I need your help! (and a mini-tip)

To all of my current and previous customers:

I am asking a favor of you...

...could you email me a picture of any of the images I have taken for you that you have displayed in your house/desk/gifted etc.?

It can be taken with your phone, I'm not looking for hi-res images. I just want to put a fun collection together of images I've taken that are now currently displayed in people's houses, offices, grandparents house, in your car. It can be in a frame, hanging on the fridge, or a canvas on the wall. If I took it, and you're displaying it, send it my way!

You can email me the snapshot at nicolegiefer@gmail.com.

Here's the mini-tip: This is MY professional opinion - not a requirement by any means. But I suggest always printing your photos in a MATTE finish versus a Glossy finish. The matte finish gives it a higher quality look and shows less editing marks. Of course printing on canvas and other high-end quality products are also recommended. I would just stay away from the glossy texture if at all possible.

There you go! Happy Wednesday (insert camel commercial here).

Sample of a snapshot displayed in a friends house, of a photo I took for them below.

James - 8 months

Love how freaking cute this kid is. But seriously, beyond his sweet face is a super, duper HAPPY kid. This photo session took about 20 minutes. He smiled, and sat, and did everything I needed him to do. And look at the gems of pictures we got of him!

The last picture I just had to add because all I could think about captioning this picture was, "There's no crying in baseball!" Which fits perfectly. Except for that he wasn't even really crying. I had been trying to prop him up to stand for far too long and he got slightly annoyed. In no way, was he really crying, he's too happy of a baby for that.

Happy, almost-8 months old birthday - James!

Photography Tip - Where should you stand when taking a picture?

I thought I would change it up today and send a photography tip out. This tip is about how to capture the best picture possible. This isn't brain surgery or anything complicated like that. But my first and probably easiest tip about photography is to "GET DOWN (or up) TO YOUR SUBJECTS LEVEL."

Doesn't that seem simple enough if you think about it? If you have an 18 month old (one of the worst ages ever to get to participate in a photoshoot - in my opinion) and you stand above them with a big giant camera, jumping around trying to get them to smile, they are going to look at you like you have 4 heads, 16 eyes, and 12 arms. And ironcially enough, they won't think that's funny. What you end up getting is a picture with no smile, no reaction and a kid running in the opposite direction of you. And on the flip side, if you are photographing and adult family, and their kids are 5 inches taller then you, you don't want to be shooting up at them. Imagine what kind of results you would get.

This is an example of me getting DOWN to my subjects level. If I hadn't been down, on the ground, I would have missed a lot of the cute details of this picture - the grin, the shirt that says ONE on it, the striped leggings.

So get to your subjects level. Whether that be up or down, look them in the eye when at all possible.

Here is an example of a tall family. Only the kids were shorter then me, but not by much! So instead of posing this family on either flat ground, or on a hill, I had them stand down the hill from me so I can be at their eye level or even a little above. If I had shot this in the other direction, we would have gotten the "under the chin view" of these people. And coming from someone (me) who doesn't really like getting pictures taken of my "extra chin" I appreciate when the camera is not below my chin line.

If you ever have a photo session with me, by the end, I am a hot sweating mess. That's because I've been anywhere from laying on the ground to get a picture of your baby crawling to climbing up the side of tree to get eye level with a posed grown-up.

Try it yourself. Great pictures don't happen when you're by not moving around.

This tip does not just go for photography sessions with big fancy cameras. Use this tip even when taking a picture of your kid(s) with your phone. If you want just a little bit better artistic style, get yourself down to their eye level...or lower.

This picture was taken with my phone - no filters. I love it because instead of standing on the side of the baseline just snapping a quick picture, I went behind the base and bent down to their size to get a little bit more out of the picture.

Also, this tip does not just work when taking a picture of people. Use this tip when photographing just about anything. If you want a cool picture of a huge, weeping willow tree, it's probably going to be pretty hard to get UP to your subjects level. So get all the way down to the ground and get a wide, artistc view of the tree.

In my last example below, I want you imagine how this picture would be different if I hadn't gotten down to subjects level. I would have missed out on some of the bridge detail a the forefront of the picture.

So the next time you are about to snap a picture, stop and think...AM I AT MY SUBJECTS LEVEL?

Sweet 1 year old Will!

Someone I know is turning ONE tomorrow and he just couldn't be anymore sweet then he already is. His smile will melt you, his blue eyes will stop you in your tracks and his personality is the cherry on top.

Happy first birthday sweet Will!

On a side note, I TRY (really hard, but being the Mamarazzi that I am it's not easy) to only choose 5 pictures per shoot to share with everyone. But I couldn't on this shoot. The last few with his cupcake were just too cute. And I had to not choose a few more that I really wanted to just so that his mom and dad had some of their own to share.

Start of a new year - "It's humbling and motivating all mushed together"

Lots of new posts to come. Some with recent session photos, some with personal and professional goals, some that are interactive which I'll need your help with and some with tips for photography and style (which I have none of) and more.

Here's my giant THANK YOU for making 2013 the absolute best year I've had. Not just in this business but for meeting new people, learning so much more about photography and A LOT of learning about post production (yikes is that hard to learn)! And also learning so much about the business side of photography - the goods and the bads.

I have some REALLY lofty goals for 2014 and hoping to make this an even bigger and better year than 2013.

If I don't say it enough, I appreciate all the referrals people have sent my way. I am grateful for everyone who has reached out to me for photo sessions, with questions or referrals or just to catch up. Or when someone just sends me a nice message wishing me the best and letting me know they really like my photography. It's so humbling and motivating all mushed together.

The largest THANK YOU sent from me personally, literally from my heart. If I were Taylor Swift or Ellen I'd be putting my hands together in the shape of a heart and throwing them towards you.

And one last shameless plug to continue to share my site and Facebook page with all your friends, family and co-workers. We are going to take this dream and go as far as we possibly can with it!

Here's to an exciting 2014 and lots of hard work ahead! FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS, CHEERS FRIENDS!