gaphotography.com

Senior Spokesmodel Search

gretchen — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:14:17 +0000

It’s that time again! We are starting our search for Senior Spokesmodels from the class of 2013!

Spokesmodels are a chosen few from each school who represent our studio for the 2012-2013 school year. There are a few easy requirements, and the perks are many! One of which being the opportunity to have a stylize photo shoot at our Benicia studio with tons of outfit changes, a DVD slideshow of your images, digital files for sharing online, and lots of other goodies! Interested in becoming a Spokesmodel yourself? Just drop me an email at gretchen@gretchenadams.com or call the studio at 925-676-7036 and we can provide you with all of the info. Spokesmodel sessions must be shot over the summer (another session is done closer to graduation to serve as your “senior session”) and slots always book up fast!!

Kelli’s Spring Time Portraits | Concord, CA

gretchen — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:18:59 +0000

Miss Kelli did very well for her session! As any parent or photographer knows, the two-three age is normally not the easiest to photograph. The trick is to keep it easy, fast, and fun so the kids don’t really feel like they are on display. Even though we were able to squeeze in four different outfits, the session only lasted about an hour and all took place across the street from my home so it was very easy (and stress free for her mommy). This was a styled session, so I provided all of the clothing and accessories, with the exception of the cute little cowboy boots which my clients borrowed from a friend of theirs. I planned the outfits in a way that we would be able to just quickly change out a few key pieces as we moved through our locations to match up with the colors in the scenery.

One thing to keep in mind when planning your child’s portrait session, though, is this…the kids run the show. Even though I had four outfits planned for Kelli’s session that certainly didn’t mean that we were guaranteed that she would make it into all of those changes. When working with small children, you have to be flexible. Some kids will do their best if left in just one outfit and others can handle multiple changes, but I never push it and I always watch the kids for signs that they have had enough. The goal is to end on a high note so everyone leaves happy. If this session had also included her parents, I would have tried to keep the outfits limited to no more than two to make sure we weren’t over stimulating Kelli and pushing her out of her comfort zone.

Past clients always know that I have my treasure box on hand full of little prizes and that is a wonderful incentive to keep little ones focused on our task. I usually start the session by showing the kids the treasure box and explaining to them that as soon as we are finished, they will be able to pick out a prize to bring home. Then I remind them of the treasure box throughout the session when they start getting antsy and it usually works like a charm to bring their attention right back where we need them. I also keep Pez and stickers in my pockets for extra ammo, but for Kelli’s session we didn’t even need to go there. Her mommy also thought ahead and brought her a couple of new little toys still in the package to help entice her along, and that was a big motivation for her as well!

So if you are thinking of having your little one’s portrait created, now is a perfect time as the spring flowers are all in beautiful bloom! Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and moms and grandmas love beautiful updated portraits of their little loves! I have a lot of dads contacting me this time of year to squeeze in a quick session in time for gifts for their wives and mothers. If this is something you are interested in, please call the studio at 925-676-7036 or send me an email at gretchen@gretchenadams.com and I will be happy to give you all of the info and help you set it up!

Sami’s ready for Prom!

gretchen — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:27:48 +0000

This evening was a lot of fun. My best friend (for the past 25 years) brought her beautiful daughter, Sami, over to my house so I could photograph her in her prom dress. Since she hasn’t found the perfect pair of shoes yet, I had to keep the shots close up, but I couldn’t wait any longer as the cherry blossom trees that I wanted to photograph her under will not be holding their beauty for much longer! SO…if YOU want to capture spring time portraits that show off the blossoms, mustard fields, or wildflowers, don’ t put it off much longer! I still have a few more spots available before the flowers fade, but you gotta call me ASAP! Remember, Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and what mom or grandma wouldn’t love a portrait of her children or grandchildren as a special Mother’s Day gift! So Sami, here ya go…these are just a few of my favorites that caught my eye while I was editing, but I do have A LOT more for you to go through! Enjoy…

Winter Family Portraits | Walnut Creek, CA

gretchen — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:09:44 +0000

Here’s a few favorite images from a family session shot in February over in Walnut Creek. Our winter was very mild this year, but normally scheduling a shoot in February would have been a bit tricky because that is usually a pretty wet month! We made up for it with quite a bit of rain in March, so if you are interested in scheduling a spring shoot to take advantage of the beautiful wildflowers, you better act quick! They are all in full bloom right now!

Hunter’s Newborn Portrait Session | 10 days old

gretchen — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:48:15 +0000

I guess I have not been a very good blogger recently! My goal is to get a few of my favorite images from each session up here on the blog after each order has been processed, but certain times of the year I am just so busy trying to keep up with my shooting, editing, and previewing schedule that blogging sometimes gets neglected. I’m going to try to be better about that! If you are a past client who would like to see some of your favorites from one of our sessions together posted up here, just send me an email and I will put you on my “to blog” list! For now, I’m going to try and dive into the sessions that have been shot in the past few weeks and get a few favs from each posted pronto!

So let’s start with…Hunter! I had such fun photographing Hunter’s newborn portraits when he came to my studio at 10 days old. He is such a beautiful and mellow baby, his session was actually quite easy. He has been blessed with wonderful parents who I really enjoyed getting to know. I love photographing newborns because not only do I get the honor of holding a new baby for an hour or two, but I also get to meet new people as they are embarking on their journey as parents. Its fun to swap stories, get to know each other, and just relax as the session unfolds. So here a few of my favorite images from Hunter’s session…

Maternity Portraits at the Benicia Studio

gretchen — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:51:24 +0000

I am way past due in posting this session! I must say, I struggle with “creative writing”, so while there are always tons of images that I am excited to blog, the idea of putting my thoughts down in writing to go along with the images is always a bit daunting. So for today, I am going to keep this short and sweet and to the point!

This was the second maternity session that I captured for this client, the first was a few years ago with their first son. For this pregnancy, we wanted to create images that were very different from the collection a few years ago so that each pregnancy would be remembered differently. It was fun to play around with some different looks and to actually include their first son in some of the images.

Welcome Erin! 8 days old

gretchen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:38:10 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful little Erin when she was only 8 days old. A lot of people wonder why newborn photographers like to work with the babies when they are so new, so let me shed a little light on that! During the first week or so of life, babies are their sleepiest. And I don’t mean just sleepy, but DEEP asleep. That makes it much easier to pose a baby! Babies that are awake will tend to flail their arms and legs and kick out of most poses. Another reason we like them so early is because most of the time their skin looks great! Those of us who have had newborns before know that baby acne can set it after a few weeks, as well as really flakey skin. So under best circumstances, a newborn session is arranged for before your due date to insure that the window of time that would be best for your baby’s first official portrait session is reserved for them! Because I run a boutique studio, I work with a limited clientele and that gives me the flexibility to move around session dates as need be. Normally, we schedule the session for a date approximately 6 days out from your due date and then adjust as needed based on when your baby actually decides to enter the world! The session itself runs very smoothly. All I need you to do is sit back, relax, keep the baby’s tummy nice and full, and I will handle the rest.

Don’t you want a puppy??

gretchen — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:37:38 +0000

Well this week I had been hit with a stomach bug that pretty much knocked me out for a few days. I was feeling a bit better yesterday when my friend from up the street walked by with her son and their new litter of puppies, so of course I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and getting a few shots. Aren’t they sweet? Don’t you want one for Valentine’s Day?? Guess what…there are 5 of them and they are available! They are pure breed shih tzus and will be ready to place in homes pretty soon! If you are interested, or know of someone who might be, just send me an email and I will get the contact info over to you. And for any of you not in the SF Bay Area who are viewing this, yes, the weather has been that nice around here that the neighborhood boys can walk around shirtless! We are having a VERY mild winter so far!

Lucy’s newborn portraits | Benicia studio

gretchen — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:42:25 +0000

With the holidays, I got a little behind on my blogging! This newborn session took place in the middle of my hectic busy season, so little miss Lucy is a bit bigger than this now, but just as cute! She was such a doll for her session. After a snack, her momma handed her over and I was able to get her nice and sleepy fairly quickly. Once she was fast alseep, she let us accessorize her with lots of pretty handbands and hats and we were able to squeeze in a lot of variety before she woke up. Lucy is a lucky little girl, she has entered into a wonderful family and is very loved! We are already planning her next session with the entire family later in the year and I can’t wait to see how she has changed by then! They really do grow way too fast!

Family portrait session in the wine country | St. Helena, Ca

gretchen — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:53:31 +0000

A few weeks ago Buck and I drove up to the Wine Country (rough job, I know) to photograph another session for one of our favorite families! I love this time of year because this is when a lot of my past clients call up to schedule their fall portrait sessions in time for the holidays. I always enjoy working with the same families again and again because it’s nice to see how the kids have grown and their families have changed. As I’ve said before, one of the best things about my job is that we are fortunate enough to be welcomed into the lives of some very wonderful people. This career has brought me so many new friends over the years and it truly makes “going to work” a lot of fun and special for me.

For this session, we were able to coordinate for the kids’ paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother to join in (not always an easy task when there are so many schedules to work with!) The weather was perfect and we ended up with a ton of great portraits and lots of combinations. Here’s a small peek of some shots that caught my eye while editing…