It’s time for Valentine’s Day Mini Sessions!

Your session fee includes:

• a pre-session planning meeting over the phone
• 30-45 minutes of photo session time with me at a beautiful location in Sebastopol, Ca
• 10+ images on a DVD printable up to 8×10
• Basic editing on all images, with options for full retouching

All for only $175!

I also have new personalized Valentines available!

If you would like to book a session please give me a call at 408-724-1990

These cards were designed by Shana Rae of Florabella.

The theme for the remainder of this week and next is Mornings.  There is lots of discussion and photo sharing over on her Facebook page if you want to get inspired.

The ground outside this morning is covered with frost and even though I hate the cold, I was inspired to go for a photo walk.  My shoes are soaked, but I ended up with a couple frost shots I liked and some much needed exercise.

My favorite shot of the morning.

Frosted Morning

Shot in RAW using a 50mm prime lens, ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/200 sec

Florabella’s Classic Bright at 20% with haze enabled + 1968 at 15% + Ivory Boost at 20%

The new pricing for 2012 is up on my site and my blog.  It took me at least a year to decide on this digital file issue.  I have been going back and forth on whether to include the DVD or not to include the DVD in the session fee.

I finally decided to include a DVD with high-resolution files with all my photo sessions.  How did I decide?  My sister is getting married next year and she told me her photographer must include all the digital files as part of the package.  She wants all her pictures, no surprises with her prints and wants to have the freedom to print on demand instead of making a huge order all at once.  After crossing multiple photographers off the list for

1.  Not including digital files or

2. Not putting their pricing or at least a price range on their site

I have decided that I will not make these same mistakes.  Digital files are the future of photography.  Clients want them and I want my clients to have all their pictures.  I always have.  So now you will.

Here is the new pricing for 2012.

Children, Family, Pets and Maternity Sessions

• Phone consultation for session planning, wardrobe ideas, questions & concerns
• 1.5 hrs of fun photo session time with Melissa at a beautiful location near Sebastopol, CA
•  15-25 beautiful high-resolution photographs on a DVD with a printing release
• Basic photo retouching on all images
• Print, Album and Book options available
• $350

Mini Session

• Phone consultation for planning your session
• 30-45 minutes of photo session time at one location in Sebastopol, Ca
• Minimum of 5-8 beautiful high-resolution images on DVD with a printing release
• Basic retouching on all images
• Print, Album and Book options available
• $175

Next Mini Session Day is February 13th, 2012.  Perfect for Valentine’s photos with your Sweetheart!  Limited Mini Sessions are available.  Mini Sessions are priced for one person.  Additional persons are $10 each.

 Newborns – First 2 Weeks

• Phone consultation for session planning, picture ideas, questions & concerns
• 3+ hrs of quiet & relaxing photo session time.  There is no rush.  I work on baby time
• Photographs are taken in the comfort, safety and privacy of your home
• Minimum of 15 high-resolution photographs on DVD with a printing release
• Basic retouching on all images
• $450

 Bundles of Joy!

 Maternity + Newborn

• A maternity session + a newborn session
• All full resolution digital images included on a separate DVD for each session
• Mama + Baby Photo book
• $850 (save $100)

(must be paid in full within 1 week of Maternity Session)

 Baby + Family

• Three Portrait Sessions: Baby at 6 mo & 1 year + a family session with the new addition
• All full resolution digital images included on a separate DVD for each session
• Growing Family Photo Book
• $1150 (save $100)

(must be paid in full one week before your first session)

 Print Prices

5×7 – $25

8×10 – $35

11×14 – $65

Photo Books start at $150 and are included with all combo sessions

Digital Copies, Large Prints, Canvas Art, Photo books, Frames and Keepsakes are also available

 Call Melissa if you have any questions or want to book a session

408-724-1990

We are all moved into our new place and getting settled in.  I have been posting a lot of photos of our new town and of Sonoma County on my food blog Shoots and Roots.  Be sure to head on over and check that out.

For Christmas I bought myself a couple sets of Florabella Actions for Photoshop CS5 and I have been thrilled with them.  These actions have streamlined my editing process considerably.  If you are just starting out with actions or with Photoshop I would recommend getting her Classic Workflow actions and learning those before buying any more sets.

Here is a quick Photoshop Fix with the Classic Workflow set.

To start, I shot this in RAW.  ISO 400, F/6.3, 1/320 sec with a 50mm prime lens.  It was a cloudless day in the late afternoon with the sun about 2 hours from setting.  I asked my daughter to stand out in the vineyard with her arms out looking at the sky like she was going to give it a hug.  This was the only shot I was able to get before she decided it was too cold to be out there and ran back.

The white sky is terrible, I know.  That was my fault in camera, so first I cropped out some sky and corrected the blown out parts with the Recovery slider.  Next I brightened the exposure a bit, darkened the blacks a little and increased contrast.  Editing a RAW image is very easy.  You basically edit the image to make it look the way you envision.  There is no right or wrong way to go about it.  Just keep a sharp eye on your histogram and make sure you aren’t blowing out anything you don’t want to.

After the basic RAW edits were finished I brought it into Photoshop.  From there I ran Florabella’s Classic Film action and decreased the opacity of that layer down to about 25%.  Then flatten.

After playing with the actions I settled on Deep Azure at 14%, Sweet Tea at 10% and Soft Warmth at 14% to get the color cast I wanted.  Flatten, sharpen and we’re done!

Best Wishes until next time!

If you would like more information about booking a family photography session in Sebastopol or Santa Rosa, California please call Melissa at 408-724-1990.

I wanted to start things off with another Photoshop Fix.  I took this shot of my daughter while she sat on a step near the kitchen.  There is a door behind me that is letting in bright natural light from a shaded porch.  I had her face the light while I cracked a joke about my feet.  This shot was the result.

1.  This first thing I notice is the pic is obviously too dark.  This is a RAW image.  RAW images are typically flat and dull until you spruce them up in Camera RAW and Photoshop. Shooting RAW is the way to go when it comes to portrait photography.  So if you haven’t learned RAW yet, do it now.

I made these changes in Camera RAW:

• increased the exposure to +1.35, which is higher than I normally would go but it worked with this image.
• Recovery 0, Fill Light 10, Blacks 1
• Brightness 1, Contrast +35
• Clarity +10, Vibrance +10, Saturation 0
• Temp 7500 & Tint +10.  White Balance is set to Shade.

2.  I uploaded the image to Photoshop and ran CoffeeShop’s Perfect Portrait Action, still one of my favorite free actions.  I turned all layers off except the color pop layer, brighten layer and eye define layer.  I changed the opacity of the color pop layer to around 25%, the brighten layer to around 30% and I defined the eyes and lowered the opacity on that layer to about 40%.

3.  Flatten.  Next I used the Spot Healing Brush to erase small marks on her face, cookie crumbs and stray hairs.

4.  Sharpen using your favorite method.  I almost always use a High Pass filter.

Super simple right!

Now go try with one of your pictures!

This is an example of a Mini Session.  Mini sessions are 30 minutes and take place at beautiful locations all over the Bay.  They cost $150.  There are only a few Mini sessions a month so schedule yours early!  If you are interested in booking an Mini Session please call me at 408-724-1990.