Baby step club part 3

This is the third session for Desiree and Brandon and their daughter for our baby step club. For this photo session we chose their house. 

Family Photography: Baby's First Cake

My client Michelle asked me to take portraits for her baby’s first birthday.  I have a product especially designed for this type of occasion, where I place a birthday cake in front of the child and we watch the fun unfold.  I love being able to photograph a kid tearing through their first birthday cake, especially when I can do it through the lens of a camera, capturing every step of the way.  From these photos, we create a memory book as a keepsake for that family to enjoy for the years to come.

I always like a challenge, so in this particular photo session, I decided to ask Michelle if she and her family had any pets.  Upon discovering that they had a cat and a parrot, I asked if I could photograph their pets in front of a green screen so that I could Photoshop them into their baby’s first cake portraits.

When they  brought in their pets, I had their child pose with one of them, so we could capture an authentic interaction between the baby and their pets.  Of course, having a cat and a bird in the same place might not end up so well, we went with just their parrot, and the photos turned out beautifully.  Who could resist capturing the dynamics available between pets and their human companions?

Using green screen technology, I was able to composite images of their pet cat and parrot next to their child, cake and all.  Creating a portrait with both their child and their pets brought out a side of their family that was playful and whimsical.  Most importantly of all, my clients loved it.

But of course, we couldn’t forget about the big kids in the family: Mom and Dad!  I had them both pose with their child, together and individually.  I loved how their daughter’s magenta dress stood out against the muted tones that her parents picked out.  Wearing neutral tones works best in family photography.  Of course, children tend to look great in whatever they’re wearing, especially if they’re the center of attention.

We took a few more photos of the birthday girl, even adding in their pet parrot for good measure.  This time, we didn’t use a green screen, since we wouldn’t have to have both pets in the same place.

I keep a smattering of stuffed animals, toys, tricycles, tiny chairs, and other accoutrements for children and even parents to play with.  I have a child-sized bench in my lobby, and their daughter immediately took a liking to it.  We brought it into the studio, and it was an immediate win for everybody involved.  It even acted as a perch for their pet parrot!

Taking family portraits is always a rewarding experience.  Taking photos of children, babies, parents, families, and even their pets together brings me a sense of joy, and brings the families themselves closer together.  As a photographer, my job is more than just taking pictures.  I create memories for people to cherish for years and generations to come.

Cleopatra: Examples of Green Screen Photography

Frank and Sonny are long-time clients of mine.  They're wonderful with creative ideas for every photo session we do. Last Halloween, they concocted the idea of dressing up their daughter as Cleopatra, Frank as Julius Caesar, and Sonny as Mark Antony.

For the portraits that I took in their family photo session, I used green screen technology to put photos of their daughter in front of an ancient Egyptian setting.

Frank made every single one of these costumes.  What a family!

Family Photography

Crystal and her family have been clients of mine for several years.  Much like many of my other clients, when I ask them what they want for their family portrait session, they can't decide on whether they want indoor studio photography or outdoor photography.  Luckily, we can make both of those happen in 1 1/2 hours or less, and all for the same price.  We have many parks nearby.  40 minutes in a park, 40 minutes in the studio, and we can make everything that you want for their family photos a possibility.

Stars & Mono Lake

One of the curses of doing something that I love is that even when I go on vacation, I bring my photography equipment to try something different or new. So on my recent camping trip to Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra, I wanted to try photographing star trails. In order to take pictures of the stars, you need to be as far way from city light pollution as possible, and as high as possible. My goal was to find the highest possible camp site in California, and I got many funny looks from Park Rangers when I asked them about this! I ended up in the White Mountains at 12,000 feet, where I took the star trails photographs. At night, the temperature dropped to 35 degrees Fahrenheit-but anything for arts sake! These are my three favorite images, one of the star trails above my campsite, one panorama of a rainbow over the bank of Mono Lake, and one panorama of Mono Lake.

Painted Ladies Panorama

After a photo session with a client in Alamo Square that ended at 7, I waited until 8 to take this gorgeous panorama. It was worth the wait! The photo, of the famous Painted Ladies Victorian houses, has downtown San Francisco in the background. The final panorama image is compiled out of eight separate images.

Professional Portraits

My client Paul is a speaker and an insurance agent, and he needed to update his image for online professional websites, and speaking tours. To do this, we had a photo session to produce  professional headshots in our San Francisco portrait studio, as well as more casual portraits. Paul, after seeing the photographs, said: “The photos are amazing, I really like the way I look.”

San Francisco Studio Family Photography

My client Marica hired me to photograph her whole family. In our San Francisco portrait studio, I had the opportunity to take family portraits of her family, her brother’s family, and her parents. She told me it was the first time in her life that she had a formal photograph taken with her father. The family photos included pictures of the grandparents with their granddaughters, the two cousins playing together, and photos of the entire family together. It was a great opportunity to take these very special photographs for my client.

San Francisco Panoramas

In an effort to take non-boring landscape photographs, I chose to take a series of  panoramas that show three different gorgeous views of San Francisco. The first photograph was taken at the Broadway Pier, and shows a night view of downtown San Francisco. This picture is actually 40 separate images that were stitched together in Photoshop, and the final file size is huge, at over 6 GB! The second panorama includes the Golden Gate Bridge in the bay, as well as San Francisco in the background. It was taken from the Marin Headlands, and was stitched together in photo shop with 26 different images! The third panoramic view of San Francisco was taken from Twin Peaks and shows the entirety of the city. It started out as 24 separate photos, and then was transformed into one beautiful image in Photoshop. I am available for commission work!

Fundraiser for National Breast Cancer Foundation

Raising money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, our portrait photography studio in San Francisco had the opportunity to work with a variety of pets. These “pets against breast cancer” ranged from adorable Black Labs and Bernese Mountain Dogs, to colorful parrots and toucans. We would also like to give a special thank you to the Animal Company,  located at 1307 Castro Street,  for helping us with the fundraiser; we couldn’t have done the studio portraits without you! It was a great opportunity to fundraiser for the NBCF, and to photograph these cute animals.

My studio photo session with 2 acrobats for their portfolio

Fundraiser to benefit National Breast Cancer Foundation!

A fundraiser to benefit National Breast cancer foundation. By donating $25.00 you will get a 15 min. studio mini session and one 5x7 photograph. To buy tickets for this fundraiser or just to donate, click on this link:

http://www.stayclassy.org/events/detail?eid=23558

If you have any questions or want to schedule a photo session, here is our website: http://www.fimaphotography.com/

The photo sessions will take place March 15th and 16th.

Please share this info.

This fundraiser is a cooperation of Fima Photography and Animal Company: http://www.theanimalcompany.net/

Sonny and Cher

Having an appreciate for pop music, we paid honor to legends in the 60s and 70s in this family photography session. Sonny and Cher were icons forging the way as husband wife team.  I photographed these timeless portraits capturing the heart of this father and daughter and to the memory of Sonny and Cher.

Rita Hayworth

Reminiscing on the past, this portrait photography session continued along the path of a tribute to the famous stars of the 40s. There needed to be a change that happened in my studio in order to capture the essence of Rita Hayworth. Adding some color and a costume change we got back to photographing and capturing unique family portraits.

Rita Hayworth and her loyal companion. Everyone made it into this photography session even the dog. He was on his best behavior and right by Rita's side!

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

At this photography session the family wanted to capture the essence of the 40s and some of that era's legends. I captured this family's' portraits as they would have back in the day at my portrait studio in Noe Valley. Everything was working the wardrobe, make-up and posses. It is as if Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra came back in 2013.

Flashback to the 40's with leading actress, Ava Gardner! Once a classic always a classic

This father daughter portrait was a tribute to the classy 40s era and of course the leading couple Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra. Black and white photos, pearls and tuxedos you cant get any better than that!

Frank Sinatra at his best, sitting back and enjoying life!

Newborn Studio Photo Session

I had the pleasure of having this lovely family in my portrait studio with their newborn baby girl for a family photo session.  She was only 8 days old when we had this newborn session.

A Model for the Day

I love experimenting with infra red photography. I had the privileged of doing an outdoor photo session with my good friend Naya.

Family Photography in My Portrait Studio

Yulia owns Flowers of the Valley on 24th street and she asked me to photograph her family. We of course had to have flowers in this photo session at my portrait studio. I photographed her children together and then captured the entire family for their family portrait under the mistletoe!

Not Your Usual Family Photos

My friend Keri who is also a professional photographer asked me to photograph her family. We took this photo session outdoors in San Francisco. I suggested they bring a couch to this portrait session.  When I heard her husband was a gymnast, I decided to change things up and add a little spice to the family portrait.