Pittsburgh South Hills Maternity Newborn Photographer | Pregnancy Composite Portrait

Read more about the article Pittsburgh South Hills Maternity Newborn Photographer | Pregnancy Composite Portrait

Last spring I did a very special project featuring beautiful mama and dancer, Laura M.  She and I met in the studio several times throughout her pregnancy to document the changes in her belly.  We got to try a lot of different things, including something I am very proud of, a composite image of months 5, 6, 7, and 8 of her pregnancy:

(C) 2014 Powder Blue Photography. www.powderbluephoto.com

This was my greatest challenge to date because it was very important that I shoot each image to the exact specs of the previous images to create a sense of consistency in the final image. I had to make it look like they were all shot on the same day even though they were each a month apart.  I took a lot of notes on my camera & light settings and the locations of my lights.  It was also tricky in editing… those of you who have extracted an image in Photoshop know what I’m talking about!  By the time we were on months 7 and 8 I had it down though.  I thought it turned out extraordinarily well and am so proud of it and thankful that Laura is so patient and talented!

Here are some other images from her maternity sessions:

www.powderbluephoto.comwww.powderbluephoto.comwww.powderbluephoto.comwww.powderbluephoto.comwww.powderbluephoto.com

 

She also had the cutest, chunkiest little sweet baby, Hank:

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Are you looking for a family, maternity, or newborn baby photographer?  Powder Blue Photography offers in-home and in-studio portraits of newborn babies and on-location or in-home maternity and family portraits in and around the Pittsburgh South Hills and Mt. Lebanon.  Please contact Missy to schedule a maternity appointment and a tentative date for your newborn session.  Maternity sessions take place around 35 weeks (depending on mama’s stature), and newborn sessions take place in the first 10 days of life.  Family sessions take place anytime!

Update from the Keystone State | Mt. Lebanon Baby Photographer

Read more about the article Update from the Keystone State | Mt. Lebanon Baby Photographer

Finally an update on all of the changes in my life!  I can now say we have settled into the land known as the South Hills, which is about 20 minutes south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  We have made lots of new friends here and are currently house-hunting.  This is exciting and sometimes frustrating.  Jeremy and I have such terrible luck with real estate–seems we bought in Portland at a peak in 2008, sold at a low (recently), and we find ourselves in a seller’s market in Mt. Lebanon.  Right now it is a waiting game, and we hope some more houses will come on the market as the weather warms up in the coming weeks.  The good news is that it is a little more affordable here in Pennsylvania, so we should be able to live in a large house in a great neighborhood for a lot less than we were paying to live in a so-so neighborhood in Portland.

Now that my “babies” are both sleeping all night, I can get back to work!  It’s been such a joy welcoming a daughter and watching my son grow into toddler-hood.  Jonah knows the whole alphabet and all the letter sounds, and he seems to be starting to understand how reading works.  Amelia is so beautiful and sweet, I just can’t get enough of her.  The first few months of having two kids was a little hectic (and by that I mean I laughed, I cried, and I drank a lot of wine).  Things have REALLY settled down now and we are doing great.  Mimi is five months old today and SO close to sitting on her own, so I will soon be doing some updated portraits of her and Jonah.

So as far as Powder Blue Photography goes, I am chomping at the bit to get back in action.  There is a real need for beautiful high-end portraits here (unlike in Portland, which was totally saturated with  photographers), and I am finding there may be a particular niche for me in Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair, which are the two neighborhoods in which we are house-hunting. I am not maintaining a studio here yet, so I will be working on-location and in-home as I get to know neighborhoods and clients.  I will likely open a studio some time next year, when the kids will be a little older and I will be able to take on more clients.

I have re-structured my rates, and you can find details on that on my website.  I found that at most sales appointments people wanted ALL of the pictures and they really struggled with picking and choosing favorites.  Because of that, I have decided to charge a flat rate and include printable digital files with every session.  I think this may simplify ordering and make my clients happier. I will still be offering wall portraits as well and will occasionally run specials on press products and custom design work.  We will see how it works out and what people like here in PA.  I am charging a 20% off “portfolio rate” for the first six months as I get to know the area.  Take advantage of it because I don’t typically discount my session fees!

Check out my new promo card, what do you think?

 

 

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Are you looking for a family, maternity, or newborn baby photographer?  Powder Blue Photography offers in-home and in-studio portraits of newborn babies and on-location or in-home maternity and family portraits in and around the Pittsburgh South Hills and Mt. Lebanon.  Please contact Missy to schedule a maternity appointment and a tentative date for your newborn session.  Maternity sessions take place around 35 weeks (depending on mama’s stature), and newborn sessions take place in the first 10 days of life.  Family sessions take place anytime!

Family Portrait | Portland Family Photographer

Chelsea, James, & 1 1/2-year-old Jay came to the studio looking posh and fantastic for a holiday family portrait.

At 17 months, Jay is a little wild man and has given me another glimpse of what’s in store for me with Jonah in a few short months!  When photographing energetic toddlers, the best tactic is to find something that engages them and go with it rather than trying to get them to sit still because that is not likely to happen with these guys unless they’re asleep!  Could be ticking, peekaboo, or me acting, uh… zany (stupid) that does it, you just never know.  For this little guy, it was throwing things and/or keep-away!  For whatever reason, we got mega smiles every time I hid something from this cutie.

For these photos I used a singular XL softbox on the right and a huge reflector on the left, and I very much like the large, soft light from the softbox, especially on the portraits of James & Chelsea.  I just got a 430 EX II slave earlier today (at Best Buy, where there were 10 people already waiting for Black Friday savings… the thought occurs to me that waiting 2 days in the rain is maybe just a little excessive?!) to complement my 580 EX II, so I think I’m going to start using a lightweight wireless Speedlite setup in the studio more often as well as on location.  It’s so much more portable and flexible than the strobes, and it seems to have all the power I need in there, so I’m going to invest in some more flash modifiers (beauty dish, strip light, octobox, Rogue grid?) and do some test shooting over the next month or so. I already did a few test shots on Jeremy & Jonah, and I love them!  I have learned so much from this book, highly recommended for anyone looking to learn more about Speedliting.