I recently reviewed my product range and have decided on a new home for my clients collections to live. There are a number of reasons for this but I feel that these particular products are a great pairing with my style of photography and are something so elegant and timeless unlike anything else I have seen in the market. All of these new products, not just the albums, are bound to become heirlooms and treasured for many generations.
A portrait of Lily taken last month on some very old film and a very old camera. I love it.
I’ve been experimenting with film a little more lately. I love that it pushes me to think about a shot before I click the shutter and that the results are not instantaneous. Digital while wonderful, can make me feel a little complacent sometimes. There is something intangible about waiting a few weeks for your film to be developed before knowing if your shot turned out.
I’m looking forward to trying out a new film camera of mine while in Queensland this week. We are off to Brisbane today and then onto Noosa to support Grant who is competing in the Noosa Triathlon this weekend. Its his first triathlon in a few years and has been training so hard, its going to be great to see him cross the finish line.
In the meantime, I will be accessing emails and phone messages periodically while we are away and I will be back on deck Thursday week.
As you may know, from around August I was unable to take on any more wedding commissions during 2009/2010 being completely booked. However due to recent cancellations, I now have three availabilities for this season. If you are still searching for a photographer to collaborate with on your wedding day, please give me a call or send me an email as soon as possible to book your consultation.
I really do not know what I did with my spare time before social networking.
First there was the blog and then I succumbed to the evils of Facebook after much protesting. It felt like all the cool kids were doing it so really, I should too but I resisted. Recently my Mum mentioned to me how as a child and then a teenager I marched to the beat of my own drum and despite peer pressure usually just did what I wanted to. However, despite my resisting and proclamations that I do not need social networking, I have been converted and not a day goes by now without some form of social networking online.
After Facebook of course came the micro-blogging phenomenon of Twitter. Again, all the cool kids were doing it and at first I really didn’t understand why I would want to know what someone was doing at 11.21pm or why they would want to know what I was doing. I am simply not that interesting. However, I succumbed to the peer pressure for one of the few times in my life and it has evolved to the point that I am a little ashamed to say I have way too many moments when I think to myself “I am sooooo twittering this”. Thankfully for those currently following me I don’t tweet them all.
However, from a business perspective social networking is so beneficial when communicating with my past, current and future clients and building relationships with other photographers and professionals in my industry that I wouldn’t be without it.
If you are interested in reading what I am up to day to day, you can follow me through Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/angela_higgins.
There really is nothing better than a book. How it fits lightly in your hand and captures your attention as you realise this is your own personal time capsule containing your most precious memories. A book that you will grab first if your house is burning down. A book that you will show your grand-daughter towards the turn of the next century. A book that will hold a piece of your heart forever.
The process for selecting the medium for your wedding collection is a personal choice. All I know is that whatever book you choose it should be elegant, modern and beautiful. It should stand up to trends and be just as relevant in 50 years as it is today. It should be a comprehensive story of your day from the details you spent hours deciding on to the intimate moments between you and your new husband and your loved ones. It should transport you back to your day when you were courageous enough to say “I do” to your groom and begin the next chapter of your lives together. It is a family heirloom.
This book is my newest addition for my wedding clients. A beautiful, lush high end coffee table book which has been lovingly crafted in New York city. It is covered in a Japanese silk fabric and hand bound by master craftsmen creating a one of a kind book. Each of the pages within have been digitally crafted by me in house over some 50 pages creating one of the most comprehensive books available.
It makes me happy to just run my fingers over the linen exterior. I know, I’m a simple girl 
While it is hard to compartmentalise my work as a photographer as I feel it is something that evolves with every shoot that I do, the majority of my work is contemporary and based on a fresh approach to portraiture, usually called lifestyle portraiture.
Lifestyle photography is about being less posed, less stiff and having more natural expressions and movement. Your kids will be asked to play without worrying about hitting a certain pose or getting their clothes dirty. We all interact and the result are natural responses and genuine reactions. I use natural light and work on location exclusively which is also a large part of lifestyle portraiture. The images are rich and vibrant in colour and black and whites are deep and usually colour tinted slightly.
Ultimately lifestyle photography is about anticipating the coming moments and capturing genuine emotion. I am always letting my clients know that I aim to capture them and their personalities rather than simply what they look like.
The other component of this style of photography is in the displaying of it. Lifestyle portraiture is about storytelling and when you have just one single image it doesn’t tell the story as well as a series of images does. Sure there are times when one single image is a great impact but I am always so pleased when my clients order a book, a series of images to display or as of lately, a storyboard portrait as it helps to tell their story and better document their relationships and connections from the session.
I thought I would share a couple of storyboards created (note the web address is simply for copyright here and is not on the actual storyboards).
One of my favourites from Olivia and Mark’s session (you’ll notice I said “one of”, there were so many)
A small storyboard I created for our own wall display from Phoebe’s conceptual session last year.
A sequence series from a recent family session
Lastly, a favourite from Rodney’s collection. Rodney’s mum actually ordered this recently and I can’t wait to see it in print.
Ultimately
This is one of a few projects I have been working on recently and it is finally ready to share with you. Head on over and have a peek by clicking on the image below or visiting www.angelahiggins.com. Let me know what you think
There are so many ways to display your wedding collection and every photographer has a different approach. For me, simplicity always wins hands down when creating a book that will be just as relevant in 40 years from now.
You won’t find borders, heavy collages, selective colouring or watermarked images in my layouts because they just don’t fit with me and the way I view my style. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, personally I want my clients collection and books to be timeless and elegant and for me this means simple layouts, full bleed spreads or beautiful negative space, letting the images speak for themselves and veering away from trends.
This book is my newest addition and is from Grant and Issy’s collection. It is a beautiful flush mounted book where the photographic prints are mounted directly onto the thick page construction creating a seamless layout. The two books below are 5×7″ and 11×14″ in size respectively.
And here are some of the layouts from the book. Each layout is individually crafted by me. I don’t use templates or actions for my layouts because each collection is different and each book is different in its own way. Its a creative process and a long one at times but so rewarding when the book is delivered to be able to see it in real life. Its like Christmas morning
Back in September 08, I shot a wonderful session with 3 sisters. Just recently their parents ordered a book from the session amongst some other things and I was so happy when they did. These books are magnificent and I love creating them. Every time I show one to a client or a friend it is always the same remarks of “How beautiful!”, “So sophisticated!” or simply “I want one!”
My approach when designing a book is minimalist. I like lots of clean white space that allows the images to speak for themselves and for the book to tell a story rather than simply house images.
These books are something I have been offering for a while and I honestly never get tired of receiving them from the courier before wrapping them up and sending them onto my Client. I have another type of coffee table book that is very high end and in the works at the moment. This is something more for my wedding clients but would be perfect for any of my clients honestly. I can’t wait to show you.
So I thought I would share some layouts from this particular book and show you how it looks once printed and bound. This particular book was 40 sides (or 20 pages) and 8×8″ in size. This first image is the front and back cover wrapped all around the book.
And now for the book itself. Every book comes with a customised silver stamping on its protective cover. The pages are thick and luxurious with black and whites so deep and colours that really pop. It is sure to become a family heirloom.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know of the total devastation experienced in Victoria over the past week. These bushfires and the carnage left behind has the infamous title of being the most tragic and significant disaster in our short history. Over 180 lives have been lost in the fires and over 750 families have lost their homes. It goes without saying that this sort of event makes you think about what you have and how lucky you are.
In the business I am in where I take moments to document those important relationships, events and the “in-between” for people to look back on their memories with clarity and a smile on their face, this is even more relevant.
Although I have donated to the Red Cross earlier in the week, I still feel like I could do more – that I should do more. Really, in a situation like this I don’t believe there will ever be enough assistance given but Australia has shown its true colours by banding together and already raising over $31m in donations towards this disaster through the Red Cross.
Today I came across a number of other photographers who are donating their time and services in order to gather further donations for those that have been affected by the fires. I am proud to be in a position where I can also do this and have decided to follow suit.
So if you are interested in booking a portrait session with me, do it in April. I have decided to donate all session fees for April to the Red Cross to help those affected by the bushfires. Simply visit the Australian Red Cross website, donate your $50 session fee via the secure online donations form, send me an electronic copy of your receipt and we will organise a time and date for your session! It’s that simple! I normally only offer a few portrait sessions per month but in order to really have an impact I have opened up my calender and am offering twice the number of sessions during April. There are currently 6 slots available for April so please be quick and be sure to email me first to reserve your date and to let me know to expect your receipt.
