As you might recall, we photographed the awesome "R" family in downtown Tucson for their first urban family portrait session and they told us they loved both the experience and the results - hooray! We love to hear that! You can check out our favorite images on our earlier blog post and be sure to leave them some love in the comment section!
Now I want to share with you the beautiful mamma and handsome daddy of those wonderful children! It's great to get your headshot updated as often as you can with all of the social media we use, so next time you are at your family photo session, be sure to ask me about doing a new headshot for you! ~Michelle
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through High School
Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and everything in between.
To see her portfolio and additional information, please visit the main
website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
I am Michelle Rasmussen, Tucson Portrait Photographer, owner at Wondertime Photography, and I would like to share with you two important things today about family portraits. Whether you are having your portraits taken or you are taking a family's portrait, these are two important things to know which will improve your photo.
I am going to show you 5 photographs that all have these 2 important factors in common that make them stand out from other family photos that do not have them:
1. All the families are posed so that their heads make a triangle if you were to "connect the heads as dots", except one, and that photo has the family making motion (walking), so it's ok.
2. All the families are pretty much following the rule of dressing as if they are one person and there is no more than one pattern and the rest of the outfits are picked from those colors.
Here baby is wearing the one pattern, mom is wearing two colors from her dress and dad is wearing a lighter shade from dress - perfect!
Here Baby is wearing a black and grey striped dress, so mom and dad each are wearing one of the solid colors from her dress and it works perfectly with this blue door!
Same family, parents didn't have to change, but they changed baby's dress, and all mom had to do was slip on a pink sweater to change the look of the entire family's "outfit" - I love it!
Toddler is wearing black and silver stripes and a "pop" of pink so mom and dad keep their clothes toned down so the attention will stay on her and mom's belly. Lovely!
This mama could be a stylist! This outfit is perfect, I don't know how else to describe it! I just love it, and then when we found the houses to go with them, it got even better! YaY!
The more people you start to add to the session, the harder it can be, but it's totally worth it to take the time and effort to do this as your photos will look so much better if the subjects are coordinated nicely with one another and your photographer takes the next step to pose them so that you get eye pleasing "connect-the-dot-triangles" with your subjects heads.
I hope you find this article helpful, if you do, let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below also. Thanks! ~Michelle
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through High School
Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and everything in between.
To see her portfolio and additional information, please visit the main
website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
We are getting ready for Valentine's Day here at Wondertime Photography and Love is in the Air and so is a sneak peek of the adorable mini photo session we did!
We set up the lighting up like a Wondertime Silly Goose Booth and I added some "love" design elements to the images afterwards and turned them into Valentine's cards in PhotoShop. We mamma's will just attach candy to the back of the card or include them inside of a little baggie of goodies - easy-peasy and super fun and creative! I think they turned out super cute if I say so myself! :)
I will post my boys now and then save my clients until February 14th to save something for the actual holiday!
Be sure to tell me what do you think...leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my boys cards, I'd love to know! Thanks! ~Michelle
Each of the boys will have the same back where they can tape a piece of candy on the back of the card for their friends:
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through High
School Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and everything in
between. To see her portfolio and additional information, please
visit the main website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
Today I had the pleasure of spending my morning in downtown Tucson getting to know a very talented and very sweet Tucson blog and website designer who is located here in our very own town and her name is Nicole Bateman of The Pixel Boutique! She does much more than just design blogs and websites too, check out her entire line of design services!
I am thrilled that she will be giving my blog a much needed make-over in the next month or so - how exciting is that!?!? Can I get a big YIPEE?!?! LOL. I'm quite excited about this news, as you can probably tell by now. ;) So be on the look-out at the end of March for some awesome changes to hit this awesome blog and then you can stop by more often, leave more comments and we will just be more awesome together! YaY! :D I'm feeling kinda awesome tonight! ;)
Ok, now onto some AWESOME headshot portraits for Nicole! Not only is Nicole sweet and talented, but she is totally photogenic and beautiful too! Check out some of my favorites from today's photo session! Enjoy! ~Michelle
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through High School
Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and everything in between.
To see her portfolio and additional information, please visit the main
website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
This weekend was amazing! We had 2 awesome portrait sessions with incredible people, in lovely Tucson weather, in two of my favorite downtown areas to photograph urban photo sessions - I couldn't ask for more! :) Since I already blogged about the beautiful and sweet "R" family's urban session yesterday, I just need to share the beautiful engagement session we photographed yesterday afternoon!
These two have been together for almost 10 years and are high school sweethearts...it just makes me sigh and think all lovey-dovey - it's so sweet! In fact they will have been together EXACTLY 10 years on the day they are getting married ~ SO cool! I am so happy for them, and you can totally see how in love they are...and he is such a gentleman to her. Ahh, sigh. :) Ok, ok, enough of my rambling, how about some of the photos, right? ;) Enjoy! ~Michelle
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through
High School Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and
everything in between. To see her portfolio and additional
information, please visit the main website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
Last week I talked about "How I Got That Shot" and to sum it up, you basically want to go out with your kids, either with me, as a family or on a one on one "date" and just relax, and have a really good time with your children while practicing with your dSLR camera or if I am taking their photos, just sit back and relax and enjoy the moments with your family and allow me to work with them, they usually respond really well to another "parent" and that way everyone gets to enjoy the experience! :)
This leads me to my next bit of advice - Get in the Photo! If you are holding off on getting your family portraits taken or find yourself constantly slipping out of photos, you might regret this one day. There is an excellent article written in the Huffington Post called, Moms Explain Why They Are Getting Back In The Picture and I highly recommend you read it if you don't like getting your photo taken. We are all a little guilty of this, myself included, but I am making more of an effort these days to get back in the Photo! Here are some recent photos where I am happy to say I was in the photo with my boys (even if my appearance wasn't what I envisioned it should be, I just told myself, they wouldn't care, they only cared that their mom was with them and loved them enough to go do this fun urban adventure with them.)
Below Shelbie and I are checking out what we have gotten so far, lol! I am so happy with all of the photos from our family photo session from this year - a big thanks to Shelbie for coming along and helping me to "Get in the Picture!" :)
There are time in the past that we have done some very special family vacations where I have awesome photographs of the boys, but I now regret that I am not in any of the photos. For example, we went to Utah this past summer and got some cute shots of the boys, but no photos with me included. Here's one photo of my youngest when we went to the mountains:
I'm also regretting that I'm not in any of the photos from when we took a wonderful family vacation to California for our oldest son to attend Surfers Healing Camp. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just regretting that I didn't make more of an effort to get in the picture for my boys so they would have those photos of me later on and know that I was with them on that trip.
There is some good news! When the boys were 4yrs and 2.5yrs we went on a photo-adventure on Christmas day that my hubby took a photo of me walking with the youngest and I am so happy he did it, even though I wasn't "photo-ready" I just cherish that photo to this day! It's such a real and genuine moment, and my little guy is SO tiny! Oh, I just LOVE him! :)
So the moral of the story...Get In the Photo! Whether it's a professional photo session or a fun snapshot at home, always get in the picture! Our kids love us no matter what we look like and the most important thing is that they see that we loved them enough to take the time to stop our busy lives and get in the photo with them! ~Michelle
Yesterday we had so much fun hanging out with another one of our favorite families in downtown Tucson for their urban family portrait session! The weather was perfect and everyone was dressed in adorable outfits that mom had done such a great job working to get! We've known and photographed these children since the oldest "T" was 5 months old and done newborn and family photo sessions both in the studio and on-location but this was their first urban session and it was great timing since all the kids are at the perfect ages for it. I had so many favorite photos from this photo shoot that I just had to post a bunch, so I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed creating them! ~Michelle
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through High
School Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and everything in
between. To see her portfolio and additional information, please
visit the main website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
Need help learning how to take better pictures of your kids or grandkids?
Are you frustrated because you upgraded to a dSLR but still aren’t getting the images you were hoping for?
Do all of those camera buttons overwhelm you?
Do you tend to stay in the ‘green’ automatic mode?
Does technical jargon like ‘shutter’ and ‘aperture’ and ‘ISO’ scare you?
Do your images sit on your camera card for months, never downloaded, backed-up or impossible to find on your computer?
If you answered YES, this workshop is for YOU!
Many
parents purchase a DSLR camera (one that has interchangeable lenses) in
hopes of not missing a moment of their children’s lives, but are not
satisfied with their images when they appear on their computer screen.
They just want their images to be better.
Wondertime Workshop is a Basic dSLR Workshop by Wondertime Photography that
teaches parents and grandparents how to take better pictures of their
kids ~ since I can’t be with you during the other 364 days when we
aren’t together for our portrait session. ;)
We will focus on concepts you can easily put into practice, just by
understanding lighting, composition, perspective and age appropriate
techniques. We will not be addressing business topics or Photoshop
editing as this workshop is not for professional photographers or those
who aspire to become one.
A few basic things we’ll cover: • The basics of photography – exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO • Lighting – training your eye to see the light inside and outside • Camera settings – auto vs. manual settings • Composition, perspective and storytelling • Lenses and focal length • Tips for great images at any subject's age • Output – downloading, storing and printing images • Q&A with me • Hands-on practice during live mini-shoots (inside & outside…with models)
WHO:
Nine lucky ladies and/or gentlemen! (Each workshop will be limited to 9
participants plus their host so we can have some great discussion,
figure out our cameras and practice our skills.)
COST: $175 (plus tax) Included is the 7 hour workshop, a workshop manual, lunch, snacks & drinks, and some fun goodies. If
you schedule a 2013 Spring session with Wondertime Photography on the day of
the workshop, you will receive a $100 credit towards your session
purchase.
WHERE: Tucson, AZ (location will be emailed to participants)
WHEN: The workshop will be on Saturday, February 9th 2013 (9am-3:30pm)
WHAT: Bring your DSLR camera, 2-3 of your photos you aren’t happy with, and your questions.
HOW: Sign up by emailing Michelle
at michelle @ wondertimephoto . com
(take out the spaces) to reserve your spot. Sign-up is on a first-come
basis. The first 9 emails I receive will get a spot, and then a waiting
list will be started. Cash, check, PayPal online or Credit Card over the
phone for $187.43 is due within 5 days or your spot will be given to
the next
person on the list. Fees are non-refundable, but may be transferred to
another attendee.
Oh!
And for those of you with a digital point-and-shoot or a film SLR, you
can still learn how to take better photos…we’ll just spend part of the
time talking specifically about DSLRs. Remember, this is a basic
photography workshop and is NOT intended for professional photographers
or those who aspire to become one. If you just want to learn how to take
better pictures of your kids, this is definitely for you!
Ever wonder how professional photographers get children to laugh? Especially little boys??? :) Well, I know many people received cameras over the holidays as gifts and may be wondering how to best capture their own children's giggles and you may even be a little frustrated with some of the fake smiles you have been getting - I know I do when my boys give them to me. So today I'm going to give you a little behind the scenes info on how to get some genuine laughter that will be contagious.
The first thing I recommend is to make it a date. I always have two goals in mind when I go on a photo date with my boys:
Have a wonderful time making memories with them.
Come away with at least one amazing wall portrait that will remind us of the time we spent together and how much fun it was.
Sometimes we go on a little adventure in the mountains or the desert with a cape and a sword and sometimes it's just walking around downtown listening to and watching the trains that they love so much. But in between all of this we get to stop and take photos at spots that we decide are good spots - I like to let them "help" me decide on some of these spots too. The next thing to consider is if you are going alone or with your spouse.
If you are looking for some practice with your new dSLR camera for example, it might be a good idea to take each of your children out on a "singles" date at different times so that you can focus on each of them individually without having to worry about the dynamics of all of the siblings together. But if you are looking for a shot of the siblings together, then I would suggest to tag team with your spouse or a friend! When my husband and I go out together we get many more "keepers" in a much shorter time frame as we now work together as a team, even in challenging situations like photographing our own children. Here is a photo session from awhile back with our boys and you will find out what our "secret weapon" was to getting them to laugh! ;)
And that's How I Got That Shot and it's been hanging in our living room as a 16x20 wall portrait since then reminding all of us of the fun day we had hanging out as a family! ~Michelle :)
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through
High School Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and
everything in between. To see her portfolio and additional
information, please visit the main website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
Our oldest son is turning EIGHT on Sunday! Crazy how time flies when you are having fun! We love our boys so much and are just so proud of how far they have come and how they grow. Here are a few of my favorite images of the birthday boy from a couple of recent photo sessions from urban downtown Tucson locations. I think he likes to model, what do you think? ;) Enjoy! ~M
Michelle Rasmussen specializes in Custom Children's Portraiture and
Lifestyle Photography, from Maternity & Newborn through
High School Senior Portraits, including Family Portraits and
everything in between. To see her portfolio and additional
information, please visit the main website at: www.wondertimephoto.com Thanks!
Michelle Rasmussen is a professional photographer who specializes in creating amazing photographs of you and your children. Unique portraits that capture the spirit of childhood, the miracle of life, those adorable baby faces and the excitment of graduation - LIFE as ART.
