Lisa Phillipson Photography » Atlanta Family and High School Senior Photography

Tag Archives: photography tips

I wanted to share a sample of what your family might wear for a photography session.  These particular outfits may not be your style, but you can take cues from the overall color theme.  The different layers of denim and blues are a great base and always timeless.  Throw in a few pops of a brighter color like the red above.  I must be partial to these colors as I did something similar for my own family a couple of years ago when my friend, Crystal, took our pictures.

We were all in Jeans (because that is what we live in and so US).  I had denim with different shades of browns and a few pops of red.  The green of summer is a nice backdrop and the red lets it still work well for Christmas Cards. This is a great way to go ahead and get your Christmas Card pictures taken care of as early as August and September.

Speaking of Christmas… I am debating on which day to cut off my Christmas deadline for Sessions.  I know it will be the first week of November.  So, if you would like to get a family session in this year now is the time to schedule it.  I have a set number of sessions I can take for children and families including High School Seniors.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!  We seem to have plenty of warm weather in Atlanta.  I have enjoyed a few cooler mornings over the past week — A LOT.

posted in: Family,What to Wear

How did it go?  If you saw my previous post, you know I don’t make a huge effort to get a group shot of my own kids except on my birthday at the end of July.  If you have three kids of your own, you know how difficult it can be just to have them sit together without a squabble.  July is a sweaty month to be outside but I work quick so it doesn’t take long.  🙂  This is my annual gift to myself and it doesn’t hurt to tell my boys that this is for Mommy’s birthday and please don’t poke or kick each other.  We usually make an effort to go to a nice location but since my helper/wrangler/husband was stuck on an airplane and not home yet, we only made it outside to our yard.  Good enough for me!  So with a little help from Grammy and my Aunt this is what we got on our way out to dinner that night and I am happy.  I won’t tell you what tricks I used to get them to smile…I’m a big fan of the candid moments.  Those represent my kids the best and I might just hang something more candid on one of my walls to enjoy.

***

Back to School: Most are going back today.  Mine are officially back at it and I am really happy (except for early mornings and homework).  I can’t wait to see all the back to school pictures on Facebook this week.  I might not see some children for a year and then a flood of back to school images come through and I love it.  We had a half day on Friday and I took these pictures of my kids in front of the house…where I always take their back to school pictures.  I told them I would have to do that then and then on Monday morning in their real uniforms and again on Wednesday for Chapel uniforms and then when Kate officially starts back.  They weren’t thrilled.  Evan said he wasn’t really “into photography”.  It’s not his thing so he tells me.  It just happens to be “my thing” so I’m glad they indulge me!

Guess which one did NOT get new uniform shoes for school this year?  |  Belle made an appearance in our photos.  I don’t know why.

***

Photographer’s Tip:  Use a chalkboard or a piece of paper and let your kids hold up a sign that has “first day of 1st grade” or something along those lines.  I am going to use one of my Organic Bloom frames with a chalkboard insert to do that.  I have a few more shots to get!  My biggest tip of all: if you forget to do anything the first day do it anytime the first week.  When you look back in a few years you probably won’t even remember that part.  If your child rides the bus, please get one with the bus behind them.  (Just for me – I love that!)

posted in: Childhood,Family,Musings

An odd title but it is the name of the group Jen & I planned to form (being in a home full of boys) until I went and messed it up by having a girl.

I took pictures of my friend Jennifer and her family in front of their home in Mableton before they moved out of town.  I’m sad I won’t see them as often but I am happy that they will be closer to family and that the boys are excited about their new adventure.  It is times like this that I am thankful to have FACEBOOK so I know I can keep up with them and watch these boys grow up.

I met Jennifer at the Cumberland MOPS group in Smyrna the first year it started.  I have several good friends I met with that organization and one was even my son’s 4th grade teacher last year!  I can say I knew Jennifer back in the day when those two littlest boys were just a twinkle in her eye.  It seems like yesterday that they came into the world.

“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.”  –Henry David Thoreau

2008  |   2012

***

Photographer’s Notes: My house is the backdrop of a lot of family pictures.  It may be the same for you.  If not, get out there and take some pictures of the place you raised your children…and look how small they were (you will say one day).  I actually love to take pictures of my home through the different seasons (flowers, leaves, snow).  Also make a point to get some shots of your car(s).  How fun is it to look at old model cars in your family’s photo’s?  Your current car will be that old model car to your children one day.

Case in point: I posted this picture on Instagram of a wood paneled station wagon I saw at Trader Joe’s in Atlanta.  I got more posts (excited ones) than I usually do because the ladies my age have a lot of the same memories about the station wagons our parents had and the memories of riding in the back.  The man that owned the car told my boys “I bet you’ve never seen a car like this.”  I told them how we used to ride around in the back often on a blanket waiting for the sharp turns so we would slide all over the place.  Raise your hand if you had the extra cool parents that took extra sharp turns on purpose for you. In firstborn fashion, my oldest said “That sounds dangerous.”  The point is it brings back a lot of memories to me because I remember getting our brand new circa 1980 wood paneled station wagon…it was N-I-C-E! I predict Honda Minivans will provoke the same feelings for him one day. Yikes.

I remember the point about pictures of your car being made by Zack Arias at one of the MOPS meetings I mentioned above.  (Hey, we all have to start somewhere.)  That was a looonnngggg time ago and now take a look at what a big time “successful commercial photographer he is.  I love his videos the most.  If you are professional photographer, you have probably seen his Transform video.  If you have not, stop NOW and watch it HERE.

posted in: Family

Best senior boy picture

It is that time of year for Senior Portraits to be made.  It was fresh on my mind and I came across these funny Senior Pictures HERE by Nextround.net.  They are a little scary but still funny.  My image above makes me laugh and I love his expression.  It was just a candid moment and I’m pretty sure he was herding goats away for me so I could shoot in this field in peace.  🙂

Senior Edition – What to wear?  This outfit was really great because it was basically neutral (in my favorites – blues) to focus on him and not necessarily what he was wearing.  There were a lot of different fabrics together with extra texture in the sweater and also a pop of color in his scarf.  You can’t go wrong in denim and his jeans are darker and dressier so his portraits have a more formal feel instead of slouchy.

This Senior Guy happens to have a lot of his own style but I love to help and often ask my Seniors clients to bring lots of things from their closet for me to help them choose fun and also classic outfits.  Our location for shooting, light and the season will often make a difference in what looks best.

Have a great summer and I can’t wait to see some Class of 2013 Atlanta Seniors really soon!

posted in: High School,What to Wear

http://www.lisaphillipson.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1536&action=edit&message=10

This is a sweet family that had a family session with me before this little boy got his first real haircut.   It will be bittersweet to see him with his big boy hair do.  I bet he will look so grown up!   He is already doing many big-boy things so I guess it is time he looks the part of the toddler he is.  🙁  He is lucky to have a great big sister to lead the way for him.  She directed and helped him out a lot (it will always be that way!).

How did they know to wear my favorite colors, blue & green?  🙂  As summer gets closer there will be even more green grass and leaves as my backdrops.  I love all the natural colors that allow children’s faces and expressions to be the focus of any image.  It is always fun to have that pop of color too!  Crewcuts has some fun Spring children’s clothes that you can check out.  They always have a great selection for both casual and dressier outfits.

This is just to give you an idea of what some clothing choices might be.  I can always help with this if you are stuck.  I love to pull collections together from your existing clothes and often make decisions based on home decor and locations of photo sessions.

More later on what undertones of color look best on a person.  This is an individual thing and has nothing to do with the color but the shade.  My Mother has taught this for uh, many years and it is very dramatic to see it in person.  I am always a perfect model for her.  I look best in bright, clear colors (like the green above).  If she drapes me in that color and immediately puts a pastel (Easter egg colors or white undertones) on me, you can see how washed out I become.  There is no amount of makeup I can add to fix it and if I go around town like that people will ask me if I feel sick.  🙂  My husband is the opposite.  He looks the best in pastel colors.  It all has to do with the pigments in our skin and not our hair and skin coloring.  I am terrible about updating my site but hopefully I will be able to write more about this soon and show some examples.

posted in: Family

I am a member of the National Association of Professional Child Photographers (NAPCP) and last summer I had the opportunity at one of their workshops to learn about newborn posing techniques from Kelly Ryden and her sister, Tracy Raver.  This is one of the pictures I took of a cute little newborn model.  These ladies really did have a special way with newborns and the biggest key of that was the patience to wait and being thoughtful enough to keep the babies safe and secure.

I love the natural look of a baby curled up sleeping.  I also love lifestyle images of babies in their mother’s arms.  If you are shopping for a newborn photographer or if you are a photographer please keep in mind that a lot of the newborn pictures online of babies hanging in mesh from sticks, or high up on things are composite images completed in Photoshop.  Please do not ever hang a newborn from something where they could potentially fall or have an accident.   Also, please do not ever put a baby in a glass jar (I have seen this recently online).  Have you ever had a glass coming out of your dishwasher suddenly break in your hands for no reason?  It is just not worth it and looks unnatural as well as uncomfortable (in my opinion).   That was me on my soapbox for just a moment because I don’t ever want a new baby hurt for the sake of a picture or to get the latest and greatest picture.

I will show a set up for a composite image I mentioned before for those interested.  These are my pictures straight out of the camera (cropped but unedited).  This was to be one of the hanging baby pictures and you will note the firm grip on the baby at all times.  Obviously, there needs to be more than just the photographer to hold and support the newborn.  I would not try this unless you have been well trained and have an assistant at your session.  I prefer the basket image on the far right the most anyway!  🙂

While I may have the attention of new or expecting Mommies, I want to share the What to Expect website with you.  The book has long been considered the American Bible of Pregnancy and now their website provides even more info.  Try the Baby Growth Tracker.  I always loved knowing the progress my baby was making during pregnancy.  It got me through some of those hard days of being sick when I could keep my focus on what the greater purpose was!

posted in: Baby,Photographer's Tips

« Older posts Newer posts »