We are so excited to welcome the fabulously talented Melissa J to the Blog. Learn more about Melissa’s beautiful maternity and newborn photography in our Photographer Spotlight, then visit her at her website Melissa J Photography. Thank you so much Melissa for sharing your work with us today!
Where did your inspiration for photography begin?
Totally cliche, but it’s my boys. i wanted to capture everything about them so i could remember all the little things since they’re growing up so fast. i bought a canon 10d off a friend. it didn’t even have a lens and i had no idea i had to buy something separate to use it – yea i was *that* dslr illiterate. that little camera intrigued me so much that i spent hours learning everything i could with it. i have lots and lots of blurry photos of my kids from that camera but by golly, it was fun and helped get me where i am today!
How would you describe your photography style?
Dreamy and pure. i like my props and set ups to give an organic feel and my lighting to be simple and dreamy. i want parents to have photos of their newborn and see who their baby was at that 2 week age… the tiny flakes, wrinkly skin, and even the umbilical stump!
Did you study photography in school or are you self taught?
Self taught. Wayyyyy too much time on google and youtube.
What camera do you shoot with and what is your favorite lens?
Canon 5d mark ii. My favorite lens is my macro (100mm 2.8) but my 35mm 1.4 is my workhorse. i’m also in love with my 135 2.0L and wish I had space to use it more.
Do you have any tips for photographers on how to find the light?
I’m a lover of shadows! I like to look at the shadows and adjust my subject based on where the shadow is falling. for babies in studio, this is usually a 45 or 90 degree angle from where the soft light is coming in. For maternity clients, this is usually right at sunrise or right before sunset and I typically have the sun behind them. I try to stay away from harsh light (mid day outdoors or use light and airy curtains if using natural light in studio). Lighting is so important and I feel like there was a time in my learning curve when I had that ah-ha moment and everything just clicked with finding the light. It takes time and it takes practice. The great thing with learning lighting, you can practice on anything! Put a chair out in the field and see how the light falls on it, put your hand out in front of the light and see if it falls nice and soft on your hand.
Also – don’t be scared of studio lighting! I used to be a natural light snob but recently tried out studio lighting so that I could fit in more sessions and it was the best decision ever. I am in love with studio light and it was so easy to get started!
What is your favorite subject to photograph and why?
Laundry
What is a good lesson you have learned this year in photography or in your business?
To be myself. I used to follow tons of photographers on Facebook and spent way too much valuable time seeing what they were doing. Once I stepped away from that and analyzed my own photos more deeply, I pulled out the passion inside me and what type of images make my heart flutter. I realized that these other photographers aren’t paying my bills, my clients are. My clients are paying for my artistic eye and to be true to them, I have to be true to myself.
If you could encourage a new photographer in one area, what would it be?
Take the dirt road. Don’t take the paved road that other photographers are paving for you. Find what makes you happy and work towards making that the best you can.
What do you love most about being a photographer?
I am the most un-artsy person ever, except when it comes to photography so I love using it as my creative outlet. A place to share my artistic vision with the world. I also love being able to capture my own 3 boys and will be able to give them albums to cherish long past their wedding days.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still photographing newborns but also doing more birth photography. I’m a big birth photography junkie but because of my newborn work, i only take one birth a month so hoping I can find a way to fit in more over the years. I’m also working on an international adventure and hoping to use my photography skills to be able to share with others what it’s like in a poverty filled area of Mexico.
About the Artist: I love spending my days photographing the tiniest residents of Colorado and everything that surrounds their adventure into this world. I never called myself artistic until I stumbled onto newborn photography and found there is actually an artistic side of me. I’m a lover of family time, my 3 little monsters, a cold glass of Riesling, and the evening sunset.
Visit Melissa at her WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOOGLE+ pages here
Do you ever feel like you’re shooting the same thing over and over again with your newborn portrait sessions? Do you wish you could bring not only more creativity to your images, but give your clients a truly custom photography experience? Creating a successful custom newborn portrait shoot doesn’t just start with triggering your camera’s shutter release. You have to lay the groundwork ahead of time, and I’d like to share how I do that with a recent newborn session at my studio.
This little baby’s mama is a very talented hair and makeup artist who works extensively with the local photographer community. So I knew when she contacted me about pictures they would need to be beautiful and stylish images.
All of my portrait sessions include an in person pre-session consultation. That’s where we sit down about a week before the baby’s due date and talk about the portrait session in detail. It is so critical to collaborate with your client, so your final images turn out exactly as they desire. They should complement their individual tastes, so they can be beautifully displayed in their home.
For this session the mother wanted to use her Vera Wang wedding dress. “Would that interest you?” she asked. Are you kidding! I was beyond excited about it. I thought a vintage dress form would be the perfect way to show off the gown. She found one at a local boutique she had close ties with, and they graciously let us use it for the shoot. We also picked a bench from her home, and she brought her Jimmy Choo shoes she wore for the wedding. Talk about a beautiful set of props to work with. The mother also surprised me that day with two absolutely perfect fresh baby’s breath halos from her favorite local florist. What a perfect compliment they were.
For the beanbag images, while I had plenty of blush and cream colored backdrops, I didn’t have anything gold. So I went to one of my favorite places to find backdrops, Jo-Ann fabrics. When you’re searching for a good beanbag backdrop fabric you should look for something with texture, a thicker material, and a little stretch. There, I found this gold sweater knit backdrop with sequins. Perfect! Even better it was on clearance for $6 a yard. You need only two yards for a beanbag backdrop. The hats, headbands, and wrap I got from my favorite source, etsy.com. Many of them I already had in my prop stash; however this session was done on Valentine’s Day, so I found an adorable bonnet with a wooden heart accent for her to wear.
For the mother and daughter shots, I always think simple is better. The mother, of course, did her own hair and makeup, and it really shows what a professional can achieve. She had brought some solid color neutrals to wear, but I had another idea. I took blush colored sheer fabric and wrapped it around her chest, and another fabric background in a loose sweater knit and wrapped that around her body, and then I secured them both behind her with a backdrop clip. Instant designer gown, or at least it looks that way. It also leaves her shoulders bare to snuggle against her daughter.
All of this might sound like a lot of work for one session, but that’s what makes it custom photography. As long as your business model compensates you for the time and money spent on each session, you should be able to create something unique for each client at every portrait session. In the end you’ll have achieved your goal of creativity, and your client will be overjoyed with distinctive art made just for them.
About the Author: Sandy Summers Russell is a former metro newspaper photojournalist who fell in love with a small-town farm boy. She married him, moved to the middle of nowhere, became a mom, and started Summerland Photography in exactly that order. Now, instead of shooting breaking news, professional sporting events, and heartrending human interest features, she photographs brand new babies, fleet-footed toddlers, and jubilant weddings.
There are a HUGE amount of genres in photography. We’re talking traditional portrait photographers, lifestyle photographers, photojournalists, wildlife photographers, architectural photographers, abstract art photographers, landscape photographers, fine art photographers, aerial photographers, paparazzi, commercial photographers, travel photographers, documentary photographers, sports photographers, concert photographers, pet photographers. And the list goes on. No, really. It goes on and on and on.
The point of all of that is there REALLY IS a place for everyone. Even though we are all little fish swimming in a big sea of photographers, there is room for everyone. Now the question is…WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO STAND OUT? I’m not talking about your awesome marketing pieces. Or your 20,000 likes on Facebook. Or even your super fancy website. Yes, those things help to add to the bling of who you are. But, under all of that, what are you doing to define your style in your actual photography?
Whether you are just starting or have been shooting for thirty years, ask yourself if your images describe you as the artist you want to be. By identifying your style, and actively implementing it in your photography, you can begin to set yourself apart and be passionate about the art you are creating.
There are many elements or factors that can contribute to your unique style. The easiest way to start your journey of defining your style is to gather several images that you just LOVE. They can be your own images or others. Look through each image and point out exactly what it is about the image you love. After a while, you will start to notice a trend of elements that you love and would like to emulate. EMBRACE those elements and focus on those when you are shooting.
About Jean: I am a photographer living in New Hudson, Michigan, with my husband and four little boys. I adore my family more than anything, and also love exercise, reading, travel, travel, travel, and delicious food.
About Stephanie Sifuentes: Ever since I was a child I always had a passion for creating. Born and raised a Texas girl I attended the University of Texas in Austin where I studied Performing Arts with dreams to become a choreographer on Broadway. But one thing led to another and I entered the world of advertising in 2000, branding and creating websites for some of the largest and most popular companies in the world. It was absolutely my dream job at the time! After 11 years in the agency world, and my new turn in life of becoming a mother, I decided to pursue my next passion and that was photographing babies. Which is now my dream job! Family Picture by Ochoa Photography
About Sarah: Sarah Grace is celebrating her 4th blissful year as a photography teacher. Mentoring flourishing photographers makes her heart sing, as well as collecting Vintage Little Peoples’, and devouring all things Drum Corp (check out www.dci.org and watch her inner-geek emerge!). Sarah believes in holding no secrets back when teaching and that photographs can truly change the spirit of your home sweet home. Sarah Grace lives in Arizona with her husband, reader-extraordinaire 4-year-old daughter, and orange-crayon-lovin’ baby boy.
In this image, the histogram shows that the image covers the entire tonal range, with the majority of the image consisting of midtones, hence the center-weighted histogram. We still have a spike on the far-left shadow range, as you can see in the top-left of the image the shadows are completely black in the foliage. In this case, since there are not too many areas of solid black, this is no cause for alarm. The overall tonality of the image is sufficient in this scenario.
About the Author: Anna Gay is a portrait photographer based in Athens, GA and the author of the dPS ebook 
About the Artist: I’m a newborn, child and family photographer from the small town of North Baltimore, OH- near Toledo. I started my business venture in 2009 and have been teaching newborn workshops since late 2011 across the country, finally releasing a newborn e-guide in 2014. Aside from photography, I love spending time with my husband and kids (3 girls with a 4th on the way in April 2014), a little bit of gaming, reading, movies and playing the piano, along with other random doings. I have a sugar tooth and an unhealthy addiction to Biggby Coffee, as well as props, and canvas gallery wraps. I may be closer to 30 than 20, but am still a child at heart and feel that this is what helps me bring out the true selves of children through custom imagery.
About the Artist: Leigh Ripps is the owner of Fresh Light Photography in Houston, TX. She is known for natural, organic maternity, newborn, and family portraiture that glows with love and light. She is inspired by her children’s passion for life and unconditional love, and strives to follow their example. She has been photographing babies and the families that love them for the last two years and is honored to be a small part of so many new families.
About Christina: Owner of Christina Block Photography, Christina resides in Jacksonville, Fl & is a Mom to her precious son, Asher. Her love for photography started over 10 years ago while taking a film course at a local community college; for many years she did street work with her Canon A-1 in hand & rolls of black and white film. Film and the dark room is still her strongest passion. Christina has successfully been running her photography business over 3 years now where her concentration is in portraiture, lifestyle, commercial work and intimate weddings. Her son and life’s simple moments are by far what she holds dearest to her heart.
