baby announcement

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nicholas & christine

baby james

He's here!  This adorable baby boy that was cooking inside his momma decided to emerge on the first day of spring.  I had the pleasure of photographing baby James with his mama & daddy this past Saturday, exactly two weeks after he was born.  Congratulations Rebecca & Sean!  I'm so happy for you.  You are a beautiful family.  Here is a sneak peek from our session.  I'll be putting together a short slideshow of some of my favorite maternity & newborn pics sometime soon.

Anne & Family

     So, I have this friend named Anne that I know from high school.  A few months ago, she hit me up about doing a lifestyle portrait session for her family.   We set a date, and then snow arrived.  We were gonna roll with it, figuring that the snow would make for a lovely backdrop, but her family got sick.  Then, Snowmageddon I hit.  Then Snowmageddon II.  Postpone, postpone, postpone.  Well, finally, the weather took a turn for the nice, in fact, really nice.  It was totally gorgeous last Sunday.  They live in Takoma Park, MD, so I drove up, and we met at Sligo Creek Park.  Absolutely beautiful setting.  My favorite type of spot - woods, creek, rocks.   And these kids are adorable.  Especially the younger boy, Gabe.  I personally think my son is pretty much the cutest human being on the planet, (not being biased of course :) but Gabe definitely rivals him for that title.  He kinda looks like the Gerber baby.  The rest of the family is pretty cute too.  

     Below are before & afters of some of my personal favorites.  One of the things I try to do for my clients is demystify the post-production process.  I think many folks who have not worked with a professional photographer (and I'm not referring to a chain portrait studio) don't really know what goes into this art form outside of taking the pictures, and I think it's important when you're looking through your masters from a shoot to be able to visualize what they will look like after getting 'the treatment'.  There are different styles and trends in photo editing, with different goals in mind.  Having looked around at a lot of photographers' work, in my opinion, sometimes it's a bit overdone.  Generally speaking, I try to stay true to my roots as a photojournalist, enhancing what I see, but letting the subject speak for itself.  Some of these ultimately may be cropped differently and editing adjusted a bit, depending on the print format that's chosen.   

     Thanks to Anne & Alexi for having such beautiful children!  Enjoy.

 

© artis mooney : BOUNDLESSphotoarts.com

slideshows

Yesterday, I finished a slideshow that I'd love to share with you, along with a little background...

I was contacted by Lisa, whose boyfriend is the Head Coach for the Robert E. Lee High School Football Team - the Lee Lancers.  She said she wanted a slideshow made of some images from their season, to be presented at an upcoming banquet.  In a note she wrote me, she told a bit of the story:  "The school has a unique history; though part of the Fairfax county schools, most of the kids that attend Lee are on the lower socioeconomic scale of the county.  They are used to many upsets and failures in life and this year managed to make it all the way to the Regional Finals (a first in the school's history).... The coaches are all educators who dedicate hours and hours to these players.  They help them with everything from school work, to life, to education, to college placement and searching.  The football banquet is the first ever banquet as well.  This slideshow is my gift to the team."

This was a really fun project to work on.  The images were from a county photographer by the name of Gary Black III.  I edited the pictures, cropping way in on some, and optimizing all for lighting, color & contrast, then formatted them into a slideshow accompanied by two songs of her choosing: Best of You by Foo Fighters and Time of Your Life by Green Day.  I love the emotional impact of slideshows set to music.  I got choked up watching the slideshow despite the fact that they're not my images and I don't even know these guys.  Keep slideshows in mind when thinking about what you'd like to get out of your shoot. Enjoy!

Lee Lancers 2009 - Best Season Yet! from artis mooney on Vimeo.

On to the next project....