About a dozen years ago you started seeing her books in Borders and probably thought… What heck is that photographer thinking making these babies into flowers… then you opened the book, got hooked and your words were replaced with “Oooh’s” and “Awwees!”

No matter what anyone says, Anne has paved the way for photographers like myself who call ourselves artistic newborn portrait photographers.  Before Anne Geddes, people would have thought I was a bit crazy when I ask if I can take their newborn and curl them into a ball and put them into my crochet “pea pod”.  I decided to check out the Anne Geddes website tonight and found a really cool documentary available on Itunes for only $1.99! Her home page currently has the link, and the doc is called “The Beginnings“.  It follows her year journey to creating her new work Beginnings.

I’ve had the perception from time to time that all a photographer needs to do is take pictures and hand over the digital files. I found these graphics and thought they were equally funny as disturbing! Its true though, We spend more time doing everything OTHER than shooting. Lol.

Perception…

…and reality!

About three weeks ago I shot a wedding in Miami, Florida. [Congrats to Jennifer and Andy!]  It was one of the most beautiful venues I’ve seen in my lifetime, not to mention a magical bride.  The day after the wedding, before coming back to PA, we decided to take a walk down Lincoln Avenue to shop.  As I passed a building covered in scaffolding due to construction, I noticed a glimmer of color coming from the inside. When I took a closer look I saw it… The small, humble sign saying “PETER LIK.” Light beams shot from the sky and illuminated the pathway to enter the gallery and suddenly I was among some of the greatest landscape photography I’ve ever seen! Ok, maybe I’m a tad bit dramatic. But my memory is recalling it as quite a vivid moment.

What I was most impressed with, was the quality of how he displays/sells his work. His photos are printed onto an amazing surface of material, that literally looks like it is glistening in the sun. The images are hung and then a light above it on the ceiling drops to give it subtle lighting. It is basic spot lighting you’ve seen a hundred times. However when the light is shining onto the image, it actually appears as if the image itself is lit up, or even back lit. I’ve watched Peter Lik on his reality show over the past year and grown to love him. His personality is great, but even more amazing is his dedication to get “THE SHOT”. Peter will work for days to get one right image for his gallery, just looking for the perfect 2 minutes of daylight that day has to offer. He will hike onto a ledge that is inches between life and death, to get 10 degrees better on an angle of the Grand Canyon that he wants. Peter is not the only person I plan to give this much praise, for sure there are hundreds of “top photographers” of the world – which is exactly what exploring this blog is designed to highlight. Stay tuned.

In the last few years I have increased my photography classes immensely.   About four years ago I began when Alyssa at Westland Academy for the Arts asked me to teach a few basic photo classes.  I decided to expand on this over time and it has now grown into photo workshops several times a year.  The latest workshop series started in September and will conclude in December.  This four part workshop series, a total of 12 hours, has taken part in four different locations – on four separate days.  I teach my students about the basics, then we concentrate in class 2 on shutter speed by holding the class from 7-10pm in the dark night – shooting light trails caused by passing cars and running around with glow sticks!  So if you’re interested in joining me and a class full of fun photography enthusiasts, stay tuned for our next series to begin in February.  Sign-up for our newsletter on the website or follow us on facebook & twitter and you’ll always be informed of whats going on.  Peace, Snapshots & Love

-A.

Welcome to my WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY blog!

I decided to make a blog separate from my studio blog… which is what my wonderful studio manager, Jackie, puts together for your viewing pleasure – without fail, each and every week.  The studio blog is to let you know what’s going on in SkySight.  This blog will be about the “world” of photography… Who’s the hot new fashion photogs?  What is the newest National Geographic Expedition to be announced?  What photo contests are emerging that you can take part in?  What suggestions do I have for taking great summer vacation shots?  What creative work am I doing that does not involve portraiture or weddings?  To sum it up… These blogs will be short, fun, and casual.  Expect typos.  Expect run-on’s and bad grammar.  Basically… If you have a love for photography, stay tuned and I’ll try to give you your photo fix.  Hugs to you photo bugs!

-A

On Saturday, November 5, Autumn and a small group of students traveled to Pittsburgh for the third installment of ‘SkySight Photo School.’ The class was a photography walk focusing on the topics of photojournalism and night photography.

The class convened at the Pittsburgh Public Market, starting their day by wandering the outdoor stalls of produce and goods. Here, their goal was to practice photojournalism; so, they were capturing grittier, urban-esque stills of market in action.

The results were reminiscent of those Autumn took at the Moroccan open-air markets. In fact, that trip, and the photos Autumn took there, were a bit of an inspiration for this class.

After the market, the class moved on to the West End Overlook. Here, the topic turned to low-light and night photography, and Autumn and the students practiced shooting the city skyline and fall foliage against the setting sun.

Thankfully, the early-November weather was mild and beautiful! The overlook shots were just spectacular, making the trees and sky burst and explode with color. Take a look at the shots below and you’ll see what I mean.

And of course, thanks to everyone who’s attended one of our classes! Hope you loved ‘em!

If you’d like to join our LAST photo walk of this ‘Photo School’ series, check out the details here. Again, it’ll be a hands-on, intensive workshop. This time, the class will be based in Greensburg and will focus on the topics of outdoor portraiture and fashion photography. The class will include a fashion model, who will model both standard outdoor portraiture and “high-fashion” outdoor photography.

The photo walk will be held on Sunday, December 11, from 2:00pm – 5:00pm. The course is $75/person. Limited spots are available, so please contact the studio ASAP to register!

Since starting at SkySight over a year ago (which I can hardly believe), I have posted here on the SkySight blog, in turn with Autumn, almost every week. Additionally, I have also worked with a new and varied set of beautiful photos each week – of tiny, sleeping newborn babies, perfectly poised families, creative, expressive seniors and even some tenacious tots.

But upon hitting the one-year mark at the studio, I discovered that over my time here I have established an understanding of and relationship with many of our repeat clients. And since much of our clientele is comprised of babies and small children, I have, in turn, also had the unique and wonderful opportunity to watch many newborns and babies grow into big kids – right before my very eyes!

As the youngest child in a small family, this is an experience completely new to me! Take, for instance, a session who just returned to the studio this week for their proof appointment: Mom Susan brought her son Nolan and new baby sister Addie for a session in October. Last October, Susan and Nolan first visited SkySight for Nolan’s 2-year photos. They had an outdoor session in the fall leaves that produced so many great shots! (And if you’ve been to the studio in the last year or so, you might have noticed Nolan’s photos gracing one of our sample mini-accordions.. my favorite sample!)

Take a look back at a few of my favorites from Nolan’s first session:

Nolan, October 2010:

This year, when Nolan returned to the studio, I could hardly believe how he had grown and how his looks had changed! The saying is true, I suppose, what a difference a year makes!

Nolan, October 2011:

Addie, October 2011:

And even though I may play just a small part in the process, I like to think that I’m helping ensure that families like Nolan’s have great photography that captures all the memories of their little one’s childhood – photos that will allow them to remember their children each step along the way to adulthood: from baby, to toddler, to big kid, teen and beyond.

What a week! It’s been all about holiday decorating and preparing our new holiday sets and props. It’s been a lot of work, but we’re definitely excited for the holiday season and for our clients to see all our new stuff! (Take a sneek-peak of one new holiday set on Facebook! Think.. Winter Wonderland!)

Last week, however, we were worlds away from the holidays! It was all about bright colors, cheery outfits and some teeny-tiny tots in tutus!

We had two baby sessions that centered around some adorable tutu skirts, flowers and pearls.

Take a look at Baby Avery’s session, which was all about bright red and girly pinks:

Avery’s session also included a different look, which wasn’t exactly a tutu, but a flowered diaper cover worn with baby ballet shoes – but it was a little softer and more natural than her other tutu shots.

Baby Story’s session also had a great sequence of tutu shots. Her’s were purple-one-purple and purple-on-yellow. Again, soft, colorful and girly. And both are too sweet!

If you like the tutu look for your little one, check out PoshLittleTutus.com or our personal favorite – Etsy! Happy Shopping!