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Families, kids, couples and the year that was 2011

JD — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:15:19 +0000

I blog about weddings quite a bit and everyone knows the connection between the bride & groom and the objective of capturing the celebration and love of them on their wedding day. Portraits are a different story – people tend to get their family or kids portraits done to document a time in their life to look back on. This year we have tried to change this with our portraits and try shooting them more like a wedding. This might sounds strange but I have been spending more time with portrait clients before the shoot and on the shoot to get a real connection between the family or the subject and the camera. In doing this I am getting some really strong, stirring and emotional images that aren’t just a documentation of a person or family but a window into their personalities and connection as a family.

This has created some of the most beautiful portraits and I love the thought of these images clients are purchasing owning pride of place in their houses for years to come. The fact that they aren’t your typical boring family or kids portraits makes them timeless and artistic and because of the emotional connection even more valuable to the family.

2012 we are going to explore this style of photography and invest more time in making it even better. I think if you aren’t growing and evolving as a person and an artist you are going backwards so it is important to keep evolving my style and moving the business into new directions.

2012 is going to be an exciting time for JD Digital Photography, we are going to be taking less wedding bookings to make way for more boutique portrait sessions. As far as weddings go we are almost 90% booked out for next year and the portraits have also started booking up quickly early next year so if you are thinking of booking either in don’t leave it too late.

I know this post is primarily about our portraits but I have photographed over 40 amazing weddings this year and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every one of them. I will hopefully get time to do another blog post on the weddings before the years out to showcase some more images of these amazing couples.

Here is a few images from some recent shoots we have completed over the past couple of months.

Spring, blossom, fun

JD — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:33:40 +0000

SPRING!!! – perfect for outdoor portraits – it is a beautiful time of year as everyone transitions out of the dull wet winter and get’s pumped up for the summer months ahead.

Shane & Vanessa were after a family portrait shoot at home but it had to be a specific time as a tree in the front yard with the most beautiful blossom only lasted about a week and that was one of the places where they wanted some nice family shots. As it turns out the evening we organised the shoot the weather was perfect with a soft setting sun, no wind and the tree if full bloom.

We have heaps of shoots lined up for the school holidays to take advantage of this beautiful time of year – can’t wait!

Are you over boring family portraits?

JD — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 05:22:19 +0000

Family photos don’t have to be boring, you can have fun with them and create some beautiful personalised art that can adore your walls for years to come. How many times do you go into someones house and see the same old standard family studio portrait, you know the ones where everyone in the picture looks like they would rather stick needles in their eye than be there.

We try and have a bit of fun with our family portraits, bring out their personalities and create images that light up a room, images that our clients are not only happy to hang up but will show off with pride. Amanda & Mark decided to get the family picture against the old rustic wall blown up as a Metal print (a new product). This just came in today and I have to say it looks amazing! It will certainly turn heads.

So if you are going to go to the trouble of doing a family portrait session make it fun and choose a location and style that suits your family. We don’t just take the photos we sit down with our clients and work our what location would work best, what to wear, what time of day etc all to give us the best possible chance to create that perfect portrait or series of portraits for their family.

Call the studio 9733 4854 to organise your family portrait session now, the light this time of year is just magical and perfect for outdoor portraits.

Why outdoor portraits – because you get shots like this

JD — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:38:58 +0000

A case can be mounted for photographing kids and family portraits outdoors or in a studio it really comes down to personal preference. Those that know our work or frequent this blog will know we a firmly in the corner of outdoor lifestyle portraits, we do get asked why from time to time and the main reason for this is it suits our style. I enjoy the unpredictability of it with the weather, location etc you don’t really know exactly what results you are going to get until you are there shooting ( conversely this is also why many photographers prefer the studio).

We photograph at parks, peoples houses or locations that have a special meaning to our clients, all of these places add some personality to the images. People also seem to be more relaxed outdoors than in a studio with big lights directed towards them, especially kids. They let down their guard running through the park or playing with their toys in the backyard, that’s when you get those special images.

We photographed the Fallon family a few weeks ago and had a ball, I don’t think we would have got any photos little Darcy if it had of been in a studio. But after a bit of time in the park he let his guard down and we captured some beautiful smiles of him. The shot below is my favorite from the day, this wouldn’t have the same effect in the studio.

New spring kids portraits

JD — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:02:19 +0000

As most of you know we do the majority of our kids and family portrait shoots outdoors at parks in the local area and McAlpine Reserve in Ringwood North would have to be one of my favourite locations. It’s got some great little spots for kids to explore and have fun with, it is dog friendly and has plenty of big shady trees for the really sunny days in summer.

The reason we do all our portrait shoots on location is kids and parents alike are more relaxed in a natural environment as you can see from the images below of William, Elliot & Eve. The next few months are the perfect time to do outdoor portraits as the weather is mild the sun isn’t too direct and the parks are looking bright and green with all the rain we have had. If you are thinking about getting some portraits done before Christmas book in soon as we are booking up fast and only have about 5 weekend shoots available for the rest of the year.

walking the dog

having fun

too cute

Baby & Family Portrait Photography

JD — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:23:11 +0000

What a cool shoot, when Anna called me and said she had a new little baby boy that she wanted photographed I was really looking forward to it, I had photographed Anna’s other son Jackson a few years ago and we got some really funky images. It is always great when past clients come back and you can see how their family has grown.

Levi was born only a few days after my little girl Lola as it turns out, If you read the previous post and saw the images of Lola on the shelf, I mentioned how nervous my wife Heidi was while doing this shot. She said to me at the time “Do you get your clients to do this” well now I can say yes, there was a very similar shelf in Levi’s room so I thought why not recreate the shot.

The shoot went off without a hitch except for the end where Levi decided to relieve himself all over his dad.

Enjoy!

what a cool shirt

family portrait

the famous shelf photo

fun family photo

artistic portrait