A Lifetime of Photographs for Your Lifetime

I recently did some photographs of a newborn for a family I have photographed since their engagement.  It started me thinking about how lucky I have been to have a photographic record of the important events of their lifetime, from engagement through wedding, maternity and now birth of their first daughter.

It is truly a special opportunity for a photographer to be able to follow one family through many of the special events of their lifetime.  I like to think it is also a special opportunity for the young (in this case) couple to have a special photographic record of these special moments.  In this day when everyone carries a digital cameraphone there is still a place for the professional portrait.  Sometimes life events are just too special to leave to snapshots.

My first session with Nick and Kristin as a couple was an engagement photo session which took place at Newport Beach.  I love to do beach portrait sessions so they stretch from just before sunset to about 40 minutes after sunset as this often gives some spectatcular light.  Kristin was a bit nervous because she claimed no one could get a good photograph of her.  Boy was she wrong !  She has fabulous bone structure and the engagement session resulted in some wonderful images.

 Here are a couple images from the engagement shoot.  The one of the kiss was used for their "Save the Date" Cards !










I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph the two of them at their wedding later that same year.  As you might expect from the engagement photos they made a lovely wedding couple.

Joyfully, they learned about two years after the engagement photos were taken that Kristin was expecting.  What's the old saying, first comes marriage, then comes a baby carriage !

Once again I was privileged that Kristin and Nick invited me into their new home for a maternity photo session.  They are a loving and beautiful couple.










Finally - just before Christmas Nick and Kristin were blessed with the birth of their lovely daughter.  These photographs were taken when she was just four days old !

Isn't she a wonderful Christmas present !!

The wonderful thing about this series of photographs is that I was able to follow them from engagement through the birth of their first child with photographs of important events along the way.  Truly capturing a Lifetime of Photographs for their lifetime.

To talk about capturing your own Photographic Memories of a Lifetime please contact me at pat@patrickgrannanphotographer.com or call (949) 502-5896  Or for more information you can visit Patrick Grannan Photography.

"Friend With A Camera"

The Kiss in the Gazebo

It is a tempting offer for a bride looking to save money.  A friend with a fancy camera who is going to be coming to your wedding offers to bring his/her camera and take your wedding photographs for you.  Think of all the money you will save on a wedding photographer.

Think Again !  Think about everything that could go wrong with this plan.

Unless your friend is a professional photographer he/she has probably never photographed a wedding before.  It requires different skills than the average amateur possesses.  The wedding photographer must be part theatrical director, part psychologist, part time manager, and, most importantly, skilled and reliable photographer.  The professional wedding photographer works under great pressure - pressure to get everyone together for photos, pressure to pose people without making it obvious they are posed, and pressure to get the photo right the first time. (No one is going to restage their wedding because they are not happy with the photographs.)

But the most important thing your professional wedding photographer has to do is show up on time with working camera equipment.  This may sound incredibly basic but I recently had an experience with a semi-panicked bride which illustrates the point.

I received a call on a recent Sunday night asking about my photography services.  The call was from the groom who mentioned they had spoken to me a while back and asked if I remembered.  After a couple reminders about the ceremony I said yes, I remember your wedding.  He then asked if I was available to photograph their wedding the following Saturday (6 days away).

At that point the bride got on the phone and apologized for the last minute call, said she had really liked my work, but they had originally chosen another photographer.  Apparently the photographer called them earlier that day and said he would not be able to photograph their wedding.

Luckily, I was not booked for that particular weekend so I agreed to help out with the last minute booking.

But my curiosity simply got the best of me.  I had to ask. What happened ?

Turns out the couple was on a low budget and a friend with a camera had offered to take their wedding photographs for them.  This friend did not have any wedding photography experience but he had a nice camera.  Thinking they could save some money from their already tight budget they accepted his offer for photography.

Then - at the last minute - he called to say he would not be at the wedding.  But he did offer the bride his camera for her to use at the wedding.  As if she did not already have enough to worry about apparently he thought the bride could just do "selfies" for her wedding photography !

Fortunately they found out before the friend with a camera ruined their wedding photographs.  I was able to take the assignment at the last minute (it never hurts to call, I might be available) and we got some lovely photographs as you can see from the examples here.

But remember the true cost of a friend with the camera may be simply not having any useable wedding photographs.  When compared to the cost f hiring a professional photographer, the professional photographer starts to look like money well spent.

To Pose or Not to Pose

One of the more common requests I get from brides is that they don't want their pictures to look posed.

I completely understand where this sentiment comes from as many formal wedding pictures look very stiff and unrelaxed - the "posed" look that these brides want to avoid.  But it does not have to be that way !  And, hopefully, with Patrick Grannan Photography it is not.

I describe my own style as a hybrid and a mix between formal and candid; between posed and not posed.  Recently I asked an impartial observer and the description I received was "candid."   That was the reaction even though a significant percent of the photos viewed were in fact posed photos.

The trick is that just because a photo is posed it does not need to "look posed".  There is certainly a place in wedding photography for the traditional formal posed shots.  In fact the posed group shots and other traditional shots (Bride with her mother for example) are often the most predictably purchased for reprints (especially by the mother of the bride).  I certainly include those traditional "posed" images as part of every wedding that I photograph.  But even then I try to get the people in the photos to relax so that the photos don't look too posed and stiff.

But my favorite photos are often the ones where they are only very loosely posed.  The photos where we set up a basic situation, give only slight direction and then capture the magic that happens semi-naturally.  Most of the time these photos do not "look posed" but they really are.  Flower girls are wonderful for setting up some of these "posed without looking posed" photos as the two examples with this post show.

Finally as the reception progresses I will tend to shoot more true "candids" - especially on the dance floor where people tend to be more relaxed.  These are often favorites - the father of the bride dance with the bride for example is always popular along with the old favorite cutting the cake.

The Value of an Engagement Photography Session

Studies show that more couples become engaged during the period around the Holidays in December through Valentines Day.  With this in mind I thought it would be a good time to write a few words about the Engagement Photography Session.

Not all couples choose to have engagement photos taken.  This can be for many reasons.  Maybe the budget is tight and they don't feel it is worth the extra expense.  Or maybe they haven't selected a photographer yet.  Or maybe it simply slips through the cracks and does not get scheduled.

Speaking as a photographer I think this is a big mistake.  First, relative to the cost of wedding photographs, the engagement session is usually fairly inexpensive.  Many photographers will offer deep discounts on an engagement session or include it in their wedding packages so cost should not be a reason for not having engagement photos taken,

But more importantly the engagement photography session offers a chance for the newly engaged couple and the photographer to get to know each other. 

The engagement session is certainly less structured than the wedding day itself and by comparison the stress level is FAR less.  Couples are able to express their own unique personalities in the engagement session in ways that would be very difficult on the wedding day.  It is easier to include unique elements that reflect your personality.  As an example some couples who have children may wish to have the children included in some of the engagement pictures.  Some couples bring along their pets and they can be part of the engagement portraits.

The photographer can learn a lot about the individual personalities of the bride and groom to be in a more relaxed atmosphere of an engagement session.  Also the engagement session gives te photographer a chance to see what poses and lighting can work best for an individual couple.  He can also learn whether te couple is comfortable posing and what makes them more comfortable.  All of this can be invaluable when it comes time for te wedding photographs.

But most of all the engagement photography session gives the engaged couple a chance to "try out" the photographer and be sure the photographer and his style are a good fit for the couple.

 

The many uses of an engagement photo are almost n added bonus.  Many couples choose one or more images to use in their "save the date" cards (your photographer can help with that if you like).  The portraits from an engagement session are often ordered as blow ups or canvas prints and become treasured family portraits.  You can use the images to create a beautiful custom guest book for the wedding.  Some couples have poster sized prints made to decorate the reception.

In short the engagement photo session can be invaluable for both the engaged couple and the photographer.

A Fun Engagement Session

Having Fun with the Engagement Shoot

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I recently did an engagement photo session for Nick and her fiance Nick and they were willing to add a bit of fun to the session.  The result was some great pictures and a lot of fun - along with a little bit of wet !!

 One of my favorite places for portraits is the beach and I like to go around sunset because I love the light at that time of day.  The light - both just before and just after - sunset led to some spectacular portraits.  For this post I want to focus on the concept of how a little bit of fun can loosen up a photo shoot and lead to some great pictures as well.

At Big Corona Beach - as with much of the South Orange County coastline there are numerous rocks sitting at or near the waterline.  The water lapping over the rocks made for some interesting photos.

More importantly - Kristin and Nick were good sports when I asked them to take off their shoes and walk out so they were getting their feet wet.  It led to some wonderful candid facial expressions and some cold feet.  It also loosened them up and relaxed them for the rest of the shoot resulting in some memorable images.

As you can tell by their faces the water was cold.  But what you do not see in the pictures is where I had to stand to get the shot.  They got their ankles wet.  I was in the surge up to my mid thigh.  But it was worth it !!!

 

To see more images please visit www.weddingorangecountyphotographer.com