Cincinnati Portrait Photography

Another photographer once asked me a question that has stuck with me through the years. It’s this: Say your house is burning down and you only have 10 seconds to grab something, what would you make sure to get above everything else? People’s first instinct is to get something invaluable, an item that they can’t buy or get back with home insurance money, and that’s their family pictures. I think that answer is extremely telling, because although the pictures aren’t the most expensive item in the home, they hold the most value to people and symbolize a special moment in time that you can’t get back.

With Facebook, printed pictures aren’t as crucial as they once were, but it’s like reading a paper book versus. a Kindle. There is something different about having a hard copy photo and being able to frame it in your home. The same can be said about how everything’s different when you work with a photographer who understands how to capture these moments in time that you can look back on forever.

When I embark on a new photography session with a client, my goal isn’t to just capture this one moment of your life and wish you the best. I love to create lasting relationships with my clients and “go through life” together capturing all of life’s biggest moments.

Engagement Portraits

 

Where many families start their journey in the pursuit of marriage and being together the rest of their lives, an engagement photoshoot is one of my favorite moments to capture. Whether it is in the literal moment of the engagement happening live, or if it is an after the fact photoshoot, it is an honor for me to see the excitement and sparks between these two people madly in love.

With the rest of their lives ahead of them and the dreams and passions the couple’s start to pursue together there is nothing more memorable to capture! Although most couples have been dating for a considerable time before getting engaged, the engagement is truly the beginning of forever together.

Engagement photo shoots are some of the most interesting and playful photoshoots I get to take a part of. I love getting to hear the story behind how the couple met and even sometimes including those special places in the photoshoot. For example, if there is a favorite coffee shop between the couple, or maybe they met at the college they went to, being able to include those special memories and moments in the pictures makes all the difference.

I hope that these photos help capture all of the emotions, feelings, and memories associated with this special moment in time. After the engagement, comes to the wedding and then for some people, the beginning of a family.

Maternity Portraits

 

Maternity Portraits are another special moment in time, that are always worth capturing. Pregnancy is the beginning of your bond and forever relationship with your child. The importance of maternity photography is to capture the excitement and anticipation of the entrance of a new family member.

From gender reveals to capturing different growth stages through trimesters, these nine months are nothing short of an extremely exciting time, especially if it’s your first child.

Just like newborn photoshoots, there is a lot of growth going on within the womb during pregnancy and for mother’s, a maternity photoshoot is a fun way to capture those stages of change. Different woman respond different to pregnancy and therefor it makes it a very unique experience and truly a one of a kind moment for you and your family.

In the past, I feel like women tried to avoid cameras and documentation due to the fact that they had gained weight, and were no longer confident in their bodies. You can notice a change in the way maternity clothes have shifted as well.

A decade or so, maternity clothing was typically big and baggy, you were almost trying to cover up your belly. In terms of swimwear, pregnant women always opted to wear a one piece swimsuit or a tankini if they even have the nerve to wear a swimsuit, and now woman are choosing to rock bikinis despite how pregnant they are (I love it!). In addition to bikinis, woman are confidently rocking body-con dresses, and really anything that shows off that gorgeous baby bump.

I absolutely love that our culture has decided to take a brand new approach on pregnancy. Pregnancy is now considered a beautiful stage of life, no matter how many extra pounds you have packed on during the process. The reason it’s beautiful is because it’s natural.

The natural aspect is definitely a goal of mine when capturing maternity photography! You don’t want anything too staged or “photoshoot like” however, the goal is to capture you in your natural element. Maternity portraits don’t all have to be just about you as the mother as well. This is another great time to bond with your partner and be excited about this life stage together.

Naturally, after the maternity portraits, I would love to schedule your next newborn photoshoot within two weeks of the delivery date or birth of your child, and this is why.

The natural aspect is definitely a goal of mine when capturing maternity photography! You don’t want anything too staged or “photoshoot like” however, the goal is to capture you in your natural element. Maternity portraits don’t all have to be just about you as the mother as well. This is another great time to bond with your partner and be excited about this life stage together.

Naturally, after the maternity portraits, I would love to schedule your next newborn photoshoot within two weeks of the delivery date or birth of your child, and this is why.

Newborn Portraits

 

One of the reasons baby photography is so important, is because their bodies are rapidly changing and growing during the first few years of their life. We can all agree on that!

According to the Mayo Clinic, this is how much your baby can grow just in their first year of life:

From birth to age 6 months, a baby might grow 1/2 to 1 inch a month and gain 5 to 7 ounces a week. Expect your baby to double his or her birth weight by about age 5 months.

From ages 6 to 12 months, a baby might grow 3/8 inch a month and gain 3 to 5 ounces a week. Expect your baby to triple his or her birth weight by about age 1 year.

So just in one year, your baby has tripled their weight and grown a few inches (that’s crazy!). This is why getting your newborn portraits (and scheduling them ahead of time) is crucial to capturing these important stages of growth.

I recommend getting your newborn portraits taken within the first two weeks of birth. This ensures that the newborns still curl up in that womb-like position, don’t mind be unclothed, and stay asleep and restful longer to ensure the best photos!

Children Portraits

Newborn and infant photography is for those “cute” moments. You’ll never get those tiny fingers and toes back, and that soft baby skin, but the great thing about children photography, is that it begins to really capture the personality of your child, which makes it so much fun!

When I work with children during photoshoots, I don’t want this to be a dreadful moment for them where I am forcing them to “say cheese” behind a camera because their parents paid me too. I really want this to be a fun experience for the children, where they can be goofy and show their personality through the images.

No matter the age of the child, I think every stage in life is worth capturing. Whether it’s their first day of first grade, or their high school graduation pictures, all moments are big moments and you never want to regret not taking the time to document those achievements or celebratory moments.

Family Portraits

 

My true passion and heart strings are pulled during baby portrait sessions. It also gets good when the entire family gets their picture taken at the same time and you see different personalities come together.

You may think as an adult or as a teenager, you just kinda look the same! Unless you get a dramatic haircut, or have some weight change, there is no big dramatic image change. Everyone seems to think that about themselves, however looking back at old photos will prove you otherwise (assuming you take pictures).

I think it’s so important to not only get pictures of your newborns, but have pictures to look back as a family in general. And trust me, when that child grows up they’re going to appreciate the fact that they can look back on those infant pictures of them as a child, and they are going to appreciate being able to see what the rest of the family looked like back then as well.

“Did Dad have a beard?”, “Did Mom have bangs?”, “Did my brother Michael lose his front teeth yet?” I know for me, that is one of my favorite parts of looking back at old pictures, just noticing different style changes and appearances. Not only looking at how you looked as a child, but the rest of the family, helps you recap certain memories in your mind and paint a better picture of your childhood.

Final Words

Hopefully this post has helped you get a sense of my photography and the value I hold on creating relationships with my clients. Especially when it comes to family portraits, if the children have worked with me before they tend to be comfortable and confident in front of the camera.

Life is not just about the “big” moments of engagements, and pregnancy and high school graduation, but life is just as much about capturing all of the “small” moments in between. So whether you have something worth celebrating and capturing or you just want to get your family dressed up to take some cute and cozy fall attire shots, then that’s great too!

I try to consistently convince people that you don’t need an excuse to capture life. I think everyone should do it regularly because the only regret that comes is having too little of photos, not too many.

What A Perfect Photography Client Looks Like

We know that the photos we create here at Carrie Lynne Photography hold a special place in the lives of our clients, and feel that it’s our responsibility to make sure that as few obstacles as possible stand in the way of capturing perfect moments for everyone who books a session with us.

We’ve gotten pretty good at this over the years, but what do you do if the obstacle standing between you capturing the best possible photos for your client is…your client?

When you’re a professional photographer running your own business independently, it can be easy to find yourself spending more time than you’d prefer solving common problems again and again.

Thankfully, with a little help and preparation from a client, minimizing these common problems is super easy and can maximize the opportunities to capture the best photos during a shoot.

Whether you’ve already booked your session or are still doing your due diligence, keeping this list of ways to be the perfect photography client in mind can go a long way toward making sure you get the absolute best possible photos out of your session.

The Best Photography Clients Do This

#1: Communicate Well in Advance

When you book your shoot, the more information you can provide our team, the better. The simple fact of the matter is that the more information we have about what specifically you’re looking to get out of your photography experience, the better we can work to meet your needs and ensure your satisfaction.

Just letting us know what you’re looking to get out of the shoot, what the photos will be used for, and a specific date or two that would work well for you goes a surprisingly long way. When the day of the shoot come around, we’ll be totally on the same page and ready to spend every minute of our session as productively as possible.

#2: Show Up On Time

This one is pretty simple, but absolutely bears repeating: please show up for your session on time! We do our best to accommodate late arrivals, but sometimes we have multiple sessions booked on one day and are unable to make up for lost time.

The more time we have during a session, the more options you’ll have at the end of the day, so being punctual and prepared at the established time is a really easy way to get the most out of your shoot.

#3: Have Outfit Changes Ready to Go

This one ties into punctuality and preparedness as well: if you’ll be taking photos in multiple outfits, having those organized and ready to go goes a long way.

Changing outfits in the middle of a session can take a surprisingly large amount of time away from taking photos, especially without proper organization beforehand.. You don’t necessarily need to be a quick change wizard, but eliminating unnecessary time spent here can maximize the usefulness of your session.

#4: Have a Positive Attitude

This one might be the most important of all: having a positive, upbeat attitude during your shoot can absolutely transform the quality of your photos more than perhaps anything else on this list.

For many, having professional photos taken can be a stress-inducing experience — it’s easy to feel uncomfortable in front of the camera and worry about whether or not you’ll be happy with the results.

However, just going with the flow, responding well to coaching by your photographer, and overall having fun during your shoot will ensure you’re radiating positivity and happiness in your final photos. Just keep an open mind and enjoy the experience!

#5: Ask For What You Need

Ideally, you’ll have communicated with our team super effectively before the shoot date, but once the shoot has started, having the assertiveness to make any requests you might have can preemptively solve a lot of problems.

If there’s a specific background you’d prefer, or a specific pose you’d like to try, just let us know! We’re happy to accommodate reasonable requests and do what it takes to get you the photos you’re hoping for.

#6: Pay On Time

Finally, after your shoot is completed and you’ve got some truly amazing photos to treasure, timely payment is sincerely appreciated.

We’re an independent business that relies on prompt payment from our clients to pay bills and continue to grow. Not having to chase down payments for shoots we’ve completed frees us up to book new sessions and help our other clients get amazing photos as well!

Ultimately, if you can keep these best practices in mind, you’ll be ensuring as little as possible stands in the way of you and the best possible photos we can capture. Even better, you’ll also be saving both of us a bit of potential stress, which we sincerely appreciate!

Ready to book your session? Drop us a line and we’ll be happy to help get you ready to take some gorgeous photos.

Cincinnati | Northern KY Family Photographer – 2016 Year in Review

Cincinnati | Northern KY Family Photographer – 2016 Year in Review

It’s that time of year to do my annual blog post!! I am awful at writing, was always a math nerd so I crap out after one sentence in one post and push blogging to the bottom of my to do list (which I don’t get through until the January of the next year). 2016 was a fantastic year for me, I did more sessions than ever- maybe too many in the fall if you ask my husband :P This year, I am taking on new challenges and have some new mini sessions and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out! For now though, here is a recap of my 2016 sessions- I think I got most of them in there! Hardest task ever is to compile this image, haha. Enjoy!! If you are finding me for the first time, please head over to my Facebook or Instagram page to see recent work!! I keep both of those pretty much updated. Hope to see you soon!!

Weekend Sessions in My Hometown :) {Cincinnati Maternity Photographer}

I went back home for Memorial Day weekend and got to shoot my gorgeous cousin who is having her second baby very soon and my gorgeous friend who is getting married next month! I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people! Congrats to both of you!!

Jarrett and Shay {Cincinnati/Northern KY Couples Photographer}

I feel so lucky to have been able to shoot this adorable and fun couple!!!! They had just gotten married so we took pictures where they got engaged, married, and then a few at the park nearby. We have had an incredibly mild winter but temps dropped low the evening of this shoot :(. They were great sports despite the very chilly weather! Enjoy! And congratulations to the happy couple!!!