 You did it. You finally did it. You found a photographer, managed to scrounge up an open Saturday morning among the soccer games, birthday parties, and ballet recitals, and booked a family photo session! Almost immediately, that excited, top of the world feeling begins to fade. Suddenly, you’re staring anxiety in the face. There will be a photographer, she will have a fancy camera, and you are going to be paying quite a bit of money to hopefully capture the best side of each member of your family. There is one question that pops up before every family photography session. “Just what in the heck do I wear?” Ok, so maybe they don’t say it like that, but they are probably thinking it. It is an intimidating question, especially when, on any given weekend day, you are just lucky if everyone is wearing pants at the same time. Here are my three go-to tips that will (hopefully!) ease any attire-related woes! 1. Pick your outfit first. I put this one first because it is, in my opinion, both the most important and the most difficult to follow. You spend your days putting your children first. You eat cold meals so they can have theirs hot, you watch Frozen 4 times in a row, and you break speed records when you hear the word “potty”. But when it comes to your outfit for our session, I am going to recommend you do something that may be difficult: put yourself first. Your kiddos are adorable.It does not take much for them to look cute and they’ll be confident in whatever you choose. Kids are awesome that way. We all look at ourselves first in photos, and we all unnecessarily criticize ourselves. It isn’t hard for you to find a photo of your kids that you love, but my goal is to give you photos where to love every person in them. Including yourself. So start with your outfit - pick out 2-3 items that you love to wear. These are your baselines. Build the outfits of everyone else based on the outfit you want to wear. If you can’t make it work with the first outfit you chose, move on to the second. Family photo sessions can be challenging, it’s important that you feel as comfortable and confident as possible. Trust me, it will make all the difference!
2. Easy on the patterns. So how exactly do you get the rest of your outfits to match? You do not need to have everyone in the same exact outfit in order to look like you belong together. In fact, too much matching can lead to some awkward family photos. I’m looking at you ugly Christmas sweaters! To look coordinated, I suggest picking a couple of colors and finding items that have those colors in them. Choose colors that look best on you and go from there. While I’m not picky about the colors you select, I do warn against one thing - too many patterns. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good plaid or a cheerful floral, but there is such a thing as too much. A photo full of busy patterns will distract the viewer from your happy smiles and tender moments. My general rule of thumb is no more than 50% of the people involved in the session should be wearing a pattern. The fewer the better, but if your husband’s only item of clothing in the perfect shade of purple is a striped button down shirt and it perfectly matches your daughter’s purple flowered leggings, go for it!
3. Don’t sweat the small stuff. So you’ve followed both of the above tips. You’re wearing your absolute favorite outfit and managed to find items for the rest of the family to wear that matched it, with only a couple of patterned items. You’re feeling confident and happy in your choices, and looking forward to your upcoming shoot. The morning of, you wake up to any number of scenarios. Your three-year-old refuses to wear the dress you picked out. It’s going to be a cold morning, and all of your outfits are short sleeved. Your seven-year-old sneaks out and plays in the freshly cut grass after breakfast and gets grass stains all over his pants. Don’t sweat it. Yes, it may seem easy for me to say, but I’m speaking from experience. My background in education and now my experiences as a family photographer have taught me to be flexible. We can make almost anything work! We’ll use poses that hide (most of) the Disney princess t-shirt your three-year-old picked, you can wear coats and jackets between shots, and I can edit out your seven-year-old’s grass stains. We will make it work. Don’t let what should be a happy memory be marred by stress.
My job is to get your photos you will love and I take that seriously. I strive to provide my clients with a relaxed atmosphere that results in timeless photos. That starts with you, and I’m here to e sure you have the most enjoyable experience possible!
0 Comments
 In the years that I’ve been a newborn photographer, one thing I’ve learned is no two newborn sessions are the same. This makes perfect sense seeing as no two babies are exactly the same. You can certainly put them into categories like sleepy, grumpy, happy...etc. But you can go through every one of the seven dwarfs (and then some!) and it still wouldn’t be enough to describe all of the babies I’ve met! It’s one of the things I love most about newborn sessions. I get to meet a tiny human and see a little of their personality shining through just a few days after they are born. And just like the adult population, some babies are not into being in front of the camera. If I had just spent nine (but let’s be real, it’s actually ten!) months all snuggled up in the warmth and quiet, I might not enjoy being squished in a basket with a big lens in my face either! I don’t blame a baby for preferring to be held by mama or wanting to be gently swaying in their swing. It can, however, make my job a little more challenging. I want to deliver images that capture the beauty of each baby. Although I’m not against including some shots that have that “real” factor, I want the majority of the gallery to be happy and peaceful. That’s why, in the world of newborn photography, you need shoots like Corday Jr’s. While I love shots of newborns when they’re awake because you can see their beautiful eyes, a baby that sleeps the entire time, and I do mean the entire time, that you are there, makes my job incredibly easy. Little Corday was so snuggly and had no problem being changed and moved from place to place. I was able to try out a few creative ideas, but most importantly, it meant I got to showcase his beyond adorable yellow outfit - complete with knitted high top sneakers! Seriously though. Knitted sneakers. I almost snuck them into my bag at the end because I could not get enough!  It also meant that he was able to stay chilled out while his energetic sister ran the show. Kaycee turns two this summer, and is such a happy little girl. I know she and Corday Jr. are going to have so much fun together. Mostly because I have so much fun with her whenever I see her! Every time I turned away from shooting baby Corday she was there with a giggle and a new toy for me to play with. I was lucky enough to grab some of those sweet giggles on camera, including when they were directed at her new sibling. I am so very thrilled for this family. They are warm and loving people and Corday Jr is a lucky little man to be a part of it all. Kaycee has herself a permanent playmate who I know will adore her as much as her parents and I do! I can’t wait to see them grow up together and to hear the stories their adventures will undoubtedly bring.
 A couple of years ago, my in-laws bought themselves a lovely condo in Venice, Florida. Ever since my very first visit to this adorable town, I’ve wanted to show it off to everyone I know. Venice sits right on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, where the waters are warm and calm and the sunsets are vibrant and stunning. It’s the perfect place to get away for a bit and that’s exactly what I did with my mom, sister, and nephew last week. If you haven’t been to Florida in the spring, I cannot recommend it enough. For us North Eastern-ers, winters can be harsh. I once heard someone describe it as a moody teenager. You just never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes it's cold rain, others it's sub-zero temperatures and ice storms, and, once in a while, it's so much snow that I think it will never melt! As far as Maryland photography goes, that means a lull in business that doesn’t quite pick back up until April or May. The perfect time of year to sneak away for a little bit and soak up that sun! For this trip, I did something I haven’t done in a while. I brought my camera. I’m sure that seems crazy to you. I’m a professional photographer! I own a photography business! Don’t I take my camera with me everywhere? Well the truth is, I don’t. In the past few years, taking personal photos for myself, my family, and my friends has faded a bit. Like any business owner, I prioritize my clients. If someone trusts me with their wedding photography, they deserve my undivided attention. If someone puts me in charge of their family photos, they expect my best work. It wasn’t until recently that I realized all of these things are not mutually exclusive! I can take photos of the special moments happening in my life and give the utmost care and attention to the work I do to capture those moments for others. In fact, I would argue that personal photography doesn't just not hurt professional photography - it benefits it! This trip is a fantastic example. Lately, as I’ve been doing my research, prime lenses have been popping up quite a bit. I’ve seen several photographers eagerly claim the 50mm prime lens as their favorite. I have one in my arsenal, but hadn’t used it in a while. So, I made sure to grab it as I was packing my bag for Florida. There was a beautiful opportunity staring me in the face. I could become reacquainted with this favorite lens, all while capturing vacation memories. While I didn’t drag my camera around with me to every activity, I absolutely made sure to bring it to our sunset picnic on Caspersen Beach. My neglected lens got a little love and I got to play around with my settings without having to worry about messing up. As a bonus, I snapped up one of my very favorite models. I just love that little boy, and seeing the photos my 50mm was able to capture of him made me re-love the lens, too! 
  It was the first weekend in April and the day dawned bright and sunny. I had been looking forward to this shoot for weeks. Not only was it my first outdoor shoot for the spring season, but it was with one of my favorite families. Repeat clients are a true joy in the photography world. Everyone is at ease right from the start and you spend almost as time chatting and laughing as you do taking photos! We like to try a new location each time we meet up so we decided on Centennial Lake and headed there on a Sunday morning. We weren’t the only ones with the idea to enjoy the day by the Lake but I dare say we were the cutest. Well, at least the Cooks certainly were! Gina and Steve are always so skilled at picking out coordinating outfits! I’m sure at some point the kiddos will want some input, but for now they smartly trust their parents to put it all together. Plus, all the adults agreed that it is just too much fun shopping for little ones. I don’t even have my own kids and I find myself drawn to the adorably miniature grown up clothing. Watching Conner and Mackenzie grow over the past few years has been so much fun. Their sweet personalities come through more each time, and did I mention they are absolutely hilarious? On their own, each one would certainly bring a few chuckles out of you with their one liners, but the duel act is not one to be missed. There is clearly a twin thing going on that I will never fully grasp, but I certainly can appreciate. I walk away from each shoot hoping that I managed to capture that humor and happiness just the way it is in real life.
This crew handled the deceptively chilly morning like champs and we managed to grab lots of lovely (and entertaining!) snaps. I can’t imagine ringing in the spring season with anyone else! 
  Hey guys! Welcome to the Snapdragon Photography blog! This is (quite obviously) my first blog post, which is odd, because I've been taking photos for over 6 (!) years! Give me a moment while I try to wrap my brain around how long it has been. I can barely believe it! I'm going to be honest for a second here. My lack of blogging is no accident. I've been putting it off and procrastinating like it's my job. It isn't - taking photos is my job! I've been putting it off because the idea of blogging has been, well, intimidating. I want to be sure my blogs are full of content that is both interesting and useful to you all out there. You are my number one priority after all! All that being said, I think it’s about time I got this thing up and running. Seeing as I currently offer newborn, family, engagement, and wedding photography, there really is a variety of things to write about! For now, let’s start off with a quick introductory post. For those of you that already know me, perhaps you will learn a thing or two you didn’t know before! My name is Rebecca Doring, previously Rebecca Ebersole. My husband and I got married in June of 2015 but have been dating since 2009. Excuse me one more moment while I again attempt to comprehend how long it has been. We met while we were both still in undergrad (Go Terps!) - I don't recommend starting a relationship right before student teaching, but somehow we did it!  The place where it all started, folks! I knew I wanted to be a teacher from a young age, and looking back, I think it was the people. I love reaching out to others and feeling like I've made a difference in their lives somehow. I got a job working for Howard County Schools after I graduated and it was right in that first year that I developed a love for photography. Like so many others, it began as a hobby and developed into so much more than I could have ever imagined! I started taking photos for the same reason I felt called to education: the people. After all these years, that's still my favorite part. It's always been all about you! Meeting new people is incredibly exciting for me, and I love being a part of their lives if only for a moment. For a so many of my clients, it is more than a moment. Some I see year after year, others every few months, and for more still, we develop a friendship that lasts long beyond our session together. How special is that? My very first shoot ever was a family session in Ocean City, Maryland. I was vacationing there the same time as my friend and her extended family. I had just spent a summer going to job interviews for teaching positions in Howard County…and being turned down. To be honest, it wasn’t my happiest moment. I went to the beach with my Dad to kind of get away from it all, and happened to bring my fancy camera with me. This fancy camera was my Sony A330. That lovely little camera cost me $350 and was my prized possession. I figured if I wasn’t going to be a teacher after all (I was very “woe is me!” at the time) I could at least work on my favorite hobby. When I found out my friend and her family were there, we quickly came up with a plan to do some photos on the beach. It was an eye opening experience and it lifted my spirits so much during a difficult time. I was hooked. 
Major flashback! I basically knew how to auto focus and click the shutter button at this point! I also was a cropping fiend! Looking back, their kindness and flexibility with a (literally!) first time photographer was what gave me the inspiration and confidence to move forward. They will always hold a place in my heart! Now, I own a big, bad Sony A-99 which kind of kicks my adorable A-330 in the behind! It is a powerhouse camera and we make a great team.
|
Welcome to the Blog!This is where I'll document it all. Where I'll use words to try and convey just how special it is to do this job and live this life. Enjoy scrolling through!
Archives
June 2019
|
