Behind the Scenes into the Life of a Las Vegas Photographer
Sometimes, when you are planning a family portrait, you wonder and struggle with where on earth you are going to photograph the family. Oftentimes, photos inside the home are a beautiful option that families end up cherishing for years. Other times, the backyard can work out wonderfully as well.
December is here and I am happy to squeeze into your busy schedule to update your family portrait. Give me a call at (702)809-9763 and visit http://www.TNGphoto.com .
I was recently commissioned to photograph over 20 exterior photographs for Healthcare Partners of Nevada. They stated that their ultimate goal for these images was to help their client-base find the location more familiar and recognizable when they see the buildings in person after seeing them online and in other marketing materials. I love architectural projects like this. They are very challenging and extremely satisfying to accomplish. The timing of the day is important; depending on which direction the building faces, it might be better to be there in the morning or the evening. Each building has difficult distractions to work around (cars, dumpsters from construction workers, etc.) and all the camera, lighting and post processing techniques in the book can and will be used if necessary. I had so much fun!
I won’t show you all of the photographs but here are a few of my favorites. I hope you enjoy and don’t forget to contact me if you or your company is wanting photographs of your exteriors and/or interiors. I’d happy to work with you too! Call (702)809-9763.
On another note, I’m happy to announce that I have created another website! As many of you probably know:
www.TNGphoto.com <- This is my main TNG Photography website that encompasses my Las Vegas family portraits, high school seniors, children, etc.
www.TNGseniors.com <- This is my TNG Photography senior website that is exclusively about high school senior portraits.
Well, I now have a brand new website devoted solely to my headshot line of work!
I created this website to offer additional information and galleries of images for my prospective headshot clients. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think! It currently has a few things I need to adjust (such as the bio page) but for the most part it is complete.
What’s next? I’ll be updating my main TNGphoto.com page but after that, I’m not sure! If I make another website, what should it be? Leave a comment with your idea!
Today, I thought I’d feature a fun and ultra-friendly businesswoman, Brooke Flake of SociaLite. She specializes in taking care of social media marketing so that business owners can focus their attention and time on other things. Check out her website and see if she can help you and your business!
1) Tell us about what you do.
We’ve all heard that “the best advertising is word of mouth,” but today people are “talking” more on social media than anywhere else. I help businesses join that conversation and connect with current and future customers online! I spend my days creating custom social media strategies, generating creative content, interacting with my client’s fans, designing targeted ads, running contests, monitoring growth and ROI and staying up on the latest in social media trends. My job is to provide social media that drives results for busy business owners, so they can get back to doing what they do best!
2) What inspires you about your work?
I love how powerful social media can be for creating and strengthening relationships, personally and professionally. I love to show business owners how we can harness that power and turn current and future customers into advocates and evangelists for their brand. I love that you don’t need a big ad in the yellow pages anymore. A small, passionate group of people on social media can (and will) tell the world about you!
3) What separates you the most from your competitors?
I’m competitively priced while providing really high quality services. My content is never spammy or generic–everything is directly relevant to my client’s business and really consistent with brand identity and the strategy. I don’t use techniques that inflate numbers to impress clients. I focus on building a highly targeted, quality audience for your business comprised of the people who are most likely to become paying customers.
4) What do your customers expect from you?
My clients depend on me to really listen to them. Each business is unique and has their own goals. I take the time right away to really understand those goals and create a winning social media strategy specifically tailored to achieve them. My clients expect creative content, responsiveness to their fans, monthly ROI-based reports on results, open communication, and complete dedication to the success of their business on social media!
5) What are you most proud of with your line of work?
I’m really proud of my ability to channel the business owner’s unique style and vision when I do my work for them. I put a lot of time and effort into understanding their brand so I can be true to it.
Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to the incredibly talented Nate for these great shots! If you’re curious about what I could do for your business on social media, let’s chat! I’m offering $50 in targeted digital advertising FREE to any TNG Photography Blog readers who work with me in February or March! You can reach me at brooke@socialitebranding.com or 702-706-3626. Please visit my website as well!
Everyone, family portrait time is here yet again and my calendar is filling up so make sure you do not wait to schedule soon! Call me and visit the gallery here: http://www.TNGphoto.com (702)809-9763
Just for fun, I thought I’d take a minute to answer a few common questions I receive and a few not so common questions concerning family portraits. I hope you find this helpful. Please leave a comment!
(Facebook question)
In Vegas, some couples may want to do fun location shoots at popular tourist spots. How do you suggest relax and strike a pose while you have lots of onlookers?
It can definitely be intimidating for people to be in front of a camera so adding a location that is very populated to the mix might be asking for a lot from the subjects’ nerves. My suggestion would be to start somewhere more private or secluded before moving out to a place like the strip. I would prefer they get comfortable with me, the photographer, right away before ever being in a heavily populated area. Once they have adjusted to being in front of my camera, they’ll have one less worry on their plate. On top of that, I think it’s the photographer’s job to lead the session the right direction and keep the energy up wherever the session takes place. Let’s say I was on the strip photographing someone with a lot of people around and I wasn’t much for conversation, instruction, direction and fun, then the subject(s) are going to overthink how they are standing, how they are looking and overthink everything else around them! On the other hand, by being fun, energetic, very involved, etc. then there won’t be that much time to worry about those around us because the attention will be entirely on the task at hand and on whatever I am saying. Yes, someone might walk by and say something like, “Who are they?” or “What’s your number?!” or something along those lines but those comments are easily ignored with a quick smile and head nod from the photographer. One last thing to remember is although the people around you might look at you, they more than likely look at me (unless the subject(s) are supermodels of course), my heavy equipment and my demeanor because I tend to draw more attention from bystanders. Ya know what? I don’t really mind the attention. It’s fun!
(Facebook question)
Nate, what if a family member misses the time of family portrait, can you insert a new picture of that family member into that family portrait.
This is BIG! Oftentimes, a family session is cancelled entirely because one (or more) family member could not be there. In most cases, this DOES NOT have to be a reason to end the entire session, thanks to today’s technology. I’ll give you an example: a few months ago, I was scheduled to photograph a family at Anthem Country Club. The family arrived where we discussed but I was told that one of the men could not be there due to work. I said to them that I would photograph the portrait with the intention of adding him into the portrait later. Here is a before and after:
Notice the man on the far left was added into the final portrait. I had to photograph him at a later date and with careful lighting and perspective, the result is beautiful!
(Facebook question)
What about windy days & outside shoots?
Contrary to popular belief, the desert of Las Vegas actually does have seasons; windy cool, windy cold, windy warm and windy hot w/a chance of windy. 🙂 Yes, it’s VERY windy here and extreme winds are oftentimes not ideal to have a family portrait made in. A bit of a breeze or light winds are not much of a worry though. Here are some suggestions:
(Facebook question)
What’s the best lighting for portraits? To create smooth skin and make the eye color pop!
The best lighting for a portrait is whatever light fits your vision and creates the mood, depth and emotion you are trying to convey. There is almost an endless amount of possibilities with lighting so there is no short answer to this question. Generally though, for the average person, a softer light source is more flattering and helps reduce skin texture and imperfections. Large light sources (in comparison to the subject) accomplish this. For example, the sun is gigantic but in comparison to us, in the sky it is very much a small spot light so it brings out texture, creates hard edged shadows and isn’t the most flattering. On a cloudy day, the sun is covered but it is illuminating the clouds which take up the entire sky so the light source is effectively larger (entire sky vs. sun/spot in the sky) so shadows on the light is diffuses and shadows are much softer so textures in faces are reduced, giving a more flattering look.
As far as eyes go, the light needs to be big to make the colors pop. That light source could be the open sky when the subject is in shade, a reflector placed close to the subject, soft box, umbrella, a large box truck, you name it! For eyes to pop, the color of the eyes MUST show which means the pupils need to constrict in order to make the iris more abundant. In general, if the pupils are large (usually when indoors) then there will be less color to see and the subject can look strange, even alien-like. Oftentimes, the subject won’t know why they don’t love the portrait but can’t put a reason to their feeling. It’s up to the photographer to be crafty and get more light into the eyes to bring out the iris color and not make the subject squint.
(Facebook question)
How do I not look like Jabba the Hutt?
Hire me for your family portraits! 🙂 Lighting, posing and post processing will help with these issues. Darker clothes and long sleeves are more slimming. Avoiding patterns also helps. Just trust the photographer to make you look more like Princess Leah than Jabba the Hutt!
Please contact me for your family portraits! I’d love to hear what you have in mind!
(702)809-9763 – TNGphoto.com
I had the opportunity to photograph a talented lacrosse player named Jaxon for his senior portraits. Jaxon runs a little business (and has a TON of followers on Instagram) restringing lacrosse sticks. He is very goal oriented and he’s no doubt going places! I had a great time photographing him and his family!
(Jaxon’s family in Las Vegas)
