Blog of photographer Kevin Ahronson

The Lane Family

I had a really crazy weekend with three families to photograph on the Saturday and another on Sunday, plus I had a wedding consultation with a lovely young couple who are planning to get married at the end of July. 

Saturday kicked off at 10.00am at the Lane's. Dan and Helen were a great couple to work with.  I totally wrecked their dining room when we ripped everything out to set up the portable studio.

Their two young children were as boisterous as any other youngster at that age -and absolutely loved trampling my background sheet to destruction!

I had such fun working with this young family and I'm looking forward to handing over the completed photographs later this week.  Each shot is optimised and re-touched in Photoshop to ensure the best quality results.  I like to take my time and tweak every image meticulously.

Below are a few images from the day.

You may leave comments at the end of the photos.

[click on photos for larger image]

Info for photographers:
The portable studio kit comprises of two Bowens flash heads, each fitted with softboxes and smaller flashes to illuminate the white backdrop.  All the units are fired wirelessly by a Pocketwizard trigger mounted on the camera.  I was using a Canon EOS 1D Mk4 with two lenses, 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 and a Sekonic L-358 flash meter with built-in Pocketwizard trigger.

 

 

 

 

Life is a minestrone...

I've been pondering recently just how unpredictable the photography business is. Six months ago I would never have anticipated being so busy at the beginning of 2011.

It's not just the quantity of enquiries coming in, but also the diversity of work.

I had planned to expand my wedding business this year, and indeed that is happening... but the amount of portrait work has grown way beyond my expectations, particularly with children and babies. I used to think this was the domain of female photographers, but I guess if people like your photography, it just doesn't matter.

Some clients like the fact that I will take my portable studio into their homes, whilst others prefer images that use available light, capturing images that are almost candid, and perhaps a little more natural in appearance.

I had also hoped to make some progress into the market of pre-wedding photos this year (sometimes called 'engagement shoots). This too had really taken off with a number of bookings in place during the Spring.

Local businesses have also been approaching me to photograph elements of their work recently. This is different again, and who knows where this might lead.

In the end, a good photo is a good photo, and I will continue to do my best whoever the client is. It is just a wonderful privilege to be able to make people happy by doing the one thing that I enjoy more than anything else...pressing the button on my camera.

More family photos

Another busy weekend has gone by with two family shoots.  The first with the Collis family  who took advantage of the January one hour promo, and the second with the Eeles Family, who went for a full three-hour session (and included Kirsten's sister's family too).

Both families had chosen to go for the studio format, which meant setting up the portable studio at both locations.  This usually takes about a half hour to set up - and another to pack away.  It makes for a long and tiring day, although most enjoyable.

The kids performed brilliantly, despite the fact that they were all under the age of three.  But it was the parents who were the real stars, showing both patience and endurance!!

Below are a few images from the day.

You may leave comments at the end of the photos.

[click on photos for larger image]

The Warren Family

Marc invited me to photograph his family as part of this month's promotion - A one-hour portrait shoot for £30.  We certainly cramed a lot of photos into that single hour and below are my personal favourites. 

The response the the £30 offer has been extraordinary - with only one remaining Saturday afternoon spot (on 29th) still available. 

Marc chose not to have the studio-type photograph, but opted for available light (although I did suppliment some of the shots with a wireless controlled softbox to capture the kids jumping on the beds.

(For the photographers out there, I used a single Canon Speedlight 580EX II, fired through a Lastolite Ezybox, controlled by a Pocketwizard Flex & Mini.  The Pocketwizard was set to ETTL and I used high speed sync at 1/800 sec).

All shots were processed in Photoshop as part of the deal, to ensure the best image possible. 

 

You may leave comments at the end of the photos.

[click on photos for larger image]

8 day old newborn

It was my absolute pleasure to photograph the 8 day old newborn of James and Jayne earlier today.  What we though might be a 1½ - 2 hour shoot, lasted over four hours (including set-up of equipment) and we were all pretty exhausted at the end.

With the baby being so young, we had to really warm the room up.  It was ok for him, he had all his clothes off, but we were dripping with sweat!

Babies are much more co-operative when they are sleepy, but this young lad wasn't going to have it.  Despite having two very patient parents, who tried hard to get him to behave in front of the camera, he refused tp submit.  And what an appetitie! (apparently he takes after his father), we stopped four or five times while Jayne fed him. 

In the end we did get some great shots, here are a selection.

You may leave comments at the end of the photos.

[click on photos for larger image]