Like the airport, photographers in a holding pattern waiting to land…. i’d forgotten how popular the Law Quad in Ann Arbor is for senior portrait sessions … Yesterday we landed there to make grad pictures for Bailey from Pioneer high school.  Despite the Pioneer HIgh yearbook picture deadline next week (oct 14), despite the other sessions hers was wedged between.  Beautiful 78 degrees and sunshine, we had 90 minutes together.  she brought her siblings her dad another friend and a sheet to cover up with when she changed outfits.  I’m so glad Michelle remembered me doing her and her brothers senior picture sessions so many years back…I was happy to make this one happen IN STYLE for her friend.  We went to the Arb also and got images in the autumn colors, strolling down the path among college kids and couples in love.

thanks for a great, but brief, evening Bailey!  I enjoyed visiting some of my favorite places from years ago as a college student in a-squared.

Rain, schmain!  Since when does Michigan have a ‘rainy season’?     We are making the best of the wet conditions lately.

I was so excited when Jamie showed up for her session with her Irish Harp!  We arranged the session just Monday, for Tuesday because of tight yearbook portrait deadlines and busy schedules….Even though there was ‘rush hour’ traffic, rain in the air and waning light, we made some gorgeous images for her.  Here we threw caution to the wind, and with a few sprinkles decided to go OUTSIDE to show off Jamie from Pioneer HS and her irish harp in the beautiful foliage of the maples trees out front of the studio.

And we will make that yearbook deadline too.   With Pioneer High School Omega yearbook senior portrait coming up so quickly (Oct. 15, 2011 for 2012 yearbook) we have been quite busy here at the studio.    Dexter is so close to Ann Arbor, and several Pioneer seniors have chosen to have portraits made at Photo Generations.

We can still sneak you in.  A KIS session is $39 plus $45 rush fee to make the Omega yearbook.  Give a call   (734.426.0700) if you require a creative portrait in addition to your Pioneer  yearbook portrait.

Whew, picture judging at Chelsea Community Fair was not the ‘piece of cake’ that the judges in the cake decorating committe had!

The photo competition-it took over two hours to judge everything- had at least a dozen different categories, color, bw, animal, people, landscape, collage and more.

My greatest overall impression is that young photographers rock! In the 6-8 year category a photo of a duckling from a very low vantage point was a standout. I felt the 9 to 12 year photographer color landscape photography category was the strongest category of all. A gorgeous 1/2 above &1/2 below water image was a pastel beauty . The second place pond picture with strong cattails in the foreground was a sunny delight. And the third place winner of Lake Michigan sunset was a moody beauty while the 4th place little 4×6 sunset was better than most sunsets in all other categories.

When judging the children portrait categories, Lori Zahn instructed me to judge each image as to “how well the photographer conveyed the child’s ‘spirit’”. That was difficult because of uneven print quality. A few images showed promising personality and spirit, but were printed too darkly or were mis-focused or the composition was a hindrance. Several images were technically sharp and well printed, but the smiles were frozen and ‘unspirited’. One photograph had beautiful lighting, was crisp with nice composition but the little persons demeanor was not pleasing… So I relied heavily on overall ‘impact’ to choose the blue ribbon images.

After judging I suggested they split the children’s categories into ‘professional portraits’ and ‘non professional portraits’. When they told me ALL the portraits in the Children’s categories were professional portraits I was surprised. I expect consistent high quality from professional portrait providers. Lori told me many area professionals sell digital images and the prints were made by the moms–so that explains the poor print quality. (This is precisely why I do not want Photo Generations clients printing images we make–I want to control what the final image looks like!–a poor print can ruin a gorgeous portrait).

All in all, the photo judging was a lot of fun. I’ve returned to the studio happy, feeling strongly that the images I provide for my clients truly are of excellent, if not top quality available in the Ann Arbor area .

Highlights of Jennifer’s family session we did a few evenings ago. What a pleasure! After the pictures by the rocks we Tried to do another portrait in the tall grasses–but the mosquitos were too thick!! We jumped around swatting the skeeters, and disturbed a few deer, who were relaxing in the tall grass before we showed up.

Here is a video of pictures taken at MHSAA regional competition last week.  We’re using this same video technique for Class of 2012 seniors  at Photo Generations.  The video is a thank you gift to those seniors who ‘like’ the Senior-portraits-at-photo-generations facebook page.

dexter ann arbor family portraits in the park sale:  oct 16 & 17 .  Times Remain! Contact Studio for times pricing and availability!

see this link for holiday card pricing

Calm.  Deliberate. Easy. Comfortable. Intense.  Quiet. That’ what Kurt brought to his session a few days ago.  The Brighton Mi High School senior is a wrestler–and I bet he’s focused when it comes time for a wrestling match.  Love the Brighton High School orange and black colors!   We had soft evening light–very warm light and it warmed up the tone of the images.  Outstanding session!

I look forward to getting good action shots of Kurt wrestling during a wrestling match during the school year in addition to  making these senior pictures last week!

This year we will be directly uploading Kurt’s senior picture to the site specified by Brighton High School yearbook adviser.   And we have plenty of time to make the deadline..

Ah summer, family picnics, shady maple trees…Sunday was a great day for a drive out from Washtenaw County in Dexter, to Milford in Oakland County.   We made pictures during a family portrait session at the home of the great-grandparents.  Shade was provided by trees planted 40 years ago!  Cool, beautiful and easy on the eyes, we had a relaxed session before sitting down to a wonderful summer meal.

location senior portrait near dexter-for whitmore lake senior-down on the farm…

this portrait was so comfortable and shows Lexie’s favorite place –had to feature it before we finished up the edit. enjoy!

Listen up class of 2011 about-to-be-seniors needing senior grad pictures!

Photo Generations 1/2 off Early Bird portrait Sale is expiring after May 22! You will receive several price bonuses when you book your summer session by May 22. Below see some grad portrait options for you at Photo Generations.

• First you get 1/2 off No Limits session. save $49.
• Then you get an Early Bird 9 print package for $150 [or apply it to any Collection.]
• You also get free web proofs.
• For $25 you also get a purse size ring bound proof book of the dozens of images we make together! [save $25]
• And if you decide to have your session in June you also get that printed proof book Free! [save $50] if you are one of the first seven to respond to this offer.
• The No Limits session is equivalent to other studio deluxe sessions that cost more that 3x as much–it is a great value.
• If you are ‘not sure’ if Photo Generations is the studio for you, please know that over half of our seniors booked so far are returning clients (VIPS) or friends of VIPS. Said one VIP mom this morning, “We’ve gotten flyers from 2 other studios–but I already knew we’ld come back to you. We were really happy with Ryan’s portraits.”
• If you are excited to have found ‘the right studio’ for your senior portraits, please tell your friends, you will win two additional ways
  -First:   You and your friend will each get  $25 credit toward your prints.
• -Second: If you ‘Like’ Photo Generations & Become a Facebook  fan (click the Facebook Like tag at right)-we will gift you facebook pictures from your session to use on your facebook page!
• Next step, call the portrait studio to schedule your summer session:  call 734.426.0700

Want to see more info:  Click this link to see details of your portrait and wall art options at Photo Generations!

See more Senior Portraits here:  Click this link to see many senior portraits from 2010!