Corporate Head Shots-Ann Arbor, MI Photographer-Pretty Ellen

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now...working with adults every now and then is awesome. They listen, they pose the way you ask them to and they never run away from me. I donated a free session and 5 high res digital files to the Young Women's group at church for a fund raising event they had a few weeks ago. Ellen said she was in a bidding war with another woman but eventually won and today we did our session. Ellen is a beautiful lady and very, very intelligent. She is writing a book in fact and that is why she wanted her portrait taken. Here are a few of the first files I've finished tonight for a quick sneak peek.

I've never really done corporate head shots before so posing Ellen was a first for me. Plus she is an older sophisticated woman in a gorgeous suit so I couldn't have her sitting on the ground. Have you ever taken pictures for working professionals? If so, what are some of your tried and true poses and locations to do this sort of thing? More to come soon! =)

How to get your toddler to SMILE for the camera

Getting McKenna to sit still long enough for a picture is hard enough...getting her to smile for me is nearly impossible most of the time but she has finally gotten to the age where this little trick actually works. This is pretty much how the conversation went and the pictures correspond...

"Hey McKenna." Picture 1 (getting her attention)
"What is that you have there?" Picture 2 (looking at her fire truck)
"Oh I know...it's a hot dog!" Picture 3 (laughing at my dumb guess)
*I go through a series dumb guess that really get her going Picture 4 (head back in hilarity)

Tickling (or the threat of tickles) was a good trick when she was younger and the tried and true..."Don't you smile! Don't you do it! You better stop it!" They just can't resist that one.

Bribes are also a great incentive although the smiles aren't always as genuine.

Do you have any great tricks for getting your children to smile in pictures? Any favorite stuffed animals or noise toys to recommend? I'd love to hear about it!

Evans Family

Gotta love photography swaps! I haven't had family portraits done since McKenna was 2 weeks old so we were WAY overdue to get some great pics taken. Thankfully, I know an amazing photographer from church and we decided to swap last week. Take a look at the result!

The Evans Family moved to A2 around the same time we did last year. The hub is doing his residency here. 

These girls were awesome. I especially love this shot. How many teeth are missing from her mouth? =)

I love this shot. She was being shy but it came off as playing coy or something like that. 

The sunglasses were Mom's idea. They were a cute addition. 

I found this stool and painted it the day of the shoot. It is the same color that's on the walls in my kitchen! =)

I bought this bucket too for the girls to sit on. But this is a much cuter shot if you ask me. 

I bought a squeaker in Hong Kong for my photo shoots to help me get the attention of little kids. The girls were totally done by this point but I promised them they could play with my squeaker if they would smile for me. It worked like a charm!

This is my friend. Isn't she beautiful? She deserves to have beautiful pictures of herself every once in awhile too. 

These are a few of the shots my friend did for me. She had a great eye and she was great at posing us. We had a great time and I hope we can do this again! We just exchanged RAW files so I did my own photo shop work on these. 

My fav model on location

Schaumann's in Shanghai

Olie Olie Oxenfree!

Shanghai Sweetie

I've only been in Shanghai for a few weeks and I've already had the opportunity to photograph several families. I'm having trouble uploading some of my previews but here are 3 for now. =)