Available frames

A lifestyle portrait session with me

My style of photography is a combination of lifestyle portraits (photojournalism) and casual portrait photography. No two sessions are exactly alike. This means each session has a mind of its own and will result in its own photographs. There is no planning or expectations as far as the individual photographs are concerned. We plan the location (most likely your home), time and dress the children... and then the rest happens naturally! I am here to capture the moments as they happen and help celebrate your family in photographs.

Deciding on a location

1. Your home. The best location for our session is your home. This allows us to take breaks when needed, change diapers, take a potty break, grab a snack in the kitchen or run upstairs to grab another change of clothing. Your yard may or may not be beautiful but we might be able make it work. We can take walks down the street, borrow a neighbor's yard (please ask ahead of time!) etc. Having your session at your home also allows us to take our time and relax.

Please have available:

• handful of changes of clothes (or we can go in the closets together!)
• snacks & drinks
• basic needs for your child
• toys, books, blankets.

1. Family member's/good friend's home. If your home is not an option please consider a family member's home. This may be second best location. Here you are still relaxed and we are free to roam the house and yard as needed.
   
   Please bring:

• Basic baby/child needs (diapers, wipes, snacks)
• A handful of changes of clothing to choose from for each child.
  
• Toys and books if the family does not have any for the child to play with.

2. Outdoor public location. An outdoor public location is also a choice but not the best choice. At a location there is only so much we can do and your family can only relax to a certain degree. Please avoid: playgrounds, crowded locations and also avoid locations with no or only partial shade. If your child is potty trained please select a location with a bathroom or bring a potty with you in the car for an emergency potty break. Please select a location with a very large area of grass with full shade.

Please bring:

• Blanket(s) to rest on
• Chair for older members if needed
• Toys, bubbles, favorite books, balls... etc.,
  
• Enough drinks and snacks for each child/member
  
• Diaper bag if your child requires one
• Wipes: for any age to wipe up messy faces after snack or if they get dirty.
  
• A handful of changes of clothing to choose from for each child.
  
• Remember: it is better to be over prepared!

What to wear

Choose clothing that will add texture and depth to your images. Be creative! If you are lost as far as what to dress your children in you are welcome to wait for my arrival and I will look through the closets with you!

Suggestions/example outfits:

• Jeans and bare feet
• Just overalls (no shirt or shoes)
• Bathing suits
  
• If it is cold out, layer clothing with different patterns etc.
• coming soon: a blog entry on “what to wear” with example outfits!
• Don't be shy to break out the fun winter hats and mittens, cute hooded sweatshirts, and also don't be afraid to layer and add texture and color to the outfits.

Avoid: logos, text, characters, way too busy patterns, and dressy clothing.

Don’t forget about you! If you have a baby or toddler you most likely will make it in a few photos yourself, so make sure you are ready!

I will be encouraging multiple wardrobe changes if your child is okay with it! :)

The session

An important thing to remember is that our session will be treated more like a play session than a photo session. I will not be posing or asking anyone to do anything unnatural (unless we are attempting family portraits which I will get to later on). So cheesy smiles or poses will be avoided and discouraged. We want to create images of your child that represent who your child is! :)

I might ask your child “do you want to swing on your swing?” or “ooh look at all those bubbles, wow! Can you run through them?” this is so that I am keeping their attention and not letting them get bored with me. I am there to play and have fun!

Family portraits

We will attempt a family portrait at the beginning or end of the session if the moods of children allow for it to happen. I will select a location for you and your family to either sit or stand. If I am not asking you to look at the camera please just interact as a family. When I ask “ok everyone look here!” that is when I will ask that you look at the camera and smile – don't worry about the kids, I will be getting their attention, just keep smiling at the camera! :)

We are finished with our session. Now what?

Check your e-mail for notification that your min site is ready! If you hardly ever check your email and would like me call you when it is ready, please let me know! I will send you the link to your mini site in about 7-10 days.

Feel free to call or email me with any questions you may have!

Thank you and I look forward to our sessions together!

Mary

603.203.5569

www.MaryWhitePhotography.com

Mary@MaryWhitePhotography.com

A morning at a park!

I had a session this morning with my friends' little one year old girl :) So cute!!

Another beach session!

I had a wonderful session with a little boy and his mama. He was so fast it was really hard to keep up with him! The water was sooo warm, have you been to the beaches in NH lately??

Maternity and children session!

I had a session with a family of four. They are expecting a little boy! We got some maternity portraits done, some children portraits and come family portraits! I was with them from 9am until about 12noon and got so many beautiful photos!!

While we waited for Daddy to get ready for the family portraits, I spread out the flower petals we used with their Mommy's maternity portraits and had the girls jump around on Mommy and Daddy's bed! I got some fun shots!

After family portraits we hung out and cooled off under their sun porch which is under construction.

Size comparisons chart

Some get confused on size Size comparisons. 99% of the time I keep my photos at the same ratio and for those here is a little chart to see how much the different size prints will cut off.

An afternoon at the beach!

This week I met a family at the beach to get some children portraits done. The three moms were sisters and I photographed 7 children in all. They were a wonderful, laid back family! It was a joy to photograph all their beautiful children! I am still working on the photos, but here are a few favorites that I have finished.

Farm Birthday Party!!

I photographed a set of twins' birthday party last weekend - it was HOT! I didn't realize how hot and tired I was until I sat in my car and drove away - I really get in the zone when I am photographing!!  Here are a FEW photos from the party - I will add more if/when I get releases from others from the party... and when I finish editing the photos!! :)

Dad in the BBQ pit! ;)

I didn't get a chance to play with the twins at all like a typical session, but he thought I was pretty funny! (I just had to look at him and he would start laughing... hmm...maybe he really likes my camera?? ;) )

Very serious brother. ;)

No party is complete without a Grandpa sleeping in a chair! :)

More to come! I will update this entry instead of making a new one, so if you are interested in seeing more come back after the weekend! :)

NEW - Mini Sites!!

I am so excited about this!!! I am now offering Mini Sites to my clients.  What are Mini Sites you ask? :) Well, once you see the sample Mini Site, you will have all your questions answered (I hope!)  But in case you want to read all about it right here in this blog entry, here is the text straight from the "About Mini Sites" page on the sample site:

Mini Sites are designed to make things easier for my clients. When your images are ready to be viewed, I will send you a link to your Mini Site. Your Mini Site will contain:

~ A link that will take you directly to your proofs gallery
~ A link that will take you directly to your purchasing storefront
~ An "about our session" page that will tell a little story how our session went
~ If I made one, there will be a link to a blog entry of our session (for those of you who sign a release form).
~ A guestbook for friends and family to sign! 

This Mini Site makes it so much easier to share with friends and family!!

"We got our portraits taken! Go to our mini website:

sample.marywhitephotography.com !!"

Your Mini Site domain will be something like "jenn&steve.marywhitephotography.com" or "smithfamily.marywhitephotography.com" or whatever I can come up with! :)

A few more notes:

~ The home page will contain up to 20 of your photos (I will select my favorite to post) So there is no need to pass out your password** to show off your images!!
~ Your Mini Site will be up for two weeks - it will expire along with your gallery and purchasing site.
~ Returning clients: if you have a session with me at least once per year your site name will not change.* 

*Mini Sites are in the trial period as of June 25th 2010. Any feedback is appreciated!

**Passwords are required to login to your private gallery to view all your images and also your private purchasing storefront. It is up to you who you give your password to but keep in mind they are able to also access your storefront to purchase images. If you would like a separate password for your storefront to keep to yourself, you may request this. 

I am always updating my website and logo!!

Call me crazy but I am always changing my mind with my website! I think I get sick of looking at the same thing all the time and need a fresh look from time to time! :) In case you haven't seen it, here is my new splash page!!

I took one of the leaves and made them into buttons for the splash page.

Do you like the new logo? And no, I did not pay a designer to make it - I did it myself! So very proud of it! (I am sure I will change it in some way soon, knowing me!)

And speaking of changing my mind - here is the current new look of the site:

 

And here is what I am thinking of changing it to (slight change - move the logo to the left a but and put some description text on the right): (click on it to view the actual preview)

I was thinking of also incorporating "New Hampshire" in the text but I don't like to limit the locations - if someone in Florida wanted to hire me they are more than welcome to fly me down!! ;).  But should I put "New Hampshire based...." or something? Should I just leave the site as is? The reason I am thinking of changing it is because to me the logo on the top looks awkward in the center.  I dunno, what do you think??