I just finished up with uploading some additional previews of another recent Holiday Photography session that we had last week in our photography studio here in Seattle.  This time it’s Shelley, who not only brought her two beautiful children, but they brought their lovely black Labrador dogs.  Oh my gosh, did we have so much fun!   We started out photographing just the kids, then Mum joined us for a while and it wasn’t long before we had all five of them rolling around the studio having fun.  We are excited to get Shelley in to see the complete round of proofs, but until then here is a sneak peak for her and her crew.  

I’ve also created this mini video of some of the out-takes from our session together.  Anne is doing  a great job at capturing some video footage of our sessions, there is a funny clip in here where the young puppy covers me with kisses while I’m trying to get the kids to turn around.  Funny.  Click on the thumbnail below to see the short clip plus these slides. 

holiday | The Fine Art Photography Studio Seattle | Presented by Phil Holden 

This last week, not surprisingly we have been very busy with holiday photography sessions here in our photography studio in Seattle.  Although we are still in October (just) the holiday’s are not far away so if you haven’t booked a holiday photography session yet there is still time so please get in contact soon.   I realize that holiday photo’s are often stressful, however we pride ourselves on creating a relaxed atmosphere so that you can have some fun and get some great shots. 

Here are a few photographs from Anna’s crew of boys for them to check out!  Looking forward to seeing you guys soon so that we can review all the proofs.  Thanks for such a fun session!

I also put together this quick video of some of the out-takes from the fun session that we had and added the photography set to a fun music track.  Click on the thumbnail below to see some of the action. 

To get more details about our special Holiday Photography Promotion check this out - holiday | The Fine Art Photography Studio Seattle | Presented by Phil Holden

Last week we had the pleasure of having a very cool high school senior, Lexi in the studio for some graduation photographs.  She, like many graduated earlier this summer and is hanging out in Seattle before heading out to college in California.  We used our photography studio here in Seattle as our base for outfit changes but all of the photographs were taken outside in and around the city. 

We also got to work with another talented artist, Christine Cherbonnier an excellent makeup artist.  I should be able to post some previews of the fun session with Lexi later this week, but in the meantime some candid outtakes as Christine did her thing.

On Friday I was out and about working photographing adorable twins.  During one of the break’s Iain picked up one of his guitars and started to play, much to the amusement of the dogs Lilly and Max who were glad to get some attention for a little while.  I’m still working my through the proof’s of the twins but I thought I would post this quickly of my good friend.   

At times the studio is all carefully setup with lights positioned just how we want them to create certain lighting styles, everything is all tidy and things are in their place.  And then there are the times that we have young children here and that just doesn’t make sense.  This is when the toys come out and the lighting is setup to capture movement as there is often lots of it as the kids run around and have fun. 

This shot from last week with the lensbaby.   

Seeing as I posted a shot of Jester in the studio it seemed like I should post one of Miss Georgia Jones.  Jones - as she likes to be called isn’t nearly as visible as Jester in the studio, she is a little shy initially and it takes her a while to become comfortable with folks.  If she does pay you a visit it’s most likely towards the end of your visit.  Here she is from Sunday, resting, or should I say sleeping, right in-between two frames that I was building.  Its funny how they each have their own spots that they love to hang out in.  Initially when I sneaked up on her with my camera all she could do was just lift her eye and yawn at me.  Nice life they have for sure. 

One of the major personalities of the studio has to be Jester.  He adopted me a couple of years ago at a time when I was doing a lot of international travel and I wanted someone to be a friend to Miss Jones.  He will have his third birthday coming up in April.   

He mostly makes most appearances on my other blog which has a nice write up on why he named Jester here which also gives a good sense of his personality.  But seeing as he is often present during our photography sessions I thought he deserved a quick post here.   

This photograph was taken with a 16mm fisheye lens.    Fisheye lens are extremely wide lens that creates a distorted image because of its hemispherical lens design.  Although not typically used for portrait photography because it distorts the image which obviously is often the face its something I will often grab if I want to try something different.   In this case I was on the floor and the ever interested Jester decided to approach me.  His noise was only an inch or so away from the camera when I took this and I love that his face looks so big and that he’s almost floating on the floor.  A very cool shot for a very cool guy!  OK - back to work!

Last week Olivia and Noah came into the studio along with Mum and Grandma.  This is the second time that I have gotten the chance to work with Olivia and Noah and it was a lot of fun.  One of the things that I always focus on when I’m working with more than one client is to capture the relationships between the various folks that come in.  Typically that is all about the love, but at times I get the chance to capture a few of those other emotions!  Here we have Olivia who clearly loves her young brother to bits, but at times you tell that she finds him a little bit annoying.  I loved the shot as her brother was all goofy but clearly she wasn’t so amused. 

I was just backing up some recent photography and this shot of Lisa and Jake made me smile.   This hound is the terror of his neighborhood who will chase every cat and most dogs, he will pull Lisa’s father over when he is being walked, and as I discovered last year he also kills raccoons.  All in all he has quite the history of being a big bad boy.  

So when he came around recently I was ready for that big hound personality but I was a little surprised at first.  Lisa and I had discussed trying to do some more arty photographs and I had a simple lighting setup to see what we could get with him.  Well, as soon as the flash went off Jake darted behind his mother and basically hid his face.  We laughed it off at first, but then after the second and third flash it became obvious that he wasn’t happy at all.  Turns out he just doesn’t like flash lights.  So we removed all the backdrops and lights and used the natural light coming through the window and then went out on the terrace.  

Working with him always brings the unexpected for sure!  

the fine art photography studio blog : pets welcome

On Friday Haiden and Bryson came into the studio with their parents to make some additional photographs before the end of year gets here.  They were on fine form, talk about two boys with huge amounts of energy, they were completely enjoying themselves running around having fun as boys will.  Haiden remembered the cats from his last visit and was very keen to play ‘find the cats’ and it wasn’t long before he spotted Jester hanging out in a corner.  With boys of this amount of energy rather than setup a particular spot we cleared the studio and worked as they explored and had fun.  With the brilliant warm light that was coming through the windows it made for a lovely time.  

Ok, time for bed, I will review the rest of these photographs in the morning.

Yesterday Amy was working in the presentation room enjoying a sun break that was streaming through the window.  Miss Jones decided that it was a good place to rest and take a turn next to Amy getting some TLC while she she was working.  One happy cat, I had to grab a quick snap.   

Another photograph from the recent mirror session.   It wasn’t long after Mum pulled off his clothes it became apparent that the young man wasn’t so happy.  I think it was because the mirror was probably too cold for him and we should have warmed it with a hair dryer first.  Luckily I work quick and managed to grab a few good captures with him while he was naked and much happier!