Etheridge Photographic

Easter Portraits in the Studio with Live Bunnies!

Kelli — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:02:33 +0000

Spring is almost here and it’s time again for the annual Easter Portraits. The SPCA is on board again and will be provinding some cute bunnies for the day. Leon, from the SPCA, tells me he has some wonderful rabbits there right now. My kids are excited again this year as they help out for the day as my bunny wranglers.

The mini sessions will all take place on Saturday, March 17. Each session will last 30 minutes. There are 3 different packages to choose from. And as usual, $10 per session will be donated to the SPCA. You can include all your children in one mini-session. We can take individual images of each child as well as time allows.

Last year the spots were filled within a few days so book early to ensure a space.

The background/scene will be different than the last two years; I always like to come up with a new look each time.

Here are some of the images from last year…

Easter Portraits 2011

Cyber Monday 2011 Session Special

Kelli — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:03:43 +0000

One Day Only – Monday, November 28
Buy one session, receive a second session at 50% off.

Redeem the Session Gift Certificates for your family portraits or give one away as a gift this holiday season.

Gift Certificates for sessions will expire at the end of 2012
Online purchases only. Must be paid in full on the day of the special (select PayPal option when checking out).

The Session Special will only be available for purchase on Cyber Monday.
www.etheridgephotographicstore.com/RedCart

Halloween Costume Contest Winners

Kelli — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:34:59 +0000

Wow, after a whopping 1606 votes the winners are in for the 3rd annual Halloween Costume Contest.

Thank you to everyone who voted. There were some real cuties this year.

And a big thank you to everyone who came out to the event in support of NALT. We raised $790 for the Nanaimo Area Land Trust. This number keeps going up every year!!! NALT will be mailing out the tax receipts for the $20 and up donations.

I’m already thinking about next year and what kind of theme background I can dream up. Suggestions anyone? What would you like to see? Year one we had pumpkins and hay. Year two was a creepy castle. Year three was a spooky forest. What will year four bring?

So, just who has won for 2011? Here are the results:

First Place – with 151 votes

A Photo Session ($200 value) and items from NALT

Second Place – with 99 votes

$100 Gift Certificate for Etheridge Photographic and items from NALT

Third Place – with 92 votes

$50 Gift Certificate for Etheridge Photographic and items from NALT

And one random winner

$25 Gift Certificate for Etheridge Photographic

Halloween Costume Contest 2011

Kelli — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:56:43 +0000

You may vote for more than one image, but only once per image. Share link with family and friends so they can vote as well. Prizes includes Gift Certificates for Etheridge Photographic as well as donated items from Nanaimo Area Land Trust. Voting will close on October 31 at 9:00pm. Winners will be announced November 1.

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Halloween Portrait Charity Event

Kelli — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Saturday, October 22nd 1:00 – 6:00pm

Many of you know that Halloween is my favourite holiday. Who doesn’t love the opportunity to dress up – pretend to be somebody else for a day? And there’s something about those little Halloween chocolate bars that is irresistable and I don’t even like chocolate.

This is the 3rd annual Halloween charity event.

It almost doubled in support from year one to year two, so I’m hoping this year will see even more participation from all the costumed kidlets out there. This is an open house style event, so no appointment is necessary. With a donation to the Nanaimo Area Land Trust Receive One Free 5×7. And because the event is a little earlier this year, the prints will be ready for pickup before Halloween!

Also have a chance to win prizes by entering the costume contest!

I was amazed by the number of votes last year – over 1300 votes came in! And the voting took place here in Nanaimo as well as from all around the world - the costume contest participants had friends and family place their votes from all over. Last year we had some great prizes – Gift Certificates for photos session and print credits as well as some items donated by NALT. I’m sure we can scare up some great things for this year’s winners!

This year’s theme background will be Spooky Forest.

I’ve started piecing together some of the set to make the scary looking trees. We’ll have a completely different look than last year. There will also be a Vampire Lair to visit in the dungeon with goodies for all the little monsters!

Soucy Pregnancy Portrait Testimonial

Kelli — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:37:51 +0000

Kelli was so warm, approachable and easy to work with. Beautiful family experience!

Madsen Newborn Testimonial

Kelli — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:28:11 +0000

Kelli did a wonderful job making us feel comfortable in her studio. We absolutely loved the photos of our newborn baby girl!

Thanks Kelli

Newborn Photography Tips – Photodex Blog feature

Kelli — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:05:17 +0000

I have to say I felt honoured when Amanda from Photodex asked me to write a blog post on baby photography tips for their recently released blog. Photodex, the creators of the slideshow software – ProShow – that I use exclusively for my Stories in Motion multimedia shows, has been so supportive. I’ve been a featured photographer for them for quite a few years, and was invited last year to contribute my slideshow tips to their book, Secrets of the ProShow Experts. They have just started a new blog which will feature great slideshow and photography tips and inspirations.

Photodex Slideshow Blog

I photograph a lot of babies and have learned some very important tricks over my six years in business. And awhile newborn photography has profound rewards, it also offers many challenges. I’ve offered up my top five tips for baby portraits for the Photodex blog.

Baby Photography Tips on Photodex Blog

I’d love to hear what you have to offer – your experiences, your own tips, your stories.

Kelli

Portrait Silhouettes

Kelli — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:54:17 +0000

There is just something about the graphic simplicity of the silhouette that I find beautiful. When the main subject becomes dark and loses all its detail, all that remains is the form. You need to be careful when composing your silhouette to ensure that the shape is clean and distinct. By this, I mean that you should still be able to recognize the silhouetted subject matter when it is stripped of all its detail. Often with a portrait silhouette the subject will be in profile. To achieve a successful silhouette, your subject must be backlit only. Exposing for a silhouette is simple – expose for the background (don’t meter from your subject), and let your subject fall into underexposed blackness. In the studio I often use my moonlight softbox as my backdrop and light source. The subject is placed in close proximity to the softbox. The light is powerful in this setup; the result is that it wraps around the subject slightly, giving a hint of detail around the edges. Silhouettes in the studio with a plain solid background make a perfect canvas for an added texture or other element. Play with the layer blending modes in Photoshop to achieve different results.

Of course, when outside the sun makes the perfect light source for silhouettes. When metering, don’t meter directly off the sun, but off to the side from a bright portion of the sky. Bracketing here will give you a nice selection of images from which to choose your favourite later on. Remember your settings for future sessions to quickly replicate this effect. You may need to tweak your settings in post production to make the silhouetted portion deep black. This can easily be achieved in Photoshop or Lightroom.

Silhouettes are the perfect way to experiment – pare down your subject to its bare minimum, focus on the form, be creative!

Easter Portraits 2011 – Some of the highlights from the day!

Kelli — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:50:56 +0000

Here are some of the highlights from the full day of Easter Portraits with the bunnies from the SPCA. Enjoy!