Okay, here’s the truth.  I’ve only had a few guys choose the beach session, and I’m not always certain about how it will turn out.  We reviewed Phil’s beach images yesterday, and they’re a reason for more guys to get to the beach.  Strong, artistic, and full of attitude - I love these shots of Phil.

I’ve been super busy lately, and I apologize for so few Senior posts this summer - there just hasn’t been time to get things published.  But, we’ve worked with some amazing people, and I’ll try really hard to get as many of their images up on this blog in the next month as I can.  Here’s the story on Alyssa, who goes to Gray New Gloucester.

Twice before we had to reschedule because of bad weather, and on the drive over it started raining. I was certain we were going to have to reschedule again, but really hoping for a miracle.  Rescheduling beach sessions is hard for us.  At Focus, we only shoot at the beach during the last two hours of daylight, when the light is prettiest, and so we can’t just reschedule people for the next sunny afternoon - when you only shoot at the beach for two hours - those are usually booked.  And Alyssa had a two hour session, so another rain out was going to be a huge problem.  I don’t know how Alyssa got so lucky, but in the ten minutes it takes me to drive out to Cape Elizabeth from our studio, the sun broke through. The beach was a little moist, but if you look at the images, you’ll see that getting a little wet doesn’t bother the hardcore.

Check out how cool she is.  Anytime someone brings me a prom dress to the beach, we’re going to get some awesome images.  If you’re wondering what to wear for your senior pictures, you can never look bad in a gorgeous gown in a place where it’s not supposed to be.

Oh yeah, she got in the ocean at the end, and couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.  Fortunately, she got some awesome images while she was freezing - the pink surrounding her is the reflection of the sunset.  I keep forgetting to tell people to bring a towel, so if you have a beach session coming up, be forewarned….

Alyssa - your images rock!  I was able to pare them down to about eighty that I can’t wait for you to see. 

For more information about cool senior pictures, follow that link.  Thanks for looking - I’ll get more up soon.

This is a family session we did last week on the coast.  Okay, a little late on the blogging, but we’ve been really busy since the 4th.  Look for a lot of catching up in the next week or so.

So this is the Weeks family from Brunswick, who tempted me with the idea of a family session on their new boat, but then yanked the boat out of the photoshoot at the last minute.  So this is a special appeal to our blog readers - I need a family shoot on a boat.  It doesn’t have to be a ridiculous yacht, or even a powerboat - sailing would be awesome.  And don’t get me wrong - I don’t want to be on the boat.  I want to be on the dock, or an island, or even another boat, while you and your family come sailing by.  Maybe flying a spinaker, I don’t know.  Definitely looking nautical, navy and white would be great.  If you’ve got the boat, the family, and are willing to find the clothing, (and no one in your family has three heads), the photo session is on me.  Tell your friends down at the marina.

Enough about me and how I was cheated out of the picture I really wanted - these pictures on the rocks are awesome. 

Learn more about us on our website - www.focusphotography.info.  Thanks for looking.  Will

Happy 4th of July!

Independence day has always been one of my favorite holidays - Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Cinqo de Mayo, the 4th of July, and maybe Christmas, not in any particular order.  The other 4 are all about the food to me, but the 4th is all about fireworks, crowds, and summer.  There should be more summer holidays. 

Here’s the secret to really powerful fireworks images - long shutter exposures.  Set your camera on manual, and stop down your aperture.  Make sure you’re camera is on a tripod - you won’t be able to do this hand held.  I like 1s/f11, depending on the night, with a film speed of no more than 400. Fireworks are burning super brightly, and you want to capture some of their great colors, and a lot of their motion.  That’s why you want an aperture of f8-f22.  The exposure time is more subjective.  Since you’re not trying to get a good exposure of the sky, or anything else around you, don’t bother metering.  Just leave the shutter open long enough to catch some of the motion that an exploding firework makes, without catching so much that it blurs. But I can never predict how long that will be, so here’s my fireworks trick.  I set the camera for a 15 second exposure, but cover the lens (with a hat or a paper plate) just until I see the rocket going up.  Then I uncover the lens, let the colors streak out, and place the plate or hat over the lens again.  That way I don’t have to worry about exactly when the fireworks go off.  I’ll add more later….

Okay, a rainy night, tough on fireworks all around. Truthfully, we didn’t go down to the Eastern Prom because we thought they would be washed out, but I hear they still went off without a hitch.  Send me a link to your own images if you got anything good.  I’m posting a panorama of the Eastern Promenade with fireworks from last year instead. 

I’m sorry I wussed out this year, as I always love Portland’s fireworks display.  I guess there’s always next year….

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Yesterday we had Karri and her daughter Chelsea in for a Mother/Child connection session, and the images were fantastic. 

Connection studies are a very contemporary photo session, with an emphasis on the bonds between people.  We ask our connection’s clients to dress in black, long sleeved clothing to keep the focus on the relationship between the subjects, and not on what they are wearing.

Connection Studies are shot on both black backgrounds, for artistic black and white images, as well as on medium tone brown images, which complements most homes decor.

I’ve been shooting a lot of Mother/Child sessions lately for a fall exhibit we’re planning.  I’ll post the dates here when we have them firmed up.

Ali had the first senior session for our class of ‘08 season today, and we’ll do a beach safari in July.  I was lucky enough to have her sister Sade as a client 2 years ago, and am thrilled at how well Ali’s session came out.

At Focus, we offer 14 different photo sessions so that every senior we work with gets a unique session that they choose.  From sports themes such as our superjock session, to fashion portfolios, to our rockstar session, we offer unique photo sessions for unique people.  You can learn more about them here.

 

These images are from a mother/daughter session we shot at the end of May.  While we often do these relationship studies in dark clothing and low key backgrounds, I think the blue frilly dresses is perfect in these, and emphasizes Caroline’s eyes.

 

Emily told me that what she loved most about seeing these pictures of Caroline was that they captured her personality, and I’m overjoyed.    Our children’s sessions are completely unstructured and freeform, because I hate the fake smiles that are typically associated with kids photography.  I’ve been trying to find the words to describe it in marketing materials, but I’m visual, and words have never been my strong point. I can describe what I don’t like, and that tells how we got to freeform, but I could really use some help describing what our sessions are. 

Okay, here’s what I don’t like: sit still, say cheese, look at the whatever, don’t move, I’m watching you, don’t move, smile for mommy,  stay right there, smile big, put your hands like this, don’t move.  If you’re looking for pictures of your child with that say cheese smile, hair perfect, upright posture, I’m not your guy.  This is what I know how to say.

What I’m looking for is a playfulness in the eyes, a devious smile, a sense of wonder, joy, and love.  I want to see what parents see in their own minds when they think of their children.  And I want to be able to show you as many sides and natural expressions of your children as I can.  So when Emily told me that this was the real Caroline, it made my week. 

Thanks for letting me share.

Will

 

So we offer this photo session called the Hollywood Experience, which is focused on getting the glamour and fashion of a 1940s movie studio promo shoot.  Our makeup artist Christine adds a few dramatic touches, and our clients usually enjoy the preening.  Last night we met Briana, a typical 14 year old girl, who came in with sneakers and t shirts, a karate outfit (she’s a black belt at 14!), and the knockout dress you see below. 

Briana just had her braces taken off, and to celebrate the years of wearing them (and the benefits), her parents gave her this photo session.

Briana before the dress and hair….

My mother tells me she hates seeing young women photographed any way but as sweet and innocent, and I think a lot of us understand that.  It seems that adulthood is forced on kids at a constantly younger age, and we offer a lot of other options for photo sessions other than The Hollywood Experience.  But I remember my early teens as a time of enormous self-doubt, wondering what I would turn out like, and desperately wanting a stronger self image (no luck - it turns out I was truly a geek who would keep his acne for twenty more years). We’ve had a lot of people asking us for beautiful portraits of their girls who are in this 12 to 15 bracket, for that very reason.  Reviving Ophelia has raised the awareness that without a positive self image, adolescent girls are far more likely to develop eating disorders, depression, and lower expectations for themselves.  We all deserve to feel good about ourselves, except for meter maids and IRS agents.

Anyway, congratulations Briana, the teeth look terrific, and so do you.

As a photographer, it often seems that stages of most children’s lives that we see are infancy and adulthood, with few visits in between.  Between the first birthday and senior graduation portraits, many families only have school pictures to document their children’s lives.  Jewish families are fortunate enough to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and can really celebrate the transition from child to adulthood that happens in the early teens.

We’d like to see more families able to record this special time in their children’s lives.  These girls are all graduating from eighth grade this year, and these are their graduation portraits:

Christina:

Rachel

Vanessa:

Learn more at www.focusphotography.info

Two sisters with amazing expressions.  Look at the eyes in Elizabeth, the younger sister.