portraits Archives - Page 2 of 20 -

Valentine High School Senior Portriats…Palm Harbor Photographer Kathleen Hall

Valentine’s Day! Its almost here and another wonderful excuse to do a staged session with my senior models!

I worked with 2 of my Senior Spokesmodels last week to do special shoots in honor of Valentine’s Day…two totally different looks, two different girls and two VERY beautiful sessions!

One of my seniors said to me, “What do you do on Valentine’s day, eat candy?” Well, I certainly am not opposed to a milk chocolate Dove Bar or even Godiva Chocolate on a special occasion…(a former boyfriend got me hooked on and used to Godiva!) but I have always believed that even though Valentine’s day is traditionally for lovers, it is also a day to show love to all those who have meaning to you in your life. I routinely send Valentines day cards to my single girlfriends who might be feeling lonely or unappreciated on this day. And I don’t think I am the only one who does this, because there are an awful lot of cards like that to choose from!

So if you are unattached this Valentines Day, don’t fret about it. Take a look around you and see all those that you love and all those that love you!

My first session was with the beautiful Christina. We had just finished up her full senior session (that will be featured in another post!), and I asked her if she would like to do the Valentines spot with me. She jumped at the chance, brought in her red dress and her mom did her hair so beautifully! Mom is a hairdresser at Key West Hair and just did a great job!

Tarpon Springs High School Senior

Next is the equally gorgeous Kelsey, a senior at Palm Harbor University High School and currently enrolled in the SPC program. I wanted to really switch up the look to show you another lovely version of beauty. Her hair and makeup were done at Salon Bella Flora and it looked great! She has not had her full session done yet, that is still in the planning stage. I KNOW she will rock that too!

Palm Harbor University High School Senior photo by Kathleen Hall Photography

Palm Harbor University High School Senior in pink in honor of Valentines Day

Palm Harbor Univeersity High School Senior Portraits — Valentines Day portrait session for Palm Harbor University High School Senior by Kathleen Hall Photography

Now if you want to have the best senior portraits in the area AND save a little money…call me this week and book your session. If you book this week (they don’t have to be taken this week) and pay the session fee to hold your date, you will receive $25.00 off the session fee. Just tell me the coupon code is “hearts” and you will get the discount. But you have to call by Friday!!! Oh, and if you know either of the models, let me know and they will get credit for you booking your session. Just one of the perks of being a spokesmodel for Kathleen Hall Photography. (and you get the opportunity to participate in fun, staged concept shoots like these!)

Let there be space…Palm Harbor Photographer

It’s really the space between the notes that makes the music you enjoy so much. Without the spaces, all you would have is one continuous noisy note. Dr. Wayne Dyer

I really enjoyed this quote and it got me to thinking about all aspects of art. All images gain impact and composition from great use of space surrounding the subject. Take a look at the family photo below, taken at Cobbs Landing in Palm Harbor, Fl and you can see how the use of space around the subjects give them a sense of privacy and establish the size and relative viewing distance for the the viewer. If I had zoomed in on the boys and lost the space surrounding them, the image would have lost much of its impact. I just loved this image taken of Ethan and Ben last week. The color and the light in this area spoke volumes around the boys as they were doing an activity that was everyday and common for them. The bond that has been established by this memory of days spent fishing will be one that is never broken. I love it when we can incorporate a favorite activity into our portrait session that adds meaning to the final image.

What should I wear?…Palm Harbor Beach Photographer

I hear this question all the time. I like to tell my photography clients to coordinate their outfits to each other and to their surroundings. If you are having beach photos created, as in the portraits below, outfits should look similar. This doesn’t mean you have to match exactly. If the colors are similar, then the attention will go straight to the faces instead of the clothing. You are, after all, having a portrait created of your family, not necessarily your clothing. The clothes should represent who you are at this time with style and color choices and should be appropriate to the location. A more urban look might be a little or a lot dressier. A studio choice could be very dressy or very casual. We want the family photographs to show your personality. You might also consider where the finished photograph will be displayed. If the room is very formal, will a very casual portrait look good their? Will it look out of place? Choose wisely to have the colors and style complement you, your family and your surroundings. The DelDuca family did a great job with just a pop of color on mom to add interest. And we got blessed with BEAUTIFUL skies that night!

I have pulled some color combinations out of the images to help you get an idea of some other colors that may have worked as well in these situations. When you pick out your family’s clothes for their photographs, throw all the clothes on the bed together and see if anything looks out of place. Trust your eye, you will know what you like! If you are hesitant at all, please just give me a call and I can help guide you in your choices. I have been doing this for over 20 years with many happy clients. Let me help make your family photo an heirloom to treasure. Check out my portfolio on my website to get more inspiration.

Take better vacation photos…Palm Harbor Photographer

How to take better vacation photos? Plan a better vacation.

Has anyone seen this ad? It might be by American Express or some travel company, not sure. But be that as it may, this really is not true. Remember to focus on the details. Plan your shots and decide what is really important to you. Think about:

· the time of day,

· the composition,

· the rule of thirds (think tic-tac-toe box and place the center of interest in one of the x’s)

· the repetition or patterns in an image.

Take these four things into consideration and you will automatically get better images. If you take a photo of your kid canoeing on the lake and take it from the shore, it will be a shot of the day. If you take a close up shot of your child’s tiny hand trying hard to grip the paddle, the sweaty hair down the back of his neck or him leaning over just draping his hand in the water, those will be moments to remember. The Eiffel tower could not have more meaning to you and your family in the years to come. I have included some images from a inexpensive three day cruise vacation taken years ago on Carnival Cruise lines. I loved all the different light and the architecture that you can only find aboard ship and created these images for a memory of our time on board. Enjoy. And remember to THINK about what you are taking images of before you click the shutter!

How do you feel…? Kathleen Hall Photography Palm Harbor Fl

I find that, as humans, we value photographs because of the way they make us feel. The stronger the feeling, the more we value the photograph.

Jesh de Rox

When I read this quote by Jesh, (yes, that is his name and correct spelling), I began to think about the photographs in my life and the photographs that I had created. I found that the ones that stood out are the ones that brought back feelings and memories to my life. Whether it was remembering a great event or wonderful friends or clients or “friendclients” (new word, made it up, haha!), they all touched a place in my heart. Photos that made me feel good about myself and how I looked also made the list. Photos that made me laugh or reminisce also came instantly to mind. Even the ones that were memories of awful news stories, they made me feel. And I realized Jexh had summed it up in two sentences.

When I photograph, I love to create photographs that will make you feel something. I have included a few of my favorites below.