Adam traveled to our town (from Stockton to Alameda!) to take maternity photos of me and our growing family. I'm thankful to Adam for not only capturing this special time in our lives so well (and boy, he made us look GOOD) but also for changing my mind on a few things about photographers - but more on that later.
First, a few things to note:
(1) Great communication - the week before our scheduled session was the STORMIEST and WET week the Bay Area had seen in 2011. Throughout the week, we were in contact and arranged for a backup plan just in case (alternate dates). To be honest, the morning of the session I pretty much resigned to going with our backup plan. However, Adam excitedly contacted us that morning after seeing the forecast - a few-hour window of clear skies that afternoon (overcast is ideal anyway, he said) - and our session was still on! Man, the guy is passionate!
(2) Knowing what would work best - when Adam arrived, we drove him by a nearby park which was convenient but our second choice option of venue for the outdoor shoot. We showed it to him and asked what he thought - without hesitation, he suggested we go to our first choice venue to take advantage of whatever time we could get without the rain, and then consider coming back later, time and weather permitting.
(3) Planning - we had several rounds of wardrobe consultation (lots of sending iPhone pics and receiving feedback via email). I'm extremely happy with how our outfits turned out in the pics, and I'm surprised at how much work it can take to look subtle. =D Adam has a design background and has a great eye for this stuff, and his stylist brings a nice, different perspective as well. They were not pushy at all but gave pointers and left the final decision to us. Yay for winter neutrals with a pop of color and patterns from a shirt and scarf! At their encouragement, I gave our outfits more thought than I did for our engagement photos, and well... I like our maternity photos way more!
(4) Comfortable camera-side manner - I have a ton of examples of this, but suffice it to say that Adam directed (and just let him be at the right times) our 3-year old very well during the shoot. Adam is super nimble and at one point, jumped onto the top of a fence to shoot from on high, and it made our little one laugh which made for a great expression in the photos! =D
Now onto what I learned from Adam - I had previously read how important it was for us to "connect" with the photographer, and I admit that I didn't really "get it" even with our experience with our wedding photographer and other photographers we've worked with in the past. After working with Adam, I totally "get it" now! We were so comfortable with him that it translated into natural, comfortable expressions in our photos. I don't consider us "natural" photographic subjects at all (ask to see some of our more awkward engagement photos), but people have commented at how natural we look in Adam's photos.
Whew - didn't realize how much I had to say about Adam - in summary, he's my first choice for extended family photos and newborn photos too!!! read more