I know, I know, I don’t blog enough!
You guys always find out everything after it has happened.
Well, Koren went to Arizona for a few days to take care of some of the best customers a photographer could have! She ran all around the valley and really did a great job.
Meanwhile I’m stuck in the snow and cold. But that’s alright, I get to go to Ireland this year to shoot a wedding!
More to come later!
~Joe Albright
I guess because we started shooting pregnant women and newborn babies way back in 2000 (according to the IRS, just between you and me it was closer to 1998) we have had it pretty easy.
Well, in the beginning we got a lot of “you take pictures of pregnant women, why?” But that’s all changed now!
Now we have three kids a house and a couple of cars and, like everyone else, it’s tough to make ends meet some times.
So, something new, or maybe, so that’s why everyone does this advertising thing.
Yes, we have purchased a printed ad in the Expectant Mother’s Guide to Chicago.
So far I love them! They helped with the ad design, set up an online ad and I didn’t have to do much of anything.
So Chicago, lets have some fun!!
~Joe Albright
Koren and I have found that a couple that have a good connection with each other make our job easy. It never fails, they touch or look into each others eyes and their postures change, their faces light up, their eyes beam with love. What’s left for a photographer to do but take the picture!
Recently we traveled to Chicago and shot a young pregnant couple that definitely have a loving connection.
With a downtown apartment and limited windows, most of our shots were with the softbox. But that’s OK because the real light was coming from them!
Koren and I made a connection with this pregnant couple too. We were both struck at how much they reminded us of ourselves and our first pregnancy.
This was an interesting shoot. The kind of shoot that tests your creativity and lets you know if your getting too comfortable with your surroundings.
It started with a four hour trip to Liberty Township Ohio, close to Youngstown. It was rained the whole way there and continued to do so after we arrived. Koren prefers to shoot with natural light so dark rainy days are the enemy. And on top of that our expecting mother’s apartment didn’t have a lot of window light. Luckily we cary a portable softbox (light) just for these occasions.
After the introductions and setup, aka “rearrange your furniture and turn your house into a studio”, she describes her desires for artistic pregnant nudes. Great! That’s what we do. But, that she also really, really dislikes her breasts and it is obvious that she is uncomfortable. So, all the usual shots are out the window and it’s time for pure organic, unpasteurized creativity.
Your temperature raises, your hands are hot. Visions of shots are racing through your mind faster than you can take the pictures. At least that’s what Koren is experiencing. I am handing Koren fresh memory cards and holding a light reflector, just trying to make sure the basics are covered so she can focus on being creative. But I am plagued with this persistent image in my mind of a pregnant belly against a white background, but not just a white background, illuminated! I tell Koren about it. It now seamed obvious how to achieve this effect, why hadn’t I thought of it before?
It worked better than I ever could have imagined. Now it is one of our favorite shots. The entire shoot turned out fantastic and I still smile when I look the images because with all the technical things that can go wrong at any moment during a shoot, staying centered and focused on the art is the true test of talent and creativity. After ten years of loving what we do, we still pass the test!
But what about this issue our subject had about not liking her breasts. Unfortunately this is not at all uncommon for us. I find this so sad and disturbing.
It seems like every woman at some point in her life picks a body part and decides that it is in some way substandard. Most likely due to some magazine image featuring a picture of a woman that has been digitally enhanced. Possibly repeated offhand comments from a boyfriend or even her own mother. All innocent enough but latent with heavy consequences.
Koren and I have been doing this for a long time and we both agree that women come in all shapes and sizes and we have yet to see a “bad” one.
If you have a part of your body that you think is ugly, you’re just looking at it from the wrong perspective.
By the end of the shoot our mom-to-be became completely relaxed and comfortable with us and Koren got a few shots with her not covering up. I am sure you can see that the only thing wrong with her breasts is her own perception of them.
For more on this subject check out the I Am Project
Well, here we go!
This blog is about myself (Joe Albright) and my wife (Koren Albright). Two photographers living their dreams, struggling to create something beautiful while raising three kids.
The whole family in the car during an Arizona trip. Koren’s eye on the lower left corner, Me on the lower right, Tesla in the center, Antigonee in the back on the left, and Amber on the back right screaming because Antigonee has her feet on her.
Over the next few weeks I will be tweaking the layout and integrating the blog into out website. Then I will catch up on some of the shoots from this and the past year.
