Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Because getting pictures taken is SO expensive

In our current situation, we don't really have extra money for getting pictures taken. Nowadays it seems like almost every female (not really, but quite a few) is starting their own photography business. Most of them just have nicer cameras than I do, and I feel like if I had nice camera my pictures would be just as good. There are a few that are genuinely talented. However, they are all so over priced! I know the camera and equipment are expensive, but the customer pays for the prints and the time and sometimes if the photographer has it, their talent. I just cannot justify paying $200 for a session and then on top of that paying for prints. Not everyone is that expensive, but with all these free lance people they have driven up the prices (I really don't have anything against photographers, I just don't see how people can actually afford them!).

I still wanted pictures of Elanor though. So, I set up my own little studio in Elanor's room (as it has the best natural light in the afternoons) and tried to take pictures. I used a white curtain and draped it over the back of a large arm chair and then collected items for Elanor to hold and look at while I took pictures. My camera, as I have mentioned many times, is just a point and shoot (and 4 years old), so the quality is just so-so.  Elanor was not all that easy to work with, as she kept walking off and did not like having to stay put. I edited the pictures a little in Picasa. I mostly just brightened them and changed the filter (B&W, sepia, antique).











































How do you think they turned out? I put her in my grandma's baby clothes, which I love! So, if you are in a similar situation as we are (no money), try making your own studio and get some great pictures out of it! Picasa is free by the way and has so many editing tools that are fun to play around with. I am definitely going to do this again, but probably when Tyler is around to keep Elanor contained and entertained.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, she really looks just like you, Elizabeth! :) And I'm with you on the whole photography business thing. There are a lot of photographers who are really talented (Brinn Willis comes to mind), but there are also a lot who simply own expensive cameras and think that automatically grants them the title. Or people who think that a few macro flower shots mean they have "the eye" (embarrassingly enough, I used to be one of them). I have no idea how people afford photographers either! We couldn't even afford one for our wedding, which I really, really regret. We just got my aunt and uncle to take pictures, and as much as I love them, they are the "my nice camera makes me a photographer" people. As a result, there are very few pictures from our wedding that I actually LOVE, which makes me sad. :( So that is one thing I want to be able to provide for our kids when they get married: an actual photographer. I'm serious.

    Those pictures of Elanor are great, by the way. She is a doll!

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    1. Thanks for agreeing! I really do wish I had a nicer camera though so this pictures were not quite so fuzzy!

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  2. Hi, I just came across your blog. Fancy cameras are so expensive and hard to use. I found this awesome photo editing website, its totally free and you don't have to download anything. I use this to edit and enhance my photos for my blog. The website is www.picnik.com, another one is called www.fotoflexer.com. Try it and let me know what you think! :)

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    1. Thank you for reading! I will have to try those sites!

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  3. These are so cute!! I've been thinking I need to do the same with Leo. I think I just might :)

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