Just Plain Awesome
Jul 22
by Laura J. Middour in Maternity 0 comments

Getting the Most out of your Maternity Session

First let me start by saying Congratulations on your growing family. Maternity and Newborn are some of my favorite sessions to shoot. I love seeing the love through images. Whether its simply the love of a mother with her child, a new mom and dad together, or the whole family welcoming the little one into the world. There are definitely things to consider though when you book a maternity session with LJPhotography. First is Location, location, location. Living in south Texas we have a wide variety of locations available to us in a range of surrounding areas. I have amazing locations from Rockport, Aransas, Port Aransas, Portland, Corpus Christi and areas within the city such as Calallen, Downtown, and lots of areas within Corpus. Also available is an in Studio session at my studio located in Portland, I have a variety of backgrounds for use. Or we could do a combination of Studio and On Location. One of the first questions I as when we are discussing your upcoming maternity session is whether you are having a boy or a girl. There are areas that feel gender specific with colors and over all feel, but there are definitely areas that […]
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Feb 24
by Laura J. Middour in Kids 0 comments

Behind the Scenes – Zavrie Urban Session

I’ve had the privilege of having photo sessions with this little diva for about 3 years. When I found out she was going to be in town from Fort Worth I knew I had to get her in front of my camera again. This time I had her uncle Devin Romanowski, a fellow photographer, tag along and he was able to capture some really great BTS- “Behind the Scene” images of our session. This girl has the most amazing eyes and completion, she fits into any setting and is willing to do literally anything I ask her- Bonus!! She is getting older and into her teens so her mother and I wanted to document this exciting time in her life and take advantage of the amazing and diverse locations in Corpus Christi. We had decided on an Urban feel for her session theme. I asked her to wear jeans, a cool t-shirt, and some sassy boots that she can move around in. I didn’t want her to be dressed to formal, almost like I was just following her around a normal day shooting pictures.  The BTS images are a really great way to see how my subject and I move around […]
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Feb 02
by Laura J. Middour in Before and After 0 comments

Before and After Monday – Corpus Christi Photographer

On Mondays I like to focus on an image that I felt needed some extra attention to create the ultimate image. This week I wanted to focus on an image shot during the family session I had last week with a beautiful family out of Corpus Christi Texas. The whole session was discussed in a previous blog post. The image that I will be discussing is one of my favorite from the session, and is an intimate moment between Mom and her young daughter. The image itself is actually pretty good without to much editing, the exposure was good, the background wasn’t distracting, the eye engagement was great, and the moment itself was exactly what I was looking for. But there were a few elements that I felt needed a bit more attention and needed to be fixed in order for the image to be fantastic. I first imported the image into Adobe Lightroom where I begin all of my editing. Once I cropped the image, added a color action, and did some minor editing, I still wasn’t completely happy with the final image. I felt like the hair blowing from the mom across her face was a little distracting and knew […]
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Feb 02
by Laura J. Middour in Family 0 comments

Martinez Family – Corpus Christi Photographer

Last week I had the most amazing session with a beautiful family. The family is rather large, with four children, so naturally I was a little nervous and intimidated about this session. But right away I was put at ease when the youngest boy came right up to me and wanted to talk to me. Mom was tucking in shirts, fixing pant legs, brushing hair and just overall getting everyone ready like a good mommy. I used this opportunity to start to get to know the boys, introduce myself, ask them how they were feeling about the shoot, ask about school, and get them use to talking to me- a stranger with a camera. Lucky for me these children were really outgoing and very well behaved. I was able to create some images that had been floating around in my head for weeks- stacking the children almost on top of each other on a comfy blanket and shoot from above and I was really happy with the results. We walked down to where we were gonna start shooting, did a bit of exploring to get some energy out. Once we do that,  I know that when we start the session they would be […]
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Jan 28
by Laura J. Middour in Stuff 0 comments

New Prop Alert – Corpus Christi Photographer

So I’m more excited about this new prop because I found it, in the dumpster behind my Studio in Rockport Texas. So if you know me even a little, you will know that I am NOT a “dumpster diver” at all- I’m sure you can find really great stuff, but that is so not me. I wont even ask for a discount at a store, its just not my personality. So when I saw this bike glistening in an almost empty dumpster I couldn’t resist and grabbed it. I spent the day at the studio yesterday with my dad, hanging new backdrops, moving old ones, and overall just getting rid of some junk that had accumulated. We had made a nice pile of empty boxes and shipping tubes that were laying around the office. The shopping center that we have the studio at is full of office suites and small gyms so I knew when I saw the bike it wouldn’t be covered with yucky garbage. I pulled it out and it was brand spankin’ new! Tires had no signs of use, they even have the little nubs that are on new tires. I dusted off the cobwebs, probably just from […]
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Jan 27
by Laura J. Middour in Wedding 0 comments

It’s All in the Details – Corpus Christi Wedding Photography

Your wedding day will no doubt be packed full of precious moments that you can look back on with images from your special day. There are many moments you’re not gonna want to miss such as entering the ceremony, exchanging of the rings, the first kiss, family portraits, and of course moments during the reception. But there are probably moments you don’t think of capturing that are equally as important when creating a storyline of your day. These moments are all about capturing the details you’ve spent months creating that all help tell that story. After meeting your consultation I require that you create a time line for your wedding day so everyone involved knows how much time is allotted for each moment. If there are special images you would like to capture, these will all be discussed during that initial consultation and be noted. Outside of the main, most important images from your wedding day I love to focus on all those little things and this time line enables me to capture those tiny little moments. Some of the things I like to focus on are: -The bride getting ready with hair and makeup -Details of the dress, shoes, and accessories -Items […]
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Jan 26
by Laura J. Middour in Before and After 0 comments

Before and After Monday – Rosie & Brandon Beach Wedding

This week, in my Before and After Monday, I’m sharing an intimate moment after a wedding ceremony on the beach. The weather and the location was breathtakingly beautiful and intimate for everyone who attended the wedding. After capturing the family portraits, I stole the bride and groom away for a quick session along the seashore. The ceremony took place on a public beach in Port Aransas Texas, where there many families were enjoying themselves around us, so naturally there was some public noise in the background that was unavoidable. The first thing I needed to focus on in this image, was that public noise in the background. I imported the image into Photoshop where I eliminated the clutter and the random spectators. There also was quite a bit of seaweed along the shoreline that needed to be addressed as well. Once that background was fix I could import the image into Lightroom were I typically do most of my editing. The image was a little underexposed so in Lightroom I was able to lighten the image up, and add a color effect that gave the image a soft ethereal feeling. I was trying to create a mood with the colors that […]
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Jan 21
by Laura J. Middour in Family 0 comments

Using D.O.F to Create Unique Images

D.O.F or Depth of Field is the range of distance that appears sharp in an image, this is achieved with aperture and focal distance. Or in plain English its the area in an image that is super sharp where you focus your lens while the surrounding area seems to get softer or blurry. I love to use this in my images especially when I want to focus on just one subject while softening the background or other subjects to demand importance in a specific area of an image. This is a great way to focus your attention to one area while the background is soft and pretty while being non-distracting. I use this a lot with sessions involving small children. I love images that focus on that small child while the parents are visible in the background but not the main focus. I often use picture frames to frame out the parents but the main focus is still the child. These often are some of the most popular images with the parents. In the session below I asked him to hold the frame and make a yucky face while I instructed the parents to have a quick smooch.  Have an […]
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Jan 20
by Laura J. Middour in Engagement 0 comments tags: Engagement

What to Expect from your Engagement Session

An engagement session is an opportunity for the couple to take time out during the rigorous wedding planning process, to spend some time with their wedding photographer that with mark their engagement to one another. You would book this session to celebrate your engagement and also to work with your photographer before the day of the wedding. Sometimes the engagement falls into a flat space of time after the ring has been exchanged but before your life truly together begins. I believe this time should be celebrated, and one way to do so is with photographs displaying your love for one another for many years to come. Also choosing an engagement session as part of your wedding package enables you to get to know your photographer a little better, and discuss any likes or dislikes while getting to know how your photographer works. Once the wedding day comes around, you will be cool, calm, and collected and will have no need to be nervous or shy around your photographer. The session is typically booked 2-3 months before the wedding date. I love to hear ideas and get their input for the shoot itself asking if there is something they like to […]
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Jan 19
by Laura J. Middour in Maternity 0 comments

Behind the Scenes!

Along with on location photo sessions, I also offer Studio Sessions. The Studio is shared with my father and fellow photographer and is located locally in Rockport Texas. With different backdrop options and studio lighting, we can achieve a completely different image then an on location photo session. These are great options when the weather isn’t ideal for an outside shoot, or I have delicate subjects such as newborns or Moms-to-Be. The first Image featured is the final edit from a Maternity session where I have draped the Mom with 5 yards of fabric leaving a train of excess fabric that is then thrown into the air and captured during its mid-air flight. This type of image is really fun to capture and is really popular with Maternity sessions. Different color fabrics are available- this mom is excited to have a Baby Girl and wanted everything Pink! This image was achieved with a solid black background, 4 studio lights, and a 4×6 reflector (on camera right). Its important, especially with someone with dark hair that you separate your subject from the dark background with the various studio lights. A Hair light (above) and 2 Kickers (on either side) are used to achieve […]
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