Mother and Child

This story has a happy ending. Once upon a time, a Union Hill neighbor MaryBeth, brought her 5-month old daughter, Rigby to the portrait studio. Now Rigby, being an exceedingly intelligent child, was not to be fooled by the usual photographer's tricks. No funny face, nor silly sound could get her to smile or laugh. The harder the photographer worked at being crazy and wacky, the more she looked simply perplexed. Understandably, Rigby's mom and dad wanted happy baby images to choose from. But Rigby would have none of it. So the photographer got the good sense to ask MaryBeth to hold her daughter. Well, that did the trick. Nothing makes a baby smile like a mother's caress. Now everyone lives happily ever after.
Image Copyright 2007 Elaine Odell, Church Hill Photography, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Guys in Ties

One of the things we do alot (and I did this shoot with photographer/assistant Beth Furgeson) is go into workplaces and make environmental portraits. Last week, Brady Communications asked us to visit one of their long-term clients, Quad-C Equity Management. Two new analysts had just joined the firm and needed their images on the company website.

Our goal was, with as little disruption as possible, to make a nice portrait of each fella in their current workspace. Since these guys are financial/business analysts, there was paper everywhere, lots of binders, books, spreadsheets, you name it. They have loads of information to keep track of.

As the photographer, my job is often to decide what not to include in the image frame. Both guys asked "do we need to clean up our desks?" I said the same think I always do, "no". Some how we always find a flattering angle and create lighting that eliminates the distracting junk that is in everyone's office. It didn't hurt that both these guys are youthful and handsome. They look professional and approachable.

All images and text copyright 2007, Elaine Odell, Church Hill Photography, LLC. All rights reserved.