holiday break = ahhhhhhh. Hello to 2012…
A gift from hubby allows me to update the blog from a little Ipad..!!!. And here is a little photo made with the IPad — just a quick greeting to everyone, before I get ready to greet Jennifer, the first Photo Generations client of 2012.

Quick photo lesson even on an iPad it’s easy to improve your pix:
The top pic was made paying attention to light patterns …I moved myself and the subject to take advantage of pretty natural light falling on the table. With the super- close up ability of the iPad I could get in really close!

The picture below was made without adjusting for best lighting angle, so the peace angel had a shadow on it– not appealing. But by moving around to ‘face the light’ the picture is brighter. You can do this with your pictures of your loved ones– even with your smartphone! Happy shooting in 2012 to you!

Huron Students: wondering when your yearbook deadline is?

For Ann Arbor Huron High students we have until October 28–at the Very latest-this is the absolute deadline– to deliver your picture to the yearbook office.

For normal yearbook prep we require a minimum of 3 weeks between the yearbook deadlne and your portrait session.

This time is required to make your portraits, put them up on a web proof gallery for you to then choose the yearbook, communicate your pose preference to us, and finally have us prepare and deliver the image to the Huron High yearbook portrait office by Oct. 28.

Because we at Photo Generations do several student portraits from about a dozen different schools, we submit all the pictures to Huron High the same day as close to the deadline as possible

So Huron students must have your portraits made by Oct. 7 AND have your yearbook choice by Oct 14 in order to make the yearbook deadline and avoid a rush fee.

If your yearbook portrait choice is communicated to us between October 15 and October 26 there will be a rush fee of $45.

Hope this helps clarify things.

I will clarify other schools in later posts. Thanks!-Colleen
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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.

had some fun last weekend-found some leaves in the front yard under the maple tree-so after we did a portrait on the front porch then under the maple tree in the shade (such a a sunny day!)  it was time for Leaf Pile Jumping!   Because the family came to Dexter Ann Arbor last year–we went to their new home in West Bloomfield this year-and that makes the family portraits all the more special.

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

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.

This session reminded me that often the favorite picture from a family portrait session is not the posed picture.   Arron had his senior pictures -Dexter High School Class of 2010 – made last summer.   This June, after graduation, the family is moving out of state and the at  graduation commencement time, the extended family came together from around the country to celebrate & make an extended family portrait.  Can you guess which was  both the mom and grandmoms’ favorite picture of the two brothers?

a heavenly family portrait session

Late spring Barbara from California called Photo Generations to set up her family portrait session here in Ann Arbor.  She was coming to Ann Arbor for the double pleasure of celebrating both a U of Michigan college graduation AND a wedding.  The family pictures were marking this special time for the family.

Her daughter was getting married just hours after attending the Ann Arbor U of M commencement that President Obama addressed.  In Ann Arbor a few days, Barbara’s family planned to scoot over to my Dexter studio for a family portrait two days after the twin ceremonies.

Several weeks after long-distance planning the session I had such a wonderful surprise when they arrived at the studio from Ann Arbor for their picture session that Monday evening!  Warm happy vibrant people!

The gorgeous weather commanded we get outside,  but first we did a series of in-studio B&W portraits, before heading outdoors to the water.

My number one favorite image of the hour long session was an unposed Black & White photo… the couple of honor sharing a quiet moment together…they were catching up on their separate work days while waiting for the rest of the family to get ready for the group photo.  We had the best ‘portrait’ of the session even before the session started.  This is Heaven for a professional photographer!  Congratulations newlyweds!

on making a successful family portrait:  from a professional portrait photographer viewpoint

In considering this family, and why the family photographs were so successful  (they chose at least a dozen different family portraits) I’ve decided to re-examine what a  ‘traditional family portrait’  really is.   Once again I am reminded ‘ traditional family portraits’  do not have to be stuffy, stiff, formal unimaginative.

Barbara’s family is a perfect example I had not met them, and it was not possible to meet personally before the session, sooo, we spoke on the phone and via email conversations to plan the session…  I got the impression they were looking for something rather traditional and advised all to wear a darker top with long sleeves to the elbow.

This is the safest way to dress because everyone looks the slimmest they can , dark colors unify the group and it is a malleable, classic look I can dress up or down with background lighting & posing.

Photo Generations was created after over a decade of daily staff photo journalism experience.  ‘F-8 and Be there’ is the mantra of a news photographer.  This means, know your equipment, be ready to make a picture as it its happening, go to where it is happeining, and be aware.

These ideas of ‘ F=8 and Be There’ carry over to portrait photography.  And now I have been making family portraits for almost as long as the photojournalism, (!) and I still get a thrill when the elements all come together satisfying both me and my client.

(I always want to meet before we do a session!  Why?  Well it gives me a feeling to the style of photography most sympatico with my client.  Some folks want a formal feeling.  Some families are ‘huggers’ and playful.  Ages vary.  Family size varies.  Decorating tastes vary.   My style of photography is fluid and varies with the personalities of  the family we are photographing.)

I  realize in ‘traditional  portraits’  the ‘traditional’ part includes this:

• use solid techniques
• use flattering light
• show true emotion of your subject
• capture fleeting gesture
• show relationships in families.
• prepare the final images for most pleasing effect
• The above points can be applied to any style of portraits and are necesary to create a touching meaningful professional portrait
• planning the portraits is the first step
• making the images during the session is the middle step
• editing, choosing and preparing the images and finally hanging the portraits are the final steps.

Decorating your home with family portraits

Decorating your home with family portraits can be much more than putting an 8×10 or a few 5x7s on a bookshelf or side table.   Many Ann Arbor area follks tend to choose those smaller images to display in their homes… and over time have lots of cameo sized pictures spread around the house. It is spring,  you may want to give your family portrait decoration a spring lift.  What follows is a suggestion to tune-up  your existing family portrait decoration.

Gather all ye little family pictures…

I often suggest this to portrait clients:  Gather all those little framed family pictures together and display them together.  A grouping of photos–even tiny 5×7′s– hang with much more prominence when arranged in one single wall.  Small frames are easy to  inexpensively replace,  transforming your ‘rag-tag’ into ‘eclectic’.

[While many plain bare walls are crying for decoration that is not the subject of this article. However at Photo Generations we have added a special service for those looking to decorate their walls with fresh new family portraits.   Our new family portrait decoration service is more precise--'pre-envisioned' as Ansel Adms might say --than the method described below, because we use it before you make your family portrait decisions--but that is a subject for later...]

It is a lot of fun to look at the group of family pictures

It is a lot of fun to look at the group of family pictures on your wall and see the differences a few years makes in how everyone looks.  Your ‘cameo gallery’ of portraits means more when you can access all the images in one place–So much more of a statement than an image here and there scattered in various rooms.

Once you pull your cameo family portrait gallery together from the existing pictures in the house, you will be amazed how great they look together!

Creating a ‘cameo gallery’

First:  choose the wall.  It may be on the staircase heading to the basement, the upstairs hallway, the family room, the media room.

Next: design the gallery.  An basic method to design your cameo gallery is to layout your frames on the floor.  Arrange them in a pleasing manner.   You may prefer a perfect grid–you may like an assymetrical grouping.   Or, if you like to doodle, first draw a sketch of the wall and the little pictures.  Or, cut out colored squares for each picture and arrange them on your wall sketch till it looks good to you.

A grouping of smaller 5×7 pictures works so much better than the same pictures on different walls-even in the room.  The reason is this:  the grouping creates a focal point.  Your eyes will be drawn to that focal point because it is the most interesting thing on the wall in a room.  A group of even tiny pictures becomes, from a distance, a single focal point.

Tools to make hanging your portrait easier for small family portraits in small frames

An easy hanger is a ‘wall grabber’ type wall hook that will hold small and lightweight frames.   They are one piece metal pieces you gently knock into the wall, they stay put on modern walls very well.   On white walls they are nearly invisible.

If you have one of those fancy laser beam levelers, use it!.  You want to determine the outside reference points of your wall grouping.  The top (or sides) of  frame groupings makes sense to sight, rather than the actual wall hanger.  Use a light pencil mark and mark your wall.

You will want to know where the hanger on the back of each picture is, because it seems they are never exactly the same.  Test hang  your frame to see where the wall hook has to be in order to align the frame where you want it.

As you hang your pictures, knock just one hanger into the wall at a time, then hang the picture that goes on it right away, then move on to the next picture that hopefully you have laidout on a nearby floor.  This one-at-a-time method lets  you custom fine tune– how high or low to put the wall hook–depending on where the hook on the back of the picture is.  Generally it looks best if the tops of frames in your grouping are aligned in your pattern.  Not all frames need to be precisely arranged,  just having a few key frames precisely aligned goes a long way to creating a pleasing layout.

No mystery to decorating with portraits

The great thing about grouping your older smaller images into one presentation, is this: You have more room for new family art!

I know, because I have gone through the process  described above with our family pictures.  And over the years I have gravitated to larger sized family portraits and whimsical child portraits.  One beautiful portrait is so much more powerful (and has more decorating use) in a room!  But that is a discussion for another day!

Meanwhile let’s enjoy this beautiful spring weather in Dexter, Ann Arbor and all over Washtenaw county. H ey why not create a new child or family portrait to decorate our walls with!

hey Ann Arborites: Desire a child or family portrait in the next few months.but..not…quite…ready?

You Are in Luck!
Colleen is celebrating St. Patty’s Day with a sale. We are Lucky at Photo Generations!  In 2007 one special client won $20,000 just having her portrait made here (we entered her into a national drawing and she WON!!!)   Sorry, no dramatic Irish Sweepstakes offers today, (but didya know there’s a family rumor that long ago great-grandfather won the Irish sweepstakes and brought his bride here..),
We’re having a simple sale: the DESIGN YOUR OWN LUCKY PORTRAIT SPECIAL.

Reserve Now–by March 20, Do custom portrait session later, in March April or May
The sale is a simple offer to remind you!  You’ve been wanting a family portrait, or one of the kids, now havent cha?

St. Patty’s Special:  4-day portrait sale:  March 17 -March 20
DETAILS:

• Pre-purchase your CUSTOM session and print package by March 20.
• Decide exact date and style of session later.
• Session must occur in March, April or May
• Special includes: pre session design consultation + studio  session + Big Show + 8×10 + facebook picture + special pricing on additional images.
• Cost: children: $100    family: $150

to reserve your DESIGN YOUR OWN LUCKY PORTRAIT SPECIAL:
Contact Colleen by March 20: phone 734.426.0700  (our lucky number is seven!)  or email colleenATphotogenerationsDOTcom

And May the Luck of the Irish be with you!

PS: add a comment tellin’ your favorite St Patty’s day memory OR become a facebook fan & we’ll create an extra-lucky-special-gift at your custom Design Your Own Lucky Session.