3 tips to getting the best photos of your kids.

This has been an age old problem. You as mommy, have the vision of your beautiful 20x30 canvas on your wall of your little one. In your imagination they are smiling, happy and the world is a fuzzy warm place. Then the reality. You dress them up, prepare them for this Anne Geddes inspired photo that you will be taking and the reality is less than perfect.

But that's the point. Don't be discouraged. Your life is exactly as it should be right now. And whatever you capture, the truth cannot hide from the camera. Our lives were meant to be whole, not perfect.

But, if you are interested in capturing the very best of the moments in your children's lives, here are a few tips to help you out.

1. Make sure there are "catchlights" in your childs' eyes. Catchlights are those little appearances of light that make their way into your heart. That little flicker of personality that you see when you look in someones eyes. Find a big window and point your child towards the light and check out what you see. The catchlight adds the fire to the photo and reflects the soul of the child. An image is lifeless without it.

2. Don't turn it into work. If your child really isn't having fun, stop and do something else. Saying the predictable "say cheese" and expecting authenticity is setting yourself up for less than genuine results. Don't ask them to smile, MAKE them smile. Do something funny. Lose yourself in the moment and get silly until they respond. Remember to take the camera away from your face so they can see you and connect with you in between pictures. They will remember the fun experience and the next time you mention an impromptu photoshoot they will love the idea.

3. It's not over when it's over. Sometimes the best photos we get are at the end of the shoot when we tell the kids we are done. We aren't done, but thats ok. We keep cameras rolling and that is when we get the BEST stuff. Call the shoot a few minutes before you are really done and then be ready when the pure fun happens. Enjoy this process. Don't let it be a chore for you. Relax.

If you want more great tips on getting the photos you want of your kids, contact us and sign up for our one night class, this Wed. Feb. 18th to be held in Welland, ON. Here, we have the time to go into more detail on getting the connection you want, how to use your camera and lenses to their best potential and answer any of those questions you have that will clear up all you are wondering about. Call us at 905-941-5149 or Facebook us here

I was honored and excited when my bestie said I could come to witness and enjoy the journey of welcoming her 3rd child into the world.  It was going to be a calm entrance safe at home for this new babe with the amazing Renaissance midwives. The call came at 5am, I was fast asleep and woke to my phone ringing, on the other end a very calm voice saying its time to come on over, so I grabbed my camera and away I went.

Getting to hang out with her and watch her calmly go through each contraction was a privilege, I was so proud of her calm and controlled labor, taking it in stride, even dancing her way through some of the contractions to one of Katy Perry's songs. 

We decided we would take a walk around the neighborhood to get the contractions going stronger.  We were walking down the street chatting about life, having a few laughs and pausing for a quiet moment when a contraction would come.  All of a sudden out of nowhere it started to pour down with rain!  Drops the size of quarters and we were soaked within seconds.  We laughed so hard, and walked back slowly in the pouring rain, cause you obviously cant make a pregnant woman in labor run!

I watched my best friend be the strong woman I already knew she was, focused and determined and in no time at all little A come into the world peacefully and happily.  In that moment, I knew her mom was shining down from above with a helping hand to bring her sweet babe into this world.

Surrounded by the calm touch of the midwives and her hubby waiting patiently we all got to meet baby A.

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank her hubby for graciously letting me be apart of this once in a lifetime moment.  She is recovering amazingly and in her true determined nature is already back on schedule and planning her fitness goals and creating her new groove with 3, the baby is already 3 weeks old you know lol.....!

 

 

 



Birthday Celebration

Happy Fabulous Birthday to my Business partner & Mom!

All the sneaky birthday planning was done.  The limo was ordered, dinner booked, thoughtful gifts bought & awesome photographer booked to take OUR family portrait!

The weather was perfect & we were ready to go surprise mom (Marnie) with a limo pick up to a planned evening out with family.  As we were getting ready my little guy started to throw up everywhere and I thought to myself this is the perfect balance to this great day!  But on we went as he was happy & playing around, I just brought him several changes of clothes just incase!

She was so delighted to be surrounded by the people she loved most, as that is all we all ever want in this life!  The kids loved the limo ride too, I didn’t get one til I was an adult so they are head of me!

We shared a yummy dinner at her favourite restaurant and headed off much to her surprise to get our Family portrait taken by a great fellow local photographer Bryan Caporicci.  

I figured it was time to live what we already preach which is GET IN PHOTOS NOW! Don’t wait to lose 10 lbs etc. the excuses go on and the truth is your children love you as you love your parents and see no flaws. 

You are perfect now and these photos are your legacy you leave to your family.  We are only guaranteed today so get on it and get in photos…ok end of rant.

My mom is getting quite Zen like and balanced in her years of wisdom and more beautiful everyday.  It is so amazing to watch her grow and I am learning from her about what truly matters in life and how to dump the rest.  Its freeing to find out most of it doesn’t really matter people, life is all about LOVE!

Happy Fabulous Birthday Mom.

Love you Always,

K

Lets Celebrate!

In the Spirit of Canada Day, let’s Celebrate!  Family, & Friends.

 

When we photograph a family continuously throughout their life’s journey we really become friends and have a BLAST while creating their memories.  During the session we like to catch up with them and travel their ups and downs listening as we go, laughing, hugging and offering understanding.  By the end of the session we feel connected and caught up til next time.  It’s a great blessing to be invited into people’s life.

 

 

 

 

 

A sibling makes a great best friend!  These 2 prove that!  She was just so nurturing to him and such a mini mommy & I loved watching it!  Having a brother of my own I can say I truly understand that she just cannot help her self, she must fuss & love on him, so sweet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love, Hug, Cry & Celebrate with your Family & Friends, they are all we have and all we ever need!

 

I’ll leave you with this FUN FACT about our great country: 

 

Did you know us Canadian’s consume more mac & cheese than any other nation!  

I guess we really do love KD!

Balancing Motherhood and Yoga all in one day

In addition to being the best thing I’ve ever done, I have to agree that being a mother is hard. 

 

Us mommies are always striving to achieve the infamous “balance”. 

Where is that balance? Who knows. Sometimes I feel like I am right on track, and other times I feel like I am so far away that I am driving in a field all by myself. Have you ever felt like that?

 

 

 

But I do know one thing for sure. The times when I have felt like I am “getting it right”, are the times when I have had yoga in my life. Why yoga? I’m not an exerciser, I don’t have time, I need something more physical, etc. etc. All excuses I have used and heard. Here is the truth on yoga as I know it.

 

 

We photograph many expectant moms and newborns in our busy little studio and we have also noticed a trend, which is why I chose to share my views on this topic. Our most positive, patient and centered mommies are in or have taken a yoga class. 

 

 

 

 

Why does it work? Who cares. Just to know that it works is enough for me.

 

Here are the benefits I have seen.

1.  Makes me a calmer more centered person that can approach life’s problems with a little more grace and a little less drama

2.  Set me on a journey towards better nutrition and health in general as the instructors explain everything that is happening in my body.

3.  Quiets my mind of everything in the past, the future, or useless random thought that don’t add to my life

4.  Improves my physical strength.

5.  Spikes my creativity

6.  Many many more, but really, isn’t that enough?

 

Give it a try. Not sure where to start? Well if you are in the Niagara Region, try Yoga by Sarah. Their studio is clean, energized and they have the best team going. Here is a link to pointers for those who may be new to yoga.

http://www.yogabysarah.com/new-to-yoga.html

 

 

 

Children and Photography

Children see the world completely different to the way we see it. They have not yet bought into the myth that they have limitations in life, and believe everything is possible. 

 

Want to see things if a new way? Hand a camera to your child. See what they come up with. What we have found is that they teach us how to see creatively again.

We find it absolutely amazing how we can have the most uncooperative child during a family shoot, and once we have showed them the back of the camera, they calm down and get drawn into the process. It becomes a game, take a photo, examine the photo, take a photo, etc. We are getting our great shots and they are having a blast.

 

 

Nervous to hand over your camera to a child? Give them one of your old cell phone and keep it charged for just that use. 

 

Our  5 year old studio helper, Julia has been taking pictures since the age of 2. She has her own digital camera and will often shoot a sequence of self portraits. Every so often, she will find my phone, shoot a few pictures and replace it so they are a nice little surprise when I go through my camera roll. 

 

 

 

 

If she finds out that we have a newborn visiting the studio I often will arrive to see that she has already set out hats, headbands, backdrops, etc. for me. Full scenes. Sometimes she will even go and get her furry friends and set the up for test shots.

 

 And don’t kid yourself, she always checks the next time she is in the studio to see if we used what she chose.

 

 

 

We feel honored to be asked to return for our “Capturing your kids on camera” this coming Sept. The class is for anyone wanting to take better pictures of their kids.

 

Check out our blog post to see what happened last time we ran this course. We will update with information as soon as it is finalized. So, if you have an interest in photography, come on out and join us! You will be so happy that you did!

 

 

http://makstudiosimages.blogspot.ca/2014/04/teaching-and-what-it-means-to-us.html

 

 

 

Humble beginnings & friendship…how MAK Studios started

When my daughter was born all of a sudden there was an inner passion that came out of me to do photography.  I had been trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life now that I had a little baby girl I wanted to be around to see grow.  I knew I didn't want to miss out on a thing!  My mom (Marnie) had been doing photography for almost 15 years at that point and was as shocked as I was when I said to her one day “hey…lets start a photography business!” and the rest is history.

Then 20 months later I was blessed again with my little man.  I will admit life was crazy at times with them being close in age and I was back at photography about 3 weeks after he was born!  Its been 3 years now and it turned out wonderfully.  We always get exactly what we need.

Being that my mom and I are best friends it was an easy thing to decide to go into business together. A lot of people ask us how it’s working out, we will say great “MOST” days…and well the other days we just don’t talk about…lol…

What does MAK stand for?  Well it stands for Marnie & Kelly which is what our business originally was called on our first promotional post card, which yes I still have stored away!  

Its been almost 5 years now and I can say I'm truly blessed to have the best business partner a girl could ask for!  We have our up’s and downs, but I think Marilyn said it best when she said:

Last thought: hug the ones you love with all of your heart, follow your truest passion in life and it will all work out.

Cheers,

Kelly