Chasing Moments Photography

Dear Friends,

I am in the process of moving my photography blog with most of its content on to a new platform. Therefore, many posts and features of this blog will no longer be available. Please stay tuned as the new blog unrolls in the next couple of months with new images from recent newborn photo sessions and updated past content.

Thanks!

Olga (Chasing Moments Photography)

Posted a "show and tell" from a recent newborn session with an adorable baby boy on my "new" blog. Here is one of the many very sweet pictures from the shoot:

I had a very busy weekend, photographing (and meeting some great families with fun little ones), editing and working on updating and moving my blog to a new platform. Today, I met wonderful family in Clifton who recently welcomed a new baby girl, J! Mom, Dad and Big Brother were all great sport helping me make the session fun, easy and successful (I had a quick look at the files from the session and they are all beautiful). Newborn J. cooperated really well and slept for most of her portrait session and Mom and I had fun trying on different headbands (oh, the joy of accessorizing when photographing a girl!). By way of a sneak peak, here is a toned three-image collage:



Can't wait to get working on the rest of the images from the session. In the meantime, hope this sneak peak will get Mom and Dad excited about seeing all the final proofs soon!

Most of my clients want to me to do "traditional" portraits of their newborn baby alone and with siblings and parents. Images on black background have a beautiful, clean look and focus on Baby's features and expression. They look great in black and white and suit any kind of decor (office space or nursery) either as a standalone portrait or as a part of a collage.

While seemingly simple (What's there to do? Just throw a piece of black fabric over a beanbag and you are done), portraits over black require expertise and experience both with camera and with photoshop. Without any other colors in the image (the background is black and there are no other objects in the image, and baby photography is usually done au naturelle), the photographer needs to make sure that her camera's settings are perfect to capture skin tones right. In fact, most newborn photographers struggle with skin tones making sure that final images look "real" without yellow or red or blue color cast. This is done by adjusting white balance in the camera to a custom setting and/or using a gray card. Getting skin tones right is most complicated under conditions of mixed light (natural light combined with a strobe to provide extra light in low light rooms). Then, once the image is shot with correct white balance, photoshop tweaks are still usually necessary to make adjustments (just right, not too over the top) to the final image.

Here is a great example from this weekend: image done with mixed light and then worked on in photoshop:



And the black and white version:

I had a wonderful time today meeting newborn baby boy N. and his beautiful family, can't wait to get to working on images from today! In the meantime, here's a sneak peak from today's session.

Getting this beautiful 20x20 collage packaged and ready to ship! I love getting amazing prints and products delivered to my clients - I know that they'll be enjoying them for years to come!

It is really rewarding to me personally to see the end result of our photo session, especially if it is a custom-made piece! It is especially exciting to get collages (like this one), enlargements or large canvases done for clients - these are the items that few people have the skill to design, edit and order on their own or that people are just too busy to get around to ordering.

Well, hope the client loves the collage! I absolutely do!



PS: Did you notice the new  logo/watermark?

Just got home from the post office, some beautiful prints / collage and a surprise present are on their way to a recent newborn client from Arlington. Hope they enjoy their goodies! Now, due to my time constraints I have not been posting often on here, but this time I have to share some of my favorites from the session!

First off, some collages! I arrange collages using images that "go together" and complement each other or make a mini-story.









And some individual, standalone images. Nothing sweeter than a "cuddly" mommy-and-me shot:





Baby E. was all smiles - he is such a happy little guy!



Baby E. was a bit older than my regular newborn models, but he agreed to sleep a bit for some beautiful "asleep" shots:



Some of my favorite black and whites:







And, per parents' suggestion, a shot of daddy and son wearing matching outfits! Super-cool!

One of the things I always mention to my clients is that some cropping may occur when they print from digital files. Unless the original digital image is cropped by your photographer or by you to fit a specific print size, digital files are not be formatted to "fit" any standard print size. Here is why:

One of the properties of a digital image is its dimension in pixels - length and width. My camera is an 18-megapixel camera and records digital files that are 5184 pixels long and 3456 pixels wide. Its ratio of length to width is 3:2, which means that digital files will make 3 by 2; 6 by 4; 12 by 8, 24 by 16 prints without cropping (in other words, there will be no cropping as long as the original ratio is preserved). Every camera is different in regards to the length-width ratio of the images it records, there is no set standard.

The image below has a 3:2 length to width ratio. There will be no cropping as long as this image is used for a 4*6, 8*12 and so on print.



Now, let's see what happens if we use this digital file to make a 5 by 7 print. White lines in the image below represent how the original image will be cropped. The "long" side of the resulting print will be slightly cropped.



Cropping will be even more substantial if we choose to make an 8*10 (or a 16*20) print:



I usually recommend that if my clients receive digital files from me, they should check how their images will be cropped before printing. Most online and in-store printers give "previews" of how a printed image will look and have tools that allow customers to recompose their images for printing.

As a photographer, I usually compose my shots with a little extra "space" on all sides so that no important part of the image is lost later due to cropping for print.

Sneak peak!  (Today was quite chilly but Mom, Dad and both Kids were real troopers and awesome models! Can't wait to show them all the great pictures we took today!)

Sneak peak for 7.5-week old baby E. What a gorgeous little guy!!!

Gallery blocks are professional metallic prints laminated onto solid wood. They are wear-, tear- and scratch-resistant. Gallery blocks are ready to mount and easy to maintain (wipeable surface, hooray!). Your  images can be printed on a single gallery block or  arranged in two "tiers" to offer additional 3D effect.

Gallery blocks are heavier than canvases (since the background board and the frame are solid wood) yet still relatively light weight so one person can easily mount even the largest gallery block. 

Below are images of a couple of samples I just received, I am absolutely blown away by the quality of their construction and the unique, beautiful look! They are super sturdy too ! (When my toddler decides to play tennis in the living room, balls just bounce right off - absolutely no damage done! Phew! That's one huuuge advantage gallery blocks have over canvases, in my book!)

So, here is the breakdown of what Gallery Blocks are. The first one is a "mini" gallery block with a 10*10 backboard.







The second one is a large gallery block with a 23*23 backboard and two 10*10 floating gallery blocks.

There is a new kid on the block ! Meet "Cube Decor", beautiful "cubes" or "blocks" created from five 4*4 panels of solid wood, each panel featuring a professional metallic print laminated onto it. Cubes are fully customizable and can use text or images or a combination of both.

I love "Cube Decor" samples I just received in the mail! They have a look and a feel of a kids stacking block, sturdy but relatively light. "Cubes" would look great on a bookshelf, in Baby's nursery or on your desk. In fact, my husband just asked me to make a couple of "cubes" with pictures of our boys for his desk at work! (Added bonus - they are wipeable and scratch-resistant!)





"Cubes" only have 5 panels, the "bottom" panel is an opening:



"Cubes" look great both stand-alone or stacked, lined up or arranged in a pyramid!

This beautiful 3.5-week old girl teamed up with her Mom (who had some great ideas during the shoot) to help me capture some really sweet images during their "at home" newborn session! While I prefer to schedule newborn sessions within 7-10 days of birth because babies still sleep a lot and are easy to pose, this session proves that sessions with slightly older newborns are well worth it. This gorgeous Baby stayed alert and wide awake for a looong time, but in the end agreed to sleep for a couple of shots :)

By way of a sneak peak for a beautiful newborn baby girl G., here are a couple of my favorite black and whites from today's photo session at her home in Kingstowne, Alexandria.

Clients and fellow photographers often ask about how much time I spend on each photo shoot. So, here is a quick breakdown:

Before the session: total 3 - 4.5 hours

- communication with Client (this includes scheduling, answering questions, pre-session consultation, miscellaneous paperwork): 1-2 hours

- preparation for the shoot at home: about 30 minutes for on-location shoots and up to 2 hours for a newborn session (includes checking gear, preparing props and backgrounds, packing, studio and lighting setup)

- traveling: usually 60-90 minutes round trip, depending on location; I also usually arrive about 15 minutes earlier for all my on-location sessions

Session: outdoor sessions are usually 60-90 minutes; newborn shoots about 3 hours but can be up to 4.

After the session: total 6.5 hours to 11.5 hours

- file transfer, back up and review: about 30 minutes

- preparation of proofs (editing includes color, brightness, contrast and sharpness correction, skin retouching, work on background, merging photos, etc.): usually about 4-6 hours for an outdoor photo shoot, about 8-10 hours for a newborn session.

- gallery setup for proof viewing, file upload, communication with client regarding proof selection - about 30-45 minutes or about 2 hours for an in-person ordering session

- product, print and file preparation (getting digital files ready on CD, proofing and editing files for printing, communicating with Lab regarding print and product order, packaging for delivery, traveling to the post office): 1-2 hours, more for special orders.

Total time: 10.5 to 23 hours. On average, outdoor sessions involve about 10-12 hours of work, newborn sessions 18-20.

Frequently, newborn photography features beautiful settings and backgrounds carefully crafted by the photographer. Distressed wood, hardwood floors, antique looking fabrics and props and vintage patterns and textures have all become standard among newborn photographers. 

As an alternative, high key images or images with a pure white background (featured here) can make beautiful, memorable photographs! They offer a clean and elegant look and will fit well into any environment (nursery, living room or professional office) as prints or products. High key imagery focuses on the person in front of the camera, no distractions.

What a handsome little boy!