Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 17, 2018
The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
These gorgeous greenhouses are only open to the Belgian public three weeks out of the year every spring and I was able to make it there on the very last day. Just in time! This post will be very short. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Photoshop: Phony?
I hear and read so many different soapboxes (from clients, family and even random strangers online) about the obsession our society today has with Photoshop. In my personal experience, I've found that some clients love it, and will even request that I help them take off ten pounds ... or a mole ... or a scar ... while others seem repelled by it, as though changing an image in any way is as abhorrent as cheating on a final exam. While I completely understand the frustration with over-adjustments (Can someone please help me understand the current obsession with Snapchat and human-kitty faces please?!) I have to stand up and say a word about why I, as a photographer use Photoshop on a regular basis and why I have no shame about it whatsoever.
I have to put it out there, that I like a very natural style with my portraiture. I want my images to express what I really see in front of me. Staging a picture is one thing, but finding the authenticity in my subject's expressions is my goal. When I get it right, it feels almost magical. They are the kind of images I hope my clients will return to again and again, just to remember what life held for them at that particular moment. It makes sense then that in my use of Photoshop, I try to make my images look as natural as possible. It needs to look effortless, which can actually be a lot of work.
If you were to commission a painter to paint a portrait of your family, you would expect that painter to show everyone in their best form. Say you had one child going through puberty, with acne all over, you would be fine with the painter omitting the zits and painting him with a better complexion, right?(I'd sure hope so anyway or your child might not be too happy with you!) You wouldn't be purchasing an exact replica of your family, you would be purchasing a memory. A memory of your family at that moment in time and you would want everyone to be depicted looking their best.
As a photographer and an artist, I try to do the same thing. I look at every family I work with (even when it is my own) as a sort of blank canvass. I don't always know what my finished product will be exactly, but as we spend time together, I look for those little personality traits that are unique and special and I try to capture them all. Because I prefer a very natural, realistic feel to my pictures, I try to treat my sessions like a get-together where we relax and hang out and the kids feel comfortable with me before I start clicking away. Once I do, I shoot everything I see that feels genuine and real. The crying, the laughing, the hugging, the excited looks on little faces when they learn that we are done ... everything.
It is after the shoot, after the chasing and walking and posing and smile-coaxing that the real work begins. It is where I whip out my "paintbrushes" in Photoshop and figure out what I've got and how I'm going to present it all in the best possible way to make the kind of memories my clients will not only like, but want to hold on to. Memories that paint a story, not just a picture. I brighten and lighten, and sharpen and add the kind of contrast and mood the pictures ask for until finally, I feel I've found a memory perfectly preserved. If that memory shows Mom with a slightly slimmer waste, or Dad with one less chin, I'm okay with that. If the bags under the eyes need a little more lightening up, I'm okay with that too. I don't see it as perjury at all, I see it as a beautiful, memorable form of art.
So, with that being the case, it must be said, that unless the information is specifically requested of me by a client, what happens in Photoshop, stays in Photoshop!
You won't hear a word from me about it. :)
I have to put it out there, that I like a very natural style with my portraiture. I want my images to express what I really see in front of me. Staging a picture is one thing, but finding the authenticity in my subject's expressions is my goal. When I get it right, it feels almost magical. They are the kind of images I hope my clients will return to again and again, just to remember what life held for them at that particular moment. It makes sense then that in my use of Photoshop, I try to make my images look as natural as possible. It needs to look effortless, which can actually be a lot of work.
If you were to commission a painter to paint a portrait of your family, you would expect that painter to show everyone in their best form. Say you had one child going through puberty, with acne all over, you would be fine with the painter omitting the zits and painting him with a better complexion, right?(I'd sure hope so anyway or your child might not be too happy with you!) You wouldn't be purchasing an exact replica of your family, you would be purchasing a memory. A memory of your family at that moment in time and you would want everyone to be depicted looking their best.
As a photographer and an artist, I try to do the same thing. I look at every family I work with (even when it is my own) as a sort of blank canvass. I don't always know what my finished product will be exactly, but as we spend time together, I look for those little personality traits that are unique and special and I try to capture them all. Because I prefer a very natural, realistic feel to my pictures, I try to treat my sessions like a get-together where we relax and hang out and the kids feel comfortable with me before I start clicking away. Once I do, I shoot everything I see that feels genuine and real. The crying, the laughing, the hugging, the excited looks on little faces when they learn that we are done ... everything.
It is after the shoot, after the chasing and walking and posing and smile-coaxing that the real work begins. It is where I whip out my "paintbrushes" in Photoshop and figure out what I've got and how I'm going to present it all in the best possible way to make the kind of memories my clients will not only like, but want to hold on to. Memories that paint a story, not just a picture. I brighten and lighten, and sharpen and add the kind of contrast and mood the pictures ask for until finally, I feel I've found a memory perfectly preserved. If that memory shows Mom with a slightly slimmer waste, or Dad with one less chin, I'm okay with that. If the bags under the eyes need a little more lightening up, I'm okay with that too. I don't see it as perjury at all, I see it as a beautiful, memorable form of art.
So, with that being the case, it must be said, that unless the information is specifically requested of me by a client, what happens in Photoshop, stays in Photoshop!
You won't hear a word from me about it. :)
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Newborn Photo Sessions - To Shoot, or Not to Shoot?
Pardon the cliché Hamlet line, but this question, when it applies to newborn photo sessions, is one that 'once upon a time' I too was faced with. Now, as a parent/photographer with teenagers (pause to sniffle) I approach it with a completely different perspective than I once did.
For me, starting out with little ones (before I was bitten by the photo bug), I remember waiting until my babies were three months old before taking them in to be photographed. My reasoning was that by that time, they looked more like themselves. I guess I felt that newborns were still a bit ... well, new. Their skinny, wrinkly little bodies needed time to plump up before they looked more like their true selves. They changed so quickly. It's funny how that same argument is exactly why I now hold the opposite point of view.
I have four children. Once they were scrawny little monsters running around the house eating jam straight from jars and climbing to the top of the piano if not constantly watched. I had three boys first, and then a little girl. With my boys, I waited to have their pictures made until they were three months old. I thought that was just fine, but when I had my daughter, a dear friend in Huntsville, Alabama (http://agreenfieldphotography.com/blog/) offered to do a newborn shoot for me. I jumped at the chance and brought my daughter to her when she was only five days old. Her chord hadn't even come off yet. Before you cringe, I have to say that those pictures, my daughter's first days on this planet, are more special to me than any other pictures I had taken, or have taken myself. Ever. Because she changed so quickly, I look back at those beginnings with awe and love and humility at how far she has come. I really wish I had done the same with my boys.
Raising kids is about change. Constant, never ending, change. Because your little person is going to change so quickly, capturing those first moments, within the first week or two, is so important!
So, there you have it. To shoot or not to shoot? Shoot. Absolutely. Is it a waste of time and money? I can promise you, it definitely is not. Find a photographer who matches your style and don't hesitate. Life moves so quickly. You will always be happy you did.
Here are a few simple newborn shots I took recently of a five-day-old angel:
For me, starting out with little ones (before I was bitten by the photo bug), I remember waiting until my babies were three months old before taking them in to be photographed. My reasoning was that by that time, they looked more like themselves. I guess I felt that newborns were still a bit ... well, new. Their skinny, wrinkly little bodies needed time to plump up before they looked more like their true selves. They changed so quickly. It's funny how that same argument is exactly why I now hold the opposite point of view.
I have four children. Once they were scrawny little monsters running around the house eating jam straight from jars and climbing to the top of the piano if not constantly watched. I had three boys first, and then a little girl. With my boys, I waited to have their pictures made until they were three months old. I thought that was just fine, but when I had my daughter, a dear friend in Huntsville, Alabama (http://agreenfieldphotography.com/blog/) offered to do a newborn shoot for me. I jumped at the chance and brought my daughter to her when she was only five days old. Her chord hadn't even come off yet. Before you cringe, I have to say that those pictures, my daughter's first days on this planet, are more special to me than any other pictures I had taken, or have taken myself. Ever. Because she changed so quickly, I look back at those beginnings with awe and love and humility at how far she has come. I really wish I had done the same with my boys.
Raising kids is about change. Constant, never ending, change. Because your little person is going to change so quickly, capturing those first moments, within the first week or two, is so important!
So, there you have it. To shoot or not to shoot? Shoot. Absolutely. Is it a waste of time and money? I can promise you, it definitely is not. Find a photographer who matches your style and don't hesitate. Life moves so quickly. You will always be happy you did.
Here are a few simple newborn shots I took recently of a five-day-old angel:
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Back in D.C. and Ready to Roll
Well, a lot of time has gone by and I'm back in the country, settled in DC, and ready to get back to work. In honor of the event, I am posting my favorite DC pictures from four years ago and I'm looking forward to making many more. I'll be in touch soon!
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Charity Spotlight: ALIG, San Pedro Dumpsite
I am getting closer and closer to launching my new gallery website. I hope to have things up and running within the next week! I will post about that soon, but for now I wanted to share some pictures I took a few weeks ago here in the Philippines in one of the poorest communities I have been to so far. I was privileged to attend a weekly playdate/washing/hot-meal with a good friend of mine and spent the morning playing with these beautiful children. They live in the province of Laguna on an old dump site called San Pedro. ALIG, a local women's charity group from Alabong provides this weekly service activity for the young children as well as a school program for the older kids.
For more information on what they do or how you can contribute or sponsor a child visit this site:
I believe the amount to sponsor one child for an entire year of school (including a daily meal and transportation) is only around $120 US dollars. I love being close to so many worthy local charities here. it allows me to see how they are using the funds and I am able to post about those whose funds go directly to helping kids. This group is one of those.
I had a touching time with these kids, and I hope to be back soon!
For more information on what they do or how you can contribute or sponsor a child visit this site:
I believe the amount to sponsor one child for an entire year of school (including a daily meal and transportation) is only around $120 US dollars. I love being close to so many worthy local charities here. it allows me to see how they are using the funds and I am able to post about those whose funds go directly to helping kids. This group is one of those.
I had a touching time with these kids, and I hope to be back soon!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
A Fresh Start
There has been a lot of things happening in my life lately. My beautiful four children have each started school again, my little family passed our year mark for living in the Philippines, and I have finally had the opportunity to focus on building and creating my new photography gallery website and blog. I have essentially wiped my slate clean, and am making a fresh new start with my business. I will still be taking clients, but plan to focus on my gallery and print sales. I plan on updating this blog often to share stories and prints of the exciting pieces of the world I am experiencing. Landscape, nature and real-life photography have always been a love of mine.
I am posting below a few images that will be available for purchase soon on my new webpage.
More information coming soon!
I am posting below a few images that will be available for purchase soon on my new webpage.
More information coming soon!
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About Me
- Becki
- About five years ago, my husband and I decided it was time to take our family on a little adventure. In consequence, he accepted a job with the U.S. State Department and we've been traveling the world ever since. Our small-town 'Alabama babies' had the world thrust upon them as we moved from Washington D.C. to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and then on to Manila, Philippines. Life abroad is full of ups and downs, but the experiences we've gained are priceless. As we approach another move, (This time to Belgium!) I feel a desire to share some of these experiences (good and bad) with you all. The most important help for me in surviving this "exciting" life we have chosen, has been to learn the art of being flexible. Things rarely turn out the way we plan, but that's okay. We are learning to take things in stride and doing our best to enjoy the ride!