Kyran's Studio Portrait

When we have littluns in our studio, we just love to give them the space and confidence to explore and be themselves, so that we can capture beautifully natural memories for you. We don’t keep many props on hand, instead we encourage you to bring your own favourite toys and teddites so that they can become part of the memories we create for you, just like Kyran and his special teddy bears ;)

Isabella & Vlad's Pop Up Wedding ~ Hamelin Bay Wedding Photographer

~ THE MAKINGS OF THE DAY ~

The Celebrant: Josie Arnold

The Styling: Ferguson Valley Events

The Florist: Flowers for Mrs Harris

~

Peter & Pauline

Love has no end. Married 51 years in March after meeting on a blind date <3

Just goes to show you don’t always need a special occasion to celebrate your relationship with a photo update.

Ganyani Family Portrait

A family is like a circle.
The connection never ends,
and even if at times it breaks,
in time it always mends.

We just loved spending time with this amazing family in our studio, may fun and laughter continue to fill your days, and may the beautiful keepsake album we created for you be a constant reminder of your bonds.

Samantha's Maternity and Newborn Lifestyle Shoot ~ Bunbury Lifestyle Photographer

The Brookes Family Portrait

A house full of boys is a busy one, but boy does Sue-Ellen love her sons!

(and rightly so, they’re all just a little bit awesome.)

Sam & Dennis ~ Country Wedding

Tyrel & Chris ~ Old Broadwater Farm Wedding

Alisha's Family Portrait Session

WHY YOUR PHOTOS OFTEN DON'T LOOK THE SAME WHEN YOU PRINT THEM AS THEY DO ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN...(Reason #1)

We've been talking quite a lot about colour management at the studio recently and it's dawned on us that most people really don't have any idea that there is a whole process and a lot of technical skill behind ensuring that the photos you have on your computer look exactly the same when you print them out as they do on your computer screen. 

For most people the process goes something like this - capture a moment that you love, upload it to your computer, toggle a few sliders in your editing software, click print and Voila! You have a gorgeous print of one of your favourite memories. But how many times have you done that and the print you end up with leaves you feeling disappointed? 

Perhaps it's a bit dark, or too light, or the colours just look a little (or a lot) "off".

Well there are actually quite a few reasons that this can happen, starting with your computer screen. 

Here's a little snapshot of my desk when I arrived at work this morning:

We work with two screens - a 27-inch iMac Retina 5K, a computer we love because it multitasks like a woman and does everything we need it to do (we're not getting into a debate about PC vs Mac here - we're not saying it's the best, it's just what works best for us ;-)), and next to it we have our Eizo Flexscan monitor for colour management. A lot of professional photographers use Eizo screens because (without getting into too much technical detail) they are built differently from normal computer monitors and give a more faithful rendition of the look and colours you will get when you print your photos (as long as they are regularly calibrated, which is a topic for another day). 

You can probably see from my photo that the image on the two screens (which is exactly the same image), look different. The image on the Mac screen looks much brighter and has a blueish colour cast, whereas the image on the Eizo looks less bright and the colours are warmer.

The fact that the Eizo screen is less bright is helpful for seeing what your image will look like in print. Think of it this way - when you look at a photo do you hold it up in front of a hugely bright light? No? Well that's essentially what you're doing when you're looking at an image on your computer screen at home, and if you were to try putting a print up in front of a big light you'd probably notice that the colours and everything look a lot brighter and more vibrant with so much light hitting them. But photos are printed on paper, which doesn't have a panel of lights behind it, so our Eizo gives us a much better idea of what our images will look like once they're printed. 

If we were to edit our images using our Mac screen (which is currently uncalibrated), our photos would print looking darker than we expected, and that blue cast that our screen has would mean that we would edit our colours to make them look "correct" on the screen, but then when we printed everything would look too warm (yellow).

So we edit our images using our Eizo screen to ensure that our editing is on point and that the exposure and colours are accurate, rather than relying on a standard computer monitor that has its own brightness level and colour cast (as ALL monitors do). Now we're not saying that everyone interested in photography should go out and buy an Eizo, they are definitely a big investment, but for us as professionals it is vitally important that what we see on our screen translates to print. Whatever screen you do use though should be calibrated regularly, which we will talk about in another blog post. 

Even when you look at our images on your screen at home they will look different from how they look on ours, because your screen has it's own brightness level and colour cast, and when you take your USB to a print lab their screen will show it differently too - so if you or they adjust the colours to look "correct" on a different screen you'll be undoing all the hard work we've put in to ensure the colours are accurate or as we want them to be for our professional style. 

But ensuring the colours on the screen are accurate is not the only step in the colour management process. Just like computer monitors, printers all also have their own profiles and colour casts, so it is important that your computer is set up to work with the printer you're printing on. That's why we print most of our images in-house, and for any printing that we send out to different labs we have their printer profiles set up in our workflow so that we know what we are looking at on our screen will print accurately. 

Most retail shops that print photos (with the exception of professional photo labs) just don't have the level of expertise or quality of equipment, and so printing with them is just like shooting in the dark - sometimes we might get lucky and get a hit, but most of the time the results will be a big miss. 

This is why we are passionate about printing our images for our clients. We want to ensure that your digital file looks just as good printed and up on the wall as it does on our screen, which takes time, a lot of professional equipment, and expertise. There is a lot more to it than just pressing the "Print" button and so we feel that as professional photographers our job is not done when our session is over. We don't want to just hand you a USB and leave you to print your photos on your own - we just know how much more amazing they'll look when we print them for you x

New Studio Backdrop!

This week we added a gorgeous new backdrop to our collection at the studio so I couldn't resist giving it a quick test with my girls. I just love how these shots sum them up, Erin the gentle soul and nurturing big sister, and Eve my blue eyed cheeky mistress. They really love each other to bits which makes my heart melt, I hope it stays that way! <3

I’m loving the new backdrop too, it’s a gorgeous wheat colour with lots of depth and just helps to create a really beautiful soft look. 

Whenever I take photos of my girls I look at them in awe of just how fast they're growing up. If you've got kids and you haven't updated your photos recently why not take advantage of our Simply Studio Sessions. Just $75 for a midweek 30 minute studio photoshoot including a gorgeous 8x12" print, and as if that's not enough from now until September our friends at Southern Picture Framers will even frame it for you!

Book your session with us and have WA's Family Photographer of the Year finalist capture the different stages of your children's lives. We have lots of beautiful backdrops to choose from for a look you'll love, and plenty of experience with kids of all ages to make sure you have a great time :-)

Simply call us on 9791 4226 or e mail studio@thephotographyboutique.com.au to book

 

Baby Alessandra - 13 days new

Thanks to our joint promotion with Body Firming and Beauty, Kelly and Paul brought their gorgeous baby girl Alessandra to see us for a newborn shoot to capture her early days. She was such a beautiful baby and the session went like an absolute dream :-) 

It was especially lovely to be able to create some memories for her family, many of whom are overseas. At 13 days old she was so alert, with bright shining eyes checking out the world around her. Kelly and Paul were also doing super well as new parents and their relaxed approach was definitely rubbing off on their baby girl, she was just so happy to be here!

We have lots of gorgeous blankets, headbands and props at the studio and we are in our element when we can just use them subtly to style our images while always keeping focus on making baby the star. It never ceases to amaze us how different all babies are, even from day dot. They are full of personality and we love getting to know them and all the little idiosyncrasies that make them unique, those are the memories we really love to capture!

**********

When you book a newborn portrait with us it's up to you if you want to leave it to us to style and create some gorgeous memories for you at our studio, or spend time planning the details with us and get us to come to your home or somewhere special. Just check out the options and pricing here:

http://www.thephotographyboutique.com.au/baby

Newborn portraits are ideally booked within the first ten day's of bub's arrival so just get in touch and Chat to Us about when to book in!

A Day in the Life...On the farm with the Bailey Boys

We love just hanging out with the kids and letting them be themselves - it’s when the best memories are captured, don’t you think?

We teed up a shoot with these boys while dad was away at work, so that we could have an amazing aluminium wall set ready and waiting for him on his 50th birthday. The reveal at the studio was an amazing moment!

Sharn, Josh & Thomas

A little while back we had the good fortune to meet Sharn and Josh after their lovely friends bought them a gift card to come and enjoy a couples shoot with us. 

During their pre session planning we found out that Sharn & Josh have a beautiful puppy dog Thomas, so booking Jo for their photography was a perfect match because of course our very own crazy dog lady thought it was a great idea to include him in the shoot!

What a gorgeous afternoon it was, and what a very photogenic this trio turned out to be. Now with an engagement we are just waiting for news of the wedding date!

A Fun Photography Workshop!

Last weekend we ran our very first Photography Workshop here at The Photography Boutique, and we are happy to say that it was a smashing success!

We had a fantastic group of 6 attendees with us for the day, all with different interests, but all keen to get their cameras off Auto to start taking better photos. 

It's amazing what a bit of knowledge can do for people. Modern cameras are such amazing pieces of technology and when you know what they can do you can start to produce beautiful photographs. 

We spent the morning in the studio talking about exposure, shutter speed, aperture and ISO, as well as lots of other things that came up throughout the morning. We mixed up classroom learning with getting everyone's cameras out, finding the settings, experimenting with what was being learnt, and having some fun! In the afternoon we took what we learnt out onto the streets of Bunbury and pounded the pavements to practice some new techniques and put our cameras into action. 

A good time was had by all and the feedback was great from everyone who attended. Here are some of the comments from our lovely attendees:

"I have had the most amazing, awesome and informative day ever. Thanks ladies!"

"Awesome day of learning, sharing and friendship. Thank you for your patience, time and effort Jo and Clare. I would recommend this workshop to all my friends and anyone wanting to know the basics of photography." 

"Thank you so much! I feel much less clueless about using my camera and I actually feel confident at shooting not in Auto Mode. Thank you."

Our next Workshop day is on Sunday 5th July. If you own a camera and you don't know how to use it then book yourself in and learn, you'll never have to miss out on the memories that are important to you again!

Simply visit our Workshops page for more info and to book:

http://www.thephotographyboutique.com.au/photography-workshops/

The happy smiling faces of our Photo Walk attendees :-)

Margaret River Wedding ~ Ashley & Conor

Ashley and Conor were married at the stunning St Thomas Moore church in Margaret River.We all traveled down to Boranup Forest and Prevelly Beach for photos before heading back to Margaret River. Our lovely new assistant Bianca came with Clare to capture the gorgeous day.

The cocktail reception was held at Watershed Wines in Margaret River, decorated in beautiful simplicity by Chic Rustique, who also created the awesome bouquets.  The yummy yummy YUMMY cake was created by Edible Art, which indeed it was!

March at the Studio

We’re not really sure where to start with March, in a word it was Epic!Seven weddings including our first ever fusion wedding videos scattered throughout the beautiful Southwest, two engagement sessions, a newborn portrait (plus sisters ;-)) and a couples portrait including a trip to the airfield and Sir Henry the dog. All that as well as several new client meetings, wedding planning sessions, portrait planning sessions, ordering sessions, lots of new bookings and of course a new team member, our fabulous studio assistant Bianca (welcome to the mad house Bianca) - and not a moment too soon!

Southwest Photography Studio_0006

Phew! we’re exhausted just thinking about it!

We usually like to give all of our amazing clients a mention in our monthly roundup but there was just so much happening in March that we think we’d need a publisher and a book deal to write it all down. So instead, here are a few highlights for you to enjoy, and we promise we will blog all the amazing occasions for you soon!

Oh, and on a personal level there is not much to report as we have all been either at work or asleep ;-)

We hope you had a great month too!

Featured on Polka Dot Bride!

Planning a Summer wedding? This is for you...At Clare Day we have been in the wedding industry for many years, and there is no substitute for experience when it comes to planning the perfect day. Of course we love our clients and we want you to have the perfect wedding, so we like to share our knowledge and help you have the best experience imaginable. Last week we shared some of our tips and advice for Summer Weddings in an article for Polka Dot Bride. If you are planning a Summer Wedding we'd suggest taking five minutes out of your busy day to read it!

You can find it right here.

And if you haven't come across Polka Dot Bride before (...where have you been?? ;-)) we'd also suggest checking out the site - it is packed full of inspirational ideas and resources for your Big Day.

Enjoy!

Parasol wedding boat

Surviving Summer Weddings - A Bride's Guide to Beating the Heat

Summer in the South West is a beautiful time of year. Long days, blue skies and beautiful beaches...it's no wonder it's such a popular time to get married. But we all know that the summer heat can bring with it some challenges, and having been photographing weddings for over ten years we have learned a good few tricks to beat the heat and make sure couples can enjoy the Big Day they've always dreamed of, with the perfect pictures to boot.So here, for all you lucky Summer brides, we have put together our top ten tips for surviving summer weddings and ensuring you have your perfect day.

Beach wedding

1. Find the Shade

We all love an outdoor ceremony, but standing in the full sun for up to an hour while you say your "I Do's" and greet your guests can be a recipe for disaster. Guests will be too busy melting to really focus on the special moments, and brides with lily white complexions (like us) could quickly change from snow white beauty to Larry lobster, which is never a good look! A simple fix is to simply find some shade. For garden ceremonies trees provide beautiful natural shade and a great backdrop, so make the most of them. If you're having a beach ceremony then consider hiring a marquee or some pretty market umbrellas to protect everyone from the sun - you can even jazz them up with lots of white flowing fabric to create a gorgeous romantic setting for your Big Day. Whatever you do just make sure you're all fully in the shade and not half in and half out - trust us, your guests will thank you for it and your photos will look much better too!

Melinda and Drew - PHOTOSPOT!

Its Online and READY TO ROCK! Click through to check out all the AWESOMENESS....