Non-traditional Holiday Shoot

And now for something a little different....I've been shooting a lot of holiday/family portraits lately.  Most clients choose one of the gorgeous outdoor settings scattered around the greater Atlanta area.  The client I had on this particular shoot was drawn to the colorful mural backdrop I featured in an earlier blog post (click here to view http://cindyjackeyphotography.blogspot.com/2012/09/mural-as-background.html )

So after viewing the post, the family decided to have their Christmas card shoot in front of this edgy, urban, non-traditional background.  I have to say, I love it when that happens!  I sent my client a photo of the mural ahead of time so she could view all the colors that could be visible in the photos and plan wardrobe accordingly.  I absolutely love how her bright yellow sweater, as well as everybody else's clothing, compliment the colors of the mural.  Their Christmas card will no doubt stand out this year.  And truth be told, I already received one and it did look great!  Here's a tip for you straight from my client - send your holiday cards out online with one of several available services (such as smilebox www.smilebox.com) and you not only skip the cost and time involved with ordering and mailing paper cards, but you can also send all of the photos from your Cindy Jackey Photography session to your friends and family presented as a beautiful slide show.  This client sent out her 16 favorite photos from our shoot in her online holiday card - you can't fit that on a 4X6 card!

So here are some shots from our non-traditional holiday session.  What a fun, playful family.  I love my clients!

 

 

 

It's Holiday Photo Time!

What a crazy time of year - family to visit, decorations to hang, presents to buy, joy and stress wrapped up in a green and red package.  And for many it is also holiday photo time.  My super smart clients hire me to do a holiday photo session in October or November (and yes, we can even squeeze them into December for those procrastinators, of which I am one.) They know they will get some lovely family portraits in the beautiful outdoor settings we enjoy through winter in our southern climate (gotta love it!)  Then they can purchase prints and enlargements of their beautiful family and/or little ones to proudly frame and hang in their home and give to family and friends.  And most folks like to buy digital negatives (i.e. images on CD) to use for holiday cards, gifts, photo books and more.  Its like a two-fer, well, more of a five-fer!  Very smart, indeed. 

So the family I am featuring in this post was really all about having fun.  And why should a photo shoot be drudgery?  At my photo shoots, fun is a requirement.  As long as we are having fun, we'll get great photos.  Don't you think the two are strongly correlated? So we did this shoot at Deepdeene Park in Druid Hills - my clients' choice.  Its a hidden little park with a deciduous forest and creek to explore.  I love how I get to discover cool new places around my Atlanta/Decatur home that I never even knew existed.

To start the shoot off, I unloaded my equipment and props from the car after meeting the family at the entrance of the park.  By the time I had made it from my car back to the entrance where I was setting up our first shot, the kids were 400 ft. away, down the hill, running across the far edge of the huge grassy field.  And they were having a ball!  I was so glad to see their joy and I could just tell that we would have a great shoot.  Their parents corraled them back up the hill and the fun began.  As the shoot progressed, the family got more and more comfortable and by the end they were one big pile of laughing bodies! (You'll see what I mean.)



 

 

 

 

I have edited the images in this post with a beautiful black and white treatment called Velvet Ash.  Actually, its not true black and white as there is some color added.  I simply love black and white processing and sometimes an image just begs me to make it b&w, as these did.  However, my clients usually prefer color so I always provide them with plenty of those. 

 

Here are a few color images from this session.  I'll let you decide which you prefer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decatur | Atlanta | GA | Holiday | Portrait | Photography 

Meet the Multiples

This week I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with several families with multiples.  This is a term I wasn't previously so familiar with.  But now I am and I am so happy to have been introduced to the Intown Atlanta Parents of Multiples group.  If you or someone you know has been blessed by multiple little ones, you can learn more about them at www.atlantamultiples.com.

I met this lovely family of multiples when we did a recent fall family portrait shoot.  We had a lot of fun, as you can see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this shoot we used all of our 90-minute session time and then some.  This is to be expected with a family (of this size or bigger), or if little kiddos are involved.  We need the extra time to allow us to focus in on the inter-relationships between the different family members, as well as each family member individually, and the whole family as a group.  And we can get lots of nice candid shots taken during our 'down time.'  We can also take our time to allow for breaks for tiring kids.  So we end up with a ton of genuine and beautiful photos that tell the story of your family at this singular point in time. 

 

| Multiples Portrait Photography | Decatur | Atlanta | GA |

 

Fall Photos at the Tracks - Part II

Here are some photos from the second half of this beautiful shoot.  Little one's momma brought the cutest fairy outfit for her to change into - and she was happy to do so.  But alas, the cheer did not last. See what I mean? ...

I call this one My Sad Fairy



I know that look! (I'm a Mom)

This is not unusual when photographing young kids.  But they usually come back around to their normal sweet selves.  This little one did with help from mommy and me (I'm so glad to have mommies on my shoots - they are so helpful to the process!) and I'm so happy with the resulting photos.  Take a look at a few...

And because I am a sucker for black and white, here are a few of them...

    

 

 

 

  



| Cindy Jackey | Child & Family | Photography | Decatur | Atlanta | GA |

Fall Photos at the Tracks - Part I

I spotted these nearby railroad tracks a while back and thought they would make for great photos.  I love how the trees arch over the tracks and the sunshine peeks out in the distance.  I only wish they weren't currently in use - That train's horn is LOUD!!!

And I knew this sweet child would be the ultimate model the first time I laid eyes on her.  She did not disappoint, although she was definitely not as into the shoot as I was!  Her momma did a good job of coaxing smiles out of her and, truth be told, I love a photograph of a child who's not smiling.  Somehow, to me, the innocence, trust, and wisdom of a child are more beautifully expressed that way.

 

 

We did an outfit change for the second half of the shoot and moved over to nearby Hidden Cove Park.  I'll post some of the "fairy" shots in Part II - stay tuned!

| Decatur | Atlanta | Georgia | Child & Family | Lifestyle | Photographer |