Jacqueline Kent photography.com

Finding Peace

Maternity Photography

What makes that beautiful baby bump so wonderful?

Pregnancy, what fun it is,  the waiting and wondering and the changes in the body, are so miraculous How is it possible that we are able to grow a happy healthy being inside us?

Someone we haven't yet met, but feel we know so well. 

Taking the time to do a maternity shoot is something that every pregnant mom should do. 

Many women including myself felt, oh, no not yet, or no, my body isn't  in shape, or I don't look good enough in the camera. 

Now 18 years gone by, my body was amazing, how did I ever think my body wasn't in shape. 

If only I would have done the photos back then!

There is no better time than right now! 

We so often think I will get in shape first, or when I get  a suntan...

What ever. 

Commit to 2 hours of photo time and you will have some of the nicest photos of your pregnancy  journey. 

Some couples come to me, other women prefer to be on their own. It really depends on your wishes and what your ultimate goal is. 

When your 40 or 50. You can look back with your teen and say, see how cute we were!

Take the time, 

You will be glad you  did!

Here are a few photo's that I have taken, all these shots were taken with studio lighting. In my home. 
Some of them have been printed into large canvases. Hung in the babies room! 
I hope you enjoy them. 

PERFECTLY ROUNDED

Sexy Jean's

Love you! 

White and Black

Black and White Portraits.

The beauty of black and white photography.

Simple

Elegant

moody

timeless
sexy

A black and white photo often contains mainly grey tones. This is why it is called monochrome. 

Skin looks amazing in black and white, with the reflective glare of the lights, the dark shadows gives great shapes and detail to the human form, and hides imperfections that we see in color, such as blemishes, scars, body hair. 

 We see in color. Your camera captures in color. Your computer shows you your photos in color. Unlike when we used black and white film, it is hard to see without having color pollute your vision. With a little patience and practice you can learn to see what your image will look like in black and white. And no, I do not suggest using the black and white mode on your camera. That just throws out data, depth of tones.  Shoot in color, convert to black In the software you prefer. I love lightroom for working on black and whites, it is as easy as clicking on the monochrome and then adjusting the color channels with a slider, you can see the changes, and save where you like it. Heavy contrast or light contrast, totally up to you. 

Oh the beauty of Black and White. 

I love infant black and whites, as it takes the pink and red veins blemishes and stork bites out of the image by adjusting the red sliders in lightroom. giving you a timeless peice of art. 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave a comment below. 

Feel free to follow this blog, I will try to update at least once a week. 

Thanks,

Jacqueline

Photographing new babies

Infant photography

Ideas and helpful hints to make art style portraits

This little cacoon I have Isla in, I knit it in a couple evenings, It makes for a very cute photo of her snuggled into with her little foot coming out. These are available on line, I have seen them in a few different colours and shapes.

As beautiful as babies are when they are born, they can be challenging to photograph. 

Some babies have blotches, baby acne, scratches, dried milk around their mouths, and sometimes snotty noses... and still are such a wonder. A lot of times when you see photos of babies, it is more of a documentary style photo rather than an art photo,
so here a few ways to improve your infant photography. 

So where to start, when you book an appointment with a mom and baby, always ask when the infant is at its happiest, or sleepiest. This is one of the nicest times to photograph them. Remember to keep the room slightly warmer than normal. Quite often if you work smoothly and quietly they will sleep through the whole session. 

Textured back drops work well, I took a photo of some peeling boards and had it printed on a canvas  that is 5' x 7' at a xerox shop, the cost was about $50. I have used it for quite a few shoots and the customers have always enjoyed the texture in the backgrounds. 

Get close, go macro try and capture the small things like ears and toes, fingers and thumbs, they don't stay small for long, so these shots are always appreciated. 

Use a low aperature to create a focal point.

You don't need a lot of gear for infant photography. A window and a reflector. The best lighting to photograph babies in is natural window light, so get close to the window and you will get nice soft diffused light on the skin. 

 For this shoot I did use my studio lighting, with softboxes to mimac the natural light as my studio in my house is very dark and does not allow enough ambient light in. 

Don't forget to shoot from different angles. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below, if I have left anything out, or your wondering about settings. 

Thanks, 

Dubai Fashion week 2011

Aly Fawaz contessa

I went to Dubai Fashion week, expecting to see a selection of gowns, wedding dresses, trendy and classic outfits, and beautiful long legged model's. 

Well my expectations exceeded themselves with the beautiful gowns designed by Aly Fawaz,

His mixture of metals on chiffon, silks and brocades were truly captivating.

I had a back stage pass and spent some time back stage with the models as make up and hair was being finalized, then it was time for the practice run. 

These are a few candid shots I took back stage.

Then it was time to line up. We waited in a long line for about 20 minutes, to get in to the very busy excited crowd, of spectators, customers, photographers and bloggers. There was quite a few shoppers with their pens and scribble pads making notes of the designs as they flounced down the runway. Lots of head nods, and appreciation for a beautiful collection from Aly Fawaz.

The first gown that hit the runway, you could hear the crowds, awing and ohhing as the model flowed down the catwalk in this bell shaped gown, with a metal waist and a deep v shaped bodice. It was truly breathtaking. 

When your at these fashion shows, you are requested not to use flash, most of the shows struggle to light the ramp evenly, or sometimes the ramp isn't lit to the end, and when the girls walk the ram p there upper bodies are in the shadow with the dress lit up. 

Stage production on this event was immaculate. the lighting was perfect through out the days I was there, and I had no isues with getting enough light on the frocks to see the textures of the fabrics. 

When photographing models on the runway your shutter speed should be somewhere around 160 to 250th of a second. depending on what type of movement your trying to create in the clothes. 

For this show I shot with my 70-200 mm lens, my f stop was at 2.8 for most of the show, except for the grand finale, I try to push it to 5.6 or 8, and adjust my ISO accordingly to get enough light.

There were a few outfits that that had a great depth of texture and class combined with bits of metal plating. 

When the models walk down the catwalk, they normally will do a 3 second pose to the right then a 3 second pose to the left, during this time you can catch the girls in action, this model's name is Anne, I met her back stage, also a Canadian. Lovely young lady.

In most scenarios I like to meter read of the models skin. If she is wearing black or white dresses,  you can sometimes be either one or two stops over or under rendering your image to lose detail in the blacks or overexpose on the whites. There isn't a lot of time to fiddle with your exposures. So practice does help you improve your shooting.

 I Loved this flapper style dress, such soft colours, and so striking on the model, Oh to be 5'10".

 The long evening dresses were very feminine and seductress like that I found myself in awe at how beautiful the models walked and show cased these spectacular dresses. The music for the show, was perfectly suited for the walk, very entertaining for all the spectators.

This event was very organized and they had a large ramp for media, so we could sit and enjoy the show, and shoot comfortably without people pushing and jockeying for position. 

 The wedding dresses, were breath taking, I didn't want them to leave the stage, I was hoping they would walk the cat walk just one more time so I could ohhh and wow over these brides. 

 Now the grand finale. Everyone I talked to after the show, was so thrilled with this years collection! Great efforts to Aly and his team. 

O.K this is when its time to boost your f-stop (aperture) so you can have more than one beautiful model in focus. I usually try to be at least f8. which then also means you have to adjust your ISO values, depending on your camera, you can get a lot of noise in the photos. There is software available to get rid noise. One of my favourites is

 http://noise-ninja.en.softonic.com/

it is a free software that you can download, it is a plug in for photoshop. 

Thanks for taking the time to look through the photos, I hope you were able to pick up a few photo tips along the way. 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I will reply, promise. 

Graduation Time

Kyle Bazen, 

Graduate from Bahrain school 2011

April 25, 2011 we headed to the Bahrain fort at 3:30 to capture some casual images of Kyle, It was hot but there was a slight breeze which made the afternoon very pleasant. 

  Ross Martin, a young photographer, and good friend came along to be my portable light stand. We did the shoot with a silver reflector and an Nikon SB 800. Some of the shots, I used the flash pointed at the reflector to make a bigger source of light.   

I've taken pictures of Kyle for the school portraits for a couple years at Bahrain School, I knew him from school plays and theatre. Always thought he had lots of talent in the arts. 

Kyle also has an interest in photography, 

I wonder what he will do, and which road's he will take in life.

Congratulations to Kyle for all the hard work.

May your roads be paved, windy, and many forks in the roads ahead of you.

All the best,

Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, lots of laughs, and lots of smiles. 

And serious shots too. 

Kyle's Mom Courtenay, already missing the idea of him off to Uni.