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Welcome
Welcome to my blog! My name is Farrah Braniff and I am a portrait photographer in Houston, Texas. I specialize in contemporary portraits of babies and children. This blog is a place for me to feature my own personal imagery, images from my studio, my travels and the news and happenings of my family. I have two little boys (ages 5 and 6). You will see them a lot on this blog. They are my inspiration in so many ways. This is a great place to learn a little about me and my work. I hope you'll take a moment and look around. Use the navigation links at the top to find the entries by category, check out the FAQ, jump to my websites and so on. Thanks for stopping by! |
I know that I have been MIA on the blog. We moved the studio last week and it has been hectic as you can imagine. We are completely in the new (and improved) space but it's still a bit of a mess. I am seeing clients though and we're getting there! It's a great space and I know you all are going to love it! I'll post some pictures of the new space soon. In the meantime, here's the new information:
Farrah Braniff Photographs
1210 W. Clay Loft #18
Houston, TX 77019
same phone number: (713) 255-2882
My first appointment was with Emi's Mom to take a look at her session from a few weeks ago. Here are a few of her amazing faces. Whenever I look at that big joyful smile it makes me smile too. Her Mom's name is Joy and has an amazing smile herself so little Emi comes by it quite naturally. Isn't she just beautiful? When I was photographing her all I had to do was shake my head back and forth and she would crack up. It was really funny.
I hope you enjoyed that little ray of sunshine on this cloudy (at least here in Houston) Thursday morning!
After the session is complete and the images have been selected, the next big project begins. Where do you put your amazing new photographs? There are some standard places that work well - the family gallery wall (usually up the stairs or along a hallway), over the fireplace or in the living room. Then there are the places we tend to forget - the playroom, children's rooms, the bathroom and kitchen. Bathroom you say?! Actually yes, I have seen people do very cool displays in a dressing room, a walk-in closet and even the bathroom.
Over the next few months I am going to show you guys where some of my clients have put their portrait art to help give you some ideas and inspiration. First up is a tricky stairwell spot. This stairwell has all rounded walls except for this little nook that the builder very thoughtfully installed. The nook is about 58" x 60" (+/- a few). This client had images from a maternity session, a newborn session, a session with her daughter, a family image and an image of the 2 children together. We had printed the two collages that you see on the lower right and left already as well as the maternity image on the upper left.
She told me about the nook in her stairwell and gave me the measurements. From there I figured out how big the remaining images should be to fill up the space and we printed them and installed it for her. It was a tricky hanging job because they had to fit in just right. All of these images are printed onto canvas (we call them gallery wraps). I think it worked out really nicely and Mom was happy too!
The smallest image in this set is 15x18 (the two collages- lower right and left)
The image of the 2 children is 16x20
The maternity image is about 16x24 and the family is 20x24
Here is the entire stairwell:
Do you have any images of great photo displays? I'd love to see them!
When you are pregnant, people tell you how your life will change when your baby arrives. They tell you about sleepless nights, the blow-your-mind-love that you will feel and how you may never go to the movies again. No one ever told me that I would never again sleep like I did before I had children. Wait, if you are pregnant now, you may just want to stop reading, back away and skip this entry...it may be more than you are wanting to know.The first sleep changes are obvious. You can't sleep as late or your baby wakes you up every couple of hours for a while. The other changes are more subtle. It's the little voice in your sleeping head that seems to be on alert. It sounds something like this: "any minute now, someone is going to wake up with a fever" (or a nightmare, or a stomach bug, or because of the lightning, or because they peed in the bed, and so on). So when you hear noises in the house you immediately perk up. Then there's the crazy Mommy brain stuff, which sounds more like this: "In the event of a fire, which 2nd story (painted shut) window will I have to break and crawl out of while holding 2 hysterical children and the 2 dogs?" or "what if something terrible happens and I sleep right through it?". Does it matter to my sleeping self that this mode of thinking is a little crazy? No, just like it didn't matter to my half sleeping self that my husband is asleep beside me and could (at the very least) carry a dog and a child in the first crazy fire scenario. I have a feeling that I am not alone in this though, am I right so far?
Even more subtle still is the part of parenthood that goes so deep that it isn't as obvious. For me personally it is a sense of responsibility that I never had before. My days are rarely empty and there is almost always something to do and someone to take care of. This has forever changed everything about the way my life is lived, sleep included. While I would love to nap more and sleep deeper, I wouldn't trade any of it.
So, Mommies, if you are up late reading this...go to bed. It's late and you will likely be woken up in an hour anyway. Go to bed knowing that you are not alone, we're all in this sleep LESS and love FULL state together.
Kelly H says:
Farrah, I love your blog and this is so true! (Found you through Brene's site.) I think motherhood has affected not just my sleep, but my ability to relax unless the kids are with me. That little bit of awareness is *always* on. So true about forgetting that dad is there, too. How did you get started with photography?
(04.22.09 @ 09:52 AM)
Bren says:
sleep-less and love-full. perfect! beautiful pic (as always, my talented friend)!
(04.26.09 @ 03:13 PM)
Mirtha says:
I love your words and I will remember your quote "We're in this sleep LESS and love FULL state together. Once I read another quote that I will remember as well "These are the longest days, but the shortest years" I hope you like it. Your work is awesome, you will hear from me soon.
(05.05.09 @ 11:19 PM)
nesimarie says:
I so agree and no, you are not alone. Ive had to train myself not to go in there if I happen to wake up just to make sure she has suffocated, fallen out, is caught between the bars or someone has actually stolen her. But, funny story..I went to visit my friend in December in Dallas for a much needed "girl time". My husband stayed at home with our daughter and that night I was in dallas I went to bed at around 11 and didnt even open my eyes again till 11 the next morning. My friend was like, wow, you literally mentally must of checked out! I was like yea, first time I let my mommy brain clock out. It was amazing, but I couldnt wait to get home!
(05.10.09 @ 09:13 PM)
I love it when one of my clients refers their friends. That tells me that I am doing something right! Cullom and his Mom were awesome to work with and we had a really fun session. Here are a few from our recent session for you to enjoy too!
I just bought this amazing little bench from Wisteria and this was my first shoot with it. It is so cute!
Mom and Dad ended up getting a series of 3 canvases- the one above, this next one and one other like it. It's going to look great!
Happy Wednesday everyone!
I just bought this amazing little bench from Wisteria and this was my first shoot with it. It is so cute!Mom and Dad ended up getting a series of 3 canvases- the one above, this next one and one other like it. It's going to look great!Happy Wednesday everyone!
Carly Filippov says:
Adorable....love little Cullom....he DID a great job!!
(04.08.09 @ 09:02 PM)
Cauley says:
Can't wait to get them! Thanks again Farrah, you do such beautiful work :)
(04.14.09 @ 03:50 PM)
susie kaplan says:
cauley i want to purchase some of these!!!! can you have order info available when i get there??? thanks!!!!
gammy
(04.14.09 @ 04:39 PM)
Judy Lyman says:
Cauley, Ail forwarded these to me. Cullom is the cutest baby! I love him! How happy!
(04.14.09 @ 07:16 PM)
grandmother says:
baby cullom is a joy and a blessing.....he is the combined best of his mom and dad....how grateful i am for this child....farrah captured his special and unique qualities....beautiful yet all boy....precious and ready to shake things up.....i love these beautiful pictures.....june
(04.15.09 @ 07:19 PM)
Ratchet says:
Sooooo cute and love those little feet. Enjoy...Enjoy...Enjoy. Love, NaNa and DD
(04.21.09 @ 08:56 AM)
Take a drive in early spring in Texas and you will see parents alongside I-10 and other country roads taking pictures of their babies in the bluebonnets. Parents make it a mission to find the best patch of bluebonnets and drive way out of their way to get the beloved bluebonnet picture. For you non-Texans, the bluebonnet is our state flower and we're crazy about them!
Today, I am going to give you guys some simple tips to help you get the shot. I'll also pass along the central Houston location where I shot these images so you won't have to drive clear out to Brenham to get your image. Everyone thank my client, Diana, for the cool location and the cute baby!
Here is my location- notice the cars on either side, the telephone poles, houses, the fairly small patch of bluebonnets, the early afternoon overhead sun...
Here are 5 things that I did to give me my best shot:
1. One of the gifts that the day gave us was clouds. So, in an effort to not have harsh shadows on his face, I simply waited for the sun to go behind the clouds and give us a much softer light. I only shot when the sun was behind the clouds. If there are no clouds in sight, try shooting in the early morning or in the later afternoon and that should help quite a bit. Cloudy days are also great for photographing outdoors.
2. I placed him in a dense patch of flowers that also had flowers behind him filling the background. I also made sure to have flowers in front of him.
3. I got close (framed out the cars, poles, etc) and used shallow depth-of-field. I shot using my AV (aperture priority) setting and an f-stop of 3.5. If you shoot with a Nikon, the aperture priority setting is A. Because my depth-of-field was shallow, I made sure to focus on his eyes because I always want that part of the image to be super sharp.
3. I used a long focal length lens (85mm), which enhances depth-of-field and compresses the scene a little making the flowers seem more dense and less spread apart. You can do this if you have a zoom lens. Just back up and then zoom in. It helps to have a friend who can be close to swat away bees, reposition if needed and keep them smiling.
4. In one of the shots, I also used my rule of thirds to place him in a more compositionally interesting spot in the frame.
5. Lastly, I got down on his level.
All of these shots are straight out of my camera and have not been retouched or enhanced.
If you are a new reader of these lessons, you may want to go back and read the lessons on Depth of Field, Rule of Thirds and Focal Length. My blog was recently moved from Squarespace to here and not all of my content has made it over in one piece so be patient if you encounter some missing images. We're working on getting it all moved over. The links that I just gave you take you over to the old blog, which will be easier for you when reviewing the older lessons.
In the above left shot, you will see two very common mistakes. The shot on the left is from too high an angle and the depth of field is not shallow enough. Notice how those two things make the flowers look sparse?
In the above right shot we solve some of our problems. The depth of field is shallower and we've gotten down on his level and moved in closer. I am also shooting with an 85 mm lens, which helps compress the image and make the flowers seem more dense. The harsh sun is still a problem though. Luckily, the sun was going behind the clouds periodically so I just waited and photographed only when it was behind the clouds.
The above shot is better and we're almost there. Next, I moved in closer.
Oh, I forgot to say earlier, there were a few weeds right in front of his face like the ones on the left hand side of the picture. I just plucked those out of the ground before shooting.
I also tried a vertical version. I always say to try both because you never know what you will like most.
Just for fun, I tried playing with the Rule of Thirds and placed my subject off center.
Okay, not it's your turn! Would you like to know the spot? It's on a median off of Braeswood between Linkwood and the railroad tracks. I was shooting towards the tracks.
I would love to see your shots. Please post links to your images in the comments section below.
shawna says:
awesome examples, thanks! i just spent the week trying to figure out the best way to stage a cherry blossom shot since the trees tend to be tall. this post has definitely got me thinking! thanks!
(04.08.09 @ 07:25 PM)
Tanya says:
http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=275668421/PictureID=6983903279/a=37731577_37731577/t_=37731577
I love your work!!! I am signed up for your photography class in May. I took some pics of my munchkin at a bluebonnet patch in the Heights area....I hope you can see the picture.
(05.03.09 @ 07:51 AM)