I want you to know this about your family session! {Terre Haute Family Photographer}
I feel like family pictures really get a bad wrap... or at least the process of getting them taken does! There really isn't any reason to dread your session, or put off getting them because I PROMISE YOU, it CAN be done in a way that's bearable or possibly even (gasp) fun!! You wouldn't believe the number of family sessions I've done that I've been complimented on by the kids, the moms and YES, EVEN THE DADS!! And honestly, a common occurrence is a conversation with mom before hand telling me about how the kids never cooperate for any family pictures they've done in the past, prematurely apologizing for their behavior and a full disclosure of how much her husband has complained about this since the moment she told him she booked the session with me. I'm not lying... this happens ALL of the time!
Hopefully sharing these few things with you about what to expect from a session with me will put you a little more at ease and maybe even convince you to just go for it and book that family session already!
1. Right out of the gate, let me tell you something that should completely set your mind at ease; My ultimate goal is NEVER a "perfect" picture. Never. I mean, I'm not saying I won't get *that* shot, you know, the one where everyone is posed perfectly and looking directly into the camera with million dollar smiles plastered on their faces. I just might get it... but if I don't, I want you to know that I'm perfectly ok with that and won't lose any sleep over it because never, ever will I promise to deliver THAT picture for you. Some photographers can deliver those all day long. And kudos to them, that's their jam and that's awesome! Some will spend HOURS in front of their computer piecing a dozen different pictures together to create that perfect shot of your family. But, you see... it's a composite, it's literally pieces of 12 different images that have been put together to create one moment that never truly happened! I won't spend so much time on one picture that I could've driven from Terre Haute to Indianapolis and back twice before it was completed. It's not "me" to deliver to you a memory that wasn't real, but it's also not fair to MY family to spend that much time away from them. Now, I'm not saying that I don't do the occasional head swap in Photoshop, because I do, but if I'm going to be required to do editing that is something that's brain surgery level (this is a joke and a bad one, I know) I'm just not doing it. My heart and passion lies in what I call "emotive photography" and so in order to be true to me, I have to focus on my passion. When I'm able to focus on the things that speak to my soul during a session, those are the sessions of mine that you see that make you think "whoa!" when you look at them and really showcase not only my talent but more importantly the love and dynamic of the family that I was lucky enough to have in front of my lens!
2. My guess is you're nervous before your session... guess what? I AM TOO!! I get butterflies in my stomach before every. single. session. I put a lot of pressure on myself with each session. I want to consistently do better than the time before. I want to live up to your expectations and I want to live up to my expectations too! I want so much from a session. Beautiful pictures, connection, love, laughter, happiness, authenticity and if I'm being completely transparent, I want your time with me to be SO GOOD that you don't second guess using me again and that you're pretty much shouting from the rooftops how awesome I am and you're with me for life! Aside from the crazy pressure I put on myself from all of the previously mentioned, I'm an introvert and not much of a conversationalist... so that makes me incredibly awkward when I try to conversate with people. I'm well aware of this character flaw and always worry about coming off as a weirdo!! And I do all of this while looking like a hot mess... I apologize, but I don't dress up for sessions. I used to. But then I realized that I'm that type of photographer who is going to wade through water, climb a fence, get on my belly in a mudpuddle... whatever crazy thing I need to do to get the shot I want. It's just what I do. After a few ruined outfits I finally decided that as long as you and your pictures look good, there's absolutely no need for me to put on nice clothes and makeup or even wash my hair for a session.
3. I'm not judging you based upon how your kids (or husband, haha!) are acting! They're fine, I swear. I'm a mom. I have a son and a daughter so I'm pretty well versed with how both act. I'm also a preschool teacher! I'm good with kids, I love them, I love their honesty, their spunk, their raw emotion and their ability to so clearly convey the thoughts we're all thinking! One thing the good Lord blessed me with was a fierce love, understanding and patience with kids. So really, your kids are NOT bothering me. I NEVER expect any kid to act perfect. I'm a realist and like I said, I'm a mom... so I get it! Been there, done that! Take this time to just play and be silly with them. Enjoy these moments of their childhood. We get so wrapped up in living life, that it's not often we're told to just get down on our kids' level and forget all of our adult responsibilities for a while. But that's just what I want you to do! Give me 45 minutes and I'll get the good shots of giggles, grins, hugs and happiness as they come naturally. You'll see through my images what loving your family makes you feel!
4. I'm probably going to talk about butts, poop and farts if you have little boys. It is what it is. It's typically what makes them laugh and what you have told them NOT to talk about when they're out in public or around new people, so I apologize if I'm breaking your rule but I'm here to have fun with your kids and get some shots of them when they're genuinely happy. I've cracked many a tough nut with some good old potty humor! None of the old school "say cheese" for me... so please, please, please don't expect that to come out of my mouth and I'd really prefer if you didn't force it either! Girls on the other hand tend to be a little more refined... and often with girls, we can talk about lovely things like princesses and dancing and makeup. But that's not to say that I won't use the potty humor on them too, because sometimes that's what they need. I'm telling you... it's gold.
5. I'll do my very best to explain everything to you at the beginning of your session and continue to as we go. I do this because I want you to feel comfortable and I want you to trust what I'm doing. I have a method to my sessions that I'll share with you so you know what's going on. Sometimes we will try something and it won't work. I don't want you to be nervous or upset about this. Certain things work for certain people. If it works for you, great but if it doesn't I promise you, you're not the only one and there are so many other things we can and will try. Just relax and be yourself and that's when the magic happens!
A special thank you to all of the beautiful families I have showcased in this blog for being incredibly awesome during their sessions with me. You all hold a special place in my heart and are what I consider to be my ideal clients. I love you all so very much and cherish my moments with you!
Favorite Images of 2017
I went back and forth on doing this blog several times... sharing favorites from the previous year seems so "January" to me, but sometimes it's good to take a little more time to reflect and really look at what you're talking about. Besides that... I'm currently on a two week break so I'm finding a little more free time than normal... and all the more reason to find things to do to aid in my procrastination of housework!
While I don't have immediate access to all of last years images (I store them on an external hard drive that takes some time to get into) I did have access to a good amount of sessions right at my fingertips and have gone through and chosen 20 images from 2017 that speak to me! I learned in the not so distant past that it's most important to shoot and share the images that make me swoon because they are the ones that I've poured all of my heart and soul into creating for my clients.
My approach to photography isn't perfect, isn't posed and isn't traditional. My approach to photography is however, real, forgiving and comprised of small moments and details that are all part of the bigger picture. You'll notice I don't share images that are "perfect" by any means, but that's why I love them, because life isn't perfect and I have learned to love and embrace that lack of perfection! All of the family shots I've shared are happy little moments that I'm so glad to have captured. All of the senior shots I've shared are smart, confident, genuine young adults who have the brightest of futures ahead of them. Each of my clients leave a special impression on my heart and I'm so glad to have met and worked with them all.
So without further ado... here are 20 of my favorite images from 2017!
Welcome to Rachel's BCP Senior Experience! |Terre Haute, Indiana Senior Photographer|
Meet my BCP Senior Experience rep for South Vermillion High School in Clinton, Indiana, Rachel Luft. Here is a before picture of Rachel... as you can see, this girl isn't lacking in the beauty department!
Rachel's bright beautiful smile is a perfect reflection of her sweet personality and demeanor. She's outgoing, up for anything and not afraid to have fun. She's as unique as she is beautiful and is a perfect fit for the BCP Senior Experience! Another fantastic Senior rep on my team!
I learned a lot about Rachel through her application and in our various conversations when planning her first session. One thing that just really blew me away while I was getting to know Rachel was that she's an amazing seamstress! She and her Grandma made her costumes for the Little Italy Festival Pageant last year. If you know much about Clinton, Indiana then you know about the Little Italy Festival and just how incredible and intricate those costumes can be! So, as you can probably figure, being a fabulous seamstress also means for Rachel a love for fashion! She loves to dress professionally (hello, go-getter!!) and actually went to the Indiana State Fair to compete in Fashion Revue (a competition where you model an outfit you made yourself) and out of 82 girls, was placed in the top ten! She started off her session dressed to kill (the session) and HAMU on point, thanks to the amazing skills of (hair goddess) Crystal Zucca and (makeup artist extraordinaire) Melissa Wilson!
Check out this gorgeous dress that Rachel made!!
Not only do I love her confidence and her ambitious approach to life, I love her equally present silly side! Rachel had me in stitches during our session, she made every single minute of our time together so much fun! There was never a dull moment walking around Terre Haute, Indiana with this beauty!
You see this amazing wall... THIS was Rachel's find. It caught her eye and she pointed it out to me. I was so glad she did... it was bright, and fun and perfectly coordinated with her outfit!
We LOVED playing with the lighting at this spot. It perfectly highlighted this girl's beauty and she nailed EVERY SINGLE SHOT!
As beautiful as that smile of hers is... she can pull off the serious "smoulder" just as well!!
And here's that beautiful smile again! Rachel told me she loves the pictures of old alleys, she feels there is so much character from the years and years that have passed, the stores and businesses that held those spots and the people who frequented them. I loved her thoughts on this and wanted to incorporate into her BCP Senior Experience a few of these favorite types of shots for her!
And then to wrap up the session we had the most gorgeous lighting and sunset on top of the parking garage. We soaked up every last drop of that warm orange glow of the sun!
And here we are with another phenomenal BCP Senior Experience underway! I can't wait to do another session with Rachel later this year. This girl is photography gold and a great role model! If you love what you've seen of Rachel's time with me and you've not yet scheduled your senior session, you NEED to reach out to Rachel... she'll tell you all about her BCP Senior Experience and why having your own is the only way to go! She'll tell you about when she first booked with me, she was added into a private Facebook group exclusively for all BCP Senior Experience clients. It's a place to share tips on anything from hair and makeup to fashion to college or anything in between. It's an open forum to not only ask me questions, but anyone in the group!
She'll tell you about how easily she's able to earn gift cards (from the places she chooses!) for her referrals! She literally just has to share her pictures and her experience with her friends who are seniors and when they book their BCP Senior Experience and tell me she is the one who referred them, she earns gift cards! How cool is that? What's even cooler... when her friends book their BCP Senior Experience they become eligible for the referral program too!
A private Facebook group. Professional Hair and Makeup. A personalized session. Guidance every step of the way. Gorgeous pictures. Gift cards. All of THIS and so much more is what makes the BCP Senior Experience *THE* only Senior Session in the area of it's kind!
So...what are you waiting for?? If you're a 2018 senior in Vigo, Vermillion, Parke or any of the surrounding counties, Contact Beth Cox Photography today and book your BCP Senior Experience!
Welcome to the BCP Senior Experience |Terre Haute, Indiana Senior Photographer|
The 2017-2018 school year is nearly here... and those of you who are coming into your senior year of high school (or those of you who are the parents to a senior) are most likely at this very moment wondering where the time has gone... HOW did your SENIOR YEAR creep up so fast?!?!? This year brings on so much excitement, planning and prep and perhaps even a little anxiety! But... no worries, everyone who has been in your shoes felt what you are, and those who will follow behind you will feel the same way as well!
Since the beginning of my journey in the world of photography, one of my favorite types of sessions has been high school seniors! There's something so exciting about that time in a person's life... they're learning who they are, they're gaining independence and they're making plans, BIG plans, that map out the beginning of their adult lives. And they're excited to be doing so! The first senior session I ever did was for a Baylee, a Class of 2014 graduate from South Vermillion High School in Clinton, Indiana. We actually did "seasonal" sessions for her... I thought it was such a fun idea and loved every minute of it! (And maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like Baylee and I set the bar for the seasonal sessions (at least in the Clinton/Terre Haute area) because we're the first ones in this area that I know of that did it!). I loved the creativity, the uniqueness and the ongoing opportunity to document such an important time in her senior year. I was HOOKED!
My love for senior sessions has grown with each and every senior session that I've done since then... and with it, my passion to create an experience that is as fun and unique as the person I'm taking pictures of. I don't want to just deliver to you a great gallery of senior pictures.... I want so much more for you! I want you to feel pampered and beautiful. I want you to help you every step of the way, from the location to the clothing to creating the vibe you want your pictures to create. I want you to be excited about what we're doing, I want to share in that excitement with you and I want to help you create great memories of this last year of high school! I know how important it is to you... and it's just as important to me! So with all of those things in mind, I created the BCP Senior Experience.
Once you all that the BCP Senior Experience has to offer, I'm confident that you'll be ready to book yours! To give you a rundown of what you can expect, I'm going to share with you some highlights of Sydney's first BCP Senior Experience session. Sydney is my Class of 2018 Senior Rep for West Vigo High School.
Sydney and I were in contact quite a bit before her first session, discussing her likes, dislikes, her personality and her style. We both decided her first BCP Senior Experience should reflect her fun personality and her eye for fashion and style. We decided that the Vigo County fair would be a fun place for her shoot... all of the lights, the bright colors and the happy and fun energy that was buzzing around made it a perfect location! Then we discussed what outfit choices would work well for this shoot. Syd has a great eye for fashion and her outfit choices were on point!!
The day of Sydney's session, she was treated to professional hair and makeup. All of my BCP Senior Experience girls get to do this... it's all part of their experience! I want you to look and feel your best, so I schedule an appointment for you where one of my HAMU gals will fix your hair and make up and have you portrait ready! Literally all you do is show up... it's that easy. They'll find out what look we're going for, for your session and they'll work their magic.
Here's Sydney's before picture.
Isn't she such a natural beauty? I *wish* before pictures of myself looked this great!
So when we were planning Sydney's session, we decided that two outfits would be best. For her first outfit, Sydney chose an adorable cold shoulder dress in white. It was simple, adorable and absolutely perfect! She accessorized with a coral necklace and bracelet. It was fun and added a perfect pop of color. She couldn't have looked more perfect for a session at the Vigo County Fair!
For her second outfit, she went a little more casual with some cute jeans, a light pink top and some pretty layered necklaces and a simple bracelet. I love Sydney's sense of style and her ability to choose the perfect outfits that reflect her personality and her since of style and her session!
So now that the first session of Sydney's BCP Senior Experience has happened... what comes next? Well, for starters, when she first booked with me, she was added into a private Facebook group exclusively for all BCP Senior Experience clients. It's a place to share tips on anything from hair and makeup to fashion to college or anything in between. It's an open forum to not only ask me questions, but anyone in the group!
She also earns gift cards (from the places of her choosing) for her referrals! She literally just has to share her pictures and her experience with her friends who are seniors and when they book with me, she earns gift cards! How cool is that? What's even cooler... when her friends book their BCP Senior Experience they become eligible for the referral program too!
A private Facebook group. Professional Hair and Makeup. A personalized session. Guidance every step of the way. Gorgeous pictures. Gift cards. All of THIS and so much more is what make the BCP Senior Experience *THE* only Senior Sessions in the area of it's kind!
So...what are you waiting for?? If you're a 2018 senior in Vigo, Vermillion, Parke or any of the surrounding counties, Contact Beth Cox Photography today and book your BCP Senior Experience!
Self Portrait Class with Sarah Beth Photography {Terre Haute Family and Senior Photographer}
June 20, 2017... my 38th birthday. I woke up early, took a shower and got ready for the day all while my family was still sound asleep. It's summer break and they weren't ready to see the light of day as it wasn't even quite 8am and I was already on the road. Bye-bye Clinton, Indiana... I'm headed to the big city of Indianapolis! (Don't judge... it's big to a girl who doesn't venture much outside of Terre Haute!) That drive from Clinton to Indianapolis was long... I was alone with my thoughts and I was a ball of nerves. You see, there is this amazing photographer with work that I fell in love with a few years ago, and it just so happened, she was from Indy. This gal is LEGIT. She travels all over the country for sessions, teaches workshops not only in Indiana but in many other locations throughout the country as well. She speaks and teaches at photography conferences. This stuff sells out in no time because of how awesome she is. She sells some amazing guides to help other photographers, she sells actions and presets for editing. Heck.. she even just teamed up with this very cool company called Strawberry Revolution and created her own line of super cute and practical clothes geared toward photographers. Oh, she also has her own blog where she touches on all sorts of topics of interest from makeup, hair and fashion to quick and easy meal prep to, of course, photography. She's built an empire. She's amazing. She's genuine and I seriously can't express how much I adore her. She is GOALS. If ever I had a girl crush, it would be her. (I'm totally trying to play it off like I don't have a girl crush, but yeah.... I do. Clearly it's her.) Hopefully you're getting the idea of how big of a deal Sarah is.. although most of you probably already know who she is, so it's really not a hard sell. I was lucky enough to do a workshop with her last June (maybe that's something I can blog about another time... I'm still just trying to get my feet wet on this whole blogging thing!) and was nervous then as well... but this time, I was attending a SELF PORTAIT class. Let me share a little secret with you... I don't love being IN pictures. I'll take them all day long of anyone, but I will come up with every excuse known to man to not be in the pictures. And this is exactly WHY I decided to do this class of hers. A big part of what I do includes making women just like me feel comfortable and beautiful in front of the camera. I build you all up, I promise you that you look gorgeous and your family loves you and sees you in a completely different light than you see yourself in. And it's so true. I mean every single word of it. I see your beauty, I see how much your family loves you and I know how important it is to them to have these portraits, these gorgeous keepsakes that include YOU. On the flip side, I also see that you're nervous, I see that you're incredibly hard on yourself because you don't fit the expectations of your own mold of perfection that you think you have to fit into in order to be loved. You're perfectly you. And that's who your family loves. Trust me... years from now, my kids aren't going to care about the extra weight, the wrinkles, the grey hairs, the mole on my face that I absolutely detest or the crooked teeth that make me so incredibly self conscience. And guess what... your kids, your spouse, your siblings... whoever it is that loves you, they're not going to care or even notice any of those physical insecurities that you have either! When Sarah announced she was doing that class, it struck a chord and the lightbulb went off... I need to be on the opposite side of the camera to truly empathize with all of you and actually know what you're feeling. So, ignoring my natural reaction to run as far away from the front of the camera as possible, I went for it! It was empowering, it was a great learning experience and it made me a better version of myself on so many levels.
The first part of the class was spent with Sarah being her charismatic self and sharing with us her own reasons for starting to do her self portraits and really encouraging us to take notice of and embrace our own beauty. We watched Sarah as she did some self portraits. The first time she had ever done them in front of anyone (except for maybe her dogs...) was for us. It was amazing!
Then came our turn. She helped us all, setting up in different areas of her studio. I was so hesitant to do mine. I mean... this was HARD. But she helped me set myself up in front of a window with some gorgeous light and I just dove right in and went for it! Ok... so maybe it started off a little odd because I felt weird and didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing, but it was actually fun once I got going!
So I decided while I had her there at my disposal and was in this gorgeous studio of hers, I was going to try another setup... so I did! Dang... the girl who hates being in pictures just did not one, but two sets of self portraits!
Then, much to our surprise, Sarah did headshots for all of us. Talk about a dream come true!!! And, as a bonus bonus, the last person she did headshots for, we all did pictures of her as well. Sarah walked us all through how to pose and shoot women to keep them looking their absolute best.
I left that class feeling so amazing. Sarah has such a way about her. She lit a fire in me and honestly made me feel like I was able to go out and conquer the world if that's what I wanted to do. Of course, for now, I'll just continue to work on conquering some more self portraits. Baby steps...
Check out Sarah's amazing work at www.sarah-bethphoto.com !