Maternity and Newborn Photography Q & A (Part 2)

Q. I am looking for a photographer to make creative portraits of my children, what are the questions to ask?

A. I’ve been asked this question more than once and it’s understandable that parents need more transparency while selecting a photographer.

My recommendation is to select 5-7 photographers in the area based on their portfolio and word-of-mouth feedback and call each of them to learn if they’ll provide you the value you’re expecting.

I would start with the following questions (notice how the price question is at the bottom of the list):

• Are there any hidden fees?
• Is there a mandatory minimum “Print Order”?
• Will I received a CD/DVD with the digital negatives?
• Will I be able to print these digital negatives
  • Free of watermarks?
  • Over 12MPixels?
  • Will I have the rights to reproduce these photographs?
• Does the photographer charge extra for on-location sessions?
• Does the photographer charge extra for weekend sessions?
• Does the photographer charge extra for other family members?
• Will the photographer retouch & enhance the images?
  • Does the photographer shoot in JPG (lower quality)
  • Does the photographer shoot in DNG (higher quality)
• Does the photographer have any formal education in arts?
• What is the bottom line for the whole package?

I would love to hear back from you on some of these ideas and questions. Let me know if I missed anything important to you.

Become a Fan at http://www.facebook.com/StanleyNovPhotography

If you’d like to learn more, don’t hesitate an email to stanley@stanleynov.com

New Product – Amazing Card Templates

Dear followers and clients. I want to share an exciting news with you! I am now able to provide my premium customers with custom premium templates for printed baby announcement cards, holiday cards and thank you cards.

Choose from 5 types of paper: standard, art watercolor, art linen, art recycled, or pearl. Also add UV coating to the standard and pearl paper for added protection and a high gloss look.

Press Printed Cards are available in 4x5.5, 5x5 and 5x7 sizes both flat and folded styles. Also available are nontraditional sizes and styles including a 5x7 Wide Format, 5x5 Trifold, and a 4x5.5 Accordion. All card prices include envelopes in white or parchment.

Example: Baby Announcement Cards

Example: Season’s Greetings Cards

Sincerely,

Stanley Nov

Maternity and Newborn Photography Q & A (Part 1)

Dear readers. In the following series of articles I will attempt to answer most frequently asked questions about maternity, newborn and children photography.

Q. What are the advantages of environmental photography vs. studio setup?

A. Studio setup allows for more controlled environment but can severely hamper the creative process of capturing a meaningful portrait. Studio photo sessions usually work best for newborns but as the child gets older it becomes harder and harder on the parents and the photographer conduct a successful photo session.

By contrast, environmental 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 and requires a higher level of professionalism (technical and inter-personal) from the photographer.

If you’d like to learn more, don’t hesitate an email to stanley@stanleynov.om

Stanley Nov Photography

Children Photography in NYC Central Park

This has been a great weekend for me. I’ve met two wonderful families and helped them capture memories of joy of their children being playful, happy and beautiful as all kids are.

Here are some of the photographs I took of a Japanese baby named Tsubasa at his home and in Central Park

Yours,

Stanley Nov

New Products Offered – Rich Leatherette Albums

I am happy to announce that starting on June 1st I will carry a variety of hand-made Overlapping Cover Rich Leatherette Albums.

These beauties will have handcrafted pages with corner trim, rich leatherette covers and your favorite images.

I offer these albums in 3 sizes:

2-1/2" x 3-1/2" with 10 photos - $49
5" x 7" with 20 photos - $119
8" x 10" with 20 photos - $199

Sincerely,

Stanley Nov

Newborn Photography – New York

Dear fans, I’ve been very lucky with my clients and models lately. This little angle is only 7 days old and yet such a cutie pie already.

http://photos.stanleynov.com/jacob

I will soon post a list of tips for Newborn Photography that many expecting parents should appreciate .. stay tuned.

Yours,

Stanley.

Newborn Photography Session

This has been a very busy week for me in terms of photography but my most favorite photoshoot by far was that of Gregory. Gregory was only 5 days old when I arrived at his house with 2 huge bags full of newborn props and a portable photo studio. He was an angel, easy to work with pleasure to photograph. As a bonus, he hasn’t pooped or peed on anything :)

Stanley Nov Maternity and Newborn Photography

Photographing Newborns – Dangers of using a Flash

Recently, I was approached by several new parents interested in photographing their newborn babies. They asked for tips, advice and guidance around using Point And Shoot and SLR cameras with infants.

From a pediatrician's standpoint, it is not recommended using direct flash in a newborns eyes as the eyes are weak. The musculature of the eye as well as the nerves of the eye need time to strengthen and develop.

When you hire a professional photographer he should know what kind of light sources to use and how, but if you want to practice yourself, here’s what I recommend:

1. Learn the see the light. Identify where the light is coming from (direction), what kind of light is available to you (direct vs shadows, parallel vs diffused) and how many sources you have (ie: window, lamps, flash)

2. Try to isolate the strongest source (usually the sunlight coming through windows) and position the child so that the light paints the subject uniformly. I recommend avoiding direct light and working in the shade.

3. Disable the flash on your camera if you can. For those of you that use DSLRs – I highly recommend investing into an external flash that can be directed at the ceiling and use ceiling to bounce the light.

4. Enjoy the process but thing about the end result. You want quality photographs that are in-focus, well framed, well exposed and create a living memory of those first days and weeks.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me through my website at www.stanleynov.com or find me on facebook.

Sincerely,

Stanley Nov

Pre-Party Baby Photoshoot

The young models name is Leon and we had an amazing time photographing today. Leon is almost 1 (I will be photographing the event on behalf of PhotoFXStudio) and is striving to become a boxer like his daddy.

Yours, Stanley Nov

Now offering 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Maternity, Newborn and Child Environmental Sessions 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

My policy is simple. If you don’t like your photos when you review the proofs, I will re-photograph your child again at no charge to you.

If you’re still unhappy with the results, then I’ll refund 100% of your money back.

All of it.

I work really hard during these portrait sessions and I completely stand behind my work.

If you’re not happy with the photos I deliver then you should not pay for a product that you don’t want.

Maternity Photography – What I fear

Over the last several weeks I’ve done a number of maternity photo sessions. Today I’d like to talk about an issue that I think is effecting all of us, especially my clients – security of our digital assets.

Maternity photo sessions can be as creative and intimate as the atmosphere allows. 10 years ago I would have used film and printed the photographs in a private lab but today I use digital cameras and provide my clients not only the prints but digital negatives as well – here’s where I’m starting to be concerned.

In my digital studio I take extra care to protect myself and my clients. All maternity sessions are clearly marked and stored separately from other jobs. My backups (yes, I back everything up in 2 places – on an external Hard Drive and Dual Layer DVDs) of maternity sessions are encrypted and protected .. but what happens to the photographs on the DVDs I deliver to my customers?

Imagine having a disk with a set of very intimate and romantic images that you had ordered at a very special time of your life disappear. What do you? Would you panic? I know my wife would. What happens if someone finds the disk and decides to post your private images on the internet? Or even worst, blackmail you?

This is where I set myself apart from the competition.

1. The DVDs I deliver to my customers are individually custom printed to mitigate a chance of leaving your house mistake. Below is a photograph of a DVD I will be delivering to a client this weekend.

2. All the folders and files on this DVD are encrypted with a AES encryption with 128-bit keys. This means that unless you know the password, there’s no way to see the images. This is the same type of encryption used in banks and while some may say this is an overkill, I think the privacy of my clients that put their trust in me must be protected with the best tools and methods available. Below is the contents of the DVD mentioned above.

I want to thank Jessica, a perspective client, who made me realize the value of sharing this information with my audience.

Yours truly,

Stanley Nov

Children Photoshoot – Nathan

Today I had another opportunity to photograph a very handsome young man – Nathan. Although we had fun shooting Nathan wasn’t too cooperative but the abundance of toys in his room kept him very relaxed and playful. Here’re my top favorite images from today ..

Yours, Stanley nov

More Children Photography at CBTB

Last week I was treated to a first-row exclusive opportunity to photograph several performances of the Caveat Ballet Studio. Several weeks ago I photographed these young adults rehearsing, now was the real deal.

This is the first time I ever had a chance to document such a performance and I’ll be honest with you … it’s pretty cool once you get a feel for the performers rhythm. My kickboxing training helped me anticipate moves such as jumps and twists and my top-of-the line photo equipment made it possible for me to capture the beauty of each move on stage.

Behind the scenes …

   

30 seconds to “curtain up”

Showtime ..

This one is my favorite …

For more, please visit http://photos.bestnycphoto.com/cbtb

Yours, Stanley Nov

Children Photography – Celina 2.0

Q. What’s be better than booking a new client?

A. Being re-booked by returning customers!

Recently a very loyal customer of mine signed a 3 session (maternity, newborn and baby) contract to cover her 2nd pregnancy.

Today was the first photoshoot, and, as I’m waiting for them to grant me rights to several maternity pictures I am glad to share with you some photographs of the first child – the beautiful Celina who I also photographed 8 month ago.

Yours, Stanley Nov