Austin Cake Smash || Nora’s First Birthday Portraits

10.01.2014

“The details are not the details. They make the design.” – Charles Eames. True words when it comes to many things, perhaps especially when it comes to photo shoot design. Yes, even wonderfully wild cake smash ones involving (messy) toddlers and (even messier) cakes.Austin Cake Smash

Darling Nora, this freshly minted one-year-old and big sister, is of course the best detail of all. But notice those perfect background bits too. From the Marvelous Tea Parties chandelier to the vintage high chair to the bunting custom made by mom Christina to the bubbles that delighted the baby & camera alike, the details of this shoot are the frosting on the adorable cake.

I know, I know – that joke was terrible. Here, let me quickly distract you with some more cake smash goodness.

Ziem had a blast planning this shoot with Christina, a former event planner who knows how those little details can make a party or a photo shoot sing. Speaking of parties, Christina was able to use photos from this shoot at Nora’s birthday party, which thankfully happened just before Baby #2 arrived. Do we think baby Nora may have had an inkling of what was to come?

See how those little details just take the cake? (Sorry.)

Austin Cake Smash

Shooting for Success, Part 3: How to Dress for Holiday Cards, Neutrals ed.

09.29.2014

Today’s post is the third in our ongoing “Shooting for Success” series, intended to help you get the most fabulous Austin family photos possible. Check out our first installment on holiday card fashion here and our second on holiday card trends (complete with three FREE card templates) here.

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Show of hands – who remembers those matchy-matchy holiday card outfits of yore, the ones that included identical white shirts & Mom Jeans on everyone, not just Mom?

[sample photos redacted to protect the innocent]

For those of us who ~~are old~~ grew up traumatized by the Olan Mills school of holiday photos, the recent family photography trend of coordinating colorful outfits that aren’t identical – and identically unflattering in photos – is a relief. How then to incorporate fashion’s latest trendy neutrals without falling back into the dread matchy-matchy zone?

Thankfully our chic photographer-in-chief Ziem is here to advise us, handpicking some of her recent neutral favorites with textures and accessory accents that pop on camera:

Modern winter whites are more subtle than the identical polos of our holiday card past. Mix in different textures and trendy gold, grey, or black to break up the look, or take a walk on the wild side & add a pair of leopard flats.

Not an unfortunate Mom Jean in sight, right? For those of you still just too traumatized by matching polo shirts past, however, stay tuned for next Monday’s tutorial on updating traditional holiday colors for your photo wardrobe . . .

Austin Family Photographer – Things in Motion a.k.a Toddlers

09.25.2014

A great family photographer knows that a shoot involving a toddler requires “the three ps” – preparation, patience & prayer:

austin family portraits | austin photographers

A toddler mama herself, Ziem offers a consultation to all family clients, helping with location selection & wardrobe as well as getting to know the family’s children. She knows one essential to working with a kid is to know what (if anything) will distract that particular child from the dread Toddler Tantrum. Ziem has worked with longtime clients Dana & Jay here since their little boy Matthew was in utero, so she knew just the right airplanes, cars, and books to keep Matthew smiling through his second birthday shoot:

austin family portraits | austin photographers

One other toddler trick Ziem employs is keeping her young clients – and, yes, their poor parents – in motion. You can’t always outrun a tantrum, but between some quick thinking and even quicker feet, Ziem snapped some fabulous, fuss-free action shots in the fading light, complete with nearly-fall foliage (and a lot of alliteration, apparently):

austin family portraits | austin photographers

Not a tantrum in sight, wow! Think we could ask (beg) Ziem the secret to that for non-photo situations too?

Shooting for Success, Part 2: Holiday Card Trends & FREE Templates

09.22.2014

Today’s post is the second in our ongoing “Shooting for Success” series, intended to help you get the most fabulous Austin family photos possible. Check out our first installment on holiday card fashion here.

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Now that we’ve got your holiday card fashions sorted out, it’s time to start thinking about the perfect “frame” for the picture of your unusually good looking & well-dressed family – the holiday card. With SO many options out there, however, how do you narrow it down to one card to show your friends and loved ones just how happy / successful / important / etc. your gifted & talented family is?

Lucky for us, our Photographer-in-Chief Ziem not only identifies this year’s holiday card trends here, she’s come up with not one, not two, but THREE FREE CARD TEMPLATES CAPS LOCK!!! for you to download. How easy is that?

TREND THE FIRST (This being Monday, it’s a CAPS LOCK, high caffeine sort of day): Use fashion’s trendy black & white or metallics for your card – or better yet, all three! – to punctuate a neutral wardrobe:

holiday photo card | austin photographers DOWNLOAD your free “nifty neutrals” card here

TREND THE SECOND: Let the photo be the star of your card, with minimal font & no border:

holiday photo card | austin photographers DOWNLOAD your “stunning simplicity” card here.

TREND THE THIRD: Incorporate of-the-moment fashion florals in updated holiday colors – instead of the traditional Christmas-y green & red, think mint & mauve:

holiday photo card | austin photographers DOWNLOAD your “hint of mint” card here.

Three free cards – it’s like Christmas/or-fill-in-the-holiday-of-your-religious-choice in September! Now that you have these perfect “frames” for your holiday card photos, and your wardrobe set for the photos, all that remains is to actually book your photo session, right? *shameless plug alert* Contact Ziem to book one of her TWO last remaining holiday mini-session spots!

Austin Family Photographer – A Special (and Speedy!) Moment for a Special Dad

09.18.2014

“Hire Ziem Photography. She is the best in town. The best in the world! She made my daughter’s beautiful blue eyes just pop through the lens.” ~client BS

It is a truth universally acknowledged that parents are thrilled to get a photo of their kids not taken on an iPhone. Just one would be nice, wouldn’t it, let alone a number of stunning ones featuring the entire family?

Of course, even with our favorite professional photographer Ziem at the helm, kids will be kids, meaning that they are, well, unlikely to patiently pose through an hour long session. With a single dad who works as an athletic director, how could these two kids be anything but energetic (read: VERY unlikely to pose through an average session)?

As a mama herself, Ziem thrives on the high energy of such a shoot & was able to catch some gorgeous close-ups in between the sprints (hers & the kids):

Sometime the shortest shoots can be the best ones. While this brief one may have set Ziem’s personal record, it also resulted in perhaps her favorite child portrait to date. Clearly someone loves a camera, and the camera loves her!

Ziem won’t ever mention how generous she is, so I’ll do it for her – she enjoyed this shoot so much that she gave the dad a few prints as a thank you for being such a terrific father and asset to the Austin community. That is, after she caught her breath from sprinting through the shoot itself . . .

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