particular model has is less than perfect by editing it out. In this case, the aspiring model/actress had indicated a preference for removing the beauty marks, and for this particular image I found it helped to solidify the desired focus.

My minister-friend narrowed his eyes at me as I attempted to explain my position on the subject: portrait photographer as storyteller. He wasn't immediately buying it. "So, if you photographed Nelson Mandela, for example," he said, "you'd take out all his wrinkles?"

I laughed. "Absolutely not!" In my mind, Mandela's wrinkles could serve as an amazingly poetic vehicle for telling his story. The lines of his face mapping the amazing journey the man has taken over the course of his life... I told this to the minister. But I still wasn't sure he understood my perspective.

In any case, I remain resolute in my opinion that digital retouching, when used with a caring and tender hand, can be a powerful tool to convey a great idea, tell a wonderful story, paint a beautiful picture, capture the true essence of a person. Would I ever use it to narrow someone's thighs or change the structure of their face? Just for the heck of it? Most likely not.

But...if I was asked to do so in the interest of reclaiming a figure or feature that motherhood, time, or stress had somehow modified, I might. Those are each valid stories. And every picture has its own story to tell.

Warmly,
Susan
www.liartphotography.com

Remember the thought for the day: Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it--Confucius

Portrait Photography - A Week in Reflection

Thought for the day: "No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself."- Denis Waitley (Quote courtesy of Thinkexist.com)

As the traditional work week winds down, I sit down to reflect on all I've accomplished. And although, for me, shooting will continue on into the weekend I guess it's become something of a habit this Friday reflection.

Overall, when I sum it all up, I feel blessed. I've met some wonderful people (I call them my models) this week.

There was a beautiful family with three spunky children--each with his own look, style and energy. How I love letting children dictate where and how the photo session will go. I'm finding that when you follow the children's leads, you're just about guaranteed photo magic.

I also met strong women - each beautiful in her own way and each seeking something different out of their photo session experience.

But no matter the reason for their shoot, in just about every scenario I found myself playing the same role: the enthusiastic cheerleader. How I love encouraging those who stand before me to shed their defenses, and to reveal themselves, their natural beauty--both inner and outer. This is what drives me most in this work.

Sure, there were frustrations this week: for example, on Wednesday I rushed breathlessly back from location scouting and a beautiful outdoors to setup for a mid-afternoon studio shoot. I like to have lighting and backdrop details ready to go when my model(s) arrive. I'd quickly showered and rushed to set everything up, only to wait for a model who would never arrive. No phone call. No email. No courtesy.

And then on Thursday I woke up feeling crappy. But, while I ended up shooting that night anyway, I was certainly glad I did. My model was a beautiful young woman and aspiring model/actress. As I reviewed the many gorgeous shots of her, I was sure I detected that "special something" along with a fire and determination to succeed. I found it interesting that her looks recall a certain supermodel from the 90s (Stephanie Seymour--the siren who pretty much made the George Michael video for his popular song "Faith"). As I reviewed our session, each image was more beautiful than the one before.

Now, Friday evening, I look forward to the three family shoots I've lined up for the weekend as much as I look forward to the time I'll be spending with my husband, spunky 7-year old and feisty 1-year old twins.

And while managing the building of a portrait photography business along with household duties and child-rearing is certainly a major juggle, I truly feel I wouldn't trade this particular challenge for the world.

Warmly,
Susan
www.liartphotography.com


Thought for the day: "No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfactino when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself."- Denis Waitley (Quote courtesy of Thinkexist.com)

Introduction to LIArtPhotography - Art Photography Capturing the Beauty of Now...

Thought for the day: The path to your dreams isn't always a straight one...

Welcome photography, portrait and art lovers both on Long Island and beyond!

LIArtPhotography is a blog about photography, my experience building a portrait photography business, and the pursuit of art.

About Me:

I've always loved photography. It was for me both a fun hobby and a challenge - the challenge of working to render images the way I saw them; the challenge of marrying technical skill with a creative eye in pursuit of that ever-elusive goal - art.

And for years, art - painting, singing, drawing and photography - occupied the back seat on my long and winding drive through corporate America, independent professional development business ownership, and motherhood. But like any back-seat driver, it kept nagging, reminding me of its presence, suggesting detours that would take me back in the direction of the things I truly loved, things I felt passionate about.

Still, I kept on my path. Until one Christmas. It occurred to my husband that I might want to upgrade from a point-and-shoot digital camera (albeit a nice one) to a more serious camera. To be honest, at first I was rather intimidated. I'd never had the courage to leave the "auto" setting in exploration of "aperture priority," "shutter priority," or, heaven-forbid, "manual" modes. Now, my new Nikon, with its interchangeable lenses, beckoned me to forge ahead. To experiment. To override the bland, common, boring results I was getting from "auto" mode, and to pursue my vision.

When something strikes me - whether it's a mossy area between old willow trees dappled with sunlight, or a sparkling glint in a child's eyes - I want to capture it exactly how I see it. "Auto" wasn't cutting it.

The discrepancy between what I saw in my mind's eye and what I was getting back in print form, was disheartening. This was true creative tension...

So, I enrolled in a photography program, determined to overcome my intimidation, fired up about learning everything I needed to know to get closer to achieving my vision. I read my camera's manual over and over. Studied my educational lessons intently. And even better, began testing what I was learning in daily shoots.

I shot everything - nature, children, people, landscapes, old buildings, shadows, shapes, lines, anything that struck me as interesting, things filled with possibilities....

It wasn't long before the images I saw in print began to catch up with the "art" my inner eye had first envisioned. The closer I got, the more excited I got. The more excited I got, the more my passion for photography was fueled.

But still, something was nagging at me. Did I really want to be taking pretty pictures of nature? Of interesting cracks in cement? Sure. But there was something else that called much stronger. As an artist, I'd always drawn portraits. I'd spend hours rendering faces, never satisfied until I got it just right. I have a wonderful memory for faces and I had a knack for capturing the essence of a person in my renderings. Why not focus on portrait photography then?

That back seat driver was right again. And the decision to heed its advice, has shaped my life tremendously. Every day I look forward to new sessions, to meeting new and interesting Long Islanders, to capturing the essence of a wide range of people from newborns and up. And it's rewarding. The emails I get when they first view their online portfolios, the happiness they convey, make me smile. THIS is what life is all about.

I look forward to my continuing journey, the ongoing pursuit of art, the challenge and rewards of using art photography to help others capture and preserve the many beautiful things in the here and now.

I thank you for visiting and hope you'll come along for the ride!

Warmly,
Susan
www.liartphotography.com

Remember the thought for the day: The path to your dreams isn't always a straight one...