Archive for March, 2011

day in the life…chubby style

March 30, 2011

His day in the life images have been sitting on my computer for…ahem…eight months now.  I’ve given you my other boys’ day in the life HERE, HERE, and HERE, and now I’ve finally had time to sit down and go through my baby’s pictures from his special day.  At one year old, I tried to think of the best way to document a day in his life.  Well, turns out that babies that age can sit, lie, stand, sleep, eat, walk, crawl…doesn’st matter…they are JUST. SO. CUTE.  Soooo, I present to you…a day in the life of Beckham…or more commonly known as Beckingham Palace, Beckeroni and Cheese, Becks, Becker, B, and of course, Chubbs.

The day started out with a bath.  Ooooaaaaaoooo…hello baby Fu Man Chu…

He sooooo loves his blankets (there are 5 of them), stuffed monkeys, and older brother

Sleepy time (insert my relaxation breathing here)

Hanging out with brothers at a cider mill (THANK YOU MICHIGAN…best tradition EVER)

Someone forgot to tell Isaac that it is Beckham’s special day for pictures.  And, of course, no cider mill trip is complete without doughnuts and cider!  If it isn’t obvious from the way he is shoving that doughnut in, this kid LOVES food.

And finally, his big photo shoot to end his day.  Dreamy orchard.  Dreamy light.  Dreamy day. 

Love my baby more than life itself.  Happy one year little one.

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Posted in baby, personal | 26 Comments »

workshop registration open!

March 24, 2011

Hello Friends! Registration is now open for our second 2011 workshop…taking place September 16th and 17th! If you are interested, please visit the WORKSHOP WEBSITE for all of the details and to fill out the registration form. Our May workshop sold out in less than two days, so get on over to the workshop site!

And, just a few images from my last session…

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Posted in baby, family, workshop | 5 Comments »

WORKSHOP!

March 21, 2011

I feel like all I’ve been doing lately is making announcements. BUT…I do have one more big one…we will be holding another 2011 workshop! The dates will be September 16th and 17th, but you can see all of the details on the workshop website. Registration will go live Thursday morning, March 24th!!

And, I’ll leave you with Jackie…my little bohemian princess model in the tall weeds :)

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Posted in commercial, workshop | 8 Comments »

WINNERS!!!

March 17, 2011

I am so over-the-top blown away at not only the ideas you guys came up with for the styled mini-sessions, but also for the support you drew from your friends and family to help you win!!  My hands are a little cold and clammy because I am so excited about this whole process and the awesome winners!  After two hours of counting and counting and counting “likes” and comments, the winners are…

1.  Most comments and likes – Sonja Brooks! Her idea?  I would love to do a mini session with my daughter with an Anthropologie Baby theme. I love the anthropologie magazine photos with the eclectic feel. Shots of AnaLeigh in baby hunters and our favorite whispy sundress out in the woods or field. She is just learning to stand on her own and is thrilled about it! She might even bring her “pink woodland bear” snuggly along!

2.  Most Facebook suggestions sent – Kellie Bahri! – Her idea?  I would love to see Karson photographed having a vintage tea party.  Vintage child’s table and chairs in a grassy field with a large oak tree with a vintage chandelier hanging. I see a multitude of pastel colors -pinks, greens, robin egg blues, (quilts,etc.), extra large cupcakes and other treats and mixed matched china tea set. Her wearing a tutu and crown.  Add Landon (3 years old) into my photo idea! He can be the Mad Hatter at the Tea Party (with top hat and all)!

3.  My chosen idea - Donna Levos! Her idea?  “Vintage Bookstore” I see my girls (5 & 8) reading beautiful old hard-cover classics like “Red Riding Hood” in a charming old used bookstore. Picture a sweet pair of blue eyes peeking through a hole in a shelf full of books, a silly pic balancing books atop their heads, a quiet moment of big sister reading to little sister. Or a silhouette of a girl on tip-toe reaching for a high shelf.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the contest!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Winners…please email and we’ll discuss!

Posted in contests | 2 Comments »

hanging

March 16, 2011

Just hanging on the bed.  You know…it’s what every family does on a Friday evening.

To be perfectly honest, I wish I had images of me and my family hanging out on our bed on Friday or any other day of the week.

If people in images could make someone’s day, they just made mine.

Posted in child, family | 11 Comments »

minis and littles

March 14, 2011

First, my mini sessions for May are full…THANK YOU!  However, my contest to win one of three free styled/themed mini shoots is going until Thursday!  You can view the details in my last blog post.  Go on, there is still plenty of time to enter!  Oh, and just a hint for those of you have entered or are thinking about entering, one of the ways to win is to use the “suggest this” tab on my blog.  The highest amount suggested by someone so far is 12 suggestions.  Only 12!  That means, if you suggest even 15 people to “like” my page using the “suggest this” tab, you will be in the lead for winning one of the free shoots!

And, finally, some adorable littles for this lovely Monday morning…

This one cracks me up…I think big brother is way more excited about brotherly bonding than little brother…

I love cool parents…

Posted in child, contests, family | 6 Comments »

three free sessions!

March 10, 2011

I announced my mini sessions on Wednesday…thanks for those who have signed up!  There are a few last spots left, so let me know if you are interested!

In honor of my mini sessions, and the almost-spring that is upon us, or perhaps because I just love a good contest, I have decided to offer THREE mini sessions for free!! But, we are going to have a little fun with these sessions. The three free sessions will be themed/styled mini sessions created by YOU. What do I mean by styled or themed?  The session can have a certain theme, a certain style of clothing, or a mixture of both. Imagine tea parties, picking strawberries, lemonade stands, vintage clothing, bohemian kids in a field…the possibilities are endless.  Need some ideas?  A few favorites from Shannon Sewell are here, here, here, here, here, and here, or another one from Laura Siebert here.  All you need is an idea for a themed session and some kids and you are eligible to win! To enter, please go to my Facebook page, “LIKE” the page if you have not already done so, and then post your idea for the styled/theme children’s shoot on my Facebook wall.

After posting your idea to my Facebook wall,  you can win one of three ways…

1. Click the “share” tab on the bottom left of my Facebook page and use this “I would love to win a free session from Jean Smith Photography and I need your help! Please head over to her page and either “like” my comment or leave a comment on why I should win!” You may have to let them know that they have to “like” my page before they can leave a comment or “like” your comment.  The person with the most “likes” on their idea combined with the comments from people you sent (your name must be mentioned in their comment so I know who to give credit to) will win a free session!

2. Click the “suggest this” tab on the left side of my Facebook page.  Whoever sends the most suggestions WINS.  Don’t worry, I am able to track names of the people who have sent suggestions and how many they have sent!

3.  The third way of winning is by me choosing your styled session idea as my favorite!  Please don’t think your idea has to be biggest and baddest to win…something super simple could appeal to me as much as something that is over the top with a lot of props.  Please remember to post your ideas to my Facebook page, not in the comment section of my blog!

ONE IDEA PER PERSON PLEASE!

Sessions will take place on either May 12th or 14th.

These sessions are for kids only!  Kids can be ages 6 months through 16 years old.

Please note that if you have already signed up for a paid mini session and would like to enter a session idea, you are still eligible to win the contest! Contest ends at 4 pm (Eastern time) on Thursday, March 17th.

GOOD LUCK!

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Posted in contests | 5 Comments »

mini sessions

March 9, 2011

Finally…mini sessions! It has been THREE YEARS since I have offered mini sessions! There are only ten spots available, so contact me at jean@jeansmithphotography.com asap if you would like one of the spots!

Just a bit of fine print. The mini sessions are for CHILDREN only. The sessions are for 1-3 children, ages 6 months to 16 years old.  They will be held at an outdoor location (still undecided) somewhere within 30 miles of my home in New Hudson. Price of mini session does not include state sales tax.  After the session, the favorite ten images chosen by the client from an online gallery will be sent on a disc in both high resolution (for printing) as well as low resolution (for internet) format.

Posted in events | 9 Comments »

Backup

March 7, 2011

Wake up call.  Again.

Last year, I had a massive hard drive failure and knew I needed to implement a good backup system.  Last week, a huge reminder of the importance of backing up happened again…this time at the expense of our dear friends, Josh and Amanda.  Thursday morning, they woke up to…well…a whole lot less than they had the night before.  Their house had been robbed while they were sleeping.  I feel completely mortified and violated and it wasn’t even my house or my items.  27″ iMac, iPad, jewelry, printer, wacom, memory cards…GONE.  As if the mess of dealing with it and heartbreak isn’t enough, now Josh (also a photographer) has to hope and pray his automatic backup system to his external hard drives worked properly so that he has all of his files and documents.

Friends, please don’t think you are immune.  If it isn’t a hard drive failure, it could be something completely out of your control…a robbery…or perhaps a fire or other natural disaster.  I just can’t imagine how devastating it would be to not only lose all of my family videos and images, but all of the client images and files I have spend the last five years creating!

BACKUP…and then backup again.

How do I do it?  When I import my images into Lightroom from my CF card, I automatically send a raw backup to one external hard drive, and another jpg backup to another hard drive.  So, my images are saved as raw files on my Mac and one hard drive, as well as jpg files on another hard drive.  I then use an online backup service, Backblaze, to continually back up all of my jpg files from the external hard drive, as well as all of my documents from my Mac.  I like the convenience of an online backup, but I know that some people use DVD’s or external hard drives as a final backup and then store them in a fire proof safe.

If any of you have any other good ideas for backup, I would love to know!!!

Posted in misc | 16 Comments »

i’m ok

March 3, 2011

I have been a long time admirer of Carrie Sandoval…and every one of her perfectly posed newborn images.  There is no doubt about it…she is a newborn genius.  I had pretty much dubbed myself as mediocre and came to terms that newborns must not be my “niche.”

But, then I really started noticing which of my images stood out to me.  The emotion.  The connection between parents and children.  It’s ALWAYS the emotion and connection for me.  It’s how I see things through the lens.  It’s what moves and inspires me.  I gave up on trying to Carrie-ize my newborn sessions and embraced what I love the most.

And I realized that I’m ok with not doing what everybody else is doing.   I don’t need to produce images like other photographers to feel successful.  This is a business where we, as photographers, are our own worst critic.  We compare.  We feel up.  We feel down.  We feel awesome.  We feel like a failure.

I am still guilty of comparing, but only recently have I realized that this is MY art.  I know what makes me happy.   I will never shoot like so-and-so.  I just won’t.  But, it’s ok.

As the great Zach Arias once said, “Stop comparing yourself to others, just get out there and do your thing.”  Or something like that.  I’m sure I slaughtered the quote, but you get the point.

My favorite shot of the day

Posted in newborn | 43 Comments »