Well, the title of this post describes a lot… It literally describes what’s going on in this photo, but it also appropriately tells the story of what’s happened with the photo in the 14 months since we first shared it on our website.
In February of 2012, I created this image, and posted it to this blog for Valentine’s Day. Since then, this photograph has gained incredible popularity, and has been shared all over the world! Don’t believe me? Take a look at the amount of times that original post’s image has been re-pinned on Pinterest– a whopping 78,000+ times!!! Great, right? Well… sort of.
Photographers these days have to contend with the ever-changing and growing presence of digital images, social media, and the internet. Not a problem Ansel Adams lost much sleep over, I’m sure. I’m often asked why my studio holds on so tightly to the digital files we create… other photographers give them out like candy! Well, there are a lot of reasons having to do with quality control and other factors that are really important to us. We watermark any image that goes online to protect it, and for credit, of course! That brings me back to the “kisses” photo.
I love the popularity this photo has gained. I consider it a huge compliment! However, in not wanting to hurt the image, I put my name and watermark at the bottom of the image… my mistake. In too many instances to count, the copyright has been cropped out, and the image has been shared and used without giving me proper credit… in many cases (seriously, I have a list), other photographers or organizations have even put THEIR logo or brand on the image! Whaat? Now THAT is stealing! I even know of a few photographers who have used this image to advertise their studio! One organization that has altered the image and put it on Facebook has had their version shared over 120,000 times! An iPhone app is even using it to market!
No, I do not spend hours searching the web for misuse of my image. Thankfully, I have more cute babies to photograph :) But some amazing people– some whom I’ve never even met have taken the time to alert me. So let me know if you see it floating around somewhere, and I’ll just ask whoever it is to please use this new version with my name! After all, let’s give credit where credit is due.
The question of what to wear for a photo session is one of the most common questions we get at our studio. We talk about keeping it simple, about staying within the “same box of crayons,” and about how a family can coordinate without matching. But when it’s one kid or baby being photographed by himself, the question often becomes HOW MANY outfits to use. To this, I often recommend keeping the outfit changes to a minimum, as it can often make a kiddo fussy, or interrupt the momentum of our interactions and the fun & flow of the session. Parents often show up with nearly every item from the kids’ closet, and ask me to choose. I think the kids should look like THEM! Pick something that will remind you of what they looked like at that particular age. Picking two different looks? Take advantage of the wardrobe change, if there is going to be one… Go with something totally different! Something you’ve been saving… or you wanted the excuse to buy. Baby H here is a perfect example… At 7-months (one of my favorite ages to photograph), he gave me a variety of fantastic expressions to capture… but since he’s not yet running, climbing and hiding from me, transforming his look and the feel of the photos via a location and wardrobe change gave the parents more looks to choose from. Instead of being the same baby, in the same location, in different clothes… this little guy basically had two sessions in one! … Two locations? That’s even trickier than two outfits. I wouldn’t dare put a baby in the car after 20 minutes of photos and expect him to be ready to go in a new location… but in this case, we were able to take advantage of the exterior and interior spaces of my studio to accomplish our goal! Take a look at Baby H’s photos… how cute is he?!?
A little over one year after their bridal session, Blair and Matt returned to our studio for a newborn photo session. If you didn’t catch yesterday’s post, click here to view their pictures. Henry is named after his great-grandfather who loved candy (especially caramel creams) and often proudly wore a monogrammed “H”. Baby Henry was such a good boy, and we can’t wait for his next photo shoot. Below are a few of our favorite shots that show how tiny and adorable he is.
This little guy is about as sweet as it gets, and will only get cuter! With the crawling stage looming just around the corner, this past weekend was the perfect time to get some great summer shots (while we could still control where he went!). Now, I’m admittedly biased towards this blue eyed baby, since we first met when he was only hours old– so we go way back :) That made this session all the more fun!
People always ask me what the best ages are for photographs of their baby’s first year… I have my standard answers, of course. Newborns should be photographed within their first 2 weeks of life… Baby’s are smiling and pushing up by 4 months… Sitting happily by 6 or 7 months, and even clapping by 8… and then of course there’s cake smashing and standing at the big ONE! But babies, like all of us have good days and bad days. Even Little O, who’s one of the happiest babies I’ve ever met couldn’t ignore the teeth violently working their way to the world. He may have been a bit more serious during our photo shoot than he usually is, but I wasn’t worried. He was awesome — smiling, serious, playful or pouty — I love capturing all of it! A session that only shows big grins may feel like a huge sucess, but could lack the variety that I aim to show. As a lifestyle photographer, I aim to deliver all aspects of your child. How could we show off the intensity of O’s big blue’s if they squinted with a smile? Chewing on a hat? Well, that’s just part of his age… This is one of the reasons our albums and wall arrangements are so popular– they allow you to show off and hang on to so many different parts of your baby that you don’t ever want to forget.
Here are some of my favorites from O’s photo session at the park!
Thanks to Heather R for sending us this pic of her little girl’s new wall art! These six 16×24 metallic float wraps with a matte finish look perfect in the corner of Little L’s nursery.
Thanks for sharing, Heather!!
