Gainesville Florida children's photographer: Laurel Housden Photography » Behind the Lens

3 Looks in 30 minutes Part 3 | gainesville florida kids photographer

Laurel — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:48:39 +0000

I used OCF (off camera flash) to create this dramatic fashion look for Rowan. It is at the same location as the previous post in a field in s.w. Gainesville near Haile Plantation. I took an amazing lighting course last year with Utah Photographer Nichole Van all about off camera flash (OCF). If you are a photographer wanting to get comfortable with OCF I highly recommend her Lighting Workshops and if you can’t get to one of her workshops – then I recommend the Lighting Workshop in a Box. It is the most comprehensive instruction on OCF available and is totally complete with everything you need to know to get started creating dramatic portraits using off camera flash! The best part about using OCF is the ease of editing. They came SOOTC looking great but I also use Nichole Van’s studio actions to add just a wee bit of contrast and color. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about Nichole’s workshops or lighting questions!

Storybook Baby’s First Year Album | Gainesville, Florida Baby Photographer

Laurel — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:53:45 +0000

A few days ago I blogged the proofs from this Baby’s First Year Storybook Album – it finally arrived and it is simply gorgeous. It is a 12 x 12 flushmont album – the pages are nice and thick (2mm) and are printed on professional fuji crystal photographic paper. I am bittersweet that we now have this album -because that means this little guy is over one year old! I look forward to capturing all his milestones – especially now that I am offering Simplicity Mini-Sessioins just for the kids! Below is a picture of proud Mama Ana holding her new Storybook Album – she even brought along her father all the way from Brazil!

Behind the lens | Melissa picks up her order – Gainesville Fl. newborn photographer

Laurel — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:05:15 +0000

Fridays is reserved for client “pick-up” days at the studio. It’s my chance to see how big those babies have gotten and to see the reaction of the Moms when they see their orders come to fruition – nice and BIG! Melissa is the proud mamma of Baby “C” – check out her newborn session – she chose a beautiful portrait framed and matted of her and her new baby girl along with a variety of fine art matted gift prints to share with family and friends!

Behind the scenes | Jillian picks up her order – gainesville, florida professional photographer

Laurel — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:32:54 +0000

Fridays is reserved for my clients to pick up their orders at my studio but Jillian’s order did not arrive until this week. There is usually much chaos and excitement on Fridays – and I always forget to photograph my products and a little behind the scenes of this day. However, Jillian was my only client to come today and I got a chance to sit with her for awhile and go over her order and she kindly let me photographer her reaction. You may remember Jillian’s session here – she wanted photographs with her dog Shayna – as she was very sick and did not have much time left. I was so happy that Jillian loved her pictures – but I was also so moved when she started to cry because she missed her Shayna so much. I’m so glad that she has such a magnificent keepsake to remember her cherished friend.

Jillian ordered the Matted Portrait Collection that comes with a 8 x 10 custom canvas portrait box that contains 18 of your favorite matted portraits and a Keepsake Slide show that fits right inside the portrait box. The images that do not fit in the box come loosely in a separate box.

Jillian also ordered a 10 x 20 Storyboard Collage and and had it framed with her favorite colors from my Whimsical Frame Series.

Thank you Jillian for allowing me to capture this time in your life. I truly have enjoyed meeting you and feel that I have made a dear friend!

Just Cause | My good friend Shannon – gainesville, florida professional photographer

Laurel — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:13:11 +0000

Just cause she is always willing to let me take her photograph! Just cause she has the most infectious smile and sultry red hair. Just cause we both have so much fun when we finally get a chance to play together. Just cause – is there any better reason that that! My good friend Shannon Whitaker is also a very talented professional photographer in the Gainesville area. We recently got together and spent a late afternoon together driving around North Central Florida on a location scouting expedition.

While out and about Shannon also let me practice a new location lighting system that I’ve been dying to use and she did beautifully as my model. You would never believe that this picture was taken in broad daylight!! The sun was just beginning to set behind the horizon and there was lots of ambient light.

You never know who’ll you bump into when you are location scouting. We met these two gentlemen who seemed very interested in the large lighting system we were working with! As you can see – Shannon follows my direction to look into the light!

I took this picture of Shannon at the beginning of our trip. She is just adorable. I love to tell her dirty jokes to get her to smile and laugh – she is really trying hard not to laugh here – but she did!

Some of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken of Shannon are the following. I actually took these a few months ago in a field in the Gainesville area. She is just stunning.

Before & After – Portrait of a kid – gainesville florida children’s photographer

Laurel — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:55:38 +0000

There is so much attention to detail that goes into creating a finished art print for my clients. The artistry behind my photography includes more than just a snap of the shutter. I love to create dramatic portraits and spend hours behind the scenes hand editing each digital file to enhance my final artistic vision. Here is an example of a before and after from yesterday’s family session blog post. Since I get a lot of questions about editing – I plan on sharing more examples on the blog and explain how I get from SOCC to a finished print.

Here is the digital file SOTC (straight out of the camera) – I think it’s a very nice image – his eyes are simply amazing and you can see the catch lights in his eyes (very important to capture). My 70-200 2.8 lens compressed the image nicely and blurred the background (which was a mix of mulch and rocks).

Here is the final edit of the same picture. I was going for a more dramatic feel and used the color saturation to enhance that look.

The Housden 2010 Holiday Card – Gainesville Florida Family Photographer

Laurel — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 15:46:40 +0000

It’s always the last session of the season and the hardest. Last year I promised myself I would never take my own family portraits again…if you look closely at Aidan’s eyes from last year’s holiday card – you will see his eyes swelling up with tears. If you can’t see it – come in my studio and check out the 20 x 30 framed portrait of it! I had a cancellation this week so I took advantage of the time and the amazing light and dragged the kids off the school bus and down to my favorite field. I can’t say it was any easier this year…but I got it down faster and without any tears…except for mine! Happy Holidays everyone. This year has been very good for me both professionally and personally and I thank you all for your support and friendship! Look for exciting new things to come in 2011 at Laurel Housden Photography including Boudoir just in time for Valentines Day!

A peek inside my residential photography studio – gainesville florida professional photographer

Laurel — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:18:31 +0000

I took this video of my residential photography studio today – in-between two blocks of appointments I have set aside today for clients to pick up their holiday orders. Besides using my studio for baby-plan and newborn portraits – my favorite part of having my studio is hanging out with my clients as they open up their fabulous portrait orders. I love to look at their reaction! Of course, I’m very proud of my work – but it so makes it worth it to see the gleam – and yes sometimes a tear – in the eye of a happy mama or a proud daddy!

Rowan’s Thanksgiving Cupcakes – gainesville florida food photographer

Laurel — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:36:23 +0000

As many of you already know – my 13 year old daughter Rowan is a very talented and creative baker. She is self taught and constantly amazes me with her creations. We were invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with some dear friends of ours so Rowan decided to create some very special cakes for the occasion. In fact the turkey cupcakes – complete with stuffing and drumsticks – was so realistic when I posted a sneak peek on my Facebook Page that our friend thought that we had decided to home and we were making our own turkey! I am so thankful to have such talented children – and all healthy and happy! What more could I ask for!