Why It is Important To Be Photographed

While deep in one of my 5 minute thinking session I began to think about the importance mankind has placed on preserving his image . The caveman liked to see his image on the cave wall, the Egyptian painted his likeness inside his tombs, the American Indian painted his image on rocks. So I came to the conclusion that history shows us that the our ancestors preservation of their image and the modern day portrait photography serves the same purpose. It is much easier today to have this done with traveling to a portrait studio in the comfort of the modern car. The studio is temperature controlled for comfort, the equipment does a great job of capturing your image in a very flatterning way.

When my children were younger my Mother couldn't understand the need to photograph them as frequently as I did. She remarked that small children change so rapidly why did I want to do this, that by the time I had the wall portrait printed they would look different. My response to that was, I want to capture and preserve as many changes in their appearance as possible.

As your child gets older the next photography opportunity is the "High School Senior Session". This is the single most important session that most people will ever have done. I feel that Mom and Dad view this session as the last session done of their son or daughter as a child, and the senior views this session as one of the first events done as an adult. As a parent that has gone through this with both a son and daughter I have mixed feelings. I do know from my experience how hard it is to photograph them after graduating from high school. Their lives become so busy for the next few years as they move out on their own and begin to establish their careers. I am amazed at the pleasure we get from having all the wall portraits we have displayed throughout our home of our own children from their high school years.

Our daughter went to college in Georgetown, KY and Pittsburg, PA and then moved to North Carolina, then Australia and then back to NC. She got married 5 years ago and now has a fine little baby boy. Our son went to college at Marshall, and EKU and has lived in Lexington, Ky except for a year and half in North Carolina as well. I guess I am saying all this to tell you that we find it almost impossible to get our family all together at the same time and even harder to do a photo session. If you haven't yet reached this point in life, please get your family together for a family portrait session soon. It will never get easier than it is right now!

"The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul"

I don't know if I got that saying right or not, because I am terrible at those kinds of things!!! Doesn't he have the most striking eyes?!?!! I hesitated to say "beautiful eyes" because guys probably don't like to be described with those kinds of words. Even though Travis did indeed have really pretty eyes, okay I better quit going on about that before I embarass him.............. We could have photographed Travis all day long, he was so laid back & easy going! He had the most pleasant personality & we really enjoyed the oportunity of working with him. I think he's gonna love these, and I can't wait to get to the rest of them ready later in the week.

Red eyes

If you have ever wondered why your snapshots have red eyes, I'll try to explain it. The red spots are caused when the flash is too close to the lens on your camera. The light from the flash goes straight from the flash to the eyes and straight back. When your subject is looking off camera there is normally no red eye problem. Some cameras have red eye reduction which helps with the problem. If you can turn on more lights in the room this will help by make the pupils get smaller. It may sound harsh, but shining a strong flashlight toward the eyes right before taking your picture will help. (Use common sense and don't hit anyone with one of the powerful spot lights, often call deer lights.) The best way to avoid red eyes is to have a camera that has a hotshoe on top. Slide your flash into the hotshoe and you will be in good shape. If you have a camera that you can plug your flash into, buy a flash bracket and put the flash on the bracket and then just plug the flash in to the camera. Most flashes that fit in a hotshoe have flash heads that can be aimed at the ceiling or a wall. While this won't provide perfect lighting, I think you will see a big improvement over the flash aimed straight at the person. The quality of the light is much better and your subjects don't pay as much attention to the camera. To bounce light off the ceiling will require a stronger flash. Also bouncing the light off the ceiling may add some light behind your subject so that they aren't the only part of you picture that has light on it.

So remember that you are shooting digital so don't be afraid to experiment. You may have to read the manual that came with your camera to get things sorted out if you have problems. These are just some tips for your everyday taking pictures. I hope that this helps!

Girls Just Wanna Have F U N!!!

Mallory and Hillary are a couple of sisters that we had the pleasure of photographing on Friday. I can't believe how much these girls have grown up since the last session we did for them a few years ago! The last portraits we did of the girls are hanging in their Dad's Dental Office and soon their Mom will have new ones to display there as well. They are always a dream to work with, I still believe Hillary has been watching "America's Next Top Model"..............LOL!!!!

Photographing with Available Light

Quite frequently I read about using available light. Available light can be great or it can be awful. Early morning and late evening is the best time to use available light. Even then it can be too dark, too light, or coming from the wrong direction. National Graphic employed photographers that made great use of available light. These photographers often spend months getting the image that appeared in the magazine. Some locations might be best photographed early morning and in the fall to get the lighting just right.

When it comes to portrait and wedding photography I think that you will find available light falls way short most of the time. If you take the greatest song that was ever penned and allow me to compose, write the music and sing it, all you will have is a mess. With available light the same can apply. If you are aware of the best time of day, the correct angle to position yourself and your subject and understand how to set up your camera then your are on the correct path. Alot of the new digital cameras will allow one to photograph in very low light, but often this light has lost it quality and must receive help from flashes, reflectors and other tools of the trade.

Yes digital cameras allows looking at the image as soon as you take it, but you need the knowledge/skill to know if you have captured greatest or just a vacation snapshot. On cheaper cameras this image is often a lot different than what you see when looking at the back of your camera. To get truly great images using cameras that are set to auto will normally not produce them. There are lots of material available to help you learn the in's and out's of great photography.

One thing about digital is that photography is a lot of fun. It's great to see what you have just photographed and not have to have film developed and proofed. I enjoy the challenge of always trying to improve my photography. Photography will never get old or boring so keep looking to improve your photography and you won't get bored with photography.

Thanks of the long read.
Bill

Lady Lions Softball

On Wednesday the Boyd Co. girls softball team came to the studio to have pictures taken. We had 25-30 girls in the camera room so needless to say it got kind'a warm in there. Sorry girls that I got rather overheated, I know my face was probably as red as your uniforms!! LOL!! Last year was the first time they came to the studio, in past years we always photographed them at the softball field. The girls really liked how much better they turned out having them taken in the studio and I have to agree with them............ Don't you think BCHS has to be one of the best lookin' softball teams around?!?! We especially loved taking the fun senior group pose, and I can't believe it's gonna be one of the last times we see some of you girls here in the studio:(

Don't forget everybody, WHITLOCK's will be open for prom! The first 3 Lady Lions that mentions reading this entire blog we'll include a little surprise gift in with your prom package!!!!

Why We Do Things Our Way

I have noticed that there is a trend for photographers to give the original images to the client as soon as the session is done. The client is told that they can take the images anywhere they want and get them printed. Yes, this can be done at a big saving over what most studios charge. Let's take a look at why Whitlock Photography doesn't offer this. First the reason I got into photography was because I didn't like the quality I was getting from a large national studio. I didn't know exactly why I didn't like their work except that I thought it was bad. When my daughter (Natalie) was born I begin to photograph her. I knew how to operate a camera from my travels around the world and across most of the USA, but I didn't know anything about taking portraits. So before I opened my studio I began to go to portrait workshops and enrolled at Winona School of Profesional Photography in Indiana. Since I didn't have to rely on photography to support the family, I took my time and continued to study the art of portraiture. We attend workshops and conventions to this day and enjoy meeting photographers from other studios to stay current on the latest. It is the combination of classic values and skills that we merge with the new trends to achieve the quality that is so very important to Whitlock Photography. We very carefully retouch each portrait image and make necessary color corrections and then send the image to one of the best professional labs in the nation. Only the best portrait paper is used. Then a protective coating is applied to protect the surface of the print. Wall portraits are mounted on mount board and the print is framed or presented to our client. From the moment the phone rings to the minute the client leaves our studio with their order, quality and personnal attention is the goal of Theresa and I.