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Stuff in the ‘high school seniors’ Category
What to do to prepare for a successful Photo session
— 08/22/2016 by Monika Wertman —What to do to prepare for a successful Photo session.
In this post we will focus on some of the things you as the client can do to ensure that your session with us will be successful and productive.
Whether you plan to book us for a family or senior session, a glamor/boudoir or a couple’s session or a newborn session, there are a few things that you as a client can do to prepare for your time with us and to ensure that you will not only have a great time during the session, but that your pictures will turn out great. You will, of course, assume that we will do everything in our power to ensure these things as well, and we do, but you can help make it just a wee bit easier for us.
Here is how:
#1 Schedule a consultation with us prior to the date of your session. We offer consultations with most of our sessions, in fact make them mandatory for some. Even if you have booked a session for which we do not require a consultation, book one anyway. During this time we will plan the where and when, what you should wear etc. For a family session, this can be discussed over the phone if you are super busy, and with children, you are. We understand this. For a senior, boudoir, engagement or couples session, an in person consultation is best and highly recommended!
#2 If you plan on bringing your pet to the session, please inform us ahead of time so we are prepared with water for your pet and by having anything he may bounce into out of the way.
#3 Discuss your wardrobe with us. This can be a simple discussion of color choices or be more involved such as what it is you are planning to wear and if you have questions on what form of clothing photographs better. If you plan to wear formal wear, please let us know so we have the studio set up accordingly if we are shooting inside. If we are planning on outdoors only, and we are dealing with high heels, please let us know, so our plan does not involve you climbing over rocky and potentially muddy surfaces.
#4 If your session includes several clothing changes, organize them before you arrive. Changing time will go more smoothly and take away less time from your session. ( A few months back we had a family of 8 with three clothing changes, the mom was fantastically organized. I have never seen anything go more smoothly! It was impressive)
#5 We will most likely ask you this, but in case we do not, please let us know what ages your children are. This applies to an in studio session as we’ll as an outdoors/lifestyle session. We love working with littles, but want to know ahead of time so we are prepared with props and location choices that are age appropriate.
#6 Women and girls, please wear makeup, even if you generally don’t do anything more than mascara, do a bit more for your session, especially if it is a senior session, a professional headshot session or a glamor session. (we offer professional hair and make-up services starting at $85 if you are not sure what to do, and include these in all of our regular glamor and boudoir session) Wearing make-up ensures an even skin tone and guarantees fantastic results for you. On this note, do not fret if a pimple pops up the day of your session. We remove blemishes in post production.
#7 If it is a hot summer day and we are shooting outside only, please bring some water with you. We always bring some, but it helps if our clients come prepared as well.
#8 Please arrive on time!!!!!!! We set aside your session time plus 15 minutes. If you run late, you eat into your session time, which gives us less time to create the images we want to create for you. If we come to your home, please be ready for us. We generally arrive 5-10 minutes early so we have time to set up.
Wertman Photography has several shooting spaces within the studio, including a private dressing area. When we go on location, we can bring a pop-up tent for clothing changes as well. Together we will create great images that will stand the test of time and will preserve precious moments for you for years to come!
Roundball Classic 2016
— 04/01/2016 by Monika Wertman —This past weekend I was the official photographer for 13 games of basketball. The Roundball Classic is an event that has been going on for several years, showcasing basketball players inter senior year of high school from several counties around the area. College coaches come to watch and recruiting happens on the side lines after every game. To say that shooting 13 games of basketball was intense is an understatement. It was downright exhausting.
As a bonus at the end of each day, Rick and Dave, the organizers and brainiacs behind this endeavor, ask alumnus and former stars of schools in Washington County to play against each other. Ages for these games range from the newly graduated to men in their 50’s. Below are a few of my favorites from the weekend.
If interested, images may be purchased at the following location, which holds all of the images captured during both Saturday and Sunday. the games are uploaded in order, so scroll through to see if your child or spouse is featured: http://wertmanphoto.zenfolio.com/roundballclassic2016
Photographing Athletes
— 10/08/2015 by Monika Wertman —When I first started out photographing people on a regular, professional basis, I focused on families, children and individuals. All were portraits either for business use, portfolios, the family living room wall and Christmas presents. I eventually added weddings to my repertoire with the occasional student athlete during senior sessions.
Recently photographing athletes has become a bigger part of my business as I have entered into a fantastic relationship with XL Sports magazine as the primary photographer. I find myself going to games I never thought I would attend, sporting events I ever just heard about and capturing athletes in both the performing state of things and in the resting phase.
Many sessions this summer and early fall have been of the portrait kind, capturing a bit of the essence of the athlete, the strength that is needed to perform well and the physical aspects that created that strength.
In many ways an athlete, starting in High School, becomes aware of his or her body fully, and starts to realize that training and hard work alone will not get them to perform at the highest level. It takes an inner strength, and inner desire to want to succeed that pushes an athlete to win.
Photographing seniors who play a sport and have taken it into college and then revisiting these athletes one or two years later, reveals that characteristic. The inner desire shows in their eyes. They have gained a confidence that was beginning to form in High school, but had not fully blossomed.
It is that confidence that they will carry into adulthood and continue to use in daily life and when they participate in local, regional, and national events such as bike tours, running events, and triathlons to name a few.
I have included a few shots of sports captured in motion and athletes at rest in this blog. Some of them are scattered in the fitness/seniors section of our website, some of these shots are new additions.
If you are interested to find out more about some of the people in these shots, please check out the fall issue of XL Sports Magazine coming out before the end of the month. We will have issues of the magazine at our display at the Prime outlets in Hagerstown as soon as they come out. In the meantime the current issue will be present in a few days, please feel free to take one home.
Are you an athlete or a parent of one? If so, and you would like us to capture what makes you tick, please call today to schedule a session. 301-693-3021
At the Hagerstown Prime Outlets
— 09/28/2015 by Monika Wertman —In this blog post I will switch things up a bit. Usually I tell a story about one of my clients and their session, but we are trying a marketing approach that is new to us and I thought it would be fun to share the set-up.
The idea started when I got a letter in the mail about putting a booth display into the food court area of the outlets in Hagerstown. The cost was very reasonable and they caught me at just the correct time, with money left in the advertising budget and phone calls with crazy requests arriving every day. This opportunity, by far, seemed the most cost effective way to spend my money. Another benefit is the time frame. We installed the display today, September 28 and it will be up through the holiday shopping season until January 1.
The decision about what to show potential clients was not as easy as the decision to give this new-to-us marketing strategy a try. We finally settled on bridal, athlete and seniors. As you can see, the selection shows a nice variety of gestures and poses, while offering a peek into studio lighting and on location use of architectural elements and natural light. The selection can also be found throughout the galleries, so feel free to find the images if you want to see them more clearly, or go by the display to do the same.
Many couples get engaged over the holidays, so the hope is that they remember what they saw while shopping and will come talk to us about their wedding day, while families will see what can be done with just about any activity and book us for various occasions.
We also have informational materials about senior photos, boudoir sessions and wedding coverage, as well as regular business cards at the display area. Gift certificates can be purchased for any amount all throughout the year and make wonderful stocking stuffers. A sign planting that idea is on display as well.
We encourage you to check the display out for yourself, please let us know what you think and remember to check in on Facebook throughout the life of the display for contests and drawings. At some point we will probably add a little information collection box as well. For now, if you can guess where this alcove is at the outlets, or if you want to go and find it, leave the exact location in the comments below and everyone who gets it right, will be entered into a drawing for a free one hour session for up to 5 people, a $150 value. We will draw a winner at the end of this week.
Please browse our galleries, new work is added on a routine basis and you just never know what you may find this time around. Call us today to secure a gift certificate in any amount that can be applied to sessions and as print credit. Gift certificates make the most wonderful stocking stuffers as well!
Shooting at the Beach
— 06/05/2015 by Monika Wertman —In the middle of May I had the pleasure to work with some fabulous models in Miami on the beach. It was a very fun experience and very intense. Not only did we have fantastic models to work with, but had a wardrobe stylist from Vogue and a hair and make-up stylist from Vogue as well. We worked in sweltering heat and humidity and did so for 7 plus hours.
It was very rewarding in many ways. The exposure to that level of prep work on the part of the behind the scenes stylists and the composure of the set directions lead to some wonderful imagery. It was fun to work with models who did not need much direction and to have the freedom to direct them to do things I do not often get the chance to do with my clients.
I was exposed to different lighting techniques, like manipulating sunlight instead of overpowering it with strobes, creating shade and bouncing light back onto my subjects, that I have already implemented with one of my brides and intend to use with my seniors this summer. It takes a team of four to accomplish this feat, but is well worth it as you can see from the images within this post.
The take-away is that you may hire me to work with you on any beach of your choice, if travel is required, additional fees apply, but here in Maryland we have a few lakes these techniques can be used at, and in fact, this technique is handy in various situations.
Please feel free to go to some of the galleries such as the portrait/portfolio gallery, new images reside within, the engagement/wedding gallery, new images are present here as well, and check into the boudoir/glamor gallery as well, new images from Miami are in there as well. Please browse our site to your heart’s content, as you never know where new imagery is hiding and may just trigger the need to book a session with us.
Senior Sports and Senior Pictures Tips
— 04/02/2015 by Monika Wertman —With spring and summer just around the corner, senior pictures are not far behind. No matter who you choose, what size session you commit to, whether you are a boy or a girl, if you play a sport you will want to showcase your sport.
Now we all know that you do not want another picture in your gear that looks like last year’s school picture, right? How do you avoid it, you ask? Here are a few tips on what you should do to insure that you will get some one of a kind images from your high school senior picture session:
- Spend a couple of months researching the kind of imagery you would like to see. Look through sports magazines and browse the web for ideas and styles. Do you like the edgy, grungy look? Do you want to look like the latest gold medal winner in one of her endorsement commercials, Or do you want to look like the girl or boy next door, clean and pristine in your gear?
- Once you have determined what look you want, search your local photographers and see if they have something similar in their portfolios.
- If you find someone whose style is close, but not quite what you envision, call and talk to them, find out if they are willing to bend their style a bit or if they can recommend someone who fits your vision better.
- Once you have found the photographer who seems to have the style you are looking for, set up a consultation to talk about how they work and determine if you click with that photographer. Most photographers will be willing to sit down with you and plan your session, if they are not, look for one who does.
- When you meet your chosen photographer for the first time during the consultation, bring your sample images with you, show them and ask if something like it can be done. If you are a football player, chances are you have access to your school’s field, if you are a swimmer, access to a pool may be more difficult. Your photographer needs to understand exactly what you would like to accomplish in order to give you a correct answer.
- Understand that special requests require prior planning and that you are asking your photographer for individualized services. She will invest time in your session and you and your family will invest money in return. This tradeoff will ensure a fantastic session for you and great images for your family and you to share and display.
- Ask about cost only after you have determined whether the photographer you are talking to is the right fit for you. But do ask, you will want to know how much your family will need to invest in the service and what you will receive in return. Ask about products that are offered and be aware that a boutique studio and a boutique service such as you are looking for will offer some great print collections for you to choose from.
- Finally, after you book your session and have paid the retainer fee, enter the date in your calendar and arrive 5-10 minutes early at the predetermined meeting point. Your photographer will be there waiting for you and when you are on time all will go smoothly and you will have wonderful experience which will in turn result in great photos to choose form.
Here are a couple of our favorite sports related senior photography portraits. Please visit our portfolio to view more.
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