As time goes by I find the need to branding my work ever more essential. As many of you know the type of photography I find artistic and offer to my clients is vastly different from “off-the-shelf” children photography services (a.k.a Wal-Mart Photographers).
Recently I’ve decided to put together a FAQ list to help my potential customers (young parents) decide if they are ready for the next step in the art of professional children photography.
Q. What are the advantages of environmental photography vs. studio setup?
Environment photography ensures your child is relaxed and comfortable in familiar surroundings. In addition, every session is unique, these photographs will capture your family’s atmosphere - they will not be identical to those of your friend’s children - this type of experience is unachievable in a studio.
Q. None of the photographers I spoke with agreed to give me High Resolution Images, will you?
Yes I will. Traditional photography studios may include several prints in the package but when you ask for a DVD with all High Resolution un-watermarked photographs your request will be denied. By contrast, my customers are granted FULL reproduction rights. You will get a DVD with high resolution files that you can use to print, post online, email, create screen savers, slideshows, holiday cards, digital frames and reuse images in any other way without any restrictions at all. This is hugely important because more and more parents are combining photographs over time to create photo books and albums as well as use them in digitally.
Q. What's the best age for portraits?
There's no best age - your child is changing so fast in these first few years that any time you choose for your session will be wonderful. Photographs of newborns can capture the delightful and often forgotten things - those little hands and feet. And after about 5-6 months of age, your child's back muscles will be strong enough to hold him or her up a little bit more, and the smiles around this age are great.
Q. When is a good time for the session?
Try to schedule your photo session at a time when your child will be lively, awake, and playful, often just after waking up from a nap is best. Meal or snack time can be a fun time for photos, so you may want to prepare some snacks for your child for the shoot. Before you plan the timing of your session, watch the way sunlight moves through your house over the course of a day, it's better to choose a time of day when one side of your house is brightly lit with sunlight. If that’s not the case, have no fear, I bring a full arsenal of professional photo lightning equipment to deal with any situation.
Q. What kind of clothes work best?
Have a few changes of clothes picked out for your child ahead of time. Solid colors work well. Logos, cartoon characters and bright stripes can be distracting in a photograph, so try to avoid them if possible.
For infants, often just a diaper and a bare belly is a great look. The clothes you pick out for very young children shouldn't be stiff, or complicated. We want everybody to be comfortable, and we want the focus in the pictures to be on the child, not the clothes. It's best to have some soft cotton form-fitting clothes in pastel colors (not white) available for very young children. (Pastels tend to photograph much better than white.)
For toddlers, think about the texture of the clothes you're picking out - soft, fuzzy sweaters, corduroy, and terry cloth all though, the clothes should just be simple. As some of my shots may be close-ups, you might prefer to have your children's nails nicely trimmed and their face food free (unless of course we are taking photos of them eating!)
In family photos, you don't need to dress everybody alike, unless that's the look you're going for. Solid colors are best for adults, and that's about it. If you want a bit more information: light colors are good on dark days (because they reflect light up into your face), whereas darker colors are good on bright days. But don't worry too much about clothes, I can work with anything.
Q. When will I get my photographs (prints and DVD)?
You will receive digital proofs within 1 week of the photo session. Once you review them and the final selection is made it takes 2 weeks go manually process your selection (up to 30 images) to make every photograph jump off the page; than ALL the images are copied onto your Master DVD Disk. Your prints will be ready for pickup at the same time as the DVD.
Q. What are my framing options, would you be able to recommend a reputable framer?
Once you’ve received the prints, you can purchase frames and mats from a variety art stores and do the job yourself, or, you can visit a professional framing studio. I recommend the latter because professional prints deserve professional framing. In Brooklyn, I recommend “Artie Warren’s Custom Framing” located at 2082 Coney Island Ave. They have a great selection of frames and are very competitively priced. For framing studios on Staten Island, Manhattan, Long Island and Queens email me individually.
Q. I’ve love my pictures, where can I get them printed?
You can print photographs from our photo sessions anywhere where digital photographs are printed. I suggest using a reputable vendor such as Snapfish. You can also consult this list of photo print services comparisons. Please keep in mind that these consumer services offer satisfactory quality but there’s no guarantee that your prints will have the same skin tones and the photographs. Equipment profiling is the science and art for true professionals.
Q. What if I want more professionally printed photographs?
Your family photographer is also a print master. In addition to profession printer equipment on premises I partner with the largest professional digital printing lab in Minnesota to provide you with prints sized up to 45x30 and canvases up to 20x16. Your photographs will be printed on professional Epson and Kodak Endura paper that is said to have a lifespan of 100 years.
Your truly, Stanley Nov of BestNYCPhoto
