Farrah Braniff Photoblog

February 17, 2010

Hello blog readers! I have a special request for you and your friends. I am in the process of writing a book and need some specific shots to fill out certain sections of the book. Here is what I am looking for:

3-4 girls (must be good friends) who would be wiling to pose in some shots together and apart. The shots would be taken outdoors in casual attire. The girls will need to be willing to get a little silly so super shy girls may not be the right fit for this. An ideal scenario would also include a great backyard, some cute bikes, popsicles, fun dress-ups or athletic gear. The ideal age range would be between 7-11.

A very, new newborn (between 8-15 days old) AND a open light-filled home with nice windows. A really cute, light and bright nursery would be a huge bonus!

Teenage girl who loves to have her picture taken and wants fun, personality-filled, outdoor location shots. A high school junior would be perfect (and you could use the images later for senior pictures!). The ideal girl would love fashion, not be too shy and have fun being a model for the day. The locations would probably be in and around downtown Houston. If she has a best friend who wants to join and be a part of the shoot that would be ok too!

Boys and/or girls who can sit up but who are NOT crawling yet and who are normally very smiley kids. This shoot would be done outside at various non-traditional, more urban locations (when we get a pretty not freezing day like today). The wardrobe for this shoot would be picked out in advance by the parent and myself (think: Baby Gap, funny t-shirts, hats, etc.).

Boys and/or girls who can sit up but who are NOT crawling yet and who are normally very smiley kids. This shoot would be done in your home. The ideal home would be bright and have large windows that we could sit next to while photographing.

Girl with RED hair and freckles, ages 6-18.

If you, or someone that you know, would be interested in modeling for me please email me some snapshots of your child and which category you want to volunteer them for. My contact info: (713) 255-2882 or farrah@farrahbraniff.com.

What do the models get in return? In return for being photographed and signing a model release, the models / families of models will receive a disc with my favorite 10 images from the session in hi-resolution. Yippppeeee!

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February 15, 2010

The Monday Lesson- get closer

Today we're going to talk about a few simple, non technical ways to make a huge improvement in your photos. The famous photojournalist and war photographer, Robert Capa, once said "if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough". So,with that as your new mantra, one of the easiest ways that you can improve your photographs is to just get closer to your subject. I want you to fill your frame with your subject. This does a couple of things that will improve your images. First, it gives the viewer a simple, easy to define subject that has big impact. Secondly, it helps remove distracting elements from the background and foreground that take away from your subject.

The other nice thing that happens when you get closer is that your background walls more out of focus, which helps add further emphasis. If you really want to create an out of focus background you need to study up controlling depth-of-field. If you don't feel ready to bite off the technical lesson on depth-of-field, just get closer and you'll see that your backgrounds get softer.

This amazing and simple image is by Julie Lackey. I found Julie's work when she contributed an image for the Favorite Shot Friday flickr pool. Isn't she amazing? I love the simplicity of the first image. If you have a small child, I imagine that you have marveled at their little hands and feet. This is the shot that would remind you, 20 years later, exactly how small they really were.

and I just love this simple composition...

Here are a few of mine from our trip to Carmel last summer.

The image of my feet in the sand brings me to our next tip. I want you to start playing with different angles and more creative cropping. I always like to say that your image is telling a story. Often times when snap a photo, we include more information than we need to really tell the story. This next image is by a friend of mine, Brene Brown. I think it tells the "soccer girl" story perfectly without a single face being shown. So you guys know, Brene was one of my main inspirations for doing these Monday Lessons in the first place. I helped her out with a few tips and tricks and she suggested I do the same for others on my blog. So, here we are! Thanks Brene!

The next time you go to take the picture, look up, down, sideways and tilt your camera in a new way. You may be surprised to find the shot looks even better from a whole new angle. Here's a shot of mine from Cabo San Lucas. It's on a fishing boat looking up a fishing rod towards the sky.

My friend, Danny Clark, sent me this one to show how looking up can be great too. Danny has this signature way of shooting some of his images that's kind of tilted and crooked and looks great!

Here's a couple more by Julie Lackey that show how getting low and close up can lend so much impact to an image. Maybe it's because I have 2 little boys but this image just reminds me how little boys play with their cars - lining them up and creating elaborate scenarios with them.

And who hasn't found their child looking up at them with a proud smile and saying, "Look Mom, I put on my own shoes!".

And I personally just think little baby feet are one of the best things in the world! How they turn into regular, not so cute, grown up feet I'll just never know. This next shot is mine ut in the same spirit as Julie's image. One of Finnian's favorite things to do is play in the yard with a hose and a watering can. I just love how his little toes look and how the water droplets are partially frozen in their fall.

and one more image from Julie that will hopefully inspire you to not worry about cutting off parts or pieces of your image. Getting creative with your cropping might just lead to some of your most interesting pictures. I like to think about it this way, sometimes the heart of the story lies within the things that you choose to leave out. When you do this, you also allow the viewer to fill in the blanks with some of their own personal imagination, which allows them a place of their own inside the story.

OK, now it's your turn, go get close! I'd love to see what you come up with. Post links to your images in the comments section below or post them to our Monday Lesson Flickr Pool.

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Natalie J. says: This pic was a total accident, and I just shot away as she was crawling towards me. I didn't frame it or anything, but I love it. Her big blue eyes, the crooked lips. Some of my favorite pics were never planned or prepared for... (02.15.10 @ 02:57 PM)

Natalie J. says: oops. a link would help... http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=3536475&id=641343595 (02.15.10 @ 03:29 PM)

Christopher Brown says: Great post Farrah. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your talent. (02.15.10 @ 08:50 PM)

Berta Boice says: Farrah, Your facebook link isn't working!?1 Sorry I didn't get that email address for you sooner - I was gone all day. Thanks for the lesson today. Appreciate your hard work! (02.16.10 @ 01:27 AM)

Farrah says: Thanks for telling me about the facebook link! I am working on that. In the meantime, http://www.facebook.com/farrah.braniff. (02.16.10 @ 11:01 AM)

Farrah says: Natalie, I love the shot! Those eyes! (02.16.10 @ 11:02 AM)

julie says: the little boy in the first shot is darling. I wish I knew more about studio lighting. I love the one of the fishing pole. WHAT A GREAT angle. Love it!! Thanks for sharing Farrah. Can't wait to spend some time reading old posts. Have a good day. (02.16.10 @ 02:02 PM)

julie says: the little boy in the first shot is darling. I wish I knew more about studio lighting. I love the one of the fishing pole. WHAT A GREAT angle. Love it!! Thanks for sharing Farrah. Can't wait to spend some time reading old posts. Have a good day. (02.16.10 @ 02:03 PM)

February 12, 2010

Favorite Shot Friday - Marnie

How can this NOT be my favorite shot of the week? I mean seriously! And what is it about babies in hats?! It's just too cute! This is beautiful little Marnie. She was the smiliest little baby that I photographed all week. All you had to do was look at her and smile and she gave you one right back. It's funny how different babies are with their smiles. Some just hand them out without reservation and some make you work for them. I have 2 boys and one of them smiled at everyone and let anyone hold him and the other made you earn it. The only thing better than a baby smile is a baby giggle. That is just a magical thing. I don't know how you watch a baby giggle and not do the same yourself. I'm powerless against it!

So, how about everyone else? Any favorite shots this week? Please share! Post links to your images in the comments below and/or in the Favorite Shot Friday Flickr group. Our new little pool is growing inch by inch, come and see the images that people have submitted! Thanks everyone for participating and I can't wait to see more!

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February 8, 2010

The Monday Lesson- fun with frames

Today's Monday Lesson isn't about taking pictures but, instead, about a fun project that you can do with your old frames. Fairly often I hear from my clients that they have older frames that just aren't their style or decor anymore. Framing can be expensive so today I am going to show you something fun that you can do with some of your older frames that will give them a new life. For this project, I found 4 frames at a junk shop here in Houston. They cost me $8 each.

I recently changed my living room from darker tones to lighter ones. My whole theme in the living room is beach. The wall in my living room is full of black frames already and I want to switch them all to shades of white and light blue. So, when I saw these frames at the junk shop I thought I'd show you guys how a little bit of craftiness can save you a good chunk of change. Tomorrow I will post a picture from my studio where I did a similar thing to a bunch of older frames but in a completely different style.

The frames that I found were a little beat up but sturdy. I don't care about the wear and tear because the finish I am going to do will go perfectly with it. Here are the frames before I started.

Here's what they looked like after I was done. They were still drying when I took this so that's why they are all up on boxes outside.

This is called a crackle finish. The frames weren't bad looking to start out with but I wanted them to be lighter and I thought the crackle would work great with my new design theme. Crackle is a really simple and fun painting technique that you can use on anything that you can paint. I did this same technique on a little set of Ikea chairs that I bought for the playroom a while back.

For this project you will need the following:

a place to spread out and paint

a drop cloth

a medium size paintbrush (2 inches or so)

water-based paint for your top color (I used an off- white and a light blue)

water-based paint for your base color (unless you can use the frames as they are like I did)

crackle medium (available at most paint retailers and craft stores, I got mine at Sherwin Williams)

water based clear coat

You may also need:

sandpaper, sanding sponge (medium grit) or coarse steel wool

spray primer like Kilz

TIP! This will not work on metal frames! Also, if you are painting over frames that have a shiny finish on them or are newer, you may need to rough them up a little with sandpaper and then use spray primer (like Kilz) on them before you paint to make sure the paint sticks to them. If your frame has a lot of raised texture or detail, you may try steel wool instead of sandpaper as it will allow you to get into the detailed areas better. The frames that I used were old and the finish was pretty worn down already so I avoided that step.

Basics: Crackle works like this...the first color that you paint or, in the case of these frames, the color of the frame before you paint will be the color of the cracks. Typically, I like a darker color for this layer because it shows off the cracks better.

Prep: If your frame is newer / shiny, sand it a little bit all over, which will rough it up and give the paint something to stick to. Then spray a coat of Kilz primer all over and allow to dry. If you find frames like mine and you like the color that they are, just clean them off and sand a little if they look shiny.

Step 1: Paint your frame the color that you want the cracks to be. In my case, I just went with what was there already. I used my clean paintbrush to dust off the frames and I was good to go.

Step 2: Apply the crackle medium to the frame in an irregular and uneven way. The thicker you apply the glaze, the bigger the cracks will be. I like to leave some areas unpainted so there will be places where it does not crackle. Here is a detail of two of my frames. The shiny areas are where the crackle medium was applied.

Step 3: Allow the crackle medium to dry. The thickness of the medium and the amount of time that you allow it to dry will affect the size of the cracks. It will not dry completely like paint does but, instead, stay a little tacky. You can see how I used a varying amount of medium. I let my frames dry for about 30-40 minutes.

Step 4: This is a fast step so you need to ready. Get your top coat color ready, get a generous amount of paint on your brush and, starting at one corner of the frame, begin painting the top coat on. You need to have a good amount of paint on your brush because you have to paint quickly and you want to try and avoid going back over the spots you already painted. It will pull and make blobs where the medium and the paint combine. The good news about this technique is that it is supposed to look imperfect, old and worn so mistakes don't ruin it. Just slap the paint on there and don't try and be too neat.

Step 5: Step back and watch as the cracks magically appear! The paint will generally start cracking almost instantly. As you can see (in the image below) I applied my paint fairly thick.

Step 6: Allow your masterpiece to dry completely.

Step 7: If you want an even more distressed look, take some sandpaper to the corner and rough them up some.

Step 8: To protect the finish or make it shine, you may consider applying a clear coat but it is not mandatory.

Step 10: Once you have your finished frames, all you need is a piece of glass, a mat and your favorite image. If you are in Houston and need a mat or glass cut for your new frame, try the nice folks over at Davis Hardware in the heights. They are also a great place to find new frames too. We would also be happy to cut the glass and mat for you (yes, even if you are using your own picture).

Here are some close up shots of my finished frames. You can see the different colors of the crackle showing through.

Don't forget, if you decide to try this out, make sure and post a picture in the comments section! Have fun!

oh, and on a side note, check out an interview with your truly on a cool new blog called Moms with Cameras.

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elisabeth says: That is awesome! We're just getting ready to redecorate as well and I love this!! (02.09.10 @ 10:02 AM)

Paige says: They look great. (02.09.10 @ 12:21 PM)

February 4, 2010

Love Thursday- hold them close

The past 2 weeks have brought me a lot of newborn babies. It seems to be what I am shooting most this month and I love it. Newborns sessions are one of my absolute favorites. It just never ceases to amaze me that we start out so small and so helpless. I also love watching my clients navigate their way through those first few weeks of a first baby. In watching them move through the big changes, it helps me remember it too, and I do, pretty vividly. I remember being too scared to cut their fingernails and taking forever trying to dress them without making them mad. I remember the bleary eyed feeling of not enough sleep and too many questions. How hard it was trying to figure out how much to let them cry, when to step in and how much they should be sleeping, eating or pooping. I read every book I could find searching for the feeling of competency that only comes with time and doing. Then just as soon as you think you have it figured out they go and change it up and start doing something new. It definitely keeps you on your toes.

One of the best pieces of advice that I ever got was not to get too wound up about any one thing because as soon as you get that one figured out, it will change on you again. That advice helped me through some tough times because it proved true, time and time again. Now my babies are no longer little babies and starting to become big boys. In fact, Finnian will be 5 in a few weeks. You might think that, once they get a little older, you stop worrying about sleeping, eating and even pooping but it doesn't work that way. In fact, I woke up at 4:45 this morning to Finnian crawling into my bed.

The worries never go away but instead they ramp up and become about things like worrying about learning, school, testing, friends and fitting in. It's so much harder when their little hearts on the line. Sayer came to me just yesterday and told me about someone at school who had hurt his feelings. That's hard stuff because you can't just fix it with a diaper change, a call to the pediatrician or a fresh bottle. I guess it's not quite accurate to call one harder than another because it's all relative and "hard" never stops but, like the advice I received back then, just changes from one thing to another.

All I can offer from my vantage point (almost 7 years into it and a long way to go) is to breathe it all in and really try to be in the moment. 5 (6,7,8...) pounds only lasts for so long. You'll turn around and the next thing you know they're walking, and then running and then...

Happy Love Thursday friends, go grab your babies and hold them close!

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Cari Chee says: I love these images, Farrah! Really gorgeous photography! My ab fabs are the first one and the last one. And your website is just beautiful! (02.05.10 @ 07:24 PM)