Levonia's Mountain Maternity Session | Morrison Colorado Photographer
Winter maternity session in Morrison Colorado.
Every once in a while despite my 15 years of experience and careful session prep, a session doesn’t go quite as planned.
I had the honor of creating portrait art for so many awesome clients in 2021. I was so busy during the fall that I never had the chance to show off all of the images on my blog. I am starting with this session from the end of October because most of the leaves had fallen and this location should look very similar to this most of the winter, with the possible addition of some snow on the ground.
I met Levonia through my 2021 expecting moms group. Every year for the past 3 years myself and 2 other professionals in the birth/maternity/newborn fields have hosted a Facebook group to help new moms connect and navigate pregnancy and motherhood. If you are expecting in 2022 please join us in this years group.
I loved Levonia from the moment I met her during our zoom consultation. She is so sweet and outgoing and was so excited about capturing her maternity portraits and getting to use my gowns.
On the day of her session, I arranged for a hair and makeup artist to go to her home and help her get ready for the session. All of my maternity and family sessions include hair and makeup as part of the services I provide. I want to make sure every mama looks and feels her best for the session.
I met up with Levonia and her husband Andy up at Meyer Ranch Park in Morrison in late October. I have to say that this fall was like nothing I have ever seen before, normally the fall color is gone in the mountains by around the first week of October but it lasted through most of the month and down in Denver through much of November. I chose this location because the mountain views and evergreen trees make it a great spot year-round but, I was pleasantly surprised to find bits of yellow left when we arrived.
Every once in a while despite my 15 years of experience and careful session prep, a session doesn’t go quite as planned. Due to circumstances outside of their control, my clients arrived a little late to this session. Luckily I had scheduled with about a 30-minute extra buffer before sunset, so when they arrived we still had almost 90 minutes until sunset. We started up a small incline taking our time and stopping for portraits as we went. We were about 25 minutes into the session and halfway up the hill when Levonia mentioned that she was a little light-headed. Unfortunately, the nearest place to sit was up at the top of the hill so we turned the rolling suitcase into a place to sit and I held it in place while her husband ran to go get her water from the car. I’m not going to lie, there was a moment where I thought I was going to have to attempt to catch here and I pictured both of us lying on the ground lol. Luckily her husband arrived with the water and after drinking some she was up to continue to the top of the hill where there was a real place for her to sit and rest for a bit.
The downside to this delay was that we missed sunset to allow her to rest and make sure she was ok. The good news is the bench was next to the restrooms and after resting she was able to change and into the other gown she had selected and get some shots that were outside of my usual style, after dark. Back in my days of being a natural light photographer I would have had to cut this session short after the first gown however my expertise in off-camera flash allowed me to shoot for a short time after the sun dipped behind the mountains. The end result was that even between them arriving late and us pausing the session partway through I was still able to create my average 30+ portraits for them to choose their wall art from, and they still loved the images!
After talking to her a bit, I realized that her and her husband had only moved to Colorado, from a sea-level start, around a year before. On top of not being used to the altitude, she had not been drinking much water that day in all the excitement of getting ready for the session. So a few tips for your session to prevent this from happening again.
!. Hydrate: 1/2 your body weight in oz. of water is the recommended water intake for most people, however when dealing with high altitude drinking more is normally a good idea.
2. Let me know if you are new to Colorado. There are many beautiful Colorado locations I can recommend for those who may not do well with the high altitude.
3. Bring water with you. This goes back to #1 Hydrate.
Not every session is going to go exactly to plan, however, when working with a true professional you will still get amazing images in the end. I am so happy I was able to create images for my clients that they were excited to hang in their home. Here are a few of my favorites from the session!
I would love to help you create your dream portraits. Click below to contact me and set up a consultation call.
Jennifer Tavera is a Luxury family, maternity and newborn photographer in Denver Colorado who specializes in creating an experience that will make mom feel confortable, papered and beautiful so she will be excited to turn her portraits into art for her home. Sessions are available outdoors all over the Denver and Boulder area and studio sessions in the studio space in Arvada. Ready to start planning your dream session? Click below to schedule a call.
Jennifer
3 reasons professional photoshoot makeup is essential {Denver photographer}
All of my photoshoots include hair and makeup if mom is going to be part of the shoot and there is a good reason for this. When planning a photoshoot as a busy mom the last thing on your mind is likely your hair and makeup for the day. As a professional photographer for 13 years, I found that often this was something my clients rushed to do at the last second the day of the shoot, often resulting in them not loving the way they looked in their family photos. Professional photography is an investment of both your time and money and when you look at the end result you should LOVE it! As I considered how I can best serve my clients and deliver a product that they will love, adding hair and makeup to my packages was a no-brainer. Here are my top 3 reasons why I believe that professional hair and makeup are a must for your photoshoot.
1. Having your hair and makeup professionally done will help you look and feel your best!
One of the biggest differences I have seen with my clients since I added professional hair and makeup was how relaxed they are when they arrive for their session. I always schedule your artist to arrive with more than enough time to complete your hair and makeup and leave plenty of time for you and your family to get dressed and travel to the session which means instead of moms rushing at the last minute to get themselves ready or worse doing their makeup in the car on the way (I saw this more times than I can count), they are ready with plenty of time to help the rest of the family get dressed, and arrive on time relaxed and looking amazing. Not only are my clients feeling more confident knowing that their hair and makeup look amazing but they are also more relaxed after getting to sit and be pampered before their shoot.
2. Makeup appears different in person than it does on camera
The makeup artists that I work with do makeup specifically for photography on a regular basis. They know the best products to use and how to apply them in a way that will show up best on camera, not look shinny when my flash hits them and flatter your specific coloring. They know what products to use to prep your face for oily or dry skin to reduce shine or flaking and they use high-quality products and know how much to apply to look best on camera.
3. Professional hair and makeup last longer
I have shot photo sessions with everything from snow falling around us to 90+ degrees even at 7:30 in the evening, and often when mom did her own makeup it quickly starts to look shiny or dull even without these extreme conditions. In addition, hair gets frizzy quickly at both extremes. Professional makeup is designed to last longer and reduce shine. Professional hair products reduce frizz and help keep your hair in place without making it stiff. Providing my clients with professional hair and makeup has cut down my editing time since I no longer have to edit shinny faces and flyaway hairs. This has allowed me to reduce the time it takes between your shoot date and your selection appointment and in the end, gets you your printed portraits up to 2 weeks quicker than when I had to spend my time hand-editing hair and makeup.
A few tips
Know what you want. Do you want a more natural look? Do you want something bold? Have an idea of the overall style before your artist arrives to make sure you will love the end look.
Communicate with your artist. Tell them they look you are going for and any preferences you have for colors. If possible show them what you will be wearing (if you are borrowing gowns from me I will send them pictures prior to the shoot). These ladies are amazing at taking your ideas and making you look amazing!
If there is anything you don’t love speak up. I have never had a mom not love her makeup but if there is something you do not love please tell your artist. They want you to love the end look as much as I do!
Moms with little ones, arrange for someone to watch your kids while you have your hair and makeup done.
Relax and enjoy. This is your time to be pampered!
Book a free no-obligation consultation now to discuss your shoot! I’ll answer all of your questions about a shoot with me and help you plan portraits that you will LOVE!