How many times do you take photographs of your children? If you are like most moms, your answer is tons. But, usually, one thing is missing - YOU! Where is mom in the photos? Mom is most likely the one behind the camera and never in the pictures. How sad to think when your children look through their childhood photos years from now and only see them or them with dad but ask, "Where's mom?" Sadly, that's true of my family photos from when I was a child. There are very few, and I mean, very few photos of my sister and I with my mom or even with my mom and dad together in a photo. So, when I grew up and had a family of my own, I always made sure I was in several photos when taking pictures of my children. Photos have always been important to me and I wanted to be in them with my children. Also, when my parents were still living, I made sure we always took photos together. The tripod is my friend! When you are not in the photos, your history as a mother isn't being documented. You are everywhere in the lives of your children as they are growing up by playing with them, helping with school projects, going on family vacations and cheering them on at sporting events, but usually not present in their documented history. I would have loved seeing my mother in pictures with my sister and I. However, she told me she didn't stand being photographed. When I became an adult and started taking pictures at family gatherings, it was always a struggle to get her to be in them. But, I made her because she knew how important it was to me to have those memories to look at years later and to show them to my own children as they grew older. Now, that I'm a grandmother, I always make sure I take photos with my grandchildren - memories for me and memories for them. Today, the majority of moms want to capture everything that is happening in the lives of their children, yet are the ones behind the camera and never with their children in the photographs. Don't be "that" mom. Be in the photographs with your children. It is so easy to do so now with cameras having self-timers and using a tripod or even just using your phone and taking a selfie. Be in the photos with your children! Don't worry that you may not look "picture perfect." Motherhood is never perfect and capturing raw, natural moments will be cherished because it depicts real life - what was happening right then and, therefore, will bring back wonderful memories as you and your children go back and look through that album or box of photographs. It's great to have professional portraits taken, but it's also just as important for you as the mom to capture those everyday moments with your children and be in the photos with them. Capturing the good, the bad and the ugly of everyday life will represent a true life story of their childhood. That's reality - in its rawest form that should be documented. Believe me. You will cherish these portraits forever as will your children and generations to come. The photos you take of just your children, are for you. The photos you take of your children with you, are for them. They will always remember how much they were and still are loved.
Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn photography and now families. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Book A Call" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309.
We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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When I first started my photography business, I wanted and thought everything had to be perfect with regard to posing babies. I thought they had to lay a certain way, wear certain things, be wrapped, be placed in some type of prop, and be posed in usually unnatural type of poses. Even though, I never perfectly posed in a way that would bring harm to them as safety was and still is always my number one concern when photographing babies. However, earlier this year I started seeing more and more natural, lifestyle type of photography that really opened my eyes and thoughts that photography doesn't have to be perfect to create beautiful, lifelong memories for families. What really turned me around was when I purchased an online lifestyle newborn photography workshop. After watching and studying that lifestyle type of photography, I absolutely fell in love with it and began to totally change my way of thinking and realizing it was okay to photograph babies and families in their own natural, real-life environment capturing true raw emotion through connecting with each other, with very little guidance from me. What an overwhelming burden that was lifted from me. No more cumbersome and sometimes heavy props to pack up, unload, set up and then load back in. No more "perfect" posing. It was such a release and a freeing feeling. Now, all I need to take with me is my camera. Since making the change to lifestyle photography, I have been updating my website and have been removing most of my previous posed images and replaced them with a mom looking down on her newborn or children making muffins in the kitchen or playing cards or just babies just as they are. I am a proponent of baby-led posing now. Photographing lifestyle in the home is just so easy, natural, relaxing and fun. The switch from posed to lifestyle was really a no-brainer. It's the best decision I have made in my photography business. It just opens up many more doors, for example, adding families. Previously, I was only shooting maternity and newborns and sometimes the mom and dad with the baby, but not really the entire immediate family. Now, it's just so much more comfortable knowing no one has to look perfect, no one has to be put in stiff poses and no more staring straight into the camera and saying, "cheese." In fact, it will be rare if I ask you to look at the camera. If I am just photographing the baby at the time and your toddler comes running and jumps on the bed, that's great! I'll capture it. That is real life, raw emotion and, most importantly, connecting with one another. Lifestyle is more like a storybook rather than a book of stiff poses. Are you ready to create your own storybook? Great! Click on the button below now so we can get started on telling your story and creating an heirloom of your visual history that will be passed down from generation to generation.
DreamWorld Photography is so excited to announce we are expanding our services. In addition to capturing your maternity, fresh 48 and newborn photos, you can now include your family portraits, all in the lifestyle setting of your own home and/or even outside if you love your front or backyard.
I absolutely love the lifestyle genre of photography. Families don't have to feel awkward in traditional, stiff, look at the camera posing. With lifestyle, you never have to worry whether you or your children are looking and smiling at the camera. I probably won't ask you to look at the camera at all except for a very few shots. Lifestyle is all about connection - connecting in a natural way and, of course, having fun while doing it! Those will be the best and the most memorable images we will capture. Below is a lifestyle example of a family with children baking and playing cards with their mom. Are you ready to capture your real life and make lifetime visual histories of your family? In celebration of this new service, we are offering a limited edition session on Saturday, July 6, 2019 with only six slots available. You must live in Manatee or Sarasota County, Florida to take advantage of this offer. Follow the instructions on the flyer below and let's get you and your family booked.
Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn photography and now families. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Let's Start a Conversation" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309.
We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon. The other night I had a dream where I was attending a social gathering with a friend at a wealthy woman’s home whom I had never met. After the proper introductions, this wealthy woman, whom I’ll call Elizabeth, asked the standard, what seems to be the obligatory question when meeting someone for the first time, of, “so, what do you do?” This is how the conversation unfolded: Me: I’m a portrait artist creating beautiful, lifelong visual histories for families. Elizabeth: Oh, so you are a painter? Me: No, I’m a photographer. I create art by taking images and have them printed as beautiful pieces of artwork for my clients’ walls or tables. Just like your beautiful painting of a landscape hanging over your mantel. Elizabeth: So, do you take pictures just as a hobby, then? What's your real job? Me: Actually, it is my real job. I own my own photography business. I create original pieces of art that will be passed down from generation to generation. Now, take your painting there above the mantel. Does that happen to be an original? Elizabeth: No, it's not. Me: Well, you see, it is just a copy from an artist that painted a scene of a place you probably don’t even know or have ever visited. It really carries no memories for you other than you liked the painting, so you bought it. That painting most likely will not be passed down to your children, grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. They may not even like it because it’s not their taste or style of painting. However, if you have an original piece of artwork that showcases your family frozen in a moment of time, don’t you think those pieces of photography artwork most likely would be passed down to your children and future generations as they are family? They would want to keep it to show their children and grandchildren one day that would give a visual history of your family and tell a story through all the years to come, long after you are gone. Don’t you just love it when you look at old photographs of your family? What if you didn’t have any visual history of the past? That would be so sad. So, I am rich. I am rich in knowing I have created professional, gorgeous artwork of lifelong visual histories for families to display and know they will be carried on to future generations. I don't think your painting here would carry on those same memories. What story does it tell? It told a story to the artist, but most likely not you. Elizabeth: Oh, I see. Well, when you put it that way, I guess being a portrait artist is a real job and something to be very proud of. Me. Most definitely! End of dream sequence. :-) This picture shown here is of my grandfather; my mother’s father, taken in 1941. I value and cherish this photo. He died when I was just one year’s old so I never got to know him. If I didn’t have this picture, I would never have known what he looked like. However, through this photograph, I was able to, at least, make some connection with him. Isn’t that what family is all about – making connections? Therefore, I am running a limited edition session to make it easy and convenient for you to get those family photos, whether it is maternity, newborn or your family as they are now. Let's do this! Are you ready to create your family connection with an original piece of artwork that will spark memories of frozen moments in time of your family and for your family? Contact me.
In honor of Father's Day, I am offering Daddy and Me limited edition sessions. I believe dads need as much recognition as moms. I usually don't see too many photographs with just dad and his children, so I would like to change that.
Moms, if you are reading this, consider gifting this to your hubby as a way to show how much you appreciate him on Father's Day. See the flyer below and contact me to discuss details and to book your time.
Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn photography and now families. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Let's Start a Conversation" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309.
We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Pictures tell stories. A photo is a frozen moment in time. You will never get that exact same moment back again, except in photos. Looking back at them years from now will stir up those wonderful memories again. What’s wrong with this “picture” today? We rarely get to see these memories because they are stored on flash drives or on the computer, never to be seen by your family or friends when they come over to your house. Well, maybe some are shared on social media, which is fine for some, but there are some photographs that are just screaming to be printed and displayed as beautiful artwork and passed down from generation to generation. Digitals years from now may not even exist or the next several generations may not be able to download them because technology changes all the time. Who knows how digitals will be stored 20 years from now. That’s why it is so important to print the best of what represents your family at the time and not live in a digital format forever. Real, touchable photographs seize tangible memories and feelings of love that is impractical to achieve from a digital image. Think of your family now and then think ten years ahead of what joy it will bring to look at that beautiful piece of artwork you printed to see how much everyone has changed. What memories and joy it will bring to you and your family. You might not be able to do that so easily if all your images were still on digitals. Technology is so fleeting and your treasured memories may be gone in a flash. Remember those floppy disks from what seems like many moons ago? What if all your images from that time were stored on those disks? They would be pretty inaccessible now unless you found some service that could convert them into digitals, but what would the quality be like? Probably not the best to have printed now as they would have been back 20 or so years ago. It’s great to have digitals for archival purposes, but having your favorites printed won’t be affected by changing technology. I believe, even in this digital age, that people still truly love looking at something tangible, such as an album or viewing a piece of artwork on the wall. Think about it. If your family photos, especially from a special event, such as a wedding or newborn photos of each of your children, were only stored on your laptop, where is that laptop going to be in 20 years? It’s going to be obsolete. It may not even exist anymore. Even if all the images were stored on flash drives, will those pass down from generation to generation? Most likely not. They would probably be lost somewhere down the road. Prints, artwork for your wall, albums, etc. last forever! Consider them heirlooms to be passed down to each generation. Those flash drives may never make it to your future generations. This is why I include a photo album with my all-inclusive packages so, at least, even if you do not order artwork for your walls, you will have one tangible item to showcase your beautiful images for all to enjoy and to be passed on to your future generations.
Patti specializes in Maternity, Fresh 48 and lifestyle Newborn photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your maternity, fresh 48 and/or newborn session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Let's Start a Conversation" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Displaying your photography art portraiture is unique because it is your family - it is custom and personal only to you. It's a beautiful way to showcase your visual history.
But, you may have no idea on how to display this beautiful artwork on your own walls or tables. Your space could be limited and you don't want what everyone else has. To help you with this, here are five creative ways to display your art portraiture: 1. Hang it up in unexpected places - A beautiful framed artwork hanging on the center of a bookcase looks beautiful and interesting. A guest bathroom is a great unexpected place where guests will be sure to see a gorgeous portrait of your newborn and/or whole family. Transitional places, such as, hallways or office nooks are some other great unexpected places to display smaller pieces. 2. Overlap - display several pieces on shelves and overlap them giving them a trendy look 3. Mix framed with unframed - no longer are we the society that has to have everything matchy, matchy and all the same size to look good. It is perfectly fine to mix framed and unframed artwork in the same area of space. It creates depth and gives an interesting look. 4. Place on floating shelves - this allows ease in changing up the artwork every so often to give the room a new look often. You can mix up the sizes and display them however you want 5. Coffee table display - not the most creative, but it's definitely a space saving tool - think albums, glass image boxes, folio boxes Additional ideas: You could even have your favorite image made into a Christmas ornament or even coasters. Calendars might be another idea to give as an annual gift to the grandparents. Jewelry is a popular way to have your children with you at all times either on a necklace, bracelet or keychain. In the whole scheme of things, it really doesn't matter how or where you display your photos; it only matters that you do! Your family and friends and generations to come will love seeing these printed photos. They may never see them if they are stuck on your computer or kept on a flash drive never to see the light of day. DreamWorld Photography will assist you in planning your displays if you decide to order additional artwork, other than the album that is included in my all-inclusive pricing packages. I can create and show you wall mockups so you can get an idea of exactly how your photos will look on your walls. All you need to do is ask. I am at your service.
Patti specializes in Maternity, Fresh 48 and lifestyle Newborn photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your maternity, fresh 48 and/or newborn session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Book an Appointment" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. DreamWorld Photography is currently booking through June 2019. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Lifestyle Newborn Photography | Digital Photography
This was my official last posed newborn session. Since at the time I photographed Baby Hannah, I was transitioning into lifestyle newborn photography, which is what I offer now. So, my client graciously allowed me to take some lifestyle shots along with the posed to begin building my lifestyle portfolio.
Baby Hannah was a doll. She slept beautifully through most of her session. She was very laid back, easy to move around and even gave us some smiles. Mama had to only feed her once. That hair, too! Thank you, Baby Hannah! I have the best job ever!
Patti specializes in Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn lifestyle photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your maternity, fresh 48 and/or newborn session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Book an Appointment" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. DreamWorld Photography is currently booking through June 2019. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Newborn Photography | Digital Photography Another beautiful little girl from Solve Maternity Homes - a place near and dear to my heart. Isn't she the cutest doll? She slept. She woke up. She peed. She pooed. She spit up. But, you would never know it from these photos. She still rocked her session and was such a delight to photograph. So adorbs. Don't you think so? Love my job! Patti specializes in Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn custom photography. If you are ready to book your maternity, fresh 48 and/or newborn session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click here or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. DreamWorld Photography is currently booking for February - March 2019. As maternity, fresh 48 and newborn photography are customized sessions, we only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Newborn Photography | Digital Photography I'm sure you may have read different ways newborn photographers ask their clients to prepare for their newborn photo session. The following information is what I ask my clients to do in order to prepare their newborn for our session. For newborns, they should be fed within a half-hour of the session start time, bathed and only dressed in a loosely attached diaper and loose swaddle blanket so we don't have to disturb your sleeping baby by having to undress them. They are more at peace with a full belly and a clean body. Please try to keep your baby awake for one hour prior to the start of our session in order to have a very sleepy baby. This will save us time in the session from trying to get the baby to sleep. We know babies don’t always cooperate when you want them to. That’s okay. I love my sessions to be fun and the least stressful as possible. I work slowly and follow baby's cues. If we need a break, we’ll take one. Play, take some candids (which sometimes can be the best pictures) and try again. Hopefully, by the end of the session, we would have created great moments that will last a lifetime. Keep your house warm during our session. This will help keep your "in the buff" baby asleep. Setting your thermostat at 75 - 80 degrees should do the trick. It will be warm for us, but perfect for your baby. As I need a quiet, calm and relaxed atmosphere, please do not have others (including animals) in the room at the time I am photographing your baby. It is better for your baby to wake up from hunger and be fed than from others talking too loudly. That's why it's imperative I work in a quiet, non-distracting atmosphere. What to Expect We will take approximately two - three hours for your session, so please plan accordingly. Expect messes and frequent feedings. Babies tend to eat more during a session, which is completely normal. I will bring several hats, blankets, wraps and other props for your newborn session. Several photos will be taken in their "birthday suit" along with the wraps, etc. However, please feel free to make available your own special outfit, toy or blanket, etc. that you would like to use in the session. That's it. I'll take care of the rest. Ready to book? Click on the button below. Patti specializes in Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn custom photography. If you are ready to book your maternity, fresh 48 and/or newborn session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. DreamWorld Photography is currently booking for February - March 2019. As maternity, fresh 48 and newborn photography are customized sessions, we only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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