Yikes. I was off the blog-grid for a bit longer than I intended to be. I have lots to share!

Vanessa is the niece of someone I know through roller derby, Orange Ruffy (the Mother of the Bride at the roller derby wedding!) We’ve been talking about a session for Vanessa for quite some time now but this little girl has gone through a lot in her one year. She was born with Hydrocephalus and a hole in her heart and has undergone surgeries and feeding tubes and stints and I’m sure all manner of things that I can’t even imagine. But she’s still a happy, smiley, determined little one year old, despite it all.

She was also very intent on sucking her thumb, sometimes both at the same time. I’d pull one gently from her mouth and she’d have the other one in there in a blink until I eventually acknowledged who won.

I’ve been anxious to post photos from this session because I love them! I was contacted by Grandma to set up this session. She had photos taken of her with each of her children when they were babies and wanted her daughter to have photos with her new grandson, too. Grandson, Kellen, was a little over three weeks during this shoot and what a difference a week or two can make! He was pretty wide awake for most of the session. Still, we were able to make some gorgeous images of him with his model-like mom.

I came across an interesting article the other day called Are You Wearing the Right Label? It’s intended for photographers but I thought that potential clients could benefit equally from understanding some of the terms being used to describe styles of photography these days.

CUSTOM photography
Ultimately custom photography is all about choice and experience (as in THE experience). It’s about devoted attention with strong strong emphasis on detail. Custom photographers are also known as boutique studios, offering a range of products and unparalleled service. Think Lexus vs. Hyundai or Nordstrom vs. WalMart. Custom photographers often show only the final fully edited images-color corrected with blemishes and under-eye circles removed. Custom photography should always have the client and their experience in mind.

CLASSIC photography
A mix of traditional posing often coupled with strong attention to clothing and style choices. Usually presented with post processing but not as a defining characteristic of the photographer’s style.

CONTEMPORARY photography
Fresh and unique approach to traditional portraiture; it is viewed as more ground breaking in it’s approach to finding new and exciting ways to capture subjects… Another trademark of contemporary photography is the utilization of strong, clean close ups… There is often a liberal use of refined but controlled Photoshop processing, as well. Contemporary Photographers highlight the importance of story telling and emotion. (excerpts from Tamara Lackey – Children’s Portrait Photography)

PHOTOJOURNALISTIC photography
Documentary style of photography whose principal goal is to capture the moments without any outside intervention. In the truest sense, photojournalistic is not posed, but rather capturing the raw emotions and relationships of the subject(s).

LIFESTYLE photography
Photos that don’t look posed, “in the moment” type photographs that are somewhat staged in terms of location, activities, emotions. (source)

Glimpses of Soul Photography provides custom, contemporary, lifestyle photography, so a number of these definitions are fitting. In most cases, sessions aren’t purely photojournalistic because there is some direction (except for newborn photography, where it’s ALL posing and creating) and I am generally interacting with the children or families. However, if you’d like to do a “day in the life” type session where I’m a complete fly on the wall, documenting your family’s daily life, I’d LOVE to do that as well.

If you’re looking for a photographer, it’s important to find one whose style matches your vision. If you’re looking for a more classic type portrait (think fancy dresses or white dress shirts, sitting nicely against a black or faux-scenic background), don’t pick a photographer who normally holds their sessions in a local park or vice-versa. Take some time, do some research, understand the terms and find the person meant for you!

A quick note first: I’ve created a new blog for all my photo work that isn’t baby/child/family related. Music, derby, events, etc., etc. will now be posted over here. Please stop by. :)

I got this message via Twitter from Evan’s dad: any way to get a “sneak peak” from Sat. AM? Just one or two on your blog? Pretty please? So I edited a few photos from our session and then, when I went to post them, realized I’d oh-so-smartly deleted the database that powers this blog while I was cleaning out and making more space on my hosting account. Many thanks to my lovely host, VerveHosting.com, who fixed my database within minutes, and with whom I have been hosting for over 10 years now and highly recommend. And now I can share some of these photos!

I meant to knit during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies but I edited beebees instead. :)

I had the opportunity to spend a few days in San Diego, learning from some first-class newborn photographers (baby folding class, I’ve been calling it). I’m so, so excited to come back and get to work on some Minneapolis newborns. Below are just a few of the photos I took while in San Diego.