Tag Archives: photography

Covid 19 Precautions: Winnipeg Photography Studio

Leave a comment

At ChrisMcWilliamsPhotography your safety is our first priority.  We are pleased to be able to open after being closed for 3 months and we are taking steps to ensure that everyone stays safe and healthy.

With that in mind, these are the precautions that we have put in place:

What we are doing:

  • Before your session all surfaces will be cleaned and sanitized including: light switches, door knobs, handles, handrails, waste bins, stools and chairs.
  • Client bathroom will be cleaned including  washing and sanitizing counters, soap dispensers, door handles, toilet and floor.
  • All props, headbands, hats, outfits and blankets that are will be used will be washed before your session.
  • We will cancel your session if we are not feeling well.
  • We will sanitize our hands before your session and during the session as needed.
  • When photographing a newborn, the  photographer will wear a mask.
  • Physical distancing will be in place during your session, except for newborn sessions. For newborn sessions, photographer will wear a mask.

 

What we ask of you:

  •  If at any time prior to your appointment you develop any of the following symptoms: Fever >38 °C (or subjective fever), cough, sore throat, shortness of breath/breathing difficulties…

    Or any two or more of the following: runny nose, muscle aches, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, headache, hoarse voice, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea…that you cancel your session and reschedule for when you are feeling better.

  • That you use the hand sanitizer available at the door when you come for your session.
  • That you follow the direction of the photographer during your session.
  • Clients will remove their shoes on entering. Please bring another pair for your session.

Let’s keep everyone save and continue to flatten the curve in Manitoba!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Manitoba Camera Club (Winnipeg Photography Clubs)

Leave a comment

A new year at The Manitoba Camera Club began yesterday, on Sept. 4th. MCC as our club is known has been a great learning experience for me as well as lots of fun. I have made many wonderful friends there who share a love of photography. And you can too.

If you love photography and want to learn more; then this club is an excellent opportunity for you. We meet every Tuesday from the beginning of September, until the end of April; a total of about 35 meetings. (There is a break in December.)

Here are some of the reasons to join:

  • Where can you get an evening of entertainment and learning for around $3.50 a night?  At $100 for the year, that’s all a meeting comes to.
  • You will find a community of like-minded people who are willing to share their expertise.
  • Some of the “experts” who are members include:

Joe Kerr,  http://pixels2.com/-/pixels2/who is an expert in both Lightroom, Photoshop and in fine art printing

Myself,  an expert in newborn, child and family portraiture.

Barry Streimer http://www.bearcreekartgallery.ca/index.php?p=1_6_FAQ, who is an expert art framer and night  photographer.

The list could go on and on.

  • Other photographers who are experts in their field will be doing presentations this coming year. This list includes:

Alexandra Morrison named photographer of the year twice in Manitoba and once in Canada,

http://nature-photography-central.com/about-                    nature-photography-central.html,

Mike Grandmaison, http://www.grandmaison.mb.ca/index.htm, a nature photographer in a class all his own.

Manuel Sousa; msousa.com; one of our favorite presenters, an expert in wedding photography, as well as travel photography.

There are many others; too many to mention.

  • There is the chance to go on field trips to places you might not venture out to. Next Tuesday, the 11th, we are going to shoot in the Exchange District in the evening. Would you venture out there by your self at night? I know, I would not. This past summer, field trips have included: The Selkirk Rodeo, fireworks at the Red River Exhibition and at the Forks for Canada Day, The RCMP Ride, the car show in Beausejour, The Northern Lights in Meadows, Mb, and many more.

So the question really is; why wouldn’t you join? If you are interested in photography, joining will be one of the best decisions you could make.

Check out our website at:  http://manitobacameraclub.ca/ for more information or join our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Manitoba-Camera-Club/377874278916436?ref=hl

This Photograph Is Not Free by John Mueller

1 Comment

I read this on Alix Reynold’s Facebook page and thought it was a great article. I wanted to share it with you.

Most people would never see photography this way.

Read on:

So this was the first sunset I captured in 2012. It cost me $6,612 to take this photo.

$12 in gas to go from work to this spot and then home. The camera I took this with cost $2500. The lens was another $1600. The Singh Ray Reverse Neutral Density filter was $210. The Lee Wide-Angle Adapter and Foundation kit was another $200. The Slik Tripod was another $130. The shutter-release was another $60. When I got home, I uploaded it to a computer that cost me $1200, and then I used Lightroom 3 which I got for $200. I then exported it and tinkered with it in Photoshop which costs about $500.

12+2500+1600+210+200+130+60+1200+200+500= $6,612

So if you’re a magazine, website, corporation, sports team, or advertiser who wishes to use this photo, please don’t come and ask to use it for free, or in exchange for credit or “exposure”. You found my photo so obviously I have “exposure”. You have an advertising budget, and this is what it’s for. You obviously don’t expect your writers to work for free, or your secretary, or your boss. No one is going to publish it for free. Just because the picture is digital doesn’t mean it was free to make.

As someone mentioned, THIS single photo didn’t cost me $6,612, but if you wanted to create it, from scratch, that is what is involved. So I consider it the replacement value if it’s stolen, or how much my lawyer will send you a bill for if it’s found being used without my permission.

If you give your photo away for “credit” then the best possible scenario for you is someone will see your photo, contact you, and ask if they could borrow one of your photos… for credit. Try this… next time you’re at dinner, tell your waiter you’ll tell all your friends how good the service was if he gives you dinner for free.

About the author: John B. Mueller is a photographer based in Ventura County, California. Visit his website here.

Clothing Choices (Winnipeg Photographer: Families, Children, Newborn)

2 Comments

This post from June remains my number one viewed post and I decided to repost it.

This is my 100th post. Hard to believe!! Time does fly by, but the good thing is that we finally have some nice weather.

I have had a lot of inquiries on getting fall family pictures taken. Please don’t delay in booking  a shoot as I will be away from Oct. 5th till the 12th. I’m going to visit my favorite little person, my grandson in Calgary. I will also be spending some time in Canmore where I am hoping to take pictures of the mountains and some fall scenes.

Here is the clothing choices post:

People often ask me what they should wear for a shoot, so today I am writing about clothing choice, as well as  including some examples of family pictures with  great clothing combinations.

The clothing that people are wearing is not the first thing that you should notice in a family picture. The relationship between the people in the picture and their expressions should be what your eyes focus on.  If everyone is wearing clothing that has stripes, patterns, or some kind of design it takes away from the most important part of the image, which is the faces of the people in the portrait. It is best if everyone wear the same colour or shades of the same colour. That way the focus is on the faces of the people, as well as making the family look like a cohesive whole. Most people make sure that what they wear on a particular day matches. Take that a step further and make sure that the people that will be in a portrait also match each other. It really does make a difference. Here are some examples:

Grants-24

This family is wearing brown on top and demin. I think it looks great and it also matches the fall leaves! I think the focus is on the interactions between the children and the mom and dad. I love the expression on the dog as well!

ctppo052

I like the white and demin that this family is wearing. The white really make them pop out against the fall leaves. And even though you don’t see their faces, you notice the little girl and wonder what she is saying. The smallest boy is so adorable in it as well. This picture wouldn’t work if the family were wearing different colour, or stripes etc.

IMG_1127

Wearing black is an excellent clothing choice when you have a black background. Your eyes go to the interaction and the faces. I love this portrait!

michael016

White tops with a white background is also a great choice. Doesn’t this family look great? I love how the baby is holding onto dad’s cheek!

tracy and chris-29

I love this portrait! I think it looks like a poster for a movie. This couple was so much fun to work with. I also photographed their wedding which was awesome. I like the black tops with the jeans.  The colour you pick for your top should be in the brown, black, navy, white or beige range for a portrait that will be a keepsake for years to come. Pant colour can be demin, beige, black or brown.

Christina

And Baby Makes Four (Winnipeg Newborn and Family Photographer)

Leave a comment

Have I ever been lucky with the sweet little girl babies  lately. On  Tuesday I had the pleasure of photographing this adorable 2 week old baby. Even though D did not want to sleep in the whole 2.5 hours that she was here,  she never cried either and she made the most amazing eye contact for a newborn! I saw her brother again who I had photographed 4 times in the past.  He’s going to be a charmer for all the girls with his beautiful big eyes and long eyelashes.

Thank you so much to A and A for bringing their kids here.  I will be seeing more of D, as she is now in my Baby’s First Year Club.

A few of my many favorites from this shoot:

dylan 8 09 (18)

 

dylan 8 09 (22)

 

dylan 8 09 (36)

 

dylan 8 09 (75)

A beautiful and sweet baby girl (Winnipeg Newborn Photographer)

Leave a comment

This last week I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful baby girl. Not only is S adorable, she is also a very happy baby, which made my job twice as easy. Lucky Mom and Dad with this little angel!

Have a look at some of my favorites:

sara 7 09-4sm

sara 7 09-8absm

sara 7 09-47sm

sara 7 09-14sm

Isn’t she sweet?  And so expressive as well.

I am working on a wedding right now and will try to have some previews  of those pictures tonight before I leave for Paris in the morning. If you need to contact me while I’m away you can reach me at chrisineurope09@live.com. I made up the new email address because Shaw is not always available in foreign countries.  I am super excited!!

Take care,

Christina

Wedding Videos (Winnipeg Wedding Photographer)

Leave a comment

I just finished making a video of the wedding from a couple of weekends ago. Have a look:

[clearspring_widget title=”Animoto.com” wid=”46928cc51133af17″ pid=”4a4d5190faddb065″ width=”432″ height=”240″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]

 It’s only 11 days till I fly to Paris. Am I excited? Very excited!! Watch for pictures of the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day!! Should be big WOW images!!

I want everyone to know that I will be raising my print prices in Sept.  Session fees will stay the same.  The reason for this is because I put a lot of work into images; it doesn’t matter whether you order a 4×6 print, or an 8×10 print.  Many photographers in fact, charge the same price for all prints from 4×6 to 8×10. I won’t do that. Here is the price format that I will be using:

4×6 $8

5×7  $15

8×10   $25

I am also increasing the price of DVDs purchased from portrait sessions from $200 to $250.

So if you want to avoid the price increases, book a session in August. I am also available for one more booking before I go to Europe.

Don’t delay or you will pay more!!

Fun Family (Winnipeg Family Photographer)

Leave a comment

It’s been a very busy few days. Today I’m sharing some of the family pictures that I did on Friday. On Saturday I shot a wedding, Sunday the marathon because my son was running in it, Monday’s shoot got cancelled, and then on Tues. I went with my husband and both sons to Granite Hills Golf Course in Lac du Bonnet. I didn’t golf but I did take about 350 pictures. I had a blast!!  I haven’t blogged in a few days, but I do have Friday’s pictures developed and the wedding is almost done. I’ll blog again later with the wedding pictures, but first the fun family. I had so much fun with these people!  A, the 10 year old little girl that you see, was a natural for the camera. She had ideas for poses and wanted me to take exactly the kind of pictures that I love taking; fun and action shots. Have a look. I think you’ll see what I mean.

young (2sm)

 

young (24)sm

 

young (36)sm

This pose was entirely A’s idea and I love it. Thanks for the great ideas A!

young (62sm)

I hope everyone is getting outside and enjoying this great summer weather. I have to remember to leave my computer and get out myself. I am a summer person and love the heat and being outside. Luckily, laptops are portable and the mosquitoes aren’t too bad, so I can sit outside and work!! Luckily for me, my husband likes to run errands, make deliveries, water the flowers, vaccuum, etc, etc.

Christina

Amazing Videos (Winnipeg Photographer:children and adults)

Leave a comment

We’ve all made slideshows and although they may be neat, they don’t have the professional quality of the ones that I just discovered. Well, I didn’t actually discover these. I went to a workshop last  weekend that featured Robert Provencher, who is a marketing guru. Robert has a busy photography studio in Sudbury, Ontario and has  also written a book (with himself naked on the cover) called, ” Exposed.” He was an amazing speaker with tons of ideas. This is the video program that he uses and it really is amazing. I love it!!

This video is of my grandson Ashton and I named it “Ashton Goofing Around” because that’s what he was doing. And he had a ball. Actually, we both had a ball. One of the great things about being a grandmother is that you can let you grandkids play the piano with their feet and then go home!!

Have a look at this very cool video and send me an email at chrismcwilliams@shaw.ca if you are interested in getting one of these videos of your own child, or maybe even of yourself! 🙂

Here it is:

[clearspring_widget title=”Animoto.com” wid=”46928cc51133af17″ pid=”4a00559ced5f4287″ width=”432″ height=”240″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]

 

As you can see,  for this shoot I didn’t use any posed standard pictures and just had fun, fun, fun. My favorite type of session. You may not want your child playing the piano with her feet, but I can think of other goofy and fun things to do.

The other thing that I saw at the workshop were Epoca Albums. They are the best that I’ve seen and I am in the process of making one up. Ask me about them if you are interested.

And now, for the best part…… since I am so excited about this video program, I am offering the first person who requests a video from a shoot that I already have the images for, a free DVD of their images. Just send me an email and I will produce a video of your child’s images and get it to you. All you have to do is send me an email. Also, the first 2 people to book a shoot with me will receive this DVD free with the cost of the shoot. So don’t wait!

Till next time,

Christina

Beautiful Baby Boy (Winnipeg Baby Photographer)

3 Comments

This week I had the pleasure of photographing a very adorable baby boy.  Usually baby shoots take up to 3 hours but M was so good natured and cooperative that the shoot only took about an hour and a half.  And he is already sleeping 6 hours at a stretch at night!  What a lucky mom and dad! M was wide awake for the whole shoot and I manage to catch a few smiles.

Here are a few of my favorites:

michael-28sm

 

michael1bsm

michael-99sm

michael-4sm

 

Doesn’t he have the most beautiful big eyes? You may wonder about the hat. I just changed the colour of it to give the picture a different look. These things are easy to do in PhotoShop.

Till next time,

Christina