This little chunker came into the studio for his 1/2 year session. I say chunker because this boy is built solid like a tank with lots of precious squish. He is such a beautifully handsome little boy. This session took place last Fall; hence the color scheme and the props.
When we first started talking about the session we developed a general idea for the session; talking in color schemes and props. We had a loose idea of what we wanted to accomplish. It was Autumn. And .... there are farmers in that thar family!
Sterling in a log.
Sterling in a log with bright colored leaves with some maple syrup to add a little bit of north country realism.
Look at that gorgeous smile!
Mr. Sterling's gums were like a faucet. A faucet with BUBBLES!!!! His mother referred to him as "Drizzle Lips."
So when the minivan pulled up Sterling's mom brought him in and then suddenly there was pumpkin after pumpkin after pumpkin entering into the house. So we set up the pumpkins and got little Sterling to sit pretty amongst them. Although you can't see it in the photograph below, Sterling's mother was hiding behind the pumpkins to hold him up as the little guy was not quite steady without some support.
With this cute little newsboy outfit, Sterling stood up in the pumpkin patch and waited for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
When Sterling's mom took him to give him a quick feed, I set out to employ our collective props; some stuff I either had or bought but a majority are things that she brought. Many of the items that she brought had immense sentimental value to the family which made this entire shot right here worth the time and effort to set it all up. Just look at the image below and you can feel the family values.
Mom really wanted to get a picture of Mr. Sterling with his two best friends. She had a vision and below is one of the shots from that vision. There are only a handful of people who know exactly what it took to get this shot. I'm chuckling to myself right now thinking about it.
Lunch break!
Below is one of two pairs of authentic leather boots that are of sentimental value to the family.
After all was said and done, the session itself probably lasted the good part of a day; at least 5 and a half hours for the session. It may seem like a very long time, but the reality is that you go that extra for the people who believe in you and who invest in your business.
There is a huge difference between a photo book and a photo album. Sometimes, the terms are used synonymously (even the lab I order my albums from use the terms interchangeably) but they are vastly different; both in terms of price and overall appearance and durability.
Sterling's mom knew that she wanted an album. We knew prior to the session that she would want a canvas collage or an album so we shot the session accordingly.
After the session, I worked with Sterling's mom as I designed the pages for her album. There was a lot of back and forth communication to make sure that we had exactly what she was looking for before we went to print.
Let's just pause and appreciate the quality of this work of art for a moment. Look at this presentation! It comes with a guide on how to maintain it and store it. These items are meant to last generations. This is an album.
The Presentation
Leather-Bound signature album with embossing.
Each page or spread is hand-designed by me. The pages are thick and lay flat; the photographs are hand-mounted to the pages at the lab.
I had a die-cast made so that I could put my stamp of pride on this beautiful work of art that I created with my client. Of course it's not as beautiful as the work of art that my client created, but hey, the least I could do was capture his essence and put to paper!
This is one high-end album that we offer. Some people will want one for the one single session; some will want them at the end of a period of time; for example capturing multiple sessions within one album. (Example: newborn, 3 months, 6 months, and year all in one album).
In case you're wondering, this is the book. You can clearly see many physically different attributes between the two just from this one image; the pages are thinner and the binding is different. Although for me the process of creating the album and the book are identical, the products are indeed, anything but identical. Even the leather in the book, is "faux," whereas the album is genuine leather.
Sterling's mother had brought with her a Peterbilt sweatshirt because his daddy LOVED the brand and the trucks. We did not have an opportunity to use it in the session so I set out to figure out a way to incorporate it in post. This is one of the images I came up with.
