There is one great lie in the digital age, that you can fix anything in post-production.
It was my last wedding of the season and I was ready for just about anything, except for ducks.
It was the last weekend of the summer, a season that felt increasingly miscategorized as it wore on in New England.
The weather had alternated between blustery and cold and simply wet. There was a break in August where it felt like the world was going to melt, but those days were few and soon replaced by something that felt a lot more like Fall. It was as if the world had forgotten entirely about this whole global warming thing.
September 19, on the other hand, was gorgeous. The sky was a brilliant blue and the air was warm and crisp without too much of a breeze to whip around hair and tablecloths.
Ed and Katie had already married on the West Coast, closer to their Seattle home. Of course not everyone could make it out there in February and Ed had long ago promised his father a wedding at the lake house, so they planned out a beautiful little reception to recreate the social feel of a wedding without having to bring in a minister and bridal gown.
The autumn is here. There's a crisp and cool feeling in the air and the leaves are getting ready to turn brilliant shades of orange, gold, red and brown (why yes, there is a brilliant shade of brown).
You could spend your time kicking through the leaves and picking apples for pies. You could be shopping for Halloween costumes or pre-gaming for Thanksgiving dinner (food scientists are still divided over whether you should fast or feast to get ready for the big day). Or you could get a few portraits done.
For many Fall is the time to go back to school or start new projects. The summer is over and the winter is looming, it's a good time to evaluate what you're doing before you're trapped in the ice for a few months. It's a time of transition that should be commemorated with a sitting whether it's your last year of high school, the lead up to a wedding, maybe you want to have a photo for your Christmas cards, or you want to see how you really look in that Patriot's face paint.
As I get ready for portrait season I thought that I might like to offer a few suggestions for clients to get the most out of their session.
You want to ask yourself one question when you get a portrait. What does this picture say about me?
With that question in mind you can find an answer for where you should be, what you should wear, and maybe even how you should pose.
I recently revisited an engagement session that I did last month with the intent of sending the client some high resolution versions of their top five images. Their wedding is next year, so I thought they might like some images to share with their friends that wouldn't worsen anyone's cataracts.
Personally, the images they chose were some of my favorites as well (and isn't it great when a couple and their photographer are in synch?) but they needed a little bit of punch up.
When people say that a picture is worth a thousand words, they are describing all of the little technical and artistic elements that make up an image. Part of that story is how your eye moves through a photograph and where it comes to rest. Normally, you want the eye to rest on your subject and not some incidental object that found its way into the frame in spite of your best efforts. Unless you're setting up a hunt and find photo for a live version of Where's Waldo, these intruders have to go make an okay image great.