Sweet Baby Riley surrounded by flowers that were a part of her parents’ engagement!

It’s a glorious day, friends! Know why? Because we have beautiful Riley and her incredible parents, Micki and Jon, along with sweet Sadie, coming at you on the blog today!

There was so much love and tenderness at this session that it literally warmed our hearts from the second we walked through Micki and Jon’s door. We were greeted with smiles and hugs, then led into their living room where the natural lighting was to die for (seriously…as photographers, we couldn’t have asked for a better space in a client’s home)! After setting up our equipment, we got down to the business of making some memories!

So, speaking of lighting, here’s the skinny: unlike so many other aspects of photography, the light we are working with can be, more often times than not, outside of our control. Weddings are sometimes held in dimly lit, small churches. Fresh 48 sessions are generally done in hospitals, home of florescent lighting. And newborn sessions are usually photographed inside the baby’s home where he/she can be comfortable and more at ease in a fairly familiar space, but the lighting conditions may not be ideal. Lighting can be a struggle, even for the most experienced photographer. That’s why we thought we’d take a few minutes to throw some lighting knowledge your way to help you plan and prepare for your next photography session!

So what do we look for when it comes to lighting?

Glad you asked! These are our top three priorities for lighting:

1. Natural, diffused light – this type of light comes from the sun (duh), but has some sort of filtering agent, such as a sheer curtain, shade, or diffusing panel, to create a soft, dreamy effect. Cloudy, slightly overcast days can also offer that soft, diffused light, surprisingly enough!
2. Soft, even light – steer clear of blinds or objects that cast harsh shadows, dark spots, or splotches! Likewise, completely direct sunlight can be way too intense and create those same harsh shadows in a photo, so try to stay in an area that isn’t directly in the sun (usually this isn’t an issue with a newborn session, but important nonetheless!).
3. Light, neutral backgrounds (what…I thought this was about lighting?! Hear us out!) – Bright, bold colors can create super fun, vivid images. HOWEVER, they can also cast reflections on the skin that can completely change the coloring. Crazy, right?! Light, neutral backgrounds allow that gorgeous, soft, diffused light photographers love to illuminate the skin without changing the tone and coloring of it.

Micki and Jon had this DOWN for their session, making our jobs that much easier! They cleared out their specious living room, painted a misty gray and beautifully illuminated by a giant sliding glass door, for our session. Which allowed for naturally-lit shots like these:

Now, technical facets aside, newborn sessions can be filled with all sorts of emotions, for both the clients and the photographers alike. There’s excitement to capture all the beauty and uniqueness of your brand new little bundle of joy; anticipation for the big day; nervousness that it will go smoothly and as planned; a little bit of anxiety that it might not (hey, we’re just keeping it real here!)…

The thing about THIS session is that we felt like part of the family from the get-go, even though we had only met Micki once before (when she was the maid of honor at her best friend, Brittany’s, wedding last fall) and had never even met Jon! Their genuine personalities, adoration of and elation over their precious little girl, and playfulness with each other was not only completely infectious and ADORABLE, but also amazing to catch on camera:

And Micki and Jon weren’t the only ones showing the love. Sadie joined in, too, offering puppy kisses and tail wags through the whole session!

We are

0
0
1
18
105
HCPS
1
1
122
14.0

96

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

so, very excited to see how this family continues to blossom and just know there are some very special years in their future! Micki and Jon, thank you for letting us share in your joy and provide you with memories of your Riley’s first days that you will cherish for years to come!