Anxiously Awaiting!
Here’s a sweet mama we had the pleasure of meeting recently. She brought a cute pair of baby shoes which made the image extra personal. Dad is a firefighter, and we can’t wait to incorporate that element (picture this: baby curled up in the helmet!) When we photograph a maternity portrait session, we encourage our moms to bring shoes, a baby blanket, a special stuffed animal, that we can incorporate into the images. Just imagine your child when he or she in 10 years looking back and knowing that you were already planning special things for them! What items would you bring into a session?
Mother’s Day Promotion
Looking for that special, one-of-a-kind gift for Mother’s Day? Then BlueFlair has the perfect gift for her! Give the gift of special memories. For a limited time, we are offering a child portrait session and custom-designed photo album for one low price! Our 20-page press-printed books will hold 15-20 of your favorite images, and are quite a conversation piece! Call today to schedule your appointment – it’s the perfect gift for moms and grandmas alike!
Brides Against Breast Cancer 2009
Hello to all our beautiful brides!!! I know you all have been anxiously and patiently waiting to view the images we photographed of all of you at this years Brides Against Breast Cancer 2009 San Diego Event. Well they are all ready to be viewed, but to keep prying, soon to be husbands’ eyes, from sneaking any peaks of you before the big day, we have posted them to a username and passcode protected site. Obviously posting the login info here kinda defeats the purpose of this covert operation, so we ask that each of you email us at info@blueflairphotography.com to receive this top secret information. We’ll email you back a link and the login info for you to see yourselves in all your breathtaking glory. From the event site you’ll be able to email links to your pics to anyone and everyone you want to, just be sure they know not to let the cat out of the bag to you know who.
We want to make sure and thank the vendors that helped make you look like the beautiful brides-to-be that you are:
Our first BIG THANKS goes to Allison Stevens of Magnolia Flowers who’s generous donation of this unique bouquet, which turned out to be the brides’ favorite, was much appreciated. Allison is one of our preferred vendors and has become a really good friend. She was trained in France and thrives on creating unique and dynamic arrangements that stretch the imagination…kinda like our photography, so it’s a match made in heaven. Thanks Alli, you rock!!!
We’d also like to give a big THANK YOU to Willem-Aidan who provided not just one, but THREE different bouquets for our lovely brides to pose with for their portraits. This florist went out of his way to make sure each bouquet was elegant and perfect. Stefanie and I haven’t had the pleasure of working with him directly, but we can’t wait to get the chance! Here’s just one of the lovelies he provided…
And last but certainly NOT LEAST, we’d like to thank Teresa Skeen and Maggie Meredith from Mary Jane Salon for doing up all the fancy up-do’s that gave each of our brides that special wedding day look. You both were AMAZING, and fast too…something we photographers REALLY appreciate from stylists on the day of the wedding. It is a true sign of professionalism. Here’s a quick capture of the action reflected in a mirror…this bride (who was a personal favorite of mine) didn’t end up getting this particular dress so I feel o.k. showing this image as it’s not really giving anything away to you know who…
Just Say NO to Traditional Headshots!
Headshots have always been associated with boring…I mean traditional, poses and processing. The need to look professional, composed, and appropriately removed from your potential client was the common mode of operation, especially in fields such as insurance, corporate business, finance, and law…but common is just how it made you look.
That’s not to say that looking professional and poised isn’t important, it’s just not enough anymore. There are plethoras of service professionals out there available to each and every consumer, and let’s face it, looking like each other isn’t going to get them to go with you rather than the other guy. So what will get them to go with you instead of him (or her, whatever the case may be)? I’ve got two words for you…approachability and relate-ability (which I’m pretty sure isn’t really a word to begin with, but for the sake of argument let’s go with it). This leads us to another question…how do you portray yourself to a potential client as approachable and relatable? Well with the advent of social media sites such as Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Link’d In, and many others like them, professionals like ourselves are able to personalize not only our content, but our headshots as well. Posting images that show you as warm, caring, approachable and relatable are a critical step towards connecting with your potential clients. The things that set you apart from other providers or make your prospective clients emotionally connect with you will be what get’s them to stay a little longer on your site, so they get to know you a little more, trust you a little more and therefore consider working with you a little more. As examples we’re showing you some of our favorite non-traditional headshots from a few of our recent professional headshot clients.
Let us know what you think of our client’s contribution to the revolution of social media networking and marketing by leaving us some of your comments. What would you like to set you apart in your headshots?
The Best of Both Worlds
La Jolla Cove is one of the most beautiful beaches to photograph at in San Diego. The incredible blues and greens of the water, mixed with the fascinating rock formations and cliffs makes for a dramatic scene. So it was an obvious choice for us when this gorgeous family requested their portraits be photographed at the beach.
Another wonderful feature of the Cove is that it borders the urban beauty of downtown La Jolla. This close proximity allows us to dramatically change the feel of our images by driving just a few blocks up from the beach to the beautiful brick buildings and chic sidewalks of La Jolla. The art and fashion district of La Jolla makes the perfect setting for a precious little girl to dance down the street in her purple tutu and jean jacket. These are a few of our favorites from the session. Hope you love them as much as we do mom and dad!
We are always looking for locations like this where we can get the best of both worlds without having to travel very far between the two. Do you have any favorite locations that you’d like to suggest we use for our portraits? Please let us know by leaving your comments here. Thanks! Nikkie of BlueFlair Photography
Our Ballerina
Alrighty – we’re going to change up the blog a little, so instead of just sneak peaks, we’re going to feature some contests, favorite picks, tips and tricks, and other things. We want to hear from you, too, so feel free to leave comments and weigh in on topics! We’re also working to blend the blog with our Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace pages.
Subscribe if you want ongoing updates, come back often, or from time to time – we’d love to have you!
To start things off – we putting one of our popular portraits of a little peanut in the pink tutu. She’s been popular on Facebook, and is just a cutie-patootie! Next month, we’ll be featuring various favorites, and the one with the most comments will be deemed the winner – with that family (or couple) winning a complimentary 5×7 of the winning photo!
Creating Unique Imagery
Photographs turn into works of art when you give them, context, imagery, and you spur the imagination. Nikkie and I love looking for shapes, lines, and other elements that will make a portrait unique, stylish, and fun.The images that are remembered are those that provoke an emotional response from the viewer. We find that by bringing in our beautiful San Diego surroundings, and staying away from the traditional smile and pose, we are able to bring out the inner thoughts and feelings or our subjects.
Here is an example of incorporating a rod iron structure with three beautiful ladies that results in three very different images.
What are these images saying to you?
Can’t Stop the Cuteness!
Alright, this child just WON’T stop being cute! He’s our cover model for our Chrysalis line – remember, the baby hanging off the daddy’s arm? Yep! That’s this guy getting bigger every time we see him. So cute! And isn’t that vintage firetruck the best?
A Rockin’ Wedding Idea
This was one of the coolest (and most original) ideas we’ve seen all year, and others seem to think so too! For this wedding, the bride and groom used smooth, flat stones and a sharpie for guests to sign the stones. SO – instead of a regular guestbook, guests could sign, write messages and well-wishes on the rocks, which were then saved in a hurricane jar. What a perfect idea for San Diego beach weddings, or any wedding with a tropical theme! 
What’s one of the most original wedding ideas you’ve seen?
Using High Pass in Photoshop for Stand Out Eyes
The eyes have it! Big, bright eyes will draw the viewer into the photo – afterall, the eyes are the windows to the soul. So how do we get such crisp, sparkly eyes? We perform a High Pass in Photoshop. Although there are various ways to sharpen an image, here is how we do a High Pass:
Create a duplicate layer.
Choose Filter, select High Pass. Choose a number that will outline the eye area.
Create a Mask Layer, and hit Control + Backspace to turn the mark layer black.
Select Overlay.
Choose a brush, and adjust the size. Brush over the eye.
Voila!!
– big, bright, beautiful eyes!
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