When I first met Ava she was still in her mum’s belly! But oh my she is getting so big so fast! I met Ava and her parents at Princeton University to get some fun fall pictures before the weather turned and have been meaning to blog them ever since. Can’t wait to see you again for you 1 year photos, Ava!
Ahh, the age old (well…) question. ”What should we wear to the shoot, Charmi?”
Thing is, there are too many answers to that questions! So at the risk of sounding like Stacy London, it’s really more about what NOT to wear. Try not to be too matchy matchy (jeans and the same solid color shirt for everyone). Try not to have outfits that are totally disjointed (totally casual for dad/fiance, dressy for mom/bride, etc.). Don’t wear shoes that are showing their age. Don’t wear a giant watch. There are more don’ts. But we’ll get into them over time!
I guess there are some “dos”.
DO get your hair/makeup done bride/mom! You’re investing in your photos, so make sure you feel your absolute best. Consider it an excuse to pamper yourself a bit.
DO accessorize. It’s the excuse to wear the stuff you always want to but say “But where could I wear this headband? But where I could wear this statement necklace?” The answer, is at your photo shoot.
There are of course, many many many more dos. This year on the blog, I’m going to be putting up inspiration outfits. These are not outfits I expect you to buy, though they will be mostly from gap/banana/old navy/anthro/places you could get to. These are to get your mind going!
Unfortunately, the website I’ll be using to make these is giving me attitude right now, so in the mean time, just one board to inspire for upcoming late winter shoots. You’ll see patterns are good! Color is good! Textures are key!
And remember, I am ALWAYS available to consult on wardrobe prior to a session.
Many many many more to come through the year though! (4 days straight blogging! It’s just the beginning people. Monday-Friday, from now on!)
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I’m so excited to shoot Lisa’s little newborn sometime soon…is she not an amazingly stunning pregnant woman?
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A new series for the blog! I’m going to try and hit the most commonly asked questions by my clients, one by one! These won’t be quite the technical “How do we book a session” or “What do we wear?” There WILL be a place for these! Just not here.
“How did you get into photography?”
Once upon a time, I double majored in Economics and IT at Rutgers. After I graduated, I hated the idea of working in a cubicle, instead opting to try and become a buyer at Nordstrom. As required to move up in the company, I managed a department for 2 years. At some point during my time there, Patrick asked me to marry him. Just months after we became engaged, I began to really hate my job. I was working 70 + hours a week, with little support, and despite getting great results anyway, I felt unappreciated to say the least. My fiance at the time suggested I quit, go to India, come home and plan the wedding, and once we were married, I could refocus my effort into figuring out what I really wanted to do.
What a sweet sweet man.
On our wedding day, Patrick gave me a Canon digital rebel. I had always loved photography. Anything creative where I could have a finished product. He gave me the camera as something to help occupy my time while I contemplated my future.
I completely ignored that camera for 6 months.
I was far too intimidated to touch it. I couldn’t see the point in using it instead of a point and shoot camera unless I knew what I was doing with it. So I just ignored it. But I was so bored. I was job hunted, but I didn’t like the options I was seeing. Poor Patrick, I nagged him to stay home with me so many times. I was NOT cut out to be a stay at home wife. So he reminded me of the camera, bought me a book and told me I HAD to learn. So, I did. I started reading a book, doing the lessons and became OBSESSED with learning how to make this camera work for me. I took photos of rocks, dripping water, our house…there are a million images taken of the skyline from our balcony.
A few months later I took photos of a friend little boy for her. I promised myself I wasn’t going to try and make this a career. Photography is HARD, owning your business and getting paid enough to work the education, shooting, post processing, album designing, client communication, etc…it’s was daunting to me. It was a dream job, and who gets their dream job? I had to be realistic. But I took the photos, and she shared them with her friends. Then I took photos of another friends baby, and she shared them with her friends. Soon, people I didn’t know had my number and were calling me to ask what I charged.
What did I charge??? What did I charge??? Why were they calling me???
So with the encouragement of Patrick and family/friends, I made a price list. A decent one, that would be sensible and wouldn’t mean I was paying people to take their kid’s photos. And I was off. And I promised myself “Just kids! I’ll never do weddings!”
Because I wasn’t ready, and I could see no way I could experiment on a lovely bride. If I was going to ever do it, I was going to do it right. I started assisting the photographer who shot my wedding soon after that, Marie Labbancz. And then soon after that, a bride called me.
I was a ball of nerves, but I thought…let me offer to her engagement photos for cheap, and if she likes them, she can hire me. So I shot them. I was so excited that I edited them before the day was out and emailed her. She loved them and booked me right away. Someone DID tell her not to…something about how they should be suspicious that I edited the images so fast? Strange, no?
And then the ball started rolling…and rolling…and rolling. And the career that never could be, became the career I was meant to have.
Turns out, Patrick gave me this cutie pie AND a fullfilling career…I’m a lucky girl.
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Your son is the biggest eyes ever! and the curly hair! Girls are going to be in trouble =P
I realized recently, that I have very very few professional photos of Viru. Yes, I include the photos I take of him. Because I just don’t take enough.
That ends today. Because my son deserves at least as much of my talent/skills as what I give my clients. So from today on, I’m going to take a daily image of Viru. And so you can all hold me to it (well, that’s a *bonus*…mostly it’s so Viru has this to look back on one and so I can share images with friends and family.), we started a blog.
To be fair, this is not 100 percent our idea. The one photo a day thing, we totally talked about when Viru was born. But about 6 weeks in, we totally fell off of that. And then I think at some point soon after that there was a month where we took no pictures at ALL save for on the iPhone. Many of you know about my Pinterest obsession and sometimes over the last few months I came across a blog that a woman made for her daughter. I KNEW I had to do this for my son. Then just recently I found out that that blog, comes from a professional photographer! If she can make the time between a very busy business and now two babies to do this blog for her daughter, I have no excuses. On top of that, a friend of mine, Stephanie contributed to a lovely book – For the Love, full of motivation and inspiration for taking photos of your own children.
So, I introduce you all to
I’ll be updating it daily, even weekends. I am so excited to create this record for my son. And if you happen to keep an eye on it and I miss a post, be sure to nag me incessantly because it will be no less than I deserve.
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good for you, charmi! it’s the whole “cobbler’s children have no shoes” dilemma…and we’re in exactly the same boat over here. i look forward to seeing the images you share 
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