Water, water, everywhere…. a CT Teen Photo Shoot

Water, water, everywhere….

a CT Teen Photo Shoot

So all good concept shoots start with an idea, I sit on it for a few days and then it develops into a Pinterest board where I gather all kinds of inspiration images and start to narrow the focus of what I want to shoot. A message goes out to the Planet Photo Tribe and this time Nora, Olivia, Taylor and Avery answered the call and we set the date.

In a week of sun and almost 90 degrees temps, of course we picked the day when the temperature dropped 20 degrees and the rain started. So the debate began… to reschedule or not?

On the plus side; I had four tribe members ready to go, there was a gap in the rain right at our shoot time and the weather would probably mean that we would have the place to ourselves.

On the other hand, the weather was supposed to be hot again all weekend but that would probably mean that the river would be teaming with people…..we decided to go for it.

I am so glad we did!

CT Teen Photo Shoot

Thanks to Avery, Nora, Olivia and Taylor for getting into the river for our water shoot. Judging by the images we got on our concept shoot, I really think that every portrait session should end with a dip in the river – what do you think?

Do YOU dare?


Taylor’s dress and Avery’s outfit came from Forever 21
Olivia’s pants were from American Eagle
Nora’s dress was her own 😉

Taylor helped with make up for the shoot and she rocked it – I think I see a future there….

If you are thinking of booking a teen or senior portrait shoot then we can incorporate multiple locations and concepts into your shoot. I personally plan all the sessions to be as unique and individual as we all are. You let me know if you are more of a wall art person or an album person, that helps to compose shots and make sure you get lots of choices. Don’t worry, I help with that part too. I can design a collection of portraits for your wall or a beautiful press printed album.

Portraits should never be boring!

Janet xo

Sweet as Sugar – Teen Photography Concept Shoot

Sweet as Sugar!

A teen photography concept shoot

The Planet Photo Tribe have been looking forward to the sweet as sugar concept shoot for a while. We were invited to shoot at Tasty Waves on Main Street in New Milford so lots of candy AND frozen yoghurt. Tasty Waves has become a New Milford staple so the tribe was happy to shoot there. Thanks to Abbi for helping the rest of the Tribe with some sweet make-up!

Sweet as sugar Cold as ice. Hurt me once, I’ll Break you twice

I looked into the expression Sweet as Sugar and found a song by an Australian song writer called Lenka. You really can be everything! And work on your simile skills at the same time!

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house
All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything
As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad
As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale
All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything
As warm as the, the sun, as silly as fun
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice
As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
Stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be
All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything at once

 

Thanks to Abbi, Katelyn, Madie, Audrey and Sam for wearing lots of candy for our shoot. Have a sweet summer everyone!
Janet

 

A Connecticut Senior Concept Shoot at Five Guys

Connecticut Senior Concept Shoot

You know when an idea starts to form in your mind and you get completely carried away and excited with all the amazing possibilities? That’s what happened with this concept shoot… it started with the color RED. Then the brainstorming began and it turned into a game of work association…. red, Five Guys, retro, roller skates, graphic t’s, athletic shorts, high tube socks, RED! the car wash in New Milford, retro again, laundromat, 70’s, converse, Baywatch, RED!

A call went out to the Planet Photo Tribe for a last minute concept shoot and we were off and running. I tried to get the roller skates, they actually became a bit of an obsession I will readily admit, but it was just not meant to be 🙁

I think we managed to pull it off though – what do you think?

“Featured-On-Seniors-Ignite-June-2017”UPDATED! Seniors Ignite thought we pulled it off – we were featured on the Seniors Ignite website!

Connecticut senior shoot

Five Guys was opening a new store in New Milford so we arranged to meet for lunch there and then the heavens opened for one of the many crazy heavy rainstorms we have been having of late in Connecticut – what is going on with the weather? It feels like we are living in a rainforest!! We moved indoors to the new (and much nicer than any laundromat I ever used) Stay Fresh Laundromat down the road to finish up our retro, red, 70’s vibe shoot.Connecticut senior

Thank you to Abbi, Nora and Haegan who were amazing with their styling and their willingness to jump into my crazy concept.

If you are a Connecticut senior and want to schedule a session before you go off to college then I would love to hear from you!

Connecticut seniorConnecticut seniorConnecticut seniorConnecticut senior

 

Concept Photo Shoot with Gels New Milford CT Photographer

Tribe Concept Photo Shoot

One of the benefits of being part of the Planet Photo Tribe is that I invite them to be part of concept shoots, it might be a technical aspect of photography or just something cool that I want to experiment with. This shoot was a shooting challenge from Seniors Ignite, to use gels creatively in a photo shoot. I enlisted Olivia and Avery to help me out and we ventured out of the studio into the alleyways of New Milford 🙂

You are probably asking yourself, What is a gel?

“A color gel or color filter , also known as lighting gel or simply gel, is a transparent colored material that is used in theater, event production, photography, videography and cinematography to color light and for color correction.”

That might be the actual definition but what it really translates to is another AMAZING photography trick to make portraits different and to convey a mood in an unconventional way. I love warm tones but I have to say I actually prefer the look of the cooler blue gel.

I guess I should also mention that Avery and Olivia were featured on the Seniors Ignite Master Series  Welcome to the Best of the Best! Avery was a master of the hair flip which is not as easy as it looks. I am so proud of the whole 2K17 Tribe, they have been a great group to work and collaborate with. If you are still thinking about joining the 2K18 Planet Photo Tribe time is running out and enrollment is closing SOON!

 

“Master-Series-Gels”

 

Winter Wonderland Model Tribe Shoot Dikes Point New Milford

Winter Wonderland – Planet Photo Tribe

Winter portraits

We finally got snow! And lots of it…… so time for some winter portraits!

I met a few of the girls from the Planet Photo Tribe out on the shores of Candlewood Lake to have some fun in the snow. Dikes Point is stunning year round. It is the perfect vantage point to appreciate the fall colors and summer boat rides, but on this day the lake was smooth and as calm as could be. Candlewood Lake is usually a great winter destination for ice fisherman, ice skaters and daring snow mobile rides but not this year….. the lake has yet to totally freeze. As everyone keeps saying, it’s early yet, we could still have a lot more snow and many more days of freezing temperatures. I guess you just have to be careful what you wish for!

Winter portraitsWinter portraitsWinter portraits

Thanks to Avery, Kaitlyn, Olivia and Sam for braving the cold and sharing a hot chocolate with me at the lake!

Stay warm!

Janet xo


Some of the group concept shoots are planned out in advance and some are added last minute to take advantage of a particular situation. A combination of 12 inches of fresh powder snow and 40 degree weather meant that we HAD to go out and shoot so  this was a last minute add-on for the Planet Photo Tribe! Check back for our next group shoot.

 

 

California Dreaming with the We are the SEEN winning models

What happens if you are chosen as one of the 12 Undiscovered “We are the SEEN” winning models?

You are invited to a weekend long model portfolio shoot and a shoot-out with over 30 of the industry’s top senior photographers. This year we met in Palm Springs California! These 12 models were chosen from 800+ entries from around the country for this amazing opportunity for an incredible, once in a lifetime, styled shoot.

The locations were OUT of the this WORLD!

We started out shooting at the incredibly hip and 60’s inspired Ace Hotel, then moved to The Lautner Hotel. The Lautner Hotel and Compound is an architectural gem, a collection of three boutique properties that have been masterfully restored and designed. It has been featured in countless magazines and fashion campaigns so it was PERFECTION for our shoot! We ended the day out in the middle of the desert at a windmill farm…. I know really?

The models were KILLER in front of the camera.

The other photographers who attended were super fun and collaborative.

We want the standard of high school senior and teen portrait photography to be raised every year and we challenge each other to make it better for ALL our clients. It’s a win-win for everyone and so fun to be part of this group.

The images are to die for!

You are going to love them ALL.

Of course, unfortunately we don’t all live within driving distance of Palm Springs but what is to say that we don’t plan a destination session for your senior portrait session? Together we can design and style a portrait experience that you will NEVER forget. Whether you can imagine your self on the fashion streets of New York City or Boston or you prefer an island getaway, together we can make it happen.

Credits for the Palm Springs Shoot:

Styling: Cassie McBride

Hair: Suzii Andrews @suziiandrews and Genevieve Gian @genevievegianhair

Make Up: Krista Kemp @kristask and Jami Cox @redbettie7

 

Halloween Styled Photo Shoot

Halloween Styled Photo Shoot

Part II – In color

Thanks for all the great feedback on Part I of our Halloween styled shoot. We really did have a lot of fun and as “creepy amazing” as some of the images looked, we had lots of laughs and so many of the creative ideas came from the girls, so a huge thank you to them.

halloween styled photo shoot

Did you know…..The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

model-tribe_halloween_harrybrooke_park_new-milford_ghosts__0016model-tribe_halloween_harrybrooke_park_new-milford_ghosts__0017model-tribe_halloween_harrybrooke_park_new-milford_ghosts__0020

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter. halloween styled photo shootmodel-tribe_halloween_harrybrooke_park_new-milford_ghosts__0018halloween styled photo shootmodel-tribe_halloween_harrybrooke_park_new-milford_ghosts__0023

When I was growing up in England dressing up for Halloween always centered on ghosts, witches and the more traditional side of Halloween. I don’t remember seeing jack-0-lanterns and the modern version of trick-or-treating and children dressing as princesses and super heroes seems to have been established in the US in the early 1950’s although I am pretty sure it is popular in lots of other countries now. One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween – how crazy is that!

A huge thank you to Harrybrooke Park and the Harden House for our amazing location and there is still time to visit the haunted trail on October 28 and 29, 2016.

Happy Halloween!

Janet xo