Utah Family Photographer

Family Photography by Utah Family Photographer, Amber Bauerle | J & A Family

This was a family photography session I did last summer, I love this field, I love this family.  ”Young” families make the best candid portraits, and that’s a lot of times your only option when you have kids under the age of 5 running around… but that’s my favorite type of photography anyway. This session was a quick 30 minute Family Photography Session, many times kids won’t last longer than that, so I have to be on my toes ready to take the photos as the kids will sort of let you know when they are done.

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Family Photographer

family photographers in utah, the “t” family

OK. So when it comes to Family Photography I get asked a lot about how my pricing works, what you get with my family photo sessions, etc.  Many people don’t realize the HOURS I spend on my shoots, all photographers spend different amounts of time on their shoots and photos and have different levels of experience. Many of the photos I see on the internet are not edited, or retouched, maybe a quick “contrast boost” click and that’s it, this is fine, however very different than what I do so the pricing is different.

Often most of my clients are people that have knowledge about photography, if you don’t know or can’t tell the difference between good photos and average, then you wouldn’t understand how I charge for the photos perhaps.  My family sessions are not simply going somewhere for 20 minutes and clicking a couple of photos.  This particular family ended up with a thousand proofs, BECAUSE to get TRUE candid photos, you can’t stage the photo quickly.  Sometimes the first 20-30 minutes of a shoot we are getting to know each other, laughing and I’m casually clicking my camera.  Every family is usually a little stiff and uncomfortable at first, typically the parents have just been yelling at their kids to behave in the car, etc. ;)  So it’s important to get them warmed up.

So some things to think about is not only are you paying for a photographer that has the skills to take photos from the right angles with the right lighting and exposure but also a photographer that knows how to get a family to relax and interact, it is actually pretty difficult and not everyone can do it.  Plus remember the hours that are spent afterward having an eye to choose the best photos and then editing them to perfection and then there’s Photoshop – which really differentiates photographers.  Last year I edited out a little girl’s wet jeans on 20 photos because she had a potty accident and we were not near a bathroom… :)  It’s not as easy as it looks, and no matter how good you get, it’s still time consuming.  You can’t just “color” over the jeans that are wet, you need to keep the same textures, etc.

I have thought over and over and over, talked to my husband and tried to come up with a “mini family session” or something, but what happens is it somehow just turns into a regular one, because I am still spending the time setting up my studio or driving around looking for outdoor locations, either way there is much time spent before the shoot has even happened.  And then I usually end up getting so many great shots and then well… I just can’t leave great photos unedited – I just can’t help myself.

While looking at these photos, see if you can notice the candid shots, lighting, posing variety, angles, creativity, the post editing, the brightness of their eyes, the lack of shadows all over their faces, etc.  Okay, so enough about that – I mean this is my blog, so thought it would be a good idea to educate any people out there that don’t understand the difference between photographers, pricing, etc. ;)  And there are MANY AMAZING photographers out there, I’m not saying that there aren’t.

Okay now for this family…

I love family photos in an orchard, I normally don’t like “formal” clothing for family photos, but when the mom wanted to do it I knew she could pull it off.  I want to know colors, clothing, accessories before any shoot, that is part of the consultation call that I do to give tips and help develop the location/concept, props, etc.

This family’s oldest son is getting ready to leave on an LDS Mission for 2 years and so I highlighted him and did some “mission photos” as well. For those of you reading this that don’t know much about the LDS religion, all young men at the age of 19 are encouraged to serve a 2 year mission, they fill out paperwork and then wait to hear where they will be going!

And YES, I am obsessed with sun flare.

click below to see the family photos from this session…

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Family Photographer

stay at home family shoot | family photography Utah

How cute is this?  Why not do your next family photography session at your home – you wives out there know that there is NOTHING that would please your husband more… And your kids?  Getting them all ready to go, loading them in the car, remembering snacks, wipes, etc. and hoping they don’t mess up their hair on the way there?  Yes, this seems like the way to go!  For this shoot we added another twist – baking cookies!  We wanted to do a fun activity that would allow candid expressions to easily come out along with keeping these young kids attentive (not so easy).  Well they thought cracking eggs and getting messy was the best thing ever!

How fun years from now for this family to look back at these photos and see the house and surroundings where they began their cute little family.  As a family photographer, I try to capture more than “what you look like”, I try to capture interactions, feelings, emotions, even when the kids are crying – what’s wrong with that?  That is REAL!  I mean whoever has a family that smiles 24/7, doesn’t fight, scream or get upset once in a while, let me know – I would love to meet you! hehe

What’s not to love about these 3 adorable children?  The parents are equally as beautiful, and they are energetic and so much fun to be around.  Okay, I have a confession, these photos are a bit old, if you know this family, I’m not trying to pretend I just took them – I took them last year and as I keep saying, “I’m trying to catch up on my blog”.  I could just start fresh from today forward and have tons of new photography sessions to share with you – but how could I not show shoots like this?  The family shoot previously posted to this one was actually taken last month, so some stuff is newer than others, I’m just trying to get it all posted.

Hope you enjoy this as much as me – one of my all time favorite concepts when it comes to family photography.  For family photography prices and details, please visit our family photography page.

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Family Photography

family portrait photographer

What a fun family!  One thing I love about my job is I get to make so many new friends, hear about their lives, and help them capture their special moments and interactions with each other. I have not done any head swaps on this shoot yet, most of the time in when it comes to family shoots, head swaps are common to get everybody smiling at the camera, but when it comes to extended family photos – it’s usually impossible to get everybody smiling perfectly at the camera all at once when there is little kids involved. :)

This was kind of an extended family, but only 10 people, so not too bad.  I currently don’t do large extended family shoots as it is hard for me to maintain creative control of the situation, but just one kid married, etc. is usually doable.

I am totally in love with the antique shop photos and the whole junk yard feel, etc.

I KNOW I post a lot of photos, I don’t post all of them from any session believe it or not, but I think it’s important to not just post “my favorites from a session” but give the reader a feel of what types of photos I do with each unique session, how many, individuals, variety, etc.

Click below to see photos from this Family Photography Session.

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Family Photographer | Be Real in Front of the Camera

Family Photography in Salt Lake City and Utah County

“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, My Baby You’ll be.”

I love this quote, it’s how I feel about my own children, it’s impossible to capture every single thing that happens as they grow up, but you can try to capture some of them…

When it comes to family photography, I love to capture the true feel of the moments, not just poses for the camera.  I keep snapping my camera during everything happening, the goal with getting photos is to stop time on the moments that matter most, to be able to look back in 30 years and look at a photo that actually brings you back to the laughter, the joy, the love that was shared in those moments that I try to capture through photography.

There is something so sweet and special about a “young family” with small children, I watch them hold the hands of their little ones, wipe their faces, chase them around, it is so cute.  The best thing you can do when planning to get your family photos, is to not stress, to be real, to have fun.

On this particular family photography session we talked about doing something more extravagant with props, set, etc.  But ended up just choosing a plain blue backdrop, which I’m so glad we did as it showcased this family beautifully.  They were so much fun, it feels like I get together with people I don’t even know before the photography session, and we hang out and laugh for an hour or two, and by the time they leave it seems that we have been friends for much longer than just the photo shoot.

After almost every single family photography session I have done, the dad says something like, “that was fun” or “that was easy”.  As we all know many “dad’s” are not so excited about getting their photos taken, my goal is that everybody from the little kids to the dad’s have a great time and look forward to the next family photography session they have.

On a side note, if you are trying to get on my calendar for your family photos, we are booking many appointments in September and October and I won’t be able to take many more family sessions, so get on our calendar soon!  I have a few coming up in the next week… they are smart to get their photos in August. ;)  If you are holding out for fall colors, it is a whirl wind during those beautiful weeks, I usually can find the fall colors any time in October sometimes earlier, if they are not in the valley, we go up to the canyon, so don’t wait until you actually see them, it will most likely be too late to get on my calendar at that point. :)

I have people constantly ask, “what types of photos do I get with a family photography session?”, as far as the photos go, you get group photos, individual photos, photos with just girls, just boys, just mom and dad, basically you get it all.  If you want further details, go to our: Utah Family Photography Website Page.

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Family Photographer

the “g” family against white, utah family photography session

I never get tired of a white backdrop… such a cute family, I had so much fun at this shoot.  Editing the photos I was smiling the whole time, especially on the “family photos”, because many of them depict exactly what family life is all about at that stage.  Little kids running everywhere, sippie cups, changing diapers, bottles, tantrums…. I’m very much in that stage myself right now and although it is exhausting, it is so worth it.

When I look at photos like these, for the most part they don’t feel posed, which is my style of course, but whats the big deal to see a sippie cup, bottle or binki in a photo?  Everybody is always trying to make a photo look perfect – but is your family perfect?  When you look at that photo in 20 years are you going to be able to see the individual personalities beeming through the photo?  That is my goal – don’t make a family photo perfect, make it real.

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Children Photographer

riley, jayde and starr children portrait photography session

Okay, I love this family! They have the cutest kids! And they were such troopers (I can’t believe I said, “troopers” but can’t think of something better at the moment). This was the longest shoot because we had to buy some time while we waited for the lighting on the baseball field – but that was fine with me because I got to take even more photos of these cute kids. Riley is the most amazing baseball player – I mean pitching at 92 miles per hour at age 15? Come on… His Dad jokes that Riley is his retirement, I think he may be right… ;) When somebody books a shoot, I like to think about what they like to do together, etc. and this family is constantly eating, breathing and sleeping “baseball”…

Read the rest of this entry …

Utah Children Photographer

mylie & shaylie mini-photography shoot

So this wasn’t an official shoot… I’m lucky that my cousin has the most adorable little girls. As I drove up to a family get together I noticed this white fence – the lighting was good so I went in and asked Mylie & Shaylie’s mom if I could steal them for a second before dinner – 15 minutes later we had some super cute photos!

Read the rest of this entry …