Just Plain Awesome
Jan 06
by Laura J. Middour in Stuff 0 comments

What an Image is Worth- made with Blood, Sweat & Ink

As a fairly new(ish) professional photographer, I have felt the need, in the past, to discount or give major coupons to clients in order to feel like they are getting the best possible deal for my work. Before I finished my portfolio building or set my current prices, I would have wavered and bent to every client complaint regarding pricing. In the process, I would be underselling my work, devaluing myself as an artist, and allow my artistic esteem to be slaughtered ever time. I have set my current price list competitively for my area as well as set the prices based of my target demographic. For me, my target demographic is a client that values photography and have some money to invest in my services and the final products offered. Clients that “value photography” may just simply mean they display images of their family and friends in their home. My ideal client wants to spend a little bit of money to achieve a big statement in their home about their family. This ideal client has a little understanding about the investment in time, the time it takes me to produce the works of art they wish to display in their […]
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Jan 05
by Laura J. Middour in Stuff 0 comments

My Thoughts on Posing

I believe I take a more journalistic approach to posing in that I enjoy more of an organic style to posing. I do practiced posing but in the loosest sense of the word, not in a way you might think. I suggest where to stand, who in which spot, and then general spots for hands, tilting of the head, etc. From there I let the person or group take over with natural movements, this gives a less robotic feel to the pose and gives the family a chance to interact with each other and for me to capture the moment. I pretty much do anything to capture images, I run, chase down kids, climb trees, lay on my stomach or back, climb through bushes, and get on top of things to capture the perfect image. I will do anything to avoid an artificial or contrived image with my photography. With children I find that posing is much more effortless, you can put a child in a general pose and they will naturally start moving in an organic way. But with adults it can be a little more difficult. They tend to freeze up and pretend they have never taken a […]
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Jan 03
by Laura J. Middour in Kids 0 comments

Helpful Tips when Photographing Children

I am photographer that lives in South Texas in the Corpus Christi area, all the images featured in this blog were created by me within my surrounding area. This blog post is to highlight my 4 favorite tips to photographing my favorite subject, Children. There is a saying in show business: “Never work with children or animals” – say Know what you are doing first! Like mentioned in an earlier post, children are unpredictable, independent, and have short attention spans. So you need to capitalize on every minute you have, you may only get one smile all day.  This brings us to Tip #1: Take advantage to every moment! The photo doesn’t have to be perfect the first time you click your trigger. Take the photo then tweak your surroundings. In this image the sun was hot, the wind was cranking, and I was having a difficult time getting her to engage with my camera. We had given her a piece of candy, tried to tame her wild wind blown hair, and I was trying to bounce some light back onto her face with a large reflector to my right. This was an initial “Test” but ended up being one of my […]
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Jan 02
by Laura J. Middour in Family 0 comments

Let it Snow – Marina

This little girl has a special place in my heart, her mom and I have been friends for a long time, but had lost touch at one point in our lives. We were reconciled later after she had given birth to her little girl, Marina. We were briefly catching up at a local grocery store and I mentioned that I had started my photography business, and she got super excited and told me that she was gonna call me up to have a photo-shoot with Marina. We picked a day and set the theme, she wanted to include a bunny or some little chicks around spring time. I called up a local feed store that had both and asked my strange question of “Borrowing a bunny for an afternoon” as a prop for this photo shoot. They told me that was totally fine and we had a blast shooting in a neighbors yard with lush green grass, and beautiful shade trees. Marina was maybe 9-11 months old so she wasn’t walking but could sit and stand, which is my favorite age to photograph (they can’t run away from you). Since then I have had the pleasure of shooting with her three other […]
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Jan 02
by Laura J. Middour in Stuff 0 comments

Creating yummy delicious Bokeh!

Q: What in the world is Bokeh, and how is it Yummy? Bokeh (BOH-Kay) in the photography world is the aesthetic quality of blur or out of focus parts of an image that is produced by a lens. Bokeh occurs in the parts of the image that are outside the depth of field, creating gorgeous little blobs of light. So basically it means “Blur.” You can choose to use this blur quality in the background or choose a “reverse bokeh” where the majority of your foreground is blurred. Photographers sometimes use a shallow focus or a shallow depth of field deliberately to focus the audience attention on the subject. You can achieve this aesthetic “yummy” quality in your images in a few ways: Maximum aperture (smallest f-stop) Longest focal length you are limited to with the lens chosen Minimum distance to your subject Maximum distance your subject is to the background In laymen terms, open your Aperture as large as you can, zoom in, and get warm and cozy with your subject while making sure they aren’t to close to the lights from which you are hoping to achieve bokeh circles. To achieve the maximum aperture you can set your camera to […]
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Jan 01
by Laura J. Middour in Kids 0 comments

Make a Task feel FUN

I had a really cool session with a young man that I have photographed for a couple of years, last year we did a Blue Cup Cake Smash for his second birthday with a little number 2 candle on top. When we set up the session for his 3 year old pictures the mother wanted to incorporate a number 3 candle into the images but this time without the cake. His father was a car enthusiast so naturally, the theme of the session was going to be about cars, he was gonna be a little grease monkey in a garage. I had purchased football eye grease to smear on his face and arms and borrowed some extra large wrenches from my husband. The mother dressed him in a white tee shirt with rolled up sleeves, red high-top converse, and a pair of jeans with a couple holes in the knees rolled up at the ankles. I had a garage all set up with tires, auto parts, pallets, and tire rims- everything was perfect. When we got there we went straight to work, he already knew me so he knew we were gonna have some fun exploring this garage. I took my […]
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Jan 01
by Laura J. Middour in Kids 0 comments

Using Games to get the Desired Image

Children can be totally unpredictable, and unwilling to preform tasks that you ask of them. Its not their fault, they have short attention spans, are learning to be Independent, and just want to have fun. Standing/sitting in the same spot is NOT FUN! So as a photographer I have learned a few “Tricks” of the trade that I am willing to give away. Feel honored, I don’t do this very often. If you have a child that is totally un-willing to stand or stay in a spot you have specified I use the Quarter Trick. I learned this in a photography class at Texas School of Professional Photographers a few years back. Now a quarter doesn’t seem like much but for a child that understands (2-4 years) the value of that quarter its Enormous!! They know that a quarter will buy them anything they want in those pesky quarter candy machines in most grocery stores. Normally I don’t suggest Bribing a child to get what you want – it usually ends badly. This trick is very simple if executed correctly. I show them the quarter and explain to them the rules of this game. “I brought you a quarter, and […]
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Dec 31
by Laura J. Middour in Family 0 comments

Quick Edit- Before and After

When editing images you can totally go over board with a heavy Photoshop hand. For me I absolutely love to use Adobe Lightroom for most of my editing, I tend to go as minimal as possible when it comes to my editing style. I feel that a minimal edit will give a true to life image, without making your subject look plastic. With Lightroom you can make easy adjustments to exposure, shadows, clarity, and contrast/saturation with a simple slide of your mouse. You can import a multitude of presets or even create your own presets to use on different photo sessions. Lightroom enables you to import a complete session and view all the images at once verses Photoshop opening one image at time. From Lightroom you can export to Photoshop for more intensive editing. When I use Photoshop I use it for major editing like, removing wall sockets, major blemishes, adding textures, using the liquefy tool to take a few pounds off a family member, or even switching faces if i have a major “blinker”. But from Photoshop I always save back to Lightroom and do my final finishing all my images there. So for the most part Lightroom, for me, is […]
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Dec 31
by Laura J. Middour in Kids 0 comments

Picking the Perfect Prop

Coming up with new and creative ideas for photographing children can be difficult. Some photographers think that you need tons of props to surround the child and fill the frame. I believe that just a few simple props can enhance your images without over whelming the overall final product. I have a few key props that I bring on almost every photo session I have involving children: a mini white chair, a suit case, an apple crate, and a silver washboard bucket. The mini white chair is always a big hit with not only the child but the parents as well. When I introduce the chair I typically make it seem super special, I carry it to the location above the reach of the child, place it in the position I want it in, and say “I brought you your very own chair, isn’t it cute?” This makes the child seem important and special, the chair is a gift I brought just for them, because obviously its to small for anyone else. Its painted white and has a few scuffs on it so its not a stark white, this color goes with most everything the subject would be wearing but also provides […]
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Dec 31
by Laura J. Middour in Family 0 comments

Conquering the Cold

Layers and Locations. When choosing your outfit- if its cold outside dress WARM! Don’t think that you can trick the camera into thinking you are warm, especially with children- it will be written all over their faces, cold equals miserable. Think about using layers, sweaters, hats, scarfs, and boots, the last thing you want is to look cold in your images. Also if it ends up being a little warmer then expected you can remove some of your layers to create a new look, use layers to your advantage. Be playful with your outfit and atmosphere, there is nothing cuter then a snuggly cold hug yourself image. Or holding your love one tight! Also think about your location, if its really cold and windy choose a place where you can shield yourself from any harsh elements.When choosing the location look for different types of areas that can be used in that one location, it gives you and your photographer more bang for your buck. A great location has many areas that looks like you traveled to multiple locations during your session. Tree coverage is not only great for creating great lighting without harsh sun and shadows, but also can be used […]
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