A word about my style
November saw an amazing number of clients pass through my studio doors. From Christmas mini sessions to portrait sessions, maternity, newborn and cake smash sessions, it was a beautifully busy month.
With such a busy schedule - and particularly the quiet that follows the busy-ness - comes the opportunity for reflection, for modifications, for improvements. It becomes the perfect opportunity for me to evaluate what works and where I can further enhance my services.
This includes - pardon the bad photography joke! - further clarity (hahaha!) on my own story, my own services, the story I aim to share as a photographer:
I consider myself to be a photographer of the natural and authentic. What does that mean?
Clean. Crisp. Sharp. Natural. Authentic.
I capture the real life, your world as it occurs. The joy that is parenthood. The messiness of young childhood. The tiny details of the newborn. These are the moments I aim to capture, for my clients to cherish long-term. For portrait sessions, the images I capture are a combination of candids - hereafter referred to as "unposed" - and traditional posed shots.
These unposed images are ones that reflect the same love and joy we see in our posed shots...but with the addition of the connections of the family. These are the images that make my heart sing - mom looking down at her daughter, dad tickling his son, the whole family engaged in a large group hug.
It's the connections between us that serve the purpose for these candid images. I want to capture that child looking up adoringly at mom and dad, of the tussled hair as the parents squeeze and hug their little ones. This is real life. This is what I aim to capture.
And along with each image, a second, no-less-critical part is my editing style, how I enhance the photos to create the finished product. Every photographer has his/her own editing style; I am no exception. My editing style continues in the natural and authentic. Clean. Crisp. Sharp.
Every image I share in a gallery has been touched up - generally using a combination of Photoshop and Lightroom, but also occasionally other software programs as well. My goal, plain and simple, is to enhance the image while keeping it true to its authentic self, to the real world. This is the world I live in, and also the world I'm happy to share with my clients - the one that highlights their natural beauty. I use softening, sharpening and other tools as needed to make this natural beauty shine. One of the biggest compliments I receive is when a client can't spot the edits I've made, that the touch-ups are so natural that they're simply a part of the story.
It's the little details that I may leave in a story - the snowflakes dancing across your family during our indoor snow session. (Yes, I'm just that crazy to adopt indoor snow!). The playful chaos of childhood. This is what I aim to capture through my photography sessions, and whenever possible, I keep these details in your story.
I recently had a Santa session in which the mom brought in cookies. One of the images the family loved was a portrait of their young daughter looking directly at the camera, cookie in hand and cookie crumbs covering her hands. I loved the simplicity of it: the poignancy of the child being a child...of happily devouring a cookie while meeting Santa. I left the cookie and crumbs in, and explained my rationale to the parents when I sent along their gallery.
They, too, loved the tale behind the image: cookie crumbs and all. These are the stories that I aim to tell - both though my photography and my editing. Not every client will gravitate towards this natural style of photography, and I both recognize and appreciate that. It's my style, and my story to tell as I see fit.
Clean. Crisp. Sharp. Natural. Authentic.
If these are words that describe the story you want told, please feel free to reach out. I would be honoured to tell your story.
